The weekly Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1860-1863, 1861-02-07
NO.45.

giOne.
The following letter was received by A
gentleman in Dayton. o., and published
in the DAYTON Weekly Journal:
OH Regions. Crai0ford Co, Pa, !
Jan. IA. 1861.
Dear Sir: have been unable from any
resourc-s within my reach, to come to any
positive conclusion as 10 whom, or what
nation or tribe, we are ..irdebted for this
great and truly wondcrful discovery.
The history Of this State gives the cred
il 10 tn French. while they held possess
ion Of this portion of Pennsylvania. And
If we take, for proof. the vast number Of
holes. or oil pits. as they are called,
which are TO be found al along the valley
Of OIL Creek, there appears TO be SONS
truth in lhe supposition.
These pits. or holes. are now nearly all
filed up. leaving circular cavity in the
earth. from to four feet deep. and frou
to 6 fecp in diameter. Some have re-
Gently been elsnrd out, that had been
curbrd up with timber to the depth Of 10
or ~ feet. The timbers being 80 far De.
cayed as to crnmbie away Wien exposed
to the air. Experience has proven that
wherever those pits exist, there ia little or
no fear as 10 The existence Of oil. Yet, at
the came time, what was called surface
oil, was gathered from them as it would
exude from the ground, at a nominal
depth Of 10 or II feet; they row have to
bore from $50 10 400 feet.
The history the present enterprise is
something Ike This: In 1854, Messrs.
Eyeleth d. Bissel. Of N~w York. purchas-
ed of Messrs. Brewer, Wstson & Co., lO5
acres Of oII lands lying on OIL Creek, ada
cent TO the village Of III. usvillc, and leas-
ed from the same company li0l acres Of
land lying in tie adjoining county, for
h. term of 80 years. Thy .hen formed
lin New York Cily, the 'Pennsy sylvania Rock
jCil Company
4 In about year. this company sold out
10 Messrs Pierponr & Ives. Of New Ha-
wen. The company still bearing the title
4bove bamed.
P Of. b. Silliman. jr, Of Yale College,
had ben employel By The 6fst company
TO ana'y re the surface oil from tho ,piugs.
) and had reported very favorably. Ater
several unsuccessful attempts, the COM
2any in December 1857 entered inro an
engagement with Messrs. Bowdtch g.
i D axe Of New Haven.
| From difficulty in procuring an expe-
rienced hand 10 boring, nothing Of i'm.
Eportance was dpte uuIil the spring Of
1859 The work was commenced in
|. June. and the well finished on Tue 26th
Of August, at depth of II feet. produe-
ing 1000 gallons every - hours. Every
one looked upon the enterprise as foolish
and visionary; but since then hundreds
: have aocked ID, and rock oil has become
! one of { e staple commodities. by which
I hundreds OF men are becoming iudepend-
: emily wealthy.
E Hunfrrds OF wells are now in opera
tiou, yielding from 10 to 90 barrels per
day to the well, and not week passes.
r without vein being struck. The cost Of
! sinking wells varies in different localities
I averaging from two to three dola,s per
e foot. When first came here, Cin De-
J cember) oil was selling at Is cents per
I, gallon, az the wells; now il is worth rs
cents. and the demand still increasing
j. You will see at once that in this letter |
d have not gone into details, as that would
$ require more time and space than is gen
h erally allo'ted 10 an ordinary correspond
e ence But should it be required. l will
II at some future time. give you a detailed
t account of the process and expenses Of
j boring and raising the oil, with profits Of
v the same. Until then, 1 pemsin
IS Yours, /. S. GABRIEL.