Individual Details

Jess Willard White Jr.

(16 Nov 1934 - 24 Apr 1982)

State Journal-Register, Springfield, Illinois, Sunday, April 25, 1982, Page 12, Cols. 1 & 2: Old Ben 26 Mine Veteran Falls Down Shaft. Sesser (AP)---Jess White, 47, a veteran boss of the Old Ben 26 coal mine, was killed early Saturday when he fell down a 600-foot shaft at the mine, officials said. They said White fell from a small locomotive transferring equipment and into the shaft. The accident occurred about 12:30 a.m.

Mount Carmel Daily Republican Register, Mount Carmel, Illinois, Monday, April 26, 1982, Page 1, Cols. 5 & 6: Sesser Miner Killed. The fatality is the first since the Wabash mine began operations in 1973 and the fifth coal-related death in 1982, including the death Saturday of a Sesser man. Jess White, 47, a "face boss" for the Old Ben Coal Co. Mine No. 26, was killed when he was apparently thrown from a switch engine of "dinky" while attempting to stop the machine from moving toward a 620-foot deep shaft.

The dinky reportedly crashed through a guard gate and plunged about 65 feet into the shaft where it lodged. White, on a routine safety check, was thrown from the open-sided cab onto a metal cage at the bottom of the mine. Franklin County Coroner Chuck Seagle called the accident a mystery, because the engine has only a forward or reverse switch and moves about 2 to 3 mph. White's death was the fifth in 1982 after a fatality free year in 1981 in the State of Illinois.

Events

Birth16 Nov 1934
Marriage26 Mar 1955Iva Jean Kirkpatrick
Death24 Apr 1982Sesser, Franklin Co., Illinois
BurialMaple Hill Cemetery, Sesser, Franklin Co., Illinois

Families

SpouseIva Jean Kirkpatrick (1937 - 2007)

Endnotes