Song of Oil City and Titusville
Horror, Entitled -1892
written and composed by Miss Augusta Mines
Air: Poor old Dad
Your attention friends I now will ask,
While I will sing to you
Of the great flood of June the 5th, 1892
It was then the cities of Titusville,
And of Oil City too
Received a shock they'll ne'er forget,
No matter where they go.
It was late upon a Saturday nght;
It seemed they had no token,
They little dreamed their slumers deep,
Would be so rudely broken.
They knew the creek was very high,
And was looking for the flood,
But the cloud-burst came down from the sky,
In horror then they stood.
Chorus_
'Twas then the great cry of distress,
Rang from the east and west,
With faces blance with horror,
No one knew no rest.
For the many that were burned and drown,
In Titusville and Oil City too,
Will mourn the loss of friends they lost,
In eighteen ninety-two.
2
There was an oil tank exploded
An engine passing by,
The wind was blowing fiercely, the sparks
from it did fly.
It reached the oil, ignited it, 'twas then
the fire began.
No power on earth no matter how great
Could have saved them then.
The town and bridges were cover with folks,
On curiosity bent,
But when they saw the flames, the cries
For mercy was heavenward sent.
They ran all in a panic,
To the hills their lives to save,
They knew not what had happened,
They thought 'twas judgement day.--chorus
3
Then our brave, true hearted citizens,
Their manhood did show,
In trying to save the victims,
as the fire and the flood did roll.
There was William and Grant Terwilliger,
In memory will be known,
As two of natures noblemen
Whose hearts were pure as gold.
They died as good men love to die,
in saving human souls,
Oh may their spirits rest in peace
On the celestrial shore.
They rescued a little child and asked,
Where its parents could be found;
The little onelooked up and cried,
My ma'am and papa are drowned.--chorus
4
'Twas a scene no tongue can tell,
No matter how they try.
No words can describe the state
in which these towns lie.
A poor mother clinging to her babe,
Which perished on her breast
Oh heaven protect that mother and child,
Now their dear souls are at rest.
A little boy scarce twelve years old,
Was trying to reach his home,
But he perished on the way,
his feet and hands were burned.
Now may peace be to their ashes,
The honest ones and true,
But there's many homes will ne'er forget,
The year of eighteen ninety-two.--chorus
This item was found in the scrapbook of Margaret TOY BARR ESPY
Venango County, Pennsylvania
Her Pioneers and People
J.H. Beers & Co. 1919
The fire and flood of 1892 occurred on Sunday, June 5th. This was the most disastrous flood that have ever occurred here. A heavy rainstorm had raised the creek to an unusual height on Saturday night, carrying away the Spartansburg dam. The flood from this came through Titusville. Tanks of oil, distillate and naphtha were upset into the stream. A portion of Titusville was flood and great damage was done.
The wreckage came down Oil creek on a high wave of water from the dam. The banks overflowed and undermined tanks of oil, and one holding thirty thousand barrels of naphtha, on the Clapp Farm. The contents of these, added to that already floating on the water, created a sinister condition. This volatile liquid was carried on the flood down the creek along upper Seneca street, where the houses were then flooded to the second story, down under the railroad bridge and into the river.
The gas arising from the naphtha and oil permeated the houses and buildings for a mile. Seneca street was by this time a rushing river. At least five thousand people were gathered on the hillsides and along the river front looking with interest at the strange spectacle.
The odors that came to them had an intoxicating effect and the crowds began to fall back as fear dawned upon them. The air was filled with a yellowish vapor which gave an uncanny cast to every object.
Suddenly there was a flash and a loud detonation was heard up the creek. This was closely followed by two others. Instantly fire appeared everywhere, from a point above and railroad bridge, along Seneca street, and below the mouth of the creek along the entire Third ward front, to a point below the Suspension bridge.
Flames mounted higher than Clark's Summit and above them smoke in great waves and billows blackened the air and added terror to the scene. This fire was not like any other. It did not run from house to house, one building kindling the next.
The first explosion lighted a half mile of fire above the creek bridge and in the houses on the banks.
The second explosion set all Seneca street on fire, on both banks of the creek down to the tube mills, instantly, the gas inside igniting with that outside. The third flash ran through the Third ward. Buildings filled with a mixture of gas and air literally exploded. They disappeared while one gazed awestruck at them. This was the case with Paul's large furniture store and the "Bellevue House" and barns.
