John M. Smith was the last Supt. of the mine operation at Dunlap and after the mine went bankrupt was put in charge of disposing of the equipment and buildings that remained for the lien holder, the Bank of Birmingham, he eventually moved into the Club House and resided there until his death,. The man pictured on the dark horse is John M. Smith, the other man is Simon Exum who was in charge of the Company Commissary. The company holdings listed over 14,000 acres of land on Fredonia and Cagle Mountain. Frank Johnson (note pistol in waistband shown in other picture standing on the Balwin locomotive), was the nightwatchman for the company. Standing next to him is miner Roy Headlee. The nightwatchman carried a special clock that at different locations on his beat required inserting a key located there to prove that he had made his assigned rounds. A paper disc inside was punched by this action. Dr. Jim Smith from Arkansas donated the original device to the Coke Oven Museum, he was directly related to Supt. John M. Smith. Last image is of Supt. Smith photographed downtown on a Chattanooga street.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 18:30:42 +0000