Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1867-01-31
Thursday Morning, January 81, lS6
Coal Oil.

SlNCe TIE ClOSe Va tuc Wal, oOF-
eral companies have been organ
lied for the purpose of developing
the oil resources Of Tennessee.
One of the best of these is the CAL
: ALBANIA, Tennessee, and Northwest
ern Oil and Mining Company"
from whose prospectus we copy.
This company determined to pro-
coed upon safe basis, and to do
nothing rashly, employed agents
throughout Middle Tennessee and
North Alabama, to examine in
person, and make leases of the
lands that gave most surface indi-
cations of oil and minerals. This
done, they employed Professor
Stafford, the former State Geolo-
I gist of Tennessee, to visit all Of
their leases, and to make an off,
cial report and a map of them
and it is upon the data thus fur
nished, that the Company has con-
cluded to go ahead and develope.
The company express the belief,
it will be seen, that Lincoln coun-
ty is unsurpassedsn its richness as
oil territory. This opinion, we
have reason TO believe, is well
founded. An acquaintance of
ours while digging mill-race, a
few miles from Fayetteville last
year, discovered some oil in the
crevice of a rock. Applying
fire, it burned readily, emitting
the smell peculiar to coal OIL
Samples were taken to Nashville,
and pronounced, by connoisseurs.
the genuine article. There the
matter rested, no further efforts
having been made, we believe, to
determine the depth or volume of
the fountain.
We commend the following ex
tracts to the attention of our read
ers: VI
The property of the Company
consists of leasehold interests in
lands in the Counties of Morgan
Lawrence, Franklin, Lauderdale
Limestone, Madison, and Jackson
of Alabama, and Franklin, Lin
coin, Giles, Lawrence, Wayne,
Perry, HUMPHREYS, Lewis, Hick.
nan, Maury, Dickson, Cheatham.
and Williamson, in Tennessee,
amounting to more than One Hun.
dred Thousand Acres. The leases
generally give the Company nine.
tenths of the oil, have from twenty
81 to ninety-nine years to run, and
allow from three to five years for
the commencement of the work.
r Upon many of them, no time for
development is mentioned, max
ing them, so far as mining pur-
poses are concerned, nearly as if
owned by the Company feesimple.
Such an amount of territory it is
also believed has never before
been placed in any Company of
this character.
The territory of the Company
has been leased by careful and
competentagents, who have spared
no pains or expense to secure the
best tracts in the various locsli-
ties. Several very remarkable
oil springs have been discovered,
while gas jets, sulphur springs,
salt hcks and deposits OF asphalt
tum, or solidifed petroleum, are of
frequent occurrence. The shale,
also, and much of the limestone
with which the Company's lands
abound, are completely saturated
with oil, and when placed in the
fire ignite and burn like the best
camel coal. In short all the in
dications most relied upon by oil
men in Pennsylvania, West Viz
ginia, and Kentucky, are found in
abundance, while valuable depos-
Its of iron, coal, lead, clay, &C.,
are known to exist on the territory
of the Company.
A special correspondent of the
Pittsburg OIL Mescs, writing for
that journal recently, from Ten
nessee, says:
"The oil regions of Tennessee
embrace about 9, 800 square miles.
coJ fbo co11oxui,,cr ,,rx:n- -.