42
lantern by Thomas Edison’s electric light a few decades later caused little harm to
the petroleum industry because by then, many other uses for rock oil had been
found. In fact, the most prominent use of Dr. Gesner’s kerosene product these days
is for jet fuel.
The Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company was also producing medicinal petroleum
in the mid-nineteenth century in northwestern PA near the town of Titusville in
Venango County. Their oil source was collected from natural seeps along a stream
aptly named Oil Creek. Two Connecticut businessmen named George Bissell and
Jonathan Eveleth had purchased a farm along Oil Creek for $5000 after the farmer,
Francis Brewer, sent a sample of oil from the seep to Dartmouth College for analysis (McKithan 1978). Bissell and Eveleth created the Pennsylvania Rock Oil
Company as a New York corporation in 1854, transferred the Brewer farm to the
company, and began making medicine.
A former conductor for the New York and New Haven Railroad named Edwin
Drake had befriended Bissell in New York and invested $200 of his own savings
into the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company. Drake had retired from the railroad for
health reasons, but Bissell and Eveleth needed someone to travel into the western
Pennsylvania “wilderness” to assess their new oil prospect. As a retired conductor,
Drake could ride the rails for free, saving the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company
substantial travel costs (Brice 2009). Bissell and Eveleth persuaded him to travel to
Titusville, Pennsylvania in December 1857 and visit the Brewer farm (Harper
1998). Drake reported back that substantial amounts of oil appeared to be recoverable from the site.
It is unclear who actually came up with the idea of drilling a well to produce oil
from the ground. At this point, Samuel Kier was actively refining petroleum into
kerosene in Pittsburgh and creating new markets for oil, but it is not known if Drake
and his partners were aware of this, although many historians suspect they were.
The growing kerosene lamp business certainly would have provided the justification
for drilling a well instead of just scraping up oil from a seep for medicine. Some
stories suggest that George Bissell was seeking shelter under an awning in New York
City on a hot summer day, and saw one of Kier’s “Rock Oil” flyers in a drug store
window that featured the derrick of a brine well (Brice 2009). In any case, Bissell
and Eveleth placed Drake in charge of producing petroleum from the Titusville site,
and he is credited with developing the idea of drilling for oil.
Seeking to avoid taxes and maximize profits, Bissell and Eveleth, along with
some additional investors reorganized the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company into
Seneca Oil Company in 1858 as a New Haven, Connecticut based corporation. Part
of their scheme to promote the Oil Creek drilling project included sending mail to
the hotel in Titusville addressed to one “Colonel Edwin Drake.” Although he had
never actually been a military officer, the title stuck and “Colonel Drake” found that
it commanded more respect and attention from the locals than plain old “Mr. Drake”
would ever have gotten. In 1959 on the centennial of his oil discovery in Titusville,
the Pennsylvania State Legislature posthumously appointed Drake as a Colonel in
the Pennsylvania National Guard, and his title became official. (Brice 2009).
3 The History of Oil & Gas Development in the U.S.
lantern by Thomas Edison’s electric light a few decades later caused little harm to
the petroleum industry because by then, many other uses for rock oil had been
found. In fact, the most prominent use of Dr. Gesner’s kerosene product these days
is for jet fuel.
The Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company was also producing medicinal petroleum
in the mid-nineteenth century in northwestern PA near the town of Titusville in
Venango County. Their oil source was collected from natural seeps along a stream
aptly named Oil Creek. Two Connecticut businessmen named George Bissell and
Jonathan Eveleth had purchased a farm along Oil Creek for $5000 after the farmer,
Francis Brewer, sent a sample of oil from the seep to Dartmouth College for analysis (McKithan 1978). Bissell and Eveleth created the Pennsylvania Rock Oil
Company as a New York corporation in 1854, transferred the Brewer farm to the
company, and began making medicine.
A former conductor for the New York and New Haven Railroad named Edwin
Drake had befriended Bissell in New York and invested $200 of his own savings
into the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company. Drake had retired from the railroad for
health reasons, but Bissell and Eveleth needed someone to travel into the western
Pennsylvania “wilderness” to assess their new oil prospect. As a retired conductor,
Drake could ride the rails for free, saving the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company
substantial travel costs (Brice 2009). Bissell and Eveleth persuaded him to travel to
Titusville, Pennsylvania in December 1857 and visit the Brewer farm (Harper
1998). Drake reported back that substantial amounts of oil appeared to be recoverable from the site.
It is unclear who actually came up with the idea of drilling a well to produce oil
from the ground. At this point, Samuel Kier was actively refining petroleum into
kerosene in Pittsburgh and creating new markets for oil, but it is not known if Drake
and his partners were aware of this, although many historians suspect they were.
The growing kerosene lamp business certainly would have provided the justification
for drilling a well instead of just scraping up oil from a seep for medicine. Some
stories suggest that George Bissell was seeking shelter under an awning in New York
City on a hot summer day, and saw one of Kier’s “Rock Oil” flyers in a drug store
window that featured the derrick of a brine well (Brice 2009). In any case, Bissell
and Eveleth placed Drake in charge of producing petroleum from the Titusville site,
and he is credited with developing the idea of drilling for oil.
Seeking to avoid taxes and maximize profits, Bissell and Eveleth, along with
some additional investors reorganized the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company into
Seneca Oil Company in 1858 as a New Haven, Connecticut based corporation. Part
of their scheme to promote the Oil Creek drilling project included sending mail to
the hotel in Titusville addressed to one “Colonel Edwin Drake.” Although he had
never actually been a military officer, the title stuck and “Colonel Drake” found that
it commanded more respect and attention from the locals than plain old “Mr. Drake”
would ever have gotten. In 1959 on the centennial of his oil discovery in Titusville,
the Pennsylvania State Legislature posthumously appointed Drake as a Colonel in
the Pennsylvania National Guard, and his title became official. (Brice 2009).
3 The History of Oil & Gas Development in the U.S.