History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including, Part 40

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868-
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Brown, Runk & Co.
Number of Pages: 1323

USA > Pennsylvania > Venango County > History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including > Part 40

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Charles W. Mackey established a wagon factory on Elk street below South Park in 1832, but soon afterward erected a shop on Liberty street, opposite the site of the Rural house, where he carried on business about thirty years. He was the pioneer in this line in Franklin, and manufactured more wagons, etc., than the home market demanded, taking his surplus stock to towns farther east where he sold it readily. One of the oldest members of the Venango bar, S. P. McCalmont, says that Mr. Mackey was as honest a mechanic as he ever knew, and his wagons were superior in the material used and honest workmanship to any that came into this market.

J. B. Myers began the manufacture of carriages and wagons at Thir- teenth and Otter in 1859; several years later J. D. Myers became a partner and the firm was known as J. B. & J. D. Myers, which was changed in 1878 to Myers Brothers & Company and in 1885 to Myers, Humphrey & Company.' In 1864 the works were removed to Thirteenth and New streets, and in 1878 to Thirteenth and Buffalo, the present location.

The Boston Iron Works were established in 1862-63 by several gentle- men of that city. The venture was not profitable, however, and the busi- ness passed to various parties without conferring any better fortune. In April, 1871, the works were purchased from Windsor Brothers & Company by James Smith, who immediately introduced the manufacture of a sand pump upon the patents of E. A. L. Roberts of Titusville. The construc- tion of pumping rigs was afterward made a specialty and is the principal feature of the business.

W. N. Emery & Son, Thirteenth street, manufacture oil well machinery. The business was established in 1869 by the senior member of the firm, which assumed its present style in 1882. The specialty is pumping powers.

The carriage factory of D. A. Reynolds, Buffalo street between Eleventh

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and Twelfth, was first established in 1870 on Twelfth street and removed to its recent location in 1883.

James Sheridan began the making of drilling tools on Elk street in 1870; he removed to Edenburg several years later, and returning to Franklin, resumed on Thirteenth street, Third ward, in 1879.

The tinware factory of W. D. Rider, Eighth and Liberty streets, orig- inally established in 1870 by Rider & Hazeltine, was partially destroyed by fire April 21, 1887, but still employs twenty-five men.

The Venango Boiler Works, Buffalo street, were originally located on Otter, near Eleventh, by James Meehan, the present proprietor, in the spring of 1877. Portable and stationary boilers, oil stills, iron tanks, agitators, etc., are manufactured.

The Franklin Planing Mill, Eleventh and Elk streets, was established in 1870 by Howe & Ramsdale. The firm of Howe, Ramsdale & Company was organized in the following year. The machinery of a similar establishment on the banks of the Allegheny river was removed to the present location. In 1874 H. D. Hulin became individual proprietor and so continued until 1883, when the firm of H. D. Hulin & Brother was formed.

The City Planing Mill, Thirteenth street, was erected in 1874 by Howe & Ramsdale. The present firm of Ramsdale & Son was formed in 1887.

The Franklin Brush Factory was originally erected by a company organ- ganized May 21, 1874, of which the directors were R. Lamberton, Samuel Plumer, I. E. Howard, W. M. Epley, Thomas Walker, P. R. Gray, and P. McGough. Ground was broken June 15, 1874, and the brick building one hundred feet long by forty in width at the corner of Otter and Twelfth streets was rapidly pushed to completion. The first brush was made October 6, 1874. In 1880 the works passed to Walker & Company, the present pro- prietors. Brushes of every variety are made. The weekly capacity is five or six thousand, requiring forty operatives.

Maloney & Company, Thirteenth street, Third ward, make a specialty of drilling tools in connection with general oil well supplies. The works were first placed in operation by Maloney & Hurley. The plant comprises black- smith and boiler shops and foundry, and usually requires twenty men in the various departments. This is one of the leading enterprises of the city.

D. T. Lane & Son, Fourteenth and Chestnut, manufacture sucker-rod joints for the Franklin Sucker-Rod Company, organized in 1889 with A. A. Plumer, president. The capacity is one thousand five hundred rods per week. The works were first established in 1882. Wire rope transmissions have received special attention during the past year (1888); a lathe has re- cently been designed and erected large enough to turn a sheave ten feet in diameter. The sucker-rod business of this firm was consolidated with that of Frazier & Smith in December 1889, under the name of the Franklin Sucker-Rod Joint Company, Limited. The plant of the new company is

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located in the Third ward, and the manufacture of sucker-rods in Franklin will doubtless continue to be one of its leading industries.

