US KEROSENE BEFORE 1859. Before Drake struck oil in Pennsylvania in
1859, kerosene was produced from coal, oil shale, and oil seeps, and
was used mainly for illumination. I am seeking documented-source data
on the consumption of kerosene in the United States for each of as
many years as possible before 1859, particularly during 1821-1859.
Units may be physical (such as gallons) or in energy or illumination
terms, so dollar revenues of the kerosene industry are acceptable only
if accompanied by average price data for the same years. Ideally I
would like to know kerosene consumption for the purpose of
illumination; failing that, total US consumption; failing that, total
US production (which is somewhat less useful because it may be
distorted by imports and exports). I will pay $5, $4, or $3
respectively for each year of documented data in these categories (but
only for one category in each year), subject to a $50 minimum if at
least five years' documented data are provided. My purpose is to
analyze competition between kerosene, town gas, and whale oil as
illuminants. I already have the whale-oil data. I am posting a similar
separate question about town gas.

Sir, Madame:

 ?History of Petroleum or Rock Oil,? by T. Sterry Hunt, published in
the Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, for the year 1861,
U. S. Congressional Serial Set, 37th Congress, 2nd session, House
Misc. Doc. 77, 1862 (serial set volume 1141), pp. 319-329:

?I had already? described this bitumen?.  At this time [1849] solid
bitumen was thus employed [as described], but in the liquid form of
petroleum its use was chiefly confined in Europe to medicinal
purposes.  Under the names of Seneca oil and Barbadoes tar it had long
been known and employed medically by the native tribes of America. 
Its use for burning, as a source of light or heat, in modern times has
chiefly been confined to Persia and other parts of Asia, although in
former ages the wells of the Island of Zante, described by Herodotus,
furnished large quantities of its in the Grecian Archipelago, and
Pliny?..[ etc. etc. ]

In the last century the petroleum or naphtha obtained from springs in
the Duchy of Parma was employed for lighting the streets of Genoa and
Amiano.  But the thickness, coarseness, and unpleasant odor of the
petroleum from most sources were such that it had long fallen into
disuse in Europe?.

pp. 323-324.

Thus I conclude that petroleum or rock oil, much less its distillates,
was not in use in the US for lighting or heat prior to the late
1850?s.

I appreciate febc-ga's comment, but there is abundant evidence from
other sources that the conclusion stated is incorrect, and that during
the period I've asked about, kerosene was at least a $5-million-a-
year US industry (a considerable sum in those days). Even though a
smoke- and odor-free kerosene lantern didn't enter the US market until
1857, kerosene, made mainly from coal, was indeed a widely used
illuminant in and before the early 1850s because it was so much
cheaper than whale oil, whose use was largely confined to the more
affluent households.  -- pongoid-ga