This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: photo66666 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.pennsylvania.counties.washington/3924.1.1.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: All these small oil companys have a connection to Gulf Oil started by the Mellon family. This goes back to Francis Preston Blair and his wife Violet Gist who was the granddaughter of Christopher Gist. Christopher Gist lived just south of Stuarts Crossing near Uniontown. It was Francis Preston Blair who nominated explorer John C Fremont from California. The problem was, John C Fremont, a Catholic, was so anti slavery that even Abraham Lincoln didn't like him. So Abraham Lincoln skipped the Pittsburgh Republican convention of Feb 1856. Of course Thomas Mellon was close friends with the Lincolns and was recorded as such by writer David McCullough in his book The Johnstown Flood. I have spent years researching the Myers, Gist and Gratz families of Ft Myers in Lee County Florida. They were the main suppliers of the Lewis and Clark Expedition out of Pittsburgh in 1803. My family is buried in the Lewis and Clark Cemetery Lot at Versailles Cemetery in McKeesport. It's lot D32. So now it just what you want to believe. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.