Background
George Bissell was born on November 8, 1821, at Hanover, New Hampshire, United States, the son of Isaac and Nina (Wempe) Bissell, of Norman and Belgian descent, respectively.
George Bissell was born on November 8, 1821, at Hanover, New Hampshire, United States, the son of Isaac and Nina (Wempe) Bissell, of Norman and Belgian descent, respectively.
George attended the military school at Norwich, Vt. , the Kimball Union Academy at Meriden, New Hampshire, and Dartmouth College, where he was graduated in 1845. Later he also studied law and graduated LL. B. from Jefferson College.
For a short time Bissell was professor of languages at the University of Norwich but soon resigned to go to Washington, D. C. , as correspondent for the Richmond Whig. He then spent a short time in Cuba before going to New Orleans, where he was on the editorial staff of the New Orleans Delta. In 1846 he was elected first principal of the new high school and later became superintendent of the New Orleans schools. Because of ill health he was compelled to return north, going to New York City, where he was admitted to the bar and began the practise of law in partnership with J. G. Eveleth.
While on a visit to Dartmouth College his attention was drawn to a sample of petroleum from the Oil Creek region, Pennsylvania, which so interested him that he sent his partner to investigate the source. Finding a ready demand for petroleum, the bulk of which was then used for medicinal purposes, Bissell and Eveleth bought and leased 200 acres of oil lands for $5, 000 and in 1854 organized the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company, the first oil company in the United States, with a nominal capital of $500, 000. The company proceeded to develop the land by digging wells and trenching - the crude method then used - to collect the surface oil. Since the return from the sale proved insufficient to pay expenses, a sample of the petroleum was sent to Prof. Silliman of Yale for analysis in the hope that more valuable use for the oil would suggest itself. Prof. Silliman's report gave information concerning the fractional distillation of the crude and concluded with the belief that "the company have in their possession a raw material from which by simple and inexpensive processes they may manufacture very valuable products. " When this report was published the company was reorganized with Prof. Silliman as president, and the work of trenching and digging continued until 1858.
When the first drilled well had been sunk by the Seneca Oil Company, lessees of the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company (1859), Bissell moved to Franklin, Pennsylvania, and with Eveleth invested more than $300, 000 in oil lands. Returning to New York (1863), he devoted the rest of his life to the promotion of enterprises connected with the petroleum industry.
In 1855 Bissell was married to Ophie Griffin of New York City.