WOODLAWN CEMETERY
34 McKinney Road
Titusville, PA 16354
814.827.3422
Established: Unknown
Acres: Unknown
No Official Website
Bella Morte Rating: 2 Tombstones
At the outset, we will state there is no good reason to go out of one’s way to visit Woodlawn Cemetery in Titusville, PA.. That being said, if you happen to be in town, or if you are within two hours driving distance and have time to spare, you could do much worse than stop by for a visit.
What the cemetery lacks in size, it (mostly) makes up for with two remarkable bronze monuments as well as several stately and impressive family mausoleums—to say nothing of the alluring brook that lends its silvery music to a portion of the cemetery’s wooded and restful western section. Beyond these features, the grounds are well-maintained and visitors may count on being able to enjoy a quiet and peaceful atmosphere.
Without a doubt, Woodlawn’s greatest asset is the Colonel Edwin Drake Memorial, a post-mortem tribute worthy of a world-renowned Victorian cemetery but which, as Fate would have it, was erected in a town few but its residents have ever heard of.
So, exactly who was Edwin Drake? One of the most surprising things about him is the fact that he was not, in fact, a colonel at all. Indeed, the position he held when he was, without ceremony or military rank of any kind, dubbed as such, was that of a train conductor! The man who “promoted” him was one James Townsend, a Seneca Oil Employee who made Drake’s acquaintance during one of the executive’s frequent train trips along the Pennsylvania line. On one such excursion, the two men struck up a conversation which concluded with Townsend inviting Drake to take up a position as field inspector for the company’s Oil Creek, PA. offices. While this may appear exceedingly generous of Townsend, one must keep in mind that, at the time, petroleum production was painstakingly slow, and this fact also meant the business was not particularly lucrative. In addition, Townsend figured Drake would be a good hire since he had a free pass on the rail lines and would, therefore, cost the Seneca Company nothing to have him travel. For some reason lost to history, Townsend addressed Drake as “Colonel.” Drake retained it and no one ever questioned him on it!
At the time of Drake’s hire, the process of obtaining oil involved going to a location where oil seeped from the ground into the water supply. Cloths were then placed on the water to absorb the oil which would then be skimmed off and bottled by the gallon for use in medicines or to produce kerosene.
While it was believed oil from the rocks below ground might be of some industrial value if it could be harvested in appropriate amounts, drilling for it was considered to be impossible.
It was under these circumstances that Drake took sick leave from his conductor’s job and travelled to Oil Creek where no one suspected the tall, dignified man in the stovepipe hat was anything other than what he claimed to be.
To make a long story short, though initially derided for proposing the use of a conductor-pipe as a means of safeguarding the process of digging boreholes through rock in search of oil, Drake persisted with his idea (which he’d seen used successfully in salt layers) and was eventually successful in striking oil at an as-then-unheard-of depth of 69 feet. As it turned out, luck, rather than skill was truly in Drake’s favour, for he had nothing to go on but guesses regarding the location of underground oil and, had he drilled 100 feet in either direction of his original borehole, he would have missed the deposit altogether and most-likely given up before drilling down the necessary additional 300’ to hit the next deposit.
After proving all the naysayers wrong, Drake’s well went on to produce, in a handful of days, as much oil as a whaling ship could have collected during a voyage of four years!
Sadly for “The Colonel,” his business acumen was less then stellar and he failed to obtain a patent for his drilling invention. In addition, rather than leasing land in the area in order to drill, he merely dabbled in oil speculation while the likes of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller swooped in and invested heavily in the area.
Almost overnight, the population of Titusville went from 250 to 10,000 and oil production reached a staggering 10,000 barrels per day.
Alas, Drake was not part of the boom and, only eleven years after his drilling triumph, he was destitute, in poor health, and living with his wife in a humble home in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He might easily have died in abject poverty but for the good graces of the Pennsylvania State Legislature which, prompted by concerned friends and citizens, granted him a yearly stipend of $1,500 in honour of his achievements in advancing the production of oil.
Tragically, even this comfort was not to be long-lived for the aged inventor. He enjoyed his newfound financial security for only one year before his death on 8 November, 1880 (though his wife, Laura, continued to receive the funds until her death in 1916). Drake was buried in a simple grave in Bethlehem, PA.; however, he was not to remain there forever.
