The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1909-08-05
|dustfy In this country. xas not the

dustry In this country. xas not the
discoverer of oil. From time i'm
mortal the Indians had obtained oil
for medicinal purposes from the val
ley of Oil creek, near Titusville,
where the Oil in many places rose to
the surface or exuded from the pof-
GUS rock. Even before the time of
the Indians. the mysterious mound
builders knew OF, the existence of oil
and it is known that they dug deep
wells to collect the oil. which they
probably used for no other than
medicinal purposes.
The early settlers of Pennsylvania
found oil in many places in the Oil
creek valley and its vicinity and used
crude and primitive methods to col
lect the oil from springs and wells,
to sell it as liniment, put up in bot
ties and labeled "Haarlem Oil, +"
Rock OIL" American OIL" "Kier's
Petroleum" Seneca OIL" etc. The
oil, which was found only in small
quantities., was worth eighty cents a
gallon where it was found and 81 a
gallon in the east, where 1t was sold
in drug stores.
In 1854 a lawyer from Maine, by
the name of Eveleth, and a man
named Bissell, who had been a
school teacher in New Orleans, pass
ed through the Oil creek region on
their way north. They became in
terested in the oil and took samples
With them to New Haven. They sub
mitted these samples to Professor
Benjamin Silliman to test the oil for
its value as a lubricant and for IL
Eliminating purposes, in place of
sperm oil. The report which he SUBJ
mitted in the following year was so
favorable that Eveleth and Bissell
and several others former, under the
laws of New York, a joint stock COM
pany, called "The Pennsylvania Rock
Oil Company" which company pur-
chased in fee simple all the land on
Oil creekS upon which there were any
traces of oil. The company also
leased for ninety-nine years all the
lands which were supposed to con- 4,
tain oil.
In 1856 the company sublet the |
land to parties in New York who |
were to develop the property and pay
a royalty of II cents a gallon for all |
the oil produced to the company. |
During the hard times of 1857 the
New York contractors became finan-
cially involved and unable to carry |
out the contract. Taking advantage
of slight flaw in the deed they sur
rendered the land to the Pennsyl-
vania Rock Oil company. James M.
Townsend, one of the stockholders,
who lived in New Haven, conceived |
the idea of examining the property,
and if it was found as reported to
assume the leases surrendered by the
New York parties.
Mr.. Townsend engaged Edwin L.
Drake, formerly a conductor on the
New York & New Haven railroad,
who had been compelled to give up
his position on account of bad health,
to go to Pennsylvania to investigate
the situation. Drake sent a favor
able report ana Townsend organ
ibed a new company, called "The
Seneca Oil company" Drake became
the agent of the company with sal
airy of $1,000 year and established
himself on Oil creek. The first crude
attempts to gather the oil were not
very successful, and at last, upon
brakes advice it was decided to bore
Tor oil.
The work was begun in 1859 and |
but slowly. After $50
900 had been expended on boring.
without result. the company decided |
to abandon the work, but just then
oil was struck and it rose in the bore |