USA > Texas > The encyclopedia of Texas, V.1 > Part 95
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Mr. Cooper was born August 29, 1877, at Windsor, Missouri, a son of I. M. and L. E. (Douglas) Cooper. ile was educated in the public schools of Windsor and at the Sedalia Business College at Sedalia, Missouri.
When nine years of age he began work for him- self and upon the death of his father assumed the management of his farm and stock business. Care- fully applying himself and studying every detail of the business, many of his stock were awarded prizes at the World's Fair at Chicago and Saint i.ouis.
In 1914 he entered the oil business in Oklahoma, drilling several wells there. He still has extensive interests in various Oklahoma fields.
On August 31, 1914, he was married at Chickasha, Oklahoma, to Mrs. Josephine Simpson. He has two children, Raymond E. and Mary L., by a former marriage. Mrs. Cooper also had two children, Vivian and Eolin by a former marriage.
Mr. Cooper is an active member of the Fort Worth Club, also the Chamber of Commerce and is vitally interested in anything that pertains to the city's welfare. He believes that Fort Worth has an un- (qualed future and that the oil . development of Texas is in its infancy. Lying as it does at the gateway of Texas, he expects to see the city assume a commanding position in the commercial world of the Southwest.
SI . F. M. CARRAGHER was for ten ten years a citizen of Dallas and a leader in the invest- ment and oil business of Texas, particularly in the Northwest territory. A native of England, a follower of the British flag, with the late Lord Kitchener in Egypt in 1898-1899, with him in the Boer War of South Africa in 1899,and then a war correspondent for the various papers of Lord North- cliff, Mr. Carragher came to America in interest of the oil business of the southern continent and Mexico first, thence to the Oklahoma fields and then opened business in the territory about Ranger, Desdemona, Eastland and other western oil centers. Throughout his activities in the Northwestern Fields, in his busi- ness in Oklahoma and other places, Dallas was head- quarters, as being centrally located to all fields,
even the fields of Louisiana. For the same reason Dallas has become the home office of the biggest oil companies operating in the territories of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, with branch offices over the territory.
Mr. Carragher was organizer of the Beaver Oil & Refining Co. and other companies, and president of the Carragher Co., Inc., with headquarters at 215-217 Southwestern Life Building.
Mr. Carragher was born at Yorkshire, England, on August 4, 1877. In 1898, upon completing his schooling, Mr. Carragher entered the military service of Britain under the lamented Kitchener with whom he served in Egypt and South Africa. In 1911, after a sojourn in South America and Mexico, Mr. Car- ragher located in Dallas. For ten years, until his recent removal to Chicago, he was a leader in Texas investments and oil production business.
On September 12, 1898, Miss Amy Dean became the bride of Mr. Carragher. Of this union seven children were born, Irene, Harry, May, now Mrs. Roy Jones of Wichita Falls; Amy, Kate and Margie, and Francis.
Mr. Carragher was a charter member of the Ad League and was also identified with the Chamber of Commerce and the Texas Chamber of Commerce.
B. KELLEY, superintendent of the refinery division of the American Refining Company of Wichita Falls, has been a resident of the city since 1917 and during all this time has been actively connected with the oil interests of this section. He is an expert refinery man and has worked his way up to his present position by persist- ent and conscientious efforts.
The American Refining Company is owned by the interests headed by W. M. Priddy, one of the best known oil men of West Texas. Mr. Priddy is presi- dent of the company and W. W. Silk, vice president. The refinery is located about a mile out from Wichita Falls on the Iowa Park road and occupies a tract of land comprising forty acres. It has a daily capacity of five thousand barrels of crude oil which is deliv- ered through its own pipe lines reaching all the fields of Wichita County. The plant has a total of twenty employees and was completed and began operating on July 4th, 1919.
Mr. Kelley was born in the eastern part of Okla- homa in 1892, a son of J. D. and Martha (Moore) Kelley. His father is a well known oil man and is now connected with the Texas Company at Tulsa, Oklahoma.
After attending the public schools at Muskogee, Oklahoma, Mr. Kelley began work for the Sinclair Oil and Refining Company as a stillman. He came to Wichita Falls in 1917 and went with the Panhandle Oil and Refining Company in the same capacity, re- maining there two years when he was made assistant superintendent of the American Refinery. He was given this position in March, 1919, and two years ยท later was promoted to his present position as super- intendent.
In September, 1912, Mr. Kelley was married at Muskogee to Miss Blanche Currey, a native of Penn- sylvania. They have three children, Bernice, eight, Blanche six and Dorothy four. The family resides at 1310 North Fifth Street.
Mr. Kelley is a strong booster for Wichita Falls, predicting the city will have a population of 70,000 in 1930. He believes it is the best city in the South- . west for a young man.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS
B RECKENRIDGE S. WALKER, capitalist, banker and oil operator. Breckenridge, Texas, president of the First National Bank of Breckenridge, president of the Walker- Caldwell Producing Company of Breckenridge, pres- ident of the Walker-Caldwell Water Company of Breckenridge, has, during the last few years been a potent factor in the development of one of the most productive oil fields of America.
Long before the discovery of the Stephens County oil pools in February, 1920, Mr. Walker had occu- pied an honored and influential position in the finan- cial and commercial life of the county and has taken an active interest in all enterprises which had for their purpose the civic or commercial progress of the city bearing his name.
On the discovery of oil in Stephens County in February, 1920, Mr. Walker, alert to the possibili- ties of this field rich with the vast deposits of the "liquid gold" took an active part in the develop- ment of this resource. He, with his associate, C. M. Caldwell, organized the Walker-Caldwell Producing Company, which company has had so important a part in the development of the Stephens County oil fields.
Mr. Walker, through his interest in the Walker- Caldwell Producing Company, and his own personal holdings, is interested in probably over five hundred producing oil wells and several thousand acres of leases in Stephens County. The Walker-Caldwell Producing Company is capitalized at $1,500,000; it is the largest independent oil company operating in the Stephens County fields. During the year 1921, when so many large operators met with financial difficulties the Walker-Caldwell Producing Company paid 40 per cent dividends to their stockholders, and met the first of January, 1922, with a good bank account and entirely out of debt and a handsome steady income.
When the city of Breckenridge grew until the water supply became inadequate for the city's needs, Mr. Walker and his associate, Mr. Caldwell, met this menace to the citizens by building one of the finest water systems of Texas at a cost of over a million dollars, financed entirely by these two gentlemen, bringing an adequate supply of water from the Brazos River, a distance of ten miles. This water system was built and paid for in full without bond- ing the system for a single dollar.
Mr. Walker has been associated with the First National Bank since 1906, and has been president of that institution since 1908. When he first be- came connected with the bank it had a capital of $40,000 with deposits of $150,000. Today the bank has a capital of $200,000 with 150,000 surplus and deposits of over $5,000,000. The bank is housed in a new building built at a cost of $300,000 that would do credit to any metropolitan city. This bank is one of the strongest financial institutions in Northwest Texas.
Mr. Walker is a director of the First National Bank of Fort Worth, the American Exchange Bank of Dallas, the Wichita & Southern Railway Company and a number of other corporations.
Breckenridge Walker is a native of Stephens County, born in the city that bears his name, No- vember 19, 1876. His father, Judge E. L. Walker, a pioneer stockman, was the first judge of Stephens County which position he held for twelve years. He came to Stephens County in 1856 from Kentucky, at
the age of 14, being a native of the Blue Grass State. His mother was formerly Miss Lena Yancy, born in Mississippi, coming to Texas in the early sixties. He was educated in the public schools of Texas. He first engaged in the livery business. Following this he was for 10 years in the mercantile business at Breckenridge. In 1906 he began his banking career with the First National Bank and two years later was elected to the presidency of that institution which has grown and prospered under his management since that time.
In 1898 Mr. Walker was united in marriage to Miss Alice Davis of Breckenridge. Miss Davis was a native of Kaufman County but came with her parents to Breckenridge at the age of twelve. They have three daughters, Gladys, Pansy, now Mrs. R. W. Raney, of Breckenridge, and Joe Alice. The Walkers maintain a residence at 1433 Pennsylvania Avenue, Fort Worth, where they spend a portion of their time, but also have a beautiful residence in Breckenridge which they claim as their home.
Mr. Walker holds membership in the Fort Worth Club, River Crest Country Club of Fort Worth, the Masonic Fraternity of Breckenridge. The Walkers are members of the Christian Church of Brecken- ridge.
Although at the zenith of his business career, Mr. Walker has already an enviable place in the records of the builders of West Texas.
H. BROWN, independent oil operator and organizer of the Brown Syndicate, a cor- poration composed of himself, his three sons, H. C., E. K. and G. F., and his son-in- law, F. M. Scott, district and county attorney of Harrison county, Texas, came to Dallas in February, 1919, from Jefferson, Texas, where he had resided for thirty-six years engaged in the lumber and min- ing business. It is Mr. Brown's purpose to acquire oil lands, leases, production, farm lands and other real estate, and the operations of the Brown Syndi- cate will be carried on at Shreveport, La. and Marshall and Dallas, Texas. At Shreveport, his sons, H. C. and E. K. will be in charge of the com- pany's business there; in Marshall, Texas, Mr. Scott, his son-in-law, will have charge, and in Dallas Mr. Brown and his son, G. W., will have charge.
Mr. Brown has spent a great many years in the iron mining business, starting in Ohio where he worked in an iron furnace for seven years, first going over cinders in his bare feet gathering scrap iron. He spent twelve years mining iron and coal in Ohio, and when he was 19 years old he moved to Tennessee, where he was timekeeper, storekeeper and finally superintendent in a big iron furnace. He remained in Tennessee 11 years and then came to Texas, where he became superintendent of a pig iron plant seven miles east of Jefferson. Quitting the mining business he engaged in the lumber busi- ness and followed it in Jefferson for thirty years, his last connection being with the Brown Lumber Com- pany. He was always prominently identified with the growth of Jefferson, being a county commis- sioner, city alderman and for fourteen years a trustee and president of the school board.
Mr. Brown was born in Armstrong county, Penn., January 16, 1854, and moved with his parents to Ohio when he was four years old, and his education was acquired in the schools of that State. He was married December 15, 1885, to Miss Daisy D. Welch. a native of Texas, and besides the three sons already
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MEN OF TEXAS
mentioned in this sketch they have two daughters, vrN. Elwilda Brown Scott of Marshall, Texas, and Miss Mary Frances Brown. He joined Hella Temple .trine in Dallas and then became a charter member { the Shreveport, La., Shrine. He is identified with :* , Commandery in Marshall, Texas.
Mr. Brown has been in Texas many years and has xen a great deal of its development. He visited Pallas thirty-five years ago, when it was a mere .lage, and he says that Texas and Dallas are just "ow getting started. He predicts a wonderful future for both city and state.
E .C. STEARNS, well known oil man, attorney at law and manager of the Southwestern land department of the Transcontinental Oil Company, 1605 W. T. Waggoner Building, came to Fort Worth from Comanche, Texas. on September 1, 1920, when the o.fices of his company were removed here. Mr. Stearns has been con- nected with the land and legal department of the Transcontinental since 1919 and was made manager of the department when the Fort Worth offices were opened in September,
A native of Pennsylvania, Mr. Stearns was born at Corry, November 16, 1889. His parents were W'm. and Orsaville Stearns, both members of well known Pennsylvania families.
After completing his high school studies at Corry, Mr. Stearns attended Eastman College, graduating there in 1907. He then entered the service of the United States Brake Shoe Corporation and remained with this concern until September, 1910, when he engaged in some mining operations in Nevada and also in the practice of law, until 1915. From 1915 to 1917 he was with the Penn-Mex Fuel Company, a Standard Oil subsidiary, as attorney and assistant superintendent of the land department, at Tampico, Mexico. He then entered the United States army and was with the 374th Aero Squadron, being sta- tioned in England and France and discharged in 1919. Since his discharge from the army Mr. Stearns has been connected with the Transcontinental Oil Company.
On September 17, 1917, Mr. Stearns was married at Santa Rosa, California, to Miss Irene Hamlyn, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Hanlyn, the former a well known mining man of that state. They haye one son, Robert Kenley Stearns.
Mr. Stearns is a Mason and a member of the American Legion.
ILLIAM RICHARD SPANN, prominent oil operator and president of the Montrose Oil and Refining Company, ninth floor of the W. T. Waggoner Building, came to Fort Worth from Shreveport, Louisiana, in February, 1918, and has already come to be regarded as one of the city's highly successful business men. His company is a subsidiary of the Invincible Oil Cor- poration of New York, regarded as one of the strong- est of the independent group of producing and re- fining companies.
The refinery owned and operated by the Montrose Oil and Refining Company in North Fort Worth, was constructed in September, 1919, and has been in constant operation ever since. It has a daily capacity of 4,000 barrels and manufactures a high grade of gasoline, kerosene and kindred products. A total of 135 people are employed in the organiza- tion. The Montrose Oil & Refining Company has
its own production aggregating about 7,000 barrels of crude oil daily in the North and West Texas fields and has a great deal of selected, proven acreage which is being developed. The company owns some very choice leases in Eastland and Stephens County and in Oklahoma.