Nearly seventy-five houses were burned. Many of the inmates reached places of safety by means of boat; heroic endeavors were made to rescue them. A few escaped by swimming. Of a number in the second stories who were seen to leap into the water to avoid the flames, some were drowned, including several of the rescuers.
The number of those lost by the flood and fire has been estimated at over sixty, including several of the rescuers. Some twenty buildings below Paul's furniture store, including the "Petroleum House," were burned. Below the "Petroleum House" the flames swept in by the current of the river and by the breeze from the south burned several buildings, among them the Oil City Coal and Lumber Mill.
Immediately after the explosions people were terrorized and fled to the hills.
 Many ran without stopping from the vicinity of the railroad bridge to the cemetery. A crowd in the Third ward watching from the Center street bridge up the creek saw the fire coming, and many ran down Main street; looking back they saw the street behind them filled with flames, and the fire on the riverside seemed to accompany them in their flight. Many climbed up the steepest part of Clark's Summit and stayed there until late in the afternoon, when the fire had died down, where they were found by their friends. Those who had lost all they possessed were speedily helped, and so numerous were they that for the first time in its history Oil City received aid from the world outside.
Governor Pattison came with members of his staff to offer assistance and everything possible was done to relieve distress.
At the present day the grades of upper Seneca street and of the west side are such that waster as high as that of 1892 would not flood the houses.
 List of the Dead
The following is a list of those who lost their lives in the Oil City and Titusville areas in the flood and fire
at Oil City and whose bodies were recovered. There are
two missing persons in the Oil City list and a partial listing of the 72
dead from Titusville. The number of homeless numbered 564.
Oil City
- Briggs, Emma.- age 18 Grove Hill Cem.
- Bristol, James W. - age 14
- Brunsel, Johnnie
- Burns, James
- Dorworth, James L. Attorney
- Dougherty, Harmer D. - of Summit
- Eakin, Edward - s/o W.D. Eakin - Grove Hill Cem.
- Eakin, Frank - s/o W. D. Eakin - Grove Hill Cem.
- Eakin, W.D. age 55
- Freeman, Edith- age 9
- Fritz, Eugene
- Goodrich, Frank A. - June 3, 1861- June 5, 1892 - Grove Hill Cem.
- Harkins, James
- Hassenfritz, Frank
- Hassenfritz, Louis
- Hassenfritz, William J.
- Hawks, John C.
- Hawks, Mary A. - w/o John C. Hawks - 1832-1892 Grove Hill Cem.
- Hawks, Myrtle E. Miss - 1877-1892 - Grove Hill Cem.
- Holmes, James - age 20
- Kaplan, D. Mrs.
- Kaplan, David
- Kaplan, infant
- Keating, Edward
- Lyons, Bartholomew - age 55
- Lyons, Kate Mrs. - age 40
- Lyons, William
- McPherson, Walter
- Miller, Charles
- Mills, Amy-baby
- Mills, Edith-child
- Mills, Edward/Edwin - Family buried in unmark grave at Grove Hill Cem.
The Odd Fellows & Rebeccas later erected a stone in their memory.
- Mills, Edward Mrs. Mary ?- age 30
- Mills, Emily
- Mills, Florence
- Mills, Maud
- Moran, Ambros - of NY
- O'Leary, F. Mrs.-Joana
- O'Leary, John- s/o F. and J. O'Leary
- Planke/Plake, E.V.R. - of Carthage, NY
- Reed, Abraham M. or N.
- Reinhold, John B. - livery proprietor - 1846-1892 Grove Hill Cem
- Richardson, Samuel
- Roache/Roach, Ada
- Roache/Roach, John Mrs. - age 28
- Rogers, James - age 55- of Clapp Farm
- Shafer, William H. - s/o Harry and Jennie Miller Shafer-buried in the Franklin Cemetery
- Steck,Simon P.
- Stewart, Willis - of Siverlyville
- Sullivan, Daniel - age 45
- Terwilliger, U.S. Grant - age 30- Apr. 23, 1865- June 5, 1892 - Grove Hill Cem
- Terwilliger, William D.R. - b/o Grant - Feb. 21, 1856- June 5, 1892 - Grove Hill Cem.
- Watson, Frank - age 14- nephew of Alexander Watson
- White, William
- Wick, Walter Sheridan
Titusville
- Bingehimer, 8 children
- Bingehimer, Jacob Mrs.
- Butler, Henry
- Campball, Fred Mrs.
- Campball, John
- Campbell, baby
- Caspersen/Casperson, O.H. Mrs.
