Charles Theodore “Ted” Bonawitz (1905-1968) was born at Keffers, Porter Township, Schuylkill, Pa., one of at east eight children of John Franklin Bonawitz and Emma Elizabeth Wolfe Thompson. He married Mary C Florick of Reinerton, Porter Township, Schuylkill County, Pa. in 1936. They had at least three children.
The June 5, 1942 West Schuylkill Press / Pine Grove Herald, Tremont, printed the story of Bonawitz’ heroism:
“TREMONT MAN SAVES LIFE OF INDEPENDENT MINER
“Theo. Bonawitz Risks Own Life to Rescue Miner From Carbon Gas
“That all the heroes are not on battlefields was proved conclusively last Sunday afternoon by Theodore (“Ted”)’ Bonawitz of Tremont, who risked death by carbon monoxide gas to save the life of a young man who was overcome in a bootleg coal hole.
“The rescued youth was Harold Nelson of Reinerton.
“Bonawitz and his wife were driving in their truck on Route 209 west of Tremont, going toward Joliett [Porter Township], when they saw a man staggering along the highway. Recognizing him as Raymond Wise of Reinerton and knowing him to be a sober man and a devout church worker, Bonawitz knew something must have happened to him.
“Ted stopped his truck and Mr. Wise cried, ‘Get my buddy out of the coal hole.’
“Without stopping to consider the risk to himself, Bonawitz rushed to the opening and descended a distance of 135 feet into the gas filled coal hole without the protection of a mask or the aid of a light.
“When he stumbled over the body of the victim of the carbon monoxide fumes, he managed to hoist him over his shoulder and began staggering his way up the slope. Weakened himself by the inhalation of the fumes, Ted soon collapsed under the weight of Nelson’s body, but he struggled on, dragging the inert form after him until he came to a point within 25 feet of the surface.
“Unable to pull Nelson any further he groped his way to the surface where he lost consciousness. Water revived him in a short time.
“While Ted was engaged in his heroic efforts to save Nelson, his wife stood on the highway flagging cars to get help for her husband.
“After Bonawitz regained his consciousness he was aided by some of the passersby in bringing Nelson up the last 25 feet to the surface.
“In the meantime, a highway patrolman had been stopped and told of the accident, rushed to Tremont for a doctor.” He and Dr. Simonis arrived at the scene just as the victim brought out of the coal hole, still alive but badly affected by the carbon monoxide. The doctor administered an injection and Nelson began to revive.
“Mr. Wise, who was able to get out of the coal hole before he was completely overcome, has completely recovered from the effects of the gas and is back at work, but Nelson still ill from the fumes he inhaled. He is expected to be well soon, ill all day Monday from the fumes he inhaled while he was effecting the rescue. Men who know coal hole mining conditions say that Bonawitz must have possessed an almost superhuman strength to withstand the fumes and pull the victim the long a distance up the slope. Almost miraculous, too, was the speed with which Ted worked despite the handicaps which hindered him.
“It was about 3:30 in the afternoon when he met Mr. Wise on the highway and the rescue was effected before 4 o’clock. Nelson and Wise were pumping water from the coal hole, water that flooded the workings following the heavy rains of the previous week. They had a gasoline engine installed the hole to pump out the water and a leak in the exhaust pipe caused carbon monoxide fumes which almost cost the two men their lives.”
The rescued Nelson was working as an “independent miner”. Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company abandoned the large collieries in southwestern Schuylkill County by 1938. The resulting unemployment was a terrific blow to the community. The last four collieries had employed almost 3,000 men. The only work these men knew was mining, and with anthracite coal resting just a few feet below, it seemed only natural to them to avail themselves of this buried treasure, so they helped themselves, bootlegging. At first, they dug house coal to keep their homes warm, but often the bootlegging became businesses, and the illegally mined product was sold. Bootleg mining became an established industry by 1934 with an estimated total production in the anthracite area of two and one half million tons. By 1935, about 20,000 people were dependent upon this illegitimate trade for a living.
Clyde L. “Musty” Machamer, Sr. (1914-1989) of Reinerton, organized a group of the “independent miners” in 1940 under the name of Miners, Breakermen and Truckers Association, and within two years it had a membership of 2500. In 1942, the membership had increased to 4,000 in west Schuylkill County and they produced more than four and one half million tons, much of it from land leased from coal landowners. During the peak years of independent mining there were 112 operators in Porter Township employing 1800 men with at least 800 more indirectly benefited by employment in the breakers and as truckers. (taken from A Centennial history of Tower City and Porter Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, 1968)
C. Theodore Bonawitz was added to the honor roll and awarded a bronze medal in October 1942. An unusual distinction came to Theodore of having his heroic rescue publicized in the June 1946 issue of Argosy for Men and the August 1946 issue of Coronet magazines. The article in Coronet was entitled “What Makes A Hero?” written by Henry Lee. It tells of several incidents where the threat of danger has given people almost super-human strength to accomplish feats that, under ordinary circumstances would be beyond the power of the individual involved. The writer described in detail the efforts of Bonawitz in rescuing Harold Nelson and stated that “When courage is needed, an unknown factor turns ordinary people into supermen.”
As a young man, Ted Bonawitz worked in a shirt factory, and by 1930 was working as a laborer at the Hazle Brook Coal Company’s Westwood Colliery, Joliett. He stayed there, working after 1936 for several independent operators who ran it as the Westwood Coal Co. In October 1943, Westwood Colliery left and Philadelphia Coal & Iron Co. began strip mining and remining the culm bank. After World War II, smaller operators such as Joliett Coal Co. and Stevens Coal Co. kept the Westwood breaker going until 1954. It was demolished in 1956. Sometime in the 1940s, Ted became a retail coal dealer. Always active in Republican politics, he was a ward committeeman for 28 years, and served two terms as a Tremont Borough Councilman, with some time as Council President. He was a Pennsylvania Department of Highways foreman for six years until his death. Bonawitz was in poor health for about a year and died August 27, 1968, as a patient of the Washington Sanitarium in Tacoma Park Maryland. He is buried at the Schuylkill Memorial Park, Place North Manheim Township, Schuylkill County.