“Colonel” Edwin Drake

This is the monument to “Colonel” Edwin Drake, who drilled the world’s first oil well near Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1859. The well still stands in a park at the southeast corner of town. The monument and grave are the focal point at the end of an alley of graceful trees, which lines the entrance to Woodlawn Cemetery in Titusville. It’s a dramatic bit of landscaping. I had gone there looking for an ancestral grave.

Look at this lovely American holly tree. Why are there not more of these beautiful trees in my life? Maybe I’ll need to plant a few. 

By all accounts, Drake was a humble and kindly soul. The engraved panels on both sides of the central statue, seen above, rave a bit much about how he had no interest in material gain, how his only interest was in bettering the human condition, how he was “the friend of man.”

There’s no reason to doubt the truth of all this. But if Drake’s motives were entirely altruistic, then why did “the friend of man” use the military title “colonel” when he was no such thing? All it takes is a single lie—just one lie!—to discredit your entire character and cast a shadow of doubt over your life’s story and achievements. I mean, I want to like Edwin Drake, but why did he use a false title that he never earned? That’s not even a single lie; it’s consistent, ongoing deception… Maybe there’s a reasonable explanation.

I was at Woodlawn Cemetery by mistake anyway. I read that my great-great grandfather was buried in Union Cemetery in Titusville, so I made for the only cemetery I’d seen in that town, which turned out to be the wrong one. Ever notice how cemeteries usually have one of the following name? Union Cemetery. Woodlawn Cemetery. Melrose Cemetery. Oakwood Cemetery. Fairview Cemetery. Why do cemeteries have such predictable names? How about Shallow Pond Cemetery? Or Blooming Crocus Cemetery for a change? Fern Hill Cemetery? Pumpkin Vine, Song Sparrow, Virginia Creeper? Sunny Hill? Woodsedge?

The chapel at Woodlawn Cemetery was added in 1998, which seems like the day before yesterday to me. It’s a sterile little structure under bleak skies—third photo from the top. I tried “entering that place to wait upon the Lord and renew my strength,” but it was locked tight as a tomb… I truly see no use in embalming and burying bodies, then keeping them filed away for future generations. What are they gonna do with them? Cremation, baby. Cremation is the way to go. But cremation does complicate tasks like the one that took me to Titusville, searching for a grave.