Mining to Packing

It was the fall in the 1880 when a 33 year old small statured man left behind the brilliant colors that enveloped the Towanda mountain range in northeast Pennsylvania to go deep underground into the wet, dark abyss of Barclay Mountain. The dank coal seam walls swallowed the light of his lantern, as he entered this hostile and demanding environment with an oil lantern, pickaxe, shovel, and lunch pail. This was not his first or last trip into this mine. This man is my great grandfather John Charles Sweeney. The only known photo, circa 1900, is a family group photo. He is in a black suit (see below photo, man kneeling) and appears to show that he weathered well his years of hard labor. To his left is a young boy, who is my grandfather, Leo Francis. John C Sweeney joined many other Irish immigrants in the mines of northeast Pennsylvania. The 1880 census simply identifies his occupation as "mining coal." This is a post of how the John C Sweeney family moved from the small towns of northeast Pennsylvania and their mines to the large city of Chicago and its packing houses, which allowed the family to step up socio-economically.

Sweeney Family Photo, c 1900
Family archives, from JR Sweeney

Mining was the industry in 1880 of the company town known as Barclay, PA. Today, some refer to this region as one of "Endless Mountains." It was one of five company towns in that area that housed mine workers and provided for some of their needs. In 1889 Pennsylvania produced almost 82 million tons of coal, outpacing the next closest state by almost 70 million tons. At the time few likely knew the Barclay mine was past peak in production as it closed about 1890. John Charles turned 33 years old on 24 June 1880. John C along with other men and boys dug coal for the nation's growing industries, to provide fuel for cooking and heating homes in the United States, and to power the locomotives of the railroads. Coal was as necessary to the nation in that era as oil and natural gas are today. At least one of John's sons, starting about age 12, would join him in the mine; a not uncommon occurrence for this era. A quick look at a few pages of the 1880 Barclay census confirms a number of children working about age 12 or 13, many in the mines. 

Barclay, PA mines (Partial map)
Courtesy of Penn State University

After Barclay, the family moved to Arnot, PA, another coal mining town 25 miles to the west, where my grandfather Leo Sweeney (my mom's dad) was born in 1893. The Arnot coal was of high grade for coke furnaces in the production of steel. The family, in 1899, would find themselves in Chicago.  The family lore is that John James, the oldest son of John C and his wife Bridget (nee Cleary), was sent to Chicago to look for work opportunities. This likely occurred sometime after 1896 (birth year of youngest child Dora, who was born in Arnot), but before 1900. A poem by my grandfather indicates it happened during a strike, so the trigger may have been the 1899 strike at the Arnot mines that started in May and involved 1,000 men (Labor History, and Leo F Sweeney, undated poem). 

Erie Railroad Depot, Arnot, PA, C 1908
Courtesy of Blossburg.org

Family lore provides that John James was about 12 at the time of his trip to Chicago, but born in 1877, that would put his move to Chicago in 1890. It is possible that John James did move at age 12 or 13, and lived with his aunt and uncle in Chicago for several years before the rest of the family moved. The poem, however, says that "a short while later, John wrote and said 'come out,' the prospects here are very bright, we'll succeed without a doubt." I suspect, the lore of the Sweeney family over time conflated the age John entered the mine (age 12 or 13) with his trip to Chicago, which additional evidence points to as being 1899. The year 1899 for arrival in Chicago corresponds, not only to the year of the strike, but also to the timing on John C's 1914 death certificate which indicates he lived in Chicago for 15 years. The family was recorded in the 1900 census as living in Chicago, with John C's occupation identified as a laborer. Two days after the recording of his 1900 census information he would be 53 years of age. He would have had backbreaking, hard labor in a Chicago packing/slaughter houses which, at the time, made Chicago the butcher of the world.  

Barclay Mine
Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution

Over twenty years ago PBS had a several part documentary on the city of Chicago. I missed most of the series due to night meetings at work, but I would get filled in by a coworker. Chicago, is known as the Windy City, not for the gusts of wind off Lake Michigan, but for its politicians. It is also known for being a city of muscle to go with the bravado of its political class. Famous for for its pizza, architecture, gangsters, the "Chicago accent", and of course what has been the Packers favorite whipping boy for over twenty years, Da Bears, all of which add to its storied past. Al Capone grew up near my mom, and my Uncle Joe once dated his niece. Likely realizing she had a great deal to pray for, Al's mother was a daily mass attendee. Chicago is also known for its former stockyards and meat processing when it was the butcher of the world. An October 1, 2024 post about my mother noted how her family story is an American story of immigration, melting pot, and changes in occupations from laborers to white collar. From the PBS report (and other documentaries) one would never think working at a packing house would allow for economic advancement. 

