Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1), Part 74

Author: Babcock, Charles A.
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

USA > Pennsylvania > Venango County > Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1) > Part 74

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The church upon the crest stands out and makes its appeal. York Minster can do no more. If you leave the car and sit for a while on the broad step of the church, the solitude and still- ness invite to reminiscence. Here once was a city with thousands of inhabitants. Here once were thousands of battling, scheming men, dreamers all, and many of them becoming ex- ceedingly wide-awake afterward. Inevitably one is touched by the current of life which surged up and pushed this church to the pin- nacle, and has receded and left it alone.

Petroleum Center still boasts one substantial brick store and a post office, but its population and present appearance little indicate its one- time size and importance. It is estimated that it had above fifteen thousand inhabitants in 1869. The town was formally laid out early in the spring of 1864, a few months after oil operations in the vicinity promised to be of some magnitude. The first successful discov- ery of any importance in the immediate lo- cality was the Hollister well on the Hyde and Egbert farm, a triangular tract at the foot of the McCray hill, which began to yield in the spring of 1861, flowing in considerable vol- ume. The lessees were under contract to de- liver the oil to the land owners in barrels, but as barrels at the time cost ten times as much as the oil they would hold the lease had to be abandoned and the oil was allowed to flow into the creek. The first big production was ob- tained in 1863, when a well drilled by a New Jersey company flowed three hundred and fifty barrels daily with little variation over a period of nine months. The Maple Shade well, struck Aug. 5, 1863, flowed eight hundred barrels a day for ten months, and the Coquette, on the same farm, began at twelve hundred barrels and yielded eight hundred for a considerable time.

In November, 1863, George H. Bissell & Company leased the McClintock farm, a tract of 207 acres, which included the site of Pe- troleum Center and a semi-circular ravine known as Wild Cat hollow. The February fol- lowing the property was transferred to the Central Petroleum Company of New York, a merely nominal change, as Mr. Bissell was the originator of that company and largely inter- ested in its capitalization. From this time active development work was entered upon and systematically prosecuted. Leases at a uni- form royalty of one half the oil were given, to actual operators only, and the remarkable production is attributed as much to the judi- cious management as to the excellence of the territory. for though it was literally perforated with wells the percentage of successful ven-

tures was probably larger than at any other lo- cality in this region.

Here the valley of the creek is comparatively narrow, bounded on either side by wooded hills of majestic height and steep slope. The level ground west of the creek was chosen for the lo- cation of the town, which grew with unprece- dented rapidity and disappeared almost com- pletely within the space of a few years. "The site was well chosen. Within a few miles in any direction enormous wealth seemed to have rewarded every adventurer. There was a rush of population and capital to the Pennsylvania oil field such as had never before been attracted to a territory of equal size in the State. It was the work of far-seeing sagacity to plan a town of such size as Petroleum Center became and make the project a brilliant financial success. In this instance it was largely the accomplish- ment of one man-George H. Bissell." " Mr. Bissell had organized the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company, the first petroleum company in the country, formed in 1854 under the laws of New York State, and was mainly instrumental in its reorganization in 1855, and also in send- ing Drake to Titusville in 1859. When his mis- sion resulted so favorably Mr. Bissell decided to locate in the oil regions, living at Franklin from 1859 to 1863. He was one of the first who had vision enough to realize the possibili- ties of the oil industry, in which he invested largely, and his operations were unusually suc- cessful. He was also prominently and honor- ably identified with many other enterprises, and had the confidence of the public to an ex- ceptional degree. Being so well and favorably known, his influence in the growth of the new town was most beneficial. With a location central to the territory then most largely and successfully operated, its growth was highly typical of the development of oil country towns in those days. There were adventurers and substantial investors, operators, tradesmen and laborers in search of remunerative employment, merchants to keep them supplied with the ne- cessities of life, and in addition the miscellane- ous throng always found in communities of such origin, men belonging to no particular line of business, some of questionable appearance and origin, and all the other undesirable ele- ments of the parasitic crew invariably found in the wake of those who seek sudden riches.

.As the company leased lots for building pur- poses, many of the first structures erected were mere sheds, only a few of large size and costly construction being put up. The only brick block ever built was that formerly used as a bank. which passed into the possession of

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the late Henry Wilbert, who acquired large in- terests in the town, and whose estate still has valuable holdings there, continuing the large business which he founded. On the opposite side of the street stood the local office of the Central Petroleum Company, a large frame building of pretentious appearance ; there were several large and commodious hotels, and though the mercantile enterprises were not housed in expensive or finely appointed quar- ters they carried large stocks of goods which indicated the thriving business done.

