Matthew Ewing was an American carpenter and inventor. He is known as the cofounder of the Vacuum Oil Company

Vacuum Oil Company

Vacuum Oil Company was an American oil company known for their Gargoyle 600-W Steam Cylinder Oil. Vacuum Oil merged with Socony Oil to form Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, and is now a part of ExxonMobil.-History:...

 with business partner Hiram Bond Everest

Hiram Bond Everest

Hiram Bond Everest was a professor of science, businessman, investor and inventor.-Biography:Everest was born in Pike, New York and moved to Wisconsin around age 18 to work as a teacher of science until 1853, when he moved to Rochester, N.Y.. There he established a grocery business...

.

Biography

Matthew P. Ewing was born January 10, 1815 in Floyd, New York

Floyd, New York

Floyd is a town in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 3,869 at the 2000 census. The town is named after William Floyd, a signer of the Declaration of Independence....

. The Ewing family moved to Rochester, New York

Rochester, New York

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

 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

Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...

, he and business partner Hiram Bond Everest

Hiram Bond Everest

Hiram Bond Everest was a professor of science, businessman, investor and inventor.-Biography:Everest was born in Pike, New York and moved to Wisconsin around age 18 to work as a teacher of science until 1853, when he moved to Rochester, N.Y.. There he established a grocery business...

 founded the Vacuum Oil Company

Vacuum Oil Company

Vacuum Oil Company was an American oil company known for their Gargoyle 600-W Steam Cylinder Oil. Vacuum Oil merged with Socony Oil to form Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, and is now a part of ExxonMobil.-History:...

 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

Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...

 company grew into what is today known as ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil

Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...

.