The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1892-05-13

The wealth 81 Mr.. Steele l..,,.,
known ~ Goal Oh Johnny. IA NJ
dolbtcdly i-rcn overratrd that Z \.
say. his wealth in cash. Al the tirne
the Pittsburg sanitary commission
made an offer ~ donate sDkler's
monument 20 the county making the
largest contribution. the prolnr,s
Of this section agreed to SCI aside for
that pniIxse the proces-ls from their
wells for one day Mr.. Steele con.
tribution for that day was $500
which was a fair gauge Of what his
wells were doing.
The farm and the con junctiye inter
ests bequeathd I'd him by his grand.
mother he probably could have dis
posed Of for $500 200 or more when
the same came into his Possession
but ii Is doubtful if at any time AZ
possessed more than 400, 900 in cash.
His expensive eccentricitios wero
many. but did not include. as often
reported, the purchasing and giving
away Of a hotel in Philadelphia The
story probably grew out Of the fact
that while in Philadelphia at one
time he experienced some difficulty
in securing hack and finally bought
one outright; that when he got
I through with the rig the driver
\ asked him what "a do with 1t and BE-
I told him a. keep it 1t was on Tia,
trip to Philadelphia that he, while
with Slocuin, the fellow who w1.s
showing him the world attracted
80 much attention BY going about
with bills IF various denominations
tied IN the blttonholss Of his cloth.
ing by making small purchases
with good sized bills, taking ~
change hack, and even lighting cigars
with his money
Another Of his eccentTicitif oa
that tip ras the forming Of neFro
minstrel troop at random. for each
az the members Of winch be bought
ss.it Of clothes when be engaged
him He brought his troop here,
ard that was aboutal he did with il
The details Of his doings Ia Phik
deiphia. New York, Saratoga and
elsewhere, including his experiences
with shary-ers, notably his 81. 900 ac
Quaintance with John Morrissy,
have been written thradhar
Summed UP briefly the main points
in his life are these. When quit
young he became an orphan and Was
adopted by his grandparents. Nr.
and Mrs. William McClintock lie
was married two or thre pears -
fore he became of age and w0rksi at
farm work until the oil excitement
BEGAN. lie then engaged N hauling
oil down Oil creek and hauling coal
hack with pair 81 old plugs The
result was the possession II . good
team Of his own The Mcl 1intDck
farm became one Of the most vain
able along Oil creek Mrz McCnn
took survived her husband sfyt-zl
years. and when she died IN iSs
the adopted SON, Steele, became che
sole heir to her property.
He soon concluded To see sDme Of
the world with his wealth, and BE-
] saw it. He sought notoricty and he
Got it. He spent his money like :
man with Monte Cristo backing
was bled by ls,ches feeoed by sharp
ers and in . few years, his Oh inter
csts In the meantime rapidly dfTr
chatting in value. b. found himself
again a poor man But no one ever
heard him express particular rzr<
over the return be received fur his
money.
At one time when be was higfe<
IN his eccentric extravagancs Cap
tain J. J. vandergrift T. II VII
lian1s and others sent for hun and
kindly expoetulatui with him On the
point that be ought 20 save some q
his money. He thanked them ton
their friendly advice, but said that he
had made living by hauling 0il and
could do il again If necessary he
couldn't rest until be had spent thai
fortune. Ultimately he gvt The r.
quired rest
A cousin az Mr.. Steele maintains
that the estimates which have ben
nut upon Steele's wealth have not, =
a general thing, keen exaggerszai
He says that he personally know.
that when Mrs. McClintuck d'cl
Steele inherited sl25. 600 IN gold ano
about 10000 IN other money. Inf
income from his wells then was rum
$1,000 to 5000 a day The ccrrzn
saws that from his knowledge q
Steeles affairs he should say that q
one time Coal OIL Johnny conn
have produced sl.c00,mo N cash "
OIL City Cor. Pittsburg Dispatch.