Manuscript Group 497
JEDDO-HIGHLAND COAL COMPANY RECORDS
1870-1968
69 cubic feet
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* * * These records are held at the Anthracite Heritage Museum, Scranton, PA. * * *
To arrange an appointment to consult the records call the Site Administrator at 570-963-4804.
The records include checks, receipts, rates, correspondence, leases, royalty
statements, wage and time sheets, tax returns, and other business materials
relating to the operations of the Jeddo-Highland Coal Company of West Pittston
and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The Jeddo-Highland No. 5 breaker, located on
the road between Freeland and Eckley, was built in 1915, closed in 1963, and
destroyed in 1986. A huge powerplant with a towering smokestack built in 1933
provided electricity for mines for miles around. This breaker was featured in
a black and white short about coal mining made in the early 1930s. Jeddo-Highland
No. 7 breaker was built around 1926, deactivated in the mid-1990's, and demolished
around 1997. A small boiler house next to the breaker was razed in the late
1970s. The Jeddo-Highland Coal Company operated the "#7 Breaker" in
Hazelton for years after many similar facilities had been abandoned. Representative
predecessor and subsidiary companies include G.B. Markle & Company, John
Marlel Company, Jeddo Tunnel Company, Hazel Brook Coal Company, Fuel Service
Company, Jennings, Inc., and Raven Run Coal Company. Also present are records
relating to the Union Improvement Company, the Jeddo Supply Company, Coxe Brothers
& Company, Inc., Harleigh-Brookwood Coal Company, and Lehigh Coal Company.
The Jeddo-Highland Coal Company was incorporated on April 9, 1908, became the
Markle Investment Company in 1964, and dissolved soon afterwards.
Also included is a donation from Thomas Wizda, consisting of approximately thirteen cubic feet of records and publications from G.B. Markle and Company, a predecessor to the Jeddo-Highland Coal Company. The records from the G.B. Markle and Company are mostly union grievances and company store agreements authorizing them to make deductions from paychecks to pay for credit extended for merchandise. Of particular interest are ninety-two folders of grievances brought before the Anthracite Board of Conciliation by various miners against the G.B. Markle Company and later the Jeddo-Highland Coal Company, dating from 1905-1959. The grievances were resolved in a trial format by the Anthracite Board of Conciliation as part of a way to reduce strikes and settle arguments between labor and the operators after the 1902 Anthracite Coal Strike. The grievance files contained within the Wizda donation include items that are in summary format that can be found in the published reports of the Board of Conciliation. However the files also include handwritten and typed information used as evidence to support the company's side of the grievance. Other types of files present include: general correspondence dating from 1895 to 1939; files on arbitration with other contracting companies, especially the Union Improvement Company, for various operating contracts; miscellaneous information on employees that reported to work during strikes; and miscellaneous mining information.
For related
materials, see the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company Records (Manuscript Group
311).
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