Commemorative historical and biographical record of Wood County, Ohio : its past and present : early settlement and development biographies and portraits of early settlers and representative citizens, etc. V. 1, Part 45

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.) cn; J.H. Beers & Co. cn
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1060

USA > Ohio > Wood County > Commemorative historical and biographical record of Wood County, Ohio : its past and present : early settlement and development biographies and portraits of early settlers and representative citizens, etc. V. 1 > Part 45

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The Perrysburg gas well, on the Slats farm, below Waterville bridge, was completed in March, ($88, and before December 7, of that year, the municipality owned eleven gas wells, to which others were added.

Oil Wells .-- The North Baltimore, or Henry township oil field, was the first to be developed. On December 1, 1886, the drill penetrated the Trenton rock on David Fulton's farm, on Section 14. to a depth below the mouth, of 1, 194 fect. The drillers, and the Vandergrifts, who owned it, lever opened a more discouraging hole, and were about abandoning work, when a resolution to go down another hundred or two hundred feet was adopted. When, at last, oil answered the drill. on December 13. the wily owners plugged the hole and let the 1, 8oo-pound drill rest upon the plug, but the oil, like Banquo's ghost, would not down, and thus their only hope of acquiring more land, by making this well a " mystery," was de- feated. On December 14 preparations were made for piping the product to Findlay, but, be- tore this could be accomplished, thousands of barrels flowed over the land. The Fulton was recognized as a Goo-barrel well, and maintained its production for a considerable time.

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The Peters well was drilled-in at 1,210 feet. February 9, 1887, and, February 25. that year, Milton Taylor & Co.'s well on the Henning farm. nine hundred feet north of the Fulton well, was completed. On the 26th, when about deciding to abandon the enterprise as a dry hole, the drill penetrated the crust, the rumbling of gas and off was heard, the fires extinguished, and presently the oil rushed through the pipes into the tanks. Forty barrels poured in in eight minutes, 200 bar- rels the first hour and 2, 500 barrels the first twelve hours. The owners -- A. E. Royce, Jesse Carothers, W. H. Smith, J. H. Sands and W. S. Coon-drilled this hole north of the great Felton well, and were fully rewarded for their enterprise and perseverance. The Davis well, owned by the Vandergrifts, came in on February 26, and the fame of the field was heralded throughout the country. The Slaughterback, completed Apri! 30. 1887, for Hankey Brothers, proved a 1, 000- barrel producer, while Slaughterback No. 3, was drilled-in on June 28, to prove itself the peer of its great predecessor. It was said to have yielde i 8,000 barrels the first day, but the official state- ment credits it with 4. Soo barrels in twenty-two hours without being torpedoed. At the end of sixty days it was producing between 2,000 and 3.000 barrels, and down to October 1. 188 ;. yielded 100,000 barrels. The Taylor well, com- pleted May 2, 1887, for Biddle & Ramsey, may be called the duplicate of the Slanghterback. The Bealer, drilled-in on May 4, yielded 1. 500 barreis a day as a reward for its owners - Carothers & Snyder. The Nolan & Kennedy well. on the Eberly farm, drilled-in May 25, flowed 200 bar- rels, and, before the summer set in, a number of wells were reported as fair pro lucers. The well on the Johnson Campbell farm, two and a half miles from North Baltimore, was yielding 13.000 barrels a month at the close of August, 1887. The well was drilled-in about the middle of August. but its power was not fully manifested until the tenth day, when the force of the gas sprayed the oil over the forest. Pliny Parker's well, on the Abe Fultz farm, was drilled-in August 29, 188 ;. and shot on August 30 with forty quarts of giy- cerine. The oil rose forty feet above the derrick for three hours before it was turned into the tanks when 1, 250 barrels were saved in two hours andi fifteen minutes. On September 20, the Parker well No. 1, on the Fultz farin, caught fire, fatally burning Robert Johnson, the pumper. The Crocker well also caught fire, sending up a bitre to a height of one hundred and fifty feet, and de- stroying much property.

