Oliver A. Kraeer during
the past eight or nine years has been one of the prominent factors in
the development of the oil and gas territory about Bartlesville. He
is an out and out oil man, having almost inherited his taste for the
business, grew up in the great oil district of Western Pennsylvania,
and has all the resourcefulness and quick, sure judgment that have
been such valuable qualities to the men engaged in this business.
When Mr. Kraeer came
to Oklahoma he was practically without money and had a considerable
indebtedness in his name. But whatever his environment or
circumstances, he has shown the grit and cheerfulness of the typical
oil man, and has succeeded in reaching a position where he could be
named with prominent oil men in this section of the state. Mr. Kraeer
is now manager of the Tahlequah Gas Company, is president of the oil
and drilling company of O. A. Kraeer & Company, and also has
active charge of the extensive oil interests in Oklahoma owned by
John A. Bell, Jr., of Pittsburgh.
It was in Butler
County, Pennsylvania, that Oliver A. Kraeer was born, August 11,
1876, a son of Lewis and Hepsibah (Baker) Kraeer. His parents were
natives of Washington County, Pennsylvania, and his father now lives
at Sheffield, Warren County, in that state, and has spent much of his
active career as a producer and contractor in the oil fields. The
mother died in August, 1887, at the age of forty-four. Of the ten
children six grew to maturity and four are still living. By his
second marriage Lewis Kraeer has two children.
It was under the
direction of his father that Oliver
A. Kraeer gained his
first knowledge of the oil business. He is thoroughly acquainted
with all the technical details of the industry and has utilized his
experience and his originating ability in effecting important
improvements in the tools used by oil and gas men, and also in some
better methods of handling the field business. Even when a schoolboy
he came to know a great deal about oil operation. He was associated
with his father until about 1900, and has since been in business for
himself, having operated extensively in the fields both in Ohio and
Indiana before moving to Bartlesville in 1906. For several years,
until December, 1909, he was associated with George Priestly, one of
the prominent early oil men of Bartlesville. At the latter date Mr.
John A. Bell, Jr., came from Pennsylvania and bought a largo part of
the Priestly oil interests, and Mr. Kraeer has since been associated
with Mr. Bell in looking after his Oklahoma investments. These
interests were very extensive until 1912, but since that time many of
them have been sold.
Mr. Kraeer has also
handled some big properties for other people, and is one of the men
whose names are most prominently mentioned in connection with the oil
and gas era of Oklahoma. He is a member of the Bartlesville Chamber
of Commerce and is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks, and is also a member of the Presbyterian Church. In
September, 1908, he married Miss Martha Gregg of Toledo, Ohio. Their
one child is Oliver A., Jr.