In 1901, Standard Oil Executive Henry Huttleston Rogers donated $100,000 and commissioned a memorial to honour Drake which can be enjoyed by visitors even today. The monument takes the form of two ionic columns that support a niche inside of which rests a one-ton bronze figure titled, “The Driller,” sculpted by Charles Henry Niehaus. The bronze depicts a kneeling nude male with hammer poised to strike a stake he holds above an outcropping of rock. On either side of the figure, a long bench, crowned by relief panels adds stately accents, as do the stairs which invite visitors to drawn closer.
Upon the six panels are engraved the following words:
|
PANEL I
COL. EDWIN L. DRAKE BORN AT GREENVILLE N.Y. MCH. 29 MDCCCXIX DIED AT BETHLEHEM PA NOV. 8 MDCCCLXXX FOUNDER OF THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY THE FRIEND OF MAN. PANEL III
THAT HAS ENRICHED THE STATE BENEFITED MANKIND ENLARGED THE PHARMACOPEIA AND HAS ATTAINED WORLDWIDE PROPORTIONS. PANEL V
HIS HIGHEST AMBITION WAS THE SUCCESSFUL ACCOMPLISHMENT OF HIS TASK HIS NOBLE VICTORY THE CONQUEST OF THE ROCK BEQUETHING TO POSTERITY THE FRUITS OF HIS LABOR AND OF HIS INDUSTRY |
PANEL II
CALLED BY CIRCUMSTANCES TO THE SOLUTION OF A GREAT MINING PROBLEM HE TRIUMPHANTLY VINDICATED AMERICAN SKILL AND NEAR THIS SPOT LAID THE FOUNDATION OF AN INDUSTRY PANEL IV
HE SOUGHT FOR HIMSELF NOT WEALTH NOR SOCIAL DISTINCTION CONTENT TO LET OTHERS FOLLOW WHERE HE LED AT THE THRESHHOLD OF HIS FAME HE RETIRED TO END HIS DAYS IN QUIETER PURSUITS. PANEL VI
HIS LAST DAYS OPPRESSED BY ILLS — TO WANT NO STRANGER HE DIED IN COMPARITIVE OBSCURITY. THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED BY HENRY H. ROGERS. IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION AND REMEMBRANCE |
Once the monument was completed, Drake’s body was moved to Woodlawn and entombed in an underground vault located in a grassy area in front of the memorial. His wife, Laura, took her place by his side15 years later
VAULT STONE
COL. E. L. DRAKE
Born Mch. 29, 1819
Died Nov. 8, 1880
HIS REMAINS WERE REMOVED
FROM BETHLEHEM PA.
TO THIS SPOT
SEPT. 2, 1902.
LAURA DOWD
Wife of
COL. E.L. DRAKE
Born June 5, 1835
Died May 17, 1916
Over the years, the bronze, left unattended and exposed, succumbed to the elements and lost its polished luster. The granite reliefs, stairs and base likewise suffered from the harsh Pennsylvania winters; however, in 2011, a $50,000 restoration project saw the bronze removed and shipped to Cleveland, Ohio for restoration, while an Erie, PA company, (Fiske & Sons) was commissioned to handle the granite work. Today, visitors can enjoy the monument is all its original splendour. (As an interesting note, the monument, which commanded a fee of $100,000 in 1901 is now valued at $2,190,000).
But more on Woodlawn…
Slightly beyond the Drake Memorial, as one drives alongside the brook, there is yet another surprise for a cemetery of such seemingly-humble origins. We refer to Evelyn Beatrice Longman’s bronze, entitled “Memory,” which graces a wooded hillside and was erected in honour of the Benson family whose contributions to the city they loved included the impressive brick library which still serves the townspeople today. The family patriarch, Byron D. Benson, amassed his fortune as founder and first president of the Tidewater Pipe Company (est. 1878).
