The Titusville Herald from Titusville, Pennsylvania • Page 135

FAGC TWO. S1CTION THE TITUSVILLE HERALD, TITUSVILLE. PENNA. MONDAY, AUGUST 24. 1959 Drake Park of Today Result of Long Effort 1st Work Began When Site Was Weed Patch By CHARLES B.

STEGNER Continued from Page One, This Section Drake. Probably the main point of difference between this and an ordinary water well is found in the fact that projecting above the surface of the ater can be seen five or six feet pf pipe- This hole on the surface is part of the same hole in the ground which Colonel Drake helped to put there a half a century ago. But the pipe is not the same pipe. It is of far later date and was placed there a few years ago by Mr. David Emery upon the theory that mere modern methods might result in the extraction of more oil than Colonel Drake had been able to secure.

Was "Wild" in 1909 "Mr. Fletcher during his visit to the location of the old Drake well found that time has made few changes in die neighborhood itself. It is still about as wild as it was when Nature first took a hand in the making, about as wild as it was on the day when Colonel Drake first walked into the Upper Mill and asked Bates Fink if he would be kind enough to show him the way to 'the old oil The farm upon which the Drake Well is located has had many ups and downs since the days of Colonel Drake and Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company. Sold for a song about 20 years ago it finally passed into the hands of David Emery, since deceased." The late David Emery, oil producer and former mayor of the City of Titusville, if not the first person to think about restoring the original well site, was at least the first person to do something about it. The land came into his possession.

He cleaned out the well, drilled it deeper, put in a new pipe and actually pumped about a half barrel weekly with the intention of putting it in bottles for sale and the proceeds of the sales were to be applied toward the cost of placing a monument at the well site. Mr. Emery died before his ideas could be carried and at his death his widow, Susan A. Emery, came into possession of the property. On October 9, 1913, Susan A.

Emery conveyed to Alma S. Sherman and Mary A. Fletcher, trustees of the "anadohta Chapter, Daughters of the American Revo-, lution, a plot cf land containing "nearly one acre" for the purpose of erecting a memorial at the site of the Drake Well commemorative of the discovery of oil hi said well by Colonel Drake. The Canadohta Chapter did place a large native boulder on the land and attached to the boulder a bronze tablet Drake Day, August 27, 1914. From that year until 1931 the size of the Drake Well Park remained the same.

Found Creek Threatening In September, 1929, Joseph Murray and the late Frank Murray, his brother, of TitusviDe, visited the site of the original well and found that the creek was cutting into the bank right up to the stone monument and that most of the road leading into the park had been washed away. Through the efforts of the Murray brothers, a sum of S1.423 was raised by subscription and a temporary dike built. The threatened destruction of the site itself aroused a group of local citizens and, under the leadership of the late John H. they started to acquire additional land so that the well site itself might be protected and that sufficient land may be made available for a memorial park. On July 17, 1931, Alma S.

Sherman and Mary A. Fletcher, having died, the Canadohta Chapter, D.A.R. by substitute trustees, Elizabeth 'F. Hoquembourg and Annette F. Grumbine, surveyed the original well site of "nearly one acre" to American Petroleum Institute.

The deed conveying the said plot to the A.P.I, recited that the A.P.I, and 'certain citizens had volunteered to raise the money sufficient for the purpose of building a dike for confining the creek to a course which would forever preserve the land a monument from destruction and to acquire additional lands around and about said piece of land in order to beautify and convert the same into a proper and fitting memorial of Colonel Edwin L. Drake and the discovery of said petroleum in said well and then present the same to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a State Park. Under date of December 12, 1932, the A.P.I, conveyed the original plot of "nearly one acre'' to Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the deed reciting that the above described piece of land was the site on which Colonel Edwin L. Drake drilled the first successful oil veil in 1859, and that the above described piece of land was conveyed to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania an Act of General Assembly No. 22 approved April 10, 1931, creating a Drake Well Memorial Park in which the land hereby conveyed is intended to constitute a part.

More Conveyed in 1932 Under date of December 2, 1932, the A.P.I, conveyed to the Commonwealth 15.35 acres which deed recited that the land herein conveyed lies just north of and adjoins a certain piece of land on which site Colonel Drake drilled the first successful oil well, and that the land is the same piece conveyed by Jean Preston to the A.P.I. under dale of October 9, 1931. Also on the same date, namely December 2, 1932, the A.P.I, conveyed to the Commonwealth 6.75 acres by deed reciting that the piece of land conveyed lies just east, south and north of and adjoins a certain other piece of land on the site of the original Drake Well. This deed recites the land conveyed is an undivided one- fourth part of which was conveyed to the A.P.I, by Lena E. Robinson (formerly Lena E.

Brenneman and The Union Trust Company of Pittsburgh, trustees under the "Will of Susan A. Emery), and another undivided one-fourth part of which was conveyed by Helen Hyde Fleming and her husband to the A.P.I, dated February 11. 1932, and the remaining undivided one-half part which was conveyed to the A.P.I, by Lena E. Robinson and her husband, and David Emery Brenneman. At the time of the Diamond Jubilee of Oil, August 27, 1934, the Drake Well Memorial Park contained 23.1 es of land.

That was the year that the State accepted the museum and caretaker's house, which had been built on the site fr A.P.I, funds. Through the efforts of Mr. Scheide 'and Mr. Caldwell. who realized that not only the site but the surroundings also must be preserveu, the park continued to grow and the purchases and gifts by Mr.

Scheide and Mr. Caldwell and other interested parties re- J. M. PENNELL Serving the general insurance and real estate needs of Titusville and the original oil region since August, 1937. J.

M. PENNELL General Insurance and Reel Estate 104 Exchange Place Phone 7-7151 Titusville, Pa. suited in further acquisitions of land. On June 16, 1937, seventeen more acres were added to the Park by deed of A.P.I. to the Commonwealth reciting that the land conveyed was the same piece or parcel conveyed by Janet Mackey Van Meter to N.V.V.

Franchot and by him to the A.P.I, as a gift to be by it conveyed to the Commonwealth for the purpose of adding the same to the Drake Well Memorial Park in order that the natural beauty of surroundings may be preserved. More From Emery Property On November 30, 1938, nine more acres was added to the Park site by deed of A.P.I, to the Commonwealth. This nine acre piece was formerly a part of the David Emery property. On November 25, 1940, by deed of A.P.I, to the Commonwealth 1S0.35 acres were added to the Park site. This acreage included beautiful hillside on the western bank of Oil also land south of the well site.

The land included in this deed was conveyed to A.P.I. by Rumina Jean Preston, widow, and several others. On November 25, 1941, the A.P.I, conveyed to the Commonwealth an additional 3.37 acres, title to said land having come into its possession by deed of Harry W. Amboyer and wife. As a result of all these acquisitions commencing vith the "nearly one acre," the land which now comprises the Drake Well Memorial Park up to approximately 239 acres.

It is readily apparent from the above recitals that the acquisition of all of the lands comprises the present park was no small job and took considerable time and money, and the citizens of Titusville owe a debt of gratitude to all those who assisted by giving their time and their money to the end that the Park might grow to its present proportions. Later Developments At Drake Well Park Following the initial period of development at Drake Well Park only minor improvements were undertaken until 1945 when a care- fullyrscaled -eplica of Drake's second engine house and derrick was constructed. Mather photographs of the early 1860's were utilized in drawing up the plans. Drake's structure contained many boards which were wider than the average rough lumber available today, and it was necessary to secure windfall trees from the Allegheny National Forest to provide lumber of the proper dimensions. Several of the boards in the replica measure more than four feet in width, which is quite a novelty in this period of third and fourth growth timber.

In 1948 Archie Brown, caretaker at the park, designed and constructed pumping machinery for the well, following as closely as possible early descriptions and tradition regarding the mechanism used by Col. Drake for both drilling and production. It is known that an Erie City Iron Works engine was used on the original well, but neither an Erie City Engine nor a drawing of one is available today, and Mr. Brown found it necessary to put in an engine of a type some three or four years later date than the drilling of the Drake Well. To provide an added touch of realism the well was cased to 69 feet, at which level the casing was Firm Active That Sold Drake Boiler Today oil men find it difficult to believe that wells were drilled prior to 1859 without casing pipe.

Colonel Drake and "Uncle" Billy Smith tried all the prevailing and had to stop opera tions many times because of flooding waters. The colonel used good Yankee sense and decided to line the hole with pipe. Like so many solutions to difficulties this was so simple. He high-tailed it to Erie as fast as "old dobbin" could take him and bought some iron pipe from Liddel, Hershey Company. He had been there before, because his detailed ledger showed that he had bought a boiler and engine from this same Erie company.

The Liddei; Hershey Company in 1859 was proudly referred to as the Erie City Iron Works since 1851 when Erie was incorporated as a city. It is the Erie City Iron Works today and in its 119th year one of the oldest industrial companies and certainly the oldest boiler manufacturer in the region. welded shut to form a reservoir from which oil could be pumped out into a tub tank and allowed to recirculate. The reconstruction of the well and its pumping machinery has proven to bs the most interesting single exhibit in the park, and must be one of the most frequently photographed building, in America. With the gradual accretion of additional exhibit material it eventually became necessary to enlarge the museum, and in 1953 a new campaign of construction began.

The new wing, designed by Stotz and Stotz, was a radical departure from the modified Georgian brick architecture of the original museum building and caretaker's residence. The architect seemingly was strongly influenced by the cubist school, for the building has a severe, rectangular appearance and is faced with native sandstone, wholly without ornament. A second period of construction in 1955 extended the'wing-to its present dimensions, and it now provides approximately 4,000 square feet of floor space. In 1956 the irst step was taken towards the construction of an early oil field "boom town" in the park with the additional of the "Oil Creek Fire built to house the Col. Drake steam fire engine, a gift of the City Of Titusville, and an early nitroglycerine the gift of a private citizen.

This program was continued with the addition this year of another board and batten building of the type used in the oil field in the early days, this time to house a model refinery. Another rustic building, a replica of the Grant Well office at Pi thole City, was placed in the parking lot as an admission building and souvenir Plans are presently under consideration for the construction of additional exhibit space at the Park, probably in the form of another wing to be added to the museum, paralleling the original structure. Administrative offices, a library, an entirely new entrance area and parking lot will probably be constructed at the same time. A FISH IN AN OIL WELL The Pithole Record says that on Saturday as parties were sand- pumping a well on lease 66 Holmden farm, a live fish was brought to the surface, from the depth of six hundred and sixteen feet. It had no eyes was of a brown color and some four inches long.

Though put in water, it lived but a few hours. It is now on exhibition, and rivals. in attraction the surface wells. Herald, Mar. 9, 1866 Happy 100th Birthday to the Writer Felt He Had To Hide Behind Music Store Front Oil Industry June 28, 1959, was our birthday.

Yes. 45 years ago that day we opened our plumbing shop in Titusville at the same location we are in It has been a pleasure serving the original oil region through nearly a half of oil's first century. C. L. GROVE Plumbing and Heating 234 S.

Franklin St. Phone 5-5281 The author of the following article had his book, "Titusville 1859," published last year and it has met with excellent public acceptance. By LEON McNIERNEY On the domed ceiling of the Library of Congress in Washington, emblazoned in letters of gold, there is this axiom: "We taste the spices of Arabia but do not feel the burning sun which brings them On the day "of last October I received in my mail a padded envelope. It was from my publisher. I hoped, looking at its thinness, it wasn't my book.

It was. A pint-sized novel. Thinking of the runaway stacks of manuscripts it had been brewed from I could only compare it to a bar of maple sugar which had taken gallons of sap to make. Thinking of the five years of writing and all my half-holiday Wednesday afternoons given to research it had taken to produce it, I could only compare myself to a blithering idiot. The mountain was in labor and brought forth a mouse.

Jim Stevenson, when I gave him a copy and told him of my desolation, was kind enough to say, "People do not read long books nowadays." Well, was it worthwhile? All that toil for so incommensurate a result. I write to keep my spirits up with a view to possibly keeping other people's spirits up. Writing sends me. The mornings I write the hour hand of my wristwatch acts like a second hand. I look the winter I wrote the first part of my book "Before the Strike" as the happiest time of my life.

The great philosopher, St. Thomas Aquinas, has said: "Man cannot live without delight." If writing is your delight, then it is for you. I cannot go along with those professional writers who talk of writing against the grain and meeting a deadline. I think they refer to something altogether different, something joyless and dull. There is, of course, a modicum of discipline involved.

For instance, the mornings I write I do not start the day by reading the morning paper. If the writing is based on research, then just before I go to bed I review the subject matter indicated. This is the ordinary discipline of homework. But once at my desk the thoughts come vast and thronging like castellated thunderheads and the words come trippingly, effortlessly to portray them. Hard work isn't the desideratum here and will, power is useless.

I may be talking only of my particular case. I know a writer who will reconstruct a paragraph as many as twelve times before he is satisfied with it. Cardinal Newman the most casual letters of his personal correspondence many times before he would allow them to leave his hand. That is the painstaking artist, if you like. It isn't for me.

I don't write rapidly and I don't write much but what I write stands, except for a rare correction or two. You may verify this in my manuscript which is on display at the library. I don't know why it should be but writing generally in this country is a shameful business. The kindest word used about you if you write is that you are an offbeat fellow. You have to live in Greenwich Village or on the Left Bank of Paris tb feel at home if you are a writer.

There are a few geographical exceptions. Years age, returning from Florida, I slipped off in Augusta, to look up a friend of mine. His name is John Walton. Walton Way is one of the fine residential streets of Augusta and an ancestor of John's was a signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He took us around to see some of the famous gardens of the city.

In one garden we met'a young man, a protege of the owner of the place, who was writing a novel. The garden was his workshop. We had disturbed his morning's work. In the South, the writer still has some face. is precious and pampered.

And there are places like Carmel-by-the-Sea in California and Cape Cod in New England where a writer may retreat to if he can afford it. In Titusville I had to hide behind a music store to carry on my nefarious machinations. As Ralph Honors Due By JOSEPH MURRAY Continued from Page One, This Section drill penetrated an oil producing crevice on August 27, 1859. Kier, MacKcown and Ferris, who as pioneer refiners had helped pave the way for the utilization of the product, should rank among the founders of the industry, yet some correlative factors must be considered. Coal oil, or "kerosene," a distillation from cannel coal and other bitumens, was coming into quite general use as an illuminate, supplanting whale oil, sperm carfdles and tallow dips.

When Drake struck oil there were over forty distilling plants in this country, and the industry was rapidly expanding. Value of Silliman Report The very thorough analysis of petroleum made by Prof. Benj. Silliman, of Yale 'College for Bissell and Eveleth, and by them made public in 1855, drew wide attention to the close similarity between its hydro-carbon -properties and those of the coal and bitumens used by the kerosene makers. Prof.

Silliman disclosed in detail the results of his tests in fractional dirtillation. He obtained a large percentage of illuminant which by, photometric tests proved to be of superior quality as compared with all others. He described the method of or distilling, the oil, which he stated was the simplest and cheapest of all manufacturing, or processing, operations. As a result of his report, experiments were being carried on in refining the limited quantity Waldo Emerson puts it, writing is: "My shame in crowds. My solitary joy." How do I know I'm a writer? What conceit! After all I was born right here and on Drake Street at that, i haven't even made 57,000 on my book so far like Pasternak.