In 1866 and 1867 there were several destruc- tive fires in the town as well as at the wells. One of the worst recorded occurred March 31, 1866, when the machinery and appliances at the Coquette and Jersey wells and. twenty-five thousand barrels of oil, besides many dwellings and business houses, were completely wiped out. The loss was $150,000. On April 23 and June 2, 1867, other blazes broke out, the latter destroying thirty-five buildings, and scarcely a month passed without a casualty of this kind. In July, 1878, years after the town passed the zenith of its history, there was another impor- tant fire, which destroyed much valuable prop- erty, including the large building of the Cen- tral Petroleum Company ; and the last one of any note occurred in 1880, doing less damage -probably because the building area had been considerably reduced.

It is rather remarkable that no local govern- ment was ever organized at Petroleum Center, which no doubt accounts for the fact that vice in every form flourished and acts of violence were of frequent occurrence. Saloons, gam- bling dens and other questionable resorts "seemed engaged in amicable rivalry to deter- mine which should excel in numbers, luxu- rious appointments and glaring display. A single term of the court of Quarter Sessions at Franklin furnished minutes sufficient to fill a large volume, the cases being principally from this town. There was one murder trial from the place, but as the deed was committed in a state of intoxication and with no evidence of premeditated malice the perpetrator escaped the gallows and was sentenced to a long im- prisonment. . . . . It would be an utterly in- defensible misapplication of terms to call Pe- troleum Center a moral town at any time dur- ing the period of its prosperity." Yet it would be unfair to leave the impression that the com- munity was without moral balance. Its sub- stantial citizens were completely absorbed in their business concerns. When the objec- tionable elements went too far they were promptly attended to, by "mob law." It was

such an outbreak of public opinion that caused the raiding of several questionable resorts on July 30, 1866, the occupants being compelled to leave the town in peril of their lives. The reform was salutary only temporarily.

There was a large respectable element who supported several churches. The Methodist congregation, organized in 1863, erected a building in 1865-66. A Presbyterian Church was organized in September, 1865. The Ro- man Catholics also built a church edifice. Two of the churches remain, the Catholic and the United Brethren. The United Presbyterians hold services once in two weeks, alternating with Plumer on Sunday afternoons.

During 1865 and 1866 the town felt the re- sults of the activities at Pithole City, but when that place collapsed some of its largest build- ings were rebuilt at Petroleum Center, and the latter had a new impetus. The Record was transferred to this point and published here for several years. In 1869 several lines of railway were opened to Oil City, reducing the importance of Petroleum Center as a ship- ping point. In 1873 the production of oil di- minished rapidly, the population had dwindled to 1,500, and in 1880 it was only about three hundred. The machine shop of W. L. Betts, established in 1865, for the manufacture and repair of oil well supplies, and the hardware establishment conducted by the Henry Wil- bert estate, complete the roster of the present business houses. Petroleum Center is a sta- tion on the Pennsylvania railroad. It is small- er and not so noisy as formerly, but self-reli- ant and prosperous. Several thousand barrels of Pennsylvania oil, the best in the world, worth four dollars a barrel at the wells, are produced monthly in the vicinity.

Rouseville, situated at the mouth of Cherry run, four miles up Oil creek from Oil City, with which it is connected by street cars running every half hour, is on the tract of land original- ly seated by Francis Culbertson. Except for the Hays saw and grist mill, built there at an early day, the locality was a quiet farming section until awakened by the discovery of oil. At that time the farms embracing its site were owned by Archibald Buchanan, John Mc- Clintock and John Buchanan, the Buchanan farms being leased for ninety-nine years by H. R. Rouse, Samuel Q. Brown and John L. Mitchell at a royalty of one fourth of the production. Mr. Rouse drilled the first well. The village which sprang quickly into existence was originally known as Buchanan Farm, but in February. 1861. Allen Wright, president of a local oil company, substituted Rouseville in

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The large frame building on the right was the old "Cherry Run Hotel," no longer standing. The long frame building on the left was the machine shop of Thomas Smith. The small frame building back of the Smith shop was the F. W. Mitchell Bank

