Descriptive Summary
Title: Joseph Crutch Collection
Span Dates: 1858-2006
Bulk Dates: 1918-1970
ID No: Ms2023-014
Creator: Joseph Crutch Sr. and Joseph Crutch Jr.
Extent: 1.5 linear feet, 1 record carton, 1 legal size flip-top document container.
Language: English
Repository: West Virginia State Archives, Charleston, WV
Conditions on Use and Access: N/A
Copyright: Copyright restrictions may apply.
Abstract: The collection is largely textual, consisting of correspondence, legal and financial material, publications, maps, and related printed materials of various coal companies. These companies include Lost Creek Coal Company, Clinchfield Coal Company, Dee Coal Company and Compass Mine Coal Company. Reports from the United States Department of Mines are also within the records.
Administrative Information
Donor: This collection was donated to West Virginia Archives and History at The Cultural Center by Joseph Crutch Jr. in June 2022
Transfers: Photographs and maps have been separated into their respective collections within the repository.
Preferred Citation: [item, collection number], Joseph Crutch Collection, West Virginia State Archives, Charleston, WV.
Processor: Processed by Chuck Ocheltree June 2022. Processed by Bethany Arbaugh March 2023.
Biographical Note: Crutch was born in Grant Town, Marion County, West Virginia on January 11, 1911. He married his wife Thelma Lopez on June 18, 1933. He worked in the northern coalfields until he was drafted in 1940 for World War II at the age of 29. At the time Crutch was working for Hutchinson Coal Company. In 1946, he was honorably discharged from the army. Thelma and Joseph had three children. He continued to work in the coal mines as a brakeman where he accumulated papers from various companies. Crutch died December 20, 1992, in Harrison, West Virginia. Crutch's son, also named Joseph, donated his father's papers to our repository in 2022.
Sources of Information: Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2014.
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
United States Army. "Joseph Crutch Honorable Discharge from United States Army." Fort Bragg, North Carolina, 28 Oct. 1946.
Contents List:
Box 1
1:1 Davis Coal and Coke Company
1:2 Correspondence, James Kee to Adler E. Spotte, April 27, 1965
1:3 Correspondence, Arch A. Moore to Adler E. Spotte, April 27, 1965
1:4 Correspondence, Robert C. Byrd to Adler E. Spotte, May 4, 1965
1:5 Correspondence, Jennings Randolph to Adler E. Spotte, May 4, 1965
1:6 Stock certificates, Lost Creek Coal Company, 1948
1:7 Stock certificates, Dee Coal Company, Wilsonburg, WV, n.d.
1:8 Miscellaneous records
1:9 Weigh tickets, Conrad Contractors, Conrad Tipple #2, Haywood, WV., n.d.
1:10 Canceled checks Pittswick Coal Company, Inc., 1975
1:11 Clinchfield Coal Company order book, blank
1:12 Publication, United Mine Workers Journal, December 1, 1968, June, 1976
1:13 Calendars, United Mine Workers of America Journal, 1987, 1996
1:14 Magazine, "Coal Mining," May 1929
1:15 W. L. Pursglove Coal Company reports and forms, circa 1950s
1:16 Clinchfield Coal Company reciepts to Standard Supply Company, 1964
1:17 Tucker County Coal Company correspondence, 1953
1:18 The W.L Pursglove Coal Company legal records and letters, 1953
1:19 Sally Ann Coal Company invoices, 1955
1:20 Certificate, Dee Coal Company, Workers Compensation Fund, May 10, 1960
1:21 Monongahela Powder Company cost statements, 1919
1:22 Blank checks, Scott Coal Company, Clarksburg, n.d.
1:23 Agreement, H. Koppers Company and Ordnance Department U.S. Army, construction of Tolvol Recovery Plan, May 1918
1:24 Contract for Tovloc Plant, General Petroleum Corporation and Ordnance Department of U.S. Army, 1918
1:25 Booklet, The Self Rescuer, U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines
1:26 Newsletter, Culture & History, "The Mining Life Coal in Our History and Culture" November/December 1981
1:27 Correspondence, The Consolidated Coal Company and Ohio Brass Company, 1922
1:28 Receipts, Compass Coal Company, contract hauling, 1954
1:29 Railroad Coal Contract no. 15, New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company and Lehigh Valley Coal Sales Company, 1945-1946
1:30 Receipts, Clinchfield Coal Company Stores, 1964
1:31 Newsletter, Buckeye Beacon Vol. 1, No. 1, 1974
1:32 Coal-Mine Ventilation Inspection Report A with charts, Mars No.2, Wilsonburg, Harrison County, 1971
1:33 Interim Report of Coal-Mine Fire, Pursglove No. 15, Pursglove, Monongalia County, 1968
1:34 Report of Fatal Machinery (Flying drill stem) Accident, Compass No. 3, Dola, Harrison County, 1967
1:35 Second Interim Report of Coal-Mine Fire, Pursglove No. 15,Pursglove, Monongalia County, 1967
1:36 Report of Fatal Roof-Fall Accident, Walls Mine, Pierpont, Monongalia County, 1966
1:37 Coal-Mine Inspection Report, Mars No.2, Wilsonburg, Harrison County, 1962
1:38 Report of Coal Mine Gas (Frictional) Ignition, Humphrey No.7, Maidsville, Monongalia County, 1967
1:39 Report for Coal-Mine Fire and Sealing Operation, Osage No. 3, Cassville, Monongalia County, 1968
1:40 Final Report of Mine Fires And Explosions, Katherine No.4, Lumberport, Harrison County, 1944
1:41 Report of Coal-Mine Fire and Sealing Operations, Compass No. 2, Dola, Harrison County, 1962
1:42 Preliminary Report on Ignition Source, Sago Mine Explosion, Sago, Upshur County, 2006
1:43 Report, Fatal Coal Mine Shaft-Sinking (Fall of Person), Christopher No. 8, Blacksville, Monongalia County, 1968
1:44 Transcript, Presentation on Farmington No.9 Disaster, n.d.
