Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1885-12-23
MADE HIS PILE QUICKLY.
A Story OF the Pennsylvania
Oil Fields.
A Transaction by Which One Man
Became Wealthy in Minute

The man who grew rich in an hour
Is not for an instant to be compared
with the Western chap who accumu-
lated a handsome fortune in the short
and heeting period Of sixty seconds,
says Bradford Penn correspondent
who continues: Two hours after he
struck the oil country he was hurry
ing out of 1t as fast as the numbering
stage would take him, and he never
came back again either. He was not
at all piggish. He simply knew when
he had enough.
1t was in the early days, when the
great petroleum industry was still in
long dresses, that the incident in ques-
tion happened. The year was 1865,
andthe theatre Of operations the then
red hot city of Pithole. With the simple
aid of twig Of witch hazel. Thomas
II. Brown, whose ancestors were
among the early settlers Of New
York city, located the we'll which ush-
cred into its brief but exciting career
of oleaginous existence the phenome-
nal Pithole oil district. Mr.. Browns
rod Of witch hazel made Thomas
Holmden, the owner Of a bleak and
sterile farm, one Of the richest men in
the State. The Frazier well, which
was the Pithole pioneer, was finished
on Jan. 8, 1866. The $50 barrels of
oil it poured into tanks during the
first and subsequent days of its exis-
tence was worth s. a barrel at the
well, but in those days it cost the con-
sumer only s5,55 barrel to place the
stuff in the New York market.
Every commercial traveller who has
ever visited Erie, Pa, knows the
sneeze and the patriarchal white beard
and bald heal and suave manners of
Col. F. II. Ellsworth, for many years
proprietor of the Ellsworth House and
later of the Reed House. The Colonel
was not always q hotel man. lie was
one of the earliest operators in the re-
gion, and at several periods in his ca
reer was worth great deal of money.
1t happened that the Colonel, who
was one of the early birds, came into
possession of snug slice Of the fam
GUS IIolmden farm. Several wells had
been drilled on the track, and all came
in as money makers. The Colonel S
patch was not considered as choice as
the rest. A well was started, and
the drill began its search for oil. AT
this time hundreds of strangers, with
fat pocketbooks or big bank accounts,
roamed over the field in quest Of fdeslr-
able locations. Thus the land, once
valueless, became immensely valuable.
Landowners exacted fearful big bo-
nus, and, besides, got one-eighth OF all
the oil the wells produced. The aver
age bonus on leases was $4,000 an
acre, although the price in several in
stances ran up to $1,000. Among the
adventures who flooded the country
was a tall, lean, lank. and hungry look
ing chap from Illinois. He had heard
that fortunes could be made in day,
but the thought never for a moment
entered his noddle that he was des-
tined to grow rich in minute. While
looking around he ran across Col.
Ellsworth, who was watching the
drillers at his well, which was about
400 feet deep. The stranger entered
into an animated conversation with
him. When he went away he carried
a slip of book paper upon which the
Colonel had written in pencil this:
hereby agree to sell three fourth of well No
- Ilolmden Farm, for $4,000, payable within
.hree days.
+. II. Ellsworth.
The tall Westerner was not yet out
of the Colonel's hearing when he was
accosted by a well-dressed stranger,
upon whose spotless piece Of linen
flashed q diamond as big as a horse-
chestnut.
"Do you know where 1 can buy
good piece of oil property2" eagerly
inquired the man of the diamond.
"I'm your huckleberry, stranger"
said the Westerner, adjusting his
slouch hat rakishly on the side of his
head. ave got an immense bargain
here for the right kind Of a man. You
see that well over there? Well, l own
three-fourth interest in it and also
in the land surrounding it, The well
is 400 feet deep. and is within a few
rods of all the gushera 1t will be
big well, no doubt"
"What will you sell out forT'
"Seventy.6ve thousand dollars will
buy me out slick and clean and put
you in possession
"lt's a bargain" said the stranger,
and he pulled out long pocketbook,
which was nearly bursting with its
load of greenbacks.
A neighboring stump served as
desk.
There you are, now give me the pa
pers," he remarked, as he handed over
a stack of bills. The Westener count
ed the money, and found that there
were seventy-6ve $1,000 bills.
All this time Col. Ellsworth stood
not ten feet away. Had he strained
his ears he could have heard the
shrewd Westerner drive his bargain,
but he did not know what was hap
pening, and the chances are that he