USA > Pennsylvania > Clarion County > History of Clarion County, Pennsylvania > Part 38
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In June, 1874, fifty- nine rigs were up around Edenburg, and the average of production was twenty-nine barrels to each well.
The year 1875 saw little extension southwest, but opened up rich fields in the front, and brought the Clarion district to a pretty high stage of develop- ment. The field obtained prominence, but the daily average of the wells was lowered ; doubtless by reason of their increased numbers. The St. Petersburg region had begun to decline materially, but Edenburg and Beaver City daily increased their production. The Kribbs well (Sept.), on the Beck farm, a mile south of Edenburg, unexpectedly broadened the belt. Outside of this, the only discovery in the south worthy of notice, was that on the farm of Eli Logue, near the Clarion, in northern Perry township. August, 1875, the Logue, Gailey & Smullen well started off with two hundred barrels, and in 1876 the producing wells on this farm numbered thirty.
1 A map of Clarion county, published in 1865, marks "Oil Company " on Turkey Run, near the site of Turkey City. Two wells are indicated at Jefferson. Kribbs & Company have a well a little south of the Hanst farm, on Canoe Creek. There is also the Lehigh Oil Company, west of Shippen- ville, where the Elk City district was developed, and a well north of that point, near Baker & Rich- ardson's well. The Lehigh Company did not put down a well till 1876 or 1877.
356
HISTORY OF CLARION COUNTY.
In 1875 one hundred and eighty-one wells were completed in the Clarion district, with a new daily production of 2,556 barrels.1
In 1872 the Antwerp Pipe Line Company entered the field, and in the same year a line was laid to Oil City by way of East Sandy, adopting the latter as its name. The Antwerp line discharged their oil at Tylerton, on the Alle- gheny Valley Railroad, between Foxburg and Emlenton. In 1874 the Emlen- ton line was laid. The Mutual was merged into the Atlantic Pipe Line Com- pany, of which Charles P. Hatch, of Titusville, was president, and A. W. Smiley, of Foxburg, superintendent. In April, 1875, this company began piping oil to Sligo ; afterward the terminus was changed to Foxburg.
FOURTH SAND.
The only prolific fourth sand ever found in the Clarion field was that struck by J. W. Taylor, on the Knappenberger farm, north of Monroeville, July 1, 1876. Oil showed up abundantly, flowing for a short period, and pumping 400 barrels per day for some time.
In 1876 an important well, owned by Gates & Vensel, doing fifty barrels per day, was struck near the Stone Church, Jefferson Station. Major Henry Wetter got a 125-barrel well on the Beals farm, Beaver City, the largest of the season, except Taylor's fourth sand well. But the most active drilling was on the extreme northeast front. Hess & Bradley's small well, on the Dale farm, west of Shippenville, had first attracted notice to that quarter. This was fol- lowed by a twenty-five barrel producer in the same vicinity, owned by Jacob Hahn, and a fifty barreler by Jacob Black. In March, 1876, Leedom & Pat- terson struck oil northwest of Shippenville, far in advance ; the Lehigh Com- pany's hole, between Elk City and Shippenville, filled up with seventy-five barrels a day.
Wells completed, 804; new production, 10,015.
In the spring and summer of 1877 the Elk City field reached its height. Large wells were found on Joseph Kiser's farm, Tyler's "Mudlark," near Elk City, May, 1877, produced seventy-five barrels, and on A. R. Black's farm adjoining were a number of paying wells. To the northwest some aston- ishing gushers, rarities in the Clarion district, were found. The Antwerp Com- pany's (afterwards Oak Shade) well on the Johnston farm spouted 400 barrels a day after torpedoing, and for a considerable time maintained a production of 140 barrels. The Jerusalem tract, J. M. Guffey, north of Johnston's, proved similarly lucrative. A fountain on the G. Howe farm, on the southern bound- ary of Ashland township, flowed for a time 400 barrels per day ; this well was owned by Baker Howe, A. Rittenhouse, William S. Hess, and J. S. Oliver.
In the southwest a few large wells developed some additional territory or
1 These figures do not afford an Accurate criterion of Clarion county's yearly average increase, as they represent the output of the wells immediately or shortly after being struck, when they were at their best.
