The Indianapolis journal., 1895-09-08
TARR'S FAMOUS FARM
N ONE HOUR TT JUMPED IN VALUE
FROM s5 TO 5000 An ACRE
n Yielded s2o.ooo.ooo In rive Years.
and To-day Presents Only scene
Of DesoIation and Ruin.


New York sun
THE Tarr farm on oil creek" said s.
c. Wiley. of the Allegheny valley. vet
trai oil operator. yielded during It's
four or fve years existence as an oil
producer not less than 81. 900 900 to its
operators. and no part OF the oil coun-
try has 80 interesting a record. You'll
not ind IL in the history OF the oil coun-
try or Of petroleum. but one interesting
and imp. ,ftant fact about the Tarr farm
r. that the first meeting ever held to
regulate tse price Of crude petroleum
Was at the Tarr farm. in the fall Of 1861.
This farm belonged TO James Tarr. II
WAS worth for agricultural purposes In
1859. the year oil was struck on oil creek.
about s. an acre. at liberal valuation.
At the time Colonel Drake made his oil
strike. near TitusviIle. Tarr was SO poor
that he was glad to get a Job at team
ing at almost any wages. as that helped
him 20 a more certain support for his
family than his farm would yield. That
farm In less than two years. though.
placed It's uncouth and struggling owner
In the ranks OF the rich men OF the coun-
ty. and soon his daily income was ten
fold more than his yearly earnings had
ever been before
"He leased various parts OF his farm
at a royalty OF one-quarter the oil pro-
duced- One OF the first. II not the first.
OF his leases was to Orange Noble. n
copoer who had saved little money. and
q Meadville lawyer named Delamater
William Phillips. a man named Wood
ford, and two others, had leases. These
Icaseholds were all along the creek bor-
der, as the idea prevailed then that oil
could only be found on the fats. The
f1rBt well that got to the sand IN the
Tarr farm was the Noble & Delamater,
which yielded. by the pump. about 200
barrels a day. William Phillips was
then putting down a well some distance
below the Noble A. Delamater we'll. and
Woodford was drilling a well on his
lease. between the Noble * Delamater
well and the Phillips well. When the
Crescent welI-as the Noble a Delamater
well was called-came in with it's show
ing OF 300 barrels day. a capitalist
named Heman James, who had come
from Erie I think, went 10 Tarr's d.
was eating his supper Of fried pork
and johnny cake.
TAR said James. I'll give you $780,
600 I'm cash for your sarm-'
''Tarr almost tumbled Off his chair.
There were something like 100 acres In
the farm. and a good deal OF IL was wild
hill land. A year before he would have
thought 81 900 big offer for the whole
farm.
"T mean t. said James. III you'll
take me up I'll close the deal right here :
"Tarr took him up. and the deal. which
transfer OF the leases Tarr had made
was closed. James paid the $4,000, and
Tarr within an hour stepped from pow
erty to affiuence.
THOUGHT A CRAZY PURCHASE.
IL was on the creek when the news
cot around that Heman James had
bought the Tarr farm for $50. 900. This
Was the first large cash transaction In
creek. and James was looked upon as a
crazy man coaxing inevitable ruin. But
he wasn't. Not long after he made the
purchase the Phillips well astounded
the region by bursting forth with that
historic fountain OF oil. the first 10
-spurt voluntarily from the earth. This
well flowed 5000 barrels a day. The ef-
feet OF IL was. though. TO knock the
price OF oil almost TO nothing. Other
wells soon came In as spouters. and then
tt WAS that the first effort ever made
In the history OF the oil trade to control
the price OF crude petroleum was made
at melting held at the Tarr farm. in
the fall OF 1861. The leading spirits in
this movement were General James
Wadsworth. OF Geneseos ~. Y: Josiah
Oakes. a New York capitalist. and He
man James. The idea was to raise a
fund sufficient TO buy up all the land
along OIL creek for ten miles. and
through the ownership OF II 10 he able
20 control production. and. as a natural
sequence. the market price OF cru1e oil.
At the meeting 100000 was subscribed,
and the scheme would have progressed
further. and probably have succeeded
for time In its purpose. but the panic
arising from the civil war began TO af-
feet the oil regions General Wordsworth
went 90 the front and never came back.
and when the matter might have been
taken up again the oil field had proved
70 be OF wider scope than had been sus-
pccfcd. and the scheme was impractical
hle- AT that same meeting on the Tarr
farm by the way. occurred something
else that does not appear In the written
history OF the oil country That was a
proposition 70 build pipe line.
..T'his idea was Heman Janess. IL was
crude but IL foreshadowed great things.
The Idea was 10 lay line OF wooden
pipes from the TErr farm TO Oil City.
In which 10 carry the oil from the wells.
and thus overcome the risk. expense 0nd
unccrtafnty OF transporting oil by boats
on the treacherous waters cf oil creek.
which mode OF transportation 20 market
was the only cne possible In those days.
A coptract was even drawn up with a
man aamed Reed. OF Erie. Pa. TO con-
ntruct such a line. but Colonel Clark. OF
the Boston nrm OF Clark 4 Sumner. saw
the possibilities of such means OF oil
transportation. and advised that the
contract should not be signed. but that
. charter for a general pipe line be
asked from the Pennsylvania Legisia-
eurc. His suggestion was adopted. and
the controct was not signed. The ap-
plication for q charter was made at the
session OF 1s6i-s
M c. Beebe was the member of the
Legfelature from the Nenango district
ehed. and he opposed the application.
Hlx opposition was based on the fact
that there were 1000 teams hauling oil
n the oil region. and that the building
Of Z pipe line would destroy that bust
ness. something that his constituents
who were interested would not stand.
Ilia arguments prevailed at Harrisburg.
and the pioneer effort TO organize q
ptpe line company failed. But In the
0nrfnE OF ISse the Tarr farm came "a
The front again. and from. IL the frsi
o111de OIL ever taken 20 a refinery O.
rrct from the wells. independent e
teams. wa< run. and through ripe line
NJ that. A Jersey genius named y. l.
Hutchfngs had come into the oil ccun-
try with a patent rotary pump that he
~<anted 20 Introduce To show how II
WAS adapted TO the oil business. he laid