Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1), Part 84

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 84

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HENRY IRVING BEERS, late of Oil City. was in many respects the most notable of the remarkable men drawn to this region by the attractions of the oil industry. With only a brief interlude of conventional business life after several years in California during the most exciting days. he came here to find him- self once more in the midst of big things in the incipient stage, and was in his element. None of the other men who went into oil develop- ment on an extensive scale was better prepared

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to undertake such operations. By disposition and experience he was well fitted to recognize large opportunities, and to keen vision he united the powers of imagination necessary to foresee results and the energy and practical qualities requisite for their realization. His was one of the great fortunes made here. But he did not stop with the acquisition of large means through the exploitation of the oil re- sources. He made Oil City his home and the center of his expanding business interests, was indefatigable in founding the commercial and financial institutions necessary to the com- munity in its increasing prosperity, and with the passing years took a deep interest in pro- moting the social welfare and living standards in the city and county as well as its material status. Though he assumed few definite re- ponsibilities of a public nature he was never- theless thoroughly alive to the importance of competent administration of civil affairs, and used his influence to secure the choice of good officials. He never spared himself in the achievement of any of his ambitions, yet his physical and mental strength endured almost unimpaired to the close of his long life, and he was active in business until two years before his death, which occurred in his eighty-seventh year.

Mr. Beers came of old Colonial New Eng- land stock and ancient English ancestry. The family seems to have originated in the parish of Westcliffe. County of Kent, England, at a place called Bere's or Byer's Court. William de Bere, of Bere's Court, was bailiff of Dover about 1275, and one Nicholas de Bere held the manor of Bere's Court in the twentieth year of the reign of Henry III. Of this same family was Roger Byer, of Bere, who died in the reign of Mary. In 1542 his son John pur- chased the Horsman place in Dartford. which is said to have been "a mansion of some note." In his will, dated 1572. John Beer founded four almshouses in Dartford, and devised his mansion to his eldest son, Henry. His grand- son, Edward Beer, died unmarried in 1627, bequeathing Horsman Place to John Twistle- ton. of Drax.

The first ancestor to whom the American branch of the family can be authentically traced was Martin Bere or Beers. of Rochester, in Kent. who was living in 1486. He married a daughter of Thomas Nysell. of Wrotham. Eng- land, and had a son John.

John Beers, son of Martin, above, was of Rochester. and married Faith. daughter of John Royden, Esq., also of Rochester. Their children were James and Mary.

James Beers, son of John and Faith, mar- ried Dorothy Kingswod, daughter of John Kingswod, gentleman, of Rochester. Children, John and James.

John Beers (2), son of James, of Graves- end, married Mary, daughter of Robert Selby, of Yorkshire. Children : John ; Samuel; Rich- ard, born 1607, known as Capt. Richard ; James, and Mary. Of this family, Capt. Richard Beers came to America in 1635, set- tling at Watertown, Mass., commanded a com- pany in several battles with the Pequot Indians, and was killed by the Indians in 1675.

James Beers (2), son of John and Mary (Selby) Beers, of Gravesend, England, was a mariner, and was not living in 1635, in which year his wife, Hester, died. Their children, Anthony and James, accompanied their uncle Richard to America, and the former was the next ancestor in the line we are tracing. James moved to Fairfield, Conn., in 1657, was in Greenfield in 1661, and took the freeman's oath in 1664. He died in 1694.

Anthony Beers, son of James (2), was born in Gravesend, England, came to America in 1635 with his uncle and brother, and is first of record in Watertown, where he was made a freeman May 6, 1657. He removed to Rox- bury. Mass., in 1655, and in 1659 to Fairfield, Conn. He was a mariner, and was lost at sea in 1676, his wife, Elizabeth, surviving him. She was received into the church at Water- town. Of their children. Samuel, born May 9, 1647, at Watertown, died young ; Ephraim was next in this line of descent : John was born Jan. 20. 1652, at Watertown; Esther, Oct. 16, 1654, at Watertown : Samuel, May 2, 1657, at Watertown (died young) ; Barnabas, Sept. 6, 1658; Elizabeth, in April, 1661, at Fairfield.

Ephraim Beers. son of Anthony and Eliza- beth, was born July 5. 1648, at Watertown, Mass .. and removed to Fairfield, Conn., where he died. He had a son Ephraim.

Ephraim Beers (2), son of Ephraim, lived at Fairfield, where he died in 1759. His wife, Susannah, was living in 1760. They had a son Daniel.

