Charles Benton Crews (1877 - 1902)

Born Nov 1877 in Iowa, United States

Husband of Terry (Ruttan) Crews — married 25 Oct 1899 in Oskaloosa, Mahaska, Iowa Territory, United States

Died 24 Jan 1902 at age 24 in Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa, United States

Biography

Charles B. "C.B." Crews was born in November of 1877 in Iowa. He was the son of William and Emma (Whitsell) Crews.^[1][2] In 1880 his family was living in Des Moines, Mahaska, Iowa.^[1] His father, thirty-one, was working as a coal miner.^[1] His mother, twenty-three, took care of the home and family. His oldest sister Mary, six, was the only one to attend school that year.^[1] Daniel and Anne stayed home with him, too young to go to school.^[1]

C.B married T. Edna Ruttan on the 25th of October 1899 in Oskaloosa, Iowa.^[3] In 1900 C.B. and Edna were living in East Des Moines, Iowa.^[2] C.B., twenty-two, was working as a coal miner and owned his home free and clear.^[2] Edna, eighteen, took care of their newborn son Charles.^[2] Next door was his fifty-year-old father, still a coal miner, and forty-three-year-old mother.^[2] His brother Daniel, twenty-four, was living with them and also working as a coal miner.^[2] Their adopted daughter Minnie, six, was also in the home.^[2]

Charles Crews died in a coal mine explosion on 24 Jan 1902

On the morning of January 24th in 1902 C.B. rose early, like he did every work day.^[4] Before the sun could rise he had headed to the Lost Creek No. 2 Mine. It was midday and the the noon blasts had just been fired when everything went wrong.^[5][6] An explosion rocked the mine around him, shooting debris and smoke 200 feet in the air.^[5][6] C.B. was one of the twenty-two miners that perished tragically in the explosion. He left behind a grieving wife and a toddler. Charles was only twenty-five years old. His loss of life was honored by the coal mining communities along with the others, with about a thousand people following the funeral procession. C.B., another dedicated miner, was not to be soon forgotten.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (www.FamilySearch.org : accessed 13 March 2020), Charles B Creios in household of William Creios, Des Moines, Mahaska, Iowa, United States; citing enumeration district ED 180, sheet 440D, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,354.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6} "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (www.FamilySearch.org : accessed 13 March 2020), Charles B Crews, East Des Moines Township, Mahaska, Iowa, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 59, sheet 19A, family 388, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,446.
3. ↑ "Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934," database, FamilySearch (www.FamilySearch.org : accessed 13 March 2020), C. B. Crews and T. Edna Ruttan, 25 Oct 1899, Oskaloosa, Mahaska, Iowa, United States; citing reference p 110, county courthouses, Iowa; FHL microfilm 985,384.
4. ↑ Booth, Harry. "You Got to Go Ahead and Get Killed..," (IO: Palimpsest, 1990), .
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Iowa Geological Survey. "Mines and Minerals, Volume 22" (Scranton, PA: International Textbook Co., 1902), p. 364.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Webmaster. "Lost Creek No. 2 Mine Explosion" US Mine Disasters (USMineDisasters.MiningQuiz.com), as viewed 14 February 2020.