USA > Texas > The encyclopedia of Texas, V.1 > Part 96
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The company owns about ten thousand acres of well selected leases, some of which are in proven erritory and some in semi-proven but very promis- "< localities. They have some settled production "„w and expect soon to begin a drilling campaign " Stephens County where the company owns some + ghly promising acreage.
Mr. Kingsbury was born at Olney, Illinois, April 5, 1874, a son of H. H. and Josephine McGiffin Kingsbury. He was educated in the public schools and the Olney high school and attended the Orchard "ity Business College, later matriculating at the Chicago College of Law where he graduated witli the degree of bachelor of laws in 1897.
He was admitted to the bar in February, 1897, and practiced law in Chicago until 1912, doing principally corporation practice. In 1912 he removed to Denver, Colorado, was admitted to the bar there and prac- need until 1918. During this time he was interested in the oil business in Colorado and also in Oklahoma, Wyoming and Kentucky.
On April 30, 1899, Mr. Kingsbury was married to Miss Marie K. Laird, of Ashley, Illinois. They have two children, Margaret and Iris.
Mr. Kingsbury is a member of the Rivercrest Country Club and the Kiwanis Club and of the Cham- ber of Commerce. He is keenly interested in the development of Fort Worth and predicts that owing to its splendid railroad facilities and many natural : dvantages it will become the largest city in Texas.
G EORGE WHITMORE MERRILL, 3912 Jen- nings Avenue, Ok-in Building, Fort Worth, as president and general manager of the Ok-in Oil & Refining Company, is the head of one of the biggest concerns of its type in the Lone Star State. In July of 1919 the organization was "ffected, under a declaration of trust, and is a common law organization. The capital stock is ₹1,000,000 and the chief business of the company is refining crude oil into finished products, gasoline, kerosene, etc. Already a complete refinery with a 2,000 barrel daily capacity, with loading racks, is "wned at Yale, Okla. The company is now clearing a site in Fort Worth with 36 acres adjacent to the Magnolia and the Pierce-Fordyce refineries in what 1, known as the "Refining Zone." This site has already been completed and spur tracking laid, so 'hat construction work of the plant will start at once. 11,000 acres of the best proven fields of Texas oil territory, scattered through twenty coun- tos, are owned by this company. They will manu- facture "Long Horn Products" which will be dis- 'sbuted through their own filling stations, all of which are now being planned for erection. The phase of the oil business the Ok-in Oil & Refining
Company will specialize in is a leader in the in- dustry; as sure as oil is brought in in any part of the state, it will have to be converted into usable products before it is purchased by a consumer. Thousands are busy in the producing business, and the wells already brought in have put Texas near the first of oil producing states. But Texas' pro- ducing is hardly started yet; her immense oil terri- tories themselves as large in area as many states combined, will be Uncle Sam's chief oil supply. The Ok-in Oil & Refining Company was organized with a view to a business of magnitude; its leases and its site are all chosen with this in view, together with keeping down its costs of trackage and pipe line connections. Its leases have more than doubled and two-thirds of its stock is sold in Texas.
Mr. Merrill was born at South Northwalk, Conn .. July 18, 1872. His parents are Capt. Wm. S. Mer- rill, who is in the European oyster business and enjoys the distinction of being the first man to ship a barrel of oysters to Europe, and Mary Ann Merrill. The high school of his home town and business colleges of New York City gave Mr. Merrill his education. For many years Mr. Merrill served as the southwestern agent for a large steel concern dealing in bank safes, etc. But for the last ten years Mr. Merrill has been a leader in the oil busi- ness, has experience in manufacturing of oil pro- ducts, refinery management, and is acquainted with every phase of the business from "spudding in" to the sale of the final product. He came to Texas from Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1918.
Mr. Merrill's bride was Miss Lula A. Cronbe, of New York City. Their residence is now at 1919 Hemphill Street, Fort Worth, Texas.
Mr. Merrill is a Mason with membership in the Julian Fields Blue Lodge. He holds membership in the Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association. He frankly says he believes Texas is the greatest state in the Union for opportunity and wishes he had come here many years ago. Mr. Merrill is a man of big business, his company is one of big business. both are permanent, and will have a place of grow- ing magnitude in the Lone Star State.
DWIN REA COSBY, oil operator, came to Fort Worth from Eastland, Texas, in Octo- ber, 1918, and since that time has been active in this line, developing oil properties in the various oil fields of North Central and North- west Texas. The discovery of oil in Mexia caused new opportunities for the experienced oil man. Mr. Cosby was among the first to operate in Mexia and environs and will likely be as successful here as he has been in the other oil sections of Texas.
Mr. Cosby was born at Rogers, in Bell County. April 4, 1885, a son of E. B. and Martha (Mckinney) Cosby. His father was a well known merchant and rancher at Rogers, coming there from Alabama soon after the close of the Civil War. He was edu- cated in the public schools and at the high school at Abilene, later attending Simmons College and the Metropolitan Business College where he gradu- ated in 1903. He was married July 5, 1904, to Miss Lucia Smith of Abilene. They have two children, Estella Barbara and Edwin Hugh.
After finishing school Mr. Cosby was employed at various places by the Wells-Fargo Express Com- pany and in 1907 became agent for the company at Whitesboro. While at Whitesboro he became con- nected with a life insurance company and in one
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS
month produced $85,000 of business. After working for a while as general agent for the Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company he went back with the ex- press company. In 1910 he was associated in the organization of the Prudential Life Insurance Com- pany at San Antonio and from 1910 to 1912 engaged in the real estate business there. In 1912 he went to Calvert as agent for the express company and later was transferred to Navasota and Marshall, re- turning to Hamlin in 1914 and engaging in the ginning business. He added to his cotton gin there until it became the largest in West Texas. In February, 1918, he engaged in the oil lease broker- age business at Eastland and from that time on has been actively connected with the oil interests of Texas.
Mr. Cosby is a member of the Masonic Lodge at Eastland and of the Knights of Pythias at Hamlin. He also is a member of the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association and of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. His church affiliation is with the Central Methodist Church.
M. RICHARDSON, president and general manager of the G. M. Richardson Oil Com- pany, 616-619 W. T. Waggoner Building, came to Fort Worth from Wichita, Kansas, in June, 1919, and organized the Richardson Oil Company taking over the holdings of the L. K. Johnson Syndicate, Twin Dome Syndicate and the Industrial Drilling Company. His company has a total capitalization of one million dollars with hold- ings in various fields of North, West and Central Texas. The company now has two hundred barrels daily production and is drilling in the Breckenridge and Corsicana fields. Three wells are being drilled by the company and Mr. Richardson is personally drilling on a lease in the Corsicana territory. The organization totals twenty-five people.
Mr. Richardson was born in Washington County, Arkansas, August 1, 1888, a son of G. M. and Virginia (Knott) Richardson. His early life was spent on the farm of his father in Washington County and he was given a liberal education in the best schools of Hutchinson, Kansas.
After completing his studies Mr. Richardson be- came connected with the Western Newspaper Union. He was in the press department of the company at Kansas City and Wichita, Kansas, for two years and then was made manager of the branch house at Wichita. In 1909 he went with the Industrial Lum- ber Company of Elizabeth, Louisiana, as salesman and then had charge of the sales force of the com- pany in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and Missouri. In addition to his oil and other interests, Mr. Richard- son continues to look after the sales of this company in Texas.
Besides his oil company, Mr. Richardson is presi- dent of the Richardson Lumber Company which operates a retail yard at Rising Star and is also president of the Service Lumber Company operating a yard at Grandfield, Oklahoma.
On November 26, 1910, Mr. Richardson was mar- ried to Miss Aneita Smith, daughter of O. N. Smith, well known lumberman and potentate of the Wichita, Kansas, Shrine. They have one child, Elizabeth Ann.
Mr. Richardson is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of Wichita, Kansas, Consistory and of the Midian Temple Shrine at Wichita. He is also af- filiated with various clubs in Kansas City and Wichita, Kansas.
Fort Worth has a fine future and is destined to be a great city, Mr. Richardson declares, and he con- cludes with the statement that it is the best city he has ever lived in.
D. COLLETT, 909 Throckmorton Street, well known business man and member of the firm of O'Keefe and Collett, independent oil operators, came to Fort Worth from Austin, Texas, in 1889 and for twenty-one years has been actively identified with commercial and civic affairs of the Panther City. A man of splendid personality and vast business experience, Mr. Collett has done much for the upbuilding of Fort Worth and has been largely instrumental in attracting outside capital seeking investments in this section.
A native Texan, Mr. Collett was born at Gal- veston, March 10, 1869. His parents were J. H. and Eliza (Davis) Collett, pioneer residents of Texas who came to this state in 1849, settling in Freestone County in the days when large portions of the state, now highly developed, were little more than a wilderness. His father was for many years engaged in the land business and also in mercantile lines.
Mr. Collett received his education in the public schools and at the Austin high school where he graduated in 1884. After finishing school he en- gaged in business with his father until 1889 when he came to Fort Worth. He was first identified here with the Belcher Land and Mortgage Company as assistant secretary, continuing with this company until 1901 when he engaged in the insurance busi- ness, handling fire and liability lines under the firm name of Collett and Seibold, formerly Harris, Collett and Swayne. In 1915 he entered the oil business and has remained in it ever since, devoting his activities to the leasing and selling of productive oil lands. He has never organized or promoted an oil company. His leases are located at Ranger, Strawn and other portions of the West Texas field.
Mr. Collett was married at Fort Worth in 1902 to Miss Marie Anderson, daughter of E. J. Anderson who was in business in Fort Worth for many years. They have one son, J. D., Jr., 11 years of age.
Mr. Collett is a director of the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, vice-president of the Fort Worth Club and a member and one of the organizers of the Rivercrest Country Club. He also is a mem- ber of the Chamber of Commerce and an active Fort Worth booster, believing that the city has an exceptionally bright future and one based on a solid foundation of realism and not speculation.
H. McBRAYER, manager of the Texas di- vision of the Producers and Refiners Cor- poration, Dan Waggoner Building, Fort Worth, has been a Texan since 1915 when he gave up his law practice in Shelbyville, Kentucky. and made his start in Texas oil.
He was born in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, March 27, 1888, but his parents removed later to Shelby- . ville where he attended the high school. His prepara- tory course was completed at the Kentucky Military Institute where he was graduated in 1908. He con- tinued his education at Cumberland University and there secured the degree of bachelor of laws in 1913. In the same year, on September 16th, he was married
to Miss Ethel McClure, daughter of F. M. McClure a well known Kentucky business man, and remained in Shelbyville practicing law until 1915.
Although it meant that he must sacrifice the prac- tice of his chosen profession, he took advantage of
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MEN OF TEXAS
an opportunity at this time to come to Texas. His Arst work in the new oil state was in the auditing department of the Producers Oil Company at Hous- : n. Here he worked securing his first knowledge of the petroleum game, until April, 1919. For a ,hort time following this first period of training, he was associated with the Humble Oil and Refining company at Fort Worth. Later, from June, 1919, until March, 1920, he was actively engaged as secre- tury of the Eclipse Oil Company; then he was made manager of the Texas division of the Producers and Definers Corporation although he continued to re- tain his title as secretary of the former company.
The Producers & Refiners Corporation controls the Pan American Refinery. This plant covers an area of 71 acres of ground. it has 20 tons pressure stills, seven fire stills and two steam stills, with a total capacity of 10.000 barrels. It handles from 4,000 to 6,500 barrels of crude per day when running full time. The storage capacity of both crude and refined is 400,000 barrels.
The products are gasoline, naphtha, distillate, kerosene, gas oil, cylinder stocks and fuel oil. The Blackwell refinery has 3,000 barrel charging ca- pacity and can handle 2,000 barrels crude per day. The company has valuable producing properties in Oklahoma and Wyoming. It also has about 25,000 acres of leases and considerable production in the North Texas oil fields.
Mr. McBrayer has become a loyal citizen of Fort . Worth and is enthusiastic over the facilities which it offers big business. He is attracted by its sig- niticance as a center for the live stock industry, its convenience as a railroad center and distributing point for wholesalers and manufacturers, as well as other features which make it peculiarly well suited for his own business.
His acquaintance among oil men and business men generally in Texas has a wide scope. He is a member of the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Associa- tion, the Delta Sigma Phi (a college fraternity), and the Masonic Lodge.
INDLEY G. COLEMAN, W. T. Waggoner Building, manager North Texas Division of the Empire Gas and Fuel Company, which occupies the twelfth and thirteenth floors of Fort Worth's principal skyscraper, came to the Panther City June 1, 1920, from Bartles- ville, Oklahoma, and assumed charge of the North Texas business for this large concern which is con- trolled by Henry L. Doherty and Company with prin- cipal offices at No. 60 Wall Street, New York City. Mr. Coleman has been with various companies con- trolled by the Doherty interests since 1906.
The Empire Gas and Fuel Company has extensive holdings in the North and Central West Texas oil fields and has a daily production of one thousand barrels of crude oil in this territory with several ad- ditional wells now being drilled. The organization has a total of two hundred employees and is regarded as one of the most substantial concerns operating in the Texas fields.
A native of Missouri, Mr. Coleman was born at Saint Louis, September 5, 1882, his parents being Dr. R. G. and Mary Coleman. After attending the public schools and graduating at the Saint Louis high school in 1902, Mr. Coleman attended the Uni- versity of Missouri and graduated there with the degree of bachelor of science in 1906, his major study being electrical engineering Following his
graduation Mr. Coleman became connected with Henry L. Doherty and Company and was stationed at Denver, Colorado, from 1906 to 1908. He was then transferred to Massilor, Ohio, and remained there until 1909 when he went to the New York office of the company where he was engaged in special work until February. 1910, and then went to Meridian, Mississippi, where he remained two years. From 1912 to 1914 he was stationed at Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and in 1914 he returned to the New York office and remained there until 1919 when he again came to Bartlesville and then was made manager of the Fort Worth office which con- trols the company's activities in North Texas. Mr. Coleman is a director in several of the Henry L. Doherty companies.
On June 2, 1913, Mr. Coleman was married at Saint Joseph, Missouri, to Miss Maude Van Houten, of Topeka, Kansas. They have one child, Elizabeth.
Mr. Coleman is a Knight Templar, Mason, a mem- ber of Cyrene Commandery at Meridian, Miss., a member of the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Associa- tion, the American Petroleum Institute, Natural Gas Association.
R. BARTON, prominent real estate and oil man, formerly president and general man- ager and now a director of the Central Texas Producers Corporation, came to Fort Worth from Bertram, in Burnett County, Texas, in July, 1919, and on July 16th organized his company under the name of Central Texas Producers Asso- ciation, with a capital stock of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The business of the com- pany grew so that in August, 1920, the capitaliza- tion was increased to one million dollars and the company chartered as a corporation.
The company operates extensively in oil through- out North Central Texas, having oil interests in about 25 counties. Altogether the company has approximately twenty thousand acres under lease.
Mr. Barton is a native of Texas and was born at Burney County, February 1, 1883. His parents were Early and Mattie Lee (Newton) Barton, pioneers in that part of Texas and for many years one of the best known families in Central Texas. After studying in the public schools and the Bertram high school, where he graduated in 1904, Mr. Barton followed stock farming, cotting ginning and the handling of grain and cotton seed products, and later dealt extensively in real estate. In 1913 he entered the oil business, operating in the Thrall field, and in 1919 also did some drilling there. He still con- ducts his real estate office at Bertram and is farming five hundred acres of land in Burnett and William- son counties.
On March 29, 1905, Mr. Barton was married at Lampasas, Texas, to Miss Mattie Lee, daughter of J. W. Lee, a well known school teacher of Travis County. They have two children, Augusta Pearl, aged thirteen years, and Mattie Lee, six.
Mr. Barton has been very successful in his busi- ness ventures and is a typical example of the self- made man. He is very optimistic regarding the future outlook for Fort Worth and is a consistent booster for the city, calling attention to its splendid railroad facilities, unlimited water supply and vari- ous other advantages which it enjoys.
Mr. Barton is a member of the Knights of Pythias and Woodmen of the World at Bertram.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS
R EECE S. ALLEN, partner in the firm of Kemp, Munger & Allen, Wichita Falls, is one of Texas' biggest oil men. No Texan perhaps has greater holdings than does he, and with it all Mr. Allen is active; he is a leader among leaders. Associated with him in o.ficial ca- pacity are J. A. Kemp, S. I. Munger and H. M. Munger. They operate in the Kemp-Munger-Allen field and at Electra. Mr. Allen owns a refinery at Amarillo, Texas, has several hundred oil wells in this state, and personally owns thousands of acres in the old fields. He is a director of the Wichita Falls & Southern R. R., director of the First Na- tional Bank and of several oil companies.
