Tough Tarbell Trivia

[Rob Wick]

Guess it's time to reveal the identity of this person. He is Tarbell's brother William, also called Will.

The clue about him helping Ida with her first scientific experiment came about when he was very young. Ida wrote in her autobiography that when the family lived in Roseville there was a creek that ran by their home. She noticed that things would float but some would sink so she decided to throw Will into the creek to see if he would float. The only thing that saved him was the fact that he was wearing a blouse which aired up and kept him afloat. His screams brought help to rescue him from the creek.

He took over for their father in 1905 when the father died and ran the family oil business for several years. He eventually became general manager of the Pure Oil Company until mental illness forced him to retire. For the rest of his life he suffered from mental illness quite likely bipolar disorder and possibly schizophrenia. He caused the Tarbell family all kinds of grief especially Ida who had to pay for many of the things that he did.

I put the picture up because this is the only picture I know of that shows him clearly. I found a photo in a anniversary issue of a Titusville newspaper but it wouldn't reproduce very well. While going through the Titusville newspaper for 1943 I found an article that the Elks Club of which will was a long time leader was donated a photo of him. Will had died in 1941 at the age of 80. I contacted the Titusville Elks and asked if they could get me a copy of the photo to be able to use in my book. This is what they sent.

Best
Rob