Sketches in Crude-oil: Some accidents and incidents of the petroleum development in all parts of the globeMcLaurin, John J. (John James)
History
Sketches in Crude-oil: Some accidents and incidents of the petroleum development in all parts of the globe
McLaurin, John J. (John James)
Petroleum -- History; Petroleum industry and trade -- North America -- History
No gentle wife or child or valued friend was there to smooth the
pillow of the dying man, to cool the fevered brow, to catch the last
whisper, to close the glassy eyes and fold the rigid hands above the
lifeless breast. The oil-regions abound with pathetic experiences, but
none surpassing George K. Anderson’s. Wealthy beyond the dreams of
avarice, the courted politician, the confidant of presidents and
statesmen, a social favorite in Washington and Harrisburg, the owner of
a home beautiful as Claude Melnotte pictured to Pauline, he drained the
cup of sorrow and misfortune. Reverses beset him, his riches took wings,
bereavements bore heavily upon him, he was glad to secure a humble
clerkship, and death ended the sad scene in a distant territory. Does
not human life contain more tears than smiles, more pain than pleasure,
more cloud than sunshine in the passage from the cradle to the tomb?
Frank W. Andrews, born in Vermont and reared in Ohio, taught school in
Missouri, hunted for gold at Pike’s Peak and landed on Oil Creek in the
winter of 1863-4. Hauling oil nine months supplied funds to operate on
Cherrytree Run. He drilled four dry holes. One on the McClintock farm
and three more on Pithole Creek followed. This was not a flattering
start, but Andrews had lots of sand and persistence. Emerging from the
Pithole excitement with limited cash and unlimited machinery, he
returned to Oil Creek and operated extensively. His first well at
Pioneer flowed three-hundred barrels a day. Fifty others at Shamburg, on
the Benninghoff farm and Cherrytree Run brought him hundreds of
thousands of dollars. He was rated at three-millions in 1870. Keeping up
with the tidal wave southward, he put down two-hundred wells in the
Franklin, Clarion and Butler districts. Failures of banks and
manufactories in which he had a large stake shattered his fortune. With
the loss of money he did not lose his manliness and self-reliance. In
the Bradford region he pressed forward vigorously. Again he “plucked the
flower of success” and was fast recuperating when thrown from his horse
and fatally injured. Upright, unassuming and refined, Andrews merited
the confidence and esteem of all.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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