USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 42
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EDWIN M. HUKILL.
EDWIN M. HUKILL, a representative citizen and business man of Pittsburgh, and one of the chief pioneers and leading operators in the produc- tion of petroleum and natural gas in the State of Pennsylvania, was born in New Castle County, Del- aware, February 1, 1840. He was one of the ten children of Gideon E. Hukill and Susanna McMur- phy, his wife, and was brought up to farm labor. At the age of sixteen years he lost his father by death. His education, which up to this date had been attended to so far as was possible in the unde- veloped state of the schools in that locality, was now, after two terms in the seminary at Pennington, New Jersey, seriously interfered with, for upon him chiefly devolved the care and management of the paternal acres, in consequence of the marriage and removal from home of his elder brother. Without neglecting such opportunities for self-improvement
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as leisurc and circumstances threw in his way, he devoted himself to the heavy task laid upon him, and for a period of eight years drew from the soil enough to make life comfortable for himself, his widowed mother and his orphaned brothers and sisters. At the age of twenty-four he felt that the time had come, if ever, when he might give up the slow, toilsome and unremunerative life of a farmer, and embark in some calling or business in which there was greater scope for his mental activity and more hope of a fortune requiting earnest and unre- mitting effort. Having in the spring of 1864 per- suaded his mother to accede to this step, he gave up the home farm, and removing his mother and broth- ers and sisters to the neighboring village of Odessa, he went on to Philadelphia-the great city to which his eyes had been longingly turned for many a day -and here soon found employment in a "clerical capacity." But this was far from meeting his de- sires, for he now, more than ever before, realized that a life of action was the one for which he was peculiarly fitted by his temperament and natural inclinations. While casting about for a field into which he might throw his whole energy, both phy- sical and mental, he was attracted by the wonderful accounts from the newly discovered oil wells. With a quick perception he saw that this new field of enterprise held golden opportunities for a person of his physique, character, training and ambition. There was no tarrying until sufficient money could be saved to constitute a capital for operations; but at once, upon making up his mind, he set out for the oil fields. He reached Oil Creek, Venango County, Pa .- where oil was then flowing-early in the month of November, 1864, having iu his pos- session the sum of seven dollars and a half. With the same decision that carried him there, he engaged in work when he arrived. Labor was in great de- mand, and having been accustomed, from his youth up, to share in the heavy work of his father's farm, he was in no wise loth to take employment as a day-laborer, especially as the pay was good. After a very brief experience in this capacity, he found a position with a corps of surveyors. Whatever money he received he held ready for investment, and so cleverly did he manage his ventures, that within a month after his arrival he had established himself in a small way as a dealer in lumber and oil. By degrees he extended his ventures, and it was not long before he became widely known as one of the most daring and successful operators in the district. His capital now having reached a most respectable figure, he did not delay in concluding to engage in production. The same success attended his efforts in this direction, and "it was not long
before he ranked as one of the most adventurous and successful producers of the entire region, which reputation he has always maintained and does to- day in all his operations." In 1871 Mr. Hukill, who had now been married some two years, removed to Oil City and, in association with Messrs. J. B. Rey- nolds and S. H. Lamberton, established the banking house of Reynolds, Hukill & Co. He remained an active partner in this concern for about five years, and then gave up finance to engage once more in production. The ensuing five years were devoted to prospecting for and producing oil, the last three of them being spent in the Mckean or Bradford field. But Mr. Hukill's labors and successes in oil production, have been surpassed by the daring, persistence and magnificence of his achievements in the production of natural gas. The origin of this marvellous product of nature, like that of petroleum, is involved in obscurity. Its utilization, though only in minor ways and to a limited extent, may be said to have begun in the village of Fre- donia, N. Y., in the first quarter of the present cen- tury. The numerous borings for oil a generation or more later resulted in the discovery of many gas wells, variously situated, and while the product was frequently allowed to go to waste, it was also often utilized for heating and lighting purposes in the towns and sections of country where it was pro- duced. But as gas wells contiguous to oil wells proved subject to the same law of rapid decline and short life as the latter, no attempt was made to "pipe " the product to larger markets. Its employ- ment on a larger scale for manufacturing purposes was first begun by Rogers & Burchfield, at their iron works in Leechburg, Pa., in 1874. In the fol- lowing year it was similarly employed at Sharps- burg, Pa. Western Pennsylvania is apparently underlaid with reservoirs of natural gas, which has been tapped in paying quantities, principally in the Washington, Murraysville and Grapeville districts. At Murraysville the Haymaker Brothers drilling for oil in November, 1878, struck an enormous gas well which was allowed to waste its production in the air for several years before the permanency of the supply impressed the public. While in the city of Bradford, Pa., in November, 1881, Mr. Hukill dis- covered in a report of a recent geological survey of Pennsylvania, a chart representing Pittsburgh as the center of a series of anticlinals. His long ex- perience as an oil producer had made him familiar with the theory, held by some, that territory cover- ing anticlinals was more likely to produce gas than oil, and it occurred to him that as gas existed in immense quantities at Murraysville, eighteen miles from Pittsburgh, there was a strong possibility of