Daniel Beers. son of Ephraim (2), was born in 1735 at Fairfield, Conn .. lived at Wilton and Ridgefield, that State, and died about 1820. He was a Revolutionary soldier, taking part in the defense of Ridgefield and Danbury against General Tryon in 1777. On Sept. 3. 1760, he married Abigail Dikeman, daughter of Cor- nelius Dikeman.

Edmund Beers, son of Daniel and Abigail. was born April 9. 1768, at Ridgefield, Conn .. and died May 4, 1843. His wife, Jemima

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(Abbott), was born June 14, 1766, and died Aug. 9, 1848. Their children were Jonathan, Cyrus and William.

Cyrus Beers, son of Edmund and Jemima, was born Jan. 21, 1797, at Lewisboro, N. Y., and died March 1, 1860 at Ridgefield, Conn., where he made his home. He followed farm- ing. On Feb. 3, 1816, he was married at Pompton, N. J., to Martha Stone, who was born there Oct. 30, 1797, and died Sept. 11, 1830, at Ridgefield. At the latter place he married (second) Jan. 30, 1831, Roxanna St. John. There were several children by the first union, born as follows: Sally Ann, Dec. 26, 1816 (died April 10, 1892) ; Lydia Anna, Nov. 4, 1818 (died Sept. 20, 1895) ; David Washington, Feb. 22, 1821 (died Oct. 6, 1894) ; Polly Maria, Aug. 22, 1823 (died July 5, 1885) ; Charles, Jan. 30, 1826 (died Aug. 7, 1898) : William, March 9, 1828 (died Feb. 26, 1830) ; Henry Irving, June 8, 1830 (died Feb. 22, 1917). By the second marriage there was one child, Ruth Elizabeth, born Nov. 13, 1832, who died April 20, 1911.

Henry Irving Beers, born June 8, 1830, at Ridgefield, Conn., passed his early life on the home farm there, and had the ordinary advan- tages enjoyed by the youth of the neighbor- hood. In September, 1845, he went to New York City to visit his sister, Lydia Anna, who was the wife of Peter P. Cornen, and who took him home with her after a summer's sojourn at the homestead. Her husband had a store, and naturally the boy spent a good deal of time there, making himself so useful in selling and helping that when he expressed a wish to go home after a six weeks' stay Mr. Cornen did not want to part with him, and prevailed upon him to remain and take a regular posi- tion in the business. Within a short time he had gained such familiarity with all its details that when Mr. Cornen decided to accompany some of his friends to California in 1848, at the outbreak of the gold excitement, the youth was left in charge and looked after the trade successfully. In June, 1849, he received a let- ter from Mr. Cornen instructing him to sell as much of the stock as possible at private sale, have a catalogue auction of the remainder and rent the store, all of which he accom- plished in a few months besides getting ready for his own departure for the gold coast. He sailed from New York Nov. 13, 1849, making the trip to San Francisco via the Isthmus, and the last part of the journey on the steamer "Panama," from New York, for which he waited at Panama thirty-three days. Arriving at San Francisco, he found that the hotel rates

were sixteen dollars a day, and he joined three other men in renting a shack with a canvas roof, put up in a back yard, for which they paid one hundred dollars a month. At the time he reached the city the population was barely two thousand, but within a year it had increased to ten thousand, and during his stay he witnessed other changes equally wonderful. The city was almost completely wiped out by fire on May 4, 1851, only a few shanties and tents on the outskirts being spared, but re- building went on so rapidly that within thirty days it had again taken on the appearance of a flourishing town. He and his partner, George D. Dornin, lost all they had made in this con- flagration. Mr. Dornin was an old friend from New York, and Mr. Beers made his first busi- ness venture in San Francisco in association with him, opening a restaurant which they called the City Hall Lunch, and which they op- erated in the high-handed manner character- istic of the time. getting fabulous prices for the simplest necessities. They did well during the three months of their partnership, selling out when it was dissolved, after which Mr. Beers leased several lots upon which he put up some stores twenty by forty feet in dimensions, rent- ing the ground floor for four hundred dollars a month, the second story for from one hun- dred and fifty to two hundred dollars a month. He and his old partner again went into the restaurant business, but tiring of it after a few months turned their store over to merchan- dising, doing a large and profitable trade until the fire destroyed their property and stock. The firm of Dornin & Beers was again dis- solved, and Mr. Beers rebuilt the store, which was the first structure on Jackson street, con- tinuing the business alone for a year, during which he more than retrieved his losses. Then he became associated with John S. Davies as Beers & Davies, importers, shippers and com- mission men, and their manner of transacting business was the method common in those days. when credits and banking facilities were unknown in those parts. Most goods were sold to be paid for the day before the steamer sailed, when the merchants went around with canvas bags to collect what was due them, either in gold or silver coin or gold dust, there being no paper money, and it was a common sight to see men on the street carrying their loaded bags on their shoulders. Carriages or drays were hired to take the money to the steamer (three or four armed men going along to guard it). where it was received from nine in the evening until midnight, and though some bought bankers' drafts and paid three to four

