New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 61

Author: Davis, Ellis A.
Publication date: 1926
Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?]
Number of Pages: 1416

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Mr. Orem was married in Springfield, Missouri, in 1900 to Miss Luda M. Bosworth, a native of Mis- souri and a daughter of Henry L. Bosworth (de- ceased) who was well known in the business circles of Missouri. They have three children, Henry B., William D. and Arthur B. Mr. and Mrs. Orem re- side at 1204 Welch Street. Mr. Orem is a member of the A. F. and A. M. with membership in Holland Lodge No. 1 of Houston and has attained to the 18th degree in the Scottish Rite body of this order. He is a staunch and consistent member of the Bap- tist Church and is active in the work of this de- nomination.

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MEN OF TEXAS

HOMAS P. LEE, vice president and director of the American Republics Corporation, is numbered among the outstanding men of the petroleum industry in this country to- day. For about forty years he has been identified with some phase of this great business, beginning as a humble apprentice in the fields, and rising to the position of an executive of a corporation whose subsidiaries touch every department and ramification of the oil business. These subsidiaries are engaged in prospecting, producing, refining and transportation of oil by pipe line, tank cars and ships; they manufacture ships, tank cars and oil tools. In short, the American Republics Corporation probably holds the unique position of having the most complete organization engaged in this impor- tant field of endeavor. There are twenty-one sub- sidiaries of the American Republics Corporation, namely: American Petroleum Company, Federal Pe- troleum Company, Fidelity Securities Company, In- tracoastal Towing & Transportation Company, Pa- poose Oil Company, Pennsylvania Petroleum Com- pany, Pennsylvania Car Company, Pennsylvania Shipyards, Inc., Pennsylvania Tank Car Company, Pennsylvania Tank Line, Penstock Construction Company, Petroleum Coal & Iron Company, Pe- troleum Community Store Company, Petroleum Export Association, Inc., Petroleum Iron Works Company of Ohio, Petroleum Iron Works Company of Pennsylvania, Petroleum Land Company, Petrol- eum Protective Association, Inc., Petroleum Supply Company, Pueblo Oil Company, Republic Production Company.

Thomas P. Lee was born in Petroleum, West Vir- ginia, March 19th, 1871, the son of Alexander and Martha Jane (Mount) Lee. He was educated in the public schools of West Virginia, and at the age of sixteen began work in the oil fields of West Virginia and later Ohio, where he secured a thorough train- ing in field operations. He ca:ne to Texas in 1903, going with The Texas Company, that had been or- ganized but a year or two before, and was just getting started. He remained with The Texas Com- pany until 1913, during which period he took an ac- tive part in its growth and development, and at the time he left the company he was general superin- tendent of productions. He then in association with Messrs. J. S. Cullinan, Will C. Hogg, James L. Autry and E. F. Woodward organized the Farmers Petroleum Company, of which he became president. This company during its life played an important part in the development of oil in Texas. In 1916 Mr. Lee with his associates organized the Ameri- can Republics Corporation, in which he has since been active.

Mr. Lee has various other interests in Houston, and elsewhere, and is a director of the Fidelity Trust Company of Houston, and of the Citizens National Bank of Sour Lake. He is president of the Petrol- eum Building Company, who are now erecting a two million dollar, twenty-one-story office building at the corner of Austin Street and Texas Avenue Houston. About one-half of the building will be occupied by Mr. Lee's companies, and eventually all of the space may be required by them.

On July 14th, 1892, Mr. Lee was united in mar- riage with Miss Elizabeth Mann of Pennsylvania. To this union one daughter, Mabel, now Mrs. T. F. Rothwell, was born. Mr. T. F. Rothwell is with

the Yount Lee Oil Company of Beaumont and is one of the leading oil men of that section. Mrs. Eliza- beth Mann Lee died June 21, 1895. On April 24th, 1900, Mr. Lee was united in marriage with Miss Essie Mabel Horton of Savannah, Georgia. To this union five daughters were born, namely, Maude, wife of Mr. Brandon Janes, president of Main Motor Company, Pierce-Arrow dealers; Ethel, the wife of Mr. H. E. L. Toombs, vice president of the Main Mo- tor Company; Maxine, the wife of Mr. W. W. Kyle, Jr., clothing merchant of Beaumont; Thelma and Marjorie. His grandchildren are, Elizabeth and Virginia May Rothwell, Barbara and Brandon Janes, Jr., and H. E. L. Toombs, Jr. The Lee family resi- dence on Montrose Boulevard, Houston, is among the most beatuiful in the city and is one of the show places here. Mr. Lee is a member of the Hous- ton Country, River Oaks Country and Houston Clubs of Houston, and the Lotos Club of New York, the A. F. and A. M., the Shrine and the I. O. O. F. He is an outdoor type of man, and enjoys golfing, hunting and fishing. In politics he is a Republican, and takes a live interest in good government, both State and National. While he has not sought office for himself, he was nominated for governor of Texas in 1924, but declined the nomination; he is a mem- ber of the Republican State Executive Committee, is prominent in National Republican affairs and has attended several of the Republican National Con- ventions. As chairman of the Texas delegations he cast the ballot that nominated Dawes as vice president.

