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Metropolitan Iron and Land Company
Norrie Mine No. 8 Shaft Cave-in

Ironwood, Gogebic County, Michigan
September 29, 1892
No Killed - 10

Note: This disaster was discovered in the MSHA Fatality Archive Database, however, it is currently not included in the CDC/NIOSH mine disaster list.

Successful Rescue

Abraham Thompson was rescued alive from the fated Norrie mine at 10 a.m., a day later.  He was uninjured but was so fearfully scared by his — thirty hour — imprisonment that he could scarcely speak.  He was in a "room" by himself and didn't know where the other ten men were.

From the News Archives:
(news links open in a separate window)

Under Fallen Rock
A Terrible Disaster in the Norrie Mine, in Michigan
The Republican, Wauseon, Ohio
October 7, 1892

Ishpeming, Mich., Sept 30. -- At 5 o'clock Thursday morning eleven men were buried under an enormous fall of rock in No. 8 shaft of the Norrie mine, which employs 2,000 workmen.

An investigation of the ground showed that an immense amount of rock had fallen into the slope where the unfortunates were working.

The Norrie mine is operated by the Metropolitan Iron & Land Company, with head offices at Milwaukee. The mine was first wrought in 1885, when in entered the shipping list with 15,000 tons. In 1890 it reached the enormous output of 900,000 tons, and this year it will exceed the million mark. The mine has been operated on the safest possible lines and it is looked upon by miners as the safest large mine to work in the Lake Superior district.

Following is a correct list of the missing men:
  • Frank Dausham, miner
  • Samuel Dausham, miner
  • John Johnson, miner
  • Simon Veclein, timberman
  • John Bloomquist, timberman
  • Herman Erickson, timberman
  • Jacob Sundquist, timberman
  • Matt Mother, trammer
  • John Hermannson, trammer
  • Michael Downs, skip tender

One Man Rescued
Abraham Thompson Taken From the Caved In Mine Near Ishpeming, Michigan
The Ottawa Daily Republic, Ottawa, Kansas
October 1, 1892

Ishpeming, Mich., Oct 1. -- A dispatch from Ironwood says that one man, a miner named Abraham Thompson, was rescued alive from the fated Norris mine.

He was uninjured but was so fearfully scared by his thirty hour imprisonment that he could scarcely speak. He was in a room by himself and did not know where the other ten men were.

It was feared they were in another "room" and that all perished, carried down to destruction by the enormous fall of rock and ore. If so, even their bodies will never be found. A drift forty feet long, through rock and ore, has already been driven by the rescuing party.

The men working in this party are themselves in great danger; the ground in which they are working is likely to start to run at any time, overwhelming them as well as the unfortunate ten whose life or death is now a matter of conjecture.

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