C.J. Marcum
Carrie Bishop
Rosa Angelelli -- works for 
Rondal Lloyd --Dillon's nephew; Carrie Bishop's second husband.

Dillon Lloyd -- Rondal's uncle, friend of C.J. Marcum
Clabe Lloyd -- Rondal's father; 
Vernie Lloyd -- Rondal's mother, signed over land while Clabe was out hunting
Talcott Lloyd -- Rondall's brother
Kerwin Lloyed -- Rondall's brother

Henry Marcum (pawpaw) -- C.J.'s grandfather
Missouri Marcum (mawmaw) -- C.J.'s grandmother
Omar Kane -- sheriff who evicts Henry Marcum's widow and C.J. as a child

Ermel and Annadel Justice  (owns farm where many begin to settle--becomes town of Annadel) cousin to Henry Marcum

Isom Justice -- son of Ermel, friend of Rondal
Pricie Justice -- daughter of Ermel, marries Talcott Lloyd

Lytton Davidson -- mine owner; Rosa Angelleli's employer
Malcom Denbeigh -- Davidson's "number two man."  Orders Johnson's murder.

Garmon Tackett --teaches Rondal to play banjo

Miss Radcliffe-- C.J.'s teacher

Flora Bishop --sister of Carrie, marries Ben Honaker
Miles Bishop --brother of Carrie
Orlando Bishop -- father of Carrie
Aunt Jane May--Carrie's grandmother and Great-aunt
Alec May --Jane's husband, killed in the Civil War
Aunt Becka -- Carrie's Aunt

Albion Freeman -- son of a drummer who stays with Bishop family while recovering from illness.  

Johnson--black union organizer killed at the order of Denbeigh

Doc Redmon --treats Rondal's foot

Widow Schoolcraft-- Rondal rents a room from her

Albion Freeman--drummer's boy who stays at the Homeplace; first husband to Carrie Bishop.  

Senore Davidson -- Rosa Angelelli works for him
Mario Angelelli -- Rosa's husband

Doc Booker -- friend of Rondal and CJ; Carrie later works for him.  

Some terms/references
Red dog --  "The prolonged burning turned slate, or stone, in the dumps into 'red dog,' a sharp-edged reddish rock used in some counties as a road base."
http://www.appalachianfocus.org/_mine/000000ae.htm
The coal glossaries I provide links to from the resource page describe red dog as being similar to "coal ash," but this didn't fit the image I had of red dog, nor was it the way Giardina refers to it in the novel.  I think the above description gives a better idea of the look of this material.

Eugene Debs -- "Five times the Socialist candidate for president, his last campaign 
was run from federal prison where he garnered almost a million votes."

Internationale -- Doc Booker whistles this labor anthem.
Alternate link since site above has been slow to respond.

Old Christmas -- January 6th; also see
http://www.tiac.net/users/papajoe/chuck14.htm for more on Old Christmas.

Additional Resources
Landmark Dates in Democratic Party History
The timeline mentions that the party "passed the first labor and child welfare laws," in 1912, but from what we have read, this legislation has little affect on the coal fields.  Woodrow Wilson was elected this same year.

Grolier presents The American Presidency
Compare the language of this text to Lowen's "Lies My Teacher Told Me."   Note use of passive voice in  Grolier account in the following sentence which is also distanced from the role of Wilson and under a separate header about "Factionalism in the 20s."

Following the Russian Revolution (1917), a virulent anticommunism soon became meshed with nativist hostility to immigrants.

Brief History of the Socialist Party
From the beginning the Socialist Party was the ecumenical organization for American radicals. Its membership included Marxists of various kinds, Christian socialists, Zionist and anti-Zionist Jewish socialists, foreign-language speaking sections, single-taxers and virtually every variety of American radical. On the divisive issue of "reform vs. revolution" the Socialist Party from the beginning adopted a compromise formula, producing platforms calling for revolutionary change but also making "immediate demands" of a reformist nature.

Growing up on Cabin Creek
An interview with Arnold Miller.

'Hillbilly' stereotype evolved to justify huge land grab

West Virginia Third District
Contemporary political info, population info.

Early Coal Production in West Virginia
Review this outline from Ronald Lewis's course on West Virginia History.

Image of miner's home; interior papered with newspaper

On Sunday when [mommy] was outside, I got the idea of reading the newspapers covering the walls.  .  .  . The newspapers were new; Mommy had put them up that very week.  I brought a wooden chair from the kitchen and set it by the front door, lit a kerosene lantern, and stretched on tiptoe to read the headlines near the ceiling.  (Heaven, 25).

National Archives and Record Administration Search for Archival Holdings
photo of miner's home above comes from this source.  Although most images currently archived are later than the period we are studying, many are evocative of scenes described in the novel.