Samuel Andrews (1836-1904) was a chemist and inventor. Born in England, he emigrated to the United States, and settled in Cleveland, Ohio He is best known as a partner in the oil refining firm of Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler, formed in 1867 in Cleveland, Ohio, the major predecessor company of the Standard Oil corporate empire. When the first unit was formed in 1870, Andrews owned 16.67& of Standard oil stock.
In 1862, Samuel Andrews had already some experience in shale-oil production when he approached two Cleveland produce merchants to be stockholders in a new enterprise. One was John D. Rockefeller, who saw the potential in Andrew's plan and invested in the venture. With this capital, Andrews designed and began a small refinery in Cleveland.
Ida M. Tarbell, an early investigative journalist who was the author of The History of Standard Oil, described Samuel Andrews as "a mechanical genius" who "devised new processes" to create a better product. He is credited with inventing a chemical process, fractional distillation (which is the separation of crude oil into its components).
His better-known partners, Rockefeller and Henry Morrison Flagler, are credited with the marketing strategies and schemes which capitalized on Andrew's technical expertise. Both Andrews and Flagler each soon took a backseat to the aggressive Rockefeller, as Flagler's wife's ill health turned his attention to Florida, where he founded the Florida East Coast Railway and helped develop many resort communities, most notably, the cities of Palm Beach and Miami. While Flagler began an entire new career in Florida, Samuel Andrews remained back in Ohio, where he died in 1904. Thus, John D. Rockefeller is the partner whose name is most associated with Standard Oil by history.
See also main article Standard Oil
Sources, additional reading
Tarbell, Ida M. The History of the Standard Oil Company. New York: McClure, Phillips & Co., 1904.