357
THE DEVELOPMENT OF PETROLEUM.
revived the old. Cram & Company struck a large well on the Fisher farm in July, and later Hukill & Davis brought in a hundred-barrel well on the farm of Mrs. Wentling. A mushroom town, styled "Slam Bang," at the cross- roads, was the result of these discoveries.
The year 1877 was the banner year of Clarion's petroleum annals ; it was at the same time a year of expansion, and one of exhaustion. The older por- tions of the field were thoroughly overhauled, and the new territory found its limits ; these combined influences forced the production to its highest point.
As Edenburg loomed into prominence all the pipe lines, the United, Sandy, Antwerp, Oil City, American Transfer, and Atlantic centered there, and as a consequence carrying rates became ruinously low ; for a while five cents per barrel. This competition-very welcome to the producers-was ended on March 12, 1877, by their consolidation with the United Pipe Line, controlled by the Standard Oil Company, with central office at Oil City and branches in all the prominent fields. There are two pumping stations in this county; one on Canoe Creek, near Edenburg, and one at Turkey City.
In 1876 the Clarion district ranked first, with Butler county a close second, and in 1877, while ours fell below the total production of Butler, it surpassed either the Bullion or Millerstown fields taken separately.
1877, 1,228 finished wells gave a new production of 13,944 barrels.
1878 saw a great falling off; the rising Bullion and Bradford regions at- tracted many from Clarion, and left the field comparatively deserted. Many took with them the rigs and machinery from exhausted or unprofitable wells. Activity was confined to efforts to discover an extension of the belt, but with meager results. A few small wells were found about Shippenville, but the more numerous dry holes dampened ardor, and demonstrated the unreliability and narrowness of the streak. So operations rested there.
1878, 325 wells completed ; production 3,880 barrels; 1879, eighty-two wells, 720 barrels.
The period between 1878 and 1885 is an unrelieved blank as regards devel- opments in this county. In February of the latter year, Dietrich, Berlin, Young, Star and Maxwell, composing the Cogley Oil Company, sank a well on G. N. Berlin's tract, Cogley's Run, in northern Ashland township ; it yielded about ten barrels daily. This was the beginning of the Cogley pool. It ap- peared afterwards that this well tapped the deposit near its northeastern edge ; subsequent developments retrograded to the southwest, reversing the general order in the Clarion field. Oil was found north on the Fisher, Young and Exley farms, but on pushing further, on the Shippen, Kahle and Rickenbrode tracts, the drilling was brought to a halt by " dusters."
About a mile southwest from the Cogley well Hess and Sackett struck oil on land of E. F. Heeter, Little Sandy. The intervening country was opened by Koch Brothers' 100 barrel well, the largest of the field, on the farm of Mar-
36
358
HISTORY OF CLARION COUNTY.
vin Hess. The pike at Kossuth marked the southern limit, but few paying wells were found beyond it.
Cogley was a field of small operators and small wells ; it was not long be- fore it was seen that its days were numbered. It reached its climax in Novem- ber, 1885, with an average daily production of 5,416 barrels. In December, 1886, Cogley's production was 1,361 barrels. During twenty months, com- mencing with May, 1885, and ending December 31, 1886, the Cogley field produced 1,723,295 ; a daily average of 2,895 barrels.
The striking of the Swartzfager well, June, 1886, south of Shippenville, which yielded at the start one hundred barrels a day, awakened interest in that spot and stimulated wild catting. Previously a very few operators had succeeded in successfully crossing the pike. Gradually an extremely narrow belt, or rather a line, running northeasterly from that road, was opened. After much testing Hahn and Wagner procured a few small wells in the neighborhood of Paint Mills, and thereby established an extension of the Shippenville streak. Be- tween Shippenville and Paint Mills, however, there is an unproductive break of half a mile. There are at present sixteen oil producing wells east of the pike at Shippenville, averaging two and one-half barrels each.
