John J. McLaurin

John J. McLaurin was a Pennsylvania journalist and writer of the late nineteenth century who chronicled the early oil industry. Having lived through the excitement of the oil regions of northwestern Pennsylvania, he gathered history, anecdote and portraits of the men involved in Sketches in Crude-Oil, a lively account of the petroleum business from its beginnings. He also wrote a popular account of the Johnstown flood of 1889, The Story of Johnstown, and other works of local history.