John Washington Steele

Who was John Washington Steele?

John Washington Steele, also known as Coal Oil Johnny, was one of the first oil millionaires acquiring their wealth from the oil discovered in Pennsylvania in the mid-19th century. In 1864, soon after wealth came to him through inheritance from the McClintocks' oil, the orphan John Steele left the farm which he had inherited from his foster or adoptive family, the McClintocks, and began a lavish and picturesque life, rapidly spending his way through his fortune. He was often seen in Philadelphia riding in his carriage with "the picture of an oil derrick, an oil tank, and a flowing well" painted on its doors. Steele eventually sold his farm to William H. Wickham. In 1862, he married Eleanor J. Moffett, who survived him by six years. After his lavish life-style, Steele fell into bankruptcy. He shuffled around, moving to the Mid-West, eventually becoming a railroad station agent. According to his autobiography, written in 1901, after his fall he was hounded by the public and the press and became a recluse to avoid them.