STATE GEOLOGIST. 155 
its owners, but the oil continued to rise through the water in the well and 
accumulate in the conductor, from which it was dipped and carried away in 
jars by the natives as a cheap lamp oil. 
“The gentleman who first proposed the venture was a Mr. Williams, 
of Dexter City. Not having sufficient capital to carry out his plans, he 
made the following proposition to the writer: “To any one who would fur- 
nish the use of the machinery, tools and casing to drill the well, he would 
give one-fourth of the oil obtained; machinery, tools and casing to be re- 
turned in good order, ordinary wear excepted, if no oil obtained.’ Parties 
were found who accepted this proposition, and Mr. Williams commenced 
operations. The location chosen by him was on the bed of Buffalo run, 
Matthew Mitchell farm, which lies just below the Slaymaker tract. Mr. 
Williams was afterward joined by Captain Mosely, and the well was sunk 
by them to a depth of 800 feet without obtaing oil in paying quantity. 
These particulars are given at some length because this is the well by 
which existence of the ‘Berea’ sand in the Macksburg field was proven. 
After Messrs. Williams and Mosely had abandoned the well, the parties 
who owned the machinery and tools were persuaded by the writer to drill 
it down in search of the ‘Berea,’ which was then yielding oil in the White 
Oak district of West Virginia. Careful measurements of the intervals 
between the Ames or crinoidal limestone and the ‘Berea’ had been made in 
the West Virginia field, where it was found to be about 1,400 feet. The 
position of the Ames at Buffalo Run was known by him to be about 70 
feet below the bed of the river on the Mitchell farm. It was, therefore, 
decided to drill the well to a depth of 1,500 feet, if the rock should not be 
found at a less depth. The interval at Macksburg proved it to be somewhat 
less than at White Oak, and the top of the sand was struck at 1,427 feet. 
The well was drilled wet and was standing full of salt-water; when the 
first bit was run in the sand it began to show gas, and the second bit devel- 
oped enough gas to throw the brine over the top of the derrick and empty 
the well. In order to complete the well it was necessary to place an oil 
saver upon the casing-head to prevent the driller being pickled. Below the 
gas a thickness of 15 feet of very fine white sand, containing the rainbow 
colors of petroleum was found. The well was tubed with packer and two- 
inch pipe, but yielded nothing but dry gas. It was never torpedoed. The 
odor of the gas was exactly like that of petroleum, but this and the colors 
were the only evidence of the propinquity of this venture to the richest por- 
tion of the Macksburg field.” 
The first producing well near Macksburg in the Berea sand was se- 
cured in 1879 by George Rice. Besides sufficient gas to pump the shallow 
wells, it flowed 15 barrels of oil per day. The third Berea well was started 
in 1881 on the Lund farm. It produced much gas, but no oil. In 1882 
three wells were drilled—one each on the William Dearth, A. Perkins and 
William Atkinson farms. All were small oil wells. In 1883 a well was 
