History of Butler County, Pennsylvania, Part 35

Author: Brown, Robert C., ed; Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Meagher, John, jt. comp; Meginness, John Franklin, 1827-1899, jt. comp
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago : R. C. Brown
Number of Pages: 1658

USA > Pennsylvania > Butler County > History of Butler County, Pennsylvania > Part 35

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The wells on the MeGrady and Boyd farms in Clearfield township were com- menced in February. IS73.

The old Rumbaugh well, two miles northwest of North Washington, was drilled in IS73, and in March of that year struck off at 1.265 to 1.365 feet. in a loose pebbly sand. For weeks it produced seven barrels per diem ; but the price did not warrant the expense of freighting the product to Parker, and the well was abandoned after it was probed to a depth of 1.690 feet. In 1876 or 1877, Trumbull & Croll drilled west of the old well on the same farm, and found a four-barrel producer, the price then making a small well a valuable property. Drilling on the Thompson and Hilliard farms and along the south branch of Slip- pery Rock creek, merely showed dry hole -.

The Shreve well on the Adam Stewart farm, Donegal township, was owned by .A. W. McCollough. A. L. Campbell, Charles Hewens, and Kingsley & Shreve, the two last named being the contractors. It was the pioneer well in that sec- tion, and opened the famous " Miller-town District " in April, 1873. It yielded 180 barrels a day and was sold to to Clark & Timblin for $20,000. To that date must be credited the beginning of development in this rich oil field. The enter- prise of Kingsley & Shreve was sharpened by the faith of Dr. J. Michael in the field. and to him, in great measure, is due the honor of discovery. The well on the Thorn farm. owned by MeFarland & Company, the " Roadside " well on the Barnhart farm, by Parker, Thompson & Company, and the " Forquer" by James M. Lambing, came in in May. IST3, while southward were the " Greens " on the Johnson tract, the "Gillespie " operated by J. Burchfield. the Hemphill tract wells by Mckinney, Gailey & Company, the well on the Egbert lease and on the Widow Hemphill's farm, controlled by Duffy, McCandless, Stoughton and others. all tended to change Millerstown from a wayside village into a bustling oil town.

The Ziegler-Meylert well at Greece City struck Third sand on June, 7, 1578. The oil and gas. rushing forth, caught fire, the flames catching two industrious men-James Wherry and James Crowley-who received burns which caused the death of one that evening and the other next day.

The oil well at Butler, near the old distillery, was drilled in 1878 by Hart and Konkle, 1,750 feet, but the enterprising owners were unrewarded by the genii of the oil field. It proved the best gas well in the vicinity of Butler. Charles E. Hart, who kept the record, refers to a blood-red slate rock or munch chunk shale, extending from the 1,550 to the 1.750 feet level, but Andrew W. McCol- lough states that the red shale was not over fifteen feet in depth. When this well was completed and found to be unproductive, the owners offered it to Colonel Thompson and others for the cost of the casing. They refused the offer and thus lost one of the largest gas producers in the Butler field.

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THE BUTLER OIL FIELD.

The Mead wells, numbered 1, 2 and 3, near St. Joe. on the Now farm, were drilled in 1875, to an average depth of 1,565 feet. The opening of Number 1 was 1,294 feet ; of Number 2, 1.385 feet, and of Number 3, 1,890 feet above ocean level. The Bulger well, on the same farm, was opened at a point 1.368 feet above the ocean. At a depth of 315 feet ferriferous limestone was dis- covered, the first sand at 1.135 feet ; the second sand at 1,270 feet : a stray third sand at 1,500 feet and the Third sand at 1,555 feet.

A well on the MeClymonds farm finished December 4. 1875, for Mattison and McDonald, was opened at 1.241 feet above ocean level, and drilled to a depth of 1.490 feet, or twenty feet into the Fourth sand. The Third sand was found at 1,390 feet ; the second at 1, 165 feet, and the first at 750 feet. This well produced an amber-green colored oil at the rate of seventy-five barrels per day.

The three Woodward wells. also on the MeClymonds farm, were drilled in 1>75. for George G. Stage, J. R. Woodward and James Sheakley. One of the wells yielded 1,900 barrels a day and the others were good producers.

Ford well Number 1, at old Carbon Centre, yielded 100 barrels per day. when first opened in 1875, but declined to twenty-five barrels, though the drill did not go below the Third sand.

The Gibson and Ecock well on the Fronsinger farm opened about 1,352 feet above ocean level, struck a fitteen feet bed of limestone at a depth of 2 5 feet; mountain sand at 568 feet; first sand at 825 feet ; second sand at 1,160 feet and oil sand rock at 1,402 feet, through which the drill penetrated sixteen feet. bringing the exploration to 1,418 feet, or thirty-six feet below ocean level. The record of this well, made by Edward Casey. is one of the most minute and precise records of a boring ever made in the oil field.

The Columbia Oil Company's well on the Redick farm, two miles northwest of Parker, in Allegheny township, was completed January 10, 1876. when the drill entered a pocket at 1.277 feet and dropped to 1.250. The elevations on this farm average 1,485 feet above the ocean, while the Third sand was found at a depth of 1,250 feet, extending twenty-seven feet from the soapstone to the slate bed, at 1,277 feet. The well yielded fifteen barrels per diem for some months, from the 1.259 feet level; but decreased to three and one-half barrels of green oil by August, 1876.

The year IS76 witnessed a crude oil advance from $1.55 to four dollars per bar- rel: saw the market threatened by the new 125 barrel well at Greece City, and beheld the consolidation of oil-refining interests and activity in every part of the field. During the year ending December 31, 1877, there were 1.002 wells completed in the Butler-Armstrong oil field, while 171 dry holes were struck, the total pro- duction being 9,904 barrels a day.

The " Ghost" well on the Mrs. Kaylor farm, drilled in 1878 by George Il. Graham and Samuel Banks, near the east line of Fairview township, originated the Eastern Belt theory. The owners sold it at a good price; but the buyers made a poor bargain.

The Prentice well on the James Higgin's farm in Venango township, near the second coal bank, was drilled 1,600 feet, the drill passing through a thick

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

bed of limestone, which was found forty feet below the level of the coal bank. Oil was pumped, but not in sufficient quantity to pay expenses.

In the Six Points neighborhood many wells were drilled in Is77-7s In 1.71, the pioneer well, on the Chamber's land, two miles east of Six Points, was drilled to sand, without obtaining off. In the wells of 1875, a mountain sand, 200 feet deep, resting on a twenty-five feet loose-grained salt-water rock, was discovered, while the Third sand was fully 1,200 feet below the ferriferous lime- stone. The oil produced by the " fifty-foot " was lighter in color, but of a greater gravity, than that by the Third sand, which was decidedly green in color.

In July. 1880, Reiber & Huselton leased 780 acres in the Bald Ridge district, and step- were taken to drill a well at the intersection of the Angell " 223 degree line" on the Robert McKee farm, and the " Greece City line" near Bald Ridge Number 2. W. C. Neeley contracted to drill the proposed well at one dollar per foot and hold one-fourth of the thirty-two fifty-dollar shares of stock. Owing to the scarcity of water the location was changed to a point on the Smith farm, 1,100 feet south, and September 1. ISSO, drilling commenced. Reaching a depth of 1,600 feet. Neeley complained, and the stockholders agreed to allow him five dol- lars per foot. At 1,620 feet oil was struck ; but the boring was continued to the depth of 1,750 feet and the work was finished as a six barrel well, March S, 1881. In April, IsSI, the Bald Ridge Oil Company was incorporated, the stated capital being $16,000. In June, 1881, well Number 2, was commenced, and by October 1, reached 1,692 feet. After being shot, Number 2 became a sixteen-bar- rel well. In November, ISSI, their Number 3 was drilled on the Crowe farm, in Forward township. On November 1, 1881, Simcox & Myers began drilling on the llamil farm,-having already completed a well near Renfrew,-and, on March 20, 1852, struck a 100 barrel producer. Up to December 19, 1883, forty- seven wells were drilled in this field, of which thirty-seven were producing 612 barrels a day. Early in 1882, the MeCalmont farm of 1,100 acres was purchased by Agnew & Egbert for $104,000; the Forest Oil Company purchased a tract from Simcox & Myers ; A. Scheidemantle completed a well on the Weber farm in July. 1852 ; Yeagle & Campbell. on the Smith farm in August, Is83, and P. Smith finished a well about the same time.