The Campbell well, in Bloom, which opened

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with an extraordinary production, fell to 3 000 barrels a day by January 1, 1888, and continued to decline. Toward the close of 1888, the well on the Solether farm, near Jerry City, was drilled. The Sutherland followed, and a great field was opened. . Toward the close of 1887, the pipe lines refused to accept more than one-third of the daily .production of Wood county oil, and, as a result, the gassy wells, which could not be shut in by the casing process, produced thousands of barrels of oil, which, in the absence of tanks, ! flowed into the streams and thence to the lake. The wells mentioned are only a few of the pio- neer greasers of this county. The Franks, drilled- in at 1,077 feet for the Vandergrifts, on August 27, 1886, showed only 100 barrels, but fifty or sixty similar ventures with a like production ad- ded to the popularity of the field, and removed the work of drilling from the region of specula- tion. Many companies were organized in 1887. The Wood County Oil & Gas Co., of which J. R. Hankey, J. H. Sands, L. Black, J. O. Troup, S. Case, W. T. Reese and Dr. William Tuller were incorporators, was one of the leading indus- trial associations of the time. The field was not wanting in surprises, either. A phenomenon of the field was noticed in August, IS88, when the old Stockwell hole, drilled in August, 1887, was producing 125 barrels of red oil. It was pur- chased by Laney, who plugged the hole with iron siftings and next day found a clear crude, free from the red substance.

The North Baltimore field, in June, 1888, showed the following producers: Conroy, Duke & Myers, 5 wells; Associated Producer's Co., 6; Hazelwood Oil Co., 8; F. H. Rockwell. Miller & Co., 13; Sherman Oil Co., 7: United Gas & Oil Trust, 10; J. H. Van Wormer & Co, 7; Forest Oil Co., 6; Smith & Ziegler, 14; Hankey, Sands & Co., 8; Syndicate Oil Co .. 5, and Wm. Fleming, S.

Progress did not cease here. On May 12, 1889, it was reported that Barnd No. 1, at North Baltimore, struck an ocean of oil which poured out at the rate of 10,000 barrels a day. The showing would certainly favor such a report, but the catch was many thousand barrels below the number stated. It was enough, however, to re- attract attention to the old field, and win back many operators who had left to seek new and less productive pastures.

The Ducat well on the N. E. | Sec. 27, Liberty township, was completed May 20, 1888, for Collins and Potter. Being unprepared for anything extraordinary, they saw a production estimated at 5,000 barrels per diem going to

waste, nor was the flow controlled for several days. Early in July, it was said that no less than 10,000 barrels of oil, mostly from the Ducat well, floated on the waters of the Portage. On June 4th or 5th, the oil was fired, and soon a stream of fire four miles long and thirty feet high presented itself to the sightseers. In October, the Pernot Brothers struck a 3,000-barrel pro- ducer in Liberty township, south of the Big Ducat, and down to the present time the Liberty fields offers surprises to the lucky or plucky drillers.

The seventy-four wells in Liberty township, on July 1. 1888, were producing 20,000 bar- rels a day. The great Slaughterback well in Henry township. produced 75,000 barrels down to July 1, 1888, when it fell to a small well, having earned about $15.000. The Ama- zon Oil Co. leased lands on the McCrory farm, and in April, 1888, finished No. i on that farm as a 500-barrel well, which it continued about a year, and is now a five-barrel well.

In July, 1888. oil was pumped from Cygnet to South Chicago, a distance of 306 miles, at the rate of little over twenty-six miles a day, or about a mile an hour for a nine-days' trip. Cygnet is 330 feet above the level of South Chicago. The 8-inch line of the National Transit Co. holds 65,000 barrels, so that with the lights of 1880. oil could only make a military march to Lake Michigan.

