New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 80

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

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Mr. Bennett was married at Houston, in April, 1913, to Miss Nina Lee Winslow, a native of the Lone Star State. They have two children, Charles E. Junior and James H. The family reside at 1314 Richard Avenue. Mr. Bennett is an Elk. He is also a member of the State Pharmaceutical Associa- tion, and a member of the Chamber of Commerce.

453

MEN OF TEXAS

A. COLLINS, Vice-President of the Na- varro Oil Company, and the F. W. C. Roy- alty Corporation, has had many years of practical experience in the Texas oil fields, and knows the conditions and formations probably as well as any man in the State. The Navarro Oil Company was organized in March, 1925, with a capi- talization of $750,000.00. The officers of the com- pany are S. P. Farish, President, E. E. Watts, Vice- President, J. A. Collins, Vice-President, A. W. Cros- by, Vice-President, and O. V. Brooks, Secretary. The company is active in the South and Central Texas oil fields, and is one of the most successful producing companies in the oil fields of Texas. The F. W. C. Royalty Corporation is capitalized at $500,000.00, and has the same officers as the Navarro Oil Com- pany. In 1917 Mr. Collins came to Houston and was engaged in contracting independently until 1922, when he, along with S. P. Farish and E. E. Watts organized the firm of Farish, Watts, Collins Com- pany, drilling contractors, one of the largest con- tracting firms in South Texas, drilling for the Humble Oil and Refining Company, the Gulf Com- pany, Texas Company and many other oil companies in the Mid-Continent fields and West Coast area.

A native Texan, Mr. Collins was born in Mont- gomery County, August 10, 1884. His parents were J. M. Collins and Lulu (Hyatt) Collins. His father, a well known business man of Montgomery County, was born at Paris, Texas, of parents who were among the pioneer settlers of the Lone Star State. His mother's family came to Texas several years prior to the Civil War. He was educated in the public schools of Montgomery County.

In 1903, when nineteen years of age, Mr. Collins started in the oil business at Sour Lake and fol- lowed the Gulf Coast fields and Louisiana fields for seven years, doing all classes of rough work, but during this period, he gained an experience that has been of untold value to him in his business as an oil operator. In 1909 he began drilling for the Producers Oil Company and continued in the employ of this company until 1913, being successful in bring- ing in many good wells for this company. In 1913 he began drilling for T. H. Bass, drilling for him in the Gulf Coast and Louisiana fields until 1917, when he entered the drilling and contracting business in- dependently, continuing until the Farish-Watts-Col- lins Company was organized. This company oper- ated as many as 21 strings of tools at one time. Since coming to Houston Mr. Collins has been connected with many of the financial and commercial interests of the city and is a director in the Public National Bank, and a member of other companies and manu- facturing concerns. Mr. Collins has invested ex- tensively in Houston real estate.

Mr. Collins was married on February 7th, 1909, to Miss Cleo Clampitt, a native of Washington Coun- ty, Texas, and a daughter of Robert Clampitt, a member of one of the early families of Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Collins reside at 3403 Yoakum Boulevard. Mr. Collins holds membership in the B. P. O. E., and the I. O. O. F., and the Houston Country Club.

EFF E. HOOPER, pioneer oil man, has had an extensive experience in the producing end of this industry. Mr. Hooper is gen- eral superintendent of production of the South Texas division of the Sinclair Oil and Gas Company, and his twenty years spent in the coastal

oil fields is a great asset to him in taking care of the Sinclair interests. He looks after the drilling and handles the production of the company. The Sinclair Oil and Gas Company has production in Or- ange, Damon Mound, Liberty and the Blue Ridge fields. The Houston division of this company covers the area south of Mexia, including the coastal fields, making about one-half of Texas and one-half of Louisiana in the division.

