Egbert Oil Co. of Pennsylvania - 1864 dated Pennslyvania Oil Stock Certificate

Stock printed by Wm. Mann, Phila. Civil War Era. Nice with 25 cents revenue stamp! Uncancelled and not negotiable.

Albert G. Egbert, a physician and entrepreneur, played a pivotal role in the early history of the Pennsylvania oil boom. In 1860, Egbert purchased a 38-acre farm in Cherrytree, Venango County, just after the first successful oil well was drilled nearby in Titusville. His early ventures into oil prospecting in the Oil Creek Valley proved highly lucrative, and by 1861, he was so deeply involved in the oil business that he left his medical practice to focus solely on his petroleum interests. In 1865, the oil-producing Hyde and Egbert Farm was a major center of production, and Egbert's own residence was notable for being the first in the region to be heated and lit with natural gas. His success in the oilfields established his reputation as a wealthy operator in the burgeoning industry.

Later, in 1872, Egbert and other Franklin investors founded the Eclipse Lubricating Oil Company in Sugarcreek Township, which operated a refinery. This venture was eventually purchased by John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil in 1876. The Standard Oil trust consolidated its Pennsylvania refining and marketing operations under the Atlantic Refining Co. in 1892. Eclipse Lubricating Oil Co. continued to operate under its original name for some time before fully adopting the Atlantic name in the early 20th century. The company’s story, from its start as an independent oil refining business founded by Albert Egbert to its absorption into the Standard Oil conglomerate, reflects the broader consolidation trends of the oil industry in the late 19th century.