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They Died in the Darkness
Dust jacket has couple small tears top right front & bottom back. Actual cover in great condition. Small stain outer edges of pages bottom of 1st half of book. No writing. Bottom corner of 2nd page has fold crease. Nice book and good read.
280 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1976
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
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July 16, 2023I haven't read this but I saw this book in a Peter Santenello youtube video. He was travelling through Appalachia and a local woman who lived in a holler brought this book out.
August 14, 2023
So like everyone else searching for this book, I found it on the same YouTube. I've dug pretty deep online trying to find a copy with no luck. I've also used every piracy resource I know. If anyone finds a copy of it and wants to work something out, I'll go through and scan it page by page and turn it into an ebook. Then I'll get it out there so everyone can have a chance to read it.
October 5, 2023
They Died in the Darkness
“Today the mine is about worked out but the black old tipple still stands, a somber reminder that deep down, 685 feet vertical, the burned and decomposed bodies were hoisted into the daylight that they could not see, because they died in the darkness” (p. 47).
“Many men came to the West Virginia mines to lose their identity” (p. 82).
“The coal was the thick Pittsburgh Seam, high enough for horses to be used to haul the coal to the partings and thence to the bottom. Two stables underground contained these animals around the clock. Once inside the mine, they stayed until crippled or useless; then they were brought topside and turned to pasture, usually blind from being too long in total darkness” (p. 183).
“What a somber sight to see men blackened by coal dust, with electric lamps on their hats, come from a dark hole in the ground with a burden under a canvas covering or blanketed, blackened by coal dust, a lump of clay molded by God and living a few hours before and now in eternity. One wife collapsed at the knowledge that the lump on the stretcher was her husband” (p. 257).
It is a sobering book, poetic and brutal in its language, bleak and tragic in its subject matter, but most of all, it is an excellent homage to the victims, both the miners and their families, of the numerous mine tragedies in West Virginia from 1886 to 1968. Lacy A. Dillon describes the hopeless and fatalistic working conditions miners labored under and some of the unforgiving social conditions that forced them down in the darkness. Going down into the mines was a gamble; some men willingly took that gamble, and others had no choice. Dillon’s book is fascinating and harsh.
As other reviewers point out, the book is tough to come by. I think that Dillon wanted to honor and remember the lost lives of the heroic miners and didn’t care much for the monetary gains of writing a book. I have scanned the book and have a PDF version of it. If anyone wants to read it, I can share it.
“Today the mine is about worked out but the black old tipple still stands, a somber reminder that deep down, 685 feet vertical, the burned and decomposed bodies were hoisted into the daylight that they could not see, because they died in the darkness” (p. 47).
“Many men came to the West Virginia mines to lose their identity” (p. 82).
“The coal was the thick Pittsburgh Seam, high enough for horses to be used to haul the coal to the partings and thence to the bottom. Two stables underground contained these animals around the clock. Once inside the mine, they stayed until crippled or useless; then they were brought topside and turned to pasture, usually blind from being too long in total darkness” (p. 183).
“What a somber sight to see men blackened by coal dust, with electric lamps on their hats, come from a dark hole in the ground with a burden under a canvas covering or blanketed, blackened by coal dust, a lump of clay molded by God and living a few hours before and now in eternity. One wife collapsed at the knowledge that the lump on the stretcher was her husband” (p. 257).
It is a sobering book, poetic and brutal in its language, bleak and tragic in its subject matter, but most of all, it is an excellent homage to the victims, both the miners and their families, of the numerous mine tragedies in West Virginia from 1886 to 1968. Lacy A. Dillon describes the hopeless and fatalistic working conditions miners labored under and some of the unforgiving social conditions that forced them down in the darkness. Going down into the mines was a gamble; some men willingly took that gamble, and others had no choice. Dillon’s book is fascinating and harsh.
As other reviewers point out, the book is tough to come by. I think that Dillon wanted to honor and remember the lost lives of the heroic miners and didn’t care much for the monetary gains of writing a book. I have scanned the book and have a PDF version of it. If anyone wants to read it, I can share it.
July 10, 2025
As other reviews have mentioned, I also watched a YouTube video in which this book was discussed. A commenter noted that is was difficult to locate a copy. I will say to anyone wanting to read: use the Interlibrary Loan program (ILL), that is how I obtained a copy to read.
