Frederick S. Rich and Madeleine Bureau Acheson

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Husband Frederick S. Rich ^{1 2 3}

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           Born: 24 Feb 1864 - St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 23 Jun 1918 - Clarksburg, Harrison Co, WV 4
         Buried:  - Grove Hill Cemetery, Oil City, Venango Co, PA

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         Father: John Street Rich (1837-1879) 3
         Mother: Hannah L. Robertson (1835-1924) 3 5

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       Marriage: 14 Jul 1887 - Washington, Washington Co, PA 6

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Wife Madeleine Bureau Acheson ^{1 2 6}

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         Father: James C. Acheson (1824-1895) 7 8
         Mother: Mary F. Bureau (1842-1917) 1 9

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Children

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1 M John S. Rich ⁶

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2 F Madeleine A. Rich ⁶

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3 M James A. R. Rich ⁶

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General Notes: Husband - Frederick S. Rich

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He came with his par­ents to Oil City, Venango County, Pennsylvania, about 1867. The greater part of his life was spent there, although he was sent back to Ontario to school, attend­ing Upper Canada College at Toronto. He later completed his education at Allegheny College, Meadville. Meantime, when he was a boy of fifteen, his father died, and he early showed the good judgment and wisdom which characterized his active business career by the practical way in which he set about to fit himself for his association with the oil industry. His first occupation was as a clerk in the Oil Exchange for a few years. Being anxious to familiarize himself with the field work, he acquired a practical knowledge of it by visiting various leases. In this manner he se­cured his information on the various points which constitute an oil man's training, includ­ing tool dressing and drilling, at first hand. In 1884 he was employed by the South Penn Oil Company in Washington County, Pennsylvania, near Washington, and himself leased land in Washington County. In 1885 the South Penn Oil Company sent him to Ohio for a few months.

At the time of his father-in-law's death, Mr. Rich and his family were living in Washing­ton, Pennsylvania, having moved there from Oil City in 1893. Shortly after his death they moved to Parkersburg, West Virginia, and remained there until 1899. After moving to West Virginia Mr. Rich leased land in Ritchie and Gilmer coun­ties for the purpose of drilling for oil, and his knowledge of the oil business attracted the favorable attention of the late T. N. Barnsdall, with the result that Mr. Rich became associated with him for a number of years. On Sept. 21, 1899, the Crude Oil Company was incorporated at Wheeling, WV, Mr. Rich being elected president of the organi­zation. His original partners in the enterprise were his brother, A. R. Rich, H. H. Hilton, W. I. Goble, and F. H. Park. They bought a portion of Mr. Barnsdall's property in West Virginia, held by what was known as the Southern Oil Company, and entered upon the production of crude oil on a large scale, ac­quiring extensive holdings in Lewis, Harrison, and Gilmer counties, WV; Washing­ton County, PA; and later in Oklahoma and Kansas. Mr. Rich remained at the head of this concern, which was his principal interest from the time of the formation of the com­pany until his death. In 1899, his family re­turned to Washington, Pennsylvania, and in 1904 to Oil City, where they have lived ever since.
At the time of the incorporation of the Crude Oil Company, two offices were estab­lished, a field office at Weston, WV, and a business office at Wheeling. The business office was moved to Oil City in 1903, to Pittsburgh in 1911, and, through the influence of Mr. Rich, again in 1913 to Oil City. On June 14, 1918, Mr. Rich left Oil City to make an inspection of the company's West Virginia properties. On June 20th, while at one of the leases, he was suddenly taken ill, and placed himself under the care of a physician at Weston. On June 22d, his condition becoming alarming, he was taken to a hospital in Clarksburg, and died there the following day.
Mr. Rich was one of the members of Com­pany D, 16th N. G. P., in the latter seventies, when Thomas R. Cowell, deceased, was its captain and the late Gen. John A. Wiley was colonel of the regiment. He was prominent in the membership of the Ivy, Venango, Wanango and Oil City Boat Clubs, Riverside Drive Association, National Security League, and the B. P. O. E. lodge. Although his age prevented him from taking an active part in the European war, his patriotism was un­bounded and he could always be counted upon to do more than his share in any campaign or­ganized for the purpose of helping win the war.
The following words of appreciation, from a friend of many years' standing, speak for themselves: “In all the years I knew him, one marked trait stood out in his robust and manly character. This was bravery of his belief-the adherence in action, against whatever odds, to whatever his reason wrought out. Under the strain of a hazardous business, to which he devoted the greater part of his ca­reer, he never faltered in confronting risks. His whole business life was a campaign of pluck, perseverance, and principle. To extol his benevolence, his sympathy for the suffer­ings of others, his never-sleeping generosity, his hand ever open to patriotic causes and to charity till its pulses ceased to beat, could be appropriate only with those who did not know him. It is enough to say now that the vol­ume of his life is closed. As his acts are recorded, little can be found that could efface a friendship, and I shall ever hold him in af­fectionate memory.”

1 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 131.

2 Joseph F. McFarland, 20th Century History of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1910), Pg 889.

3 Charles A. Babcock, Venango County, Pennsylvania, Her Pioneers and People (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1919), Pg 510.

4 Charles A. Babcock, Venango County, Pennsylvania, Her Pioneers and People (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1919), Pg 512.

5 Emma Siggins White, The Kinnears and Their Kin (Kansas City, MO: Tiernan-Dart Printing Co., 1916), Pg 133.

6 Charles A. Babcock, Venango County, Pennsylvania, Her Pioneers and People (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1919), Pg 511.

7 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 27, 129.

8 Joseph F. McFarland, 20th Century History of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1910), Pg 875, 888.

9 Joseph F. McFarland, 20th Century History of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1910), Pg 875, 889.