The Clarion oil belt, taken in connection with the Butler county continua- tion, is in many respects the most remarkable deposit of petroleum yet devel- oped, extending as it does from Paint Mills here to St. Joe in Butler county. Along this, oil-yielding farm joins farm continuously with but a single gap for a distance of thirty miles, and with a width varying from one-fourth to three miles. In Butler county a rich cross-belt of fourth sand underlies this line.
On March 1, 1887, Messrs. Hess and Sackett found oil on the farm of A. J. Kifer, about a mile south of Reidsburg, in a second or stray sand. The well has been since yielding fifteen barrels daily of clear petroleum much resem- bling that of Washington county. This strike has awakened interest in this comparatively untested territory, but until the completion of more wells its value is only a matter of conjecture. The deposit appears to be a 45 degree prolongation of the Armstrong Run (Arm. Co.) amber oil.
In connection with the Reidsburg field, tradition says that Marcus Hulings, formerly of Franklin, was a paymaster in the War of 1812, absconded with the funds in his possession and came to the vicinity of the present Reidsburg. It is certain that he purchased land from Hugh Reid in 1815. In 1818 he sank a well on what is known as the " old Reid farm," back of the academy a short distance. When he reached the depth of six hundred or seven hundred feet, he was astonished by a strong flow of gas, which blew out the salt water. A little oily substance floating iridescent on the water came with it too, which the owner and the neighbors recognized as Seneca oil or petroleum. It ap- pears that it came up in sufficient quantity to make the saline flow worthless, and the well was abandoned. The spot is still marked, and on the water which bubbles up through the hole a thin coat of oil may be detected at this day.
359
THE LUMBER AND COAL INDUSTRIES.
PRODUCTION.
It was impossible to obtain the exact statistics of total production before 1878. The fragmentary records of the various pipe lines were not preserved, and it was not till the United Pipe Line Co. in 1877 assumed control of the traffic that a systematic tabulation was adopted. The pipe-line runs of the Clarion district were given separately only for the years 1878 and 1879; there- after, on account of their small production, Butler and Clarion were united into the " Lower District," and so remained till 1884, when the Wardwell and Baldridge fields entitled Butler county to distinct reports. During these years Clarion and Butler's production maintained about an equal pace. The annexed table shows the daily average production of Clarion county for the years 1 866-1883 :
I 866
S barrels, estimated
IS76
9,000 barrels, estimated
IS69
100
estimaled
IS77
12,000
estimated
1870
200
estimated
IS78
8,440
66
official
1871
500
66 estimated
IS79
5,089
66 official
1872.
3,000
estimated
4,467
66 estimated
I873-
4,000
66
estimated
3,331
66
estimated
1874
- 4,500
estimated
ISS2
2,776
66 estimated
1875-
- 5,900
estimated
ISS3
2,500
estimated
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE LUMBER AND COAL INDUSTRIES.
Early Lumbering - Hahn & Metzgar - Marvin, Rulofson & Company - Penn Mills - Shoup & Siegworth -Cobb & Sons - Paint Mills - Star Mills - P. Haskell - Byrom, Minor & Gordon-Higby Tract-Arthurs Coal and Lumber Company-Blake Tract-F. Vo- winckel-T. Raine-Observations -- Statistics-Fairmount Mines-Mineral Ridge-New Catfish -Hardscrabble-Pine Run-Clarion Shaft-Star and Long Run-Church Hill-Sligo Branch- Western Shaft.
LUMBER.
AMES LAUGHLIN and Frederick Miles, at the mouth of Piney Creek, in 1805, built the first saw-mill in the country, and it is probable rafted some timber to Pittsburgh.
In 1811 Benjamin Gardner, sr., a carpenter by trade, attracted by the wealth of virgin pine on the banks of Toby's Creek, came from Philadelphia to engage in the business of lumbering on the homestead tract and on Turkey Run. The work of stripping the steep and rugged hillsides, even now an arduous one, was then, when so many labor-saving appliances were lacking,
360
HISTORY OF CLARION COUNTY.
exceedingly toilsome. Early lumbering was accompanied by hardships, test- ing severely the stoutest frames and the most robust constitutions.
Mr. Gardner continued in the business till his death, and introduced the use of steam into the Clarion region at his double upright mill, at the mouth of Beaver Creek.
