Robert Foulis and Abraham Gesner were both extraordinary men whose interest in natural science and invention led them down the same rocky path. The invention of an illuminating fuel distillation process and the right to mine albertite, a bitumen found at Albert Mines, New Brunswick, proved to be the bane of both men. Foulis and Gesner had remarkably parallel careers in New Brunswick and their reported personalities certainly predisposed them to be adversaries. Both men had careers in St. John where they pursued their geological interests in the midst of their other varied activities. Gesner and Foulis both lectured at the local Mechanics' Institute and were members of that society, both conducted geological surveys for the government, and offered their services to mining companies as consultants. Their early work in Hillsborough brought them into direct conflict. Both of them claimed "discovery" of albertite.