Lacy Earl Lilly Whitby Peace Keeper


Thanks to the generosity and kindness of Virginia Lilly (Ginny), we are now able to see Lacy Earl Lilly the Whitby Peace Keeper Ginny recalls the following:

WE CAME TO WHITBY IN MARCH OF 1942 AND MOVED INTO A HOUSE UP WHITBY/BOWYER HOLLOW. WE WERE DESPERATELY POOR. DADDY WENT TO WORK FOR LACY MEADOWS IN THE TIMBERS FOR THIRTY-FIVE CENTS AN HOUR. HE WORKED TEN-HOURS A DAY. LACY MEADOWS SOLD HIM THE HOUSE AND EIGHTY-EIGHT ACRES OF LAND FOR ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS. THE CONTRACT STATED IT WAS TO BE PAID ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS PER YEAR FOR TEN YEARS. SOMETIMES IT WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO COME UP WITH THE MONEY. AROUND 1943 HE STARTED WORKING IN THE WHITBY COAL MINES FOR STERLING SMOKLESS COAL COMPANY. HE MADE SEVEN DOLLARS AND SIXTY CENTS PER DAY. HE LOADED COAL AND WAS LATER A MOTORMAN--A JOB HE SEEMED TO LIKE AND WAS GOOD AT. IN 1949, AFTER A LONG UNION STRIKE WITH THE COAL COMPANIES, HIS WAGES RAISED TO ELEVEN DOLLARS AND FIVE CENTS PER DAY. AGAIN IN 1952, HIS WAGES RAISED TO FOURTEEN DOLLARS AND FIVE CENTS PER DAY. ABOUT 1955, HE BEGAN WORKING AS NIGHT WATCHMAN FOR STERLING SMOKELESS COAL COMPANY AND AS CONSERVATOR OF THE PEACE AT WHITBY. HE CONTINUED WORKING THESE JOBS UNTIL 1968 OR 1969.


Lacy's Car. Ginny contributes further:
Daddy bought this old A-Model Ford when I was about 14 or 15. Some one had converted it into a truck. It was a dark green color.

Thanks again Ginny for this unique historical and family account.

Back to the Main Whitby Page Back to Miners Memories Page