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its being found nearer the city. He decided to pros- pect by drilling these anticlinals, and uniting himself with others, he made publication in December fol- lowing of his intention to apply to Governor Hoyt, on the twenty-first day of January, 1882, for a charter to engage in the business of supplying gas- either artificial or natural-for fuel in the city of Pittsburgh. A copy of this publication, which was the first regularly legal one for such a purpose made, was filed in the office of the Secretary of State. This movement seems to have stimulated some " shrewd manipulators " in Pittsburgh, for on January 22 there appeared in the local papers an announce- ment that a charter had been granted the day pre- vious to other persons for a similar purpose. The doctrine of exclusive rights under priority of grant having been exploded in the higher courts, this charter proved of no special value. Mr. Hukill's charter, duly and legally obtained, was never used, and expired by limitation, his associates declin- ing to risk their capital in co-operating with him. Remaining still a firm believer in the superiority of gas as a fuel, he busied himself during the greater part of 1882 in making efforts to induce the iron manufacturers of Pittsburgh to accept the "Strong process " of manufacturing gas for fuel. But in this he found the spirit of opposition to change too great to be overcome. The process had not been sufficiently tested, it was said, and coal was plenti- ful and reliable. He learned one thing, however, and that was that without exception the manufacturers believed in the economy and utility of natural gas. After this lesson he turned his attention to the de- velopment of this product. Removing to Pitts- burgh in March, 1883, he began, in conjunction with Professor John F. Carll, of the State geological sur- vey, a series of studies and experiments with a view " to ascertaining the definite location of the anticlinals on either side of the city," and was doubtless the first to conduct experiments on the anticlinal the- ory. Although, early in 1883, others, having suc- cessfully drilled for gas in the vicinity of Murrays- ville, had brought it by pipes to the city of Pittsburgh, where it was warmly welcomed, Mr. Hukill contin- ued his scientific experiments in the most thorough manner. Knowing that the limits and bearings of a producing district or belt could only be determined by drilling, "he located three test wells, the first on the Brady's Bend anticlinal in Shaler township, Al- legheny Co., west of the city; the second on the Waynesburg anticlinal, east of the city, on the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Carpenter, now Adarra Station, and the third on the same anticlinal, about two miles north of number two well. The first and second wells proved to be-instead of gas
-large water wells in the stratum that should have produced gas, owing to the rapid dip of the rock towards the south, which placed it below the gas horizon, and into the water vein. The third well was'far enough north to find the gas strata above the water level, and was a good gasser. This and other wells drilled near it by him fixed the south limit of the now famous Murraysville gas belt. Meanwhile he assumed the probable course of the gas belt yet to be developed, sympathizing with the course of the anticlinal. He located and drilled a well on land leased for the purpose, about ten miles north and thirty degrees east of north from the original Haymaker well (oil and gas belts being generally fonnd to lie in a north-east and south-west direction) which resulted in a good gasser and fixed the north limit of said Murraysville belt, in length about fifteen miles, and at the time of this writing (1888) containing over one hundred wells, supply- ing gas for Pittsburgh and adjacent markets." Mr. Hukill's method of proceeding is the pioneer's or " wild-catter's-so called. Assuming a bearing with an expert's knowledge, he surveys an air line for a distance across the country, and then leasing land on either side of that line, he follows with the drill. Having in this manner acquired and tested several thousand acres of land in the Murraysville belt, he organized in 1884 the Carpenter Natural Gas Com- pany (of which he was elected President) with a capital of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The charter of the company was granted in January, the land mentioned was transferred in October, and before the close of the fall a pipe line had been laid from the Murraysville field to Pittsburgh, with a branch to Mckeesport. It proved a prosperous and successful enterprise. Mr. Hukill's connection with it terminated September 1, 1885, when it passed into other hands. Constantly on the alert for "new business," Mr. Hukill took cognizance of indications and remarks, which, as a general thing, would escape a less observant person. Hearing one of his subordinates in the Carpenter Company al- lude one day in the early part of 1885 to his pioneer experiences in Greene County, Pa.,-a field which had proved so unsatisfactory as to be abandoned by all operators-he arrived at the conclusion that there was something to be made in that district not- withstanding reports to the contrary; and as the agent of Messrs. E. M. and Geo. P. Hukill and W. H. Shackelton, the speaker referred to (Mr. J. F. Thompson) was delegated to take up land in that section and put down several wells under instruc- tions as to location. A paying well was at length struck, to the surprise of everybody excepting the long-headed promoter of the new exploration, and
