Helpful Hints to   Researching Coal   Company Scrip

After several years of avid scrip collecting, it became apparent to me that learning the history behind the scrip was just as pleasurable and perhaps more important than the act of acquiring and the possession of mine scrip.  The comments I make hear are meant as somewhat of a guide to those collectors who would like to delve a little deeper into the history of mines and mine scrip.  My first bit of advice as far as history is concerned is to limit your field to what you would like to research, probably the same as your collecting interests.  After years of “shrinking” the area of interest for myself, I find my hands full with three counties, namely Bell, Knox, and Whitley, Kentucky, along with that portion of Claiborne County, Tennessee, bound by Bell County.

It is my belief that a large number of scrip collectors, new and old, do not understand fully the scope of Gordon Dodrill’s 20,000 Coal Company Stores.   In no way do I intend to minimize the work of Dodrill, nor the importance of his book; truly it is a work of importance and a valuable tool.  One must note, however, that Dodrill did not primarily intend to list coal mines as such; as the title of the work states, “Company Stores,” not mines.  A great number of mines, many issuing scrip, were not listed simply because there was no record in the Keystone Directories of their having a company store.  As far as I have been able to discern, Dodrill’s only source of information was from the Keystone Directories, and these not before 1903 as stated on the cover of his book.

As an example of why this is not the complete picture, most of the mining area I have studied began years before 1903, causing the omission of many scrip issuing mines.  Also, if Keystone made an error it follows that Dodrill made an error, and this must be taken into account.  In Kentucky, and probably in most coal producing states, the Department of Mines and Minerals made an annual report to the Governor; probably the most factual source of information to be had.  One must go directly to the “horse’s mouth,” the Department of Mines and Minerals, to see the microfilm records.

Rarely one will see a piece of scrip that is not mentioned in Dodrill, Edkins, or the state records, in which case other records sometimes help.  Telephone directories, R. G. Dun Directories, geological surveys, and even newspapers can be valuable sources of information.

Another thing we have to thank Gordon Dodrill for is probably not known to most scrip collectors. Gordon worked from index cards, keeping things such as names of officer and relative dates, such as the company being succeeded or, itself, succeeding another company.   These cards were given to the NSCA and are in the possession of the NSCA, except for those for West Virginia. These cards have been of great benefit to me, perhaps more than the Dodrill book, itself.  To give you an idea of the scope of some of the research, I have compiled a record of about 600 mining companies in Bell County, beginning in 1800’s and running until about 1950.  Somewhere near 150 of these issued scrip.

Just because you don’t find it in Dodrill or Edkins, don’t give up!

Crawford Blakeman, Sr., submitted 04/98