Rouseville-About 1874

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having his letterheads printed, and the name has remained to perpetuate the memory of this gifted man, who met his tragic death a few weeks later. Mr. Rouse was born at Westfield, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., Aug. 30, 1837, com- pleted the public school course and studied law, gaining admission to the bar. Later he taught school in Warren county, Pa., and acquired a strong personal attachment for that region. At the beginning of the oil excitement he was among the first to grasp the possibilities which it held for this section, and showed his faith by joining others in making extensive leases of what afterward proved to be as productive as any other territory on Oil creek. He had barely entered upon his career as an oil oper- ator when fatally injured in an explosion at the Merrick well on the evening of the day it was struck, April 17, 1861. The unusual quantity of oil attracted a large crowd of sightseers, Mr. Rouse among them. The explosion ignited the stream of oil issuing from the well, and every- thing combustible within a radius of several hundred feet. Mr. Rouse was found about twenty rods from the well, sightless, his gar- ments burning. Strong soul! He held off death and calmly dictated his will, leaving bequests to friends and the bulk of his property to Warren county, where he had taught school, one half for public highways and the other for an institution to help the poor of that county. He asked that his remains be taken to his old home and buried beside his mother. Then his voice ceased.

As Mr. Rouse had inserted a provision in his sub-leases stipulating that the sale of intoxicat- ing liquors should work immediate forfeiture, the town had the benefits of temperance for a time. It experienced several years of substan- tial prosperity. The Reno, Oil Creek & Pit- hole railroad was completed to the town Jan. 31, 1866, and opened to travel on the 5th of March, running only a few trains, however, as the road was abandoned before reaching Pithole.

Later the Western New York & Pennsylva- nia, now the Pennsylvania, began passenger traffic, Aug. 27th of the same year. Smith & Walker established a large machine shop in 1865, owned successively by Thomas Smith and Smith & Enos, which was an industrial feature of the town. Its declining business ceased before 1880. Forster W. Mitchell es- tablished a bank there in December, 1869, in which year the post office receipts were twen- ty-five thousand dollars. Two newspapers were published, the Evening Bulletin, started in 1871, and the Pennsylvanian, in 1872. The

Methodist Church, erected in 1865, was en- larged in 1869 and is still used. Presbyterian and Episcopal Churches were erected in 1870, a Baptist Church in 1871, and a Catholic Church in 1872-73, which with the M. E. Church is still active. But when oil production in the vicinity declined business activities suf- fered as usual, though there are a couple of large refineries still operated at this location, together with many other prosperous business establishments. The main street is now being paved with brick to connect with the Oil City pavement.

According to the census of 1880, there were 688 inhabitants ; no figures are given for 1890; in 1900 there were 516; 1910, 648. With its substantial homes, two churches, fine school building, and excellent railroad and mail serv- ice, Rouseville is a desirable place of residence.

The borough officials since 1900 have been elected as follows ( no elections in 1912, 1914 and 1916, owing to legislative changes, officials holding over during those years) :

1900-01-02-Burgess. William Orr; Coun- cilmen, 1900-W. S. Welker, D. J. Cavanaugh, C. F. Clark, W. C. Tyler, P. M. Nelson; 1901 -W. A. McCray, C. H. Brown, F. L. Fry ; 1902-G. H. Reed. A. B. Stout, Grant Fish.

1903-04-05-Burgess, W. C. Tyler; Coun- cilmen, 1903-William Orr, W. R. Daugherty, Grant Fish; 1904-W. W. Bowser. C. J. Lo- . wen. W. J. Tamahill : 1905-C. H. Brown, William Cromack. Charles Clark.

1906-07-08-Burgess. C. E. Clark; Coun- cilmen, 1906-L. M. Manion, H. G. McCombs, H. H. McBrier; 1907-W. E. McDill, A. T. Straub, Harry Peterson; 1908-William C. Tyler, W. A. McCray.

1909-10-11-Burgess, Jesse Fry: Council- men, 1909-H. H. McBrier, H. J. Borland, C. H. Drein ; 1910-B. E. Bowers. R. H. Watson ; 1911-G. E. Nelson, H. G. McCombs, J. H. Arthurs.

1913-15-Burgess. W. S. Welker (four years) ; Councilmen, 1913-A. L. Hartman ( four years). W. E. Hartman ( four years), H. C. Lamb (four years), George H. Brush (two years), B. E. Powers (two years) ; 1915 -B. E. Powers ( four years), D. J. Cavan- augh (two years).

1917-Burgess. W. M. Cromack ; Council- men, W. M. E. Arthurs ( four vears). G. E. Nelson (four years), B. A. Myers (four years).