In writing the history of the oil industry of Texas, the name of Thomas P. Lee is recorded as one of its pioneers, as a man who has done much to make Houston an oil center, and a great commercial cen- ter generally. He is a man who is known and re- spected by the oil fraternity in general and known as a generous, kindly gentleman who has not only achieved success for himself, but who has contrib- uted greatly to the success of his associates and friends.

SCAR F. HOLCOMBE, for around two dec- ades has been associated with commercial and civic activities at Houston, and as mayor of Houston has brought to bear in the directing of the municipal affairs of the city the characteristic energy that has significantly marked his business career, and his administra- tion has been marked by a remarkable advancement in public improvements. The improvements made under his administration among other things have included the extension of water and sewer mains, the paving of residence and business streets, the build- ing of needed school houses with the best of modern facilities and all departments of the municipal government have been thoroughly systematized. One of the most important achievements of Mayor Hol- combe, however, was in securing the enactment of a state law to put on the harbor commission so that Harris County has to pay a just proportion of taxes instead of the city of Houston alone.

Oscar F. Holcombe was born at Mobile, Alabama, the thirty-first of December, 1888, the son of Robert S. Holcombe, a lawyer of Mobile and San Antonio, to which city he moved in 1891, and where his death occurred in 1899, and Sarah King (Har- rell) Holcombe. Mr. Holcombe was educated in the public schools of San Antonio, coming to Houston in

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1904. His first five years here, up until 1909, were spent in the planing mill business, and the period from 1909 until 1912 as general sales agent for a sash and door concern. In 1912 he entered the con- struction business, organizing the firm of Denman, Holcombe & Company, a firm which made a spe- cialty of school houses, building modern school houses all over the state, and which has to its credit more school house construction than any firm in the state. When Mr. Holcombe was elected mayor of Houston he sold his interest in the con- struction business, giving his entire time to the duties of this office, only retaining the position of vice president of the Denman Lumber Company of Mount Pleasant.

Mr. Holcombe was married at Houston, in 1912, to Miss Mary Gray Miller of Alabama, and the daughter of A. B. Miller, who later came to Texas and engaged in the cattle business in Missouri County. Mr. and Mrs. Holcombe reside at 3005 Brazos Street and have one child, Elizabeth Adelaide. Mr. Holcombe belongs to the Houston Club, the Houston Country Club, the Kiwanis Club, the Salesmanship Club, the Conopus Club, and fra- ternally is a Knight of Pythias. As mayor of Houston, Mr. Holcombe has made an excellent rec- ord, conducting the municipal affairs of the city in a way which has won the hearty approval and co-operation of the citizenship, and to him Hous- ton is indebted for many material things which vitally affect the future growth of the city.

HARLES H. HURLOCK of Houston, Texas, has since 1907 been identified with the real estate business of this city and has had a share in the vast development which has taken place in the metropolis of South Texas. Mr. Hurlock is the president of the Hurlock Realty Company, with offices in the Queen Theatre Build- ing. This is one of the leading real estate firms of Houston, handling all classes of realty-business property, homes, unimproved property and sub- divisions. The Hurlock Realty Company has built many of the high class homes here and are owners of leases on several of the office buildings of the city. Besides being managers of the Queen Thea- tre Building, the company manages other business and apartment buildings. Associated with Mr. Hur- lock in the management of the Hurlock Realty Company, is his brother, Mr. Maurice H. Hurlock, vice president and a leader in the business and real estate circles of Houston.

