He was a direct descendant of Joseph Eveleth, juror in the Salem Witch trial of John Proctor, and a second cousin of Theophilus Parsons, Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.
Bissell and Eveleth initially invested $5,000 to purchase and lease over 200 acres (0.81 km2) of what they believed were the principal oil fields in Titusville, PA.
Believing in the mineral's greater economic potential and in order to gain the interest of additional investors, the two partners engaged at their own expense renowned Yale chemist, Benjamin Silliman, Jr., to investigate crude oil samples from the Pennsylvania site for its properties and commercial usefulness.
Silliman submitted in 1855 his historic report to "Messrs. Eveleth, Bissell, and Reed" concluding, "gentlemen ... there is much ground for encouragement in the belief that your Company have in their possession a raw material from which they may manufacture... very valuable products", thus marking a major scientific milestone for the university as well the birth of the American petroleum industry.
The company was then reorganized to include additional New Haven investors, and Silliman was appointed president, with Eveleth and Bissell maintaining controlling interest.