Roberts

U.S. Civil War veteran Colonel E.A.L. (Edward Augustus Leonard) Roberts (1829-1881) of New York revolutionized the nation's burgeoning oil industry with his invention of an explosive device, or "torpedo," which greatly increased oil wells' production. In November 1864, Roberts applied for a patent to use a torpedo, or tin tube, black powder (gunpowder), and a "super incumbent water tamp" for shooting wells. The water cushioned the torpedo as it was lowered into the oil well and provided weight to hold the explosive force down in the well so the oil-bearing sandstone would crack and release the oil. One would then "shoot" the well by dropping a pointed weight to detonate the torpedo.

In early January 1865, Roberts arrived in Titusville, Pennsylvania, considered the birthplace of the U.S. oil industry, with several torpedoes of his own construction, and on January 21, successfully detonated one of the devices in the Ladies Well along Oil Creek. Shortly thereafter, he and his brother, Dr. Walter Brooke Roberts (1823-1889), established the Roberts Petroleum Torpedo Company. A prominent dentist and merchant in New York, Walter B. Roberts served as the company's Secretary and Business Manager, initially managing the company from New York while his brother, as General Superintendent, ran operations in Titusville.

During the company's early years, E.A.L. Roberts continued to hone and aggressively market his torpedoes. Most importantly, in the summer of 1866, he began using nitroglycerin instead of gunpowder. Nitroglycerin detonations came to be used for oil well production for the next hundred years. The Roberts also confronted a good deal of competition from others who had experimented with gunpowder shots and began to file for patents. The company gained the upper hand when the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed Colonel Roberts' sole right to the patent in November 1866.

The decision to allow Roberts a monopoly on all types of torpedoes used in the oil industry caused great strife and led to numerous lawsuits and arrests. In order to circumvent Roberts Torpedo Company's control over oil well production, particularly its excessive fees, "moonlighters" as they came to be known, began illegally shooting wells at night with their own batches of nitroglycerin and crude equipment. E.A.L. Roberts sued countless individuals and companies, and hired Pinkerton National Detective Agency spies to protect his patent interests. He is believed to have been responsible for more civil litigation in defense of a patent than anyone in U.S. history. When the Roberts Torpedo patent expired in 1883, Congress refused to renew it due to the dissension it caused.

As the Roberts Torpedo Company prospered, the brothers established several affiliate companies, including W.B. Roberts & Son in Bradford, Pa. and the banking firm of Roberts and Company, Titusville, which they founded in 1872. After E.A.L. Roberts' death in 1881, the company continued to operate under the management of Walter and his son, Erastus Titus Roberts (1859-1947). In 1884, the Roberts Torpedo Company became the Cupler Torpedo Company when Walter sold the business to Adam Cupler Jr., a former employee. In 1937, the Otto Torpedo Company purchased the Cupler Torpedo Company, and the firm became the Otto Cupler Torpedo Company. It continues to operate out of Titusville as of 2014.