USA > Texas > The encyclopedia of Texas, V.1 > Part 94
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Mr. Harkrider is active in the social and civic life of his city as well as its business interests. He is known among the leaders in each realm, is one of them, and he and his company are permanent Texas institutions which are doing good work and will be ¿ potent factor in the future development of West Texas.
M. HARRISON, prominent oil man and former banker, president and general man- ager of the Star Refining and Producing Company, W. T. Waggoner Building, is one man who has achieved success in his native city. Mr. Harrison was born in Fort Worth, January 9, 1891, and with the exception of the time spent at college has never lived anywhere else.
The company of which Mr. Harrison is the head is one of the large independent refining and pro- ducing companies of the state, having an author- ized capitalization of one million dollars with a total
of eight hundred and thirty thousand outstanding. They have a refinery in Fort Worth with a daily capacity of one thousand barrels of crude oil and have marketing stations in Fort Worth and various towns and cities in Texas.
Mr. Harrison is a son of James and Gertrude ( Martin) Harrison, both native Texans and pioneer residents of Fort Worth. The elder Harrison has for many years been one of Fort Worth's leading bankers and was vice-president of the State National Bank for :. number of years. He has also been prominent in various commercial and civic activities of the city.
Mr. Harrison received his preliminary education in the Fort Worth public schools and the high school and then attended Kemper Military School, graduat- ing in 1909. He then entered the University of Chicago where he graduated in 1913, receiving the degree of bachelor of philosophy.
Following the completion of his university course Mr. Harrison engaged in the banking business and from 1913 until 1918 was connected with the State National, American National and Security States Bank, was vice-president and director of latter mentioned. In 1918 he entered the oil business and successfully organized the Star Refining and Pro- ducing Company. Besides its refinery, the company has some settled production and is regarded as one of the substantial independent oil concerns of the state.
On November 5, 1913, Mr. Harrison was married to Miss Margaret Wynne, daughter of W. R. Wynne, prominent attorney of Wills Point. They have two children, Margaret and W. M., Jr.
Mr. Harrison is a director of the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, member of the Chamber of Commerce, Fort Worth Club, Rivercrest Club and the Kappa Sigma (College) fraternity. He is an enthusiastic Fort Worth booster and predicts a great future for the city.
T. CRAIG, president of the Texas Produc- tion Company and of the Imperial Produc- tion Company, 427 Slaughter Building, came to Dallas in February, 1919, from Houston where he had been engaged in the oil busi- ness in Southern Texas, and in May 1919 organized the first named company with a capitalization of one million dollars. The Imperial Production Com- pany was organized September 25, 1919 with Mr. Craig as President, Dr. J. B. Bright, Oklahoma, vice president and S. F. Tubbs, secretary and treasurer.
Mr. Craig was born at Harrison in Boone County Arkansas, in 1866. He was educated in the public schools and at Raly Hill Academy, studied law and was admitted to the bar, practicing for a short time, then went into politics. He served two terms in the Arkansas Legislature and later engaged in the real estate business at Lind, Washington. Return- ing to Arkansas he engaged in fruit raising and ship- ping at Springdale from 1902 to 1914 and then went to South Texas and entered the oil business.
Mr. Craig was married at Marshall Prairie, Ark., Feb. 6, 1887, to Miss Flora Hicks. They have one daughter, Bessie, now Mrs. Ira Taylor of Cordell, Oklahoma, and one son. F. P. at Muskogee, Okla.
A great booster for Texas and Dallas, Mr. Craig believes the future is very bright and that oil de- velopment in Texas has just started. He is a member of the I. O. O. F.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS
OY B. JONES, president of the Panhandle Refining Company, 1412 Royal Street at Browder, Dallas, as a pioneer in the oil business, as directing official of a company that owns refineries, manufacturing plants, pipe line systems, immense warehouses, lumber yards, ma- chinery equipment, all of which handles a production that totals up in the thousands of barrels of oil daily, is a star of the first magnitude in the Texas oil in- dustry. Associated with him as officials of the com- pany are Thomas Morrissey and Julius A. Germany, vice-presidents, and B. J. Shaw of Wichita Falls, as production superintendent. The Panhandle Refining Company was organized in 1916 at Wichita Falls where the headquarters were until, on January 1, 1920, Dallas was chosen for the home office, with a branch office at Wichita Falls. They are refiners, pro- ducers, operators and casing head gasoline manufac- turers, and have a pipe line system running through all of Wichita County; their holdings are in Wichita, Young and Eastland Counties from which they re- ceive thousands of barrels of production a day. Their refinery at Wichita Falls has boiler and tank works in connection and their plant here covers 140 acres. 55,000 acres of land leases are held in Texas and Oklahoma oil fields. The Panhandle Refining Com- pany does its own drilling, maintains its own ware- house of four buildings, has pipe-line yards, lumber yard and machine shops.
