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Start Over Names Baldwin-Felts Detective Inc.

Fred Mooney Manuscripts 0.17 Linear Feet Summary: 2 in. (1 folder, 1/4 in.); (1 reel of microfilm, 1.75 in.)

Mooney, Fred, 1888-1952

Typescript and manuscript drafts of "The Life of Fred Mooney," by himself, and a manuscript copy of "Shootin Straight" by J. F. Pennington. Mooney, one-time Secretary-Treasurer of the West Virginia United Mine Workers, relates his experience in the West Virginia labor movement, He covers the disturbances at Cabin and Paint Creek, 1912-1913; the abortive Miners March of 1919; the Matawan massacre of the Baldwin Felts detectives; the Miners Treason Trials in 1922; and a later dispute with John L. Lewis and the UMW that led to Mooney's resignation.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Justus Collins (1857-1934) Papers 23.3 Linear Feet Summary: 23 ft. 4 1/4 in. (56 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 oversize folder, 1/4 in.)

Collins, Justus, 1857-1934

Justus Collins [1857-1934] was an entrepreneur who opened his first coal mine in the Pocahontas- Flat Top coal field of Southern West Virginia, and thereafter operated mines in the New River, Tug River, and Winding Gulf coal fields. He headed a coal sales agency, speculated in coal and timber lands, headed a cement company, and was interested financially in rubber, oil, and gas companies. He played an important role in organizing the Tug River Coal Operators Association, the Winding Gulf Operators' Association, and the Smokeless Coal Operators Association of West Virginia.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Major W. P. Tams, Jr. Transcript of an Interview 0 Linear Feet Summary: 1 folder

Tams, W. P., Jr. (William Purviance), 1883-1977
Transcript of an interview by Richard Hadsell with Major W.P. Tams, Jr., former mine operator in the Winding Gulf coal mining region. Tams discusses his early days in coal mining, the opening of the Kanawha coal region, and coal operators and union officials such as: E.J. Berwind, Joe Beury, George Collins, Jarius Collins, Justus Collins, John J. Cornwell, Samuel Dixon, Elias Hatfield, Troy Hatfield, Isaac Mann, S.T. Patterson, J.A. Renahan, James O. Watts, and George Wolfe. Other individuals mentioned include: Henry D. Hatfield, John L. Lewis, John Mitchell, Fred Mooney, Bob Patterson, and "Mother" Mary Jones. Tams also discusses the Winding Gulf Collieries, the Beaver Coal Co., the Smokeless Coal Field, the N&W Railroad, the C&O Railroad, the Virginian Railroad, Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, unions and strikes, racial relations, blacks, scrip, company stores, Atwater, and Castner, Curran and Bullitt.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Matewan Trial Transcript 0.4 Linear Feet 5 in. (1 flat storage box)

Incomplete court reporter's transcript of the Matewan Trial. This document records testimony bearing upon the event known as the "Matewan Massacre" that occurred on May 19, 1920 on the streets of Matewan, Mingo County. This brief but deadly encounter between local authorities and Baldwin-Felts detectives triggered a chain of events that led to an armed conflict between mine owners and their workers, resulting in the largest armed insurrection in post bellum American history. The transcript contains approximately 2000 pages documenting the trial's proceedings from its commencement on February 12, 1921 to February 23, 1921. It includes testimony of more than thirty participants and witnesses ranging from Baldwin-Felts survivors to a pair of Matewan telephone operators; it does not include examinations of Sid Hatfield or C.E. Lively which apparently transpired at later sessions.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

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