45
Williams in Canada was actually attempting to drill a water well during a drought in
September 1858, and struck free oil instead. Because he had been processing asphalt
from nearby seeps into lamp oil, he immediately recognized what he had and began
capturing it. The fact that his discovery was unintentional in no way diminishes
Williams’ status as the founder of the Canadian petroleum industry, for which he
was awarded two gold medals by the British Empire.
Drake, on the other hand, was almost a failure. Financial problems threatened
several times to shut down his operations, and only the slow delivery of mail back
in those days prevented him from receiving the cease and desist order from Seneca
Oil in Connecticut until after he had already secured a stopgap bank loan with the
help of Fletcher and Wilson (Brice 2009). By the time the letter arrived, Drake had
enough funding on hand to complete the well. He ignored Bissell and Eveleth and
finished the drilling. The finding of oil vindicated everything he had done, and created a great deal of excitement in the financial centers of New York and Boston.
People began to consider investing in petroleum, developing the industry and providing the capital needed to drill many more wells. A boom in oil began in northwestern Pennsylvania once word got out about Drake’s success. After the Civil War,
things took off in a big way for the oil business.
3.2 Spindletop, Gushers, and the Advent of Big Oil
Colonel Edwin Drake never made much money off oil drilling, or anything else for
that matter. He spent most of his life job-hopping and trying to make financial ends
meet, holding positions as varied as working on a lake steamer out of Buffalo, farming in Michigan, clerking in a hotel, selling merchandise in a New Haven dry goods
store, acting as an express agent for the Boston & Albany Railroad, and finally
working as a conductor on the New York & New Haven Railroad prior to becoming
an oil well driller (Brice 2009).
After the Titusville well was completed, Seneca Oil quickly shoved Drake aside
as the oil boom started. Drake ended up working for several years as a local Justice
of the Peace in Titusville and selling oil-leases on the side for additional income
while Seneca got in on the boom. In 1863 he moved his family to New York City to
try his hand at business.
That turned out to be disastrous. Edwin Drake lost nearly everything in less than
a year and his health was failing. In these days before any “social safety nets”
existed, the Drakes fell on very hard times and got by only with the support of
friends. Peter Wilson raised some funds for the family in Titusville from people who
were grateful for all the wealth that the ensuing oil boom had brought to the town.
However, by 1870 the 50-year old Drake was so incapacitated with what was called
“muscular neuralgia“that he could barely get around. Neuralgia is a type of nerve
pain that can have many causes, including shingles and diabetes.
Recognizing that he was unable to work and had a family to support, the
Pennsylvania State Legislature cleared their consciences in 1873 by granting Drake
3.2 Spindletop, Gushers, and the Advent of Big Oil
Williams in Canada was actually attempting to drill a water well during a drought in
September 1858, and struck free oil instead. Because he had been processing asphalt
from nearby seeps into lamp oil, he immediately recognized what he had and began
capturing it. The fact that his discovery was unintentional in no way diminishes
Williams’ status as the founder of the Canadian petroleum industry, for which he
was awarded two gold medals by the British Empire.
Drake, on the other hand, was almost a failure. Financial problems threatened
several times to shut down his operations, and only the slow delivery of mail back
in those days prevented him from receiving the cease and desist order from Seneca
Oil in Connecticut until after he had already secured a stopgap bank loan with the
help of Fletcher and Wilson (Brice 2009). By the time the letter arrived, Drake had
enough funding on hand to complete the well. He ignored Bissell and Eveleth and
finished the drilling. The finding of oil vindicated everything he had done, and created a great deal of excitement in the financial centers of New York and Boston.
People began to consider investing in petroleum, developing the industry and providing the capital needed to drill many more wells. A boom in oil began in northwestern Pennsylvania once word got out about Drake’s success. After the Civil War,
things took off in a big way for the oil business.
3.2 Spindletop, Gushers, and the Advent of Big Oil
Colonel Edwin Drake never made much money off oil drilling, or anything else for
that matter. He spent most of his life job-hopping and trying to make financial ends
meet, holding positions as varied as working on a lake steamer out of Buffalo, farming in Michigan, clerking in a hotel, selling merchandise in a New Haven dry goods
store, acting as an express agent for the Boston & Albany Railroad, and finally
working as a conductor on the New York & New Haven Railroad prior to becoming
an oil well driller (Brice 2009).
After the Titusville well was completed, Seneca Oil quickly shoved Drake aside
as the oil boom started. Drake ended up working for several years as a local Justice
of the Peace in Titusville and selling oil-leases on the side for additional income
while Seneca got in on the boom. In 1863 he moved his family to New York City to
try his hand at business.
That turned out to be disastrous. Edwin Drake lost nearly everything in less than
a year and his health was failing. In these days before any “social safety nets”
existed, the Drakes fell on very hard times and got by only with the support of
friends. Peter Wilson raised some funds for the family in Titusville from people who
were grateful for all the wealth that the ensuing oil boom had brought to the town.
However, by 1870 the 50-year old Drake was so incapacitated with what was called
“muscular neuralgia“that he could barely get around. Neuralgia is a type of nerve
pain that can have many causes, including shingles and diabetes.
Recognizing that he was unable to work and had a family to support, the
Pennsylvania State Legislature cleared their consciences in 1873 by granting Drake
3.2 Spindletop, Gushers, and the Advent of Big Oil