Mr. Jones was born at Virginia, Illinois. His parents were John A. Jones, in the general merchan- dise business, and Ida B. Jones. Bloomington, Illinois, was the chief source of his education which he finished in Illinois Wesleyan University. In 1905 he started in the oil business by operating in Kansas and later in Oklahoma. After eleven years work in these fields, he came to Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1915 and in 1916 organized the present company. The growth and development of this company which began with a capital of $12,000, borrowed from Mr. Jones' partner, to a $9,000,000 concern in five years is indeed remarkable and no little credit is due the subject of this sketch. He has interest in various other concerns and acreage in Texas, Oklahoma and Illinois, such as "Morrissey & Jones," "Jones & Ger- many." He is a director of the Wichita Falls & Southern Railroad Company.
At Independence, Kansas, Miss Martha Byrnes became the bride of Mr. Jones. They have a daugh- ter, Courtney Brown Jones, and the family residence is at 4501 Highland Drive, Dallas.
Mr. Jones is a thorough Mason, having taken both the Scottish and York Rite routes, as a Shriner, his membership is with the India Temple of Oklahoma City. He is also a member of the City Club (Dallas), Dallas Country Club and of the Dallas, the Texas and the U. S. Chamber of Commerce. His church af- filiation is Presbyterian. A man of experience and success in the oil world, Mr. Jones and his company are making good in the three realms of operating, production and refining.
ULIUS A. GERMANY was born in Van Zandt County, Texas, in 1872. His father was a captain in the Confederate army from Mississippi, whose great-grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. His mother was also born in Van Zandt County and her father was one of the heroes of San Jacinto.
Mr. Germany was educated in Texas, having graduated in the class of '93 from Southwestern
University, admitted to the bar at Sweetwater in October, '93 and entered the active practice in '95, which he continued until the spring of 1918, when he began to devote his entire time to the interest of the Panhandle Refining Company, having charge of its legal department and taking active part in its executive affairs.
He was married to Miss Lula Black at Madison- ville in '97. They have six children and reside at 3617 Turtle Creek Boulevard, Dallas. He is a Knight Templar and a Scottish Rite Mason and a member of Hella Temple Shrine at Dallas.
Associated with him in the oil business is Roy B. Jones, president; Thomas Morrissey, vice-presi- dent, and B. J. Shaw, superintendent of production of Panhandle Refining Company, with general offices in Dallas, and its refining plant at Wichita Falls.
The Panhandle Refining Company is one of the strongest so-called small companies in Texas, and produces oil in North Central Texas and Southern Oklahoma. Its plant has an operating capacity of 5,000 barrels per day, fully equipped with tank cars, boiler and machine shop, pipe line facilities reaching practically all of the pools in Wichita County. It has two casing head plants in Wichita County and is the largest producer of crude oil in Young County.
Mr. Germany is vice-president of the Western Re- fining Association and president of States Petroleum Products Co., of Kansas City.
OHN C. SHAFFER, president of the Shaf- fer-Mankin Oil Company, with offices in the Magnolia Building in Dallas, has been a potent factor in the oil development of Texas and Oklahoma during the last several years and under his management, some of the best pro- ducers and some of the best paying properties have been developed.
The principal activities of the company during 1921 and 1922 are in the Duncan field in Oklahoma . where they have a hundred acres of leases and have brought in a number of splendid producing wells. The Shaffer-Mankin Company have been exceedingly successful in their operation in the Duncan field and are extending their activities on their valuable leases. The company also has eight producing wells and thirty acres of leases in the Texhoma field in Wichita County. Mr. Shaffer, being an old ex- perienced oil man, has charge of the active work in the field, while his associate, L. S. Mankin, secre- tary and treasurer of the company, has charge of the office in Dallas.
The Shaffer-Mankin Company have been active in the development in most of the producing oil dis- tricts in North Texas, including Mccullough, Brown and Wichita counties, sharing with other oil men the successes and vicissitudes that have been preva- lent among oil men in these fields, but as a whole, the company has been unusually lucky in their opera- tions and have probably paid the largest percentage of dividends to their stockholders, than nearly any other independent oil company operating in the Texas and Oklahoma fields.
