One of Americaâs leading financiers in the 1800s was Charlemagne Tower, Senior. His family roots began in England, then arrived in the first Puritan colonies in America, and eventually moved to New York State. His wife, Amelia Bartle Tower, was born in Ohio but traveled with her parents to California, where she met Charlemagne during a trip he made there. After their marriage they settled in Pennsylvania. He began to invest in the development of coal mines and the railroads that went with them. One of his railroads was the famous Reading Railroad.
During the American Civil War, Charlemagne gathered a group of men from Pennsylvania to form a Union troop. He paid for much of the menâs equipment and provisions. They fought well in several battles and he retired from the army as a captain.
lbowers@miningjournal.net
Upper Peninsula author Allan Koski displays his book “Empire Mine Cascade Range” during a recent interview in Negaunee. Koski was inspired to write about recent local mining history during his career at the Empire Mine in Richmond Township. The book is available at over a dozen area retail locations. (Journal photo by Lisa Bowers)
MARQUETTE For over 50 years, the Empire Mine served as a major part of the geographic and economic landscape of Marquette County’s Richmond Township.
The mine, which was indefinitely idled in 2016, employed 1,396 members of the United Steelworkers and 207 salaried employees in its heyday, and tens of thousands of miners over the decades.