The bronze depicts a full-figured woman who lounges on a dramtically-draped seat, her head inclined downward toward a rose that rests in her open left hand. Behind her, a granite wall bearing a carved pine bough and a flaming brazier bears the following explanatory inscription:
LOVE-FAIREST-FLOWER-IN-MEMORY’S-GARDEN
THOUGH-THESE-THY-PETALS-LIE- ENSHRINED-HERE
THY-ESSENCE-LIVES-IN-GOD’S-ETERNITY
The other remarkable feature at Woodlawn comes in the form of several impressive mausoleums, the largest (and most striking) of which houses the mortal remains of the Barnsdall family (whose fortune was made in the oil fields of Pennsylvania). The 24-vault structure boasts truly monumental proportions and Egyptian theming meant to echo the design of the Ptolemaic Temple at Phylae. At the time of its construction in 1903 it cost $30,000.
Though nowhere near as magnificent, the nearby James Curtis McKinney mausoleum (Woodlawn’s first, built in 1897) as well as that of John Fertig, take prominent positions overlooking the entrance to the cemetery. The family patriarchs, who were Titusville oil barons, commissioned both structures.
Once you’ve finished your explorations at Woodlawn, should time allow, head northwest (turn right when exiting) and pay a visit to St. Catharine’s Cemetery which lies about 1.5 miles distant. Though hardly a great burial ground, it does have a few lovely monuments, and the landscaping towards the back is lush and inviting.
[F]
VAULT STONE
COL. E. L. DRAKE
Born Mch. 29, 1819
Died Nov. 8, 1880
HIS REMAINS WERE REMOVED
FROM BETHLEHEM PA.
TO THIS SPOT
SEPT. 2, 1902.
LAURA DOWD
Wife of
COL. E.L. DRAKE
Born June 5, 1835
Died May 17, 1916
Over the years, the bronze, left unattended and exposed, succumbed to the elements and lost its polished luster. The granite reliefs, stairs and base likewise suffered from the harsh Pennsylvania winters; however, in 2011, a $50,000 restoration project saw the bronze removed and shipped to Cleveland, Ohio for restoration, while an Erie, PA company, (Fiske & Sons) was commissioned to handle the granite work. Today, visitors can enjoy the monument is all its original splendour. (As an interesting note, the monument, which commanded a fee of $100,000 in 1901 is now valued at $2,190,000).
But more on Woodlawn…
Slightly beyond the Drake Memorial, as one drives alongside the brook, there is yet another surprise for a cemetery of such seemingly-humble origins. We refer to Evelyn Beatrice Longman’s bronze, entitled “Memory,” which graces a wooded hillside and was erected in honour of the Benson family whose contributions to the city they loved included the impressive brick library which still serves the townspeople today. The family patriarch, Byron D. Benson, amassed his fortune as founder and first president of the Tidewater Pipe Company (est. 1878).
The bronze depicts a full-figured woman who lounges on a dramtically-draped seat, her head inclined downward toward a rose that rests in her open left hand. Behind her, a granite wall bearing a carved pine bough and a flaming brazier bears the following explanatory inscription:
LOVE-FAIREST-FLOWER-IN-MEMORY’S-GARDEN
THOUGH-THESE-THY-PETALS-LIE- ENSHRINED-HERE
THY-ESSENCE-LIVES-IN-GOD’S-ETERNITY
The other remarkable feature at Woodlawn comes in the form of several impressive mausoleums, the largest (and most striking) of which houses the mortal remains of the Barnsdall family (whose fortune was made in the oil fields of Pennsylvania). The 24-vault structure boasts truly monumental proportions and Egyptian theming meant to echo the design of the Ptolemaic Temple at Phylae. At the time of its construction in 1903 it cost $30,000.
Though nowhere near as magnificent, the nearby James Curtis McKinney mausoleum (Woodlawn’s first, built in 1897) as well as that of John Fertig, take prominent positions overlooking the entrance to the cemetery. The family patriarchs, who were Titusville oil barons, commissioned both structures.
Once you’ve finished your explorations at Woodlawn, should time allow, head northwest (turn right when exiting) and pay a visit to St. Catharine’s Cemetery which lies about 1.5 miles distant. Though hardly a great burial ground, it does have a few lovely monuments, and the landscaping towards the back is lush and inviting.
[F]
