W. Scott Heywood
| Walter Scott Heywood | |
|---|---|
| Louisiana State Senator from Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, and Jeff Davis parishes | |
| Preceded by |
John Gamble |
| Succeeded by | Sidney W. Sweeney |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
May 21, 1872 Cleveland, Ohio, USA |
| Died | November 28, 1950 (aged 78) Jennings Jeff Davis Parish Louisiana |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Occupation | Oilman |
John Gamble
Walter Scott Heywood, known as W. Scott Heywood (May 21, 1872 – November 28, 1950), was a member of the Louisiana State Senate who earlier headed a family-owned company which struck the first oil well in Louisiana on September 21, 1901 near Jennings in Jeff Davis Parish.
Heywood was born in Cleveland, Ohio. As a young man, he prospected for gold in Alaska. With his brothers, Alba, O. W., Clint, and Dewey Heywood, he drilled for oil in California and at Spindletop near Beaumont, the first such strike in Texas.
Immediately after drilling at Spindletop, Heywood was hired to drill the first oil well in Louisiana. A rice grower in Jeff Davis Parish in southwestern Louisiana noticed that flammable bubbles were rising from his fields. Area businessman formed S. A. Spencer & Company and leased some two thousand acres about the field. The company contacted Heywood, who after visiting the site determined that the landscape there was similar to the land about Spindletop. Heywood lit the bubbles with matches and produced a red flame with black smoke. Convinced that he had found petroleum gas, Heywood contracted with the existing company to drill two wells to a depth of one thousand feet for an undivided one-half interest in the acreage. Under the agreement, Heywood could organize his own Jennings Oil Company, which he founded on April 29, 1901. A rig was moved from Beaumont to drill, beginning on June 15, 1901, the first well, called Clement No. 1. The initial hole had to be moved. There was excessive heat and swarms of mosquitoes. At a depth of a thousand feet, no oil was found.
The existing contract required that a second well be drilled within thirty days after the first one. A new agreement was negotiated which allowed Heywood to continue drilling beyond the bottom of the first well. If favorable conditions were found at 1,500 feet, he could proceed to an even greater depth. At 1,500 feet, no oil was discovered, and the team ran short of drill pipe. However, Heywood opted to order more drill pipe and continue to try. At 1,700 feet, oil was discovered in sugar sand. Additional drilling discovered 110 feet of oil sand. A casing was set with a gate valve, and after running a bailer the well gushed forth a four-inch stream of oil over 100 feet high. This spray of oil and sand lasted for seven hours and covered several acres of rice fields. However, the sand soon filled up the casing, and despite repeated attempts to clear it, the well was abandoned. Though the drilling failed, Heywood's work signaled the beginning of the oil boom in Louisiana. Heywood thereafter owned and operated barges on the Mermentau River in southwestern Louisiana and constructed a pipeline from the oil fields to the railroad.
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