evangelism. At this time he was also a tither. The Lord prospered him and in his first six years of business after the Civil War he averaged $1,000 a week over and above expenses. During this time he had many opportunities for what seemed to him very attrac tive investments and he began in vesting faster than his income would warrant. He invested so fast he started neglecting his tithe. In order to quiet his conscience he kept telling himself, "If I make this investment I will have so much more to give to the Lord's work." And as he stated it, "My judgment was taken away." That was the time he lost everything and had to go to work for some one else to support his family. During this interval of extreme discouragement Stewart met an old friend who said to him, "You have everything in your favor; you are young, the world is large and God is good." This statement seemed to have had a tonic effect on Stewart's spirit and to have been a turning point in his busi ness career. It was here Hardison came into his life to begin a friend ship and business association that was to last for many years. Stewart's support of Christian work in California was widely di versified. In Los Angeles he was a faithful supporter of the Immanuel Presbyterian Church of which he was a member. In addition to his church, one of the earliest activ ities in which he became engaged was the work of the YMCA. He served as president of the local association and for three years devoted a large part of his time endeavoring to provide a home for its facilities. Over a period of Page 11
son and Stewart partnership was terminated. The partners con cluded that they were getting into such involved financing that it would be better if handled by a corporation, so the Hardison and Stewart Oil Company was incorpo rated with a capital of $1,000,000. Lyman Stewart was president, and Wallace Hardison was vice- president and general manager. Among the other incorporators was Thomas R. Bard. In 1888 things began to look better for the company. Their Adams Canyon No. Sixteen came in as a gusher — the first gusher ever struck in California. This par tially compensated for some of their more dismal failures in Adams Canyon. Their holdings mushroomed to such proportions that they decided on October 7, 1890 to consolidate them into one corpo ration: the Union Oil Company of California. Bard was president, Stewart was vice-president and Hardison was treasurer. Later Stew art succeeded Bard as president of the company, a position he held until his advanced age took him out of the active operation of the company. He then continued as chairman of the board of directors until his death at the age of 83 in 1923. Long before Stewart's death his Union Oil Company was one of the leading industries of the West. And from the very start of his work in California he became a system atic tither of his income. Early in his career he had been active in Presbyterian church of Titusville, Pa. In that church he had been a member of the Session and had been very active in its program of
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