Matthew Ewing (January 10, 1815 – 1874) was an American carpenter and inventor. He is known as the cofounder of the

Vacuum Oil Company Vacuum Oil Company was an American oil company known for its ''Gargoyle'' 600-W steam cylinder motor oil. After being taken over by the original Standard Oil Company and then becoming independent again, in 1931 Vacuum Oil merged with the Standa ...

with business partner

Hiram Bond Everest Hiram Bond Everest (April 11, 1830 – March 5, 1913) was an American businessman, investor, inventor and farmer. Biography Hiram Bond Everest was born in Pike, New York on April 11, 1830. He moved to Wisconsin around age 18 to work as a tea ...

Biography

Ewing was born January 10, 1815, in Floyd, New York. The Ewing family moved to

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located i ...

, in 1857. During the Civil War, he enlisted alongside his son in Co. G of the 108th NY Infantry. Ewing was a carpenter by trade, and also an inventor. After inventing a vacuum distillation method for producing

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning " wax", and was reg ...

, he and business partner

founded the

in 1866. Ewing later sold his share in the company to Everest.

Marriage and children

Matthew and Sarah Ewing married c. 1839 and had 4 children: Emma, Mary, George P. and Alma.

Death and afterward

Ewing died in 1874. In 1879 the Standard Oil Co. purchased a three-quarters interest in Vacuum Oil Company for $200,000. As a lubricants pioneer, Vacuum Oil introduced revolutionary products, such as Gargoyle 600-W Steam Cylinder Oil. The

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co- ...

company grew into what is today known as

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ewing, Matthew 1815 births 1874 deaths 19th-century American inventors People from Oneida County, New York