A native Texan, Mr. Hooper was born at Bloom- burg, February 2nd, 1888. His father, E. J. Hooper, . a native of the Lone Star State, has been many years engaged in farming in Cass County, and now is re- siding in Bloomburg; his father came to Texas from Tennessee in the early fifties. His mother was formerly Miss Monnie Golden, a native of Louisiana, and died when he was quite young. His education was obtained in the public schools of Bloomburg, and when seventeen years of age entered the oil business, which dates from 1905 in the field at Humble, Texas, for the Gulf and Texas Companies. After this experience, he began wildcatting on his own account in Northern Louisiana, and later ran a rig and looked after production for independent con- tractors and producers, and remained in Louisiana until 1915. During the time spent in Louisiana, Mr. Hooper learned the rotary drilling and had some experience with cable tools, and in December, 1915, he came back to Humble for the Texas Company and ran a rig for them until June, 1916, when this com- pany sent him to Damon Mound and West Columbia drilling wildcat wells, and had complete charge of the drilling. In January, 1917, Mr. Hooper en- tered the contracting business in South Texas, and continued in the business of oil well contracting until 1919, and at that time became associated with other interests, but in the latter part of 1920, he again entered the oil well contracting business, and remained in this line of endeavor until April, 1922, when he became field superintendent of the Sinclair Oil and Gas Company at Damon Mound, where pre- vious to this time he had drilled four wells for this company, and in April, 1923, Mr. Hooper became general superintendent of production. In addition to his oil interests, he has a farm in Brazoria Coun- ty consisting of 450 acres, which he has spent much time in improving, and raises cattle, grain, etc. Mr, Hooper is president of the Damon City State Bank at Damon Mound, and was formerly president of the Chamber of Commerce at that place.

Mr. Hooper was married at Rosenburg, Texas, op October 17th, 1916, to Miss Emma D. Hopkins, a native of Illinois and a daughter of T. E. Hopkins, who came to Texas in 1913 from Kansas and lives near Damon Mound and is engaged in the cattle business. They have two sons, Jeff E. Hooper, Jr., and Milton Leroy. Mr. Hooper is a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason, a Knight Templar of that order and a member of Arabia Temple Shrine. Mr. Hooper is truly a friend of man, and while living at Damon Mound he took an active part in helping in the improvement of the living conditions there, and believes it to be the duty of all citizens to help in these matters. Since coming to Houston to live, Mr. Hooper is taking the same active interest here. Mr. Hooper is a true type of the Southern gentle- man, and through his genial and kindly disposition, he has made many friends both in and out of oil circles.

454

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

H. DORE' has become a part of the busi- ness and industrial life of Houston, where he has been connected with the Houston Car Wheel and Machine Company for more than a decade, and is General Manager of this com- pany, who maintain the largest plant of its kind in the South. The Houston Car Wheel and Machine Company located at the corner of Spring and White Streets, was established in 1905, and are manufac- turers of car wheels for every purpose-railroad cars, street cars, coal mine cars and logging trains. They are makers of the Standard American Railroad Association wheel, for which purpose is used a hard gray iron, known as charcoal pig iron. The plant of the Houston Car Wheel and Machine Company repre- sents an investment of more than one million dol- lars and covers an area of nine acres, which is under fence, and with fifteen hundred feet of railroad trackage into the plant. This company has nine large buildings; machine shops with twenty-five thousand square feet of floor space, main foundry, with a floor space of sixteen thousand square feet, wheel foundry with thirty thousand square feet of floor space, pattern shop with a floor space of four thousand square feet, carpenter shop with a floor space of four thousand square feet, and two fire- proof pattern vaults with a space of thirty-five thousand square feet with a stock of ten thousand patterns on hand. The Houston Car Wheel and Ma- chine Company employs from 250 to 300 people at all times in their plant. They also have a large and completely equipped laboratory connected with their plant. In this factory are found ten 10-ton electric cranes, and heavy-forging steam hammers of six-

teen

hundred-pound weights.

The Houston Car

Wheel and Machine Company does much Government contract work; some sawmill work, and do a great deal of work in the making of special fittings for refineries. They are makers of special cast iron bore for depot and school stoves, and make special large marine castings, and all kinds of dredging machinery. This firm does all the foundry work for four of the railroads entering Houston, and much of the work for other railroads. In this work for railroads, they use the gray iron castings exclus- ively.

Mr. Dore' was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1873. His father, James H. Dore', was well known in the business circles of Cleveland, where he was en- gaged in the manufacturing and iron business. His mother, Kathryn Dore', was a member of a well known Cleveland family. The foundation for Mr. Dore"'s education was supplied by the public and high schools of Cleveland, and later he took a course in engineering in a School of Applied Sci- ence, finishing in 1893.

Mr. Dore' began his business career in 1895 by doing mechanical work. Later he went with the Kilby Manufacturing Company, who had large foun- dry and machine shops for the making of machinery for sugar mills. He remained in the employ of this company for three years. He then went with the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad as Master Mechanic, where he remained for five years. Mr. Dore' then took complete charge of the Variety Iron and Steel Works, with large foundry and ma- chine shops and structural iron works. Mr. Dore' was in charge of one thousand men at this plant. In 1912 he came to Houston with the Houston Car

Wheel and Machine Company and in 1916 was made General Manager of this large company. Other of- ficers of the Houston Car Wheel and Machine Com- pany are J. J. Settegast, Jr., President; C. S. Sette- gast, Vice-President, and A. J. Binz, Secretary and Treasurer. Mr. Dore' served as President of the Southern Metals Trade Association. He is a mem- ber of the Scottish Rite body of the Masonic frater- nity, and is a Shriner of Arabia Temple. He is also a member of the Houston Club and the Houston Country Club. Mr. Dore' has since coming to Hous- ton been active in the business, social and general community life of the city, and is interested in all projects tending to the welfare and progress of the city in which he believes the future to be of un- limited possibilities.

OSEPH A. HUDSON has a broad knowledge of the principles that govern organization, and as Resident Manager of the Western Newspaper Union, has demonstrated a gen- ius for management. The Western Newspaper Union, located at 1312 Walker Avenue, Houston, prints sev- enteen complete newspapers each week for the small towns in Texas and Louisiana. They also print a portion of one hundred and fourteen newspapers for small towns throughout the country. The position of the Western Newspaper Union relative to small newspapers is the same as that of the United Press to the large newspapers of the larger cities. They also furnish plates and cuts of all kinds. The West- ern Newspaper Union employs twenty-nine people.

A native Texan, Mr. Hudson was born at San Antonio October 7, 1891. His father, H. A. Hudson, also a native of San Antonio, has been connected with the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad all his life, and is still active in the interest of this railroad. His mother was Miss Mattie Roan, a native of the Lone Star State and a member of a prominent Eagle Lake family. His education was obtained in the public schools of San Antonio.

Mr. Hudson began his business career with the Public Service Company in San Antonio as pay- master and Assistant Auditor, where he remained for seven years, and resigned in order to begin military training for duty in the World War. He entered the first Officers' Training Camp at Leon Springs in May, 1917, and was commissioned a Sec- ond Lieutenant, and was attached to the Depot Bri- gade at Camp Travis, where he remained until the close of the war. He was promoted to First Lieu- tenant, Captain and Major, and was discharged as Major in April, 1919. Following his discharge from the army, Mr. Hudson came to Houston as Purchas- ing Agent for the Texas Gas and Electric Company, where he remained for one year. He resigned this position to become Assistant Manager of the West- ern Newspaper Union, which position he held until September, 1921, when he was made Manager. Mr. Hudson is a member of the A. F. and A. M., with membership in Gray Lodge No. 329, of Houston, and is a member of both York and Scottish Rite bodies of this fraternity and has attained to the 32nd degree in the Scottish Rite body. He is a Shriner of Arabia Temple and a member of Arabia Temple Patrol, of which organization he is Captain. He is also a member of the Rotary and Salesmanship Clubs, of Houston. Mr. Hudson is identified with and takes an active interest in all agencies working for the greater development of Houston.

457

MEN OF TEXAS

V. BOWLES, for over two decades asso- ciated with the development of the petro- leum industry in the coastal fields, and an authority on drilling operations, has for the past several years made his headquarters at Houston, and is one of the most capable petroleum executives in the city. Mr. Bowles is general su- perintendent of the Southern Division of the Texas Company, one of the important positions in this or- ganization, and one carrying with it responsibilities, and requiring an expert knowledge of oil operations from every angle. To a considerable extent he is responsible for the smooth functioning of the field operations in the Southern Division of his company. Mr. Bowles has been with the Texas Company since 1915, when he began as driller in the West Columbia field, a field in which he is a real pioneer. He drill- ed in Nos. 3, 4 and 5, known as the Kaiser wells, all wildcat wells in the West Columbia field. In 1917 he was made assistant general superintendent of the Southern Division, with his headquarters at Houston, and in 1922 was made general superinten- dent of this division of the Texas Company.

W. V. Bowles was born at Houston, Mississippi, the 10th of May, 1885. His father, W. J. Bowles, a native of Mississippi, came to Texas during the early oil boom at Spindle Top, after having met with success in the saw mill business in his native state He first engaged in the saw mill business in Texas, later going into the oil business in South Texas and Oklahoma. His death occurred in 1920. Mr. Bowles' mother was before her marriage Miss Martha Strib- ling, a native of Mississippi, and a sister of Colonel T. C. Stribling, one of the pioneer oil men of the coastal fields, and one of the prominent men in the history of oil development in this section. Mrs. Bowles died in 1920, six months before her husband's death. As a boy Mr. Bowles attended the public schools of his native city, Houston, Mississippi, but after the family moved to this State, and the elder Mr. Bowles met with financial reverses, he gave up the college education he had planned, and began his active business career, taking his college educa- tion in the school of experience. He began in the Spindle Top field for his uncle, Colonel Stribling, in 1902, and drilled for him until 1905, when he began as a contracting driller, and until 1914 con- tinued in this line. He then went with the Beau- mont Petroleum Company, in which he had a finan- cial interest, as field superintendent. He left the Beaumont Petroleum Company one year later to go with the Texas Company, with which he has since been associated.

Mr. Bowles was married at Corsicana, the 6th of January, 1908, to Miss Edna Henderson, a native of Hillsboro, Texas, and the daughter of the late W. E. Henderson. Mr. and Mrs. Bowles have one child, Mary Frances, and reside at 2 West Eleventh Place. Mr. Bowles, the type of oil man who has always been in the thick of things, has taken too active a part in the development of the coastal fields to be interested in joining the various social and fraternal organizations. However, he is a member of the River Oaks Country Club. He is known to practically every operator in the Lone Star State, and all of the operators in the coastal fields, and his present position of responsibility is consid- ered by them a well deserved recognition of his real ability and expert knowledge of oil field operations.

E. SORRELLS, manager of the Houston Branch of Sorrells and Company, 66 Beaver Street, New York, came to Houston in 1922 and established the branch office of the New York house. The firm does a brokerage and commission business and handles cotton, coffee, sugar, cotton oil and grain. Another branch is lo- cated at Memphis, Tennessee. The Houston branch is located at 1312 Cotton Exchange Building. C. J. Sorrells is the head of the firm, and in charge of the New York office, and H. L. Goss is associated with him there as junior partner.

A native of Georgia, Mr. Sorrells was born at Monroe on October 5, 1875, a son of J. B. and Jane (Dulcena) Sorrells. His parents came to Texas in about 1895, and located at Hillsboro, where his father operated a compress until about 1905, when he returned to Georgia, dying there on July 11, 1921, at the advanced age of 90 years and seven days. His mother died at the age of 84.

Mr. Sorrells received his education in Prof. Pet- etts' school at Hillsboro, and the best private schools in Georgia, and for about five years was with the Interior Department of the Government at Wash- ington, and, later, he was connected with the De- partment of Justice for about five years, and served in the United States Army during the Spanish Amer- ican War.

Coming to Texas again in 1901, he located at Gal- veston during the reconstruction period following the disastrous storm of 1900, and for two years was traffic manager for Heineker and Vogelsang, cot- ton exporters. He handled thousands of bales of cotton for this firm, and, in 1911, returned to Geor- gia, where he remained for five years, farming and engaging in the lumber business, and then actively engaged in the cotton business for an additional five years before coming to Houston in 1922. He has been a close student of conditions affecting the cotton market, and has been very successful in his operations.

During his residence in Washington Mr. Sorrells served as Lieutenant in the District of Columbia Volunteers, and was connected with the National Guard there for a number of years. He also has been an officer in the Texas National Guard, and organized a unit of the Guard at Galveston. Dur- ing his residence at Galveston he served as Cap- tain of the Coast Artillery.

On July 31, 1901, Mr. Sorrells was married at Washington, D. C., to Miss Olive E. Carty. They have two daughters, Dorothy C., a student at Rice Institute, and Ruth D., still in high school. The family home is at 1503 Truxillo Avenue.

While engaged in business at Galveston Mr. Sor- rells became interested in the establishment of a package car line into Dallas. Mr. Sorrells re- calls that when in Galveston some twenty years ago he believed the project of shipping on Buffalo Bayou to be only a fantastic dream, but he now realizes that such dreams sometimes come true, and he is confident in his expectations that Houston, as a result of deep water, will eventually become the largest city in the South.

Mr. Sorrells is a member of the Cotton Exchange, the Traffic Club, and the Houston Chamber of Com- merce, and takes an active interest in the civic and commercial affairs of Houston.

