B02 ANNUAL REPORT 
the sixties. A number of wells were shot with gunpowder, but the results 
were not beneficial. The oil has a gravity of 26 degrees B., and bears an 
excellent name as a lubricator. It is safe to say that the life of the field is 
near the close. In fact the production during many years past has been so 
small that ina commercial way it might pass unnoticed. In the summer of 
1901 the oil retailed at 40 cents per gallon, but considerable of a reduction 
was made when purchased by the barrel. No difficulty has been found in 
disposing of the product. 
A number of deep wells are reported in the field; on the Beane farm 
one mile east of West Mecca a well having a depth reported at 1,100 feet 
was drilled sometime between 1860 and 1870, and a flood of water, which 
still runs from the hole, was found. A well having a depth of 1,300 feet is 
said to have been drilled on the Cowdery farm about 1864; the deepest well 
in the territory was drilled on the Klump farm, three-fourths of a mile south 
of West Mecca, somewhere between 1880 and 1890, and reached a depth 
of 2,300 feet, but like the other deep wells just mentioned was a failure. 
In 1864 a well was drilled at Niles in the southern part of the county, and 
a heavy flow of gas was reported at 640 feet, but the drill was kept at work 
until a depth of 900 feet was reached, but the well was soon abandoned. 
Later another one was drilled in the same vicinity, but at a depth of 780 
feet the tools became fast and work ceased.‘ In 1900-1 a well was drilled 
at Brookfield.in the southeast corner of the county. It is reported to have 
reached a depth of 1,800 feet, but was dry. 
ASHTABULA COUNTY.’ | 
The Ohio shales, which everywhere underlie the county, and form the 
surface formation of nearly the whole of it, contain natural gas in large 
quantities, but unfortunately the product is so diffused that it cannot ordi- 
narily be secured in commercial quantities. In other words the production 
of a comparatively large area is not confined in a small one, as in the well 
known oil and gas fields in other parts of the state. Many wells have been 
drilled in the county, especially in the northern part around the towns 
along the lake shore. At Conneaut, in the extreme northeastern corner, one 
reached a depth of 1,942 feet, passing through the shales and entering the 
_ underlying limestones, but a strong brine only was secured. Other wells 
drilled near the village yield some gas, but not enough to make the ter- 
ritory valuable. At North Kingsville a well reached a depth of 1,200 feet 
without finding the base of the shales. No gas was found below 372 feet, 
but small reservoirs were found at several horizons above that plane. A 
number of wells have been drilled at Ashtabula, and several have yielded 
a small supply of gas, each sufficient to meet the wants of a residence. The 
supply is derived from comparatively superficial depths, usually less than 
500 feet. Several wells have been drilled in and around Geneva, in the 
1Geol. Sur. of Ohio, Vol VI., p. 401. 
2This territory does not form part of the Carboniferous, but it is not sufficient- 
ly important to warrant a separate chapter. 
