He was an American petroleum engineer, credited with
drilling the first productive oil well in the United States. Born in
Greenville, New York, Drake held many different jobs as a young man, including
railway conductor, steamboat employee, and hotel clerk. He became interested in
oil after investing $200 in the stock of the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company,
which was formed in 1854 to exploit oil resources in northwestern Pennsylvania.
At the time, oil was often used for its presumed medicinal
properties. Techniques for tapping underground oil were so undeveloped that it
was primarily gathered as ground seepage, a method used by Pennsylvania Rock
Oil. Drake was convinced, however, that he could collect oil in far larger
quantities by drilling for it as others drilled for brine, a natural
combination of water with a high salt content. He studied brine drilling and
set off to Titusville, Pennsylvania.
Drake leased the land at Titusville that he thought most
likely to produce oil. He worked for months to bring together the equipment and
operators he needed, in the meantime enduring ridicule from local people who
scorned his enterprise as “Drake’s Folly.” The actual drilling began in June
1859. One of Drake’s innovations in the procedure was a device used to sink a
pipe casing down to bedrock in order to protect the drill from sand and clay
and the well from water seepage. After weeks of drilling, Drake and his team
reached a depth of 21 m (69 ft), where they struck oil. The initial yield was
40 barrels a day.
An ineffective businessman, Drake did not patent his methods
for petroleum drilling, and he lost his operating capital by making bad
investments in later oil operations. He survived during the last years of his
life on a pension granted by the Pennsylvania legislature.
(Adapted from Encarta Encyclopedia)