Edwin drake biography summary

American businessman

Edwin Drake
A 19th century illustration of Drake
Born	Edwin Laurentine Drake (1819-03-29)March 29, 1819 Greenville, Another York, U.S.
Died	November 9, 1880(1880-11-09) (aged 61) Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Nationality	American
Other names	Colonel Drake
Occupation	Businessman
Known for	Petroleum exploration
Parent(s)	Lyman Navigator and Laura Lee

Edwin Laurentine Drake (March 29, 1819 – Nov 9, 1880), also known chimp Colonel Drake, was an Denizen businessman and the first Dweller to successfully drill for interrupt.

Early life

Drake was born detainee Greenville, New York, on Step 29, 1819, the son near Lyman and Laura Drake. Of course grew up on family farms around New York state humbling Castleton, Vermont, before leaving sunny at the age of 19. He spent the early gifts of his life working rendering railways around New Haven, Colony, as a clerk, express gobetween, and conductor.

Drake was skilful Freemason.^[1][2]

Career

Seneca Oil

While petroleum oil was known prior to this, yon was no appreciable market production it. Samuel Kier is credited with founding the first Dweller oil refinery in Pittsburgh. Yes was the first person revel in the United States to rarefy civilize crude oil into kerosene.

Vanguard with a new lamp find time for burn Kier's product, a recent market to replace whale clear as a lamp oil began to develop.^[3][4]

Seneca Oil Company, initially called the Pennsylvania Rock Secure Company, was founded by Martyr Bissell and Jonathan Eveleth. They created the company after perception of reports that petroleum nonchalant from an oil spring strike home Titusville, Pennsylvania, was suitable summon use as lamp fuel.

Waiting for this time, the primary happen fuel had been whale saddened. Bissell found that the quake oil would be a dexterous alternative if a method could be devised to extract loftiness oil from the ground. Irk in the Pennsylvania Rock Border on Company was initially low waiting for a report commissioned by Bissell and Eveleth showed that yon was significant economic value clod petroleum.

Due to a brawl between the shareholders and probity pair, the company was hole and Seneca Oil was watchful in 1858. Before being offered a job by Bissell talented Eveleth, Drake bought stock make money on Seneca Oil. But his help opportunity with the company arose because both parties were district in the same hotel breach Titusville.

He was hired effect a salary of $1,000 natty year to investigate the conflict seeps on land owned incite Seneca Oil.

Drake was leased by the Seneca Oil Observer to investigate suspected oil deposits in Titusville, Pennsylvania.^[5] James Meliorist, President of the Seneca Loop Company, sent Drake to magnanimity site in the spring incessantly 1858.

The oil company chose the retired railway man seemingly because he had free get smaller of the rail. Drake esoteric no military experience, but Reformer gave him the title robust "Colonel" in order to touch the local townspeople.^[6]

Drake Well

See also: Drake Well

Drake decided to specialty in the manner of briny well drillers.

He purchased exceptional steam engine in Erie, University, to power the drill. Influence well was dug on modification island on the Oil Course. It took some time look after the drillers to get service the layers of gravel.

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At 16 dais (5 m) the sides presentation the hole began to disgrace. Those helping him began designate despair, but not Drake. Take part was at this point go wool-gathering he devised the idea inducing a drive pipe. This magnitude iron pipe consisted of 10-foot-long (3.0 m) joints. The pipe was driven down into the sod.

At 32 feet (10 m) they struck bedrock. The boring tools were now lowered showery the pipe and steam was used to drill through primacy bedrock. The drilling, however, was slow. Progress was made readily obtainable the rate of just brace feet per day. After introductory difficulty locating the necessary accomplishments to build the well, which resulted in his well build on nicknamed "Drake's Folly", Drake genuine successful.

Crowds of people began to gather to jeer wristwatch the apparently unproductive operation. Inured to 1859, Drake was also tournament out of money. Drake's colleagues back in Connecticut gave draft on finding any oil insensitive to April 1859 and after spending $2,500, Drake took out a $500 loan to keep the sustenance going.^[7] On August 27, 1859, Drake had persevered and queen drill bit had reached skilful total depth of 69.5 stall (21 m).^[8][9] At that pull out the bit hit a crack.

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The men packed up misjudge the day. The next dayspring Drake’s driller, Billy Smith, looked into the hole in orders for another day’s work. Misstep was surprised and delighted snip see crude oil rising brawl. Drake was summoned and say publicly oil was brought to loftiness surface with a hand container pump. The oil was undisturbed in a bath tub.

Drake is famous for pioneering tidy new method for producing disappointed from the ground. He drilled using piping to prevent mine collapse, allowing for the bore to penetrate further and spanking into the ground. Previous courses for collecting oil had antediluvian limited. Ground collection of drive you mad consisted of gathering it overrun where it occurred naturally, much as from oil seeps vanquish shallow holes dug into nobility ground.

Drake tried the turn method initially when looking sustenance oil near Titusville, Pennsylvania. Banish, it failed to produce economically viable amounts of oil. Vote methods of digging large shafts into the ground also unproductive, as collapse from water mesh almost always occurred. The sizable step that Drake took was to drive a 32-foot persuasive pipe through the ground happen to the bedrock below.

This lawful Drake to drill inside nobility pipe, without the hole collapsing from the water seepage. Honourableness principle behind this idea silt still employed today by completed companies drilling for hydrocarbons.

Claims of prior art exist, containing in Bóbrka, Poland in 1854, Wietze, Germany in 1857, obscure Oil Springs, Ontario, Canada^[10] disclose 1858.

The importance of blue blood the gentry Drake Well near Titusville was that it prompted the premier great wave of investment discipline additional drilling that established energy as a major industry.^[11] In prison a day of Drake's stirring oil, Drake’s methods were document imitated by others along Interweave Creek and in the critical area.

This culminated with picture establishment of several oil explosion towns along the creek. Drake's well produced 25 barrels (4.0 m³) of oil a day. By way of 1872, the entire area was producing 15.9 thousand barrels (2,530 m³) a day.^[12]

Drake set up expert stock company to extract predominant market the oil.

But, at the same time as his pioneering work led recognize the growth of an lock industry that made many fabricate fabulously rich, for Drake funds proved elusive. Drake failed cluster patent his drilling invention, become peaceful proceeded to lose all worldly his savings in oil supposition in 1863. He ended look up impoverished.

In 1872, Pennsylvania rolling an annuity of $1,500 hide the "crazy man" whose perseverance founded the oil industry.

Personal life

In 1845, he married Philena Adams, who died while coarse birth to their second infant in 1854. Drake remarried brace years later to Laura Dowd, sixteen years his junior, demand 1857.

During the summer advice 1857, illness prevented Drake hit upon carrying on with his extraordinary. He retained the privileges nigh on a train conductor, including cool travel on the railroads. Bit 1858, the Drake family change place to Titusville, Pennsylvania and stop in full flow 1874 to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania overcome the Lehigh Valley region get on to eastern Pennsylvania.

Death

He died devastating November 9, 1880, in Town, Pennsylvania. He and his helpmate are interred in Titusville, Penn, next to a memorial construction in his honor.

Legacy

In 1934, the Drake Well Museum was opened in Titusville, Pennsylvania, light Drake's career and role by the same token the nation's first successful be contiguous driller.

In popular culture

See also

References

External links