Mr. Shaffer comes naturally by his oil proclivities, having been born in the shadow of the oil derricks in the original Pennsylvania fields and reared in the oil atmosphere, his birthplace was New Castle. Pa., November 25, 1877. His father, W. A. Shaffer. was one of the earlier oil operators in Pennsylvania. Mr. Shaffer has been active in the Ohio, West Vir-
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MEN OF TEXAS
ginia, Indiana and Alaska fields. In Alaska he di- rected the operations of the Idaho Oil & Gas Com- pany. John C. Shaffer, following in the foot steps .of his father, began his career in the oil business when a boy of sixteen years of age. For a time he was associated with his father and later for many years he was with R. C. Geck, prominent lumberman and oil operator in Oklahoma. He has worked in every capacity of the oil business, tool-dressing, drilling and superintendent, as well as buying and selling properties and is thoroughly proficient in all departments of oil development.
The marriage of Mr. Shaffer to Miss Margaret Reeves, daughter of Thomas H. Reeves, of Tulsa, took place at Tulsa in 1911. Mr. and Mrs. Shaffer maintain a residence in Duncan, where Mr. Shaffer can supervise the active operations in the fields adjacent. They, however, spend much of their time in Dallas and other sections of Texas where they have extensive interests.
ENRY EDWARD BRANDLI, well known oil man and general manager of the Crew- Levick Company and the Producers Renn- ing Company, with offices on the eleventh floor of the W. T. Waggoner Building, came to Fort Worth in January, 1920, and assumed charge of the business of these two companies. The Crew-Levick Company operates in Kansas and Oklahoma and the Producers Refining Company in Texas. The com- panies are marketers and refiners of petroleum and petroleum products. A total of 225 people are em- ployed in the two organizations; nearly 200 tank stations are operated, of these approximately 100 are in Texas, 75 in Oklahoma and 25 in Kansas.
Mr. Brandli began his business career in 1900 when he became connected with the Southwestern Missouri Light Company at Joplin, Missouri. Re- maining with these people for four years, he then went to Elkhart, Indiana, where he was engaged in the electric light business until 1906. He then went to Ottumwa, Iowa, as superintendent of light, railway and power for H. M. Byllesby and Company, remaining there until 1912, and then going to Minot, North Dakota, as manager of the Consumers Power Company which was owned by the Byllesby inter- ests. In 1913 he went with Henry L. Doherty and Company and was assigned to Mount Vernon, Illinois, as general manager of the Citizens Gas, Electric and Heating Company, remaining there until 1917. He then was made general manager for the Meridian Light and Railway Company at Meridian, Miss., continuing in that capacity until January, 1920, when he came to Fort Worth and assumed the management of the Crew-Levick and Producers Refining Company tank station division, both of which are Doherty companies.
Mr. Brandli is a native of Missouri and was born at Joplin, December 30, 1884. He is a son of Wm. J. and Bertha B. Brandli and was educated in the public and high schools of Joplin. On June 28, 1907. he was married at Ottumwa, Iowa, to Miss Mary Virginia White, daughter of William H. White, well known Ottumwa business man. They have two sons, John D. and Henry E., Jr.
Mr. Brandli is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of the Scottish Rite bodies and of Hamasa Temple Shrine at Meridian, Miss. He also is a mem- ber of the Rivererest Country Club, the Fort Worth Club, the American Petroleum Institute, Independent Oil Men's Association, National Electric Light Asso-
ciation, National Commercial Gas Association and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce.
A consistent and enthusiastic booster for Fort Worth, Mr. Brandli believes that by reason of its splendid railroad facilities, unlimited water supply and the boundless resources of its trade territory that it should become the largest city in the state.