Siverly borough, now incorporated in Oil City, began its municipal existence in 1862, when Philip H. and Walter Siverly laid out a village, the former having bought the farm

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upon which it is situated in 1848, and sold a half interest to the latter in 1857. This site was surveyed in 1802 by Samuel Dale, for Noah and Jesse Sage, upon improvement war- rants, each making a settlement and planting an orchard, one below Siverly run and the other above it. They were the oldest orchards in this part of Venango county, and bore fruit as late as 1875. In 1820 the lower improve- ment, which had been abandoned for some time, was settled by Abram George Siverly, who was born in New York City July 26, 1769, and died in Iowa, whither he removed in the year 1839. He began to read medicine at an early age, but when his preceptor died gave up the study and went to sea, following the water seven years. He then located at New Fane, Vt., where he learned the trade of cabi- netmaker and married, later living in Dela- ware county and Olean, N. Y., before he set- tled in Pinegrove township, Venango Co., Pa., in 1819. The next year he moved to the lower Sage improvement, remaining there until 1825, when, the validity of his title having been suc- cessfully contested, he crossed the small stream that formerly marked the eastern boundary of Oil City and settled at the site of Siverly, where a survey was made in the name of his sons Philip H. and Milton T. Siverly, who built a log house for him on the bank of the river, on ground later acquired by the Imperial Refin- ing Company. He was a prominent resident of the locality, serving as justice of the peace and as postmaster at Cornplanter, the first of- fice in the vicinity of the mouth of Oil Creek. By his marriage to Susanna Thayer, Oct. 7, 1793, there were fourteen children, eight of whom grew to maturity. The family is still well represented here.

William Alcorn, a connection of the large Alcorn family of Cherry Tree, settled at the upper end of the borough in 1824 and served one term as justice of the peace here.

A number of subdivisions were laid out after the original village was platted, the place con- tinued to grow steadily, and on Aug. 27, 1874, the borough was incorporated, the officials elected that year being as follows : Walter Siv- erly, burgess; J. H. Alexander, William Jones, J. W. Gardiner, John Mohnkern, Alvin Was- . son, John Farren, council. After a year as burgess Mr. Siverly became a member of the council, in which he served continuously from 1875 to 1886, with the exception of the year 1882, being again elected in 1889. The follow- ing were elected from 1900:

1900-01-02-Burgess. V. E. Reynolds; Councilmen, 1900-William Esenwein, John

Freeman, J. N. Martin, C. S. Allison, James Hanna, John Borland; 1901-John Lazier, J. M. Monkern; 1902-George Poulson, R. A. Sneitzer, J. A. Wilkins.

1903-04-05-Burgess, William Guisewite; Councilmen, 1903-C. Lundberg, James Hanna, George Shingledecker; 1904-W. D. Allen, John Wilson, W. W. Dimond; 1905- Jacob Mohnkern; W. W. Dimond, George Poulson.

1906-07-08-Burgess, Frank Poulson ; Councilmen, 1906-Fred Krug, George Shin- gledecker, Ruel Mohnkern; 1907-William Guisewite, Michael Gormley; 1908-F. V. Trax, Daniel Kerr, E. Quinn.

1909-10-Burgess, W. H. Guisewite; Coun- cilmen, 1909-R. E. Mohnkern, D. McIntyre; 1910-Ed. Quinn, Lawrence Ervine, R. E. Mohnkern.

In the spring of 1910 Siverly became a part of Oil City, forming the Tenth ward.

The post office at this point was called Archie for a time, and T. N. Rogers served as postmaster. D. T. Borland and H. H. Gardi- ner subsequently filled the position, and it was during the latter's administration that the name was changed to Siverly, which was re- tained until it became a part of Oil City.

Practical prohibition of the liquor traffic was a feature of Siverly from the beginning. One school of eight rooms, now a part of the Oil City system, is located here, and two churches, a Methodist and a Catholic, are flourishing and growing rapidly. The town had a healthy growth. Its population in 1880 was 667 : 1890, 883; 1900, 783; 1910, 1,616.

The Oil Well Supply Company has its prin- cipal shops here, now employing nine hundred and seventy-five workmen, many of whom live near the works. Prior to the "Supply" shops, there was a large refinery, the Imperial, now a part of the Eclipse. These will be further con- sidered under Franklin and Oil City manu- factories.

