The Russian's Ghost

By M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
Mines, both mysterious and treacherous are believed by the men that work there to be haunted. Sometimes these apparitions try to give a warning of pending disaster, other times they lure the living to their doom. In Grant Town, West Virginia the Federal No. 1 mine operated from 1901 until 1985 and was said to be haunted by a Russian miner.

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Was the legend of Big John true or just an urban myth?

In Grant Town, West Virginia the Federal No. 1 mine was built by the Federal Coal and Coke Company, and immigrants came from across the world to make a living there. But death could be found as well, whether from an explosion or rockfalls. They brought their language, customs and ghost lore.

The Ukranians believed in ghosts called "shubin" who warned miners of impending danger, but not all the time.

The origins of the belief in shubin is that it is a ghost of a dead miner who walks in a fur coat at the bottom of the mine, with a torch in his hand and burns the gas. Another is that he was a 19th century mining master who could predict collapses, and would warn the miners if one was impending. In a darker version, there was a taskmaster named Shubin who killed those working in the mines. Eventually he was killed, but his spirit is said to haunt underground drains in the form of a stooped old man, in a fur coat with pitted felt boots. He is a portend of coming death to whoever sees him.

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Jimmy Dean released a song about Big Bad John in 1961

In 1961, Jimmy Dean performed a song Big, Bad John based on this character. In the song he was described as a very tall and muscular man; a quiet man. Rumors were that he left New Orleans after killing a man over a Cajun Queen. He sacrificed himself when a timber cracked inside the mine, and he held it aloft so his coworkers could escape, however it collapsed before he could get out.

These are the lyrics:

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Big John
Big John

Ev'ry mornin' at the mine you could see him arrive
He stood six foot six and weighed 245
Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip
And everybody knew, ya didn't give no lip to Big John

Nobody seemed to know where John called home
He just drifted into town and stayed all alone
He didn't say much, he kinda quiet and shy
And if you spoke at all, he just said, "Hi" to Big John

Somebody said he came from New Orleans
Where he got in a fight over a Cajun Queen
And a crashin' blow from a huge right hand
Sent a Louisiana fellow to the Promised Land, Big John

Then came the day at the bottom of the mine
When a timber cracked and men started cryin'
Miners were prayin' and hearts beat fast
And everybody thought that they'd breathed their last, 'cept John

Through the dust and the smoke of this man-made hell
Walked a giant of a man that the miners knew well
Grabbed a saggin' timber, gave out with a groan
And like a giant Oak tree, he just stood there alone, Big John

And with all of his strength he gave a mighty shove
Then a miner yelled out, "There's a light up above"
And 20 men scrambled from a would-be grave
Now there's only one left down there to save, Big John

With jacks and timbers they started back down
Then came that rumble way down in the ground
And then smoke and gas belched out of that mine
Everybody knew it was the end of the line for Big John

Now they never reopened that worthless pit
They just placed a marble stand in front of it
These few words are written on that stand
'At the bottom of this mine lies a big, big man, Big John'

In one version the Russian killed himself by being careless with explosives.

The other story is that he was a Russian, and lived closed to the mine in a little shack. One day he became careless with explosives, and blew his head off.

A few days later, a miner descending into the mine early one morning, heard someone breathe heavily next to him. When he turned around the light from his helmet shone on a terrible sight. It was a headless man, holding his head with a big smile on it under one arm. With nowhere to go, the miner just shut his eyes. He opened them when the cage landed, but the apparition had disappeared.

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