The Oldest Coal   Company Scrip

        I have often heard that the oldest coal company scrip was the scrip issued by Pioneer Coal Company at Malden, West Virginia.  Pioneer Coal Company was in business form the mid-1880’s into the 20th century.  A recent discovery that I made had led me to believe that this information is not correct.

        Over ten years ago, a colleague sent me a letter asking for information about West Virginia Civil war tokens from Hartford City; a five cent and a ten cent token issued by Kelly’s Store.  His statement was that he didn’t think the tokens were issued during the Civil War because he could find no information about Kelly’s Store in any reference books form that time period.  He asked me to check other years and see if perhaps these were from later period.

        After checking all of my available Dun, Bradstreet and Polk Gazetteer listings from 1875 to the early 1900’s I could not find any listing that shows that Kelly was in business during this time.

        Recently, while visiting the state library, I saw a book on the History of Hartford City, West Virginia, written by Mildred Chapman Gibbs in 1975.  She states that on January 1, 1853, Augustus J. Brown purchased 540 acres of land in what was to become later become Hartford City.  This purchase included mineral rights to the coal and salt brine.

        Coal was discovered along the banks of the Ohio River and was easy to mine using slope digging.  It was then shipped by barge down the Ohio to Cincinnati and other industrial cities.  The coal was also used to produce salt, which was also shipped to Cincinnati and the meat packing cities.

        The Hartford City Coal and Salt Company store began to operate in the late 1850’s, with James Kelly as the first manager.  The name of the store was the Hartford City Store.

        The scrip issued is known in two denominations:

In Merchandise / Kelly’s / Store / Hartford / City / W. Va.
Brass, 19mm

In Merchandise / Kelly’s / Store / Hartford / City / W. Va.
Nickel

        Since West Virginia became a state in 1863, the use of this scrip must have been shortly after the statehood, because James Kelly was the first manager.  I cannot find any information on the length of this tenure as manager, but history states that he was married and had four children before he left.  It also relates that he bought and sold coal lands and made a nice profit.  He later became a delegate to the National Convention in 1872.

        Hartford City, or Hartford as it is known today, was named after Hartford Connecticut, because the owners of the Mason County Mining and Manufacturing Company came from Connecticut.  They later established mines at another location that was a few miles up river from Hartford, named New Haven after another Connecticut City.

        I believe it is safe to say that Kelly’s Store, Hartford City, West Virginia scrip is the earliest known example of coal company scrip in the state.

Donald K. Clifford, submitted 3/06