A native Texan, Mr. Hurlock was born at Dallas on February 25th, 1889. His father, Sam Houston Hurlock, was for many years a prominent figure in the real estate circles of Dallas, Texas, where he was also a leader in the financial life of that North Texas city as an investment broker. Sam Houston Hurlock has retired from active business and is living in Houston. The mother of Charles H. Hur- lock, Mrs. Frances (Haynes) Hurlock, was a mem- ber of a well known family of North Texas. His education was obtained in the public and high schools of Dallas, being a graduate of one of the last named institutions. After leaving school he entered the employ of R. G. Dunn and Company at Dallas, remaining with this company for a period of five years and it was during this time that he received a liberal business education. After his employment by R. G. Dunn and Company, he came

to Houston and entered actively into the real estate business. A few years later his father and brothers came to Houston and engaged with him in the real estate business. In 1918 his father retired from the firm.

Mr. Hurlock was married at Houston on Novem- ber 12th, 1910, to Miss Lillian McGaffey, a native of the Lone Star State and a daughter of Otis McGaffey, who is a large property owner of this city, but now retired from active business pursuits and who makes his home at Kerrville, Texas, a part of the time. They have two children-Charles H. Hurlock, Jr., and Kathryn. Mr. and Mrs. Hur- lock reside at 1702 Richmond Avenue. Mr. Hurlock is a member of the I. O. O. F., the Kiwanis Club and other organizations of this city, in all of which he takes an active interest. He has since locating here, taken a keen interest in educational matters, having served as president of the Houston School Board during 1922 and 1923, and has always been identified with the civic and political life of Hous- ton, where he is regarded as one of the city's most enterprising citizens.

OWARD R. HUGHES, JR., president and sole owner of the Hughes Tool Company, has recently taken his place among the business men of Houston. The Hughes Tool Company is one of the largest industrial con- cerns of Texas, manufacturing patent rotary drill bits for oil, gas and water wells, and mining; also valves and fittings for refineries, pipe lines, and drilling. Hughes simplex rock bits, Hughes disc bits, Hughes acme tool joints, milling tools, taps, weight indicators, and other special rotary tools are known all over the world and are in use wherever hard drilling is encountered. The Hughes rock bit enables the well-driller to drill with a rotary method through hard rock, and to reach hitherto inacces- sible wells of oil and other minerals. The plant of the company in Houston is modern in every way, and is located in beautiful grounds where everything possible is done for the comfort and health of the seven hundred and twenty-five em- ployees. The company maintains repair shops in Oklahoma City and Los Angeles, and an export office in New York. The capital stock is $2,000,- 000.00 and the annual sales approximately $5,000,- 000.00. Other officers of the Hughes Tool Com- pany are: Frank Andrews, vice president; Colonel R. C. Kuldell, general manager; and C. S. Johnson, secretary and treasurer. These, with Mr. Hughes and H. W. Fletcher, chief engineer, make up the board of directors.

Howard R. Hughes, Jr., was born in Houston, December 24th, 1904, son of Howard R. and Alene Gano Hughes. Howard R. Hughes was the founder of the Hughes Tool Company, and one of the out- standing men identified with the oil industry of Texas. He died in 1924. A sketch of his life will be found in this volume. Mrs. Alene Gano Hughes was a native of Kentucky, reared in Dallas, and a daughter of a well known lawyer of that city. Her death occurred in 1922. Howard R. Hughes, Jr., finished his education at Rice Institute. When his father died he inherited the Hughes Tool Company. His disabilities as a minor were then removed by order of the court, and he took over the manage- ment of the company.

