John G. McCaskey
| John Gruard McCaskey | |
|---|---|
John Gruard McCaskey in 1917
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| Born |
July 3, 1874 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Died | January 12, 1924 (aged 49) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Florence Ashford McCaskey |
John Gruard McCaskey (July 3, 1874 – January 12, 1924) was an American oil businessman.
John Gruard McCaskey born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 3, 1874, was an essential factor in opening up the oil fields of Oklahoma and Texas. By his early 30s McCaskey was President of The National Sauerkraut Association, had become a self made millionaire and won for himself the cognomen of “the Sauerkraut King” after his friend E. W. Marland arranged for a contract with the farmers of Dutchess County, New York, giving McCaskey an option for the annual cabbage crop. From this he had built an extensive commercial enterprise, owning a large number of factories making sauerkraut in Ohio, Pennsylvania (the SnowFloss brand) and New York (the Seneca Kraut and Pickling Company). Controlling two-thirds of the U.S. market for this product, it was the largest in America. It was from this base that he chose to engage in the new oil business on a large scale, founding a number of oil companies in Oklahoma and Texas.
His initial oil venture started with a young manhood friend, E. W. Marland. In 1908 McCaskey became an investor and a director of the 101 Ranch Oil Company of Ponca City founded by Marland to explore for Oklahoma oil. By 1910 however, the company was on the verge of failure having run out of money and only having found natural gas. McCaskey reorganized the company, was elected President and associating his activities with Pittsburgh capital he raised funds from W. H. McFadden, a retired Carnegie Steel executive, who was elected Vice President, General Manager and J. M. Weaver, who was elected Treasurer. A drilling lease was obtained on the Willie Cry Ponca Indian allotment and on June 11, 1911 the well “Willy-Cries-For-War” struck oil, bringing wealth to the company and its investors. The company’s 1911 oil discovery in North Eastern Oklahoma opened up oil development in a great region from Eastern Oklahoma west to Mervine, Newkirk, Blackwell, Billings and Garber and led to the founding of the Marland Oil Company, later renamed the Continental Oil Company, or Conoco.
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