39
In 1848, Samuel Kier’s wife (or by some accounts, the wife of a friend) developed tuberculosis. The doctor prescribed “American Medicinal Oil” as a cure,
which was produced as a byproduct from a brine well in Kentucky (Miller 1974).
The woman’s health apparently improved, and Kier quickly realized that this socalled medicinal oil was essentially the same material he had been disposing of for
years as a contaminant in his saltwater wells.
Kier decided to market the oil recovered from his wells as a stand-alone product,
and in 1852 he launched “Kier’s Genuine Petroleum, or Rock Oil” as a cure-all
(Fig. 3.2). Like many patent medicines of the time, it boasted wildly preposterous
claims of “clearing the chest, wind-pipe and lungs,” along with curing diarrhea,
Fig. 3.2 Advertisement from the 1850s for Kier’s Genuine Petroleum as a patent medicine that
supposedly cured nearly everything. (Source: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission,
Drake Well Museum)
3 The History of Oil & Gas Development in the U.S.
In 1848, Samuel Kier’s wife (or by some accounts, the wife of a friend) developed tuberculosis. The doctor prescribed “American Medicinal Oil” as a cure,
which was produced as a byproduct from a brine well in Kentucky (Miller 1974).
The woman’s health apparently improved, and Kier quickly realized that this socalled medicinal oil was essentially the same material he had been disposing of for
years as a contaminant in his saltwater wells.
Kier decided to market the oil recovered from his wells as a stand-alone product,
and in 1852 he launched “Kier’s Genuine Petroleum, or Rock Oil” as a cure-all
(Fig. 3.2). Like many patent medicines of the time, it boasted wildly preposterous
claims of “clearing the chest, wind-pipe and lungs,” along with curing diarrhea,
Fig. 3.2 Advertisement from the 1850s for Kier’s Genuine Petroleum as a patent medicine that
supposedly cured nearly everything. (Source: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission,
Drake Well Museum)
3 The History of Oil & Gas Development in the U.S.