I believe the first producing oil well was occurred in Pennsylvania in 1859. When did petroleum products first become used to power machines - that is, not as a lubricant for axles, not as something to burn in lanterns for light?

When did petroleum products become generally used to power machines?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_fuel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline/Petrol_engine

-seems the last decade of the 19th century, but I think automobiles came a measure prior to that, like by Daimler, Benz, etc.

1826 April 1: American Samuel Morey received a patent for a compressionless "Gas or Vapor Engine."

"1858 - Belgian-born engineer, Jean Joseph Étienne Lenoir invented and patented (1860) a double-acting, electric spark-ignition internal combustion engine fueled by coal gas.

In 1863, Lenoir attached an improved engine (using petroleum and a primitive carburetor) to a three-wheeled wagon that managed to complete an historic fifty-mile road trip."

The big shift to using machines powered by petroleum products came during the Second Industrial Revolution:

"The first widely used internal combustion engine was the Otto type (1876). From the 1880s until electrification it was successful in small shops because small steam engines were inefficient and required too much operator attention. The Otto engine soon began being used to power automobiles, and remains as today's common gasoline engine."