Robert Chesebrough Robert Chesebrough Robert Augustus Chesebrough, (January 9, 1837 – September 8, 1933) was an American chemist. He discovered petroleum jelly which he marketed as Vaseline and he founded the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company. Born in London to American parents, he was raised in New York City. Chesebrough began his career as a chemist clarifying kerosene from the oil of sperm whales. The discovery of petroleum in Titusville, Pennsylvania, rendered his job obsolete, so he traveled to Titusville to research what new materials might be created from the new fuel. This led to his discovery of petroleum jelly, which he trade-named as
William Jelly for Melancthon Township and as the first reeve of Shelburne. He was elected to the provincial assembly after John Barr was unseated following an appeal. William Jelly William Jelly (1835 – October 1900) was an Ontario farmer and political figure. He represented Dufferin in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1880 to 1883 as a Conservative member. He was born near Elizabethtown (later Brockville) in Upper Canada in 1835, the son of John Jelly, an Irish immigrant. Jelly first settled in Amaranth Township then part of Wellington County and later moved to what is now Shelburne. He became a large