James and Emma (Lord) While

Page by Bob Leathers
Picture
Carbon Cemetery. While Plot. James While Sr., James While Jr. and Jobe While. (Image by Bob Leathers)

Life Story

1859 June: James "Jim" While was born in Netherton, Dudley, Worcestershire, England to Henry and Sarah (Roberts) While. Netherton was located in an area of England call the Black Country.
1862 January: Emma Lord was born in Yorkshire, England.
1879: James "Jim" While's cousin Joseph "Joe" Cox arrived in Carbon, Wyoming to work in the coal mines. It was the year after the hanging of Dutch Charlie Burris. He came from Saint Clair, Schuylkill, Pennsylvania where he had immigrated with his parents Richard and Elizabeth (Roberts) Cox from Netherton, Dudley, England in the Black Country. ​ 
​1880: James While, age 21 and Emma Lord, age 18, married in England. 
1880: James While's uncle - Joseph "Joe" Cox -  was living in Carbon Aka: Old Carbon and Carbon City. He was age 24, single, white, male and a coal miner. (1800 U.S. Census) 
1885: James "Jim" While, age 24 and Emma (Lord) While, age 21, immigrated with children Mary Ann While and James Jr. While to the United States, going directly to Carbon Wyoming  to work in the coal mines. James and Emma were recruited to Carbon by Richard and Elizabeth Cox and their son Joseph "Joe" Cox. Jim went to work in the Carbon coal mines. He worked in the Carbon No. 2 and Carbon No. 6 Mines during his time living in Carbon. 
1887 - 1888:  The decision was made by the Union Pacific Coal Company Officials to move the coal mines from Carbon to Hanna. The responsibility of developing the No. 1 Mine and  No. 2 Mine in Hanna was given to Joseph Cox. He and Mary moved from Carbon to Hanna. Joseph was put in charge of the mine development - making him the first Mine  Foreman in Hanna. 
1888 - 1890: Jim and Emma While made the move from Carbon to Hanna to help develop the Hanna No. 1 and No. 2 Mines.
1889 July 12: Joseph "Joe" Cox's father Richard Cox, age 68, died in Carbon and was buried in Carbon. (Carbon Cemetery Records)
1889: The first shipment of coal was made from Hanna to Carbon by wagon. (BL)
1890 June 19: A fierce fire broke out in Carbon and burned most of the business district to the ground. A few reports indicate the fire started in the Scranton House hotel where a guest knocked over a kerosene lamp. The fire fighters even tried dynamiting a few buildings in hopes of stopping the fire from spreading, but their efforts were not successful. Immediately after the fire, the people and businesses started rebuilding the town and new laws and ordinances were passed to help avoid such a thing from happening again.
1890: The Union Pacific Coal Company was created. 
1895-1896: James "Jim" While was the Foreman of the Union Pacific Coal Company's Hanna No. 2 Mine. The No. 2 Mine closed in 1896 because the No. 1 was producing enough coal to meet the Union Pacific Coal Company's needs. James then became a Fire Boss at the Hanna No. 1 Mine.
During the operation of No. 2 Mine, the following Superintendents were in charge: Mr. L.R. Meyer, Mr. E.S. Brooks, Mr. Alexander Briggs, Mr. T.H. Butler, Mr. William Hartman, Mr. William Cowdrey and Mr. O.G. Sharrer. The first three named are now deceased. The following Foremen have been in charge of the mine: Mr. Joseph Cox, Mr. John Battle, Mr. James While, Mr. Alfred Dodds, Mr. Thomas Wakely, Mr. W.B. Rae, Mr. Charles Higgins, Mr. Edward Brooks, Mr. John Kinghorn, Mr. William Hughes, Mr. J.G. Crawford, Mr. Herbert Chadwick, and Mr. J.V. McClelland. Of these, Messrs, Cox, Battle, While, Dodds and Rae died several years ago. (No. 2 Mine Hanna Abandoned by T.H. Butler, UPCCEM, June 1934)
1900: James "Jim" While, age 40 a laborer in the coal mine and his wife Emma, age 38, were living in Hanna Wyoming in house #270. They had been married for 20 years. They had five children living with them: James While, age 14; Lizzie While, age 11; Samuel While, age 6; Joseph While, age 3 and Baby [Enock] age 2 months. (1900 U.S. Census)
1903 March 30: James "Jim" While, a Fire Boss in the mine was killed in the explosion of Union Pacific Coal Company's Hanna No.1 Mine along with his son James While Jr. and Jim's brother Jobe "Job" While. James "Jim" While was buried in the Carbon, Wyoming Cemetery along with his son James Jr. and his bother Jobe. 
 The Hanna Miner: At the Bottom of the Mine by Bob Leathers
The first deaths in the family occurred on June 30, 1903, when the Union Pacific Coal Company’s No. 1 mine in Hanna exploded killing 169 men. Five of 169 men, James While Sr., James While Jr., Job While, David B. Jones and John Raite were family.
 
