Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 207, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 September 1915 — Early Days of Coal. [ARTICLE]

Early Days of Coal.

The earliest historical mention of coal In our country is by the French Jesuit missionary, Fhther Hennepin, who saw traces of bituminous coal on the banks of the Illinois river in 1679. Most of the coal beds of the United States are situated at some distance from the ocean; therefore, the first colonists settling along the coast were for a long time ignorant of their existence. It was many years after Father Hennepin gave to the world the information that he had found coal in America that any attempt was made to mine it. The first effort to take it out of the ground was in 1750, when works were opened on the James river near Richmond, Va Here bituminous coal was mined, but not in any very great quantities.