The first circular steam mill in the county was the Jamestown Company's at the mouth of Mill Creek, built in 1853.
Thomas Peters, in 1822, erected a dam for lumbering purposes across the Clarion at the mouth of Turkey Run, under the following act :
"Be it cnacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, etc .: That from and after the passing of this act, it shall and may be lawful for Thomas R. Peters, his heirs, executors, and assigns, to construct, erect, support, and main- tain forever, a dam or dyke across Toby's Creek (or Clarion River), at or near the mouth of Turkey Run, emptying into the said creek (or river) in Venango county, in the Commonwealth aforesaid : Provided, That the said Thomas R. Peters, his heirs and assigns, shall at all times keep, support, and maintain a race or canal, at least sixteen feet wide, with a lock or locks if necessary, the gates of which shall not be less than eighty feet apart, which lock or locks shall be effectually supplied with water for boat and canoe navigation, out of and from the said creek or river, in such a manner as that boats and canoes may pass along and through the same, both ascending and descending, with as much ease and as little impediment to the navigation as may be: And pro- vided further, That the said Thomas R. Peters, his heirs and assigns, shall construct and maintain a slope of at least forty feet wide and two feet below the summit level of the dam, over a convenient part of the said dam, for the passage of rafts descending the said river, and that the slope shall have an apron or inclined plane of six feet for every foot of the said dam above the ordinary level of the water in the said creek or river."
The succeeding section provides that if complaint be made that the dam seriously obstructs navigation, viewers shall be appointed by the court to pass judgment ; from whose report an appeal may be taken, and the issue tried be- fore a jury.
The richly wooded slopes about Turkey Run and Callensburg were the scenes of the first active lumbering operations. The southern half of the county never possessed the pine and hemlock in the abundance found in the north ; and the furnaces stripped it of nearly all that it had.
Prior to 1860 one or two steam mills, and a multitude of small water mills of the upright style, on the tributaries of the Clarion, supplied the moderate demands of the market with their quota of sawed product. We may instance Porter's, Gilmore's, Walter's, Sarvey's, Griebel's, all on Little Toby.
The first mills had single sash saws; "muley" and gang saws were the next improvement.
Nuloflow
361
LUMBER AND COAL INDUSTRIES.
Hahn & Metzgar. In 1848 Jacob and Charles Hahn, of Philadelphia, pur- chased the old mill at Piney, together without about 100 acres, from Mr. Al- len Wilson. The mill was of the primitive order, with two upright saws and worked by water-power. At that time the timber had already been pretty well culled from the country about the mouth of Piney Creek. The Hahn brothers were chiefly engaged in turning out heavy timber, and the manu- facture of boats for the iron trade. The mill was capable of cutting about a million yearly.
In 1853 the property was sold to Corbett and Wynkoop, and rebought the next year by Mr. Hahn, who retired again in 1867, but on starting Paint mills in 1870 with John Metzgar and others, he regained a half interest in this mill, which he retained a few years, and then sold to Mr. Krause. This mill has been a singularly fatal one to two of its proprietors. Mr. Metzgar was drowned in the dam during an ice gorge ; and Mr. Krause some years after met his death by drowning in the river, at the loading place. The mill was converted into a steam one, under Mr. Krause's management; it now belongs to Messrs. M. Wagner and Jno. Hahn.
Marvin, Rulofson & Company. This extensive and enterprising firm own about 8,000 acres along both sides of Mill Creek, much of which, however, has been cleared of valuable timber. The first saw-mill was erected at the mouth of Mill Creek about 1817, by Thomas Guthrie, in connection with his grist- mill there. It was a small one, with a flutter-wheel of the oldest style. It was sold to John and Herman Girts, who ran it a short while, when it was purchased by the brothers Workman, with about 1,000 acres of timber land. They built a larger mill, and rebuilt it twice, but were unsuccessful. In 184- J. W. Guthrie became proprietor, and constructed a large double water-power saw-mill on the river immediately below the mouth of Mill Creek, but Mr. Guthrie met with similar misfortunes as his predecessors ; the mill was repeat- edly destroyed and damaged by freshets and ice gorges.