1:45 Deed, W.L. Pursglove and Lost Creek Coal Company, B&O Railroad, 1947
1:46 Promotional stamps, Coal Series #1, n.d.
1:47 Safety Bulletin, State of WV Department of Mines, 1961
1:48 Clippings and map, Kathrine Mine, 1944
1:49 Correspondence, Mrs. Arthur Glover to clerk Harrison County Court, 1938
1:50 Receipts, Surveyor of Road, Harrison County, 1879
1:51 Letterhead, various
1:52 Canceled checks, various institutions, 1905-1929
1:53 Booklet, Inspection Report, Clinchfield Coal Company, Mars No. 2, 1968
1:54 Book, Bureau of Mines Report of Investigation 5818, Preparation Characteristics of Coal from Harrison County, WV, 1961
1:55 Fire Boss Record Book #3, Clinchfield Mines, Dola, Harrison County, 1970
1:56 Fire Boss Record Book, Mountaineer Coal Company, Mannington, WV, 1968
1:57 Fire Boss Record Book, Dee Coal Company, Dee, WV, 1958-1959
1:58 Detailed Invoice of Coal Shipment, Clinchfield Coal Company, 1958
1:59 Combined Receipt and Report of Scale Weight, Clinchfield Coal Company, Compass Mine Coal Company, B&O Railroad Company, 1958
1:60 Report of Scale Weights, Clinchfield Coal Company, Compass Mine Coal Company, 1958
1:61 Combined Receipt and Report of Scale Weight, Clinchfield Coal Company, Compass Mine Coal Company, B&O Railroad Company, June 1960
1:62 Combined Receipt and Report of Scale Weight, Clinchfield Coal Company, Compass Mine Coal Company, B&O Railroad Company, August 1960
Box 2
2:1 Combined Receipt and Report of Scale Weight, Clinchfield Coal Company, Compass Mine Coal Company, September 1960
2:2 Booths Creek Coal Company tickets, warrants, Wolf Safety Lamp Specifications, 1857-1935
2:3 General letters featuring Fairmont and Baltimore Coal and Coke Company, Nation Carbon Company, Inc., 1918-1943
2:4 Everett Francis Briggs, poems, n.d.
2:5 Honorable discharge, Joseph Crutch (photocopy), 1946
2:6 Special Order Number 122, Headquarters Eighth Army, 1946
2:7 Compass Coal Company business correspondence, 1951-1954
2:8 Clinchfield Coal Company business correspondence, 1951-1973
2:9 DEE Coal Company blueprint, forms, and notes, 1954-1961
2:10 Hutchinson Coal Company letter and credit form, 1932
2:11 Bergoo Coal order form, 1954
2:12 Katherine Coal Mining Company letter, 1947
2:13 Haywood Coal Company letters and invoices, 1953-1955
2:14 American Red Cross letter and forms, 1918
2:15 Correspondence, United Mine Workers of America to James F. Vincent, 1956
2:16 Insurance Certificate, Harry R. Everson, 1929
2:17 Election of international officers, UMW Local 9924, 1977
2:18 Deed, Nathan Goff and wife to Morris Grocery Company, Harrison County, 1909
2:19 United States Department of Mines certificates, circa 1972
2:20 Canceled checks, O. R. Kincaid, Folson, WV 1916-1920
2:21 Commission, Ebenezer W. Patton, John G. Dennison, John H. Curry and Lot Bown, Justices of the Peace, Harrison County, 1860
2:22 Receipt, funeral expenses of William Martin, 1892
2:23 Receipt, The Clifford-Osborne Undertaking Company, Clarksburg, "For Unknown Man Killed at Two Lick Mines," 1904
2:24 Coupon book, Delmar Coal Company, No. 2662G, n.d.
2:25 Mine Inspection Report, Compass No.2, Clinchfield Coal Company, 1964
2:26 Cards, Pocahontas Coal Company, n.d.
2:27 Telegrams, War Department to Captain John Gordon Smyth, 1918
2:28 Form letter correspondence, Father Flanagan's Boys Home, 1952
2:29 Grade cards, Hollis Rittenhouse, Sardis High School, 1920-1921
2:30 Telephone bills, Hutchinson Coal Company, circa 1920s
2:31 Compass Coal Company, Consolidation Coal Company, Clinchfield Coal Company invoices and letters, 1918-1966
2:32 Lease agreement between Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company and Coal Service Corporation, 1947
2:33 Consolidation Coal Company, Clinchfield Coal Company, Pursglove Coal Sales Corporation invoices and letters, 1919-1971
2:34 Thomas Stalnacker lampcheck/token, circa 1920s-1930s