The Standard Oil Co. had 12,000 acres in Bloom, 7,000 in Perry, 3,000 in Portage, and 1, 000 acres in Webster and Center at the close of 1888, when their great oil well on the Saylor farm, in Liberty township, came in, which was first reported to be a 6,000-barrel producer. Since that time other great companies have ac- quired immense tracts, large areas of which are held for future development. Down to August 10, 1888, the Standard Oil Co. had forty-three 35,000-barrel tanks in Wood county, and others building at the rate of two a week. It was thea the purpose of the company to locate no less than seventy-five of such tanks between Cyy- net and Oil Center on what is known as . Tank Farm."

The Delaney well, on the Mercer farm, pro- duced 100, 000 barrels during the fourteen months ending December 1, 1888, and continued. fot some time, a 200-barrel producer. This we! was yielding forty barrels in Jans, 18os, for it first owners. In ISSo a well drilled in the town of North Baltimore by B. A. Lawrence, started with a production of 400 barrels a day, and led to wholesale drilling until the council prolubuite i

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WOOD COUNTY, OIIIO.

further work. The oil men then sought a field for their enterprise on Sections 27 and 28, and were fully rewarded with great producers.

The Bradner Oil Co. took the lead in the de- velopment of the Freeport field, making leases on a cash royalty of four cents on a barrel. The well on the Fralick farm, Sec. 3. Montgom- ery township, may be considered the first heavy producer. Drilled late in 1889, it responded as a fifty-barrel hole, and led the way to the drilling of twelve more before May 1, 1890, in Sections 2, 3, 4. 9. 10, 11 and 15-all of which became known as sixty- and seventy-barrel wells, The rock is found at from 1, 185 to 1,200, and oil at from fifteen to thirty, feet in it, or about 500 feet below sea level, and from fifty to seventy- feet above the dead line. The Paragon Co. drilled on the Risingsun farm for the corporation, to a depth of 1,218 feet, but found neither gas nor oil, though later and more fortunate drillers were successful in that field.

The Palmer Oil Company's well in Section 21, Portage township, yielded 250,000 barrels prior to the close of 1890, and was then flowing 150 barrels a day. It was one of the notable wells which made the township famous in oildom.

The Brown Oil Co. struck a 7,000-barrel well on the South 1 of the Northwest }, Section 23, Plain, in 1892, flowed for three or four months, running 250 barrels in twenty-seven minutes at the beginning, and settling down gradually until it became known as a seventy-barrel well in 1895. In July of this year, it was drilled deeper, tor- pedoed and improved.

The developments were not confined to Henry, Bloom and Portage townships very long. In 1889, and particularly in the spring of 1890, the stampede to Freeport was in progress, and, on every side of Montgomery township, and even north of the township line, the country was in the hands of the oil operator and driller. The completion of a well near Freeport, in March, 1890, which flowed 210 barrels in two hours, caused the great stampede, and, before the close of November, no less than 400 wells were com- pleted, and many more commenced within the boundaries of Montgomery. Within the town of Freeport, 120 derricks were raised, and for some time the place was an oil city of considerable importance. Then the production began to fall by degrees, not to be raised again until the busy days of 1895.

In the old sections of the oil field, new sur- prises were appearing, and operators returned to their earlier hunting grounds.

The Haskins or " Sucker Rod " field, modern

in its development, has shown wonderful staying qualities. The field presents some strange phe- nomena, its direct line, as if following a river of oil, being not the least remarkable.

The Jerry City field came in during 1895 as one of the most progressive in the county. Front and back yards were given up to the driller, and the small boy, in hundreds of instances, could climb from the window of his sleeping room to dizzy derrick heights.

