STREVER-ENO BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE
1864-1866
.1 cubic feet
Consists of the business correspondence of Albert Strever and Benjamin Tupper from Pine Plains, Dutchess County, New York, who became partners and drilled for oil on the Tarr Farm, Oil Creek, Venango County, between 1864-1866. William Eno, also of Pine Plains, New York, was their attorney and acted as a promoter and financial go-between, securing credit for Strever's and Tupper's venture. The pair eventually lost everything, including leases, wells, oil, and the Strever family farm, which was sold to satisfy their debts. To their chagrin, the Pithole superintendent managed to abscond with the receipts for four months' oil production.
The business correspondence consists of thirty-six letters that discuss bank
debts, the price of oil, and oil well expansion, among other matters. The correspondence
was used by William C. Darrah in writing "Pithole: The Vanished City" in 1972,
a work that examines the town as an example of financial speculation in Pennsylvania's
early oil industry.
- General Correspondence, 1864-1866. (36 items) {#331m.1}
- The container listings for this Manuscript Group are available for viewing and word-searching in PDF format: [Holdings]
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