Below, 12/3/08 Column; Cuba Patriot

This Week’s Picture………”Seneca Indian at Seneca Oil Spring near Cuba, NY”

Photo facing p.26-“Empire Oil”, John P.Herrick, pub. Dodd Mead & Co., 1949

  This week’s column is my response to a website query I had from a viewer regarding oil discovery, “When I was recently in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; my friends insisted that oil was discovered in Petrolia and Oil Springs, Ontario! Since I had never known of this; my question is: can we really brag about oil in North America being discovered here (or near here)?”.  The photo is from the great book, Empire Oil, out of print, but, in most local libraries.

  Joanne, I'm happy to see the "Oil Discovery" note you posted and offer a few comments herewith. Your friends in Canada are partially right as they try to "one up" we dumb Yanks! We probably don't teach much Canadian History. I admit (shame on me) to your friends, I couldn't come up with the Prime Minister name on the tip of my tongue, but, went to a very nice website (http://pm.gc.ca  ) that told me Stephen Harper is currently Prime Minister. While there I read a great deal about Canada including the nice support their troops give in Afghanistan right alongside our troops, just to try and make up to your friends! For this and more, we say thank you to our Canadian brothers and sisters. They are also correct about Petrolia Ontario being the site of the first "drilled well in North America with commercial success", as far as I know. They are to be informed, however, that according to a book I consider my "oil Bible" ("Empire Oil" by John P. Herrick, published in 1949 by Dodd Mead & Co.), an article published in Sagard's "Histoire du Canada" in 1632, cites "the first printed statement to mention" that in 1627 Father de la Roche d'Allion, a French missionary, "After penetrating the wilderness that is now Western New York in the company of friendly Indians," (he) described among other things "a good kind of oil which the Indians called Anonontons. This oil is believed to have been obtained from what is now the Seneca Oil Spring in Cuba Township, Allegany County, New York." Wikipedia is nothing more than a huge collection of writings contributed by individuals--some learned and some merely writers--who take the time to type material into free internet space. I have not had time to provide original typed manuscript to them, but, "Empire Oil" is a great research tool to provide background material for Wikipedia as well as friendly sparring with your Canadian friends over oil history. I use Wikipedia often as a tool to send me along to other spots for verification of material. Most of it is accurate, but, cannot be trusted as actual fact in every case. A good place to find, but, then verify! Purportedly, the first successful Commercial oil well drilled in Allegany County was that of the Triangle series, "Triangle #1, First Commercial Oil in Allegany Field, Completed at Petrolia (Allegany County, NY) by O. P. Taylor, June 12, 1879." Per Wikipedia regarding Canadian strikes, "Oil Springs, originally called Black Creek, became the site of North America's first commercial oil well when asphalt producer James Miller Williams set out to dig a water well in 1858 and found free oil instead. In 1865, Bernard King struck oil at Petrolia, eleven kilometers north of Oil Springs. Petrolia quickly replaced Oil Springs as Canada's oil capital." Much earlier similar "wells" by men digging for coal are cited in the Herrick book so the arguments continue...... I must admit, it makes for fascinating reading!! By the way, after reading Empire Oil, perhaps someone from Allegany County could go to Wikipedia and make record of the "first written reference of oil found in North America" and of the "First Commercially successful Oil Well drilled in Allegany County, NY--Triangle #1, near Petrolia, NY, on 6/12/1879 by Orville P. Taylor." Ron Taylor

 

   Last Week’s column entitled, “Seneca Indian at Seneca Oil Spring near Cuba, NY” brought a couple of comments from Kelly Lounsberry and I am glad he wrote to remind me that the “Bible” of Oil in our area, “Empire Oil” by John Herrick has been reprinted.  His comments: “The Pioneer Oil Museum had the book reprinted a couple of years ago, and we sell it in the museum.  The publishing company did a great job on the book.  This same company also reprinted “Bolivar, NY; Pioneer Oil Town,” also written by John Herrick.  We have that title for sale also.  In your article you mentioned Triangle #1.  A couple of years ago we at the Museum found out that the site of this historic well had been deeded to the museum in the mid 1960’s, so we are now in ownership of this site.  We hope to someday develop the site.  Of course that will be quite sometime after we get the Hahn & Schaffner site in Bolivar developed.”