M. A. Jack & Company, Fourteenth and Buffalo, are successors to Jack & Osborn, by whom the Franklin Stair and Hardwood Works were estab- lished in January, 1887.

Two breweries are in operation. The first in the county was placed in operation in Cranberry township by John Minnich in 1858. In 1861 it was removed to Otter and South Park streets, Franklin, and in 1865 the present proprietor, Philip Grossman, assumed control. The Snell brewery in Sugar Creek township was purchased in 1883 by Christian Brecht.

The American Oxide Company was organized and incorporated February 24, 1888, with a capital of five hundred thousand dollars and the following officers: S. R. Bradley, president; Charles Miller, vice-president; William H. Forbes, treasurer, and L. H. Rutherford, secretary. The works were placed in operation in September, 1888, and employ fifty men. The com- pany is the owner of certain patents originated by Messrs A. C. and S. R. Bradley for the manufacture of oxides or salts of metals. The old method, requiring seventy-seven hours, was both tedious and expensive; the process of this company, the only improvement attempted in one hundred and twenty-five years, is practically instantaneous. The company has been ab- sorbed by the National Lead Trust, and its works have been enlarged to a capacity sufficient to supply the entire trade of the United States.

The Anglo-American Oxide Company was incorporated July 8, 1889, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars and the following officers: President, S. R. Bradley, of New York; vice-president, Charles W. Mackey; secretary, William H. Forbes; treasurer, E. H. Sibley; directors: S. R. Bradley, Charles W. Mackey, Charles Miller, S. C. Lewis, and S. Beymer. This company is the owner of the patents of the American Oxide Company for the manufacture of oxides or salts of metals in Canada, France, Eng- land, Belgium and Germany, and has a plant in operation at Liege, Belgium.

THE OIL INDUSTRY.

To say that the growth of Franklin since 1860 and its present general prosperity have resulted directly from the discovery of oil would be the ex- pression of a platitude. Local developments followed closely upon the first news of Drake's operations on Oil creek. There was a well in the vicinity of Twelfth and Otter streets, the water of which had an oily taste, and when undisturbed for any length of time a film of oil gathered upon the surface. This was naturally selected as the most favorable locality for initial investigation. The owner was James Evans, a blacksmith. He made the drilling apparatus himself, kept the tools in order, and with the assistance of his sons drilled to the depth of seventy-two feet, when they struck a cavity which promised a production of the oily fluid that might

Je Ur Mitchell

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rival the famous well of Drake's. These operations were regarded with much interest and curiosity by the townspeople. Their success was uni- versally desired, but few were sanguine of its accomplishment. In attempt- ing to remove the drill from the crevice it broke and a fragment remained, notwithstanding which the well yielded fifteen barrels per day after being tubed. It was pumped by hand. This was the third well bored that yielded profitable returns and the first beyond the valley of Oil creek. That a man of humble circumstances and only ordinary intelligence should thus, unaided and alone, by the patient exercise of assiduous industry accomplish one of the first discoveries regarding the extent of the oil field is one of the most remarkable incidents in the history of petroleum.

Companies were organized for the drilling of wells and several had be- gun active operations before the Evans' well became productive. The first of these was the Franklin Mining and Oil Company, organized with A. Plumer, president; J. P. Hoover, vice-president; A. W. Raymond, secretary; R. Lamberton, James Bleakley, R. A. Brashear, J. L. Hanna, T. Hoge, executive committee, October 3, 1859-but little more than a month after Drake struck oil. In the latter part of November they had reached a depth of ninety feet; oil was first obtained at a depth of two hundred and thirty- nine feet January 12, 1860. The stock of this company was divided into forty-two shares, and within a week after pumping was begun one thousand dollars were offered for a share. In February, 1860, the Farmers' and Mechanics' Company, Levi Dodd, president, began operations at the cor- ner of High street opposite the park, and Caldwell & Company, on French creek at the foot of High street, were obtaining oil in paying quantities, while a number of companies and individuals were preparing for work. The first authentic account of a shipment of oil from Franklin places the number of barrels at four hundred and twenty-seven; they were consigned to Pitts- burgh by the steamboat Venango April 27, 1860. The Mammoth well on French creek near a large walnut tree and not far from the Evans well, became productive May 15, 1860. The oil overflowed the conductor; this was the first well at Franklin where the phenomenon occurred, and in the extent of its producing capacity the Mammoth early demonstrated the pro- priety of its name.

