Description:

ROBERTS TORPEDO CO. ARCHIVE - THE INVENTOR OF "FRACKING", TITUSVILLE, PA.
Fine grouping of material from the Roberts Petroleum Torpedo Company of Titusville, Pa., the site of America's first "oil rush". The firm was founded by Col. E. A. L. Roberts in 1865, who invented the device that would allow the user to "shoot" a slow-pumping oil well to increase production. Basically, a metal-encased charge was sent down to near the bottom of a well, and a weight was sent down behind it which struck a primer and ignited the charge. The explosion fractured rock in the vicinity, easing the flow of oil to the well. This grouping includes about twenty documents from the company, along with two photographs, all ca. 1885 when the company had switched-over to nitroglycerin as an explosive. Included is a 14" x 10" mounted albumen photo of "Roberts' Nitroglycerin Company" in Titusville, along with a 5" x 6 1/4" photo of an elderly gent, possibly founder Roberts. The documents pertain directly to operations, and include receipts and invoices for blasts, several ledger sheets, telegrams concerning their work, letters and ads concerning competitors, etc. There are also about one hundred various letters, farm receipts, legal transactions, notes concerning donations from a Roberts estate, and much more. Should be viewed.

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August 1, 2018 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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