Share Media File

Transcript

“To use the expression of the Middle Ages, I was the high justice, the middle, and the low.” William Tams

Ronald Eller: Tams had the reputation of being one of the most paternalistic of the coal operators in southern West Virginia. He hired local policemen to walk up and down the streets of Tams, his community, in the evenings to assure that everything was quiet and peaceful. If a husband and wife would be arguing and yelling at each other, the constable would bring the couple to Tams and he would settle the dispute. That characterized his control over his community.