Lyman Stewart

Lyman Stewart
Lyman Stewart
BornJuly 22, 1840
Cherrytree, Pennsylvania
DiedSeptember 28, 1923(1923-09-28) (aged 83)
Los Angeles, California
OccupationsBusinessman, philanthropist
Known forFounding Biola University, supporting fundamentalism
Notable workThe Fundamentals (financed)
Spouse(s)Sarah Adalaide Burrows (m. 1867-1912 her death), Lula May Crowell (m. 1916)
Parent(s)William Reynolds Stewart & Jane Miller Irwin
RelativesMilton Stewart

Lyman Stewart (July 22, 1840 – September 28, 1923) was a U.S. businessman and co-founder of Union Oil Company of California. Stewart was also a significant Christian philanthropist and cofounder of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, now known as Biola University. He and his brother Milton also anonymously funded publication of The Fundamentals, the foundation document of Christian fundamentalism. Stewart also helped found the Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles.

Early life

Stewart was born to William Reynolds Stewart & Jane Miller Irwin on July 22, 1840, in rural Cherrytree in Venango County, Pennsylvania and after the age of eleven he dropped out of school and went to work for his father's tanning business. Stewart converted to Presbyterian Christianity during the "Businessman's Revival" of 1857, and later became a premillennialist. When Edwin Drake discovered oil near Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1859, Stewart tried drilling wells in the same area. After two disastrous attempts, he served a three-year enlistment in the 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry during the American Civil War.[citation needed]

Oil career

After the war, Stewart again tried to drill for oil, but he was still unsuccessful. In 1877, Stewart was introduced to Wallace Hardison (a relative of one of his friends). Hardison agreed to financially support Stewart, so they purchased some land where they hoped to find oil. They enjoyed some moderate success. When John D. Rockefeller started to consolidate oil holdings in the eastern U.S., Hardison and Stewart sold their interests to Standard Oil and moved to California.[citation needed]

Stewart and his partner found the success they sought in California. By 1886, the Hardison and Stewart Oil Company was responsible for 15% of all oil production in California. In 1890, they merged their interests with those of Thomas Bard and Paul Calonico to form the Union Oil Company. As president of Union Oil, Stewart heavily invested in new wells and expanded his company's market capitalization from $10 million in 1900 to over $50 million in 1908.[citation needed]

Philanthropy

In 1891, Stewart founded the Pacific Gospel Mission, now known as the Union Rescue Mission.

In 1908, Stewart founded the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, now known as Biola University. It was supported by many of the same evangelical dispensationalists who would support Stewart's The Fundamentals project.

Lyman conceived of a publication to defend evangelical Christianity, and he and his brother Milton founded the Testimony Publishing Company and sold 3,000 Union Oil shares to be put towards the publication and distribution costs of the 12-volume The Fundamentals. These volumes established the precepts of Christian Fundamentalism. Stewart saw a crisis in Christianity. He had said to his brother of various Christian workers like preachers, teachers, missionaries, that they "do not know what they are teaching is error; they teach what they have been taught; they do not know any better." The Stewart brothers also financially supported missionary efforts in China and elsewhere.

In 1917, he donated $4,500 to fund the construction of Stewart Hall at Toccoa Falls College.

Personal life

Lyman Stewart married Sarah Adalaide Burrows on 2 May 1867 in Enterprise, Pennsylvania. They had three children: William L., May, and Alfred C. Stewart's sons were actively involved in the oil business. As children, they helped their father rather than attend school. William stayed involved with Union Oil, working every position, eventually replacing his father as president of Union Oil. Alfred developed his mechanical aptitude while at Union Oil. He invented a multitude of drilling equipment. Alfred did not stay with Union Oil, he ran an automotive machine shop and continued inventing the most notable carburetors. Sarah died on 5 Feb 1912, in Los Angeles. On 26 Aug 1916, Lyman married Lula May Crowell. She had been his private secretary for the previous eleven years. She was a graduate of BIOLA and a fervent supporter of its mission.

Stewart was an active Republican ever since his enlistment in the Union Army in the American Civil War, but did not support William Howard Taft because he was a Unitarian, which Stewart saw as "an enemy of the cross of Christ."

Lyman Stewart died on September 28, 1923, at the age of 83, and was followed closely by his older brother Milton on November 20.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Stewart was “too well known to need an introduction” in his day, and he and his brother have been compared to the Koch brothers in the way they shaped American conservatism. Upon their deaths, The Missionary Review of the World compared the Stewart brothers to James and John or Peter and Andrew.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Sandeen Ernest R., The Roots of Fundamentalism, University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1970
  2. ↑ Pietsch, B.M. (September 2013). "Lyman Stewart and Early Fundamentalism". Church History. 82 (3): 617–646. doi:10.1017/S0009640713000656. S2CID 162838786. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Rasmussen, Cecilia (March 2, 2008). "Oilman's legacy lives on in L.A." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 Rood 2023, p. 5.
  5. ↑ "Stewart, Lyman". American Biography: A New Cyclopedia. Vol. 20. The American Historical Society. 1924. pp. 48–53.
  6. 1 2 Treloar, Geoffrey R. (2023). "The Fundamentals". In Atherstone, Andrew; Ceri Jones, David (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Christian Fundamentalism. Oxford University Press. p. 26. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198844594.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-884459-4.
  7. ↑ "Bible school sets a solid foundation". Los Angeles Times. May 31, 2006. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  8. ↑ Marsden, George M. (1980). Fundamentalism and American Culture: The Shaping of Twentieth Century Evangelicalism, 1870-1925. Oxford University Press. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-19-502758-7.
  9. ↑ Treloar 2023, p. 27.
  10. ↑ Pierson 1924, p. ?.
  11. 1 2 Wills 2022.
  12. ↑ "Stewart Hall". Historical Marker Database. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  13. ↑ American Biography: A New Cyclopedia. Vol. 20. The American Historical Society. 1924. pp. 48–53..
  14. ↑ Taylor, Frank J. Black Bonanza How an Oil Hunt Grew Into the Union Oil Company of California. Whittlesey House.
  15. ↑ World Oil, Volume 48. Gulf Publishing Company. p. 72.
  16. ↑ "Ventura Free Press". Sep 1, 1916. Retrieved 11 Apr 2024.
  17. ↑ Sutton, Matthew Avery (2017). American apocalypse: a history of modern evangelicalism. Harvard University Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-674-97543-9.
  18. 1 2 Pierson 1924, p. 595.

Bibliography

Further reading