The Ohio Oil Co. 's well, on the Reese farn :. a mile northwest of the great Kirkbride, was completed May 16, 1895, at sixty-seven feet in oil-rock. At fifteen feet it yielded at the rate of fifty barrels a day; but the drillers, re-starting the tools, drilled fifty-two feet below, when the well gave 100 barrels an hour. On the next day it settled down to 50 barrels an hour. Whether it will fall as suddenly as did its predecessors- the Hollister, McMurray. Kirkbride. Baker and Delaware, in the Woodville field, has yet to be ascertained. The Corning Oil Co. 's well on the Philip Hartman farm, Sec. 12, Troy township. which flowed 220 barrels in the first half day. the Mountler Bros., 100-barrel well on the Rex farm, in Sec. 36, and their well on the Linker farm, in Sec. 25; the Westerman well on the Kohring farm, in Sec. 35: Plummer's well. in Sec. 25; the wells on Foster and Baker farms, in Secs. 12 and 13. Troy, and the Rock Oil Co's wells, in Sec. 2, Lake, with the ventures in Ross township, show the advance of the field.

In the Haskins or Sucker-rod field, the Marsch- ka & Brannigan well No. 12, on the Emerick farm. Sec. 34. Middleton township, a 600-barrel producer, was completed early in June, 1895. while Barnes. Wittmer & Watt's well, No. ;. on Sec. 27, Hoag farm, came in as a 150-bar- rel well. Later, in June, the Pennell. Pitcher. Camp and Hodge well, on the Shadd farm, 2. 500 feet west of Haskins village, struck oil rock at 1, 1983 feet, oil at 1. 2233 feet, and further pay- rock at 1, 2683 feet. This extension was calen- lated on the ground that the pay channel passed west of Haskins. under the river and through Waterville. The drilled declared in favor of this calculation, and a great well resulted.

Early in June, 1895, Mann's No. 1. on the Eberly farm, Sec. 7. Portage, and Fowler Bros'. No. 2, on the Hibbard farm. Sec. 30. same township, were drilled in and proved pay- ing wells.

The North Baltimore field was holling it- reputation in June, 1895, when the Carrothers. on the Lewis farm, Sec. 34; the L D. L.als- made, No. 5. on the Bushong farm, Sec. 33.

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and Wallace & Coon's No. 6, Henning farm. countered in the search on another lease. It led Sec. 14, Henry township, with the Ohio Oil : many men to enter dangerous territory and win Company's No. 7, on the Welton farin, Sec. 35: and W. H. Milliken's No. 11, on the McKee : farm, Sec. 28, Liberty township, came in as good producers. success therein: others it led beyond the bounda- ries described by the oil man's instinct, to lose money, time and labor which they invested in the prospect.

The year 1895 was a memorable one in oil circles generally, and particularly in those of Wood county. The Sun Oil Company struck two great wells in the Risingsun field, while westward to Haskins large wells were reported weekly. From the report dated December 27, 1895, it is learned that there were 1,786 new wells completed in Wood county, 568 in Han- cock, IS9 in Allen, 749 in Auglaize, 1,132 in Sandusky, 41 in Lucas, 648 in Mercer, and Ottawa, Hardin, Wyandot, Logan, Van Wert, Henry, Paulding, Williams, Putnam, Defiance, Fulton, Shelby and Darke. Of these numbers there were 200 dry holes in Wood county, 98 in Hancock, 48 in Allen, 104 in Auglaize, 99 in Sandusky, IS in Lucas, 76 in Mercer, and 187 in the miscellaneous counties. The new production for the year credits Wood county with 39, 840 barrels daily; Hancock, 10,778; Allen, 2,512; Auglaize, 12,730; Sandusky, 27, 268; Lucas, 715; Mercer, 9,422; miscellaneous counties. 5.010.

In the counties named 22,960 wells have been completed (down to December, 1895), at an aver- : age cost of $2,000 each, or a total of $45,920, - 000, to say nothing of the millions of dollars invested in pipe lines, pumping stations and build- ings of all sorts. This number of wells is pro- portioned as follows: Wood, 7,897; Hancock, 3,291; Allen, 1,605; Auglaize, 3,046; Sandusky, 3,752; Lucas, 201 ; Mercer, 1, 834; miscellaneous, 1,334. These wells were completed by years as

follows: Prior to 1890, 7.355; in 1890, 2, 151: 1892, 1,465; 1893, 1,877; 1894. 3,001; 1895, 5,559. Of the 22,960 wells, 3.560 were worth- less for oil, but many of them were good gassers.