Oleopolis, now a little station on the Penn- sylvania railroad which receives its mail from Eaglerock, was once a town of a thousand in- habitants. The construction of a railroad up the valley of Pithole creek naturally resulted in the establishment of a shipping point at its river terminus, below the mouth of that stream, and even when the opening of a railroad in the river valley deflected this business to other points the town continued to flourish until the exhaustion of the Pithole district. In 1865 a refinery was built there, with a weekly capac- itv of one thousand barrels, using the double still invented by Adolph Millochan. In com-

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mon with other towns in the oil regions, it suf- fered by a number of destructive fires, the one on June 20, 1866, being especially notable, when barges, tanks and other property, to the value of thirty thousand dollars, were lost.

Kane City, situated on Cherry Tree run, sev- eral miles west of Oil creek, in the northwest- ern part of Cornplanter township, also reached the dignity of a population of one thousand in its busiest days. There are one store and two dwellings in the town at present, with separated farmhouses, and some valuable business in- terests, principally in the line of oil produc- tion. The mail service is by rural free de- livery from Oil City.

McClintockville, which perpetuates the name of a prominent pioneer family, lies two and a half miles north of Oil City on the land settled by Hamilton McClintock, along the line of the Pennsylvania railroad. It has a small popu- lation, and is on the mail route from Oil City.

Columbia Farm, still in existence as the sta- tion of Columbia on the Pennsylvania railroad, was another settlement which grew up inci- dental with local oil activities, at one time having several hundred inhabitants, principally employes of the Columbia Oil Company. Its few residents receive their mail from Petro- leum Center.

Rynd Farm, midway between Columbia and Rouseville on the Pennsylvania road, where the Warren road crosses Oil creek, was a town of considerable importance during early oil operations along the creek. There was a post office named Rynd at this point for some years, but the mail is now brought in over the rural route from Rouseville.

Shaw Farm, once an "oil town" of several hundred inhabitants, on the road from Oil City to Plumer, is now one farm still known by that name, a point on the road; other farms lie at intervals along the road, well tilled, and most of them with oil production.

Walnut Bend, a little town on the north bank of the Allegheny river in the southeast- ern corner of the township, but a short dis- tance from Oleopolis, has a post office, one store and twenty-five inhabitants. The post office serves a number of farmers and oil pro- ducers who live back from the river. There is also a colony of summer residents.

Rock-wood, or Rock-mere, is a railroad sta- tion about four miles above Oil City. It is the home of the Oil City Boat Club, which built a boathouse there more than thirty-five years ago. The Club has improved its boat- house, which is now a floating house adapted to all stages of the river, and permitting the

easy launching and storing of a large number of boats. The boat clubhouse is back of this and is a commodious building, supplied with spring water, cold and hot, and with fuel gas. It contains a large dining room, a complete kitchen and a number of bath rooms. A small- er clubhouse, near by, is known as the Rock- wood Club House, and belongs to the younger people of the club, who come earlier and later in the season, and thus avoid opening the large house. This house is also complete in the de- tails of its furnishings.

A number of "cottages" have been erected at this place, costing to build from five hundred dollars to fourteen thousand dollars. There are fifteen of them, all complete summer homes. The attendance at this point averages probably sixty a day, coming by train or by automobile, from early spring till the end of the season. The club has a private drive from Sage run to the point. It owns half a mile along the river bank, extending back from the river, the same distance.

SANDY CREEK TOWNSHIP

Erection .- The township named Sandy Creek was provided for in the report of the commission appointed at March sessions, 1806. The stream of that name was designated as its northern boundary and the line of Irwin (now Irwin and Clinton) township as the southern limit of its territory. It was provisionally at- tached to French Creek for administrative pur- poses. What is now known as Sandy Creek township was named in 1834. It com- prises the land lying south of Franklin, and ex- tending eastward from the boundary of French Creek township and the Big Sandy creek to the Allegheny river. At April sessions, 1834, Alexander McCalmont, John W. Howe and. Andrew Bowman were appointed by the court to consider the advisability of dividing French Creek township, as petitioned for by a number of its inhabitants, and the following August they reported favorably to division by a line "Beginning at the line of the borough of Franklin where the State road from Franklin to Mercer intersects the same, thence by said State road to the south end of the bridge over Big Sandy creek, thence by the south bank of Big Sandy creek to the line dividing the coun- ties of Mercer and Venango," which received final confirmation by the court Nov. 29, 1834. The eastern line of this territory was revised in 1856, and the formation of Mineral town- ship, Oct. 24. 1870, and of Victory township, Sept. 6, 1876, cut off all that portion to the

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Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1), Part 74

Author: Babcock, Charles A. Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: Babcock, Charles A.
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages: