Joseph Seep Home

Joseph Seep emigrated from Germany with his family in 1849 when he was eleven years old and moved to Titusville in 1869. He entered the oil business with a firm that was almost immediately absorbed by the Standard Oil Company, then established the Joseph Seep Purchasing Agency, which became the sole purchaser of oil for Standard Oil Company. Through his involvement in several financial institutions and industries, he became a very successful businessman. He was regarded as well-respected, fair, and friendly, and as an asset to the area. According to The Derrick's Handbook of Petroleum, 1898, "The amount of money that Mr. Seep has distributed...would seem like an Arabian fable." Deeply involved with his church, he served as choir director for years and offered his home for church gatherings. He purchased, improved, and donated the land for Saint Catharine's Cemetery near Hydetown, and the statue of Saint Catharine was commissioned in memory of his wife, Catharine Hillenmeyer. His original twenty-five room residence took more than two years to build, was completed in 1892, accommodated the Seeps' eleven children, and was demolished in 1937.

Titusville, Pennsylvania · United States