Cornplanter Township, Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
Cornplanter Township is a township
in Venango County
, Pennsylvania
, United States
. The population was 2,687 at the 2000 census.
was a small community in Cornplanter Township in Venango County
, Pennsylvania
. In 1861, it was the site of Wamsutta Oil Refinery
, the first business venture of Henry Huttleston Rogers
, who became a leading United States
capitalist
, businessman, industrialist, financier
, and philanthropist
. Rogers and his young wife Abbie Palmer Gifford Rogers lived in a one room shack there along Oil Creek for several years.
Shortly later, Rogers met oil pioneer Charles Pratt
who purchased the entire output of the tiny Wamsutta Oil Refinery
. In 1867, Rogers joined Pratt in forming Charles Pratt and Company
, which was purchased by Standard Oil
in 1874. Rogers became one of the key men in John D. Rockefeller
’s Standard Oil
Trust.
After joining Standard Oil, Rogers invested heavily in various industries, including copper, steel, mining, and railways. The Virginian Railway
is widely considered his final life's achievement. Rogers amassed a great fortune, estimated at over $100 million, and became one of the wealthiest men in the United States.
He was also a generous philanthropist
, providing many public works for his hometown of Fairhaven
, Massachusetts
and financially assisting helping such notables as Mark Twain
, Helen Keller
, and Booker T. Washington.
, the township has a total area of 37.8 square miles (97.9 km²), of which, 37.3 square miles (96.6 km²) of it is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²) of it (1.30%) is water. Part of the Oil Creek State Park
is located here.
of 2000, there were 2,687 people, 1,034 households, and 767 families residing in the township. The population density
was 72.0 people per square mile (27.8/km²). There were 1,179 housing units at an average density of 31.6/sq mi (12.2/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 98.81% White, 0.41% African American, 0.07% Native American, 0.04% Asian, 0.04% from other races
, and 0.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.33% of the population.
There were 1,034 households out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.4% were married couples
living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.8% were non-families. 23.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.91.
In the township the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 25.6% from 45 to 64, and 20.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $36,066, and the median income for a family was $48,259. Males had a median income of $33,750 versus $23,182 for females. The per capita income
for the township was $18,532. About 7.5% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.2% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.
Township (Pennsylvania)
A township in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a state of the United States of America, is one of four types of municipalities in the state . Townships were established based on convenient geographical boundaries and vary in size from six to forty square miles...
in Venango County
Venango County, Pennsylvania
Venango County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 54,984. Its county seat is Franklin.-History:Venango County was created on March 12, 1800 from parts of Allegheny and Lycoming Counties...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 2,687 at the 2000 census.
History
McClintocksvilleMcClintocksville, Pennsylvania
McClintocksville, Pennsylvania was a small community in Cornplanter Township in Venango County located in the state of Pennsylvania in the United States.- History :...
was a small community in Cornplanter Township in Venango County
Venango County, Pennsylvania
Venango County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 54,984. Its county seat is Franklin.-History:Venango County was created on March 12, 1800 from parts of Allegheny and Lycoming Counties...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. In 1861, it was the site of Wamsutta Oil Refinery
Wamsutta Oil Refinery
Wamsutta Oil Refinery was established around 1861 in McClintocksville in Venango County near Oil City, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It was the first business enterprise of Henry Huttleston Rogers , who became a famous capitalist, businessman, industrialist, financier, and philanthropist.-...
, the first business venture of Henry Huttleston Rogers
Henry H. Rogers
Henry Huttleston Rogers was a United States capitalist, businessman, industrialist, financier, and philanthropist. He made his fortune in the oil refinery business, becoming a leader at Standard Oil....
, who became a leading United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
capitalist
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
, businessman, industrialist, financier
Financier
Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
, and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
. Rogers and his young wife Abbie Palmer Gifford Rogers lived in a one room shack there along Oil Creek for several years.
Shortly later, Rogers met oil pioneer Charles Pratt
Charles Pratt
Charles Pratt was a United States capitalist, businessman and philanthropist.Pratt was a pioneer of the U.S. petroleum industry, and established his kerosene refinery Astral Oil Works in Brooklyn, New York. An advertising slogan was "The holy lamps of Tibet are primed with Astral Oil." He...
who purchased the entire output of the tiny Wamsutta Oil Refinery
Wamsutta Oil Refinery
Wamsutta Oil Refinery was established around 1861 in McClintocksville in Venango County near Oil City, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It was the first business enterprise of Henry Huttleston Rogers , who became a famous capitalist, businessman, industrialist, financier, and philanthropist.-...
. In 1867, Rogers joined Pratt in forming Charles Pratt and Company
Charles Pratt and Company
Charles Pratt and Company was an oil company that was formed in Brooklyn, New York, in the United States by Charles Pratt and Henry H. Rogers in 1867. It became part of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil organization in 1874....
, which was purchased by Standard Oil
Standard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
in 1874. Rogers became one of the key men in John D. Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller was an American oil industrialist, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of...
’s Standard Oil
Standard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
Trust.
After joining Standard Oil, Rogers invested heavily in various industries, including copper, steel, mining, and railways. The Virginian Railway
Virginian Railway
The Virginian Railway was a Class I railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads....
is widely considered his final life's achievement. Rogers amassed a great fortune, estimated at over $100 million, and became one of the wealthiest men in the United States.
He was also a generous philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
, providing many public works for his hometown of Fairhaven
Fairhaven, Massachusetts
Fairhaven is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located on the south coast of Massachusetts where the Acushnet River flows into Buzzards Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
and financially assisting helping such notables as Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
, Helen Keller
Helen Keller
Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree....
, and Booker T. Washington.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the township has a total area of 37.8 square miles (97.9 km²), of which, 37.3 square miles (96.6 km²) of it is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²) of it (1.30%) is water. Part of the Oil Creek State Park
Oil Creek State Park
Oil Creek State Park is Pennsylvania state park on in Cherrytree, Cornplanter and Oil Creek Township Townships, Venango County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is adjacent to Drake Well Museum, the site of the first successful oil well in the United States, that was drilled under the...
is located here.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 2,687 people, 1,034 households, and 767 families residing in the township. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 72.0 people per square mile (27.8/km²). There were 1,179 housing units at an average density of 31.6/sq mi (12.2/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 98.81% White, 0.41% African American, 0.07% Native American, 0.04% Asian, 0.04% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.33% of the population.
There were 1,034 households out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.4% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.8% were non-families. 23.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.91.
In the township the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 25.6% from 45 to 64, and 20.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $36,066, and the median income for a family was $48,259. Males had a median income of $33,750 versus $23,182 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the township was $18,532. About 7.5% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.2% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.