Profiles

Born in Ireland in 1842, John Joyce Carter moved to the United States with his sister following the death of their parents.

Carter, a highly decorated Civil War hero, achieving the rank of captain for the Union Army. As a calvary officer, he was involved in the battles Antietam, Williamsburg, Mechanicsville, Golding’s Farm, Fredericksburg, and Marye’s Heights/Salem Church. He was also involved in engagements with the Army of West Virginia at Upperville, Snickersville, New Market, Winchester, and Waynesboro. At the end of his military service, Carter married Emma Gibbs in June, 1866. The couple moved to Titusville, Pennsylvania, and opened a clothing store. A successful oil-drilling investment in 1877, enabled Carter to continue to invest in the oil industry and buy oil property.

Carter Oil Company was acquired by Standard Oil. Carter stayed on as president of the company, a role in which Carter was responsible for making inspection trips and reporting on favorable oil prospects for Standard Oil. Carter Oil became known as a leader in the oil industry in exploration processes, drilling methods, production and refining techniques.

After Carter Oil’s operations in Sistersville became quite lucrative, the Eastern Division of the company expanded its holdings until it became one of the largest oil producers in West Virginia, with operations in multiple counties—Wetzel, Tyler, Pleasants, Ritchie, Doddridge, Roane, Jackson, Lincoln, Calhoun, and Kanawha. Carter saw the potential of the automobile industry to impact the oil industry through the production of gasoline. As a result, he built the Anschutz gasoline plant in Sistersville, West Virginia, in 1910. The plant was the largest in the world, and the first of 30 plants the Carter Oil Company would construct in West Virginia and Ohio.

In the early 1960s, the Carter Oil Company merged with Humble Oil and Esso to become Exxon. Exxon would later merge with Mobil, and is now called ExxonMobil.