Background
Lyman Stewart was born in 1840 in northwestern Pennsylvania into a working family; his father was a tanner, and he began working with him at an early age.
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Lyman Stewart
Edit ProfileBusinessman Christian philanthropist
Career
Stewart began his early working life assisting his father in the tanning business before entering the oil industry following the 1859 oil discovery by Edwin Drake in Pennsylvania. After two unsuccessful drilling attempts, he served a three-year enlistment in the 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry during the American Civil War.
Following the war, he returned to oil exploration but continued to struggle until forming a partnership with Wallace Hardison, who provided financial backing. Their early ventures achieved moderate success in Pennsylvania; however, as John D. Rockefeller consolidated oil interests in the eastern United States, Stewart and Hardison sold their holdings to Standard Oil and relocated to California.
In California, Stewart and Hardison established a successful oil enterprise, and by 1886 their company accounted for approximately 15% of the state’s oil production. In 1890, they merged their operations with those of Thomas Bard and Paul Calonico to form the Union Oil Company. As president, Stewart expanded operations aggressively, increasing the company’s market value from about $10 million in 1900 to over $50 million by 1908.
Alongside his business career, Stewart was deeply involved in Christian philanthropy. In 1891, he founded the Pacific Gospel Mission, later known as the Union Rescue Mission. In 1908, he co-founded the Bible Institute of Los Angeles with T. C. Horton.
