No special access restriction applies.
[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Justus Collins (1857-1934) Papers, A&M 1824, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.
1784, 1824
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.
The materials include correspondence, agreements, contracts, deeds, financial statements, ledger books, magazines, maps, minute books, pamphlets, photographs, production and shipping records, reports, and stock books.
The bulk of the collection concerns the development of the law volatile, or smokeless, coal fields of Southern West Virginia, ca. 1900-1934. Subjects include: Coal company operation, (coal and coke sales, costs, marketing conditions, price-fixing, profits, salaries, taxes); coal operators' associations; government investigation and regulation of the coal industry (Interstate Commerce Commission, mining legislation, N.R.A. code, U.S. Railroad Administration) labor (insurance "on transportation", strikes, United Mine Workers of America, wages, workman's compensation, "yellow-dog" contract); law and order (Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, courts, injunctions, mine guard system, National Guard, secret operatives, state troopers); life in mining camps (amusements, churches, health, housing, recreation, schools, stores); mining safety; railroads (Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, coal car distribution, freight rates, Norfolk & Western Railroad, railway fuel contracts, and Virginian Railway- Organization of Winding Gulf Branch); and state and local politics. Other non-coal subjects include cement business, lumber business, tire and tire gauge manufacturing, and oil and gas drilling.
Correspondents include: S.R. Anderson; G. R. Collins; Jairus Collins; Justus Collins; Raymond DuPuy; W. J. Elgin; Lamar Epperly; H.D. Everett; T. L. Felts; A.M. Herndon; J.J. Holloway; L. E. Johnson; P. H. Kelly; E.W. Knight; John Laing; I. T. Mann; C. H. Mead; C. J. Milton; J. H. Renahan, P. J. RIley: P. M. Snyder; Holly Stover; W. P. Tams; Jr.: J.J. Tierney; E.E. White; and George Wolfe.
Series include:
1. General Correspondence, 1896–1934 (boxes 1-36)
2. Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, 1905–1934 (box 36)
3. Coal Operators Association, 1911–1934 (boxes 37-39)
4. Smokeless Fuel Company -- Sales Managers' Correspondence, 1914-1915, undated (boxes 40-42)
5. Smokeless Fuel Company -- Smithing and Other Sales, 1914–1922 (boxes 43-44)
6. Superior Portland Cement Company, 1905–1924 (boxes 45-47)
7. Miscellaneous Printed Materials, 1899–1954 (boxes 48-56)
8. Oversize Maps, Blueprints, and Charts, 1916-1962, undated (oversize folder)
Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.
This series includes general correspondence between Justus Collins and many others, including S.R. Anderson; G. R. Collins; Jairus Collins; Raymond DuPuy; W. J. Elgin; Lamar Epperly; H.D. Everett; T. L. Felts; A.M. Herndon; J.J. Holloway; L. E. Johnson; P. H. Kelly; E.W. Knight; John Laing; I. T. Mann; C. H. Mead; C. J. Milton; J. H. Renahan, P. J. Riley: P. M. Snyder; Holly Stover; W. P. Tams; Jr.: J.J. Tierney; E.E. White; and George Wolfe.
Subjects include coal company operation (coal and coke sales, costs, marketing conditions, price-fixing, profits, salaries, taxes), coal operators' associations, railroads (Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, coal car distribution, freight rates, Norfolk & Western Railroad, railway fuel contracts, and Virginian Railway- Organization of Winding Gulf Branch), and state and local politics.
This series includes material related to the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency (ca. 1890s-1937), which was used by coal operators as strikebreakers in the 1910s and 1920s. Baldwin-Felts detectives were infamous for their violent involvement in the Coal Wars, the Battle of Matewan, and other coal union strikes.
This series includes correspondence regarding various coal operators associations, including the Tug River Valley Association, the Winding Gulf Association, the Pocahontas Assocation, and others.
This series includes sales managers' correspondence regarding the Smokeless Fuel Company.
This series includes material regarding smithing and other sales of the Smokeless Fuel Company.
This series includes material regarding the Superior Portland Cement Company.
This series includes assorted printed materials, including personal and business account books, surveys, stockholders meeting minutes, and other material.
This series includes oversize maps, blueprints, and charts, including maps of Collins's personal property; maps and blueprints of potential locations for housing, schools, and amenities at Whipple and other coal mines; assorted coal mine maps and blueprints; and statistical charts of productivity and other metrics of Winding Gulf Collieries and other coal companies.