Harper's New Monthly Magazine Volume 34 December 1886 to May 1887 . tson, and Co. The specimenwas shown to Professor Crosby of Dart-mouth, who in turn exhibited it a fewweeks later to George H. Bissell, a NewYork lawyer, then on a visit to his almamater. Investigation followed, and onthe lOtli of November, Brewer, Watson,and Co. deeded to Eveleth and Bissellone hundred and five acres of land, andon December 30, 1854, the Oil Company was organized,with anominal capital of $250,000, divided into^10,000 shares of $25 each. This was the-first petroleum company ever
Harper's New Monthly Magazine Volume 34 December 1886 to May 1887 . tson, and Co. The specimenwas shown to Professor Crosby of Dart-mouth, who in turn exhibited it a fewweeks later to George H. Bissell, a NewYork lawyer, then on a visit to his almamater. Investigation followed, and onthe lOtli of November, Brewer, Watson,and Co. deeded to Eveleth and Bissellone hundred and five acres of land, andon December 30, 1854, the Oil Company was organized,with anominal capital of $250,000, divided into^10,000 shares of $25 each. This was the-first petroleum company ever B. Silliman, Jr., the Yale chem-ist, was engaged to exhaustively test andreport upon the petroleum, which he final-ly did April 16, 1855. His report was sin-gularly correct in his estimate of its utili-ty, and in his forecast of the proper methodof refining it. Owing to various compli-cations and dissensions among the stock-holders, the property was finally leased totlie Seneca Oil Company, a Connecticut-corporation owned in New Haven. A LAMPFUL OF OIL. 237. COLONEL E. L. DRAKE. Things moved slowly. Finally, in 1857,E. L. Drake, by courtesy Colonel, whohad been consecutively dry-goods clerk, ex-press agent, and railroad conductor, wassent out to the property to examine andreport. He returned full of next year Drake again departed forthe promised laml,determined to bore awell, as had been done for salt. Beginningto drill in the early summer of 1858, his la-bors were interrupted, and again resumed,and on August 28, 1859, at a depth of six-ty-nine and a half feet, he struck was a red-letter day in the annals ofOildom, as it marks the first deliberatestep in the petroleum industry. It willbe noted that the parties in interest, whilenever abandoning their undertaking, wereunconscious of the great mine of wealthwhich lay beneath their property. Theyactually occupied nearly five years, fromthe date of their purchase, in drilling a holesixty-nine and a hal
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