- Cauty, J. Mrs.
- Cohn, Goldie
- Edgar, John
- Edgar, Oliver
- Engeisky/Engalsky, Joseph
- Engeisky/Engalsky, Rebecca
- Firman, C.A. Miss
- Foster, Frank
- Foster, Lilly
- Furman, M.I. Mrs.
- Haehn, Clara
- Haehn, Gertrude
- Haehn, Mamie
- Haehn, Mary Mrs.
- Haehn, Peter
- Haehn, Sarah R.
- Jacobs, Mrs. and baby
- Koppy, Willie
- Luers, Fred
- Luers, Fred Mrs.
- McFadden, John
- McFadden, Mary
- McKenzie, Neil Mrs.
- Osmer, James
- Osmer, Mrs.
- Pease, George
- Quinn, John Mrs
- Quinn, Mamie
- Raide/ Reide, Fred Mrs.
- Raide/Reide, Amelia
- Raide/Reide, Fred Mrs.
- Reide, Louis
- Reihl, Henry
- Rice, Delia Mrs.
- Spiegel, Walter
- Spiegel, Willie
- Whalen, Abbie
- Whalen, Frank
- Whalen, James Mrs.
- Whalen, John
Family in Oil City Flood Fire, 1892
submitted by Thomas E. Robertshaw
 The following letter was written by a
survivor of the great fire of Oil City. I believe
the writer to be Susan Hannah Dey, b. 29 Jan 1866, daughter
of James Isaac Dey and Mary (Perrine) Dey, of Jackson
Twp., Venango Co., PA. Susan married William
Taggart. I do not know of any children, but have
yet to research that further. Anything in ( ), I
added. Spelling is as on original. The writer had
little punctuation in the letter. Some of the copy is
illegible, and I entered ____.
*************************************
Dear brother,
I ________ would have to write you a few lines to let you
know we are alive and well I thought maybe you have
heard of the awful flood and fire that was here it was
just awful an I never want to see anything so dreadfull
again everything is up side down first we
lifted stuff up and carried most of _____ thing______
stairs from the water when the explosion came and
everything began to be in a blaze Wash (this is her
brother, Washington Dey, I presume) took his horse and
put the furniture up on the hill in a church the
people all had to run for the hills and such a sight
mothers hollering and crying for their children and
children crying for their parents
There are well no
one knows how many dead people and they kep finding them
yet under the pilles of stuff there is one family
Wash and I went in to see last night three children
________ they are burned so badly they hardly expect them
to live the man they thought would die last night
but he didn't and this morning they are going to take
them away to some hospitle to be cured only the
mother and the little boy didn't get burned but of course
they are not the only ones lots of other families
are in the same condition but this family I was in to see
there were so many burned to death and so many
drowned I have been trying all the morning to get a
paper to send to you but I can't Wash and I were
around looking at the ruins this morning it just
made me sick the way the way (sic) the buildings are
burned and wast in the streets: it was reported all over
the third ward that Wash was killed well don't
think for a minute if I wasent sick the ______ of it was
that he wasent with me we had to get out of the
house on account of the water well we went to look
at the high water we stood and watched it til
cupboards shingles barrells every thing thing (sic) you
can imgine chicken coops and houses and everythin
well it began to rain and Wash began to think that his horse had
better be taken out of the barn so he brought me over to
Mrs. Brewes to stay till he came back well I just
thought he had no more than gone when that awful
explosion and fire came and everybody was running for the
hills the whole river and creek was on fire
oh it was just terrible every thing was black as
night of corse the bridges was on fire and I never
saw Wash till four o'clock in the afternoon well I
kept crying but Will and Sam (two of susan's other
brothers) kept laughing at me but I see they both acted
so funny they had both heard that he had been knocked
down on the bridge and of coarse the bridge was all on
fire but in stead of being heart (hurt) he went and
hitched up the horse and took out the things and was
working like a good little boy (he was not a little boy,
he was an adult) Well if I don't stop this wont get
to the train this afternoon.
love and a kiss to all
All photos are the property of:
Venango County Historical Society
301 S. Park St.
Franklin, PA 16323-1238
(814) 437-2275
Joyce Grill Neidich
stonesearcher@verizon.net
Sheila Helser
Tom Robertshaw, 1214
uofu.idaho@internetmci.com
N. 825 East, Shelley, ID 83274.
Oil City June 6 (1892)
Disclaimer:there may be errors due to transcription of
information from both early and late (current contributors) work.
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