James While Sr., age 41, from England, with a wife Emma and seven children, was killed in the June 30, 1903 explosion of the Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 1 mine in Hanna. He was found at entry 17 at the outer edge of the dip, identified and removed from the mine on August 8, 1903, day 40 after the explosion. He was a Fire Boss in the mine. James was in the area of his younger brother Job when the explosion occurred. They were attempting to escape entry 17 with some other miners when the Black Damp must have overtaken them. They were reported to have sat close to each other and died. After 40 days of exposure in the mine, their bodies could only be identified by their features. James was buried with his son James Jr. and brother Job in Plot 109 in the Carbon, Wyoming, cemetery. 

James While, Jr., age 18, a miner from England, not married, killed in the June 30, 1903 explosion of the Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 1 mine in Hanna. He was found at entry 20, identified and removed from the mine on July 23, 1903, day 24 after the explosion. James was a Mule Driver in the mine. His job was to bring the coal to the slope by mule power. It was reported that the force of the explosion knocked James and his coal trip into splinters. It drove the pit cars and the mule attached to the cars down the manway about fifteen to twenty feet. James, his mule and the trip of pit cars were found at the edge of the manway. The force of the explosion completely disrobed him of every stitch of clothing and left him completely nude and mangled. James Jr. was buried with his father James Sr. and his uncle Job in Plot 109 in the Carbon, Wyoming, cemetery.
 
Jobe "Job" While, age 34, a miner from England, married with a wife Millie and two children, was killed in the June 30, 1903 explosion of the Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 1 mine in Hanna. Like James Sr., he was found on the outer edge of the dip at entry 17, identified and removed from the mine on August 8, 1903, day 40 after the explosion. He was a Fire Boss in the mine. Job and James Sr. were in the same area when the explosion occurred. After the explosion, they were attempting to escape entry 17 with some other miners when the Black Damp must have overtaken them. They died close to each other. Their bodies were in much better state of preservation than those caught directly in the path of the explosion and were identified by their features. Job was buried with his brother James Sr. and nephew James Jr. in Plot 109 in the Carbon, Wyoming, cemetery.
James "Jim" and Emma (Lord) While had seven children together:
  1. Richard While (1882 - 1884) Born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, England. Died September 1884 in Barnsley. Richard died about a year prior to James and Emma immigrating to the United States from England. (UK Birth and Death Certificates - see scrapbook)
  2. Mary Ann While (1883 - 1958) Born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, England, Lived in Hanna, Wyoming. Married John "Jack" Raite in Hanna. Died in Pennsylvania.
  3. James Henry While (1885 - 1903) Born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, England. Killed in the 1903 Hanna, Wyoming mine explosion. Buried in Carbon, Wyoming.
  4. Elizabeth While (1888 - 1962) Born in Carbon, Carbon County, Wyoming. Married William Prescott December 1, 1904. Died February 2, 1962 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 
  5. Samuel While (1894 - 1972) Born in Carbon, Carbon County, Wyoming. Lived in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Died in Portsmouth, Virginia at age of 78. Buried in Twin Valley, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania.
  6. Joseph Charles While (1897 - 1988) Born in Hanna. Lived in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Died in San Bernardino, California at the age of 91.
  7. Enock While (1900 - 1984) Born in Hanna, Wyoming. Married Gertrude Altenbaugh. Died in Dallas, Texas in 1984 at age 83.
  8. George While (1902 - 1969) Born in Hanna, Wyoming. Died in Los Angeles in March 1969 at the age of 66.
1905 February 28: Emma (Lord) While, age 46, married John J. Baum in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. John was a coal miner, single at the time and Emma was a widow with 7 children. (Pennsylvania, US Marriages)