The property not realizing the investment, was sold in 1850 to Nathaniel Lowry, of Jamestown, N. Y., and on his death, in the following year, passed into the hands of Benjamin Davis, W. Wheeler, M. Burnell, -- Marvin, and others of that vicinity. These gentlemen had scarcely finished repairs on the mills when they were again swept away. Convinced that the old site was an impracticable one, they moved up the stream, a short distance above its mouth, the site of the present mill, and in 1853 built a double circular steam mill, which was operated till 1857, and ceased running, till September, 1858, when Mr. Rulof Rulofson purchased an interest in it and revived business. By the death of several members of the company, the property became vested in a few who compose the present firm of Marvin, Rulofson & Company, Mr. Rulofson, manager. The latter, on assuming charge in 1858, put in a gang mill. In 1883 the mill was remodeled and equipped with the latest improve-
362
HISTORY OF CLARION COUNTY.
ments in machinery, increasing its capacity to 3,000 feet per hour. It is now, if not the largest, one of the largest and most complete mills in the lumber region.
The land at the time of Rulofson's purchase had been enlarged by various conveyances to about 8,000 acres ; a large portion of this was sold off in farms, and 4,000 acres purchased from the Blake lands, so that the area of the tract remains about the same. The bulk of the tract consisted originally of Bing- ham warrants, purchased by Algernon S. Howe, and which from Howe passed to Thomas Perley, Marshall Cram, G. Blake, and others, of Cumberland county, Me., his co-partners in the Maine Lumber Company, a syndicate of lumber- men, who invested in large timber tracts along the upper Clarion and its tributaries.
Mr. Rulofson estimates the amount of timber cut before the beginning of the present ownership in 1853, as 20,000,000 of feet; since then 80,000,000 of pine have been manufactured. There yet remain on the tract 50,000,000 feet of pine, 30,000,000 feet of hemlock, 10,000,000 feet of oak.
Penn Mills, a short distance from the mouth of the Toby, was one of the earliest steam saw-mills in the country. It was built in 1858 on a large and complete scale for that date, with a cutting power of 15,000 a day. The pro- prietors were Reynolds, Pritner, Curll and Myers. In 1865 a water-spout devastated the valley of Little Toby, undermining the mill, carrying away the boiler, and destroying the road and tramway to the river. The mill was not rebuilt.
Shoup & Seigworth owned a large tract of timber land, about 500 acres, on the headwaters of Paint Creek, between Tylersburg and Lickingville; and in the sixties had a steam mill on it, but cut comparatively little. Before 1865 they sold to Ludlow & Verman, an eastern firm, but rebought in a few years, and pretty effectually rid the land of timber between 1868 and 1875, sawing about 10,000,000 feet of pine.
Cobb & Sons. Jno. Cobb and sons were among the earliest of the exten- sive operators in the lumber region of Farmington. They stripped the Guth- rie and Fleming lands on Tom's Run in 1873-75. Later they built Red Hot Mills, on Little Coon Creek, on the Ford and Lacy tracts ; warrant 5502, and about 800 acres adjoining east. Five years were spent in clearing this of pine, at the rate of 3,000,000 a year. All this product was taken into Forest county and marketed there. Cobb & Sons also had an extensive tract on Hemlock Creek, part of which extended into Clarion county.
Paint Mills. In 1870 Jacob Hahn, Martin Wagner and Jno. Metzgar pur- chased 1,600 acres in Paint township from Jacob Black, esq., for $37,000, and established Paint Mills, which are capable of sawing 20,000 feet per day. They have been marketing lumber yearly ever since ; their boat wharf and rafting ground being on the Clarion River, a little above the pike bridge. In oil times
363
LUMBER AND COAL INDUSTRIES.
they disposed of the most of their timber at Elk City and Edenburg. The timber is now all but exhausted, and the year 1887 shall probably see the com- pletion of the work. Metzgar's interest was purchased by D. B. Curll about 1878. Mr. Hahn retired from the partnership in 1883, Mr. Wagner taking his interest.
