New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 2, Part 84

Author: Davis, Ellis A.
Publication date: 1926
Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?]
Number of Pages: 1262

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Mr. Moore was married at Houston on June 24th, 1914, to Miss Norrie Webb, a native of Eagle Lake,

Texas, and a member of a prominent family of Colorado County. Mr. and Mrs. Moore have one daughter, Norrie Jane, and reside at 3705 Fannin Street. Mr. Moore is a member of the A. F. and A. M. with membership in the Blue Lodge at Bay City, Texas, and he has attained to the 14th degree in the Scottish Rite body of this order. He is also a member of the Houston Club, the University Club, the River Oaks Country Club and other social and civic organizations of this city. Mr. Moore's knowledge of oil indications and his experience in drilling and other branches of the oil industry, make him an authority on surface conditions and also in the production of oil. His advice along these lines is frequently sought by men planning to de- velop large enterprises in which a thorough knowl- edge of oil indications are necessary for successful operation. Mr. Moore is optimistic as to the future of the oil industry in Texas and believes that many great fields will yet be brought in, and that the drilling in the Gulf Coast region is stimulated by the betterment of conditions throughout South Tex- as, and that an extensive drilling campaign will be launched here in the near future.

EORGE H. HOWALD, whose years of ex- perience in the petroleum industry enable him to speak authoritatively on matters pertaining to drilling activities, has been a factor in oil development in Texas. Mr. Howald is superintendent of drilling for the Humble Oil and Refining Company, and has been in charge of operations in various fields of this State. He was sent to Corsicana in the spring of 1923, when the Powell field first came in, and had charge of all drilling operations of the Humble Company in this field. The Humble Company was one of the largest producers in the Powell field and the largest lease holders of proven territory. Active operations in this field required fifteen to twenty rigs, and em- ployed some two hundred men. Mr. Howald has been with the Humble Company since 1916, when he went to Goose Creek in charge of drilling oper- ations there, remaining in that field until 1923, when he came to Corsicana to supervise drilling in this field. Later he was transferred to the Humble field.

Mr. Howald was born at Atlantic, Iowa, the four- teenth of December, 1880, the son of B. F. Howald, who later came to La Porte, Texas, where he en- gages in the mercantile business, and Elnora (Dis- brow) Howald. He was educated in the schools of Des Moines, graduating from the high school there, after which he entered Drake University. After leaving college he came to Texas and was in the mercantile business for about eight or nine years. He went into the oil business in 1910, operating from a production and drilling angle, and in 1916 went with the Humble Company, and has since been with that company as drilling superintendent.

Mr. Howald was married at Houston in 1911, to Miss Maybelle Ward, daughter of Robert Ward, deputy sheriff of Harris County, and Nettie (Ber- nard) Ward. Mr. and Mrs. Howald have one child, Helen Ruth. Mr. Howald is widely known in the petroleum world as an expert in his line. His many years of experience and his knowledge of drilling operations, both from a scientific and practical standpoint have qualified him as one of the most valued men in the Humble organization.

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MEN OF TEXAS

OSEPH P. GILLEN is an authority on the refining of crude oil and is a recognized expert, especially in the lubricating end of the refinery business. By training and experience he has fitted himself for the operation and management of large refineries and is now the vice-president of the Deep Water Refineries and in active charge of the operation of the company's plant, located on the ship channel near Harrisburg.

Construction of the Deep Water Refinery was begun in 1919. It is located on a forty-acre tract adjoining the ship channel and has a frontage of six hundred feet for wharfage facilities on the channel. The plant is modern and complete in every detail and has a daily capacity of two thousand barrels of crude. Storage facilities for three hun- dred and fifty thousand barrels of oil are provided at the plant and forty-five are employed in the manufacture of lubricating oils, gas oil, fuel oil and other products of coastal crude, which is used ex- clusively. This is said to be one of the best plants from a standpoint of operating efficiency in this part of the country, the percentage of refined products obtained from the crude runs being excep- tionally high.

Mr. Gillen is a native of Brooklyn, New York, and was born on March 16, 1876. He is a son of James and Johanna (O'Brien) Gillen. His father has been engaged in shipping and water trans- portation at Brooklyn for many years.