The Bald Ridge Oil and Transportation Company was chartered May 24, Iss1. the charter being signed by Governor Hoyt and Secretary Quay. The capital stock, $16,000, was divided into 320 shares of fifty dollars each, all of which were held by J. D. Mc Junkin, John S. Campbell, Ferd Reiber, S. II. Peirsol, W. D. Brandon, W. II. Hoffman, W. II. Ritter, R. P. Scott. G. W. Fleeger, John N. Patterson, D. A. Heck, II. A. Krug, Jr., George Krug, Henry Bauer, Philip Bauer, B. C. Huselton, M. Reiber, Sr., Harvey Colbert, HI. Eiten- miller. Jacob Reiber, J. A. Hawk, O. D. Thompson, Simon Yetter, Il. L. Westermann and W. C. Neeley, the last named being the holder of fifty shares. In August, 1882, they sold their leases, wells and equipment to Phillips Broth- ers for $160,000. After this sale the pipe line was extended south from Petrolia to the new field, and the homes of the farmers were invaded by speculators seek- ing leases of lands. About the same time. Simcox & Myers sold a half interest

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THE BUTLER OIL FIELD.

in their Bald Ridge leases, for $75.000, to the Forest Oil Company and R. Jen- nings & Son.

This field may be said to have been really opened in the summer or fall of 1561 by the Simcox & Myers 100-barrel well and the Scheidemantle 600-barrel well. A year later, the first was producing eighteen barrels and the second thirty barrels ; the Schmick, ten barrels, and Number 6. of the Bald Ridge Oil Company, forty barrels. In December, 1882, the Forest Oil Company com- pleted a sixty-barrel well; the new Scheidemantle, on the Weber farm, was down 1,125 feet ; the Forest Oil Company's two new wells were down 1,300 feet each ; the Bald Ridge Oil Company had struck a great flow of gas and salt water at a depth of 1,200 feet ; Charles Sullivan's well was down 1,250 feet ; while the Phillips Brothers' well, on the Wallace farm, northeast of Bald Ridge, was down 1,450 feet.

In March, 1882, John Johnson, of Templeton, sold seventy acres at the junction of the Butler Branch and Pittsburg and Western railroads, for $6,000, the purchasers intending to establish a town at that point and drill for oil.

Early in the spring of 1882 the drillers on the Stewart farm, in Winfield township, struck the greatest gas vein discovered in the county down to that date. On the Mahood farm and on the W. Brown farm, wells were drilled in the fall of 1882. The well on the Weber farm, near Evans City, yielded over 2,000 barrels in the twelve days, ending Angust 9, 1882, and the field still contin- ued to furnish surprises.

In December, ISSB, a company leased 2,000 acres in Cranberry and Adams townships and adjoining counties, south of the Butler line, and, carly in 1884, began drilling near the William Thieleman saw mill.

After the drilling and operation of the extensive oil belt, reaching from Par- ker's Landing to St. Joe, south of Millerstown ceased, operations for oil in this county were neglected in a large measure for MeKean county, until 1881, when a small well was struck, about six miles southwest of Butler, in Penn township, in what became known as the Bald Ridge field. Thomas W. Phillips, who had oper- ated for and produced oil on an extensive scale in what was known as the Bullion field, in Venango county, as the pioneer in that field, and who did not join in the general exodus to the McKean field, conceived the idea that oil in large quantity would be found near the Bald Ridge well, and, in 1981. began leasing on an extensive scale, southwest of Butler. on Connoquenessing and Thorn creeks. The first wells he drilled were not large, but the character of the wells and the rock in which they were found confirmed his theory that a rich deposit was near, and on August 16, 1884, he was rewarded by striking a well on the Bartley farm, which when fully completed, proved to be the largest well found down to that time. It began producing at forty barrels an hour. By deeper drilling it increased to 180 barrels per hour, and as its greatest day's production flowed fully four thousand barrels. This well made a great record as a prolific producer. The striking of this well created a great excitement and led to immediate and exten- sive operations in this field by Mr. Phillips and others and the total production of the field soon reached 16.000 barrels per day. Special excursion trains were run from Pittsburg and other places to the well.