Mr. Allen is a native of Missouri. He was born at Sedalia, on November 25, 1872. Charles and Selia Wethers Allen were his parents. In 1900 they yielded to the call of the Lone Star State and came to Houston, Texas. Missouri had educated Mr. Allen, Texas was the beginning of his business career. From 1900 until 1905, he was in the oil business at Beaumont. In 1905 he came to Electra to go into the ranching business, both as farmer and cattlenian. He bought 40.000 acres at Electra and 15,000 acres in Wichita, Wilbarger and Clay coun- ties, besides other holdings. When oil was dis- covered across a narrow road from his property in 1910, Mr. Allen, who had been in the oil business prior to his ranching interests, began his present day big oil activities in 1911. After selling off immense tracts, Mr. Allen still owns 1,000 acres in the heart of the oil country which is prolific in its yield of wells, besides 15,000 acres he has not yet developed.
Mr. Allen is also interested in cattle ranches in Northwest Texas and has herds of registered Here- fords.
In 1898, at Makane, Missouri, Mr. Allen married Miss Jennie Lee Ferguson. They have a son, De- course Allen, now attending Cornell University, and the family residence is at Electra. Mr. Allen is a thirty-second degree Mason of Dallas Consistory, a Shriner of the Maskat Temple, a member of the B. P. O. E., the Wichita Club, Chamber of Com- merce, the Houston Club, the Dallas Athletic Club, and by church affiliation he is a Methodist. He is really one of Texas' biggest oil men and his inter- ests will continue as a leading factor in oil develop- ment for generations to come.
AJOR HENRY P. MANSFIELD, Morgan Building, Wichita Falls, oil operator, as one who has been in the oil business for twenty years, at Spindle Top, Southern Texas and the Wichita fields, is rich in experience in his in- dustry, knows the busineses thoroughly and is active among those who are doing big things in the Pan- handle district.
Mr. Mansfield is a Virginian; he was born at Richmond, on May 14, 1866. His parents were Edward S. Mansfield and Mary Elizabeth Baker Mansfield, of the oldest Virginian aristocracy. Mr. Mansfield still owns the old home plantation given to his family by the King of England at the James- town settlement. He has the very best education his state can give one, from the Madison Academy near Orange, Virginia, through the University of Virginia in special training. In 1886 he came to Fort Worth, Texas, and worked for Jones, Haynes & Company, construction firm, for Mr. Mansfield began as a civil engineer. For three years he was
in Fort Worth, then went to Trinidad, Colo., for his company where he remained for four years. Here he did constructive engineering work. In 1893 he located at Houston, Texas, followed engineering. built a large irrigation plant, two lumber mills, or- ganized and built the Houston Land & Irrigation Company. He was consulting engineer for the Sheldon Canal Company, for the Trinity Irrigation Company, and also did railroad work. In 1900. while he had his big irrigation farm of 11,600 acres, a rice plantation, he became interested in oil and accordingly began his oil career at Spindle Top in 1901. Until 1917 he followed the oil business, prin- cipally in buying and selling leases as well as pro- duction. At present he holds extensive leases in Liberty County as well as in Wichita County, and is drilling a well in Collinsworth County in the Panhandle district. In 1919 he made Wichita Falls his headquarters which location he retains.
In 1917 Mr. Mansfield enlisted in the department of foreign military railroads, was appointed major, used as a detached officer, did special work for this country and Europe in military railroad engineering, and was discharged on February 26, 1919.
In 1897, on November 2, at Fort Worth, Texas, Mr. Mansfield married Miss Lulu V. More, of Louis- iana. They have two children, H. Sedley and Allen H. The family resides at 2510 Tenth Street. Mr. Mansfield is a K. of P., member of the Elks, also the Red Men and of the Wichita Club. He is held in highest esteem by all those he has ever dealt with and by a multitude of friends. He is rendering a constructive and helpful work in one of Texas' greatest oil fields. His intimate friends are some of Texas' biggest oil men, as Walter Sharp, D R. Beatty, and the original promoters of the Humble Oil Company.
S IDNEY VERNER WHITE, oil operator of the firm of Temple & White, American Na- tional Bank Building, Wichita Falls. is not only active in production but is a geologist, having served in this capacity with some of the most prominent oil companies of the Southwest. H. H. Temple is partner in the organization and the firm operates in the district known as the Temple-White field. These men drilled a discovery well which brought in a producer that gave to the oil develop- ment the district that now bears their name, a territory about ten miles west of Wichita Falls. Since this initial discovery they have brought in other wells and there is a great deal of interest shown by operators and oil companies in this new development. Operation on an extensive scale is now taking place in this field. Besides the pro- ducers brought in from new territory, the firm of Temple & White hold valuable leases in various Texas oil regions, and sons in Oklahoma.
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