biography
| name: |
Bissell, George Henry
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1821–84)
|
| biography:
| Oilman and lawyer, born in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA. He studied at Dartmouth College, NH, settled in New Orleans (1864), and worked as a journalist and school administrator while studying law at Jefferson College. Ill health forced a return north and he was admitted to the New York bar in 1853. After seeing samples of petroleum from Oil Creek, PA, he and his law partner, J G Eveleth, formed the first oil company in the USA, the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Co (1854). A pioneer in boring for oil with the technique used for artesian wells (with ‘Colonel’ Edward Drake supervising the work on site), he became wealthy from his investments in oil-rich lands and spent his later years promoting the use of petroleum. |
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