After completing his preliminary studies in the public and high schools of Brooklyn, Mr. Gillen entered Pratt Institute in New York City, where he studied chemistry for three years. He then com- pleted his studies at Cooper Institute, and after leaving college became connected with the Standard Oil Company and was assigned to duty in the Pratt Works at Long Island, New York. He was con- nected with the laboratory and refining departments of the Standard Oil Company for thirteen years and in 1903 came to Texas, where he was associated with the Gulf Refining Company as superintendent of the lubricating department at Port Arthur for two years. He then returned to New York City, where for the next three years he engaged in busi- ness for himself, handling lubricating oils, and upon returning to the Lone Star State became connected with The Texas Company at Port Arthur, as super- intendent of the lubricating department. After two years with The Texas Company he resigned and was associated with the Pierce Oil Corporation at Texas City, being superintendent of their plant there for three years. He then went to Yale, Oklahoma, where for a year he was connected with the South- ern Oil Corporation and then came to Houston, where he associated himself with the Sinclair Refining Company and was in charge of their Houston and Louisiana refineries. He started the construction of the present plant of the Sinclair interests at Houston and after a year and a half took over the control of the Deep Water Refineries and completed and placed in operation their plant. Under his management the company has been a complete suc- cess. Many new and original ideas in refining have been worked out by Mr. Gillen during the years he has spent in the business and he has seen their adoption by many of the largest refineries in the country. Mr. Gillen actively allied with Mr. Schulze is responsible for a recent development in vacuum distillation known as the "Schulze Process", patent

number 448.709, March 18th, 1922, assigned to the Red River Refining Company, Louisiana. This process eliminates the use of chemicals such as acids, soda, fullers earth, and produces a mineral oil in as refined a state as it is possible for an oil to be. All impurities are extracted and none put in as in old methods of refining. This process is being used by the Sun Oil Company, Deep Water Oil Refining Company and Calumet Refining Com- pany. This process will have far-reaching effect in the refining industry.

In 1904 Mr. Gillen was married in Brooklyn, to Miss Kathryn McDonald, daughter of James Mc- Donald, prominent Canadian lumberman. They have five children-Joseph, James, Evelyn, Virginia and Ann Elizabeth.

Mr. Gillen is a real authority on refining matters and a splendid business executive. He is possessed of a wonderful personality and has the happy knack of securing the heartfelt loyal co-operation of his men. He is actively interested in many civic mat- ters in Houston and is a member of the Glen- brook Country Club and the Old River Club.

ILTON L. DONALDSON, since his advent in the business world at Houston, has been a factor in the electrical merchandising busi- ness and with more than a decade of exper- ience and study in electrical merchandising and manufacturing activities is regarded as one of the best equipped men in his field. Mr. Donaldson came to Houston in 1923 and since that time has been general manager of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, one of the largest manu- facturers of electrical equipment and supplies in the country. Mr. Donaldson has his office in the Union National Bank Building and has under his direction all activities of this large manufacturing company in this territory. Since assuming charge, he has effected reorganizations materially affecting the efficiency of the company and has placed much addi- tional business on the books. The Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company manufactures motors of all sizes and for all purposes and every- thing used in electrical work, the name Westing- house on electrical equipment being synonymous with "sterling" on silver. A large stock of West- inghouse products are carried at Houston to supply the trade demands of this territory and every ef- fort is made by Mr. Donaldson to give his friends and customers the utmost in service.

Milton L. Donaldson was born at McFall, Alabama, the eighteenth of October, 1888, son of Dr. John T. and Mrs. Emma Turner Donaldson. Dr. Donaldson was a practising physician at McFall for over forty years, his death occurring there in 1903. Mr. Don- aldson attended the public schools of McFall until his graduation from high school, after which he en- tered the Georgia School of Technology, where after four years he took the degrees B. E. and E. E. in 1911. He then started with the Westinghouse Elec- tric and Manufacturing Company and was at East Pittsburg for two years. In 1912 he was sent to St. Louis and was in different departments of the Westinghouse plant there until 1923 when he was made general manager of the Houston office and sent to this city.

Mr. Donaldson was married at Golconda, Illinois, in 1914, to Miss Helen Clark, daughter of Edward B.

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NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

Clark, past president of the Pope County State Bank, at Golconda, and now registrar of the Federal Land Bank at St. Louis. Her mother before her mar- riage was Miss Mayne C. Young. Mr. and Mrs. Don- aldson have one child, Helen Jean, and make their home in Houston at 1301 Isabella Avenue. Mr. Don- aldson is a Master Mason, an Elk and belongs to the Rotary Club. Since coming to Houston he has im- pressed all who know him with his knowledge of the electrical business and his activities in this field promise to be unusually interesting.

OHN W. DUCKETT has risen to his pres- ent commanding position in the oil business in Texas by reason of sheer ability and hard work and not by reason of any influence or pull. When but a little more than thirty years of age, he was made general superintendent of the re- finery department at Houston for the Sinclair Re- fining Company and placed in charge of one of the largest and most complete refineries in the Southwest.

Located a short distance from Houston on the ship channel, the refinery of the Sinclair Refining Com- pany is one of the show places of the city's industrial district. Occupying a tract of land comprising some seven hundred acres, the refinery property has a frontage of three-quarters of a mile along the ship channel with modern docks where the largest tank- ers in service can discharge their cargos of coastal and Mexican crude. An immense tank farm with numbers of enormous tanks, many of them holding fifty-five thousand barrels each, holds the reserve supply of crude oil for the refinery, which has a daily capacity of sixteen thousand barrels of crude. The plant is modern in every detail with every labor saving device known and the best of machinery and equipment for refining gasoline, kerosene, naptha, gas, oil and other products of the petroleum industry. The refinery has eight hundred employes, most of whom have their homes in the district near the plant.

Mr. Duckett is a native of Maryland and was born at Annapolis on September 18, 1888. He is a son of Stephen W. and Mary A. (Hopkins) Duckett and received his preliminary education in the public schools of Annapolis. His father, who was for many years a well known farmer and land owner in Mary- land, died in 1922. After completing his work in the public schools, Mr. Duckett entered the Anne Arundel Academy at Annapolis where he studied for three years preparatory to entering the University of Maryland. Completing the full four-year term at this institution, he graduated with the class of 1910, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Science.

After completion of his college work, Mr. Duckett was connected with the Maryland Experimental Sta- tion for one year and then went to Porto Rico and Cuba where he was connected with large sugar re- fineries as chemist for four years. Returning to Baltimore, he continued his work in chemistry for two years and then went to Chicago where he be- came identified with the Sinclair interests in the capacity of assistant superintendent. In 1920 he was transferred to Houston and made general superin- tendent of the refinery department here.

Mr. Duckett was married at Baltimore in 1912 to Miss Eva Jones Clarke, daughter of William J. and Mary Clarke, prominent residents of Baltimore for many years. Mr. Clarke is engaged in the whole-

sale grocery business there.

Mr. Duckett is a Mason and a member of the Scottish Rite of Houston.

NDREW E. KERR, vice president and gen- eral manager of the Dayton and Goose Creek Railroad Company, with general of- fices in the Humble Building at Houston, is one of the best known men in South Texas. For many years he was engaged in the lumber business in close association with R. S. Sterling, president of the Dayton and Goose Creek road, and when con- struction of the short line was begun, he took charge of the building operations and superintended the con- struction of the entire road. Since its completion, he has been in entire charge of the road's operation.

The Dayton and Goose Creek Railroad runs to Baytown, a distance of twenty-five miles, and a double daily passenger service is maintained between terminals and round trips are made daily by the freight trains with extra trains when traffic de- mands justify. The road employs about 75 men, most of whom have been in service with Mr. Kerr for many years, some of them for as long as twenty years. No labor troubles have ever occurred on the road and no complaint or dissatisfaction has ever been received from the employees.

Construction of the Dayton and Goose Creek Rail- road was begun in 1917, the first rails being laid in September of that year. The road was completed in March, 1918, and both freight and passenger serv- ice inaugurated on April 1, 1918. The road bed is of standard construction, shell ballasted and laid with sixty pound rails. The rolling stock includes two super heated Baldwin locomotives and one older engine for extra freight service and standard pas- senger coaches are provided.

A native of Texas, Mr. Kerr was born in Johnson County on January 31, 1876, a son of B. B. Kerr, Johnson County farmer who came to Texas after the close of the Civil War and died when his son was five years of age. Mr. Kerr studied in the public schools of Johnson County and later taught school for a time before going into the lumber and sawmill busi- ness. He began with the Dayton Lumber Company as timekeeper and in 1910 was made secretary of the company. He remained with this firm until Mr. Sterling sold it in 1920. He is still associated closely with Mr. Sterling in various activities apart from the operation of the railroad. A significant feature of the road's operation is that not a single employee has ever been killed or hurt and the road has never had a serious accident.

Besides managing the affairs of the railroad com- pany, Mr. Kerr is president of the Goose Creek Real- ty Company, a townsite company organized to de- velop Goose Creek when the road was built; is pres- ident of the Goose Creek Power and Light Company, president and treasurer of the Markham Irrigation Company, and the Gulf Coast Irrigation Company at Bay City.

In 1902, Mr. Kerr was married at Grandview, Texas, to Miss Leonora Pitts. They have four chil- dren, Jennie Katherine, A. E., Jr., Robert and Oma Beth. The family home is at 600 Avondale Avenue.

Mr. Kerr is a Mason, a member of the new Hous- ton Blue Lodge, a member of the chapter at Day- ton and the Commandery at Houston and of Arabia Temple Shrine at Houston. His church affiliation is with the Baptist denomination.

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MEN OF TEXAS

EORGE H. PRUTER is one of the pioneers of the oil industry in Texas, having been engaged in the various branches of this field of activity since leaving school as a very young man. Mr. Pruter came to Houston in 1903 from San Antonio and since that time has been identified with some branch of the petroleum business. In 1919 he came with the Simms Oil Com- pany as Comptroller and established their account- ing system. In 1921 he came with E. F. Simms in- dependent operator as auditor, and assuming other duties as well, continuing in such capacity to date. He is also an officer in the Texas Exploration Com- pany, and has other oil interests.

Mr. Pruter was born in Arcadia, Iowa, on Sep- tember 17, 1886. His father, H. W. Pruter, was a native of Kiel, Germany, and came to the United States as a young man and to Texas in 1899, where he was engaged in the mercantile business and was one of the organizers of the Raywood Rice, Canal and Milling Company. He later came to Houston and for several years was engaged in the hardware business here, and is now residing at Orange, Texas, where he is associated with the Sabine Supply Com- pany. His mother was Miss Mattie Scott, a native of England, a member of a prominent english fam- ily. His education was obtained in various Texas schools and later he became a student of the West Texas Military Academy, after which he started in the oil business. Mr. Pruter was first with the Waters-Pierce Oil Corporation and later became as- sociated with the Texas Company and remained with this company for a period of twelve years, after which he accepted the position of Comptroller of Simms Oil Company. Mr. Pruter maintains offices at 901 Chronicle Building, Houston.

Mr. Pruter was married in Houston in 1908 to Miss Mary McNair, a native of Austin, Texas, and a member of a well known family of the Capital City. They have one daughter, Mary Pauline Pruter, nine years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Pruter reside at 513 Branard Street. Since coming to Houston, Mr. Pru- ter has become interested in many of the city's fi- nancial, industrial and manufacturing concerns, and is a Director in the National Bond and Mortgage Company and in Shoreacres, Inc. This company, made up of leading citizens of Houston, is develop- ing a six-hundred-acre tract of land one mile and a half from Sylvan Beach on the bay shore into beau- tiful country home sites, spending $160,000.00 on the preliminary work. There is to be a one-hundred- acre golf course, and everything is being done to make this the most desirable and restricted country addition ever put on the market in South Texas. Mr. Pruter is a member of the York Rite bodies of the Masonic fraternity, is a Knight Templar of Ruthven Commandery and is a Shriner of Arabia Temple, serving this as Potentate in 1922. He is also a mem- ber of the Houston Club and of various civic associa- tions, in which he takes an active interest. Mr. Pruter is popular in both the business and social circles of Houston, where for more than twenty years he has been an active figure in the city's fi- nancial and business circles, where he is regarded as one of Houston's most progressive and public spirited citizens. Mr. Pruter never loses an oppor- tunity of speaking a good word for Houston and believes that the time is near at hand when this city will lead the entire Southwest.

A. MEYER, successful oil operator and in- vestor, has been connected with oil devel- opment work in South Texas for two de- cades or more and is now the senior member of the well known firm of Meyer and So Relle, with offices at 308 Scanlan Building, Houston. This firm was organized in 1919 by Mr. Meyer and A. C. So Relle and is engaged principally in blocking up acreage and arranging leases and drilling contracts for the larger companies, retaining a working inter- est either in the acreage blocked or the royalties. They have been very successful in this line of work and the firm is one of the leading organizations of its kind in Houston.

In 1914 Mr. Meyer assisted in blocking the acreage for the Texas Exploration Company at Damon Mound, retaining a royalty interest in all the leases that were productive. He also blocked the Pierce Junction acreage for Snowden and McSweeney for a working interest. Production from this block of acreage at one time aggregated fifteen thousand bar- rels of oil per day and it is still producing. More than a million barrels of oil has been shipped from this field and it is still regarded by oil men as a center of considerable potential production. Meyer and So Relle blocked the Big Creek field in Fort Bend County on their own account and arranged with' the Gulf Production Company and Snowden and Mc- Sweeney to test the property. They have several successful producing wells there and were success- ful in obtaining oil from the first test. A tract of eight thousand acres was blocked in Jackson and Vic- toria Counties and drilling arrangements perfected with the Fensland Oil Company, of Fort Worth, who early in 1923 began tests of this acreage.

Mr. Meyer was born in Austin County, Texas, on August 26, 1876, a son of B. and Louise (Herrings) Meyer. His father's people came to Texas in 1853 from Europe and his mother's family were among the early settlers in Austin County, locating there in 1823 and having an important part in the work of the hardy pioneers who made the early history of Texas. Mr. Meyer was educated in the public and high schools of Austin County and later attended the Lutheran College at Brenham. In 1897 he went to Fort Bend County and operated a farm there for a year and then went into the mercantile business, later establishing an insurance and real estate agency, which he continued until coming to Houston in 1919. He was interested in oil development work at Spindletop and Sour Lake in the early days of the oil industry in Texas and during his residence at Rosenberg was postmaster there and also had charge of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad lands in Fort Bend County. Mr. Meyer is president of the Pathfinder Oil Company, a holding operating company which operates in the coastal fields.

In September, 1898, Mr. Meyer was married at Burleson, Texas, to Miss Emma Windel, native Texan and a daughter of C. W. Windel, pioneer Bur- leson citizen who came here in the early days from Europe and served throughout the Civil War in the forces of the Confederacy. He is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and a member of Arabia Temple Shrine.

Besides his oil interests, Mr. Meyer owns some eighty thousand acres of land in various counties of Texas, including Fort Bend, Burleson, Wharton and

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NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

Jackson Counties. Most of this is grazing land, but he has fourteen hundred acres of highly valuable farming land planted to cotton and corn and other crops. Mr. Meyer is a progressive and enterpris- ing business man and of that solid, substantial type of citizen of which real cities are built.

AMES G. DETWILER came to Houston in 1920 and since that time has been chief chemist of The Texas Company, with Hous- ton headquarters, and is considered one of the leading chemists in this part of the country. Mr. Detwiler has charge of all laboratories of The Texas Company, and of chemical analysis of all de- partments requiring this work. He came to Texas in 1911 and was for three years stationed at Port Arthur with The Texas Company. In 1914 he went to Bayonne, New Jersey, for his company where he remained until 1916, when he took charge of the research laboratories at Port Arthur, where he con- tinued in this capacity until he entered the army.

Mr. Detwiler was born at Norristown, Pennsyl- vania, January 12th, 1888. His father, the late James G. Detwiler, was well known in the business and financial circles of Pennsylvania. The first Det- wilers came to Pennsylvania from Rotterdam in 1685. His mother was Miss Mary Grater Gotwals, a member of a prominent Pennsylvania family. His early education was obtained in the public and high schools of Collegeville, Pennsylvania, after which he entered Ursinus Academy where he remained from 1903 to 1905. He then became a student of the Penn- sylvania State College, where he remained for a period of four years and graduated from this insti- tution with a degree of B. S. C., and after this he had special courses at other well known colleges. After leaving college, Mr. Detwiler did his first work for the Lackawanna Steel Company, after which he went with the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company. He remained with the last named firm a short time, when he became associated with the Dow Chemical Company, after which he went with the National Tube Company, where he remained until he entered the employ of The Texas Company. Mr. Detwiler enlisted in the World War in August, 1917, and at- tended the second officers training camp at Leon Springs, Texas and was commissioned a lieutenant and assigned to the 347th Infantry, 87th Division at Camp Pike. He remained at this camp until May, 1918, when he was sent to Camp Dix and in July, 1918, he left with his division for France. The trans- port on which Mr. Detwiler went overseas was sub- marined on the trip but without loss of life. He remained in France for six months and returned to America in January, 1919, and was discharged on February 28th, 1919. After receiving his discharge, he went with Dr. K. G. Mackenzie, consulting chem- ist of The Texas Company in New York City, as his assistant, where he remained for one year, after which he came to Houston as chief chemist for The Texas Company here. He has contributed to the improvement of refining processes of crude petroleum and to the betterment of petroleum pro- ducts. Mr. Detwiler is a member of the Houston Country Club, the University Club, of which he is a director, the Chemists Club of New York City, the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, American Chem- ical Society, the Southeast Texas section of which he is president, the Society of Chemical Industry of

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New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 2, Part 84

Author: Davis, Ellis A. Publication date: 1926 Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?] Number of Pages: 1262

Author: Davis, Ellis A.
Publication date: 1926
Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?]
Number of Pages: 1262