Muhlenberg County Kentucky
Local History: M
Women and the Bank Mule: Two Stories of Mining
Two stories that reflect the Muhlenberg County coal mining area are Agnes S. Harralson's interpretations of the attitudes toward women being in the mines and of how early mines used mules. These accounts are also based on the interview with her on November 12, 1981.
Women in the Mines
There is a legend that if women go into the coal mines it's bad luck. Although there are women mining coal today, old miners think something is liable to happen - slate falls, roof collapses, explosions - if women enter a mine. At the Render Mine in about 1904-1905 there was a murder that occurred. The night before a group of young people had gone into the mine on a picnic or sight-seeing trip. Sometime before morning someone murdered the engineer who also was the night watchman at the powerhouse; the killer cut his throat. Afterwards, miners believed the muder was the result of the ladies being in the mine the night before. At different times it just happened that if someone had gone into the mines and there would be a fall or something else happen, it would always ben associated with the presence of women in the mines. Whenever something is said repeatedly over a period of time, it becomes legend.
Soon after the murder, someone found the man and called the sheriff in Hartford who arrived with bloodhounds and organized a posse. They traced the tracks of the suspected murderer to the mines. About a quarter of a mile into the hill there was a room off to the side with a huge furnace in it that was used to pull the bad air out of the mine. The furnace was a warm place and when the posse reached that spot they saw two glowing eyes looking at them. Everyone stopped! Some members of the posse turned and ran outside. The dogs started going wild. Upon investigation, the two “glowing” eyes belonged to a little fox that was hunting a warm place around the furnace.
The posse continued into the mine. Previously the sheriff had sent a group of men to watch an airshaft located a couple of miles away at the Old McHenry Mine in the event the suspect tried to come out there. Sure enough that is what he did. As soon as the man climbed out of the airshaft on a ladder inside the mine, the posse captured him. His name was Hartford and there was no doubt he was guilty because when they found him he had blood all over him, for when he had cut the engineer's throat blood spurted everywhere. They hanged him.
This murder and so many other mishaps that have occurred in mines that could in some way be related to women being there are part of the legend.
The Bank Mule
It was legendary how mule drivers would get attached to their mules. The mines maintained stables for little mules that were about half as big as horses that would go into the mines. Usually a mules was assigned to a certain driver who would keep him for several years and would get so attached to him that it was like a dog or a cat. If something happened to the mule, it was an emotional experience for the driver.
The bank mule was about as mean as a “junkyard dog”. Because drivers teased their mules: tickled their ribs; put cigarettes at their heels; blew smoke into their ears. But, still the driver let the mule eat out of his lunch pail and always took something extra for the mule. The little mules were called “bank mules” because a mine in the hillside was called a bank mine.
A special whistle at the mines gave the mule drivers signals when to assemble and prepare to enter the mine and then enter. At 7:00 a.m. the utilitarian whistle blew as a signal for the mules drivers to go to the stable to hitch up. At 7:15 the special whistle gave a little toot for the drivers to proceed to the entrance of the mine. At 7:30 the little whistle blew again and the drivers hooked their mules to a little mine car and went inside. The mule drivers led their mules to the various rooms in the mine where they worked and pulled coal out of the room as the miners mined it. When the larger motorcar was filled sufficiently, the motorman pulled it out of the mine on the main line.
During the time the miners were putting coal in the car, the drivers had time to tease the mule, pet him, hug his neck, and sometimes get bitten. They were mean; the drivers teased them until they expected to get bitten once in a while. If a slate fall would kill a mule or if they died in some other way, the driver grieved as though it were a member of his family and would not be able to work for a day or two.
Source: Gooch, J.T. The Pennyrile: History, Stories, Legends. Madisonville, KY: Madisonville Community College, 1982, pp. 67-68.
Presented with the kind permission of J.T. Gooch
Updated July 14, 2022