Renwick P. Ralston, one of the successful oil men of Butler county, whose present income from that industry, can hardly be estimated, is a native of Butler county. He was born in Towanda township, October 22, 1888, and is a son of J. R. and Ida (Bennet) Ralston, natives of Ohio, and Butler county pioneers. They came to this county in 1869, and homesteaded a quarter section of land in Towanda township. The father served in the Union army through the Civil war, and is now one of the substantial citizens and honored pioneer settlers of Butler county, and has been a successful farmer and stock raiser.

Renwick P. Ralston grew to manhood on the home farm and was educated in the Towanda schools, and the Brumback Academy at El Dorado, and has been successfully engaged in farming and stock raising. He was one of the first to become interested in the oil and gas development of Butler county in 1914, and drilling was commenced on his first well in the latter part of November, and at a depth of 1,450 feet, gas was found in abundance. In the spring of 1915, two more wells were drilled on his place, both of which were good gas producers, and another well followed which was also a good gasser. On October 20, 1915, the fourth well was begun, and at a depth of 2,369 feet, a great oil well was struck, which, at first, flowed 2,200 barrels daily, which gradually settled down to a steady flow of 1,500 barrels a day, and he now has five producing wells, and more wells are being drilled on his place, all of which bids fair to be the richest section of the great Augusta oil field. He also has good prospective oil land in the vicinity of El Dorado and is interested in other oil property in this field.

Mr. Ralston was united in marriage January 31, 1912, to Miss Margaret L. Loncer, of Towanda. She is a daughter of Augustus and Mary (Yurgenson) Loncer, the former a native of Indiana, and of German descent, and the latter of Pennsylvania, and of Danish ancestry. Augustus Loncer came to Towanda in 1884, and engaged in the drug business, and also the general mercantile business. He was a successful man of affairs and a large land owner. He was one of the organizers of the Towanda State Bank, and was vice-president of that institution for a number of years. He died June 18, 1908, and his widow now resides with her daughter, Mrs. Ralston.

Mr. Ralston is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and since his boyhood, has showed marked business ability. His success in the oil

business is in thorough keeping with his business career and the logical outcome of well directed capabilities, and an inherent ability to make the best of opportunities as they present themselves.

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