This Week’s Picture………

If you would just mail me some fresh pictures I wouldn’t have to keep showing partiality toward my old hometown of Allentown!  Here is a photo (actually ½ of the photo) which shows Allentown about 1905-10 period.  Although the peak arrival of oil was some 25 years before, you can still see a new drilling rig in the center of the photo.  Also, there are two schools pictured here, the large white building at left front (circa 1884) & the 1904 brick structure at the right.  After the brick school was built the white building was used for sports & extra curricular activities and about 1911 was torn down and lumber used to build a barn that stands today on the Phillips Hill Road.  Also shown is the old “Central Hotel” (white- faced with lots of windows across the street from the white school building and just to the right) and the Hardware Building, to the right of the brick school, across the Phillips Hill Road.  I am told that the attached business to the Hardware Building was the old depot which had been moved from it’s original location behind the Hardware.  The item of interest to me each time I look at the original photo scan that I have is that the photographer for the large photo was “A portrait by Preston Studio”, Belmont NY.  I am told that this Preston was of no relationship to the present Preston family in Belmont, I am most interested in learning the history of the photography studio.  Can anybody help?  The photo quality was fantastic!

 Below is column for 12/17-23/2008 - Cuba Patriot

   Last Week’s column had a picture that was my old hometown of Allentown! (SEE ABOVE) The photo (actually ½ of the photo) shows Allentown about 1905-10.  Although the peak arrival of oil was some 25 years before, you can still see a new drilling rig in the center of the photo.  Also, there are two schools pictured here, the large white building at left front (circa 1884) & the 1904 brick structure at the right.  After the brick school was built the white building was used for sports & extra curricular activities and about 1911 was torn down and lumber used to build a barn that stands today on the Phillips Hill Road.  Also shown is the old “Central Hotel” (white- faced with lots of windows across the street from the white school building and just to the right) and the Hardware Building, to the right of the brick school, across the Phillips Hill Road.  I am told that the attached business to the Hardware Building was the old depot which had been moved from it’s original location behind the Hardware.  The item of interest to me each time I look at the original photo scan that I have is that the photographer for the large photo was “A portrait by Preston Studio”, Belmont NY.  I am told that this Preston was of no relationship to the present Preston family in Belmont, I am most interested in learning the history of the photography studio.  Can anybody help?  The photo quality was fantastic!  Thank you to Emmojean Sturdevant for identifying the photo.

This Week’s Picture………

I can’t tell you any names yet, but, this one is a great school picture.  I can identify where and when.  Drop me a line if you can identify it and any names will be acknowledged.

STUDENTS IDENTIFIED!! Thanks to Emmojean Sturdevant, the owner of the photo above, here are the names of all students known to her.  (All shown left to right.) Teacher - Alice Green McClintoc Front Row: Walter Robbins, Robert Clark, Bill Hardy, John Seely, Oland O. Perry, Leslie Gowdy, Richard Knox & Ronnie Durfee. 2nd Row: Alice Devlin, __Unknown, Barbara Curtin, Margaret Atkins, Norma Bundy, Emmojean Sturdevant, Beatrice Hardy, Marilyn Norton, Beverly Gardner, __Unknown. Back Row: Billy Chisholm, Luella Knox, Beverly Alsworth, Kathleen Curtin, Marion Hawks, Dorothy Atkins, June Tate, Betty Devlin, Doris Seeley & Richard Gensamer. "Most of girls are listed with names prior to marriage."

 

These chimneys were only two of a reportedly 7-chimney house, built by a Frenchman in 1821.  The chimneys were demolished in order to relocate State Route 19.  The chimneys were known as an amazing historical landmark until they had to be torn down.  One shows Chimney with Bake Ovens on side.  Thanks to the camera of Dan Nicholson, these chimneys live on in the eyes of you readers……and thank you Dan for sharing the photo.  Does anyone remember where they were located?