Star Mills. Leeper & Co. (Leeper, Bowman and Curll), was situated on land purchashed from C. Osterreid in southern Knox township, on Paint Creek, in extent about 300 acres. The mill was built in 1875, and is now abandoned, the timber tract being stripped.
P. Haskell, originally Leeper & Haskell. This timber tract lies in north- ern Farmington township and consists of about 750 acres. The mill, erected in 1871, has a capacity of 20,000 feet a day. About 15,000,000 have been already cut. Adjoining this property H. H. May operated some years for Root & Gillespie, of Forest county, taking off about 7,000,000 feet.
Byrom, Minor & Gordon. This firm lumbered on Blyson Run, their tracts embracing 1,300 acres. The mill was situated at the mouth of the run. They began operations in July, 1872 ; cut about 5,000,000 feet, and ceased in 1878.
Higby Tract. This contained 1,453 acres, situated southeast of Tylers- burg, and joined Arnold, Leeper & Co. on the northwest. It was originally Peters land, and was bought by Zara H. Coster, of Allegheny. In 1846 Cos- ter conveyed it for the consideration of $15,000 to Henry, Enoch I. Higby and George Higby, also of Allegheny. Enoch I. and George assigned their interests to Henry. It was purchased in October, 1879, by Charles Leeper, David Bowman, M. Arnold, and F. M. Arnold, for $38,000. They obtained 35,000,000 feet from it. It is now entirely stripped.
The Blake Tract. After Marvin, Rulofson & Co.'s, this the largest and most valuable piece of timber land in the county, contains 1,500 acres. It lies in Farmington township on both sides of Toby Creek, and consists chiefly of portions of Lewis and Peters's warrants, Nos. 3683, and 3684; and two irregular strips of Bingham territory, extending from these to the north and east, comprising about 900 acres. An offsetting tract, called the "Wing Tract," lies to the west ; this was originally owned by Elliot & Gray, who had a small mill on it at an early date. It was purchased by G. Blake. The Peters portion of the tract was sold in 1846 by Richard Peters to Zara Coster, and thence passed to Henry Higby in the same manner as described in the Hig- by tract. Higby shortly sold warrants 3683 and 3684, embracing 2,005 acres, to Robert Barber and W. L. Packer. On their failure in 1848 it fell under the sheriff's hammer to Tobias Myers, and through him to David Richey, who sold in January, 1856 to Grinfil Blake for $9,000. The Bingham por- tion was conveyed in 1840, by the Bingham trustees, to Algernon Howe, one of the Maine company; by him to Elizabeth Blake and Grinfil Blake, her hus- band, and finally became the sole property of the latter.
364
HISTORY OF CLARION COUNTY.
In the winter of 1880 Blake began preparations to put a mill on the tract, but on May 6th a sale was effected, whereby, for the amount of $100,000 Elias Ritts obtained a one-third interest, and P. Graham and R. Buzard, a third. Graham really owned but a twelfth interest, the other twelfth belonging to P. Mccullough, of Pittsburgh, but nominally held by Graham. May 31, 1880, Hon. James Campbell purchased the remaining third from Blake for $50,000. October 14, 1884, Chas. Leeper purchased R. Buzard's interest (one-sixth) for $40,000, and shortly after G. W. and F. M. Arnold became the owners of Ritts's third (including some finished lumber) for $85,000. In January, 1886, Hugh Mccullough, heir of P., conveyed his one-twelfth share in the property to Manasseh Arnold. The proprietors now are James Campbell, one-third, G. W. and F. M. Arnold, one-third, Charles Leeper, one-sixth, M. Arnold, one-twelfth, Graham heirs, one-twelfth. The firm is known as Leeper, Arnold & Co. The first mill was built in 1880, and replaced by a new one in 1883, which has a capacity for cutting 30,000 feet per day ; there is a lath mill in operation also. The boat wharf is at Porter's landing, two miles distant from the mill. About 50,000,000 feet of pine have been taken off this splendid tract; as much yet remains ; the total stumpage exceeds the estimate at the purchase from Blake, by 25,000,000 feet. There is about 50,000 feet of oak. Arnold, Leeper & Co. employ thirty hands. Mr. Leeper is superintendent, with pay.
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