Mr. Spann was born at Fairview, Louisiana, December 7, 1874, a son of E. M. and Janette (Craig Spann. He was educated in the Fairview public schools and at the Mississippi College. Soon after leaving school he engaged in business for himself and from 1893 to 1912 was engaged in the opera- tion of various cotton seed oil mills at different points in Louisiana and Mississippi. In 1912 he entered the petroleum business at Shreveport and organized the Central Oil and Gasoline Company. a producing and refining company, and remained with this organization until removing to Fort Worth. In the organization of the Montrose Company he was associated- with E. R. Ratcliff. president of the Invincible Oil Corporation, and E. H. Ratcliff.
Mr. Spann is a consistent booster for Fort Worth and regards the city as the logical center of the oil business in Texas. He was married December 7, 1905, to Miss Cornelia Montgomery, daughter of Geo. W. Montgomery, a well known Louisiana planter and for several years state senator. They have three children, Rosa, Will and Howard.
Mr. Spann is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of the Shrine and of the Elks and Fort Worth Club. He also is a member of the Mid- Continent Oil and Gas Association and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce.
T. PITTMAN, of Dallas, has for the past seven years been actively identified with the business interests of this city. He has be- come an enthusiastic booster of Texas and Dallas and believes that this section of the United States has entered upon a period of increased pros- perity and development.
Mr. Pittman was born in Giles County, Tennessee, in 1875, son of G. W. Pittman, a merchant who moved to Texas in 1888 and located in Bryan, Texas, then later lived in Waco and Gatesville and finally moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he died in 190S. Mr. Pittman was educated in the public schools at Waco and Gatesville. After leaving school he was in the telephone business for eight years, organizing and operating over Texas. He then entered public utility work which he followed six years until he entered the oil business-operating around San An- tonio where for two years he drilled and produced much oil. In 1915 he came to Dallas to enter the tire and accessory business on a small scale as a factory agent. Seeing the large possibilities for such a business, however, he soon began to expand until his organization, the Pittman Rubber Company was one of the largest of its kind in the Southwest. Soon after the discovery of oil in the Mexia district, Mr. Pittman transferred his business interests to that section, becoming especially interested in Currie.
Mr. Pittman was married to Miss Claire Manning in Lufkin in 1894. They have two sons; William Manning, and Eugene Pittman. They make their home at 2603 Fairmount Street.
Mr. Pittman is a Mason and K. of P. and a member of the Dallas Automobile Club and the Chamber of Commerce and Manufacturers Association.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS
BEN ROSS, engineer, oil operator and vice- president and general manager of the Plateau Oil Company, 602 Dan Waggoner building, came to Fort Worth in February, 1919, from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and Denver, Col., soon began drilling oil wells in the North Texas and West Texas oil fields. His previous experience in this line in other fields and proven ability and facilities for handling big jobs secured for him many valuable oil properties and in May, 1920, he organized the Plateau Oil Company and became vice-president and general manager of the concern.
The Plateau Oil Company is a drilling company with large holdings producing in Stephens, Eastland and several other counties in Texas. The company has 6750 barrels production per day and employs 125 men in the entire organization. Mr. Ross per- sonally is also largely interested in oil development in Wyoming where he individually owns four hundred barrels daily production. He is drilling four wells of his own in Texas and is expecting good producers.
Mr. Ross is a native of Colorado and was born at Silverton February 5, 1879. He is the son of Jacob and Fannie (Lindsey) Ross, both of whom were mem- bers of well known Pennsylvania families. He was educated in the public and private schools of Colo- rado and after completing his academic studies he took a special course in engineering. Upon com- pleting his studies he became identified with various companies as engineer and participated in the engineering work of several pretentious undertak- ings.
In 1907 he became engaged in the oil industry and identified with several successful western corpora- tions and operated individually in Kentucky, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Mexico, South America and other places. His efforts have been very suc- cessful and he now has large interests in Colorado and elsewhere.
Mr. Ross was married March 3, 1909, to Miss Helene Harry of Atlanta, Illinois, member of a prominent family of that state. They reside at 106 Penn Court, Ft. Worth.
