Roxana Newspaper Articles
ROXANA MEN SAY DEAL FOR OIL COMPANY IS NEAR (SHELL OIL)
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, March 21, 1917
That the deal for the sale of a large tract of land to the Roxana
Oil Company, which has been forecasted is about to be closed, is
indicated by the presence in Alton of two representatives of the
Roxana Oil Company. From their representations to contractors whom
they have been consulting with regard to erecting buildings to serve
as a nucleus of the big refinery that is to be erected somewhere in
the vicinity of Alton, it is indicated that the Roxana company plans
to build a refinery that will be as large, if not larger, than the
Wood River refinery. The men in charge here are seeking homes for
their families. The statement is made that the tests of the ground
where it is proposed to erect the plant have been made, and the
ground was found satisfactory. It is expected that the deal for the
purchase of the land will be closed very soon. The site selected is
on ground belonging to the Bowman family, and is said to be similar
to the ground that the Standard Oil Co. bought for the Wood River
Refinery. The Roxana company operates a subsidiary company known as
the Shell Oil Company, and it is cards of the Shell company that are
presented by the representatives who have been interviewing Alton
building contractors. It is intimated that there is hardly a chance
of the deal falling through, and that before very long work of
constructing the big refinery will be under way. The site will be
not far from the site of the new tannery that is in course of
construction. Still another oil company, it is reported in the St.
Louis papers, the Indiahoma, has its eyes on a site near Alton. It
is becoming evident that Alton, as an oil refining center, is to
become a very important place, with one refinery established at Wood
River, another about to buy a site, and a third having its attention
glued to the Alton situation. R. B. High, who is here representing
the oil company, has opened an office in the Mineral Springs hotel.
He said to a Telegraph reporter today that he will spend at least a
month here looking over sites. He said that no deal had been closed
as yet.
ROXANA - SKELETONS OF INTELLIGENT RACE FOUND
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, May 11, 1918
A burial place of the original old settlers, antedating the American
Indians in Madison County, was today affording interesting study to
students of ethnology and archeology. Workmen excavating on a small
hill just inside of the Roxana Oil Refinery at Roxana yesterday
unearthed the bones of fifteen skeletons. On previous occasions
other skeletons were uncovered in that vicinity and the discovery of
the additional skeletons yesterday helps to demonstrate that at some
time there must have been many people buried in that neighborhood.
Many of the skeletons were found almost whole, in an upright posture
in the soil. The skeletons appeared to be both male and female, and
of old and young persons. The skulls were well preserved, and the
teeth were in good condition. On each of the skulls on the right
side there appeared to be a small dent, which might have been made
by a savage's war club. The skeletons are not of Indians, for the
large jaw bone of the Indian and the large joint bones, which
characterize the Indian skeleton are lacking. Ethnologists have
frequently declared that at one time a highly developed race lived
in America before the Indians, and that they were slain by the
Indians.
The finding of the skeletons gives rise to the belief that there
must have been a massacre of an entire tribe of highly civilized
prehistoric men at that place by the Indians, and that they were all
buried together in a heap, which is now the site of the Roxana Oil
Refinery [former Shell Oil, now Phillips 66, at Hwy. 111 and Madison
Street]. This supposition is strengthened by the fact that in the
memory of the old settlers at Roxana, no cemetery was ever located
in that vicinity. Frank Smith, whose grandfather secured the Smith
land, which was sold to the Roxana Oil Refinery, says that his
grandfather secured the land from the government on a homestead
claim, and that in his remembrance there was no cemetery there at
that time. The fact that the bones are not those of Indians would
prove apparently that the skeletons belonged to some prehistoric
race, which evidently were later killed off by the Indians.
On numerous occasions specimens of the finest pottery made of
pulverized mussel shell, and cemented with a substance, the nature
of which chemists of today cannot duplicate, have been found in that
neighborhood, and this lost art of mussel shell pottery is believed
to belong to that prehistoric race. H. H. Clark, cashier of the
First State and Savings Bank at Wood River, who is interested in
ethnology and archeology, went to Roxana this morning and secured a
number of the skull and thigh bones found at the refinery. He also
took along several well-preserved specimens of teeth found in the
jaw bones, beside several specimens of the mussel shell pottery,
which was found nearby. The find was made just inside of the Roxana
gate, where six of the fifty houses to be erected for workmen at
Roxana are being put for the foremen of the plant. At that place
there is a small hill which rises up inside of the gate, and it was
in the side of the hill that the skeletons were found. The discovery
has attracted a great deal of interest, and many from Alton and Wood
River went down to Roxana today in automobiles on learning of the
finding of the skeletons. Many of the bones were taken away as
relics and will be carefully preserved.
NOTES:
I have no further information on this archeological find, or what
happened to the remains of these people. Although the newspaper had
the opinion that these weren’t the remains of Native Americans, they
probably were, as records show that the area was dotted with small
mounds which held Native American remains.
MAN IS KILLED, SEVERAL HURT IN ROXANA BLAST
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, December 6, 1921
A blast of fire which accompanied an explosion in a new department
of the Roxana Petroleum Co. refinery at Roxana, last night at 6:20
o'clock, caused the death of one man and the burning of four others,
who were taken to St. Joseph's hospital for treatment. Other men
suffered minor burns. The new still which blew up was wrecked. The
dead man, H. C. Prochazka, of Milwaukee, a few days before had come
to take employment in the place. He was 32 years old. His body was
frightfully broken by the explosion, as well as burned by the flame
and oil. The more seriously injured were J. S. Miller of Upper
Alton; C. P. Dubbs, president of the Universal Oil Products Co., L.
E. Nackus and T. L. Harvic, also of the same company. The explosion
occurred in a new high pressure still in which a patented process of
refining gasoline is done. The Universal Oil Products Co. has the
patent rights on the process and had interested the Roxana company
in trying it at their plant. For more than six months the Universal
company has had a force of employees there building the still and it
has been in operation. It was being given its final test last night
when the explosion occurred that wrecked the still and caused the
injury of perhaps a dozen people and the killing of one. Standing
around the still at the time of the accident were about two dozen
men. The test seemed to be progressing satisfactorily when, without
any apparent warning, there was a blast, and burning oil and gas
flames were blown about while fragments of the still went in all
directions. Fortunately, the still was remote from any other
property and no damage was done except to it. The still had a large
capacity and there was a large amount of oil in it when the
explosion occurred. One story had it that hot oil was being drawn
off and cold oil was being admitted rapidly to the still and some
attributed the explosion to that fact. The process was being watched
intently by the men connected with the company which had set up the
still, which was known as the Dubbs plant, being named for the
inventory, Mr. Dubbs, who was one of the men burned. Prochazka was
closer in than the others which accounted for the fatal effects of
the explosion in his case. Aside from the four men who were hurried
to St. Joseph's hospital, there were perhaps three others who were
badly burned and others who had minor burns or whose hair was singed
by the blast. Mr. Dubbs departed for Chicago on the 10 o'clock train
to get into a hospital there. He wished to reach his wife before she
would be informed of the accident, but it is doubtful that he
succeeded in reaching home before she learned of it. The three other
men remained in the hospital at Alton for treatment. It was said
today that the new still had not been accepted by the Roxana
Company. Deputy Coroner Streeper took charge of the body of the dead
man and will hold an inquest. The body of the victim of the
explosion will be shipped to Milwaukee tonight. The inquest will be
deferred until the other men injured by the explosion are able to
testify.