Early History of the Ownership of the Wiley and Towsley Petroleum Mining Claims

Both original Notice of Location of Mining Claims were first recorded in Book A of the Los Angeles Asphaltum and Petroleum Mining District records on March 18th, 1865. Then they were recorded in the Miscellaneous Records of the Los Angeles County Recorders Office on June 9th, 1865.

The individuals involved were Henry C. Wiley, Darius Towsley, Myron E. Everts, Sylphina Rushmore, Samuel B. Caswell, Mary L. Ellis, John F. Ellis (husband of Mary L.), W.P. Davis, Joseph Wiley (Henry Wiley's son), Charles N. Felton (co-founder of the Pacific Coast Oil Company, which would obtain the Wiley claim from Felton), Caleb and Abigail Ellis (parents of John F., who died in 1877), and Charles J. Ellis (no relation to the other Ellises).

Those involved with just the right to collect oil were Louis Jaszynsky (spelling varies), A.E. Nichols, Charles R. Stony, James M. Mitchell, Ira P. Rankin, Benjamin E. Babcock, Joseph S. Paxson, Richard Paxson, R. J. Van Dewater, R.A. Swain, A. Rushmore, Lewis Cunningham, F. de Long, and W.M. Rockwell.

The fractions are the amount of the claim each person owned at that time. For example, 1/4 means that the individual owned a quarter interest in the claim. 4/4 means the individual owned the whole claim. Some of the records can be viewed by clicking on the ones with hyperlinks (those with a different color then black).

Wiley Mining Claim

Towsley Mining Claim