the Dye and Dutton farms in Washington county, but also upon the Joy farm on Sharp's Fork of Federal Creek, and the Williams farm on Buck Run, in Morgan county. At all of these points shallow wells were drilled as early as 1861, and comparatively large quantities of oil obtained during the periods now under review. The Joy and Bishop farms on Federal Creek, and the Williams, Stanton and Scott farms on Buck Run, were the productive farms from this sand-rock in Mo gan county, and on these farms the rock was nearer to the surface than in Washington county, being from 80 to 100 feet below the beds of the streams named. About 400 feet above the sand rock just described, is another of similar character and texture; this is the sand which lies immediately over the Macksburg (No. 10) coal. In the Macksburg and Cow Run oil fields it lies from 325 to 350 feet above low water at Marietta. In other parts of Washington county, however, it lies below drainage, and at such points often causes a well-marked surface-show of oil. Among other places, the following may be named where there was sufficient "show" to induce parties to drill prior to 1864: 1st. Bed of Duck Creek, near north line of Marietta township, well drilled by Perkins & Nugent; tools lost and abandoned. Well on Thomas Chambers', southeast section 18, Marietta township; small production of oil from sand last described, at 150 feet below bed of run, erroneously supposed to be equivalent of first Cow Run sand. 2d. Bed of Long Run, southeast quarter of section 34, Newport township; small production from same sand at 100 feet below bed of run. 3d. Bed of Newell's Run, northeast quarter section 12, Newport township; same sand exposed in the bed of the run, from which several barrels of oil were taken with a hand-pump. Thus, it will be seen that prior to the summer of 1864, the cnly points in Washington county which could be called productive territory, were Macksburg and Cow Run, and these were producing from the sand (Buffalo?) which lies between the Ames and Cambridge limestones. When a superfluity of currency led to the speculative mania of 1864, the Ohio oil-field became one of the objective points; the small production above described was considered an indication of larger deposits, and many stock-companies were organized for the purpose of bringing forth the enormous treasures supposed to be hidden beneath the hills of Washington and Noble counties. Some idea of the scale of operations may be formed from the following imperfect list of companies organized for work in this field: Bergen Oil and Coal Co., of New York...... Marietta Mining Co., of New York New Jersey Oil Co., New Jersey......... Eagle Oil Association, New York Equitable Petroleum Co., New York Willow Glen Petroleum Co., Philadelphia Crescent Petroleum Co., Boston Williamsport and Ohio Petroleum Co., Williamsport, Pa...... Marietta Oil Co., Boston... Cincinnati Petroleum Co, Cincinnati.. Boston Petroleum and Mining Co., Boston Duck Creek Petroleum and Mining Co, Cincinnati. Putnam Petroleum Co., Dayton, O............ Union Coal Co., Marietta Archer's Fork Oil Co., Marietta. Ohio Oil and Mining Co., Marietta THE SPECULATIVE ERA, 1864 το 1877. Nearly all of the lands in Washington and Noble counties, and in neighboring counties of West Virginia, were leased for oil purpo es for from ten to twenty years. The competition between companies caused lessees to agree to commence "operations" for mining purposes within from thirty to ninety days from the execution of the lease, under penalty of forfeiture. In many cases the papers were so loosely drawn that the putting in of a conductor was considered a sufficient "commencement of operations" to prevent forfeiture. In the majority of cases this was as far as operations ever advanced. A few of the stock companies, however, made preparations for active operations in the field; conspicuous among them was the Bergen Oil and Coal Co., of New York. This company, under the management of Mr. William Frazier, purchased in May, 1864, from the Newton Company, the unexpired term of lease on the two Dye farms, for a cash consideration of $25,000; the total production of the two farms was, at the time, only ten barrels per day. For an additional sum of $38,000 the company purchased the fee of the farms, thus gaining control of the 180 acres. In the winter of 1861-5, the company bought ten boilers and engines, ten sets of James Bown's drilling tools, ten 250-barrel tanks, and a large stock of assorted hardware for drillers' and rig-builders' use. EARLY DRILLING TOOLS. The drilling tools used in the Bown wells were composed of a twenty-foot drill-bar, two inches in diameter, an eight foot sinker-bar, and jars in proportion; the complete string of tools was about forty feet long, and was worked in a derrick forty five feet high, and fourteen feet square at the base. The temper-screw was about three feet long, and instead of working between open reins, as at present, was enclosed in a close round sheath; when the screw was run out, the driller, instead of opening the reins and sliding the screw back to place, had to grasp the sheath and start the clamps at the end of the screw, whirling backward in a circle until the screw worked its full length back into the sheath. A Brooklyn dentist who came out to Cow Run to act as superintendent of an oil company, took hold of the tools one day to turn them while the driller was temporarily absent; he kept turning out the screw until he was suddenly startled by the clamps striking the floor with tremendous force. Looking curiously at the screw the doctor exclaimed, "'Psha! I thought there was a nub on the end of it." The cutting was done with a chisel-shaped center-bit, followed by a reamer. The Cow Run drillers are entitled to the credit of having first discovered that the reamer was a superfluous tool, and that the center bit could be so modified that it would drill a true round hole, and thus save time and greatly diminish the risk of fastening tools in the well. Instead of the long chisel-shaped taper, the bit was made thick for its entire length and brought