West Virginia and Regional History Center
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Morgantown, WV 26506-6069
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Preferred Citation
[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Justus Collins (1857-1934) Papers, A&M 1824, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.
Scope and Contents
Justus Collins [1857-1934] was an entrepreneur who opened his first coal mine in the Pocahontas- Flat Top coal field of Southern West Virginia, and thereafter operated mines in the New River, Tug River, and Winding Gulf coal fields. He headed a coal sales agency, speculated in coal and timber lands, headed a cement company, and was interested financially in rubber, oil, and gas companies. He played an important role in organizing the Tug River Coal Operators Association, the Winding Gulf Operators' Association, and the Smokeless Coal Operators Association of West Virginia.
The materials include correspondence, agreements, contracts, deeds, financial statements, ledger books, magazines, maps, minute books, pamphlets, photographs, production and shipping records, reports, and stock books.
The bulk of the collection concerns the development of the law volatile, or smokeless, coal fields of Southern West Virginia, ca. 1900-1934. Subjects include: Coal company operation, (coal and coke sales, costs, marketing conditions, price-fixing, profits, salaries, taxes); coal operators' associations; government investigation and regulation of the coal industry (Interstate Commerce Commission, mining legislation, N.R.A. code, U.S. Railroad Administration) labor (insurance "on transportation", strikes, United Mine Workers of America, wages, workman's compensation, "yellow-dog" contract); law and order (Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, courts, injunctions, mine guard system, National Guard, secret operatives, state troopers); life in mining camps (amusements, churches, health, housing, recreation, schools, stores); mining safety; railroads (Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, coal car distribution, freight rates, Norfolk & Western Railroad, railway fuel contracts, and Virginian Railway- Organization of Winding Gulf Branch); and state and local politics. Other non-coal subjects include cement business, lumber business, tire and tire gauge manufacturing, and oil and gas drilling.
Correspondents include: S.R. Anderson; G. R. Collins; Jairus Collins; Justus Collins; Raymond DuPuy; W. J. Elgin; Lamar Epperly;
H.D. Everett; T. L. Felts; A.M. Herndon; J.J. Holloway; L. E. Johnson; P. H. Kelly; E.W. Knight; John Laing; I. T. Mann;
C. H. Mead; C. J. Milton; J. H. Renahan, P. J. RIley: P. M. Snyder; Holly Stover; W. P. Tams; Jr.: J.J. Tierney; E.E. White;
and George Wolfe.
Series include:
1. General Correspondence, 1896–1934 (boxes 1-36)
2. Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, 1905–1934 (box 36)
3. Coal Operators Association, 1911–1934 (boxes 37-39)
4. Smokeless Fuel Company -- Sales Managers' Correspondence, 1914-1915, undated (boxes 40-42)
5. Smokeless Fuel Company -- Smithing and Other Sales, 1914–1922 (boxes 43-44)
6. Superior Portland Cement Company, 1905–1924 (boxes 45-47)
7. Miscellaneous Printed Materials, 1899–1954 (boxes 48-56)
8. Oversize Maps, Blueprints, and Charts, 1916-1962, undated (oversize folder)
Related Material
1784, 1824
Subjects and Indexing Terms
- Account books
- Baldwin-Felts Detective Inc.
- Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company
- Church buildings
- Coal Mining - Tug River field
- Coal mining - New River field.
- Coal mining - Regulation.
- Coal mining - Safety.
- Coal mining - Winding Gulf field.
- Coal mining - coal and coke sales.
- Coal mining - coal operators associations.
- Coal mining -- Strikes
- Coal mining.
- Collins family
- Collins, Jarius.
- Collins, Justus, 1857-1934
- Education
- Felts, T.L.
- Holloway, J.J.
- Laing, John B.
- Mann, Isaac T. (Isaac Thomas), 1864-1932
- Maps.
- New Deal, 1933-1939
- New River coalfields.
- Norfolk and Western Railroad.
- Pocahontas-Flat Top coalfield.
- Politics and government.
- Railroads - Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad.
- Railroads - Norfolk and Western Railroad.
- Railroads - Virginia Railway - Winding Gulf Branch.
- Schools. SEE ALSO Academies
- Smokeless Coal Operators Association
- Tams, W. P., Jr. (William Purviance), 1883-1977
- Taxation
- Tug River Coal Operators Association
- United Mine Workers of America
- United States - Railway Administration.
- United States. Coal Commission
- United States. Fuel Administration
- United States. Interstate Commerce Commission
- United States. National Recovery Administration
- Virginian Railroad -- Railroads
- Virginian Railway- Organization of Winding Gulf Branch
- Winding Gulf (W. Va.) -- coalfields
- Winding Gulf Operators Association
- Wolfe, George.
Significant Persons Associated With the Collection
- Collins, Jarius.
- Collins, Justus, 1857-1934
- Felts, T.L.
- Holloway, J.J.
- Laing, John B.
- Mann, Isaac T. (Isaac Thomas), 1864-1932
- Tams, W. P., Jr. (William Purviance), 1883-1977
- Wolfe, George.
Container List
This series includes general correspondence between Justus Collins and many others, including S.R. Anderson; G. R. Collins; Jairus Collins; Raymond DuPuy; W. J. Elgin; Lamar Epperly; H.D. Everett; T. L. Felts; A.M. Herndon; J.J. Holloway; L. E. Johnson; P. H. Kelly; E.W. Knight; John Laing; I. T. Mann; C. H. Mead; C. J. Milton; J. H. Renahan, P. J. Riley: P. M. Snyder; Holly Stover; W. P. Tams; Jr.: J.J. Tierney; E.E. White; and George Wolfe.