It is not a particularly interesting read, even dull at times. I wished for more history and details that were lacking. Still, it is a good account of the mining disasters of West Virginia and makes me want to read more about them. I like that the author included the names of each man killed, and the occasional addition of how many children and wives they left behind. It’s a somber reminder of the trauma carried through generations that surely still affects many today.
It is not a particularly interesting read, even dull at times. I wished for more history and details that were lacking. Still, it is a good account of the mining disasters of West Virginia and makes me want to read more about them. I like that the author included the names of each man killed, and the occasional addition of how many children and wives they left behind. It’s a somber reminder of the trauma carried through generations that surely still affects many today.
October 21, 2025
I am so thankful that someone took the time to document this information. It’s unfortunate that it is so hard to track down this book. Thanks to Duke University and the Interlibrary Loan program, I was finally able to read it. If you are also trying to find this book, ask your local library. Many college libraries have copies that can be borrowed.
As for the book itself, it of course is a heavy subject to commit to reading. For this reason, it took me a bit longer to finish even though it is under 300 pages. Knowing that so many lost their lives as well as their husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers… it is incredibly sad. Especially considering many of the widows had no other source of income and had many children depending on them. My great-grandmother was one of these widows and had 9 children at the time her husband was killed in a McDowell mine. The youngest of which was 3 months old at that time. There are not words to describe how incredibly strong and capable the people that lived and worked in those mountains were.
Reading the details of these events laid out in somewhat dry descriptions gave just a little more insight into what people went through during these experiences. I appreciate that the author took the time and effort to find the information that he did, especially knowing that records and documents could be difficult to source in these areas. I did feel that the overall format could’ve been more cohesive. And maybe it is just a change in times and my own ignorance to the topic, but there were parts that were harder to follow due to events being described in terms that were not something the average reader may understand. In all, I still feel this is a very valuable book and I am forever grateful to Mr. Dillon for writing it. These men and their families deserve to have their stories told and remembered. The mining regions were used and abused for the money that was to be made and then left to die. The least we can do is acknowledge their sacrifices and remember their names.
As for the book itself, it of course is a heavy subject to commit to reading. For this reason, it took me a bit longer to finish even though it is under 300 pages. Knowing that so many lost their lives as well as their husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers… it is incredibly sad. Especially considering many of the widows had no other source of income and had many children depending on them. My great-grandmother was one of these widows and had 9 children at the time her husband was killed in a McDowell mine. The youngest of which was 3 months old at that time. There are not words to describe how incredibly strong and capable the people that lived and worked in those mountains were.
Reading the details of these events laid out in somewhat dry descriptions gave just a little more insight into what people went through during these experiences. I appreciate that the author took the time and effort to find the information that he did, especially knowing that records and documents could be difficult to source in these areas. I did feel that the overall format could’ve been more cohesive. And maybe it is just a change in times and my own ignorance to the topic, but there were parts that were harder to follow due to events being described in terms that were not something the average reader may understand. In all, I still feel this is a very valuable book and I am forever grateful to Mr. Dillon for writing it. These men and their families deserve to have their stories told and remembered. The mining regions were used and abused for the money that was to be made and then left to die. The least we can do is acknowledge their sacrifices and remember their names.
August 23, 2023
“They Died in Darkness” is a chronicle of several devastating mine incidents in the early 1900s of West Virginia. Dillon’s writing is very much of his time and sets a melancholic stage for modern day readers. Dillon respectfully lists the names of those documented to have perished in such incidents to the best of his ability and includes pictures of the damage when necessary. Dillon never forgets to emphasise the courage of America’s early miners, noting that they were not only victims but fathers, brothers, husbands, and sometimes children and teens.
If you’re here from a certain YouTube video, you can interlibrary loan this book through America’s ILL system. Simply contact your local library and see if they offer the service (I’ve never seen one who doesn’t).
If you’re here from a certain YouTube video, you can interlibrary loan this book through America’s ILL system. Simply contact your local library and see if they offer the service (I’ve never seen one who doesn’t).
August 22, 2024
An impressive chronicle of the coal mine explosions and disasters in West Virginia from 1886 to 1968. Often the result of foreman negligence, the mining company cutting corners, or the hand of Fate, around a thousand men died brutally in the depths of a coal mine during this time, affecting thousands more, including their wives and children. In a world which too easily forgets the innocent dead, this book is a valuable record of individual men and families who were helpless to the dictates of fire, methane gas, blackdamp, and much more.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews