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Monument in Pennsylvania Dedicated to 40 Coal Miner Heroes

 

 

June 28, 2026 - Amedeo Pancotti has been recognized for his bravery during one of the most infamous mine catastrophes in Luzerne County history — the Knox Mine Disaster — but he is not the only coal miner hero whose name appears on a new monument unveiled Saturday at Miners Memorial Park.
 
Pancotti, an Italian immigrant who settled in Pittston, scaled a rock wall at a 75-degree angle to get help for his fellow miners trapped underground after a rock structure above a mine owned by the Knox Coal Company gave way, and ice-filled flood waters of the Susquehanna River began filling mine tunnels on Jan. 22, 1959.
 
A rescue party helped 26 miners to safety through the shaft to which Pancotti led the party. A total of 69 miners escaped, while another 12 men perished.
 
Pancotti’s name, along with those of 39 other miners who exhibited similar acts of courage during mining catastrophes between 1904 and 1964, appears on the new marble monument in the park across from the west side of Public Square.
 
The Rev. Tom Looney, president of King’s College, blesses the...
The Anthracite Heritage Foundation and King’s College hosted a ceremony honoring the 40 anthracite miners who have been recognized with Carnegie Hero Medals over the years. The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission bestows the medal on individuals who risk death or serious physical injury to an extraordinary degree, saving or attempting to save the lives of others.
 
At the ceremony preceding the unveiling, Thomas “Tim” Lowther Bell spoke of the bravery of miners like his grandfather, Lowther T. Brown, and his great-grandfather, John Tennant Brown — one of those 40 miners whose names are etched on the monument.
 
Thomas Lowther Bell, great-grandson of John Tennant Brown, who was awarded the Carnegie Medal for saving four men after an explosion on Jan. 10, 1911, at Hoyt Shaft, near Pittston.

“A hero is someone who faces the unknown. Someone who makes a choice in a split moment, often without realizing it, and that choice puts others first,” Bell told a large crowd gathered in the auditorium of King’s College Alley Center next to the park.
 
“The truth is, no one knows if they will be a hero until that moment comes, until they are faced with a decision. And in that moment, the choices they make define them. Coal miners have faced those moments time and time again,” Bell said.
 
Other program speakers included the Rev. Thomas Looney, president of King’s College; Wilkes-Barre Mayor George C. Brown; state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-120, of Wilkes-Barre; Jewels Phraner, of the Carnegie Heroes Commission; and professor Robert P. Wolensky, of the AHF and King’s College.
 
Tony Brooks, of the AHF and the Wilkes-Barré Preservation Society, served as master of ceremonies.
Brooks noted that King’s College was founded to educate the sons of coal miners, and Looney said King’s continues to honor that legacy.
 
Wolensky said over 35,000 miners were killed due to unsafe working conditions and accidents, as well as corners being cut by the members of organized crime who owned many mines in the area.
 
Wolensky noted that Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant, industrialist and philanthropist, established the Carnegie Heroes Fund Commission in 1905 in Pittsburgh. His motive was to award the Carnegie Medal to individuals who had engaged in extraordinary acts of courage and “shine a light on them” as examples to inspire others to serve their community.
 
Phraner said Carnegie believed that every society needs choices about what it remembers and what it celebrates.
 
“By honoring those who risk their lives for others, he hoped to preserve examples of courage, sacrifice and service for future generations,” Phraner said. 
 
Those who are selected for recognition by the commission are awarded the Carnegie Medal, and they or their survivors become eligible for financial considerations, including one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits and continuing assistance. To date, more than 10,000 medals have been awarded, with the recipients selected from more than 100,000 nominees. About 20% of the medals are awarded posthumously.  
 
The 40 Carnegie Heroes 
 
The following miners were awarded the Carnegie Medal for risking death or serious physical injury to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others in mining-related catastrophes between 1904 and 1964. The stories of each man’s heroic act can be found with this story at citizensvoice.com.
  • William Watkins, of Edwardsville – explosion on Sept. 3, 1904, in Kingston.
  • Benjamin J. George and Thomas Huntley, both of Pittston; George R. Jopling and John Merrick, both of Inkerman; and Patrick F. Walsh, of Plains Twp. – cave-in on Aug. 22, 1907, in Inkerman.
  • James M. Flanagan, of South Pittston – explosion on May 7, 1909, in Inkerman.
  • John T. Brown, Andrew J. Horan, Michael J. Madden and Martin F. Mangan, all of Pittston; James L. Conlon and Thomas F. Gallagher, both of Inkerman; Andrew Devers and Jacob Modla, both of Port Griffith – explosion on Jan. 10, 1911, in Sebastopol.
  • Daniel Thomas, of Scranton – explosion on Dec. 16, 1916, in Scranton.
  • Michael J. Franklin, Patrick J. Gallagher and Edward F. Norton, all of Pittston – cave-in on May 8, 1917, in Pittston.
  • David A. Cadwalader, of Luzerne, and John Harry, of Dorranceton – explosion on Oct. 17, 1917, in Wilkes-Barre.
  • Warren A. Hoy, of Tower City, Peter G. Rumpf, of Tremont, and Frank Carter, of New Jersey – suffocating fumes on Jan. 21, 1921, in Rausch Creek.
  • Joseph P. Riley, of Sugar Notch – cave-in on Aug. 4, 1924, in Sugar Notch.
  • Robert Hughes and Joseph P. Tigue, both of Avoca – cave-in on Nov. 8, 1932, in Avoca.
  • C. Theodore Bonawitz, of Tremont – suffocating gas on May 31, 1942, in Tremont.
  • John Kuchinski, of Dupont, and Henry R. Skibitski, of Dickson City – cave-in on March 30, 1943, in Inkerman.
  • Edward Eugene Carey, of Lost Creek – cave-in on March 12, 1946, in Girardville.
  • William J. Kelly, Sr. and Joseph P. Wowak, both of Shenandoah; and Raymond J. Eye, of Girardville – suffocating smoke from a fire on May 4, 1949, in Girardville.
  • Walter Legins, of Alden – cave-in on Nov. 20, 1950, in Nanticoke.
  • Henry W. Eckley, Sr., of William Penn – cave-in on April 16, 1951, in Shaft.
  • Amedeo Pancotti, of Pittston – flooding tunnels after rock structure collapse on Jan. 22, 1959, in Pittston.
  • Frank J. Di Andriole, of Avoca, William Paul Holena, of Forty Fort, and Clair S. Sigworth, of Kingston – cave-in on Dec. 21, 1964, in Wilkes-Barre.