The Lawson Mine Widow

My man left today

Down to Lawson mine

To earn the family pay.

Left his new born

This Sunday morn

Before the church bells rang

Never to return again.

Leaving behind his young

Widow

Daughter and

Baby boy son.

And how are we to live

Without him?

6:40 a.m. November 6, 1910

Five good men were

Already 2200 feet deep.

Eleven good men were

On their way down

The shaft so dark

So full

Of the deadly after damp.

With a roar that was heard

For 16 miles

The Lawson mine exploded…

The mouth of the mine

Discharging timbers, piping

Dinner buckets, clothing

As if

Shot from a cannon.

Sixteen good men

Whose fates were sealed

Before the church bells rang.

Who met their maker

That long ago Sunday morn

As the foreman proclaimed

While dropping his spade

“It’s all over boys,

They’re dead, all right, now.”

The man from Lawson mine

Today

Brought home my man’s

Last pay.

He said “Sorry for your loss mam…

Good day.”

So, what is he supposed

To say

To a left behind

Young widow, daughter and son?

The mine man said the exploding

After damp did husband in.

That he was one of the

“Lucky 11”

Who didn’t feel a thing,

Having been evaporated

By the deadly gas within.

A comfort small though,

For Lawson mine did not

Return a body whole

To fill the hole

That they put him in.

My man was blown apart

Scattered with the winds

Through the town

And all around

Everywhere but home.

Leaving behind

A son, a daughter

A young widow, a broken heart.

My friend, my lover

Gone forever.

His body, my soul

Eviscerated…

My mind is barely hanging on.

And how are we to live

Without him?

Lawson Mine deaths and injured

• Entombed in the mine

Julius Puyson, aka Julius Persyn

Fred Setti

Oscar Bael, aka Oscar Baile

Cezar Bael, aka Ceazar Baile

Girili Maes, aka Civili Maes

• Buried in Black Diamond Cemetery in a mass grave

Frank Gardini, aka Ferdinando Godini

Isadore Gardini, aka Isadore Godini

Joe Kronenberg, aka Joe Kumenberg

Mactili Fanstina, aka Maetili Fanstina

C. Biagi

Julius Cappiati

Albert Fontana

Frank Vergan, aka Francesco Vergai

• Others who died

Dave Lunden, aka Davit Albein Lunden

Dominick Gregois, aka Dominick Gregorio

Mat Galope, aka Matt Golob

• Injured

Louis Kruntz

Louis Marino

Arvila Martina