Mecca Oil Company
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The two one-hundred share Mecca Oil Company stock certificates shown above and below, clearly confirm David H. McConnell's association with this oil concern as the company's president. A 1901 newspaper advertisement (also shown below) announced the opportunity to purchase $1.00 stock options from the Mecca Oil Company whose property was in the Kern River district of California and, "[t]he officers and directors of the Company are well known business men and bankers of New York and San Francisco..." Of course, two of McConnell's primary business locations were New York and San Francisco.
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According to Moody's Manual of Railroads and Corporation Securities, Part 2, published in 1922, the Mecca Oil Company was incorporated in New Jersey on 7 February 1901 with property located at Bakersfield, California. The capital stock for the Mecca Oil Company, later referred to as Mecca Oil Company No. 1, was $450,000. The officers of the company were as follows: David H. McConnell, President; Alexander D. Henderson, Treasurer; and Directors: Edward P Fowler; William H. Carey; Henry Becraft; Frederick Roosevelt; Frederick Crane; M. C. G. Witte; Daniel Bowen; and Montague Douglass. And the main office was located at 126 Chambers Street, New York.
An entry in Paint, Oil and Drug Review: Vol. 54, published in 1912 contains the following entry under the 'Petroleum Incorporations' heading: Mecca Oil Company No. 2, Jersey City, N. J.; capital, $100,000; directors, Wm. H. Carey, Jon. H. Patterson, Chas. J. Gormley, New Jersey.
By 1912, McConnell and Henderson were operating 20 wells on 60 acres of property in the Kern River Oil District. The reported production of the Mecca Oil Company (No. 1) in 1921 was 48,297 barrels of oil for the year. By 1926, the full production of Mecca Oil Companies No. 1 and No. 2 totaled 35,000 barrels per month (420,000 barrels per year).
Following is the Mecca Oil Co. entry from Moody's Manual of Railroads and Corporation Securities, Part 2, published in 1922:
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MECCA OIL CO.—Inc. Feb 7, 1901, in N. J., to produce oil. . Production in 1921, 48.297 bbls. Capital Stock —Authorized, $450,000; outstanding, $422,500; par. $1. No funded debt. Dividends.—Dividends have been paid as
follows: 1908, 8%: 1909, 9%; 1910. none; 1911, 1%; 1912, 1%;
none Income Account, year ended Dec 31,1921.—Production, $68,953; other income, $1,253 —total income, $70,206. Deduct: Labor and general expenses, $26,969; well supplies, $11,010; New York expense, $6,078; depreciation and depletion. $14.833—total, $58,890). Net profits, $11,316; previous deficit, $66,092; dividends paid, $46,475—debit balance, Dec 31, 1921, $101,251. General Balance Sheet, Dec 31, 1921.—Capital stock. $422,500; accounts payable, $2,212; unpaid dividends, $746; reserve for depiction, $13,899; reserve for depreciation, $34,348—total, $473,705. Contra: Land, $263,676; wells, machinery and tools. $89,365; motor car and equipment, $9,033; cash, $9,179; bills receivable, $1,200; deficit, $101,252—total, $473,705. Officers: D. H. McConnell, Chrm. of Board & Pres., New York; W. H. Carey, V-P, Jersey City, N. J.; C. C. Bowles, V-P, Bakersfield, Cal.; A. D. Henderson, Sec. & Treas., New York; L. C. Bowles, Gen. Mgr. & Pur. Agt. Bakersfield, Cal.; W. J. Alley, Asst. Treas., Vauxhall, N. J. Directors: D. H. McConnell, A. D. Henderson, Suffern, N. Y.; W. H. Carey, Passaic, N. J.; M. C. G. Witte, Clinton, Conn.; C. C. Bowles, Bakersfield, Cal.; Garrett Terhune, Paterson, N. J.; Montague Douglas, Mrs. M. R. Fowler, New York; W. J. Alley, Vaux Hall, N. J. Annual Meeting, second Monday in April. General Office, 31 Park Place, New York. |
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On 27 January, 1926, it was announced in The Fresno Bee that the Mecca Oil Company would sell its twenty oil wells in the Kern River Field of Bakersfield, California for $155,000 to the Associated Oil Company. The sale was to be ratified at a meeting of the stockholders in Jersey City, New Jersey on 25 February, 1926.
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