Arnot--Blossburg and Barclay Mine areas
Courtesy of Penn State University

The PBS story, is similar to other documentaries and books (The Jungle by Sinclair Lewis) which told of how bad the Union stockyards were. The smell, the working conditions, injuries, the often immigrant labor in the butchering sections for low wages all are part of the plot. If a person left employment, there was another to quickly fill the spot. I recall mentioning the PBS story to my Uncle Joe Sweeney, my mom's youngest brother. Uncle Joe had a way of putting things into perspective, and he noted to me, during the PBS run, that it was the stockyards that allowed the Sweeney family to better provide for the family and which in turn provided their children better opportunities. In other words, for at least the Sweeney family, the packing houses provided advancement from the unskilled labor class. It is too bad PBS failed to even mention the economic advancement to be had from the packing houses, perhaps because it was not part of their agenda. Credit for expanded opportunity, which led to advancement, also goes to the educational, employment and other economic opportunities in Chicago compared to the small mining towns of Pennsylvania. Harvard economist Edward Glaser, in his 2008 book Triumph of the City, makes a compelling case about the wealth and prosperity generated by cities for lifting varied classes of people, and in so doing destroying long-held myths and misconceptions of urban areas. 

Market St, Anot, PA c 1910
Courtesy of Joyce Tice website

The Chicago Union Stockyards, at over one square mile in area, opened on Christmas day 1865. It used principles of the assembly line process to butcher a variety of animals, although mainly cattle and hogs. For example, it would take a farmer, so a documentary said, eight to ten hours to butcher a cow, but the stockyards could do it in 39 minutes. Often cattle would be loaded for transport to the eastern markets, and as ice cooling and refrigeration advanced they slaughtered more and more in Chicago sending animal parts to the east for refinement to meet local markets, or sale. Large packing houses like Amour and Swift processed meats for sale around the nation--think hot dogs. These large packers were said to be predatory by under cutting independent butchers unless they sold the meat products from one of those large suppliers. It brought affordable meat to a demanding public. Daniel Boorstin, writes that  "In the Old World, beef was the diet of lords and men of wealth. For others it was a holiday prize. But American millions would eat like lords." (Boorstin, The Americans) While the documentaries complained about the packing house use of pretty much all animal parts as human food, fertilizers, cosmetics, or other products (the byproducts is where the money was made), that only seems a sensible approach, particularly in a world today concerned about waste. It makes no sense to diss a company for using the whole animal, the use of the whole animal should have been applauded. 

Chicago Union Stockyards, 1890 
Courtesy of Library of Congress

After arriving in Chicago, John C and perhaps some of his children, found employment in the packing houses/stockyards. John C as a mid-fifty year old laborer must have found the work trying for an older man, although he likely thought the work was better than that of being stooped over in the dismal coal mines of Arnot. His son John, in 1900 is listed as a file clerk, but in Pennsylvania he worked in the mines as a boy and the story is he was "small enough to slip into the narrow shafts and place dynamite." (John Coffey, grandson of John C, in a letter to Dominican order regarding his aunt Sr. Emmanuel's family) The dangers, smells, odors of the packing house may have been less than the dangers of the mines, which often included death to some miners and their sons. In 1900 no occupation is identified for the oldest child, Mary. However, son Charles (b 1881) is a foreman in a cooper factory. Son Joseph (b 1885) is a laborer at 14 years of age. Daughter Ann (b 1883) sews. The remaining four children starting with Lucy (b 1887) on down are attending school.

Chicago Union Stockyards, cattle pen, 1900
Courtesy of Library of Congress

The packing houses were horrendous, but they provided an opportunity enhanced by the big city itself. My Sweeney family lifted themselves out of the mines of Pennsylvania. From John C's death certificate we can see that by 1901 he was a foreman at the packing house. He held that position until 1908, when at, or about, the age of 61 he took a job as a file clerk in the packing house. This moved him off the slaughter house floor with its blood, guts and grime to an office position. He held this position at the time of his death at 67 years of age. He died 15 years after the 52 year life expectancy of a male in 1914. While the documentaries focused on the labor in the slaughter houses and the stockyards, they said little about the professional classes: accountants, logisticians, financial analysts, transportation economists, lawyers, purchasing and sales agents, typists, stenographers, and clerks required for such a large operation. Records, of purchase and sale, transport costs, where items came from and went, and a whole host of other incurred costs required the services of an educated and developing white collar class. A diversified economy provides for a greater emphasis on an educated class. This is part of the triumph of the city--an ability to gather, educate and skill the increasingly diverse labor pool demanded by industry. John C, moved from the slaughter house floor to a file clerk. We should remember, however, that any honest labor should not be denigrated, and it was hard honest work that John C provided for much of his life.

Chicago Stockyards, 1935; etching
Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution

John C found opportunity in the often denigrated packing houses, which saw him open greater opportunity to his children and grandchildren, and their ability to join the upwardly mobile nature provided by the raw capitalism present in Chicago at the time. As the nation grew, so too did the economic status of many of its public. This also occurred in the Sweeney family. The oldest son John, who started working in the mines, became the owner of several independent meat markets, although he lost all during the Great Depression. My grandfather, Leo was a bank clerk (WWI draft card 1917), and a real estate agent (1920 census) before being employed by his brother John.  He was employed by his brother in the wholesale and retail meat industry. John released my grandpa his job during the Great Depression, and that occurred on one Christmas Eve. Given  that Leo is shown as a meat wholesaler and retailer in the 1930 census, I wonder if it was the Christmas Eve of 1930, but I don't know for sure. Family letters indicate that Grandpa Leo was securing a good cut of beef to bring to Sun Prairie for Easter dinners in the 1950's, showing that his knowledge of the industry stuck with him. Later, John J would find work with a meat wholesaler, while my grandfather moved on to other endeavors including working for the Latz Foundation to publish a book on the Rhythm Method of birth control. 

Book published by Latz Foundation
My grandfather worked for Latz Foundation
in publishing this book

The intractable rhythm of time has changed the landscapes that would have been recognized by John C over 120 years ago. The small town of Barclay is no more, rendered obsolete when the mine closed, its only remaining feature is an unkempt cemetery containing some decaying headstones and the bodies of individuals who died during their time in Barclay, including fathers and sons lost in mining accidents, showing, in part, why the average male life expectancy was and only 44 years of age in 1890. John C's infant son, Michael died in 1880, but is buried at Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery in Towanda. Infant deaths also added to the low life expectancy. Arnot still exists, but it is a remnant of its former self. The expansive Union Stockyards and packing house complex of Chicago's southside, which occupied over one square mile of territory, has been redeveloped. It is said a few small meat packers are in the area, but slaughtering is now done elsewhere. Such is the way of the world, where change seems to be the only constant. Change is what occurred in the Sweeney family, as they moved from laborers to clerks to managing editor (my Uncle Joe Sweeney), sales representative (my uncle Leo Sweeney), and flight services (my aunt Connie). My mom was educated to teach English, but marriage and kids came along, placing her on a different, but more important position of mother to ten. 

Google Map of Leo Sweeney dwelling at 
7335 South Prairie Ave, Chicago 
and Al Capone residence 

As I wrote this, it occurred to me that just 110 years and two weeks ago, my great grandfather John Charles died (Oct 2, 1914). I look not just at how the landscape has been altered over time, but also how the human condition in the family has changed. I was able to retire at age 60. As I write this, at age 66, I am still younger than great grandpa John C was as a file clerk at the packing house when he passed away at age 67. in 2023, a US male's average life expectancy is now just over 73 years. I recognize that John C had a much more difficult life than I have had. He came over from the old sod, and while mining was difficult work, it would have better than starvation due to genocide of the British Empire. He was able to allow his children, even with the great depression, grandchildren and great grandchildren to live a better life than he had endured. 

Present day Google image of 7335 S Prairie Ave, Chicago

The decision of John C Sweeney and, independently, Bridget Cleary, or their parents, to emigrate to America, was crucial. John and Bridgett's joint decision to move from rural Pennsylvania to Chicago opened up opportunity and allowed the family to advance economically. My grandfather Leo, and his wife Amanda, of limited means, but greater opportunity, were able to put their four children through Catholic grade, high school and college. They received an education necessary for advancement. Education was an important value to the Sweeney family. Life would be completely different for John C's descendants than for himself. His move from the mines to the packing houses may not have represented a major change in economic status at first, but it opened up opportunities better found in the growing city of Chicago than the lost mining towns of Pennsylvania. The move from mining to packing, and rural to urban, turned out to be good for John C's descendants, and I believe for him and Bridget. 

Note: Sometimes his name appears as John J, but I chose to use John Charles, as John C is what is on his death record.

For additional information on the Barclay and Arnot (Bloss) mines see: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~pasulliv/SullivanCountyHistoricalSociety/Barclay.htm

https://www.joycetice.com/jmtindex.htm