PETROLEUM. 



579 



No judgment recovered against any person or per- 

 sons for any neglect or refusal to obey, or any viola- 

 tions of, the act of Congress commonly termed the 

 " Fugitive Slave Act," approved September eighteenth, 

 one Thousand eight hundred and fifty, or any of the 

 provisions thereof, shall be a lien on any real estate 

 within this State, nor shall any such judgment be en- 

 forceable by sale or execution of any real or personal 

 property within this State ; but all such sales shall be 

 absolutely void ; and in case of seizure or sale of any 

 personarproperty, by virtue of any execution issued 

 on such Judgment, the defendant in said execution 

 mav maintain an action in replevin, or other action to 

 secure possession thereof, in the manner provided by 

 law for such actions, on affidavit filed as required by 

 law, and a further statement therein that said execu- 

 tion issued in a judgment rendered under the pro- 

 visions of the act of Congress aforesaid ; and the pro- 

 visions of this section shall also apply to judgments 

 heretofore rendered. 



In reference to this Personal Liberty la\v, 

 the following resolutions were adopted by the 

 Legislature of Wisconsin at its session in 1861 : 



Whereas the States of Kentucky and Maryland, 

 whose citizens suffer more loss than those of any other 

 States from the escape of their slaves, unmoved by any 

 such pretexts, have lately declared their loyalty to the 

 Constitution and the Union ; and whereas the people 

 of Wisconsin, inspired by such examples of patriotism, 

 as well as actuated by a sense of their own duty, are 

 ready at all times to meet fraternal advances in the 

 spirit in which they are made, and to maintain, in 

 good faith, any provision of the Federal Constitution ; 

 therefore, 



Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, 

 That the Judiciary Committee of the Senate and As- 

 sembly be directed to examine and revise the laws of 

 this State relating to kidnapping, habeas corpus, and 

 the rendition of fugitives from labor, so as to make 

 the same in all things conform to the Constitution 

 of the United States, if in any thing they conflict 

 therewith. 



The States of Iowa, Minnesota, California, 

 and Oregon have passed no Personal Liberty 

 laws. 



The number of fugitive slaves from 1840 to 

 1850, is estimated in the census returns at 

 1,011 ; the number from 1850 to 1860 was, on 

 the same authority, 803. Of this number very 

 few have at any time been returned to their 

 former owners. 



PETROLEUM. The years 1860 and 1861 

 are memorable in the history of the oil trade 

 for the extraordinary changes introduced by 

 the development of the petroleum springs in 

 the vicinity of the bituminous coal regions of 

 X. V. Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio and Ken- 

 tucky, Western Virginia, and Canada. The 

 supplies of petroleum or rock oil which first 

 attracted the attention of the public, and led to 

 extensive operations in Warren and Venango 

 counties, Penu., in the former year, had in- 

 creased to such an extent at its close, that by a 

 moderate estimate, the product amounted to 

 from 500 to 600 barrels daily, and, according to 

 some published statements, even more than 

 twice as much. This was raised to the surface 

 chiefly by means of forcing pumps introduced 

 into artesian wells, great numbers of which 

 were sunk from 100 to 600 feet deep, along 

 the valley of Oil Creek, and below Titusville^ 

 In these wells the oil rose to different heights, 



rarely, however, flowing over the surface for 

 any period after the outburst following the 

 piercing of its subterranean reservoirs had sub- 

 sided. The success of these operations led to 

 extensive explorations wherever indications of 

 oil were met with along the bottoms of the 

 streams in that vicinity, and in the other States 

 where similar geological formations occurred. 

 Productive wells were opened along the valley 

 of the Alleghany River below Tidioute in War- 

 ren County, to the Venango line. In Trum- 

 bull County, Ohio, at a place called Mecca, 50 

 miles from Cleveland and 21 from Erie, Penn., it 

 is reported that there were 75 steam engines 

 engaged in pumping oil about the close of the 

 year 1860. In Virginia a promising district 

 was found in Ritchie and Wirt counties, and 

 preparations were there made for the prosecu- 

 tion of extensive operations. Another impor- 

 tant oil region was discovered in the district of 

 Enniskillen near Port Sarnia in Canada West, 

 the oil being found in great abundance, but 

 characterized by a most remarkable and pecu- 

 liarly offensive garlicky odor. 



The business of sinking new wells and pump- 

 ing oil was prosecuted with great vigor, and 

 with varying success, at different localities, the 

 product continuing large, and the price of the 

 crude article gradually falling from 40 cents to 

 20 cents, 10 cents, and even less, per gallon. 

 On the whole, the supplies continued to in- 

 crease, and thousands of barrels, at different 

 localities, were lost for want of the necessary 

 means of collecting and saving it. The whale 

 oil trade was seriously affected, and with it the 

 prosperity of those towns in New England that 

 depended upon it. Manufactories for refining 

 the petroleum sprung up in many towns in the 

 vicinity of the oil region, and on the line of 

 communication to the coast, and at the prin- 

 cipal shipping ports, and arrangements were 

 everywhere made for a large export trade, as 

 also for supplying the oil to all parts of the 

 western country. In Pittsburg and its vicinity 

 it is reported that there are some 50 or 60 of 

 these manufactories. 



In the spring and summer of 1861 wells were 

 opened which exhibited the remarkable phe- 

 nomenon of a continuous flow of oil in enormous 

 quantities, so that in several instances it flowed 

 away, and was lost in the creek. Wells of this 

 character increased in such numbers that the 

 value of the oil rapidly deteriorated to less even 

 than that of the barrels in which it was packed 

 for exportation. This increase of oil continued 

 through the year, and the supply so far ex- 

 ceeded the demand and the means available for 

 collecting and transporting the oil to market, 

 that the business was completely overdone; 

 and the product was either almost worthless at 

 the wells, or was sold at the rate of 50 cents 

 per barrel of 40 gallons, at which rate it has 

 still continued. In Xew York the actual value 

 of the crude oil, after paying all expenses of 

 transportation, commissions, &c., is rated at 

 about 12i cents a gallon. Extensive arrange- 



