J. C. R. Taylor
(transcriber may have made spelling and punctuation changes)
J. C. R. TAYLOR, a witness of lawful age, being first duly sworn, deposes and says: Questions by MR. OSENTON
Q: Have you been sworn?
A: Yes sir.
Q: What is your name?
A: J. C. R. Taylor.
Q: Where do you live?
A: Page, Fayette County, W. Va.
Q: How old are you?
A: 48.
Q: What is your business?
A: I am General Manager for the Loop Collieries Coal Co. in Fayette County.
Q: Have you more than one mine?
A: Yes sir, two.
Q: What is the name of the other mining operation?
A: They are both operated under the same name. Both called the Loop Collieries Coal Co. Two operations under the same company.
Q: You have one at Page, where is the other one?
A: Beards Fork, Post office.
Q: How far is Beards Fork from Page?
A: By the road, 7 miles. By air line, 2 miles.
Q: Where were you living in August and September of last year?
A: In Page.
Q: About how many men work at your Page plant?
A: About 300 on the payroll.
Q: Have you a Local Union of the United Mine Workers at Page?
A: Yes sir.
Q: How about Beards Fork, have you a Local Union there?
A: Yes sir.
Q: About how [many] miners had you at Beards Fork in August and September of last year?
A: Approximately 350 men on the payroll.
Q: What railroad is your mines located on?
A: Virginian Railway - Deep Water to Norfolk.
Q: Where does the railroad come from and where does it go to?
A: From Deep Water on the Kanawha to Norfolk, Virginia on the seaboard.
Q: What railroad does it connect with at Deep Water?
A: Chesapeake and Ohio.
Q: What is the distance from Page to Deep Water?
A: By railroad 8 1/2 miles, Nine by the county road.
Q: Have you a public road leading down Elk Creek to Deep Water and Montgomery on the Kanawha?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Do you know about the distance from Page by way of Deep Water, to Marmet? Just your best judgment.
A: I would say it is between 20 and 25 miles.
Q: Do you recall the assembly of miners on Lens Creek at or near Marmet in August of last year? Do you recall the occasion?
A: Yes sir.
Q: When did you first learn, give us the date as near as you can, the date of their assembling at Marmet?
A: I began to hear about it sometime the latter part of August, I should say, along about the 23d or 25th, somewhere along the last days of August.
Q: Did any of the miners leave your place for Marmet at the time they were assembling?
A: Not on these dates.
Q: Did they at any time after they started the march?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Give us the date the miners began to leave your place.
A: They began to leave Page on September 2d, Friday, September 2d.
Q: You are speaking in regard to Beards Fork?
A: No, I wasn't present at Beards Fork.
Q: Do you recall what day of the week you first observed the men leaving?
A: Friday, September 2d.
Q: About how many men left your place at that time?
A: It is pretty hard to estimate, they were coming and going, forming like bees. I should judge, from the best information I could get, in the neighborhood of 100 went away down the creek in automobiles.
Q: On that day did you see any of the miners at your place, armed?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Did you know any of them?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Just tell the jury what you saw, heard and observed there on that day?
A: Beginning in the morning on that particular day, I went in on automobile up the creek to our little town Oak Hollow, and about a mile above Page, I met going down the creek, five automobiles full of armed men. I don't know where they came from, probably from some of the mines around Oak Hollow. When I reached Oak Hollow, I called my office, to see if they had passed through Page, and they said they had. I asked if they stopped, and they said no. I said
Q: Don't tell the conversation. These armed men that you met on the road, which direction were they traveling with reference to Deep Water?
A: Toward Deep Water, going down the creek.
Q: What time did you get back that evening?
A: I should say about 5 or 6 o'clock.
Q: Did you observe any armed men when you got to Page?
A: Not immediately on my return. I didn't observe any armed men at that time?
Q: Did you later that evening?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Tell the jury what you saw and heard?
A: The whole town from 6:30 to 7 o'clock was in a ferment, stirring around considerably. About 7:30, a part[y] of five men, two whites and three negroes came to my gate. I was in the house. They hailed my little chap and told him to tell me they wanted me. I came out there. There stood at my gate, two white men and three negroes stood off to one side. Some, if not all, have rifles in their hands. They asked me where the rifles were that we had. They said they wanted the rifles, they were going to Mingo. That rather upset me, making such a demand in a civilized country -
Objection.
Sustained.
Q: Tell what they said to you and what you said to them?
A: They wanted to know if we had any refiles. I said we haven't any rifles. I said, “What are you going to do if I did.” They said we are going to take them. We are going to Mingo. I said I had disposed of the rifles. They questioned me very closely. They wanted to know how I disposed of them. Wanted to know if Mr. Painer, our constable, had put them away. I told them he had not. They talked among themselves. They finally turned away and left me and joined a crowd at the depot in front of my house about 50 yards away.
Q: What do you mean by a crowd at the depot? About how many was in this crowd?
A: From first to last, I should say 250 to 300, coming and going.
Q: Were they armed or unarmed?
A: Some were armed and some unarmed.
Q: After joining this crowd, what became of them?
A: I don't know what became of these particular men. I didn't mingle with that crowd. I could see automobiles drive up from all directions and load up with men, who had rifles, or something that looked like rifles, and went down the creek.
Q: In the direction of Deep Water?
A: Yes sir, in the direction of Deep Water. That went on until about 11 o'clock at night, when practically all who were going, had gone.
Q: Was the mine working the next day?
A: No.