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the territory was instantly beset by operators. Their science does not seem to have equalled Mr. Hukill's, for in a short time they concluded there was nothing to be made and were re-shipping their machinery to other fields. Buying out the interest of his partners to prevent their incurring any hazard, Mr. Hukill prosecuted experiments with none to molest or interfere. "Up to this time the only oil producing rock in Greene County was kuown as the Dunkard sand. * * * This stratum lies about seven hundred feet below the surface, varies greatly in thickuess and quality of sand, and is very unre- liable as an oil producer, so much so that it does not justify operators in drilling it." Following his original method, Mr. Hukill had a line "surveyed south, varying something like thirty degrees west of south, through Greene County, crossing the State line into West Virginia, * *
* nominally forty- five miles." Leasing land on either side of this line to the extent of about fifty thousand acres, he drilled several wells, some distance apart, to the depths of from twenty-five hundred to twenty-eight hundred feet, his object being to learn what sand rocks ex- isted aud their position, character and possibilities. It was an exceedingly difficult task. attended by in- numerable mishaps and delays, and, besides consum- ing two and a half years' time, occasioned a very heavy expenditure of money. Nobody believed in it and the persistent operator was already an object of sympathy in his fatuous (?) search, when he was rewarded for all his trials and expenditures by find- ing oil in a lower strata. The most daring operators were astonished by the perseverence and tenacity of Mr. Hukill, the incredulons public were amazed at his success, and science was aided by the solu- tion of "The difficult problem of how many strata of sand rock there are and which one produces oil." This has been termed the most extensive individual enterprise in the long list of oil operations, and its brilliant success has well repaid expense and effort. A more recent enterprise, and one equally successful and profitable, has been in connection with the pro- duction and supply of natural gas. In the early part of 1886 he secured several thousand acres of land in Westmoreland County, on the upper portion of the Mnrraysville gas belt, and organized the Pine Run Gas Company, for the purpose of supplying with fuel-gas the borroughs of Apollo and Leech- burgh, on the Kiskiminetas River, and Freeport, on the Allegheuy River. The public had so little faith iu the undertaking that Mr. Hukill (who was President of the company) and his associates were obliged to purchase nearly all the stock in it. In the places named four large iron works and numer- ous small manufactories patronized the company,
and more lately the line has been extended so as to include Natrona on the Allegheny, where the Penn- sylvania Salt Manufacturing Company proves a heavy consumer. The stock of the Pine Run Gas Company is thus drawing large dividends. As a consequence of his wide experience in production, covering operations in oil at Oil Creek as early as the pioneer days of 1864, and as recent as the exten- sive undertaking known far and wide as " Hukill's Greene County scheme," and including also the most scientific development of natural gas that has been made, there is very little Mr. Hukill doesn't know about these two valnable products. He is one of those men-few in number-who master what- ever engages their attention, aud no difficulties seem great enough to daunt him. Whatever his success has been it is the reward of faithful effort and not accident. He has made the fortune he hoped to make, only it is many times larger than his- wildest dreams ever brought to his mind. He in- habits a delightful home in the beautiful suburb of Oakland, and endeavors to make others happy by generous gifts to religious and charitable objects. One who knows him well attests that " the govern- ing law throughout his entire career has been a deep religious principle, a firm belief in an all-wise, di- recting Providence, to which he ascribes all his success." For one who has spent so much time in such laborious nndertakings his habits are notice- ably above reproach, as they do not include the nse of either liquor or tobacco, to his abstinence from which he attributes in large degree his fine physique, robust health and undiminished activity of mind and body. He excels as an organizer and discipli- narian, and conducts operations on such an exten- sive scale that he dwells little npon the cost, know- ing that success once achieved will remunerate royally. He has been heard to say of himself that "an effort to practice economy in the affairs of every day life seems to dwarf every element of his nature." Both in figure and feature he bears the stamp of a man of exceeding force of will. Mr. Hukill married in 1869, Miss Mattie E. Lyday, a native of Washington County, Md., but at that date a resident of Jasper County, Iowa. To this union four children have been born : Edwin M., Jr., Lyday May, Ralph Vincent, and Grace Watkins, all now living.