Mr. Ross is a member of the Rivercrest Country Club, Ft. Worth, Club, the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association and the American Petroleum Insti- tute.
W. BEARD, North Texas manager for the Pierce Oil Corporation, W. T. Waggoner Building, came to Fort Worth from San Antonio in 1913 in the capacity of assistant manager of the sales department and in 1919 was promoted to his present position. He has been with the Pierce organization since he was seventeen years of age, starting in the sales department and remain- ing there continuously.
The territory under the direct management of Mr. Beard consists of about one hundred North Texas counties and the department under his control numbers approximately two hundred people in the organization. Gasoline, kerosene and other refined oil products are supplied to the trade in this ter- ritory from the large refinery of the Pierce Oil Corporation in Fort Worth.
March 6, 1886. His father was J. W. Beard, also a native Texan and for many years a well known farmer and stockman of Austin. His mother was formerly Miss Mary J. Glenn, member of a well known Texas family.
After attending the Austin public schools, young Beard decided to enter the commercial world and selected the sales department of the Waters-Pierce Oil Company as the scene of his first efforts. His success in his chosen efforts is best attested by the fact that he has remained with this same company continuously for sixteen years. When the company was reorganized as the Pierce Oil Corporation, he continued with them.
He was first stationed at Austin and later at San Antonio and in 1913 came to Fort Worth. He is an earnest and sincere booster for Fort Worth and be- lieves that with its splendid transportation facili- ties it is the logical center of the oil industry in Texas. Mr. Beard also declares that now the oil fever incident to the discovery of the justly famous West Texas fields, is settling down and that from- now on the industry will be a practical, honest busi- ness and not so fraught with speculative features as it has been in the past.
On October 1, 1907, Mr. Beard was married at Austin to Miss Elsie Rutledge, a native Texan and daughter of J. W. Rutledge, well known business man at Austin. They have four children, Blanton, Elizabeth, Winifred and Dick W., Jr.
ERBERT DIXON MCCRACKEN, vice-presi- dent and general manager of the United Producers Pipe Line Company, 16th floor W. T. Waggoner Building, has had a vast experience in almost every detail of the oil business. He came to Fort Worth from Tampico, Mexico, in 1919 and has been in charge of the operations of the United Producers since that time.
The company is a common carrier under the Texas laws and the regulations of the Interstate Com- merce Commission. Its lines for the transportation of oil extend from Fort Worth to Desdemona, Ranger and Leeray. The organization has a total of ap- proximately 250 employees.
A native of Pennsylvania, Mr. McCracken was born at Franklin, September 26, 1869. His parents were James and Rachel (Mawhinney) MeCracken, both members of well known Pennsylvania families. His father was prominent in the iron ore industry of Pennsylvania for many years.
Educated in the public schools and the high school of Franklin, Mr. McCracken first entered the rail- road business at which he worked from 1890 to 1892. He then entered the oil business, working first for the Indiana Pipe Line Company, a Standard Oil subsidiary, as telegraph operator. He later went with the Prairie Oil and Gas Company, another Standard organization, as superintendent of con- struction and was with the Ohio Oil Company in the same capacity and as division superintendent. He went to Mexico with the Penn-Mex Fuel Com- pany as superintendent of their marine department and then with the Transcontinental Oil Company in their land department. His extensive knowledge of the intricacies of the oil business has been reflected in' the success achieved by the United Producers Pipe Line Company under his management.
Mr. MeCracken was married at Carrelton, Mis- souri, October 28, 1008, to Miss Eleanor Rea, daugh-
A native Texan. Mr. Beard was born at Austin, . ter of J. H. Rea, well known Missouri stockman. He is a Mason, a member of Calumet Commandery and of the Medina Temple Shrine at Chicago. He is a member of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and soon after coming here became one of the city's most enthusiastic boosters.
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MEN OF TEXAS
E C. KINGSBRY well known oil man and attorney, president and general manager of the Consolidated Producers and Re- finers Company, came to Fort Worth from ungton, Kentucky, January 1, 1919, and imme- ately became interested in the Texas oil fields. :{ . company, which is capitalized at two and a half - Hion dollars with outstanding capitalization of ++ million three hundred thousand dollars, has a finery at Tiffin, two and one half miles northeast Ranger on the T. & P. R. R. The plant was created on the unit plan and the initial capacity is three thousand barrels per day. It is expected to extend the refinery and increase its capacity to five inusand barrels per day in the near future.
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