John J. (John James) McLaurin

Born in 1841, John J. McLaurin is identified in major library records as John James McLaurin, and his best-known work is Sketches in Crude-oil: Some Accidents and Incidents of the Petroleum Development in All Parts of the Globe. The book was published by the author in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1896, with later editions appearing in 1898 and 1902.

McLaurin wrote about petroleum not as a dry technical subject, but as a fast-moving human story. In the introduction to Sketches in Crude-oil, he explains that he wanted to share an account based largely on personal observation rather than produce a strictly formal history, which helps give the book its lively, anecdotal feel.

Library catalogs and public-domain editions list him as living from 1841 to 1923. Reliable biographical detail beyond his authorship and publication history is limited in the sources I could confirm, but his work remains a useful window into the early oil business and the culture that grew around it.