JAMES I. BENNETT.
JAMES ISRAEL BENNETT, of the firm of Graff, Bennett & Co., iron and steel manufacturers of Pittsburgh, was born in Crawford County, Pa.,
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June 22, 1822. His father, William Bennett, was one of a number of brothers who were noted in all the region round the family homestead for their great stature, all of them being more than six feet in height. Some of these brothers scrved under Gen. Harrison in his campaigns in the war against the Indians in 1811, and later in the war against the English in Canada, where Harrison, as Commander- in-Chief of the American army, showed great mili- tary talent. They may, indeed, have been with him in the important battle at Tippecanoe, which gave the battle-cry for the Presidential campaign of 1840, of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." His mother was a daughter of Andrew Gibson, a Scotch Presby- terian, and one of the pioneers of that sect in the western part of the State of Pennsylvania. In 1823 his father removed to Franklin, Venango County, Pa. (since become famous as an oil centre), where he died in 1834. Of education young Bennett had such as could be obtained in the common schools of his day where he lived, with the addition of a short term at Allegheny College. At the age of fifteen he began his business life as a clerk in the employ of the late Robert Lamberton, of Franklin, and after- wards in that of Myron Park, with whom he re- mained until 1841. By this time the young man, who had ambitions, became restive under the contracted business opportunities offered in such a small town as Franklin, and through the advice and influence of Hon. John W. How, an old friend, he succeeded in procuring a situation with the firm of Myers & Richey, who did a considerable business as whole- sale grocers in Liberty St., Pittsburgh, and with whom he remained three years. In 1844 young Bennett associated himself with William B. English and William Gallaher in the grocery business, under the firm name of English, Gallaher & Co. This en- terprise lasted, however, but a short time, the firm being dissolved in the following year on account of the death of Mr. Gallaher. A month later came the great fire of 1845, which swept away all and more than all the earnings of the firm, and a new start be- came necessary. Up to this period Mr. Bennett had formed in his mind the intention of ultimately going West, " to grow up with the country." But a discussion of affairs with his remaining partner resulted in the decision that they would remain to- gether and make another start, locating as near as possible to the point where they were previous to the fire. Buildings were now being rapidly put up to take the place of those destroyed by the disas- trous conflagration, and a gentleman who was erect- ing one on a lot which he owned, and which was nearly opposite the St. Charles Hotel, offered it to the two enterprising young men if they would agree to
lease it for five years, at a rental of $500 per annum, which was considered very high at that time, the same property previous to the fire having brought from $200 to $300. They accepted the offer and re- newed business under the firm name of English & Bennett, but in 1850, at the expiration of their lease, they removed to Second street, between Wood and Smithfield. Here they remained in business for some years, when they associated with them Mr. James Richardson, and engaged in the produce business on Water street, under the firm name of English, Richardson & Co., Mr. Richardson being the active member. In 1853, in connection with William B. English and Robert H. Marshall, Mr. Bennett leased, and afterwards bought, the Clinton Rolling Mill, of which he took the active management, changing the machinery into that necessary for the manufac- ture of iron rails. Not finding this a remunerative business the firm closed out their contracts and again changed into the manufacture of merchant iron and nails, in which they have continued ever since. Some years later the firm leased and afterwards bought what was known as the "Stew- art Mill," at Girty's Run, now known as the Millvale Iron and Steel Works, situated on the West Penn-
sylvania Railroad, and for which they purchased additional property and added greatly to its capacity. In January, 1880, these works were entirely de- stroyed by fire, but were at once rebuilt, trebling the capacity, and while adding the most improved machinery for their manufacturing, covered it with an iron building perfectly fire-proof, and said to be one of the finest works in the country. The equip- ment of this establishment for the manufacture of plate and every description of iron, as well as plates or structural iron, includes a first-class steel plant. The firm have also operated the Fort Pitt Works for a number of years. The first blast furnace erected in or near the city of Pittsburgh, for the manufacture of pig iron, was built at the Clinton Mill in 1862. This firm, also, in connection with David Richey and Nimick & Co., built furnaces in Allegheny City, which they afterwards sold to a company organized to build the Superior Rolling Mill, for the manufacture of iron rails, the whole under the name of the Superior Iron Co. Mr. Ben- nett, with his firm, was active in the organization of the Pittsburgh Locomotive Works, and was a stock- holder in the firm of McIntosh, Hemphill & Co., the Isabella Furnaces, the Grafton Furnaces, at Lee- tonia, O., charcoal furnaces near Lake Erie, and in many other enterprises in and about the city. Mr. Bennett was one of the organizers of the Peoples' Bank and the Merchants' and Manufacturers' In- surance Companies, and has been President of the
