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- Obituary:
Carl A. Kraeer, 90, believed to be the last of the pioneer workers in the once world famous oil field of the McDonald district, died at his home near Burgettstown on Wednesday evening, Dec. 29, 1948 at six o'clock. He had been in ill health for some time.
He was the grandfather of William Kraeer, of Burgettstown, who was drowned recently in the Monongahela river at Point Marion.
The McDonald oil field in which he spent his active years produced the greatest gushers in the history of the oil and gas industry in Washington County. Operations were started there about 1890 when it was believed the other oil pools tapped were playing out. The Mevay well, which produced a maximum of 14,000 barrels of oil a day and the Matthews, which produced 12,000 barrels, are recorded as the largest drilled there. The white sand pool tapped in the McDonald area is said to have been the largest in the world.
Mr. Kraeer, who lived through those exciting days, had lived a retired life in recent years. A son of the late Lewis and Elizabeth De Haven Kraeer, he was born in McDonald March 31, 1858, but had been a resident of Smith Township for 33 years. He was a member of the Burgettstown Grange.
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