Hi all. I have been working on the my second volume of the "Jay County
Newspaper Clippings" book, and have come accross an article which consists
of well over a full newspaper page about the finding of Gas in Redkey, and
all of the business that were in Redkey at the time (June 1887). I am going
to post this article to the list in several pieces. Thought everyone might
enjoy reading it.
I hope everyone who has purchased Volume 1 of my Jay County Newspaper
Clippings book is enjoying it. Information about the first volume of the
book, along with the surname index to it, is available at
http://www.rootsweb.com/~injay/research/JayCoNewsIndex1.htm Because the
index is very lengthy, the page takes a while to load. Please be patient.
Below is the first part of the article from the Portland Commercial, June 2,
1887. More will follow over the comming days. Hope everyone enjoys the
article.
Rex Bertram
PO Box 142
Redkey, IN 47373
I do Free Genealogy Look-ups from many sources.
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http://www.digginbones.com/uc
Jay County Indiana Webpage co-ordinator
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The Portland Commercial, Thur. June
2, 1887
Redkey!
Its Business, Social Education, Religious, Commercial and Manufacturing
Interests
_____________
Natural Gas in Immense Quantities!
_____________
Inducements for Manufacturers to Locate!
_____________
Where Fuel is Given Free!
_____________
Real Estate Advancing in Price!
_____________
Redkey is a thriving town of about 1,200 inhabitants, situated at the
crossing of the Chicago, St. Louis & Pittsburg and the Lake Erie & Western
Railways, in the south west corner of the county. It was laid out by
Harrison Wade in 1832, and was originally called Mout Vernon, but after the
completion of the Pan Handle railroad, the name of Redkey was adopted in
honor of James Redkey, who has lived to see his namesake grow and flourish -
not like the lilies that "toil not neither do they spin" - but by energy and
pluck displayed by her enterprising citizens. Additions were since made by
Evan Evans, R. A. Andrews, and N. Cadwallader, and a spirit of enterprise
seems to pervade the community in general.
Redkey Gas, Oil and Mining Co.
On the 19th of October, 1886, the Redkey Gas, Oil and mining Company was
organized with a capital stock of $5,000, and articles of incorporation
filed with the Secretary of State , with M. A. Brown, A. W. McKinney, John
W. Smith, J. S. McKennett and Geo. N. Edgar, directors. The company
contracted with James Hogan to sink their first well, and drilling was begun
Monday, May 9th. The process of drilling was kept up without interruption
until 9 o'clock Thursday morning, May 26th, when Trenton rock was found at a
depth of 979 feet. The drill was again started, and at a depth of 1014 feet
- 35 feet in Trenton rock - a strong vein of gas was encountered, which put
a stop to further drilling, as the force of the gas made it impossible to
force water down the well. As is usual there was some dissatisfaction among
the stock holders, some wishing the contractor to go deeper, at least fifty
feet in the Trenton rock as the contract called for, but some of the wiser
ones thought it would be well to "let good enough alone," so the well was
pronounced finished. The well is a gusher, the gas being of the best
quality, perfectly free from sulphur, and a powerful illuminant. The gas
was immediately piped to the top of the derrick where it was allowed to burn
from a "T," giving a doubleflame of 25 feet in the two directions. This was
found to be insufficient for the amount of escaping gas, so an additional
pipe was placed out of the side of the derrick, where it gave forth a
brilliant flame 40 feet in length.
The stock holders are very jubilant over their rich find of nature's
product, and at once predicted for their little city, a successful future,
and claim that it will soon be the