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latter since its organization. Pittsburgh having no | in that high integrity which is the chief nobility competing lines of railroad into or out of the city, of a business career. The fact that Mr. Bennett has reached the position in life which we have superficially indicated sufficiently proves his right to the recognition of his possession of these qualities. Mr. Bennett was pressed to take hold of the build- ing of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, from Pittsburgh to Youngstown. , This he did, and en- listing all his energies in the work, in a compara- tively short space of time had a first-class railroad connecting at Youngstown with the Lake Shore and New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroads. It was JACOB JAY VANDERGRIFT. a success in every way from the beginning, paying from twelve to fifteen per cent. the first year after CAPT. JACOB JAY VANDERGRIFT, a well known business man and capitalist of Pittsburgh, one of the pioneers in the development of the great petroleum and natural gas interests of Pennsylvania and neighboring States-with which he has been actively and prominently identified since their dis- covery, and to-day probably the foremost man in the broad and prolific region of natural wealth known as the " oil country,"-was born in the city named, April 10, 1827. He is a grandson of the late Jacob Vandergrift, of Frankfort, Philadelphia Co., Pa., who married, December 29, 1791, Mary Hart, of the same township. The children of Jacob and Mary Vandergrift were Samuel, born in 1794; John, born in 1796; Benjamin B., born in 1798; Sarah, born in 1801; Joseph, born in 1803; William K., born in 1805; George, born in 1807; Elizabeth, born in 1809; James, born in 1811; Martha, born in 1813, and Jacob M., born in 1816. William K. Vandergrift, the father of the subject of this sketch, married in April, 1825, Miss Sophia Sarver, born July 5, 1804, near Perrysville, about seven miles from Pittsburgh. The children of this marriage were Elizabeth (now Mrs. Kelly); Jacob Jay (the subject of this sketch); Rachel (who died in in- fancy); William Knowles (who died at Jamestown, N. Y., 1888) ; Rachel (now Mrs. Blackstone) ; Ben- jamin (who died of swamp fever contracted at Cairo, Ill., in 1862-3, while in the service of the United States as commander of the steamboat " Red Fox"); Caroline (now Mrs. Bishop); George (who was drowned in the Allegheny River), and Theophilus J. (who is a producer of oil, and lives at Jamestown, N. Y.). Mr. Vandergrift's parents spent the first six months of their wedded life at Woods Run, and from there removed to Manches- ter, now part of Allegheny City, Pa., where they were living when the great flood of 1832 occurred. In April, 1833, they removed to Pittsburgh, and re- sided about five years on Water street, between Wood and Smithfield streets, and also for five years near what is now the head of Fourth avenue, where they were when the great fire of 1845 worked such terrible devastation. Driven from their home by this calamity, they removed to Birmingham, now completion, and continuing to do so up to the pres- ent time. Mr. Bennett was the instigator and prime mover in obtaining from Mr. William H. Vander- bilt the capital to build the Pittsburgh, Mckeesport and Youngstown Railroad. to the coke regions at Connellsville, connecting with the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie, in both of which he still continues to hold the office of director, as well as in the Lake Erie, of which he was the first President. In politics Mr. Bennett was an Old Line Whig until the formation of the Republican party in 1806, since which time he has been a staunch Republican. He has always been an advocate of high tariff, holding it to be the first duty of the Government to give a full and as- sured protection to the industries of the country, both large and small. Mr. Bennett was married in 1846 to Annie E. Johnson, the daughter of John W. Johnson, whose family removed to Pennsylvania from Monmouth County, N. J., in 1790, and whose father was one of the company formed in Holland and sent to this country to purchase large bodies of land from the Government in different parts of the country. Part of this company remained east of the mountains, while others decided to try the western slope, where there was a wider range. As one of the pioneers of the great iron and steel manu- facturing industry of Pennsylvania, and particularly from the fact of his immediate connection with the vast and growing interest of the centre of that trade in Pittsburgh, Mr. Bennett has established a record for enterprise, determination and sagacity worthy of perpetuation. The picture of a boy who advances from a clerkship in a grocery store to be a Pennsylvania iron master, and President and direc- tor of railroads, foundries, banks and other heavily capitalized institutions, is one full of suggestion to the growing youth of this country. Only the tena- cious and persistent industry and clear-headed judgment which have characterized Mr. Bennett in all his business dealings can possibly progress to such a successful conclusion. And not only are such qualities necessary. In the active competition of such stirring centres of manufacture a man has to hold his own politically, socially and, above all,
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