B. BAGLEY, W. T. Waggoner Building, Fort Worth, is among the most progressive of Texas' oil operators as a directing of- ficial in several attractive companies; he Is secretary, treasurer and trustee of the World Refining Company with a capital of $500,000, and secretary and trustee of the Texas "7" Oil Company, with a capital of $130,000. The Texas "7" Oil Company and the World Refining Company were or- ganized March 15, 1919, and in November of 1920, respectively. Though they are every one recent organizations, they have fastly secured strong foot- ing in the oil game having acquired already interest in four big wells, leases on 5,705 acres at the heart of each best oil territory, and own a 500 barrel re- finery at Bridgeport, Texas. These interests are distributed as follows: The Texas "7" Oil Company has two wells on drill sites, Burkburnett, five acres in Wichita County, sixty-four acres in Comanche County, seventy-one acres in Erath County and 353 acres in Jack County, with officials other than Mr. Bagley, Elza T. Renfro, president; R. H. Moorman, vice-president; C. E. Scales, treasurer, and M. E. Linville, trustee; each one of the officials are trustees also. The World Refining Company's interests are as follows: 500 barrel refinery at Bridgeport, one- eighth of royalty owners' one-eighth interest in 161 acres in Stephens County, interest in well on a seven and a half acre tract in Eastland County, thirty-five acres in Wichita County, 1,280 acres in each Val Verde and Terrell counties, 1,281 acres in Kinney County, 640 acres in Brewster County and 653 acres in Culbertson County; officials are S. R. McCreery, president; Lawrence B. Brady, vice-president and at- torney; W. A. Campbell and R. E. Coleman, trustees. H. B. Bagley, trustee, secretary and treasurer; C. C. Smythe, general manager, and Gordon A. Campbell, superintendent of the Bridgeport plant.
Mr. Bagley was born at Greenville, Miss., in 1886. His parents were Dr. W. M. and Mrs. J. A. Bagley. Mr. Bagley completed the school system of his home town and then Bingham College at Ashville, N. C. His first business was with Armour & Co., with whom he was associated for ten years; for the next six years he was with the N. K. Fairbanks Co., then in the army beginning as first lieutenant but becom- ing captain, stationed at Dayton, San Francisco and · Little Rock, in two years service, and since January, 1919, he has been in the oil business exclusively.
In 1919, at San Antonio, Texas, Mr. Bagley mar- ried Miss Beatrice Mills; their residence is now at 1117 Hawthorne Street, Fort Worth, Texas. The church affiliation is Episcopal.
Mr. Bagley is a Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner at the Moslah Temple. He is a member of the Anchor Blue Lodge No. 424. Though recently enter- ing the oil business as compared with the pioneers, yet Mr. Bagley is a leader among the front rank men of the oil industry already, and each of the companies he is connected with as a responsible di- recting officer will have an attractive part in the de- velopment of this new but enriching business of the Lone Star State.
393
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS
H. VERSCHOYLE, general agent of the Na- tional Surety Company of New York with offices in Great Southern Life Building, in addition to being at the head of one of the largest insurance agencies in the Southwest is in- terested in extensive holdings in the oil region. Mr. H. L. Puckett is associated with Mr. Verschoyle in this agency.
The Verschoyle Agency is the Texas representa- tive of the National Surety Company and for some of the most widely known insurance and casualty companies among which are the Accident and Lia- bility Department of the Aetna Life Insurance Com- pany, the Automobile Insurance Company, the Aetna Casualty and Surety Company, the Minnesota Un- derwriters, the Westchester Fire Insurance Com- pany, St. Paul Fire and Marine Company, the Colum- bia Insurance Company, the British Underwriters and the Fire and Marine Underwriters. The volume of business is indicated by the fact that the National Surety Company alone has 202 agencies in Texas. Twelve employes are used in the Dallas office and the premiums for the year 1920 amounted to $250,- 000. Besides these interests Mr. Verschoyle is president of the Young Simmons Drilling Company and of the Anderson Drilling Company and is a mem- ber of the firms Munger & Verschoyle, Ferris & Seay, Verschoyle & Ferris; he is secretary of the Gladious Oil Company and partner in the K. M. A. Refining Co.
Mr. Verschoyle was born in Dallas, February 24, 1880. His father, Charles H. Verschoyle, was a prominent rancher, land owner and merchant of Tom Green County, Texas. His mother was Mary (Currie) Verschoyle. Mr. Verschoyle secured his primary education in the Public Schools of Dallas and at an early age took a position with the R. G. Dun & Co. with whom he remained for seven years. In 1897, when he was still only seventeen years old, he went with the Bradstreet Co. He was steadily promoted and when he left them after seven years he was chief clerk of the Dallas office. In 1905 he entered the insurance business with the Aetna Life Insurance Co. as an adjuster. Four years later he became a member of the firm Slaughter & Verschoyle with offices at Dallas and Oklahoma City. In 1912 he bought the Slaughter interest in the firm and changed the name to. C. H. Verschoyle & Co. After five years he sold the general agency of the Aetna Company to the home office and has since repre- sented them locally.
