Henry R. Gwaltney

Henry was born in Mill Shoals Township, White County, Illinois.  He grew up on a farm and graduated from Fairfield High School.  He attended Southern Illinois Normal College for one year.  He also worked various jobs before getting his start in the oil business working for the Hudson Hess Drilling Company in the Big Mounds field southwest of Fairfield in 1939.  Henry worked for Hudson Hess for ten and a half years as a laborer, roughneck, mechanic’s helper, master mechanic, driller, and supervisor.

When Hudson Hess was forced to sell their drilling rig, Henry along with friend Myrel Eidson bought the rig and started the Eidson Gwaltney Drilling Company in 1950.  When the drilling company and its production was liquidated three and a half years later, Henry ended up with drilling rig and Myrel the oil production and the Gwaltney Drilling Company was formed.  Henry remains active in the operations of Gwaltney Drilling Company to this day. 

Henry decided to get into the natural gas distribution business by processing the gas produced from the Plainville field and piping it to customers in Plainville.  He later piped up several small communities in southern Indiana.  He purchased the Midwest Gas Company with operations in Austin, Indiana in 1962 and later Peoples Gas Company which served customers in Bloomfield, Switz City, and Lyons, Indiana.

In addition to the titles mentioned above, Henry Gwaltney is an entrepreneur, community supporter, author, and philanthropist.  However he often refers to himself as a “Lucky Roughneck”.