On the morning of May 19th, 1902, a huge explosion ripped through Fraterville Coal Mine in Tennessee killing 216 miners on the spot. 26 miners made it to a side passage where they suffocated while waiting for help to come. They had just enough time to write a few words to their loved ones.
Letters of Note posted one of these, a heartrending letter written by Jacob Vowell to his wife, Sarah Ellen, mother to their 6 children, one of whom, 14-year-old Elbert, was by his side in the mine.