Subjects include coal company operation (coal and coke sales, costs, marketing conditions, price-fixing, profits, salaries, taxes), coal operators' associations, railroads (Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, coal car distribution, freight rates, Norfolk & Western Railroad, railway fuel contracts, and Virginian Railway- Organization of Winding Gulf Branch), and state and local politics.
- Mixed Materials Box: 1
Correspondence1896–1905
- Mixed Materials Box: 2
CorrespondenceOctober 1906-October 1907
- Mixed Materials Box: 3
CorrespondenceNovember 1907-January 1909
- Mixed Materials Box: 4
CorrespondenceFebruary-August 1909
- Mixed Materials Box: 5
CorrespondenceSeptember-October 1909
- Mixed Materials Box: 6a
CorrespondenceDecember 1909-April 1910
- Mixed Materials Box: 6b
CorrespondenceApril-May 1910
- Mixed Materials Box: 7
CorrespondenceMay-September 1910
- Mixed Materials Box: 8
CorrespondenceOctober 1910-February 1911
- Mixed Materials Box: 9
CorrespondenceMay-September 1911
- Mixed Materials Box: 10
CorrespondenceOctober 1911-April 1912
- Mixed Materials Box: 11
CorrespondenceMay 1912-January 1913
- Mixed Materials Box: 12
CorrespondenceFebruary 1913-August 1914
- Mixed Materials Box: 13
CorrespondenceSeptember 1914-1916
- Mixed Materials Box: 14
CorrespondenceJanuary 1916-March 1914
- Mixed Materials Box: 15
CorrespondenceApril-December 1917
- Mixed Materials Box: 16
Correspondence1918-June 1920
- Mixed Materials Box: 17
CorrespondenceJuly 1920-November 1921
- Mixed Materials Box: 18
CorrespondenceDecember 1921-1922
- Mixed Materials Box: 19
CorrespondenceJanuary-July 1923
- Mixed Materials Box: 20
CorrespondenceAugust 1923-January 1924
- Mixed Materials Box: 21
CorrespondenceFeburary 1924-January 1925
- Mixed Materials Box: 22
CorrespondenceFebruary-December 1925
- Mixed Materials Box: 23
CorrespondenceJanuary-September 1926
- Mixed Materials Box: 24
CorrespondenceOctober 1926-April 1927
- Mixed Materials Box: 25
CorrespondenceMay-November 1927
- Mixed Materials Box: 26
CorrespondenceDecember 1927-March 1928
- Mixed Materials Box: 27
CorrespondenceMarch-July 1928
- Mixed Materials Box: 28
CorrespondenceAugust 1928-February 1929
- Mixed Materials Box: 29
CorrespondenceMarch-August 1929
- Mixed Materials Box: 30
CorrespondenceSeptember 1929-March 1930
- Mixed Materials Box: 31
CorrespondenceMarch-August 1930
- Mixed Materials Box: 32
CorrespondenceSeptember 1930-February 1931
- Mixed Materials Box: 33
CorrespondenceMarch-November 1931
- Mixed Materials Box: 34
CorrespondenceDecember 1931-December 1932
- Mixed Materials Box: 35
CorrespondenceMarch-December 1933
- Mixed Materials Box: 36
CorrespondenceMarch-November 1934, undated
This series includes material related to the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency (ca. 1890s-1937), which was used by coal operators as strikebreakers in the 1910s and 1920s. Baldwin-Felts detectives were infamous for their violent involvement in the Coal Wars, the Battle of Matewan, and other coal union strikes.
This series includes correspondence regarding various coal operators associations, including the Tug River Valley Association, the Winding Gulf Association, the Pocahontas Assocation, and others.
- Mixed Materials Box: 37
Business correspondenceOctober 1911-August 1923
- Mixed Materials Box: 38
Business correspondenceSeptember 1923-1926
- Mixed Materials Box: 39
Business correspondence1927–1934
This series includes sales managers' correspondence regarding the Smokeless Fuel Company.
- Mixed Materials Box: 40
Sales managers' correspondenceFebruary 1909-April 1914, undated
- Mixed Materials Box: 41
Sales managers' correspondenceMay-September 1914
- Mixed Materials Box: 42
Sales managers' correspondenceOctober 1914-March 1915
This series includes material regarding smithing and other sales of the Smokeless Fuel Company.
- Mixed Materials Box: 43
Material regarding smithing and other salesMay 1914-1916
- Mixed Materials Box: 44
Material regarding smithing and other sales1917–1922
This series includes material regarding the Superior Portland Cement Company.
- Mixed Materials Box: 45
Material regarding the Superior Portland Cement CompanyAugust 1905-1909
- Mixed Materials Box: 46
Material regarding the Superior Portland Cement Company1910-August 1912
- Mixed Materials Box: 47
Material regarding the Superior Portland Cement CompanySeptember 1912-1924
This series includes assorted printed materials, including personal and business account books, surveys, stockholders meeting minutes, and other material.
- Mixed Materials Box: 48
Assorted printed materials1907–1934
- Mixed Materials Box: 49
Assorted printed materials1899–1934
- Mixed Materials Box: 50
Assorted printed materials1907–1932
- Mixed Materials Box: 51
Assorted printed materials1902–1937
- Mixed Materials Box: 52
Assorted printed materials1888–1935
- Mixed Materials Box: 53
Assorted printed materials1921–1928
- Mixed Materials Box: 54
Assorted printed materials1906-1934, 1954
- Mixed Materials Box: 55
Assorted printed materials1907–1930
- Mixed Materials Box: 56
Assorted printed materialsca. 1887-1950
This series includes oversize maps, blueprints, and charts, including maps of Collins's personal property; maps and blueprints of potential locations for housing, schools, and amenities at Whipple and other coal mines; assorted coal mine maps and blueprints; and statistical charts of productivity and other metrics of Winding Gulf Collieries and other coal companies.