The New Brunswick coal industry experienced steady but slow growth after it’s start in the 1630s, but entered the modern age and grew quickly after 1892 when local Miners started using big power equipment. The introduction of steam engines, which used wood or coal to boil water, produce steam and generate power, transformed coal mining into a modern industry that was safer for miners and produced much more coal for the owners. The first steam engines were developed in England in the late 1600s and were used mainly in coal mines, cotton mills and similar industries. By 1712, they were efficient enough to pump as much water from an underground coal mine as had been removed by pumps powered by 50 horses.
Several factors helped the coal industry to grow. In 1888, the steam powered railroad reached Chipman and began to transport coal, people and other cargo back to Norton and Saint John. In 1904, the rail lines reached Minto and in 1913 they reached Fredericton. After the main lines were in place, spur lines were built to individual mine sites, which made transporting the coal much easier. According to History of Coal Mining and Other Related Industries in the Minto & Chipman Areas, 1783 – 1978 by local Miner Douglas Higgins, the first New Brunswick coal mine to use a steam engine was the Elkin Mine. In 1892, they installed steam powered hoisting equipment in their underground mine at Coal Creek, near Chipman. The Coal Creek area has also been identified, by Professor L.W. Bailey, as the site of the first coal mining by the French pioneers in the early 1600s. Dr. Bailey was the lead Geologist for several editions of the Report on the Mines and Minerals of New Brunswick and Geological Survey of Canada reports about 1870.
In 1917, New Brunswick’s first dragline (steam powered) and a shovel began digging for coal at New Zion. A dragline, with a 100 foot boom and a 3.5 cubic yard bucket, removed the earth from above the coal and a shovel (smaller that the dragline) dug the coal and dumped it into trucks or rail cars. These excavators were operated by Dave and Alex Tees, for the Reade Construction Co from Ontario, and later were purchased by the Tees brothers and operated by their company near Minto. From the beginning to the end of the Mid-Modern period of NB coal mining (about 1888 to 1969), annual production increased from 10,528 tons to approximately 1,000,000 tons. This period featured private mining companies using increasingly larger power equipment for pit mining, underground mining and strip mining; two World Wars which increased demand for coal; steamships and railroads to burn and transport the coal and the opening of a local coal fired electric power generating plant.
For many years after the 1917 dragline began working, the most any dragline could lift in one bucket was about 15 cubic yards of earth. The largest and last dragline to mine coal in New Brunswick, the Marion 8200-21R, had a bucket capacity of 65 cubic yards and a boom length of 350 feet! This huge dragline became the solution to concerns about the future of the industry and a large reserve of good coal about 100 feet deep that could not be accessed with the available draglines. The purchase of this $40 million dragline was proposed by Wellesley Hoyt, the N.B. Coal Ltd. General Manager. Mr. Hoyt, or “Welly” as most in the community call him, had worked at all levels of the local coal industry for over 30 years and was able to convince the decision makers that this machine would extend the life of the NB coal industry. The “8200”, also known as the “Maid Marion”, went into service in September 1979 in the Salmon Harbour area of Grand Lake and continued coal mining in NB for another 30 years. [See featured image at head of this story.]
During this Mid-Modern time period, an accident occurred which has been called the area’s “greatest tragedy” and a “labour landmark”. Although this event resulted in the death of 3 children, between 10 and 13 years old, and 2 adults, it illustrates one way Grand Lake coal mining has benefitted the entire country, and demonstrates the courage and determination of local coal miners.
The accident happened on July 28, 1932 when 4 children climbed down a ladder-like structure into an abandoned underground mine shaft near the current site of the Centennial Arena in Minto. The first 3 boys, brothers Cyril and Vernon Stack and Allen Gaudine, were overcome by poison gas and fell to the bottom of the 45 foot shaft. The boy at the top of the ladder climbed back up and got help. The first attempt to rescue the boys was by Bart Stack, the 18 year old brother of two of the boys. He was also overcome by the gas. Within minutes, four other Miners who went down to the rescue were also unconscious at the shaft bottom. The next of the 11 men who went down had ropes tied around them, so they could be hauled back up when the gas got to them. Several went down more than once after being affected by the gas on their first descent. One miner, 34 year old Mathias Wuhr, went down 5 times and was overcome by the gas each time. On his last four trips, he was able to tie ropes onto one of the victims each time before he lost consciousness himself and was hauled up. Two of the rescuers, Vernon Betts, aged 37, and Thomas Gallant, aged 48, did not survive the gas. Their widows were left to raise a total of twelve children.
The Minto Bi-Centennial Committee placed a memorial plaque on a large stone in 1982 to commemorate the significance of this accident. Currently near the Minto Fire Hall, the plaque was originally situated on the grounds of the Centennial Arena, the closest major landmark to the accident site. This arena is on land donated by Louie Wuhr, a member of a committee to create an ice arena for local youth, in 1966. Louie volunteered during and after the construction and was the first Arena Manager. For his efforts, Louie Wuhr was inducted as a Builder into the Minto Sports Wall of Fame in 2011. The Wuhr family has also made important contributions in local coal mining and community development.
An inquest into this accident identified the lack of regulations related to safety around abandoned mine sites and the lack of safety training or rescue equipment at the mines as factors that made the accident a tragedy. The Mines Act regulations were amended in April 1933 to correct the lack of regulations. The mine owners were given responsibility for safety at working and abandoned mine sites. A minimum age of 16 was set for miners. An 8 hour work day was established. Before this tragedy, the miner’s union (One Big Union) did not have much power. In 1937, a branch of the United Mine Workers of America, Local 7409, was chartered with Mathias Wuhr as it’s first President. The working conditions began to improve because of the UMWA efforts to ensure enforcement of the new regulations. Another positive result of this tragedy was improved coverage from the Workmen’s Compensation Board. The initial requests for compensation for the two widows were disallowed. The Miramichi Lumber Company, owner of the mine site where the accident occurred, helped to finance an appeal of that decision. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, which ruled in favour of the widows, setting a president for wider interpretations of Compensation claims in N.B. and also throughout Canada.
As in several other provinces, coal mining in New Brunswick ended in 2009 when the Grand Lake mine was closed due to environmental and other concerns. The N.B. Coal Ltd. employees were transferred to the mine’s parent company Énergie NB Power or pensioned off. The power plant was de-commissioned, equipment was sold and work sites were cleaned up and re-purposed.
Everyone involved in the Grand Lake coal industry from 1639 until 2010 (when the follow up work was completed) can be very proud of the impacts coal has had on the local area, New Brunswick and Canada. The ship loads of Grand Lake coal that were sent to Boston before 1650 have been recognized by Parks Canada as the First Export of Coal in America and a National Historic Event. The usefulness and easy access to Grand Lake coal was one of the reasons Saint John became the main French stronghold in Acadia in the early 1630’s. Coal was the objective of the 1639 trade mission (probably the first) between the colonies that later became the United States and Canada. The British protected the Saint John river valley by moving 2,000 troops to the area in 1758 and by giving free land grants and travel funding to thousands of retired soldiers and other Loyalists. These early preparations helped to defeat an American attempt to occupy the Saint John River valley (and probably all of Canada) in June of 1777. Coal provided comfort and convenience to individual homes and fueled the industrial development of the area. Coal provided stable local employment during two world wars and an economic depression.
Coal miners often worked long hours in terrible conditions and results of their determination are still evident around Grand Lake. Since the mines closed in 2009, efforts have been made to use the area’s history, mine sites and equipment to attract interest in the area.
