Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1924-04-24
Test Well On Fair
Grounds In 1895


Providing $4,000 for exploration
of the gas territory around McCon-
nelsville, the town council was in
strumental in drilling the first deep
| test well in the McConnelsville gas
| field. This well was drilled on the
site of the present fair grounds to a
depth of 1856 and was abandoned
| on March IA, 1895, six months after
| 1t was started, when string of tools
/, was left in the hole due to a cave-in.
| The we'll was started October 3,
1894, and on October "a, drillers
reached the Berea sand at depth of
1879 feet Here a little oil and gas
were found and many Of the citizens,
| discouraged by the show, urged
abandonment of the hole, demand
| ing that the money provided by
council be used in making further
tests near the town. A geologist
was appealed to and after making
close observations he advised them
to plug the hole, pointing out the
! fact that If they continued to the
Clinton sand they could not hope to
secure productions that would pay
| for the work of sinking the well to
tsuch a depth Notwithstanding this
advice the hole was continued until
brought to an end by the cave
Drill Two More Wells
Prior to the drilling of this we'll
two other holes were put down on
the east bank of the Muskingum
river further north Of McConnels-
Vile, but they were very light gas
producers from the Berea sand and
| eI,n lott
were abandoned The first of these
wells was drilled in 1889.
In 1896 a we'll was put down just
east Of the corporation line on the
c. B. Bozman farm and upon reach
ing the Berea sand a good pressure
of gas was struck. This encouraged
| drilling at once and number of
holes We're sunk in rapid succession
until enough gas was produced to
| supply the town needs. The Dresser
| Gas Company supplied McConnels-
Vile and the greater part of Malta
! from eighteen Berea wells in July
| 1900 Two of their wells were To-
| Gated on the west side of the river
about half mile below MeCon-
nelsyille, while the remaining six
| teen were located on the east bank
of the Muskingum--two Of them
within the corporate limits Of the,
| town.
Pipe Gas Into Homes
In addition to these eighteen pro-
ducers, there were two shallow
| holes, three miles west Of the town
on the A w. Powers and Mary Riley
| farm. In 1897 the Home Gas Com
/ Ca nf a a
in the summer of 1900 they supplied
some fifty families at that place
with gas from three producing wells
At the same time the Dresser Gas
Company was piping fuel to some
seven hundred people. Charges of
ten cents per thousand feet were as
time. but prior to the Home Gas
people entering the competition gas
! had been selling at the rate of twen-
| ty cents.
1t is said that the competing COM
panies carried on their fight without
either making much gain financial
ly.
The gas wells in this territory
| back in 1899 came in with good rock
pressure. many of them registering
from $50 to 545 pounds to the
square inch, but salt water played
havoc with the flow i'm many in
stances, and it was necessary to
blow off" the fluid daily.
Developments near Shawnee june
tion were opened in 1899 on the
William Porter farm, where a Berea
we'll was drilled to depth of ap
proximately 1,125 feet, but neither
oil nor gas was found. Two years
prior to this well was drilled on
the Hite farm on Island Run. about
one mile from Eagleport, but it
showed but little oil, and after be-
ing pumped irregularly for month
produced but twenty barrels of
crude and was abandoned.
Two other wells-one on Cedar
Run and the other on the McCauley
farm-were drilled in 1899, but
both were failures and soon pulled
out Both of these holes We're car
ried to the Berea-N. O. Whiting,
in Marietta Register