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per cent. for them the usual way to send oil went as high as thirteen dollars a barrel. money was in gold coin, gold dust or bullion, in strong boxes of all sizes made especially for the purpose, holding from one thousand to fifty thousand dollars; the lids were screwed on and the boxes sealed. After securing their bills of lading for the money the shippers would return to their offices and write all night if necessary to get out their statements to their correspondents. Steamer days were the great business days, as only one mail steamer arrived and departed each month when Mr. Beers first lived in San Francisco, the Pacific Mail Com- pany putting on more boats in 1852, after which they sailed semi-monthly. When the mail steamer came in there was such a rush to post office that the lines of waiting men often extended for hundreds of feet, regardless of weather, and it took several hours for late comers to get to the window. The popular price for a position near the window was six- teen dollars.

It was under such conditions that Mr. Beers spent several years of his young. manhood. Beers & Davies rented a large brick fireproof store, for which they paid nine hundred dol- lars a month, and in addition to their other business owned and published the True Cali- fornian, a daily morning newspaper edited by Washington Bartlett, later elected governor of California, and conducted a complete job printing office. They sold the plant and aban- doned the newspaper business after issuing the paper named for about two years. During this period Mr. Beers also dealt heavily in real estate on his own account. In 1859 he returned to New York to look after the interests of Beers & Davies in the East, being so occupied until 1861, the firm doing a large business as long as it was in existence.

About this time the rich finds of oil in Penn- sylvania were proving to be quite as profitable as the gold fields, and in the spring of 1862 Mr. Beers arrived at McClintockville, Venango county, about two and one-half miles from Oil City, and began his connection with the oil business. He and his brother-in-law, Mr. Cornen, commenced buying and shipping oil to Pittsburgh, and the next year. 1863, they bought the property which was to yield a for- tune in oil, the celebrated Smith farm on Cherry run, one mile above Rouseville. No drilling had been done when the property came into their possession, and they commenced op- erations in 1864, with such wonderful results that the wells yielded from twenty-five to two hundred and fifty barrels a day for a period of two years. during which time the price of

They refused an offer of four million dollars for the farm, and cleared over two million dol- lars there. It is still a paying, producing oil property, and Mr. Beers retained possession of it to the close of his life. The firm of Cornen & Beers lasted until 1876, and in addition to their oil operations they were engaged in the real estate business in New York City, among the property which they handled being sixteen of the lots upon which the Grand Central rail- road station is now located, and which they owned and sold to the late Commodore Van- derbilt. Mr. Beers continued to engage in the production of oil throughout his active career, following the business for over fifty years, principally in Pennsylvania, where he op- erated in Bradford, McKean, Forest and Ve- nango counties ; he was also interested in the oil fields at Sistersville. W. Va. He expe- rienced many of the reverses common to the industry, and suffered damages by fire and flood on several occasions, but on the whole he was one of the most successful men in the State. A large proportion of his investments went into local enterprises, which were bene- fited as much by his influence as by his sub- stantial support. For years he was a stock- holder and director of the First National Bank of Oil City. in which he long held the office of vice president, and at the time of his death he was director of the Citizens' Banking Com- pany of Oil City. He was a stockholder and director of the Oil City Oil Exchange at the height of its existence : was one of the incorpo- rators and directors of the Citizens' Traction Company ; and was one of the first subscribers to the stock of the Oil City & Petroleum Bridge Company and as its largest individual shareholder president of the company. hold- ing that office for forty years. Under his management the bridge was rebuilt from its foundations. of stone and iron construction. being for many years the finest across the Allegheny river. Mr. Beers put up the busi- ness structure known as the Beers block, which he sold to J. Mccollum, and which was burned down and soon rebuilt ; the Oil City post office later occupied that site, which is now owned by the Smart & Silberberg Company. Just before his death he began the building of the present Beers block in Oil City. now owned by his sons. He was a stockholder in the Manufac- turers Light & Heat Company of Pittsburgh. one of the largest gas companies in the world. its capital stock being twenty-five million dol- lars, and served as one of the directors until 1911. when, refusing to allow his name to come

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up for re-election, his son Percival C. Beers was chosen to succeed him.