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MEN OF TEXAS

W S. FARISH, pioneer oil man and for more than a score of years engaged in that in- dustry, is the executive head of one of the largest oil companies in the state. Mr. Farish is president of the Humble Oil and Refining Company and of which he was one of the organizers. The Humble Oil and Refining Company was organ- ized March 1st, 1917, by the present board of direc- tors, and was incorporated with a capitol stock of $4,000,000.00, shares with a par value of $100.00 each, $3,715,000.00 par value of the original stock was paid for by the transfer of various properties to the company of an estimated value of $7,430,- 000.00 and $285,000.00 par value of the original issue was paid for in cash at par. There has been three charter amendments by which the capital stock was increased to a par value of $25,000,000.00. This increased stock was divided into two classes and of- fered for sale to stockholders on the following basis: Each stock holder was given the right to subscribe for and purchase at par 11-4 shares of the new stock for each share already owned, and was given the further right to subscribe for and purchase at $250.00 three-fourths of a share of the new stock for each share already owned. In actual figures, the result of this increases was the issuance of $16,800,- 000.00 par value of increased stock for a cash re- turn of $26,271,090.00. The Humble Oil and Refin- ing Company own two refineries, one at Baytown on the ship channel and one located at Burkburnett, and the Humble Building in Houston which oc- cupies one-half block, and is nine stories in height. About seventy-five per centof the office space in the Humble Building is occupied by the Humble Oil and Refining Company. There are about five thou- sand people in the organization of this company, and maintain seventy oil stations in Texas. Their Texas business is about 24,000,000 barrels of oil per year, and the value of sales is about $65,000,- 000.00 annually. The chief sales of this company are in crude oil, and they manufacture a full line of oil products, the bulk of these being lubricating oil. By a charter amendment filed in the office of the secretary of the state of the State of Texas, Decem- ber 19th, 1922, the capital stock of the Humble Oil and Refining Company was increased from a par value of $25,000,000.00 to a par value of $43,750,- 000.00, an increase of $18,750,000.00 par value, and by appropriate action of the board of directors of the company, this increased capital stock was declared and distributed among the stock holders as a stock dividend. The directors of the Humble Oil and Re- fining Company are R. S. Sterling, W. S. Farish, R. L. Blaffer, H. C. Weiss, F. P. Sterling, W. W. Fondren, James Anderson, E. E. Townes, L. A. Carl- ton, C. B. Goddard, J. S. Bonner, all of Houston, Texas, and the foregoing were also the organizers of the Humble Oil and Refining Company, whose pre- decessor was the Humble Oil Company, which was organized in 1911 and the personnel was practically the same as that of the present company.

Mr. Farish was born at Meyersville, Mississippi, February 23rd, 1881. His father, W. S. Farish (deceased) was also a native of Mississippi and was a prominent lawyer of that state. His mother was Miss Kate Power, a member of a well known Missis- sippi family. His eduaction was obtained in the University of Mississippi, where he graduated in the class of 1901 with the LL B. Degree. During the

same year of his graduation from college, Mr. Farish came to Beaumont, Texas, and entered the oil busi- ness, where he remained until 1905 when he came to Houston, and operated in the Humble field and was very successful. In 1917 when the Humble Oil and Refining Company was organized, he put into the company valuable properties, in which he was in- terested and became a director and vice president from the beginning of the operation of the new com- pany. Since coming to Houston, he has become in- terested in a financial way in many of the city's industries and manufactories, and is a director of the Cyrus W. Scott Manufacturing Company and of the Houston Land and Trust Company, and others.

During the World War he was a member of the National Petroleum War Service Committee, and took an active part in the various patriotic cam- paigns.

Mr. Farish was married in Houston June 1st, 1911, to Miss Libbie Rice, a native of Houston and a daughter of Dave Rice, a well known cotton man of Houston and a member of the pioneer Rice family, the name being synonomous with Houston, where they have been one of the leading families for sev- eral generations. They have two children-W. S. Farish, Jr., ten years of age and Martha Botts, aged four years. The Farish home is located at 4416 Montrose Boulevard. Mr. Farish is a member of the Houston Club, the Houston Country Club, Mid- Continent Oil and Gas Association, and the National Petroleum Institute, and is one of the founders of this organization and is a director. In the past, he has served as president of the South Texas Inde- pendent Oil Producers Association, and president of the Texas and Louisiana Oil Association. Mr. Farish worked his way up in the oil world and like practic- ally all of the other really big oil men, he had his struggles in the early days. His experience was gained in the Texas oil fields, and today, he is con- sidered one of the leading oil men of the United States. Mr. Farish is popular in the oil circles of South Texas and with the members of his organiza- tion and all its employes, and as an executive of one of the leading oil companies of the state, Mr. Farish will in the future play an important part in his field of activity.

TEPHEN P. FARISH, president of the Navarro Oil Company and president of the F. W. C. Royalty Corporation, president of the Emsco Screen Pipe Company and president of the Reed Roller Bit Company, has been actively identified with the oil industry of South Texas for nearly twenty years. The Navarro Oil Company was organized in March, 1925, with a capital stock of $750,000.00. The officers of the company are Stephen P. Farish, president; E. E. Watts, vice president and treasurer; J. A. Collins, vice president; A. W. Crosby, vice president and O. V. Brooks, secretary. The company operates extensively in the South Texas and Central Texas oil fields, and although one of the youngest com- panies, they are one of the most active and suc- cessful producing companies in the oil fields of South and Central Texas. The F. W. C. Royalty Corporation is capitalized at $480,000.00, and has the same officers as the Navarro Oil Company. Prior to the organization of the Navarro Oil Com- pany Mr. Farish was for many years a member of the firm of Farish-Watts-Collins, drilling contrac- tors, one of the largest contracting firms in South

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Texas. They had at times as many as twenty-one rotary rigs in service, and drilled for the Humble Oil and Refining Company, Gulf Company, Texas Com- pany and many other oil companies operating in South and Central Texas.

