Stewart Well Drilling History Page

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A Bit of Our History.....

Water well drilling has been a part of our family since the early 1900s, when as a young boy, my wife's grandfather,Ulysses S. "Bud" Dean, Jr. began drilling water wells with his father, Ulysses S. Dean, Sr.

An old family photograph taken at the Turner Farm in Harlansburg (see below) shows young Bud standing alongside his father in front of a steam powered wooden drilling rig. Bud would continue drilling water wells into his adult life. In the 1960s, he hired a young man by the name of Elmer Stewart, Sr., my father, to work as his helper.

Ulysses S. Dean, Jr and his father in 1914. This picture was taken in Harlansburg at the C.H. Turner farm (facing south near present WPQHA/Scott Twp Firehall grounds)

The unit to the left is a steam engine used to power the drilling rig to the right. The drilling rig had a wooden mast with manila hemp rope. Modern day units utilize wire cable and have steel masts.

One may think that using the steam powered drilling rig took longer to drill a well, but it did not require much more time than our modern-day cable tool rig. Therefore, due to the stretching of the manila hemp rope, the drilling was completed in a more timely manner.

The wooden drilling rig is still present in our family.

Dean Drilling continued after Bud passed the family business onto his son, William W. Dean. William married Kathyrn Boyd in August 1968, the daughter of Joseph W. Boyd. Joseph was the son of Gareth A. Boyd, both of whom were involved in the plumbing industry in the little village of Princeton, just outside of New Castle, PA. Gareth .A. Boyd Plumbing was a major supplier of pumps for the water well industry in the Lawrence County area in the 1930s.

copy of old matchbox advertising from G. A. Boyd Plumbing in the 1930s

William was a physical education instructor in the Ellwood City School District by day and a water well drilling contractor by night. With a young family to raise and a growing business, William started drilling full-time in the early 1970s. Upon Joseph's retirement from the plumbing industry, William relocated Dean Drilling to Princeton and worked out of the former Gareth A. Boyd Plumbing shop location.

In 1992, William hired me as a subcontractor. I met my future wife, Beth Ann Dean, while I was working with her father. William and I worked alongside one another until he passed away in November 1996. Dean Drilling continued to operate for a few months after William's passing until the family decided to close the business and refer all work to Stewart Well Drilling. Stewart Well Drilling continues to operate from the Princeton location that was once home to Dean Drilling and the G.A. Boyd Plumbing businesses.

Beth Ann Dean and I were married in April 2000. We continue in the tradition of water well drilling by operating Stewart Well Drilling. In December of 2002, we had a son, William W. Stewart, who will hopefully one day carry on the family business.

Ulysses S. Dean, Jr. (left) and William W. Dean (right) relax a minute with their 1945 240 Star Drilling Rig mounted on a Dodge truck, which Ulysses S. Dean, Jr. purchased new after returning from World War II.

This picture was taken in front of Ulysses S. Dean, Jr.'s home at Dean Road, New Castle, PA. (late 1960s early 1970s)

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