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

The Semple, Boyd and Armstrong, Number 2, on the Marshall farm, the greatest gusher recorded in the country. down to Ist. was drilled through the sand, October 25, 1>>4; but owing to the quantity of salt water present, it made no show of oil. The owners did not expect much from this part of the field so that the flow of water was not disappointing to them. They refused an offer for the well from Mr. Phillips and went right along with their work. When the well was shot, it began flowing at the rate of from 100 to 500 barrels per hour, and, for six hours, the want of faith on the part of the owners was punished by the loss of over 2.400 barrels, which flowed over the ground. It is said that, at one time during that day, it was flowing at least 500 barrels an hour, or 12,000 barrels a day, but there were only saved from the production 7,500 barrels. A safe esti- mate of one day's production of this great Thorn creek well is from 9,000 to 10,000 barrels. Its decrease was gradual but decided ; so that when it fell to the 500-barrel a day level, the men who knew it in its imperial days, began to look upon it as a mere ordinary well, scarce worth consideration.

The shooting of the Semple, Boyd & Armstrong well Number 2, on October 27. 1ss1. near the brick school-house and the telegraph offices in the Thorn creek field, was a scene worthy of the day- of the Irish Druids or of the eastern lire-worshippers. In Taylor's off work for ISSI, it is thus described :

When the shot took effect and the barren rock, as if smitten with the rod of Moses, poured forth its torrent of oil, it was such a magnificent and awful spectacle that no painter's brush or poet's pen could do it justice. Men familiar with the wonderful sights of the oil country were struck dumb with astonishment, as they gazed upon the mighty display of Nature's forces. There was no sudden reaction after the torpedo was exploded. A column of water rose eight or ten feet and then fell back again and some time elapsed before the force of the explosion emptied the hole and the burnt glycerine, mud and sand rushed up in the derrick in a black stream; the blackness gradually changed to yellow; then, with a mighty roar, the gas burst forth with a deafening noise: it was like the thunderbolt set free. For a moment the cloud of gas hid the derrick from sight and then, as this cleared away, a solid, golden column. a half foot in diameter, shot from the derrick floor eighty feet through the air till it broke in fragments on its crown pulley and fell in a shower of yellow rain for rods around. For over an hour that grand column of oil, rushing swifter than any torrent and straight as a mountain pine, united derrick, floor and top. In a few minutes the ground was covered several inches deep with petroleum; the branches of the oak trees were like huge yellow plumes, and a stream as large as a man's body rushed down the hill to the road, where it filled the space beneath the small bridge at that place and, continuing down the hill, spread out upon the flats where the Johnson well is. In two hours these flats were covered with a flood of oil, the hillside was as if a yellow freshet had passed over it, heavy clouds of gas almost obscuring the derrick, hung low in the woods, and still that mighty rush of oil continued. Some of those who witnessed it, estimated the well to be flowing 500 barrels per hour. Dams were built across the stream, that its production might be estimated; but the dans overflowed and were swept away before they could be completed. People living along Thorn creek packed their household goods and fled to the hillsides; the pump station, one and one-half miles down the creek, had to extinguish its fires that night on account of the gas and all fires around the district were put out. It was literally a flood of oil. It was estimated that the production was 10,000 barrels the first twenty-four hours. The foreman, endeavoring to get the tools into the well, was overcome by gas and fell under the bull-wheels; though rescued immediately and medical aid procured he remained uncon- scious for two hours. Several men volunteered to undertake the job of shutting in the largest well ever struck in the oil region; the packer for the oil-saver was tied on the

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THE BUTLER OIL FIELD.

bull-wheel shaft, the tools placed over the hole and run in, but the pressure of the solid stream of oil against it, prevented it going lower, even with the suspended weight of the two thousand pound tools. The addition of 1,000 pounds overcame the force, when ttie cap was fitted, the well closed, the casing connected and the tubing lines laid to the tanks.