The marriage of Emma (Lord) (While) from Hanna, Wyoming and John Baum in Pennsylvania was most likely organized by the Cox family - Richard and Elizabeth along with their children Joseph, Jane and Robert - immigrated to St. Claire, Pennsylvania from Netherton, England in 1869. The Cox family spent nearly 10 years in the Pennsylvania coal fields until they moved on in 1879 to the Carbon Coal Camp in Carbon County, Wyoming. They most likely knew John Baum and knew that he was single and was willing to accept a wife and a large family.

Jim and Emma While's daughter, Mary Ann (While) (Raite), lost her husband, in the 1903 explosion as well. She married Edward Kuhns, a coal miner in Allegheny, Pennsylvania about 3 months after Emma married John Baum. (Bob Leathers)
1920: John Baum, age 49, born in Pennsylvania, Head of House, a miner in a coal mine, owned his own house, and Emma Baum, age 52, born in England, were living in Harrison, Pennsylvania. Living with them were: Henritta Baum, age 12, a daughter; Emma Buzzard, age 19, a granddaughter; Nancy Buzzard, age 3, a great granddaughter; George Neil, age 17 a stepson; and Enock Neil, age 19, a stepson. (1920 US Census)
1928: Emma (Lord) (While) Baum died at age 66 in Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison Township, Natrona Heights. in Pennsylvania. 

​I have a few tidbits I want to add, in case you want to update them. I have death certificates for Emma Lord While Baum, (as well as a few others) and I can tell you she did not die in Carnegie. She died in Allegheny Valley Hospital which is in Harrison Township, Natrona Heights.  
1929 June 19: John Baum, widower, died in Harrison, Allegheny, Pennsylvania at the age of 54. (US Death Certificate)
Emma (Lord) (While) Baum and John Bum had one child together:
  1. Henritta Baum (1908 - ?)
Hanna Basin Death and Burial Records
While, James Sr. (Inquest); Aka: While, James Sr. (MIR); While J. Sr. (MM)
​​Cemetery: Carbon
Born: 1862
Died: June 30, 1903
Age: 41 y's

Note: James Sr., an English speaking miner from the United Kingdom - England, married, was killed in the June 30, 1903 explosion of Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 1 mine in Hanna. He was found at entry 17 at the outer edge of the dip, identified and removed from the mine on August 8, 1903 day 40 after the explosion. He was buried in Plot 109 in the Carbon, Wyoming cemetery. James Sr. was the father of James While Jr. and the brother of Job While. (BL)

Note: James While Sr. was killed in the Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 1 mine in Hanna, but buried in Carbon, Wyoming. He has a Headstone in the Carbon cemetery. (BL)
​
​More at:  Miner Monument
Picture
James "Jim" While's Headstone in the Carbon Cemetery. James was killed in the June 30, 1903 explosion of Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 1 Mine in Hanna and Buried in Carbon. (Image by Bob Leathers)
Picture
(Image by Bob Leathers)

Cemetery Records ​​Emma (Lord) (While) Baum died in 1928 at age 66 in Carnegie, Pennsylvania 

Picture
​Emma (While) Baum died in 1928 at age 66 in Carnegie, Pennsylvania (Ancestry.com)