The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1885-01-08
ABRAHAM JAMES STRANGE STORY


tOlsaa CN.yYJ Cor. PcatDipaschl IN
Abraham James, Whose singular dis-
covery Of the onoe famous PlcasantviIlo
oil-6eld in, 1893, b among the many
curious "reminiscences Of the Pennsyl-
vaniA petroleum, country, died q few
-woeks 80 In Oregon, aged 17. James
|eA1o1 "a she 81 reRionsein tho early
1Ec3tS long or crcek
E1l3 r. Il - 8 e6ifitua1ist, snn6
=, = a! y. ss y T ;
+ |eosssl d
~ opesafeeS - ~ hallsf q 0pIrithal-
nm: - 49, poo, but managed 70
|dAb6seT 6ttlO n " and AZ lands
One daY, nrthe summer Of 1858, he
took Inn HI conddcnce few OF the
m0neyed mon who had become Spirit
ualists, and told them that q spirit had
revealed to him the existence Of vast
deposit Of petroleum in q locality where
no one had As VT thought of searching
for it. He said that he had been stopped
in thu road by the spirit, who took him
from his wagon Mnd conducted him like
magic across fields and through forests
to wild spot in the vicinity of Pleasant
vile, where they rested. Presently the
earth opened and an immense cavern
yawned before them. Into this James
was led by the spirit. They jouneyed
down into the earth a long distance,
and, finally, James was brought to the
margin of lake of petroleum of un-
known extent. Specifies with amaze
ment, James gazed on this apparently
b0undless store of wealth few minutes,
when the spirit led him back to the sur
face of the earth.
The cavern closed and the spirit van
ished. James assured the men to whom
he c0nfided this marvellous intelligence
that the great deposit had been revealed
to him by the spirit in order that the
faithful might benefit by the knowledge.
He solicited them to lose no time in fur
nishing, the means to develop tho new
territory thus placed within their reach
The necessary capital was forthcoming
at once, and James commenced opera
tons. He put down a we'll on the spot
where he said the spirit had led him
into the cavern and at the depth of $50
feet the drill struck rich oil-bearing
sand and 150-barrel well was the re-
suit. A well of that size was an unus-
ual one then, and the strike set the en-
tire oil country wild. In q short time
P!easantville was surrounded, with wells,
which were producing more oil than all
the old districts, and the new territory
was the greatest oil-ield in the world.
The James combination put down five
wells On their tract, every one Of which
was big producer. Oil was then sell
ing for more than So a barrel, and, al
though the life of this new field was
comparatively short, the operators all
made fortunes.
James left the oil country after this
Pleasantville field became exhausted
worth $500, 900. He never came east,
and il is said he lost tho most Of his
money in unfortunate investments on
the Pacific coast. The Spiritualists never
lost their faith in James story of the
supernatural discovery of the petroleum
lake, but skeptics believe that his knowl-
edge Of geology had led him to believe
from the character of the country about
Pleasantville that petroleum undoubt-
edly existed there, and that he had in
vented the story of the Spiritualistic
revelation to induce moneyed believers
in the doctrine to furnish the means to
les. his tasesy.