The extraordinary development of 1895 will compare favorably with the best days of the field. From a point below Haskins to the extremes of the old fields, the driller was at work day and night, and derricks appeared everywhere even as far east as the Krotzer farm in Freedom, and north through Troy and Lake townships into Ross township. The increase in the value of oil must be credited with this extraordinary activity, for, at the price ruling in 1894, there was little prospect for profit, even where a venture to turn out a fair producer. The increased value of . Wood county oil gave drilling a fair commercial chance in which a good well on one lease would compensate for the water well or dry hole en-

Below are given some extracts from a paper on the subject, prepared by James O. Troup. Esq., of Bowling Green:

"Recurring to the oil business, its magnitude in Wood county is shown by the following figures, which, though given in . round numbers. are substantially correct. There have been drilled-in the county for oil.and gas 9, 000 wells. There are now in operation 5. 500 oil wells. The production of the county up to thisdate( September. 1896) is 50,000,000 barrels. The present daily production is 30,000 barrels. In searching for and producing oil within the county there hwe been expended $18,000,000. The capital at present invested in the business of producing is from $11,000.000 to $12,000,000. The writers have been unable to ascertain the exact number of employes in the business within the county. but it is in excess of 2, 500, and the average wages paid to them is about $75 per month. The average royalty paid to the land owner is about one-seventh of the gross production. This, at the present rate of production, and the present price of oil, means a monthly payment to land- owners of $72,000. Add to this a monthly pay roll of $20,000, and we have from the oil-produc- ing business alone $92,000 paid out monthly, or $1,093,000 annually, and finding its way among the people of the county.

" Thus far we have said nothing about the busi- ness of transporting and marketing the oil. The transportation of crude oil is a distinct and im- portant industry. It is carried on in this field by means of railway tank cars, and by means of pipe lines. We shall speak only of the latter. There are several pipe-line companies in this field, the Buckeve Pipe Line Company doing far the largest business. For that reason, its method of transportation will be briefly de- scribed, as an illustration of how the business is carried on. It is not, as is often supposed, a purchaser or dealer in oil, but only a common carrier, storing and transporting oil, and charging a certain price per barrel for storage and pipenge.

" It has in this county a central pumping sta- tion located on the T. & O. C. railway about 10 miles south of Bowling Green. It has also. 25 district stations located at different points in the county, with pipe lines extending from these to the tanks at the various wells in the respective dis-

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tricts, and to storage tanks hereafter described. ' pumped from the storage tanks above men- When a tank is filled and steamed, if steaming be necessary, the owner notifies the company's ganger for the district. If the gauger finds the : oil in a condition for marketing, he gauges the tank, and the oil is run into the company's line. When the run is made he again gauges the tank. which is never entirely emptied. By this means he ascertains the exact quantity of oil run into the line, even to the 1-100th part of a barrel, and reports the run at the company's office. The royalty interest is entered upon the company's books to the credit of the land owner, and the re- mainder, called the ' working interest,' is en -; tered to the credit of the well owner. Either party may sell his oil at once, or hold so long as he is willing to pay storage. Whenever a party desires to sell his oil he sends to the company's office a sale order, and receives in return a check for the market price, less charges for storage and pipeage. The ease, convenience and safety to the owner, of this method of marketing his oil, are obvious. From the district pumping sta- . tion the oil is pumped to the company's storage tanks, of which it has over 300 in this county. All but six of these are located in the neighbor- hood of the central pumping station. These tanks are cylindrical in form, made of boiler iron or steel, and have an average capacity of 30,000 barrels. A dyke is thrown up around each tank. The object is to confine the oil in the space be- tween the tank and the dyke in case of accident to the tank.

