Where was the first successful, commercial oil well drilled?  If not Texas, where?

The use of petroleum products, such as asphalt, has been documented back to 4,000 B.C.

Ancient Egyptians, Persians (ancestors of Iran), the Greeks and Romans used oil products for waterproofing boats, embalming the dead and for military purposes.

2,100 yrs ago the Chinese used the fulcrum system to drill for oil & transported oil using bamboo pipes

Daily progress:  Three feet per day

Replica below:  See ropes for your feet

• Native Americans gathered oil from seeps and pits as early as 1410 A.D. (carbon dating) 

• Early settlers in North & South America learned from Native Americans many uses for petroleum products.  However, few people burned oil for light because of its strong odor and heavy black smoke 

• Research in organic chemistry and technology in European Universities became the backbone of the modern oil refining process

• Whale oil $100/barrel:  The major source of fuel for lamps in the mid-nineteenth century was whale oil at $100 per barrel and climbing due to the rapid depletion of the whale population from overwhaling.

• Samuel Kier, who bottled crude oil & marketed it as a Wonder Drug from circus wagons, invented an improved lamp burner and developed a rudimentary distillation process.  The refined oil, known as kerosene, eliminated some of the smokiness & odor caused by burning crude oil.

• Kerosene, made by refining crude oil, began to replace whale oil for lamp fuel.  However, demand could not keep up with the supply of oil

• Several drilling attempts were made in Germany, Canada and the United States.

So where was the first successful, commercial oil well drilled on August 27, 1859?