Mr. Farish was born in Issaquena County, Mis- sissippi, in May, 1891. His parents were W. S. Farish and Katherine (Power) Farish, both natives of Mississippi. Mr. Farish received his early edu- cation in the public schools of Natchez, Mississippi, and later attended Sewanee Military Academy, the University of the South, where he was a student in engineering. In 1908 Mr. Farish came to Texas and remained for about nine months, and again in 1910 for several months, and in 1911 came to Houston, and has been active since that time in the various Texas Oil Fields, with the Humble Oil and Refining Company and allied interests in the producing departments, and became an experienced driller with both Cable and Rotary rigs. At the time he left the Humble Oil and Refining Company he was in charge of the producing department of the northern division of the Humble Company, which included North Texas, Oklahoma and Louis- iana.

Mr. Farish was married in Houston November 7, 1922, to Miss Lottie Baldwin Rice, a native of Hous- ton and a daughter of J. S. Rice, leading banker and citizen of Houston, and grandniece of Wm. Rice, founder of Rice Institute, and a member of one of the state's oldest and most esteemed families. In fraternal and social organizations Mr. Farish is a member of college fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, the Houston Country Club, the Houston Club, River Oaks Country Club, Houston Riding and Polo Club, and the Episcopal Church.

APTAIN J. LEWIS THOMPSON, known throughout the yellow pine belt for his con- nection with the lumber manufacturing in- dustry, has more recently given his energies to the banking business, organizing and directing the Public National Bank of Houston with the same . enthusiastic devotion that for twenty-five years he gave to the lumber business. Organized the first of December, 1921, with Captain Thompson as Presi- dent, the Public National Bank has since that time contributed constructive banking service, largely in- strumental in furthering civic development, and ranks as one of the strong financial institutions of Houston. Captain Thompson was largely respon- sible for the organization of the bank, and has since the organization been in larger measure responsible for its success. He has a genius for handling finan- cial affairs, and this, combined with his indefati- gable efforts, and his reputation of steel clad integ- rity and dependability, has placed the Public Na- tional Bank in the position accorded it in the finan- cial world.

The Public National Bank is capitalized at $300,- 000.00, with a surplus fund of over $30,000.00, depos- its of two and one-half millions, and total resources of nearly $3,000,000.00. The officers and directors are men prominent in this section for their business ability. The officers are: Captain J. Lewis Thomp- son, President; Carter Stewart, Active Vice-Presi- dent and Cashier; J. H. Tallichet and J. W. Carter, Vice-Presidents. The directorate is composed of the officers and the following: J. A. Collins, Dr. A. Philo Howard, Thomas Kehoe, Oscar Longnecker, John

McClellan, H. O. Schneider, Carter Stewart, J. H. Studdert, Dr. M. B. Stokes, O. L. White, Chas E. Bennett A. H. Black, J. W. Carter, R. D. Farish, J. M. King and C. A. Thanheiser. The bank has recently erected an eight-story modern building at the corner of Main and Preston at a cost of half a million dollars.

For a quarter of a century Captain J. Lewis Thompson was one of the biggest lumber manufac- turers of the South, a leader in the industry, and President of the Yellow Pine Manufacturers Asso- ciation. Then came the World War, and although Captain Thompson was far beynd the draft age, he settled his business affairs and recruited from the mill and lumber districts an entire company of husky young soldiers. He then offered himself and his boys to the United States Army. There followed a period of training at Camp Bowie, a few months later, in June, 1918, his company, with himself as Captain, was sent overseas. They took part in the San Mihiel drive, saw service in the Argonne Forest and on the Epernay front, and on the Marne. It is characteristic of Captain Thompson that when of- fered a Major's stripes to join a forestry regiment he declined firmly, saying, "that it was fighting men he had recruited." The company returned in June, 1919, with a splendid record for distinguished service, and was demobilized in July of that year.

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New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 61

Author: Davis, Ellis A. Publication date: 1926 Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?] Number of Pages: 1416

Author: Davis, Ellis A.
Publication date: 1926
Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?]
Number of Pages: 1416