There's Oil in Them Thar Hills ...... Or The Elusive Frank M. Nevins 1866 - ??

This is a story with a surprise.  Consider it a hidden Easter egg treat.  Francis Matthew Nevins was born in 1866, presumable in Cattaraugus County NY, first known child of John and Julia (Fisher) Nevins.  Our great  grandfather Henry Nevins was born a few years later.  Henry's story is well known, but Frank's (as he was apparently known) is not.  In fact, I have not yet been able to find a death record for him. 

It was in my renewed search for a death record that I was able to confirm that Frank spent a good number of years in and around Coalinga California where he listed himself as an oil driller.
In fact, it appears he was much more than that.  Newspaper articles seem to indicate he was an officer of the Coalinga Hub Oil Company.  I don't pretend to know anything about oil drilling or mineral mining, but further searching on my friend Google brought up at least 3 different references to Frank M. Nevins filing for and receiving patents on a shoe for well casings (1912); perforation cleaner (1919); and sucker rod (1924).  These are apparently all related to drilling and/or mining.  Did you imagine we had an inventor up the line in our tree???

This is a "mystery" picture from the Nevins collection that I believe probably has Frank included.  Perhaps some Nevins' took a trip west to visit Frank.  I believe he did spend some time living in Colorado, but if this was taken in 1916, it would appear from the dates of the inventions that Frank lived in California at the time. 

BONUS (for me):  As I was writing this post, I searched for some interesting links to include and came across a copy of a map of the Coalinga Hub Oil Company for sale ..... which, of course, I purchased.  Happy Easter to me.