to a cutting edge with a short bevel; the thickness of the bit at the top of the bevel, when dressed as the arc of a circle, gave a reaming face which answered every purpose. The driller sat upon a high stool and turned the tools; convenient to his hand was a wooden maul, with which he knocked the "follower" loose on his temper-screw when he wished to let out a little jar. Compared with the driller of to-day he was rather a drowsy-looking fellow, and he drilled about one foot to the modern driller's ten. The kind of machinery used, although an improvement upon the "spring-pole and treadle," was inferior to that in present use. In many cases a direct connection was made by the pitman between the walkingbeam and the crank-pin of the engine, without the intervention of couner wheel and belt. The link for reversing was not in use, and it was necessary to go to the engine and shift the cam-rod if any reverse motion was needed. This direct attachment was used by the old salt-well drillers, who used poles instead of a cable. TESTING THE TERRITORY. The Berger Company's engines were distributed as follows: Two on Archer's Fork of Little Muskingum River; one on Little Muskingum, near the mouth of Bear Ran; one near the mouth of Newell's Run; one on Duck Creek, below Salem; two on Pawpaw Creek; one on Long Run, and two on Cow Run. Unfortunately the company became financially embarrassed early in the summer of 1865, and suspended active operations before any of its test-wells had been brought to a successful issue. The New Jersey Oil Company purchased the James Dutton farm for $100,000, and also the Jacob Dearth farm. Seventeen new engines were purchased in Cincinnati, and twelve sets of drilling tools. Seven engines were placed on the Dearth farm, one on the Dilley farm, one on the Riley farm, one on the Fowler, one on the Corp, and two on the Middle Fork of Duck Creek, near Middleburg. One well was drilled on the Dearth farm to a depth of 1,200 feet. This well passed through what is now known as the salt-water sand, and having considerable gas, flowed at intervals with great force for several years, throwing out a large quantity of brine but no oil except a little from the upper sand-rocks. No oil was obtained by the New Jersey Company except what was pumped from a few shallow wells; it, therefore, soon ceased active operations and re-sold the Dutton farm to its former owner at a heavy discount. The Jacob Dearth farm is the one now owned and operated by Messrs. Borkman and Laney. The Eagle Oil Association, of New York, was organized in 1864, for the purpose of developing the Dearth farm, which lies at the mouth of Indian Run, a small stream putting into Duck Creek opposite Macksburg. A consideration of $300,000 was paid for the 200 acres on the strength of a small well which had been drilled on the farm at the mouth of the Run. This well, then known as the Gilchrist well, was pumping about ten barrels of heavy lubricating oil per day, and the oil was selling for about $20 per barrel. The Eagle Company placed machinery on the farm in 1865 and did some little drilling, but never obtained any oil except that which was pumped from the "Gilchrist" well. In the same year the "Madison Oil Company" obtained one acre for a consideration of $500, on the Atkinson bottom just below Macksburg. Machinery was put on the ground and a well drilled through the 500-foot sand. It is reported to have started at about fifty barrels per day, and continued to pump ten barrels for several months. This was the first paying well from the 500 foot sand. The Equitable Petroleum Company placed machinery, in the same year, on the Dutton farm, about one mile below Macksburg. The well was drilled to 800 feet and found considerable gas and some oil in what is now known as the 700 foot sand. A well was also drilled on the Rayley farm, which found a good showing of oil in the 700-foot sand, but its owners, a Pittsburgh company, failed to make it productive and abandoned it. Some two or three wells were drilled by the "Acme Oil Company," on the John Smithson farm, below Macksburg. The wells pumped considerable oil from the 300-foot sand, but were soon exhausted. Mr. Jefferson Delong also drilled a well on his lot in the town of Macksburg, with unfavorable results. This is the lot on which the Bailey gas-well now stands, which supplies the National Transit pumping-station with fuel. The Bergen Company, which held a lease of the Markey farm, in the village of Macksburg, sub-let a part of it in the spring of 1865 to parties who drilled a well to 600 feet, striking a small showing of oil in the 500-foot sand. The Lowell Oil Company, in the same year, drilled a well on the tract near Macksburg, now owned by George Rice, Esq., striking a fair well in the 500-foot sand. MINING FOR OIL. Among the novel features of the work at Macksburg in 1865, was the sinking of a shaft by the Moorehead Oil Company, on the Rayley farm, for the purpose of obtaining the Dutton vein of lubricating oil. A well was first drilled down to the vein which yielded a little oil with a large quantity of water. The owners then conceived the idea of putting down a shaft into which it was supposed the oil would flow in great quantity. The work was finally completed at great cost, but no more oil was obtained from the shaft than the well had yielded. Another company, which held a lease on the adjoining land, contemplated digging a trench to the depth of the Dutton vein across his leasehold, but abandoned the project after the completion of the shaft. A large sum of money was also expended by the Boston Petroleum Company in sinking a shaft for shallow oil on Eight-Mile Run in Newport township. A well known as the "Eastwood" was drilled, about the same time, on the bank of Duck Creek, just below South Olive in Noble county, and found a good well in the Macksburg 300-foot sand. This well continued to yield oil in paying quantity for a number of years. Mr. Harvey Kilmer located and drilled a well on the East Fork of Duck Creek, at the mouth of Gould's Run, striking a large flow of gas and a little oil in the 500-foot sand. |