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Permalink Reply by 0ym9x5ag7ury2 on October 12, 2015 at 4:23am

W A Ladd,

      Hopefully you are just retiring and not going on to your reward just yet.

If that's the case, if you find spare time on your hands, you could start a letter writing campaign to state and federal officials to even the playing field for landowners in the Oil & Gas Co's vs Landowner game. This will help correct any unfair dealings you might be aware of, that you are handing over to you heirs.

Also if you noticed your royalties were somewhat smaller than what your lease called for, you can expose what is going on in your area and around the Appalachian Basin by getting the word out to others and the news media, who will eventually write a story on the fraud being perpetrated on US landowners.

It would be nice to talk about the new truck, my winter home in the South, Well output numbers and huge royalty, but my producers ceo has horded my potential riches, so I prefer to talk about the truth of the matter, un-sugar coated.

Good luck in your future endeavors, whatever they may be.

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Permalink Reply by william Allen. Ladd on October 12, 2015 at 6:15am

Hi Ron Hale, Hopefully I have a few weeks left. I am about six weeks short of being 81 years old.

My family roots in this are go back to  the early 1800's. In fact my earliest Grandfather, Ayres Tuttle, was the first permanent settler in the Westfield Pa. area. His Grandson, my Great Grandfather, bought the property I am living on from the Bingham Estate who was given a land grant from the king of England.  So you see my roots go very deep here. It no doubt a tremendous struggle for these early settlers to clear the land, fight off the early Indians and in late years the tax collector and land speculators.

Now that unforeseen riches have been discovered under the surface in the area, these families are being pressured to hand over these lands!

My wife and I like to explore the back roads in the area. We often see abandoned farms and houses. Previous generations were often unable to make a reasonable living and their offspring were not willing to buckle down to offer a hand during really tough times. And so they left their homes not realizing just what they have just thrown away. All they have left are great memories and very often huge debts.....And maybe even kids on drugs or in trouble with the law.

And it does not have to be that way!

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Permalink Reply by 0ym9x5ag7ury2 on October 13, 2015 at 5:34am

William,

     My ancestors were on the 1650 ship from Wales England and no doubt ran into your ancestors as they did Daniel Boone when Thomas Hale settled in VA at Turtle Creek which is now the Roanoke River heading South out of Roanoke VA. Thomas was a Captain in the VA Militia and his Son John was given an officers commission by Thomas Jefferson. They fought the Indians at Point Pleasant and other skirmishes along the Ohio River in after 1776.

You might draw on that "Pioneering Spirit" to become proactive in helping the next generation get a fair share in the Oil & Gas riches that O&G Co's are fraudulently taking from all of us.

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Permalink Reply by william Allen. Ladd on October 13, 2015 at 6:24am

Well Ron,

Not too sure about my son as he is dealing with the problems of hormones. A bad, or rather call it an unfortunate, choice of a life mate has caused a snag, so to speak in moving forward. But his nine year old son, "Little Will", seems to have it all figured out. "Will" seems to have developed the same kind of love for this bit of dirt that I did so many years ago. The electronic age, IE. computers, cellphones and stupid games on them, may be a great invention and very educational. But they are also very addicting like the drugs so many young folks have become addicted to.

 The world that you and I grew up is  completely different then the world that today's youngsters are faced with. Billy Joe has a great job! And he is not the kind of person to jump from job to job.  Right now he is in a relationship that seem to be permanent.

Both Billy and "Little Will" are encouraged to have "input" in the gas and oil and pipeline leasing we are dealing with. Say like where that pipeline might be allow to go on the property.

I encourage everyone who reads these postings, especially landowners who have a history concerning their property to post something about their land....say like a favorite area for hunting or family picnics.

And do not worry about misspellings or punctuation. These will improve with use!

Bill L.

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