The wells in Franklin or its immediate vicinity in July, 1860, with depth and daily production were as follows: Colonel J. P. Hoover, twenty-five bar- rels; Strain & Company, thirty-five feet ; Sprogle & Company, eighty-five feet; Brigham & Company, Two hundred and thirty-five feet; Stitts, eight bar- rels; Mason, one hundred and eighty-seven feet; Tucker & Howell, forty feet; Shoemaker & Company, one hundred and thirty feet; Raymond & Underhill, No. 1, two hundred and sixty-two feet, fifteen barrels; No. 2, one hundred feet; Caldwell & Company, two hundred feet; Evans, seventy- two feet, fifteen barrels; Clarion Company, one hundred and thirty-seven

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feet; Mammoth Company, No. 2, two hundred and sixty-six feet, five bar- rels; No. 3, two hundred and ninety feet; Joy, five barrels; Myers, one hundred and seventy-eight feet; Broomstick Company, fifteen barrels; Andrews & Company, one hundred and ninety feet; Greer, two hundred and ten feet; Reed, two hundred and twenty feet; J. G. Lamberton, one hun- dred and thirty-two feet; Shuster & Company, one hundred and seventy- five feet; Venango Oil and Mining Company, ten barrels. Twenty-two others were also in process of drilling. In August, 1860, there were seven pro- ductive wells within the limits of the borough of Franklin, of which the respective daily yields were as follows: Broomstick Company, fifteen bar- rels; Raymond & Underhill, eight; Evans, twelve; Eveleth & Bissell, fif- teen; Mammoth Company, four; Cook, three; Kinnear & Company, twelve- total, sixty-nine. In addition to these the following wells were producing in November, 1860: Curtz & Strain, five hundred and two feet, fifteen barrels; Mackey & Company, two hundred and fifty-three feet, twenty-five barrels; Raymond & Underhill, No. 2, three hundred feet, fourteen barrels; Franklin Oil and Mining Company, No. 4, two hundred and sixty-one feet, four barrels; Myers & Company, one hundred and fifty-two feet, eight barrels; Mckinley, Mitchell & Company, two hundred and seventy- seven feet, eight barrels; Dale, Caldwell & Company, two hundred and sixty feet, three barrels; Tucker & Howell, two hundred and fifty-four feet, eight barrels; Welsby, Smith & Company, one hundred feet, four barrels; Mason, Lane & Company, two hundred and sixty-seven feet, ten barrels- a total of fifteen wells with a daily production of one hundred and thirty- nine barrels.

It will be observed that the depth in most instances did not exceed two or three hundred feet, while the product was obtained by an expensive sys- tem of pumping. For some months Franklin was the scene of unprece- dented activity. Derricks were erected in every conceivable locality. Wells were drilled in front yards, in gardens, or in the bottom of wells that had previously supplied drinking water. The town was the objective point of the first great rush of people to the oil regions. The early ventures were almost uniformly successful; but within little more than a year after the Evans well became productive there was a sudden suspension of operations. In June, 1861, the first flowing well on Oil creek was struck, and with the others that followed had such a depressing effect upon the oil market as to render the smaller pumping wells utterly unprofitable. Many in and around Franklin were abandoned, and several years elapsed before developments in this territory were resumed.

What is known as the old Franklin district produces an oil peculiarly adapted to lubricating purposes. In the crude state it has a natural cold test of twenty degrees below zero, with a specific gravity of thirty-one de- grees. It will not distill a burning oil. Its advantages as a lubricant were

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early recognized, and it has been made the basis of several celebrated oils. The district is comparatively narrow in extent. The earliest available sta- tistics are for the year 1875, when the amount of oil shipped amounted to ninety-one thousand, two hundred and fifty-eight barrels, not including two thousand barrels per month consumed by local refineries. April 1, 1876, there were one hundred and fifty producing wells; the daily production was two hundred and twenty-five barrels, and the amount of oil in stock exceeded seventy-three thousand barrels. The amount of oil produced in 1877 was eighty-eight thousand barrels (in round numbers); in 1878, sixty-nine thou- sand barrels. The total amount of stock, January 1, 1878, was fifty thou- sand barrels; January 1, 1879, twenty-seven thousand barrels. The number of wells, January 1, 1878, was two hundred and seventy; January 1, 1879, three hundred and fifty-three, and of this increased number thirty-six had been drilled during the year, the remainder retubed. During 1879 one hundred and twenty-three wells were drilled and sixteen retubed; four hun- dred and seventy-five were in operation January 1, 1880. In October, 1883, the stock on hand aggregated forty-two thousand barrels, and the number of wells was estimated at twelve hundred and eighty. Since that time the num- ber abandoned each year about compensates the number drilled or retubed. There are about thirteen hundred pumping wells in the district, and the production does not exceed five thousand barrels per month.

