Marcus Colbert was a sheriff in Ireland. He was not a popular person in the community because besides fighting crime he was also in charge of evicting families who couldn't pay the rent. He married Abigail O'Connor. She had lived a rough life and even though she was ostracized from the community for marrying Marcus she preferred that then going hungry. They had two children Michael was born in 1868 and Paul was born two years later. Unfortunately Paul's delivery was a hard one and Abigail died from complications of childbirth. A few years later Marcus was riding in a thunderstorm when a few of his cousin Isaac's friends came after him. Marcus had thrown his cousin in jail for poaching. He died in jail. The horse that Marcus was riding got spooked by a crack of lightning and threw Marcus into a ditch. Isaac's friends caught up with Marcus. A local farmer found his dead beaten body the next day face down in the mud.

Marcus had saved enough money for his children in case if something would happen to him. Michael and Paul were sent to go live with their aunt Maureen. Their uncle Micah was part of the Molly Maguire's and was killed in a shoot out with the Coal and Iron Police. Since Maureen had no children with Micah she felt obligated to take care of Paul and Michael. She was running a laundry to support her and the children while she tried to find another husband to help support them. She met Timothy O'Brien who was also a coal miner but not as rebellious as Micah. They had a hard time financially since Paul and Michael were ill at times and Paul broke his arm while playing one day. So Maureen would teach the boys how to read and write and Timothy would teach them their numbers. When the boys grew to be 10 years old they went to work in the coal mine that Timothy worked at.

Working in the mine was very dangerous. Ventilation was poor and methane gas was sometimes with the coal. Methane is a highly flammable gas and the light of a match could set off an explosion killing the miners.

Paul was a trapper boy. Trapper boys open the gates in the mine to let coal cars go through. These gates are in place to keep the air in the mine. Otherwise the miners would suffocate. It was a very lonely job. Paul wanted to be out in the sunshine not in a cave. He would draw birds on the door to help pass the time. He never got to see the birds anymore since it was nighttime when he surfaced from the mine.

Michael was a breaker boy. He worked in a building where coal is broken into pieces to be used for heating. He sat by a long chute where the coal would come down. The boys sat there and picked out the bits of slate and stone from the coal. Michael's fingers were constantly cut by the pieces of coal. It was back breaking work and Michael was often sick due to breathing in the thick coal dust.

Michael became very ill from an infected cut and died from blood poisoning. Timothy and Paul were killed in a cave-in at the mine. Once again Maureen was left to fend for herself.

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