Clough remembers the St. Elmo area oil boom

Norman Clough, who is 83 years old, has a very clear memory of the days that are referred to as the “Oil Boom” in the St. Elmo area.

When a reader recently requested a story on the “Magnolia Corner,” which is about five miles north at St. Elmo (County Roads 2050 East and 2450 North)  Clough consented to share his memories.
Some of those memories are personal, such as going to the Saturday night movies in St. Elmo in a 2-ton tank truck because of the muddy roads, and the interesting way the family’s business, the J.H. Clough Oil Field Contracting Service Inc., started on a shoestring with one truck.
The business grew and served the oil fields in various ways, contributing not only to the local businesses and companies, but also serving this nation by aiding the effort to get the needed oil products to our troops fighting in World War II.
Norman prepared for and served his country in a later war.
The Early Days
“We moved there in 1938 and I’m guessing Magnolia Corner started about 1939 or '40,” he said. “I was in grade school then.
“I graduated from Wright’s School, a one-room school located right behind Wright’s Store until they drilled two oil wells about 25 feet from it. The state came in and said, ‘Move it,’ so they moved Wright’s School about an eighth of a mile on the road that runs west of the store. Wright’s School dated back for years and years,” Norman said.
“My uncle and aunt Mize bought a farm west of what is called Wright’s Corner. They had a store there, about two miles (away). They operated that for about four or five years and then the store came up for sale.
“They were quite the small business people, so they decided to buy it … and moved off the farm. They started operating Wright’s Grocery Store about 1936 or ’37.
“Then, about the tail end of 1937 and 1938, they started moving in and investigating seismographic study for oil,” he said.
“Of course, my uncle and aunt owned the store, so they picked up quite a bit of  information from the geologists that came in.”
Cough’s Trucking Services Began
“My father, John Clough, bought the store from my aunt, and then my mother ran a restaurant in the basement. In fact, my mother made enough money in one week in the restaurant to buy a truck.
“A driver from Oklahoma who was 18 years old named Melvin Harris came in (the store). He said, ‘John, if you buy a truck, I’ll drive it and I’ll get some work.’
“So, mother’s money bought the first truck. Of course, he (John) was running the store. So that business was established in 1939; that’s when we started working in the oil fields.”
The business grew to include a road grader, tanker trucks, backhoe and wench truck, providing their services to the oil fields.
Norman worked for their company, and later, he employed men to drive the trucks. The J.H. Clough Oil Field Contracting Services Inc. grew not only in size and services, but also in reputation, becoming one of the well-known and respected names of the area.
Norman retired from the business, and Karen’s husband, Randy Laue, who had joined the firm, took over. After 60-plus years, they got out of the business in 2000.
St. Elmo and the oil fields were particularly important to the effort of World War II, and services like Clough trucking were a part of that effort.
Roads
“You have to remember, back then, there were hardly any roads in Loudon,” Norman said.
“There was many a time on Saturday night, in the early ’40s, that we would go to the show in St. Elmo,” Norman said. “We’re talking ’41 and ’42.
“If it rained, we would go in a truck. There were big problems back then with the roads, because the county and township kept them up, but they were developing the oil fields and every piece of equipment the oil field moved was heavy and would tear a road up in nothing flat.
“In particular, we went through a period of a lot of rain in the ’40s, and that rain and the heavy traffic pretty well rutted the roads.
“The only entertainment we had back then was the Elmo show in St. Elmo. The man that owned it back then in the ’40s was Mr. Dickson, and he was quite a businessman.”
Clough said his favorite movie star back then was Clark Gable, “He really impressed me in ‘Gone With The Wind,’ he said, “And I also liked Humphrey Bogart and George Raft.”
Some Personal History-Preparing to Serve
“I attended the University of Illinois after I graduated from St. Elmo High School,” he said. “I got my Air Force ROTC Commission. I was too young for World War II, just right for the Korean War, and having been commissioned. I was called up for service and served as historical officer and personal services officer with the Fourth Flight Interceptor in Korea. I got my tour of duty over there.
“While I was in service, Karen was born. I went into the service in May 1951, and Karen was born June 4, 1951,” Norman said.
“They let me come home for a seven-day pass. She was born one day, and I got to see her the next day,” he said. “I was stationed in Texas at Lackland Air Base, going through an indoctrination school,” he said.
“They let me go because they knew I was going to Korea, so they gave me a leave.”
Norman married Frances Evelyn Durbin. “Durbin School was named for her family,” Norman said. Frances died on March 17, 2009. Karen Laue is their only child, and she and her husband, Randy, have three children.
Following the service, he attended the U of I on the G.I. Bill.
“I got my MBA (master’s) degree in 1954, then I went to work for Laclede Gas Co. in St. Louis, then moved to a firm called So-High Petroleum. Then I decided I wanted to go into business for myself.”
So he went back home, and they kept the business in the family.
Remembering Magnolia Corner
“Magnolia Corner was a landmark,” Clough said. “ It was a very important point. If you (were giving directions) to the refinery, you would say, ‘Go out to Magnolia Corner, turn left and go west until you see …”
He recalled the name of the foreman, Carroll Fletcher, of Mobil at Magnolia Corner.
“Magnolia Corner’s yard is all fenced in, now,” he said. ”Just on the west side of it is where the house, the company house was,” indicating where the main road was.
He also  recalled the water tower. “They had two big leases,” he said, “They had a business place (office) there and an entertainment place. They had other facilities there, too. In the west end was a small warehouse, and the whole building had a platform where you could back a truck up to load pipe or unload something.
“The building was long, and you could store stuff in there, like oilfield operating equipment,” Norman said.
“It was a big operation. They worked around the clock at that time. They generally had three pumpers, or at least two, going. They were very productive,” he said.
Today
Norman has lived at Altamont Lutheran Care Center, since October 2010, and seems very content and settled.
A large glass aviary just off the dining area holds several small colorful birds, and he has a favorite one he has named, “Luther.”
He converses alertly and easily, speaks clearly, and has a wealth of memories he enjoys sharing with others.
 

Norman Clough

Norman Clough is shown in a photo taken at about the time his family moved to the Wright’s Corner area.