Mr. Beers took a deep interest in Oil City and its institutions of all kinds, and gave lib- erally toward all movements for the public good. However, he consented to have his name used as a candidate for office but in one case, when solicited to take the nomination for school director, and he was renominated at the end of the term in recognition of the valuable services he had performed. At the time of his reelection he was chosen president of the board, but resigned after serving two years of his second term. He was a strong believer in the principles of the Democratic party, and was a delegate to the National con- vention of 1888, which met at St. Louis, where Grover Cleveland received his second nomina- tion for the presidency.

Mr. Beers kept in close touch with all his interests up to within two years of his death, though for a number of years he spent his winters in southern California. He and his wife were at San Francisco at the time of the earthquake, in which they lost all the belong- ings they had with them, escaping with only the clothes they were wearing. He died Feb. 22, 1917, and is buried at Ridgefield, Conn. In religion he was an Episcopalian, and served more than forty years as a vestryman of the church at Oil City.

On Dec. 9, 1852, Mr. Beers was married, in New York City, to Harriet A. Forbes, a native of Bradford county, Pa., born Oct. 30, 1833, who died in San Francisco May 10, 1856. She was the mother of two children: Frank Irving, born in San Francisco, Sept. 14, 1853, now a resident of Ridgefield, Conn .; and John Selby, born Aug. 14, 1855, in San Francisco, who died there Feb. 15, 1856. On Sept. 3, 1857, Mr. Beers married (second) in San Francisco Kate E. Miller, of Alton, Ill., who was born Aug. 10, 1841, and died Jan. 13, 1886, at McClin- tockville, Pa. Four children were born to this marriage: Gideon Cyrus, born in San Fran- cisco Sept. 9, 1858, who died at Mcclintock- ville, Pa., Nov. 1, 1864: Walter Selby, born Aug. 6, 1860, at Ridgefield, Conn., now a mem- ber of the firm of Beers Brothers, of Oil City, Pa .; Henry Irving, born at Mcclintockville March 3, 1867, a member of the firm of Beers Brothers, and residing at Dover, Del .: and Percival Cornen. On June 2, 1892, Mr. Beers was married (third) in Philadelphia to Eliza- beth C. Hickman.

PERCIVAL CORNEN BEERS, youngest son of the late Henry Irving Beers and for a number of years his business associate, was born

March 30, 1872, at McClintockville, Pa., and spent his early life partly in Connecticut, re- ceiving his education principally at the Park Institute, in Bridgeport, that State. When he entered business life it was as an employe in the First National Bank of Oil City, in which service he continued for seven years, since when he has been engaged in the production of oil, now maintaining his offices in the Beers building in Oil City. He became more and more closely associated with his father's in- terests as the years passed, and as already noted succeeded him as a director of the Manu- facturers Light & Heat Company of Pitts- burgh, still continuing in that capacity. With his brothers he is also doing business in Oil City as dealers and jobbers in automobile and garage supplies, being established in an up-to- date building with every facility for prompt and efficient attention to their trade, which is large and growing. Mr. Beers is prominent in the social life of the city, belonging to the Venango Club, of which his father was one of the incorporators and the first vice presi- dent ; to the Oil City Motor Club; Oil City Boat Club, and Wanango Club. In religious connection he is an Episcopalian.

Mr. Beers married Maria H. Wachtel, daughter of Moses Wachtel, of Franklin, this county. They have no children.

WALTER SELBY BEERS, of Oil City, born Aug. 6, 1860, at Ridgefield, Conn., is the eldest surviving son of the late Henry Irving Beers by his second marriage, to Kate E. Miller. He was four years old when he came with his parents to McClintockville, Pa., on Oil creek, near Oil City, and his early edu- cation was acquired in the local public schools. After completing the high school course he attended the Park Avenue Institute at Bridge- port, Conn., where he pursued his advanced studies, and then for six years he filled a posi- tion in the First National Bank of Oil City, Pa. He has been interested in the oil business and familiar with its details most of his life, from the time he was fourteen years old spend- ing his vacations at employment in the oil fields. After leaving the bank he entered the oil business as a producer, and is still so en- gaged as member of the Center Oil Company and Beers Brothers & Co., operating in the Pennsylvania and Indiana fields. The early practical experience which Mr. Beers acquired has enabled him to keep in the closest touch with the particulars of operation, even in a business where knowledge of such matters is almost as indispensable to the executives as to

