The Delta independent., 1890-02-18
A ROMANCE OF RICHES.
WHERE AN ACRE WAS WORTH
100000. II =,
A Story Of Some Oil Wells in an Old
Pennsylvania Town. x.4as

Rouseville is the Oldest town in the
Pennsylvania oil regions, having been
the first town to spring into life under
the wonderful stimulus of the oil ex-
citement. It is located on Oil Greek,
two and half miles above Oil City,
and it was here that the third well was
drilled for oil, and on the McElhanny
farm, short distance above Rouse
Vile, the first real "spouter" was
struck. This was the famous 'sFoun-
tain WE'LL" which flowed stream of
oil over the top of the derrick, high
above the tallest trees in the neighbor-
hood, and started the great rush of
people into this wonderful region.
This was once q great oil metropolis,
with banking offices, scores of hotels
and all the commercial facilities Of q
city. Being SO near to Oil City and
Petroleum Centre, its population never
got above 10000, if it reached that
figure, but it was one of the most
active cities in the belt Of oil. It was
surrounded by some of the wonderful
flowing wells Of early oil days.
The Widow McClintock farm,
which fell into the possession of john
ny Steele, afterwards known to the
world as "Coal-Oil Johnny" is with
in sight Of this town. Like all other
oil towns, Rouseville has been swept
by fire q number of times, and there is
but little of the old town left. What
Is left Of it 10 q curious old relic in
which there 10 but little to suggest the
hustle and excitement and the fortunes
lost and won in former days. "Coal-
Oil Johnny" is by no means the only
man who found an easy fortune with
in sight of this queer old town. The
first great oil fire was here when the
Rouse well was burned and Henry
Rouse, after whom the town was
named, was burned to death, along
with sixteen other men. The story of
this tragedy has been told in these
columns and need not be repeated.
1t was the most appalling tragedy in
the history of oil fires, and being the
first it created a wonderful sensation.
There has been talk Of erecting mon
ument on the site Of the fire to honor
the memory of the sixteen men who
were the first to perish in the develop
ment of the oil region. Col. Drake,
who drilled the first oil well, has no
monument yet, and the citizens of
Rouseville do not believe that either
monument will ever be erected.
If oil were found in a literal lake,
instead Of in a porous rock, Rouseville,
like petroleum Centre, would have
been situated over q lake of oil. A
number Of big wells were struck with
in the limits of the town, and great
"gushers" surrounded the town on
every side. Not only were the Oil
Creek fats here wonderfully profile,
but Cherry Run, which empties into
Oil Creek at this point, produced some
wells only second in richness to the Oil
Creek wells. Some Of the largest of
these were near Rouseville, and it can
be said that the wells in the vicinity
have produced enough oil to have sub
merged the town. The money value
of the oil taken from the ground near
Housewife is above $50, 900, 900. The
Story farm alone has produced about
go 900, 900 worth of petroleum, and
still has small production-perhapa
100 barrels q month.
The first well drilled at Housewife,
the third on the creek, as stated, was
put down by the primitive method OF
"spring-pole engine" This was nc
engine at all, but stout sapling. OF
spring-pole to which the tools were at
tached. Three or four men would
pull the spring-pole down and itf
spring would lift the tools for the next
stroke. This was called "tranping 9
we'll down." and as many Of them were
tramped down to the depth of 500 and
600 feet the operation was very slow
and tedious. No less than 150 WE'LL
were put down on Oil Greek in thil
crude way before steam was applied tt
the work. Where three months wert
often required to drill well then, ont
is drilled now in ten days and ever
less.
The history of one of the big we'll
near Housewife is the history of many
and will serve to illustrate the amazing
richness of the oil belt in this section
The Reed well, on Cherry Run, wa
struck July II, 1864. 1t was located
on all acre Of leased ground. The lant
interest was to receive one-quarter o.
the oil and the owners of the well tn
balance. One well was put down, ant
in ninety days from the time Of start
ing the drill @7S5 900 had been realized
f.o,r, ~ hv fha ruork{nO intareat alonp