The Taft & Payn pipe line was the first in the Franklin district. It was begun in 1870, and the company organized the following month. The first line was three miles in length, extending from the Egbert and Dewoody tract to the river. A further extension to the Galloway farm was made in 1872, and a rival line, the Franklin, was constructed to the same region. The two consolidated in 1878 under the name of the Franklin Pipe Com- pany, Limited, of which the present officers are: J. W. Grant, president and general manager; D. Grimm, secretary and treasurer. The aggregate length of mains is sixty miles.

The Franklin Producers' Pipe Line Company was incorporated in Au- gust, 1883. The present officers, who have held their respective positions since the first organization, are as follows: President, E. D. Yates; secre- tary, J. H. Cain; treasurer, William J. Bleakley. There are twenty-two miles of pipe, confined to the "old district," and in the transportation of oils a gravity of thirty-one and two-tenths degrees is required.

The refining business at Franklin began in a very modest way. The first to engage in this was a Mr. Brown, and the methods employed were ex- ceedingly primitive. Colonel J. P. Hoover built the first refinery of any consequence, which was burned in the autumn of 1861. The Norfolk Oil Works were established in 1861, on Elk street, below the Allegheny bridge. Their capacity was two hundred barrels per week. The works of Sims & Whitney, on Liberty street, near the river, were also among the first. Nine

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refineries were in operation in 1864-65, and after this, for a time, the busi- ness appears to have been discontinued almost entirely. At present it con- stitutes the main source of business prosperity, and whether the capital in- vested or the labor employed be considered, the oil works of Franklin are among the most extensive in the world.

The Keystone Oil Works were originally built in 1864, by Samuel Spen- ser, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, at a cost of thirty thousand dollars. Within three or four years he leased the works to Jacob Sheasley, and the latter, in 1875, leased to the Standard Oil Company for ten years, during which period the plant was not operated and fell into decay. J. H. Cain purchased the property in 1885; as rehabilitated since that date the tankage capacity is three thousand barrels; still capacity, three hundred barrels per day, and filtering capacity, two hundred barrels per month. The product consists mainly of lubricating oils from Franklin third sand crude, amounting to six or eight thousand barrels annually. It was amalgamated with the Franklin Oil Works January 1, 1890, Colonel Cain becoming one of the proprietors of the latter institution.

Galena Oil Works, Limited .- Among the refineries at Franklin in 1865 was that of the Great Northern Oil Company, organized the previous year; the works were on the north bank of French creek at a locality once known as Hoge's point. They were leased in 1868 by Colonel Street, and pur- chased in 1869 by Charles Miller and John Coon, doing business under the firm name of Miller & Coon. This occurred in May. In July following R. L. Cochran became a member of the firm, and the style was changed to Miller, Coon & Company. A third change occurred in January, 1870, when Mr. Cochran retired in favor of R. H. Austin, and the firm name became Miller, Austin & Company. They were succeeded in August, 1870, by the Galena Oil Works, in which Charles Miller, John Coon, R. H. Austin, and H. B. Plumer were constituent partners. In December, 1878, Messrs. Coon, Austin, and Plumer disposed of their interests to the Standard Oil Company, and the business since that date has been continued by the Galena Oil Works, Limited, of which Charles Miller is president; F. Q. Barstow of New York, secretary and treasurer; E. H. Sibley, local treasurer; John E. Gill, general manager; George C. Miller, superintendent.

