St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-01-26
ROMANCE OF RICHES
The Town of Housewife, Where
an Acre Was Worth $4,000,

an Acre Was Worth $4,000,
900.
Housewife pa Special.
This is the oldest town in the Penn
sylvania Oil regions, having been the
first to spring into life nnder the Won
derful stimulus of the oil excitement /.
1t is located on Oil creek. two and a-half
miles above Oil City, and it was here
that the third we'll was drilled for oil.
and On the McElhanny farm, short
distance above Housewife, the first real
'spouter" was struck. This was the
famous Fountain WE'LL" which flowed
a stream of oil over the top of the der
the neighborhood. and started the
great rush of people into this wonder
full region. This was once great oil
metropolis. with banking offices, scores
of hotels and all the commercial faclli-
ties of city. Being so near to Oil City
and Petroleum Center, 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. 1t was
surrounded by some Of the wonderful
flowing wells of early oil days. The
Widow McClintOck farm, which fell
into the possession Of Johnny Steele,
UCl httluo huOh IL W HVlIA 90
"Coal-Ou johnny" is within sight of
this town. Like all other oil towns,
Housewife has been swept by fire a
nu mber of times, and there is but little
of the old town left. What is left of it
is a curious old relic in which there is
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 within 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 re-
peated. 1t was the most appalling trag-
edy in the history of oil fires, and being
the first it created wonderful senSa-
ton. There has been talk of erecting a
monument on the site of the fire to
honor the memory of the sixteen men
who were the first to perish in the de-
velopment of the Oil region. Col. Drake,
who drilled the first oil well, has no
monument yet, and the citizens of
Housewife do not believe that either
monument will ever be erected.
If Oil were found in literal lake in
like Petroleum Center, would have been
situated over lake of oil. A number
of big wells we're struck within the
limits of the town. and great "gusherS"
surrounded the town on every side.
Not only were the Oil creek flats here
wonderfully prolific, 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
Housewife, and it eau be said that the
wells in the vicinity have pro-
duced enough oil to have submerged
theE town. The money value of the
oil taken from the ground near Rouse
vile is above S50.000,O00. The Story
farm alone has produced about S10,000,-
600 worth of petroleum, and still has a
small neutrality-suspicious. 100 barrels
a month. The first we'll drilled at Rouse
will, the third on the creek, as stated,
was put down by the primitive method
of ''spring-pole engine" This was no
engine at all, but stout sapling, or
spring-pole. to which the tools were at
tached. Three or four men would pull
the spring-pole down and its spring
would lift the tools for the next stroke.
This was called 'tramping well down"
and as many of them were tramped
down to the depth of 500 and 600 feet
the operation was very slow and tedi-
Gus. No less than $50 wells were put
down on Oil creek in this crude way be-
fore steam was applied to the work.
Where three months were often re-
ouired to drill a well then, one is drilled
now in ten days and even less.
The history of one of the big wells
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, was
struck July II, 1864. 1t was located on
an acre OF leased ground. The land in
terest was to receive one-quarter of the
oil and the owners of the well the bal
ance. One we'll was put down, and in
ninety days from the time of starting
the drill S7S5, 900 had been realized from
it by the working interest alone.
The Mingo Oil company, of Phila-
delphia, bought out one-Quarter of
the land interest in the we'll for
S2S0,000. after the owner had already
sold $4,000 worth of oil from it. Mr..
Reed, after selling $4,000 worth of Oil
from his account. sold to Bishop. & Co.
half of his interest for 100000. A man
named Frazier had an interest in the
well that Melted him 100000 in oil, and
he afterwards sold his interest for $780,
600 cash. Most of these sales were cash
in hand. The Mingo Oil company paid
$3.50. 900 for their interest in one pay
ment. Three other wells were
drilled on this one acre of ground,
and from the four wells $780,
600 were realized. This is perhaps the
richest acre of ground ever developed
i'll the oil couptry. The original owners
were men of small means, and all be-
came wealthy from this single transac-
ton. Even the Philadelphia and New
York companies who bought them out
at such extravagant figures realized
handsomely from their investment.
There is no sign of the Reed we'll or
any of its rich neighbOrs now. The
places where the derricks and tanks
stood are grown high with weeds and
bushes, and from the mine of wealth
the spot has returned to its primitive
wildness and worthle ssness.