"That portion of the county covered by the oil field is a network of district pipe lines. Those of the Buckeye Pipe Line Company amount to over 500 miles, being more than sufficient to lay a con- tinuous line from Nashville to Detroit. The main pumping station is said to be one of the largest in the world. By means of it the oil is

tioned, westward to Chicago, and castward to the seaboard. The oil flows west through two 5- inch lines and one 6-inch line as far as Lima, and thence to Chicago through two 8-inch lines. Those who visited Machinery Hall at the World's Fair, and observed its immense battery of boilers, will be interested to know that the off used under them for fuel came through these lines. East- ward the oil is forced through two 8-inch lines via Cleveland to Olean, N. Y., and thence, by different lines, to New York city and Philadel- phía. On these lines, both east and west, there are relay pumping stations at necessary intervals. The capacity of the western line is 32,000 bar- rels, and that of the castern line 35,000 barrels daily. The amount run daily at the present time is about 15.000 barrels west, and 30,000 barrels east. As the total is 15,000 barrels more than the daily production of Wood county, it is neces- sary to state that the production of Hancock, Sandusky and Wyandot counties is collected into the storage tanks in this county. The rate of the current in these lines depends, of course. upon the amount of oil forced through them and upon the diameter of the line. Ordinarily the speed in the 8-inch line is two miles per hour. in- creasing in the smaller lines to five miles per hour. The pressure upon the lines is enormous. and varies inversely with the diameter of the line. In the 8-inch line, and at the speed above given, the pressure is about 1,000 pounds to the square incl. The company has its private tele- graph stations and telegraph lines throughout the field, and extending from the field to its principal offices both east and west.

" The capital invested in the storage and transportation of oil from Wood county is not less than $10, 000,000."

CHAPTER XXVI.

ASSESSMENT AND CENSUS STATISTICS- AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS-STATISTICS OF POPULATION- DECENNIAL, CENSUS.

T HE chapters devoted to political and edu- cational affairs contain very complete statistics relating to voters and school children, while that on the Transactions of the Commissioners deals more or less exten- 1.1

sively with tax levies and financial affairs. Here. the assessed value of property, at stated periods. and the tis levied thereon are given, with ngdres on the products of the farm. The most import- ant section of the chapter is that which deals

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with the population. It differs from the assess- ' ment and agricultural statistics, in the fact of its anthenticity. Though the former figures are summarized from State reports, they do not agree with true values or quantities, while it is known that the Census returns cover, practically, the number of inhabitants found in the county at the close of each decade, beginning with that ending in June, 1820.

Assessment Statistics .-- The assessed value of real and personal property, within its bound- aries, of 1826, was $88,886, of which $40.704 was assessed on lands, $23,230 on town lots, and $24,952 on personal property. The respective assessments, in 1830, were $38, 158. $27.222 and $15,884, or a total of $81,264. In 18440, the assessment was increased to $577.999, the lands being assessed at $229,673, town lots at $216,- 244, and personal property at 862.082. The as- sessment for 1850 shows a total of $1. 195. 183. the lands being assessed at $890,736. This was increased, by 1860, to $3.406.418, the lands amounting to $2, 353, 142, town lots to $253, 100, and personal property to $800, 176.

In 1870, the total assessed value was $4, 737, - 217; of which land values were placed at $2. - 621,271, and personal property at $1.809.690. The valuation by townships, in 1871, is given as follows: Perrysburg, $1. 341, 402: Weston, $617, - 507: Middleton, $434, 520; Portage, $259.403: Perry, 548,692; Montgomery, $493.814; Free- doin, $332,979; Troy, $322, 225; Liberty, $363. - 039; Center, $385,005: Bloom, $438. 451 ; Plain, $518,972 ;. Milton, $454.524: Henry, $257,227; Washington, $450, 893; Jackson, $217. 671 ; Lake, $544.728: Webster, $291.082, or a total of $8,272,134.

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Commemorative historical and biographical record of Wood County, Ohio : its past and present : early settlement and development biographies and portraits of early settlers and representative citizens, etc. V. 1, Part 45

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.) cn; J.H. Beers & Co. cn Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1060

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.) cn; J.H. Beers & Co. cn
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1060