504 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



should it not be so here? " By the autumn of 1886, this line of 

 argument had served to convince a great many of the good people 

 of Fredonia. It was reinforced by the appeals of a practical 

 well driller, Mr J. W. Moore, of Warren, Pa. A public meeting 

 was held in this interest in the latter part of August. Mr Moore 

 offered to sink a well 2000 feet for f 2000, and was willing to take 

 f 500 stock in the enterprise. 



Most prominent among the friends of the project in Fredonia 

 was Mr C. C. Camp. A company called' the Fredonia gas and 

 fuel co. was forthwith organized. $2000 was raised, and by Sep- 

 tember 1, the drilling contract was let. The officers of the com- 

 pany were C. C. Camp, president; O. D. Baldwin, secretary; F. 

 B. Green, treasurer. A lot of one half acre in extent was bought 

 of the Canning co., a half mile to the southeast of the village. 

 By the last of October the tools were at work. By the middle of 

 November the well was 1000 feet deep. At 1125 feet, the 

 Corniferous limestone was reached, 46 feet lower, apparently, than 

 in the Colburn well, but the difference of elevation in the well 

 heads would cover much of the difference found. 



At 1400 feet the tools were lost for a time. In December, the 

 2000 feet limit of the contract was approached, and at 1904 feet 

 a strong vein of salt water was reached. The well had been 

 drilled wet thus far. The first effort to exclude the water was 

 by introducing 1700 feet of casing, which was presently found 

 ineffectual. A few weeks later the casing was withdrawn and 

 reset at something over 1900 feet. 



The depth of 2000 feet was reached on Mar. 16, 1887. About 

 this date the contractor visited the new fields of Ohio and re- 

 ported great encouragement in regard to the Fredonia well from 

 the facts that he found in the Findlay field. He urged that the 

 well should be drilled 500 feet deeper. At 2100 feet, in the 

 Medina sandstone a small gas vein was struck, but the drill soon 

 passed into the red mud of the same formation. The contractor 

 was reported as counting the situation favorable " for a strike in 

 the next stratum below." When 2500 feet were reached, as noth- 

 ing of value had been discovered reasons were found for drilling 

 still deeper and still farther subscriptions were raised. The 

 summer of 1887 witnessed but little progress in the work. Soon 

 after starting on the last 500 feet stretch, the tools became fast 