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the workers, and his mechanical ability has in 1867 they removed thence to the Pennsyl- vania oil country, locating at Oil City, where he engaged in the manufacture of oi! tanks and barrels. Later they lived in Erie, Pa., for a short time, returning to Oil City in 1870, in the palmy days of the oil business. and set- tling at Rouseville, where he died in August, 1882, at the age of sixty-four years. His wife, Louisa (Millitz), born in October. 1835, died in January, 1901, and both are buried in Grove Hill cemetery. They were Baptists in religious faith, and Mr. Waitz was a Republi- can in political opinion. Five children were born to their marriage, namely: John Wil- liam; Louisa, wife of Austin Shanefelder, of been manifested in the production of a num- ber of useful appliances now in popular use among oil operators. He has invented and patented various oil well tools, and the Beers Brothers patent valve, used in pumping oil, is recognized as one of the best friends of the producers, who have a large amount of water to contend with, it having a larger capacity than any other valve in the market. The firm of Beers Brothers, of Oil City, of which he is a member, have also patented many automobile parts and are engaged in the manufacture of same as well as of the patent valve mentioned, doing a large business as dealers and jobbers in automobile and garage supplies. They have Oil City, and mother of two children, Clar- an up-to-date building, well equipped for their purpose.

Mr. Beers makes his home in Oil City and is well known there in social as well as business circles, holding membership in the Venango Club and the B. P. O. Elks, and serving as a trustee of the latter lodge. He has also be- longed to Fraternal Lodge No. 483, F. & A. M., of Rouseville, since 1891, and is affiliated with Venango Lodge of Perfection, fourteenth de- gree, of Oil City.

On Sept. 16, 1896, Mr. Beers married Emma Pauline Reinbold, daughter of John B. Rein- bold, who lost his life during the flood in Oil City in June, 1892. Mrs. Beers died July 13, 1904. The only child of this union, Irving Reinbold Beers, died when seven years old, at Marion, Indiana.

JOHN WILLIAM WAITZ (deceased), for a number of years owner of the Steele farm, one of the famous oil properties of Venango county, was born Aug. 13, 1858. at Albany, N. Y., son of John and Louisa ( Mil- litz) Waitz.

John Waitz was born about 1818 in Saxony, Germany, where he grew up, coming to Amer- ica in young manhood. In New York he met and married Louisa Millitz, who as a young girl left Hamburg, Germany, with a company of persecuted Baptists from Mecklenburg- Schwerin, and landed at New York in 1855 after a six weeks' voyage in a sailing vessel. The colonists were held over in New York for a number of weeks, and Mr. and Mrs. Waitz were married there meanwhile by Herr Von Putkamer, a minister in the Baptist company, which eventually went to Wisconsin, where a settlement was made. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Waitz went to Albany, N. Y., where they remained for a time, Mr. Waitz finding employment as a tank mechanic, and

ence and Austin (she is a member of the Epis- copal Church) ; Charles Adam, present super- intendent on the Steele farm. who married Minnie Wrattan and has three children, How- ard, Mabel and Warren (Mrs. Waitz is a member of the Episcopal Church ) ; Mary E., wife of Otto R. T. Mundt, of Oil City, men- tioned elsewhere in this work; and Daniel, who died on the Steele farm when thirty-one years old.

John William Waitz attended the common schools at Rouseville until fifteen years old, and later studied at the Edinboro State Nor- mal School and took a business course in the university at Atlanta, Ga. Meantime, after leaving public school, he went to Erie, where for a time he clerked in the grocery store of French & McKnight, in whose employ he con- tinued for three years. He was studious, be- ing industrious mentally as well as physi- cally, and the technical bent of his mind was early manifested. When only about twenty years old he assumed control of the Steele farm near Rouseville. formerly owned by Mrs. McClintock, who left the property to her adopted son, "Johnny" Steele, with the large income which he spent so prodigally as to win great fame in the oil regions until his fortune was exhausted. Mrs. McClintock met an accidental death through lighting a fire with coal oil in a stove, and Mr. Waitz was a boy in the days when "Coal Oil Johnny" was winning notoriety by his ex- travagant expenditures, made possible by the rich returns from the wells on the Steele farm which later came into his possession. He grew up familiar with derricks and oil operations, early gaining the practical knowledge which was the foundation of his success, and supple- menting it with scientific study when he came to know its value. When but eighteen years old he conceived the idea of pumping the wells

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Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1), Part 84

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

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