Drake is credited as the first American to successfully drill for oil, and the well he drilled launched the modern petroleum industry, but documented claims of prior art for oil drilling exist from Bobrka, Poland in 1854, Wietze, Germany in 1857, and Oil Springs, Ontario in 1858, each predating the Drake well.
What would resolve this An agreed definition of what counts as a genuine oil well, mechanically drilled rather than dug, and commercially significant rather than experimental, against which the historical record could be measured.
OpenHistory of TechnologyWikipedia contributors, Edwin Drake (Wikipedia)