At underground coal operations such as Black Diamond’s Mine No. 14, most men worked far below the surface, driving tunnels and mining coal. However, a sizable force worked above ground. Typical outside jobs included carpenters, blacksmiths, machinists, weigh-men, electricians, and bunker-men, often boys and older men who sorted waste slag from coal. In 1898, the Black Diamond Coal Mining Company’s outside workforce totaled 40 men and boys, out of 315 total employees. That same year, Clark Kinsey was taking photos in the Black Diamond mining camps. It wasn’t unusual for itinerant photographers to set up shop in mining or lumbering towns, taking photos, and selling copies to employees and mine management.
While in Black Diamond, the 21-year-old Clark Kinsey met 16-year-old, Mary Jane Williams; at the same time his brother Ed Kinsey was introduced to Mary’s sister, Sara Ann Williams. Both couples would soon marry. The girls’ father, John T. Williams was crushed to death in the same Mine No. 14, five years earlier on Nov. 14, 1893. He was buried in the Black Diamond cemetery. The double wedding of Kinsey and Williams siblings was performed at Seattle’s Diller Hotel on Oct. 12, 1898.
Clark and another brother, Darius Kinsey later became important photographers documenting vital aspects of the Pacific Northwest’s economic and industrial history, particularly logging and lumbering. This Kinsey photo #3339 may have been taken the year Clark spent in Black Diamond and met his future wife. It comes courtesy of the Black Diamond Historical Society, whose Museum at 32627 Railroad Ave. is located in the town’s former railway depot. Research for this photo was provided by JoAnne Matsumura of Issaquah with genealogy background comes courtesy of Donna Brathovde of Ravensdale.
