The Diamond Mine of the Wilmington Coal Mining and Manufacturing Company, located near Braidwood on the Grundy-Will County line, was the site of a major mine disaster in Illinois. The mine stood on a marshy tract of land with no natural drainage. At midday on February 16, 1883, the east side of the mine collapsed under the weight of melting snow, ice, and heavy rains. An alarm sounded, and miners near the escapment shaft hurried to the surface, but the main passage to the shaft flooded rapidly and the weight of the water sealed the ventilation doors in the tunnels. Escape became impossible, and rescue attempts failed. Other mines in the area suspended operations, and their workers helped build a dam at the site. For thirty-eight days, seven steam pumps removed water from the mine. Volunteers descended the shaft on March 25, and the first bodies were recovered on March 26. The recovery effort was hampered by accumulations of debris and gas as well as by falling rock. Several days later, the mine was sealed with the remaining forty-six bodies entombed. Numerous men and boys died in the disaster; two were thirteen years of age, and two were fourteen. Contributions for the victims' families came from across the United States and totaled more than $42,000, including $10,000 appropriated by the Illinois General Assembly.