Charles L. Kline
Charles Lawrence Kline Sr. (June 2, 1907 – Oct. 17, 1985) was a Scott County businessman and coal miner who owned multiple coal mines in the Brimstone community during the mid 20th century.
Biography
Born June 2, 1907, Charles “Lawrence” (or “C.L.”) Kline was the son of George Washington Kline (1850-1921) and Ella Jeanette Thompson (1871-1919). His siblings included Sarah Alice Kline (1890-1891), Pearl Hawn (1893-1976), Florence Nettie Hawn (1895-1923), James Wilder Kline (1897-1897), Zida Walker (1898-1984), and Maggie Mae Kline (1905-1905). He was the youngest child in the family.
Zida Kline married Thomas Nelson “Tom” Walker (1877-1954) in 1914, and they resided near where Indian Fork Creek empties into Brimstone Creek in the Hughett area of Brimstone near Slick Rock. Among their children was Lawrence Daniel Walker (1928-2013), who was a Scott County Commissioner for 32 years. Another of their children was James A. Walker, who served as principal at Robbins Elementary School. Tom Walker’s father, Daniel Walker (1844-1902), was a Union veteran of the Civil War who was captured during the war and escaped from a Confederate prison camp, surviving on acorns as he hiked home to his farm on Brimstone Creek. Daniel Walker’s wife, Almira “Mira” Goad (1852-1924) was the sister of Scott County Sheriff John Goad (1860-1933), and of Ettie Tennessee Goad Lee (1867-1890), who was the grandmother of U.S. Congressman John J. Duncan Sr.
Pearl and Florence married brothers, Freeman W. Hawn (1892-1971) and Albert Hawn (1890-1980). They were the sons of Timothy M. Hawn (1868-1948) and Mary E. Walker (1873-1913). Mary was a brother to Tom Walker, who Zida married.
The rest of C.L. Kline’s siblings died as babies, including Sarah Alice in 1891, James Wilder in 1897, and Maggie Mae in 1905.
C.L. Kline’s father and mother were married on Dec. 14, 1889 in Scott County. His mother was the daughter of Elswick “Elsic” Thompson (1848-1918) and Parzidda Pemberton (1851-1926). The Pemberton families was one of the prominent early families of Wolf Creek and Glenmary in southern Scott County.
C.L. Kline married Flonnie Davis (1908-1995) on Dec. 8, 1934, in Robbins. She was the daughter of Joseph Lonnie Davis (1880-1967) and Elizabeth “Bettie” Litton (1880-1972). Their children included Charles Lawrence Kline Jr. (1937-2000), Dr. George Litton Kline (1940-1991) and Ella Elizabeth Kline. George Kline was a prominent physician in Scott County who practiced at the former O&W Railroad headquarters in Oneida. His children include Dr. Elizabeth Burress, who now operates a veterinarian clinic, Highland Veterinary Hospital, out of the old railroad headquarters building, and Mark Kline, who is president of First National Bank.
Professional Life
Kline was self-employed for most of his life. When he registered for the draft on Oct. 16, 1940, at the age of 33, he was self-employed. He owned the C.L. Kline Store in Robbins, and also owned the C.L. Kline Coal Company, which operated two mines at Brimstone, as well as a coal tipple on a side rail of the Brimstone Railroad at Huntsville Branch.
It was at Kline’s Mine No. 2-A on Huntsville Branch that Scott County’s second-deadliest mining explosion occurred on May 24, 1965, killing five men. Kline, who served as the mine’s foreman, had been inside the mine for most of the morning but had left to check on another mine when the explosion occurred, killing everyone inside the mine.
Kline was also a member of Scott County Masonic Lodge No. 670 F&AM, and the Sunshine Chapter O.E.S. 279. He was a member of Barton Chapel Congregational Church.
Death
Kline died on Thursday, Oct. 17, 1985, at age 78. A funeral service was conducted two days later at the Scott County Funeral Home, and a visitation was held at his home in Robbins the following day. He was buried at what was then known as Burial Home Cemetery and is now known as Robbins Cemetery.