Beman Gates Dawes was the founder of The Pure Oil Company and co-founder of The Dawes Arboretum. The evolution of the Pure Oil Company under his leadership is a fascinating story about an Ohio family business that invested its profits in nature. That land is still thriving almost 100 years later.
Petrolianas and history buffs alike will be thrilled to visit Dawes in Newark, Ohio, this year for their 2026 History Center exhibit: Fueling a Legacy: The Pure Oil Company and Beman Dawes.
It focuses on the history of The Pure Oil Company, where the company stands today, its local impact and how Beman’s funds from The Pure Oil Company were used to create and sustain The Dawes Arboretum, a now nearly 2,000-acre property.
Beman Dawes’ Oil Business
Beman Dawes’ began in the oil business in 1899. Before that, he had a coal business in Nebraska and a public utility business in Arkansas and Michigan. Then, Dawes returned to his home state: Ohio.
Fourteen years later, Dawes and his business partner, Fletcher Heath, were recruited to revive the public utility company, Columbus Gas & Fuel Company. Dawes was elected President the following year and acquired small gas distributing properties and independent oil companies. This brought together The Ohio Cities Gas Company, a public utility supplying oil and natural gas to Columbus and Springfield.
To show the company’s shift from natural gas to oil, after an oil strike in West Virginia, The Ohio Cities Gas Company was renamed The Pure Oil Company in 1920, which is the name petrolianas have grown to know and love today.
The company was successful, according to the company’s monthly newsletter in April 1964. The Pure Oil News, read, “Beman Dawes restless energy was coupled with a keen business imagination. He used the force of persuasiveness of his colorful personality to the fullest degree in putting together business deals. He was an entrepreneur, and he got his young company off to a fast start: In its fourth year the profits topped $12.5 million!”
Annual Company Picnics
Dawes shared his success with his employees by inviting them and their families to his Daweswood Farm every July for company picnics. In 1920, nearly 400 people attended the first picnic and by 1928, almost 2,000 members of the Pure Oil Family gathered at his farm in Newark.
The picnics were festive events where everyone gathered to relax, play games, dance and compete in contests. Children and adults alike competed for prizes in games such as “kitten ball,” rolling pin throwing, chicken races and tug-of-war. Guests also enjoyed watching the farm animals and younger children rode ponies.
They had live music and danced. Guests brought their own picnic lunches and the company provided lemonade, soft drinks and coffee. They also enjoyed Daweswood cream, ice cream and peanuts.
The Arboretum will be hosting a community picnic on July 12, 2026, to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, The Year of History at Dawes and to commemorate the picnics that our co-founder held for the Pure Oil Family over a century ago. This free event will feature many activities held in century’s past and will create a community for anyone who attends.
The Birth of The Dawes Arboretum
In 1889, Dawes worked for his father at the Dawes Lumber Company and grew to love the trees he was harvesting. In a 1954 newspaper interview he said, “I soon was noticing every tree I encountered – and developing a respect for ones that I knew had been growing for years and years. It got so I hated to see these giants cut down.”
Dawes bought neighboring farmland surrounding his Daweswood property for decades. Transforming the farm into The Arboretum took a large financial investment, which culminated in the dedication of The Dawes Arboretum in 1929. He used the wealth from The Pure Oil Company to curate The Arboretum. It’s still sustained today by The Arboretum's endowment that he and co-founder Bertie Dawes, his wife, created.