![]() In the 1850s, new types of machinery being produced increasingly needed oil for lubrication. The problem with collecting oil in that manner was that even productive areas didn’t yield large amounts of oil. Drake, a career railroad conductor who devised a way to drill a practical oil well.īefore Drake sank his first well in Titusville, Pennsylvania, people around the world had gathered oil for centuries around “seeps,” places where oil naturally rose to the surface and came out of the ground. Drake was buried in Bethlehem, but in 1901 his body was moved to the Woodlawn Cemetery in Titusville, Pennsylvania, where a wonderful monument honors his memory.The history of the oil business as we know it began in 1859 in Pennsylvania, thanks to Edwin L. He lived out his final years in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where he died on November 8, 1880.Įdwin L. In 1876, the Pennsylvania State Legislature granted him an annuity of $1500.00. People from the Titusville area took up a collection for him. A year later, he lost most of his life savings due to speculative oil stock investments in New York City.ĭrake was a drifter for many years. In 1859, one barrel of oil sold for twenty dollars, two years later a barrel was selling for fifty-two cents! The market was so volatile that by 1862, Drake and his partners left the business. To further compound matters, the ever-increasing supply of oil drove prices down. He failed to patent his drilling invention - pipe casing for the bore hole, which would have likely netted him a small fortune. Drake himself made no fortune from the industry that he was so instrumental in creating. Within a few short months, oil fields were springing up across the north-western Pennsylvania country-side and the Petroleum Industry was born.ĭrake's lack of business sense eventually overtook him. Drake had succeeded in drilling the first oil well. It produced between eight and ten barrels of crude oil per day, although some accounts claim as much as twenty. On August 27, 1859, Drake hit "pay dirt!" The well was only 69-1/2 feet deep, shallow by today's standards. View of the oil fields near Titusville, Pennsylvania As the shaft went deeper, the pipe was driven lower and lower. ![]() To prevent the sides of the shaft from collapsing, he drove iron pipes into the shaft and lowered the drill bit inside the pipe. He used an old steam engine to power the drilling rig. In the spring of 1859, he erected the derrick and started to drill for oil. He spent the better part of a year - from 1858 through the early part of 1859, raising the needed capital and procuring and building the equipment needed to drill. In March of 1858, the Seneca Oil Company was formed with Drake named as general agent. Drilling was successful in other ventures - fresh and saltwater wells - why not for oil? They then turned their efforts to drilling. ![]() Digging large pits demanded a lot of resources and were plagued by ground water and cave-ins. This method proved to be very costly and time consuming. Drake was dispatched to Pennsylvania in 1858 and got to work. The company entertained the idea of digging for oil. In 1857, the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company was searching for an alternative to whale oil, which was becoming scarce and quite expensive. A benefit of his railroad affiliation - free train travel - would eventually take him to Titusville, Pennsylvania.ĭrake Well, Titusville, Pennsylvania, August 27, 1859 From 1849 through 1857 he worked as a conductor on the New York & New Haven Railroad. After leaving the family farm at the age of 19, Drake held a variety of jobs across the midwest and eastern United States. Edwin Laurentine Drake was born in Greenville, Greene County, New York on March 29, 1819.
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