At the time of Miller & Coon's purchase in 1869 the name was Point Lookout Oil Works; the tankage capacity was one thousand barrels, and the manufacturing capacity one hundred barrels per day. W. E. Foster was superintendent. The value of the lead oxide known as Galena as an ingredient in a lubricating oil was discovered about this time; other improve- ments in the method of refining were also devised, and the process secured by letters patent. This had been used but a short time when the works were destroyed by fire, Thursday, August 11, 1870, involving a loss of twenty thousand dollars with but slight insurance. The Dale refinery, half a mile

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farther up the creek on the line of the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio railroad, was at once purchased; within a month the necessary alterations in the machinery had been made and Galena oil was again being manu- factured. With a constantly extending business the works have been enlarged from time to time. At present five acres are inclosed, and nearly all the available space is occupied by buildings and tanks, the capacity of the latter aggregating one hundred and twenty-five thousand barrels. Every appli- ance that ingenuity can devise or experience suggest has been utilized, and the machinery is so perfected as to require but twenty-five men in all the departments of the works. Railway oils are manufactured exclusively, and the daily product is three thousand barrels. Galena oils are used on seventy- five per cent. of the railway mileage of America-on three distinct lines from Boston and New York to the Pacific coast, and in Mexico and Canada. The amount of capital invested closely approximates one million dollars.

Eclipse Lubricating Oil Company, Limited .- The company by which the Eclipse works were originally established was organized with A. G. Egbert, president; C. W. Mackey, vice-president; John B. Moorehead, secretary; Forster W. Mitchell, treasurer; and Doctor Herbert W. C. Tweddle, manager. The latter was subsequently superseded by P. R. Gray. Fifty or sixty different products of petroleum were manufactured; agencies were established in Europe, and the domestic business was large. Certain processes then originated are still used in a modified form. Their first inception occurred at an early period in the history of oil refining with Doctor Tweddle; he established a refinery under the name of the Eclipse at Pittsburgh and others using processes patented by him were also erected at different points. His works at Pittsburgh having been destroyed by fire, he removed the remainder of the plant to Franklin in 1873, having purchased ground and begun building operations in the preceding year; but before any considerable progress had been made the company was organ- ized. The works occupied about eight acres of ground, and the capacity did not exceed one thousand barrels per week. In 1876 representatives of the Standard Oil Company secured the property, and a new company under the present style was organized with S. C. Lewis, president; D. McIntosh, secretary and treasurer. The plant represents an invested capital of two million dollars and covers an area of seventy acres. This is the only refinery in the world that manufactures every merchantable product of petroleum. In addition to oils about eighty barrels of paraffine wax are made per day. The daily capacity of crude oil is five thousand barrels. Three other refineries are also operated by the Eclipse Company-No. 2, at Oil City, with a capacity of seven thousand barrels per week; No. 3, at Olean, New York; and No. 4, at Erie, Pennsylvania. Four hundred and * twenty operatives are employed at Franklin. In the various departments of the works there are three hundred and ninety-four tanks, with an aggre- gate capacity of fifteen hundred thousand barrels.

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The Crescent Oil Works were first operated in 1873 in connection with an evaporating establishment in Sugar Creek township by L. H. Fassett, the present proprietor, and removed to the present location in 1886. The dis- tilling capacity is one hundred barrels per day. The specialty is lubricat- ing oils with Franklin heavy oil as the basis.

Signal Oil Works, Limited .- The organization of this company occurred in 1874. The officers are: President, J. C. Sibley; secretary and treasurer, F. Q. Barstow; local treasurer, E. H. Sibley; directors: J. C. Sibley, Charles Miller, John D. Archbold, F. Q. Barstow, and D. McIntosh. The capital is three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Valve and signal oils for railroad use are manufactured.

The Franklin Oil Works were first established in 1877 by George Allen, Robert Fleming, and Hugh Carr, on Howard street, Third ward, and removed to the present location in 1880. J. W. Reamer and Hugh Carr became the owners in 1887. The distilling capacity is one hundred barrels per day; tankage capacity, one thousand five hundred barrels. Twenty-two wells in Franklin territory are operated under the same ownership. Both refined and lubricating oils are manufactured. January 1, 1890, the Key- stone Oil Works were amalgamated with this institution, Colonel Cain becoming one of the proprietors of the latter.

The Relief Oil Works were built in 1878. S. P. McCalmont is chair- man of the company; S. P. McCalmont, Jr., secretary; B. H. Osborn, treasurer; and O. B. Steele, manager. The charging stillage capacity is nine hundred and fifty barrels, and weekly manufacturing capacity two thousand five hundred barrels. The product consists of lubricating and illuminating oils. The works are located across the river in Cranberry township, on the line of the Allegheny Valley railroad.

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History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including, Part 40

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago : Brown, Runk & Co. Number of Pages: 1323

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868-
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Brown, Runk & Co.
Number of Pages: 1323