The enterprise of the Phillips Brothers in drilling six new wells on the Bartley farm and also on the Dodds farm, was noticeable in November, 1884. In the last week of October the Armstrong Number 2, on the Marshall farm, which began with a phenomenal production created a furore in oil circles. On November 10th, it was flowing at the rate of 102 barrels an hour, and produced 75,000 barrels within the three weeks ending November 9, 1884. The Christie Brothers had eight wells; while Boyd & Semple, Conner & Fishel, Greenlee & Company, Gibson & Company, Fisher Brothers, Boyd & Company, Lappe & Company, and smaller operators were engaged in developing the field. By December 1, there were twenty-four wells completed, including three dry ones, on the Wallace, Marshall, Bartley, Dodds, Henderson, Brown and Weber farms, while twenty-nine new wells were commenced on these farms, as well as on the Pat- terson, MeCandless, McCormick, Kennedy, and adjoining lands. The Fisher Oil Company began operations on the MeJunkin farm; C. A. Eliason on the Liebler farm ; Showalter & Hartman in rear of the Butler fair grounds, and, in all directions, the Bald Ridge field was extended.

The well on the Williamson Bartley farm reached fourth sand, October 11, 1884, and began at forty barrels per hour. On the 13th the drill was answered by a 150-barrel flow, and on the 14th it was yielding 250 barrels an hour, or 6.000 a day. Henderson W., C. G., and Thomas G. Christie were the owners, having leased twenty-eight or thirty acres adjoining the great oil lease of the Phillips Brothers.

The great McBride well in the Bald Ridge field, was shot December 12, 1884, when a flow of 200 barrels an hour followed the torpedo. A flow of salt water, increasing in force until the stream reached far above the derrick, presaged the coming flow of petroleum, and the telegraph carried the tidings of a new gusher to the great oil markets of the country. Before the close of the month the Producers' Association purchased the leases of McBride & Campbell, Christie Brothers and Phillips & Simpson.

The " Grandmother," a mile west of Saxonburg, was drilled in 1884 to a depth of 1,768 feet, for Bolard, Greenlee and Smith. It became a great gusher and was the foundation of Golden City.

The uncertainties of the oil field were made clear in August, 1885, when the once busy towns of Phillips City and McBride City fell into decay and Hooks City, in Parker township, began to boom. In the spring of that year, the Hooks Brothers drilled a well on the Kelly farm. They did not find sand in the pro- ducing rock ; but found oil in the boukdler rock, which, on being torpedoed, became a 100-barrel well. By the beginning of August, 1885, there were four- teen wells at Hooks City, yielding 500 barrels. The depth to the sand was found to be 1,300 feet, and the cost of a well not more than $2,500. On the Dauben- speck, Smith, R. H. Campbell, and Cannon farms, prospectors were at work.

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

At the close of September, IS5, the Ott farm, east of Millerstown, was the most active place, the Westermann & Company's well being found to be a 100 barrel producer. On the O'Brien farm and the Joseph Hartman farm, drillers were busy and the Millerstown field was assuming some of the importance of earlier days. Owen Brady began developments southeast of Millerstown about this time

The shooting of the Conners & Fishel well on the Mangel farm, in the Thorn creek field took place May 17, 1885, but no oil answered the effort. The well was then cased to shut off the salt water, tubing and sucker rods were inserted, and for a few days salt water was pumped. On May 21, oil began to flow at intervals through the casing and shortly after a flow of sixty-five barrels per hour was recorded. It became a thousand-barrel well. The Phillips Num- ber 1, on the Bartley farm was yielding, 2,000 barrels a month.

In June. 1885, there were 1-17 producing wells in the Thorn Creek field, among them being the Greenlee Number 2 and 4, 105 barrels a day ; Connors & Fishel, 120 barrels ; McBride Number 3, 120 barrels ; Murphy Number 5, sixty barrels ; Murphy Number 4, ninety-five barrels; Markham, ninety-two barrels ; Kelly & Company's well, thirty-six barrels and McBride's Number 2, forty-five barrels. The Armstrong Number I, was still yielding about 1,000 barrels per month, while near Whitestown, a well was drilled to a depth of 1,700 feet, with- out a show of oil. At the close of July, ISS5, the decrease in production of the Thorn creek field was noticeable, the total being 2,800 barrels a day.