458

IBowls

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

F. BASHARA, oil operator and president of the Lake Graham Oil Company, has been active in the development of the South Texas oil fields for the past eleven years. The Lake Graham Oil Company operates in Sour Lake, and has an average daily production from that field of about thirty barrels per day. Mr. Bashara also operates independently, and has pro- duction in the Liberty fields, Texas, and in Arkan- sas, and has producing royalties in various places. He came to Houston from Waco in 1916, and since that time has been connected with many of the city's institutions. His offices are maintained at 901 Keystone Building.

Mr. Bashara was born at Beirut, Syria, February 24th, 1888. His father, F. J. Bashara, came to the United States in 1892, and is now residing in Waco, Texas, where he is a large holder of real estate and is engaged in the wholesale wood business, and also owns large timber interests in East Texas, which he has cut and sells at wholesale. His mother was Miss Sarah Baida, a native of Syria, and resides in Waco, Texas. His early education was obtained in the schools of Syria and later attended the public schools of Waco, Texas.

When seventeen years of age, Mr. Bashara began to work for himself, and in 1910 went with his uncle, M. J. Bashara, and was in charge of stores for him at Sour Lake, Electra, Saratoga and Vinton, Louis- iana. He started in the oil business proper in 1914 when with M. J. Bashara, he assisted in the organ- ization of the Lake Graham Oil Company. This company got a 5,000-barrel well in Sour Lake, which paid $250,000.00 in dividends, and the original cost of this well to the company was $10,000.00. In 1923 and 1924 with others Mr. Bashara brought in four wells in Arkansas, each making from fifty to two hundred and fifty barrels per day. In April, 1925, he brought in two wells on his Liberty lease, one making twelve hundred barrels per day initial production. Several other wells will be drilled on the lease.

Mr. Bashara was married in Beirut, Syria, Sep- tember 11th, 1913, to Miss Wadeha Unice. They have four children-Nellie, Louise, Virginia and Frank J. Mr. Bashara is a member of the B. P. O. E. and the Houston Y. M. C. A., and is a con- sistent member of the Greek Orthodox Church. He has had an interesting career for a foreign-born citizen; he never loses an opportunity to speak a good word for Houston and South Texas and assists in every way the progress and advancement of the South Texas metropolis. His uncle, M. J. Bashara, is one of the leading oil men of Texas, and is one of the most progressive and public-spirited citizens of Wichita Falls.

W. SHEARER, when coming to Houston in 1919, brought with him an experience in the oil industry extending over more than a decade, practically all of which was in the construction and refining end of the business. Mr. Shearer is General Superintendent of the Deep Water Oil Refineries, with office in the Scanlan Building. Mr. Shearer assisted in making the lo- cation of the Deep Water Oil Refineries on the Ship Channel, which he designed and built. The ground was broken for this refinery in September, 1919, and construction begun in July of the same year, and in July, 1920, operations began. It is a lubri-

cating plant with a capacity of 2,500 barrels per day, which makes it a good-sized plant of its kind, modern in every detail, and able to obtain a low rate of interest on account of being such an excel- lent structure. About seventy-five men are em- ployed in operating the plant, and improvements are being made at intervals and at some time the Deep Water Oil Refineries will be enlarged.

Mr. Shearer was born on a farm near Paris, Ohio, April 12th, 1877. His father, R. H. Shearer, a na- tive of Ohio, was engaged in farming in that State. His mother was Miss Marian Conrad, a member of a prominent Ohio family. His education was ob- tained in the country schools of Ohio, and he re- mained on his father's farm until 1898, when he be- came a telegraph operator, and remained in this work for one year. He then became a railroad fire- man, but his health became impaired, and, in 1901, he went on the road selling lubricating oils and paints, and continued in this line of endeavor until 1908, when he became interested in the oil busi- ness and entered a refinery-the old Keystone Refin- ing Company, at Columbus, Ohio-with Mr. R. A. Fouts, and there he learned the construction end of the business, and later became superintendent. He resigned this position in 1918, and went to East St. Louis, and there built the plant of the Lubrite Refining Company, and started it operating, all of which was accomplished in ten months. In 1919 he joined Mr. Fouts in Houston, and has been Gen- eral Superintendent of the Deep Water Oil Re- fineries since he finished the construction of it.

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New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 80

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