He died on 7 Apr 1894 in Midlothian, Allegany Co., Maryland. KEIR 20 Apr 1894 The body of John Keir Jr. was located yesterday at 4:30 in the Bowery Mines, found by William Crowe under the direction of mine boss, Mr. Robert Scott. He leaves a wife and 3 children and was 3 3 years of age, born in Neumiles, Ayershire, Scotland on Mar 20, 1861 and came to America in 1870. The funeral is from the home with Rev. Brett officiating and interment in Allegany Cemetery.
K1ER 09 Apr 1894 Mr John Kier Jr was buried alive at a cave-in at the Bowery Mines near Frostburg on Saturday (7 Apr) about 4:45. Bowery Mines takes its name from the defunct Bowery furnace that stands nearby about one and 3/4 miles from Frostburg, near the old Midlothian Mines.
19 Apr 1894, The body of John Kier Jr. was found today by the large force of men at work in the mines. The remains will be buried from his father's home in Frostburg today. Cumberland Times transcription, 1894
Last Edition
CUMBERLAND, MD MONDAY
AprilS, 1894
A Cave-in at Bowery Mines, Near Frostburg, Attended with Fatal Results
JOHN KEER, JR. BURIED ALIVE. Hundreds of Willing Miners Have Been Working Day and Night Since Saturday to Recover the Body-Sad Ending to a Week's Work.
Shortly after the Times had gone to press Saturday evening a message was received from Frostburg that a cave-in had occurred at Bowery mines, near that city, resulting
in the death of John Keer, Jr., und the probable entombing of two others, and that the body of Keer was still buried under tons of debris. The information was promptly announced upon the Times bulletin.
Owing to the difficulty of obtaining reliable information of the accident, a Times representative yesterday visited the scene of the calamity where the following detailed account was obtained: About 4:45 o'clock Saturday afternoon Peter Knieriem
Conrad Knieriem, George IC™™™, Jas. Wade, Enoch Wade, John K Wade, Walter
Superintendent Armstrong was there directing and advising. Supervisor Harvey was there, helping and encouraging his men.
So indefatiguable has he been in his work of duty and affection that he has neither slept nor been to his home since the accident. In every humble home in that little village there was deep and sincere sorrow, for no wife knew how soon she too would mourn the loss of her husband nor how soon her children too would be fatherless. But who can describe the feelings of the crushed wife and her three infant children in the home of their protector and provider whose dead body lie but a abort distance from them deep down in the earth, mangled upon the spot where he was seeking for them support and comfort.
D fi D d Cause of the Accident
The Times representative heard many theories advanced by miners as to the cause of the accident, but none of them attached any blame to the company or to the miners 'working at the fatal spot. There was a general concurrence in the opinion that it was one of those accidents which it was impossible to foresee or provide against. The men working at the pillar did not expect to get it down before today and therefore only observed the usual precautions. It was a premature fall and there conjecture
"ends. There were about thirty feet of surface covering at the spot, which was well supported with props, so mat mere was no danger apprehended. The fall, however, was clear through, as the reporter was able to see daylight from the inside of the mine at the place of the accident.
Bowery mines takes its name from the defunct Bowery furnace that stands nearby, and is about one mile and three quarters from Frostburg, near the old Midlothian mine. The first shipment of coal from Bowery was upon January 14, 1869. It belongs to the Borden Mining company and is under the supervision of their competent superintendent, Mr. Davidson Armstrong, and his efficient mine boss, Mr Robert S. Harvey. It is operated on the slope and cable system, and is one of the best managed and equipped mines in the region, and this is its first serious accident. The farthest distance to any work is 5600 feet from the mouth of the slope and its daily output compares favorably with that of other mines.
A telephone message from Frostburg at 3 o'clock this afternoon states that there are no new developments at Bowery Mines. He was buried on 19 Apr 1894 in Allegany Cemetery, Frostburg, Allegany Co., Maryland.
Wade, John Keer, Sr., RflhettKrrTjgri John Keer, Jr., were engaged in room No. 15, located about five hundred feet from the
mouth of the dope at what is called the First Lift to the left, in taking out a pillar of coal. A driver had just brought up a car to the room, which four men began id fill wten the props began to crack. One of the men said, "Listen!" All hands stopped work and listened. John Keer, k, wfao fitfe knew that bis death was soon to occur, in an awful manner remarked:" She's not going to come down yet!" The men, partly satisfied that this was so, started to work again.
But a few moments elapsed when suddenly there was a loud report and cracking timbers. To the experienced miners, that was warning enough. They dropped their tools and ran for their lives, all escaping with the exception of John Keer, Jr., and he now lies buried beneath tons upon tons of surface earth. The men who escaped came out of the mines and immediately notified Mr. Robt. S. Harvey, the mine boss, of the accident, stating that they believed that Keer was buried under the fill. At once Mr. Harvey had a large body of his men put to work in the interior of the mine, attempting to reach the body of their unfortunate fellow workman, precaution being taken to re-timber the place so as to make it safe for the men to work there.
1 ~." G All Night Saturday
The work was continued without abatement, with a change of men at intervals of a few minutes. At six o'clock yesterday morning, a new shift of men was put on, and this in turn was replaced by another shift last night. From seventy-five to 100 men are kept constantly at work. At first the work was done entirely from the inside of the mine but owing to the peculiar character of the fall it was determined to abandon to some extent the interior operation and do the work of removing the mass of earth from the outside. To facilitate this, men were kept busy yesterday and late last night preparing the surface in close proximity to the sunken portion of the ground for the placing there this morning of a stationary engine to be used in drawing the earth and other debris from the cavity.
To do this, Mr. Harvey stated, it would be necessary to make an open cut, in which will be constructed an incline plane at an angle of 30 degrees, over which cars will be drawn filled with earth, and thus will continue the work until the body of John Keer is found and all obstructions at this point to the operations of the mine removed. Owing to the tremendous amount of work to be done, it is thought that the body of the poor miner cannot be reached until Thursday, if indeed then.
C D u u Sunday at the Mines
This being the first accident of the kind that has ever occurred in this region attended by a fatality, it brought yesterday to the scene of the accident hundreds of people from Frostburg and neighboring mining towns. During the entire day streams of people came and went afoot, horseback and in all kinds of vehicles, men, women and children. The scenes about the mine, while deeply impressive, were not as thrilling as those about the famous Hill Farm mine, at Dunbar, Pa., in 1890, where some thirty miners were buried far down in the earth, yet the horror of the novelty of the incident was sufficient to make it memorable to the last degree. Sympathy for the heart broken widow and fatherless children of the poor young miner, whose mangled body lies somewhere buried beneath, filled the hearts of those who stood around that gaping wound in mother earth.
But sympathy alone was not the only visible signs that something out of the usual had occurred. Strong, sturdy men, with determination depicted on their countenances, were there working with willing hearts and hands to recover their lost comanion.

Change: 2 Feb 2010