Leonard Morse has an interesting relic from the coal mining days.
A ledger, handed down from his grandfather, follows the fortunes of the Morse Mine near Hanna and sheds light on the hardships faced by the miners who flocked to the valley.
The Morse family has a long history in the valley and, like so many people who lived here, worked extensively in the coal mines.
Alfred Morse and his family came over to Canada from England in 1912. After World War I started, the family moved to Wayne in 1915 so that Alfred could work in the coal mines. A year later the family moved to Drumheller.
Alfred got his Fire Boss certificate and in 1919 he and Charles Larrair purchased a coal mine south of Hanna.
The mine was successful for many years, selling coal to farmers in the area and to the residents of Hanna. Alfred gave the mine to two of his sons in the late twenties. Unfortunately, Alfred died in 1929 after a leg injury went gangrenous.
After many years, and making it through the Great Depression, in 1941 the mine went bankrupt and closed.
This is where the ledgers held by Leonard, a grandson of Alfred, came into being. Recorded within are all of the sales made by the mine and data regarding the workers at the mine.
“Some of the names in here are still being used in Hanna today,” said Morse.
The plight of the miners during the Great Depression is made evident. Wages during that time dip staggeringly low. Although as Leonard describes, they were being taken care of.
“It shows how much money they made and it was poor. But, if you follow it down to where they are trading coal with the farmers for beef and potatoes,” said Morse.
The book is in rough shape, the cover is fraying, the pages tattered, and the book is in dire need of conservation. However, the information within is as clear as the day it was written.
After it was started by Alfred when the Morse mine opened, it was passed down to his sons Bill and then Fred, to Fred’s daughter, and finally Leonard.
Leonard, after possessing the book for many years, is considering donating it to a museum or the Atlas Coal Mine.
Morse hopes to find more relics when he heads back out to the old Morse Mine this summer.
“This valley has a lot of stories to tell,” said Morse.