Q: Why?
A: Lack of orders. We didn't expect to run the next day.
Q: When did the men begin to return that left your place?
A: Most of them came back sometime the next morning. Some of them were gone several days.
Q: About how many were gone several days?
A: I should say 10 or 12 who didn't get back until sometime Monday.
Q: Did you know any of these men who came to your house inquiring about the rifles?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Tell the jury names of any you knew?
A: Ezra Dunfield was the spokesman of the crowd. A boy by the name of Kincaid. I cannot think of his first name right now. I know his last name was Kincaid. One negro by the name of Bird. One we called "Happy," I don't know what his real name was.
Q: Tell the jury whether they were members of the United Mines Workers.
A: Yes sir, they were.
May 5th, 1922
Q: Did you hear any of the armed men say where they were going or for what purpose, besides the one you say you talked with?
A: No. I stayed pretty close around the house. It did not seem a place for me to interfere.
CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. HOUSTON.
Motion made by Mr. Houston to strike out the testimony of this witness.
Motion overruled.
Exception taken.
Q: How long have you lived in Page?
A: Since 1906. About sixteen years this September.
Q: All that time you have been working for Loop Creek Colliery Company, have you not?
A: Yes.
Q: All that time in the same capacity?
A: Yes.
Q: Page is what is called a mining village, is it not?
A: Yes, it is primarily a mining town, though there are some railroad people there.
Q: But nearly all the men in the town of Page are employed in the mines, are they not?
A: I should say the majority of them are
Q: And nearly all the families in Page are dependent for their livings on their work in the mines, are they not?
A: Yes, the majority are, but there are some railroad men living there and there are some farmers outside the town.
Q: But as a matter of fact, do not a[n] overwhelming majority of the men there make their living from the mines?
A: Yes, the majority of them do.
Q: Is it not true that the whole country around there is dependent upon the mines?
A: Well, there are a number of railroad men there, as I said before and some farmers, but I will say the majority of the men derive their living from the mines
Q: Is the town of Page incorporated?
A: No.
Q: How many people are in the town of Page?
A: Well, within a radius of a mile I should say there were about 1500 men, women and children.
Q: Are there any industries in Page?
A: There is a railroad yard.
Q: What proportion of the 1500 are employed in the railroad?
A: Possibly as many as 10%
Q: There is no other industry there except the mines, is there, besides the railroad?
A: No.
Q: Page is set in the bottom of a valley, bounded by mountains on each side, is it not?
A: Yes.
Q: And the mountains are wooded, are they not?
A: Yes.
Q: They are too steep for cultivation, are they not?
A: The men have garden on the hillsides.
Q: There is not agriculture there to amount to anything, is there?
A: No.
Q: There are no farms, but simply gardens, aren't there? used to supplement their other industries?
A: Yes, to a large extent, this is true.
Q: Your company, prior to the first day of April, had a contract with the United Mine Workers of America, did it not?
A: Yes. We are not a direct signatory, but through our association
Q: But you regarded it as being in effect, and have had meeting there for a considerable period of time of the United Mine Workers, have you not?
A: Yes, for several years.
Q: You dealt with the officials of the United Mine Workers in making contracts providing for wages and working conditions, did you not?
Objection.
Objection overruled.
A: I have never dealt with the[m] personally, but we had a contract with the United Mine Workers.
Q: Are there any other mining operations in Page?
A: Within half a mile there is another operation.
Q: What company owns it?
A: The Glencoe Coal Company. A small operatinon [sic] that just started last year.
Q: Do some of the people of Page work there?
A: No, it is a separate village.
Q: Practically all the miners in Page work for your Company, do they not?
A: I should say practically 90 per cent of them do.
Q: You say you heard some remarks about wanting to go to Mingo?
A: They did not say they wanted to go. The[y] said they were going.
Q: And they said they wanted some rifles to use for the purpose for which they were going?
A: Yes.
Q: Did they say anything else about their purpose in going?
A: No, not to me.
Q: Did you hear them say a[n]ything to anyone else
A: No.
Q: You heard considerable talk among the miners, did you not?
A: Yes, there was a good deal of excitement all over the field about the up rising.
Q: Did you observe or learn why there was this excitement?
A: I heard about it from the newspapers and from general rumor.
Q: You learned about it from the general report around there. Did you hear a report about two men belonging to the United Mine Workers being shot down on the Court House steps at Welch?
Objection.
Objection sustained.
Q: You say there was excitement among the people. When did you first notice this excitement?
A: Friday, Sept. 2nd.
Q: You had not noticed it before that time?
A: Very little. Of course, there had been more or less talk but no one left Page before that time.
Q: Did you hear a report about that time of two miners having been shot on Beech Creek on August 22nd?
A: I read that there had been trouble there, but killings were so frequent that I think you will have to be more specific. I don't know where Beech creek is, or who was killed.
Q: You had heard of some killings toward the Logan County line had you not.
Objection.
Objection sustained.
Exception taken.
Q: You say the men did say something about going to Mingo, did they not?
A: Yes, when they demanded my rifles, the spokesman told me they were going to Mingo.
Q: And that is all you heard them say about it?
A: Yes.
Q: They did not say why they were going to Mingo County?
A: No.
Q: Were these three men you mentioned employed in your coal mines?
A: Yes. There were five men, Ezra Drumfield, and Kincaid were in our employ, and Happy was an employee too.
Q: They worked in the mines, did they?
A: Yes, in and around the mines.
Further deponent saith not.