The Leidecker well or " Midnight Mystery," reached its most guarded stage September 10, 1855, having been then closely housed for fully twenty-one days. Scouts could not learn whether this new well in the Winfield district was a a gusher or dry-hole, but later found it was a small producer. A week later this mystery of Rough run, yielded thirty-five barrels in nineteen minutes, the oil being clear amber of a gravity of fifty-four degrees. Many tracts were leased in the new field and extraordinary prices paid for lands by the Phillips. Fishers and other operators.

In November, 1885, a well was drilled in Middlesex township, for Dr. Mc- Candless, Charles Neeley and others-following the example set on the Mahan farm-which is to-day a small producer. The Pittsburg Producers' Company's well on the John Balfour farm. in Adams township, reached a depth of 1, 450 feet , in November, 1885, when an amber oil began to flow. One of the owners forgetting the danger of fire, struck a match and caused an explosion of gas which inflicted severe burns on several visitors.

In ISS5, the well on the William Mayer farm in Brady township, was drilled, for John Phillips, to a depth of about 1, 100 feet. It was a dry hole, but produced a small supply of gas.

Early in 1886, Simcox & Myers leased a tract of 1,000 acres in Centre town- ship and began drilling a well on the John Byer's farm.

The Extension Oil Company, composed of R. B. Taylor , O. K. Waldron, Loyal S. MeJunkin , W. P. Roessing. J. A. McMarlin and others, drilled a well on the W. J. Welsh farm, in Jefferson township, in May, 1886, and found oil to

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THE BUTLER OIL FIELD.

the extent of 100 barrels a day, for a short period, and afterward struck good producers on that farm and others.

Thomas W. Phillips, thinking the belt from Thorn creek would extend nearly east and west , leased a large body of land embracing about fifteen thous- and acres extending east to the Armstrong county line, drilled wells to test his theory and was rewarded, after the end of the Thorn creek extension was reached, by finding only small wells. Retaining this body of leases when the Thorn creek, field began to wane, he returned and sought for a southwest extension of this field, and, in August, 1886, struck a well on the Critchlow farm which produced 125 barrels a day, and opened up the Glade Run field. This deposit increased in richness to the southwest , and in ISST he struck a number of wells producing over 100 barrels per hour. His largest month's production in this field averaged about six thousand barrels per day, and his production that year from this and other fields reached 1.100,000 barrels, notwithstanding half of his production was " shut in " for the last two months of the year. The number of his wells in this field reached 125, and these wells with about 7,500 acres in leases he sold in June. 1890, and then turned his attention to the development of the large body of leases which he retained east of Thorn creek. In that year, in this field, he obtained some fairly paying wells and in January, 1891, struck a well on the Fisher farm, north of Jefferson Centre, which flowed 185 barrels per hour, and after obtaining a number of good wells to the north-east in July, 1892, something over a mile from the Fisher farm well, struck a well on the Wolfe farm, which started flowing at forty barrels an hour and by deeper drilling produced 125 bar- rels an hour. The following month, he drilled in a well on the Barr farm adjoin- ing, which began flowing at fifty barrels an hour. In June, 1993. he struck a well on the Eichenlaub farm, near Herman Station-a mile and a half northeast of the wells on the Wolfe and Barr farms,-which produced forty barrels an hour. In this field and in the MeCalmont-where he owns a tract of 1,000 acres in fee-Brownsdale and other fields of this county, he has drilled, since the sum- mer of 1890, and now owns and operates about 100 oil wells, having a very large production and also a number of gas wells.

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History of Butler County, Pennsylvania, Part 35

Author: Brown, Robert C., ed; Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Meagher, John, jt. comp; Meginness, John Franklin, 1827-1899, jt. comp Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Chicago : R. C. Brown Number of Pages: 1658

Author: Brown, Robert C., ed; Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Meagher, John, jt. comp; Meginness, John Franklin, 1827-1899, jt. comp
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago : R. C. Brown
Number of Pages: 1658