This fascinating collection of data, compiled in 1878 by Superintendent Joseph Anthony for Pennsylvania state officials, provides a rare glimpse into working conditions at the Williamstown Colliery, operated by the Summit Branch Railroad Company in Williamstown, Dauphin County.
The report details:
- Total employees: 696 workers
- Annual coal production: 268,531 tons
- Total annual wages paid: $245,083.38
What stands out most in the data is the astonishing number of boys employed in various roles throughout the colliery.
The records do not specify the exact age range considered a “boy” – whether it was under 16 or under 18 remains unclear. However, the data reveals that more than 150 boys worked in hazardous, low-paying roles within the colliery.
Slate Pickers [breaker boys]: 113 boys worked in the breaker, earning 50 cents per day to remove waste rock from the coal.
Inside Mule Drivers: 47 boys guided mules hauling coal cars underground, earning 90 cents per day.
Door Tenders: 26 boys controlled airflow in the mine tunnels and managed access between mine sections, earning 50 cents per day.
In total, more than 180 boys worked in physically demanding and often dangerous conditions, with some facing long hours underground in near-total darkness.
Anthracite mining in the 19th century was an extremely dangerous occupation. The low wages, long hours, and hazardous working conditions meant that many families relied on their children to work in the mines to help support their households.
This 1878 report from Williamstown Colliery highlights the harsh realities of child labor in Pennsylvania’s anthracite industry, where boys – some as young as 8 or 10 years old – spent their days picking slate in breaker houses or managing airflow deep underground.
Child labor laws would eventually offer protection and better conditions for subsequent generations, these young workers endured hardships far beyond their years and bleak prospects for any future beyond the mines.
Read more about the Williamstown Colliery
The Williamstown Colliery Disaster of 1904
The completion of Williamstown Tunnel | 1873
Grievances of Williamstown miners against the Pennsylvania Railroad Company – 1886
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