James Miller Williams

James Miller Williams (September 14 1818 – November 25 1890) was a businessman and political figure in Ontario, Canada. He represented Hamilton in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1867 to 1879. He is also commonly viewed as the father of the petroleum industry in Canada.

He was born in Camden, New Jersey in 1818 and apprenticed as a carriage maker. He came to London in Upper Canada with his family in 1840. With a partner, he set up a business manufacturing carriages, eventually buying out his partner. He moved to Hamilton and expanded his business, manufacturing vehicles for public transit and also railway cars. During the 1850s, he entered the business of refining petroleum in Lambton County. Williams was the first person to produce a commercial oil well in North America, in 1858, one year before Edwin Drake. Already operating a small 150 gallon/day asphalt well, Williams set out during a drought to dig a drinking water well down-slope from it but struck free oil instead. [Elizabeth Kolbert [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/11/12/071112fa_fact_kolbert "Unconventional crude"] "New Yorker" 2007-11-12 page 46] "New York Times" 1866-03-22 [http://www.petroliaheritage.com/oilSprings.htm scanned images] ] He is also credited with setting up Canada's first refinery of crude oil to produce kerosene, based on the laboratory work of Abraham Gesner. Two years later in 1860, he set up the Canada Oil Company which produced, refined and marketed petroleum resources in the area; he later sold the company to his son. He was also involved with insurance companies, railways and the manufacturing of tin ware. In 1879, he was appointed registrar for Wentworth County and served until his death in Hamilton in 1890.

References

External links

* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=5906 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
* [http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/members/members_all_detail.do?locale=en&ID=761 Member's parliamentary history for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario]
* [http://collections.ic.gc.ca/heirloom_series/volume6/102-103.htm Founder of North America’s Petroleum Industry]