It is mainly a matter of desire. The French philosopher Pascal expresses it this way: "Thou wouldst not be seeking me, if thou hadst not already found me." available, and the kerosene distillers were watching developments closely, anticipating the possible necesity of changing their plants over into petroleum refineries. The fate of coal oil hinged perilously on the possible discovery of an abundant supply of crude petroleum. This is one reason why the refining industry so quickly fell into step and kept pace with that of crude production, so Kier, MacKeown and Ferris will have to divide honors with the coal oil distillers and Prof. Silliman as refining trail blazers.

Bissell the Missionary The awakening to the possibility of a petroleum industry may be said to have been due chiefly to the missionary activities of George H. Bissell. He was the leader in launching the first company organized to produce oil; by the dissemination of the Silliman report he attracted public attention to its potential value and he was evidently the first to suggest, drilling for it. He deserves a prominent place of honor as an oil pioneer, although rot directly identified with the company that sent Drake to Oil James M. Townsend followed Bissell as a factor of importance in oil history, without whom it might not have been written for years.

He revived the enterprise started by Bissell when it was dead on its feet by forming the Seneca Oil Company and raising the funds to start Drake on his way, but he did not stick until the finish. Had Drake not continued the battle alone Townsend would have been in at the death instead of the successful finish of the Oil Creek project. The position of Colonel Drake is analogous to that of Colonel Lindbergh. While the latter was not a discoverer, charting a course to an unknown land like Columbus, his daring act aroused the admiration of the world and caused it to become air-minded. As such, his feat has become an epoch in aviation.

In the same way did the oil pouring forth in unbelievable quantities' from Drake's well on Oil Creek cause 'the world to become oil-conscious, and the day of its completion must be considered the focal day of oil annals. Let any one derive what satisfaction he can in attempting to Byles' Speech Continued from Page One, This Section can afford to issue edicts or rules which are flouted." Undertaking Too Vast Mr. Byles observed that "an increasing number of people are realizing that it is impossible for a committee, or board, or authority to regulate or mandate the complex and endless operations of so vast an undertaking. suggests that beyond the supply of raw material, the hand of government should be removed and, in the public interest, competition as to price and quality and service should begin." "Some of us are still simple enough to believe that economic laws are inexorable," he added, "That if too much crude oil is not produced, too much gasoline and other products cannot be. That, as the result of suh a balance, price will take care of itself.

That the public's interest, both in conservation and price, may be safeguarded through governmental control of crude oil allowed to be produced." Mr. Byles concluded his address: "Governor Pinchot. it it my privilege in behalf of American Petroleum Institute, to present to you, for and in behalf of the poeple of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Drake Well Memorial Park." deprive either Drake or Lindbergh of the place given them in history for the parts they played in these epochal events. movement is on foot to lay pipes from Titusville to New York, for the purpose of transporting oil, in competition with the railroads. The estimated capital is $5,000,000.

Herald, Feb. 8, 1867. A party attempted to go to Pithole yesterday, but found the road so drifted with snow this side of the Farmers' Hotel that he could make no headway in a sleigh. Parties were engaged in shoveling a passage through and the road will, for the present, passable again. Herald, Jan.

29, 1867. UNITED AIR LINES DC-8 JET KAINLINE8 It all started with a kerosine lamp Today's commercial jets are powered by the same fuel that fed the parlor lamps and farm lanterns of only a few decades ago. In fact it was the search for this fuel for kerosinv that gave birth to the oil industry 100 years ago. In those days kerosine was a new source of abundant light that replaced the costly and limited supplies of whale oil for lamps. Today, electricity has displaced the oil lamp, but kerosine has again become the source of abundant and low-cost energy for the jet age.

Without kerosine, and other petroleum jet fuels, jet flight would be extremely expensive and perhaps commercially impossible. And so it lias been for a century in nearly every area of industrial progress petroleum has paced the way. From the gasoline that powers the modern car to the wash-and-wear suit made of petrochemicals, from diesel fuels and heating oils, farm fertilizers and asphalt for our life-line of highways, petroleum has made possible the way of life that is America- TEXACO CONSTANT PROGRESS IN OIL'S FIRST CENTURY.