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On July 12, 1901, Mr. Verschoyle was married to Miss Jennie Belle Terry of Dallas and to theni seven children were born, Mattie Ellen, Leroy, Etta Mae, Charlie Belle, Rowe, Gloria and Hubert. Their home is at 4315 Live Oak Street, Dallas.
Mr. Verschoyle is a member of the City Club, the Auto Club, the Ad League, the Rotary Club, the Auto Country Club, Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Ass'n., President of the Insurance Federation of Texas and the Chamber of Commerce. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias and is vice-president of the Executive Board of the A. A. A.
He is a Democrat and a member of the Christian Church. Mr. Verschoyle's wide and varied interests have brought him into a place of prominence and his remarkable foresight has made him highly respected among his business associates.
HOS A. EDMONDS, prominent oil man and president and general manager of the Ed- monds Oil and Refining Corporation. Dan Waggoner Building, came to Fort Worth from Oklahoma in August, 1918, and since that time has been actively identified with the oil interests of this section. His company now has two refineries -one operating in Fort Worth, which they built, and the other acquired through purchase at Burk- burnett. The Fort Worth refinery was completed in June, 1920, and has a daily capacity of two thousand barrels. The Burkburnett plant has a capacity of one thousand barrels.
Mr. Edmonds is a native of Tennessee and was born at Dayton, September 21, 1882. His parents were G. W. and Barbara M. (Porter) Edmonds, who removed to Texas in 1892, locating at Ferris, and later removing to Oklahoma.
The early education of Mr. Edmonds was secured in the public schools of Texas and Tennessee and he later attended Ferris College.
From 1901 to 1904 he engaged in farming in Hunt County, Texas, and then entered the real estate and loan business in Oklahoma, continuing in this until 1910. In the latter year he became active in the oil industry in Oklahoma, operating in various fields of that state. Mr. Edmonds per- sonally superintended the operation of the Waurika Oil Company's No. 1 well at Burkburnett, which per day. He later sold his interest in this company had an initial production of six thousand barrels but is still personally interested in production in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. His company has some settled production and is drilling at Brecken- ridge and Burkburnett and also a wild-cat test near Eldorado, Mississippi.
On November 21, 1901, Mr. Edmonds was mar- ried to Miss Amanda Hibbitt, at Greenville. Texas. They have three children, Ruby V., Cline C. and Dale H .. all attending school in Fort Worth.
Mr. Edmonds is a thirty-second degree Mason. a member of the Guthrie, Oklahoma, Consistory and of Moslah Temple Shrine at Fort Worth. He is a member of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and a great believer in the future of Fort Worth by reason of its proximity to the Texas oil fields and splendid railroad facilities.
L. BROWNLEE is a native of Brookfield, Mo., born February 6, 1885, and educated in the schools of that town and at Central College, Fayette, Mo. His father, W. C. Brownlee was a contractor and farmer. He was married June 18, 1911, to Miss Madge Wright. of Kansas, and they have two children, Adele and Mari- lyn.
Mr. Brownlee was formerly engaged in the news- paper business in St. Louis, Kansas City, Wichita, Kansas; Sioux City, Iowa; and Oklahoma City, being night editor of the Oklahoman in the latter city. Leaving the newspaper business he went with the Federal Trust Company of Oklahoma City, in charge of their oil department, and first came to Texas in 1919, where he engaged in the oil business. He is a great booster for Texas, says it is an empire within itself, with enough resources of all kinds to make it independent of any other part of the country. Dallas, he declares, is already the best city in the South- west and has a great future before it.
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MEN OF TEXAS
A W. COOPER. oil operator, Fort Worth, Texas, drilled the discovery well in the Cooper field in McCulloch County, came to Fort Worth in 1918, moving here from Brownwood where he had been since the discovery ! the now world famous gusher district in 1917. ! cor to that time he had been in the oil game in oklahoma and nad drilled several successful wells. In the spring of 1920 he drilled the discovery well n the new Cooper field in McCulloch County open- rr up a new shallow territory producing a high arade oil at a depth of 380 feet. The wells average in depth from 365 to 400 feet and he now has seven producing wells, all averaging ten barrels each per day of settled production. Mr. Cooper is associated in the ownership and development of this old with White Brothers of Brady, prominent ranchers and cattle men of West Texas. They have thirty thousand acres under lease and will continue drilling and developing the field. This territory is being tested for deep wells. In July, 1921, Mr. Cooper drilled in a well at Eldorado, opening up with a production of 7,000 barrels per day. Mr. Cooper is also interested in the development of the Mexia fields.
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