THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY
From the Manuscript and Photograph Collections of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library)
Oil Operators And Drillers
Adobe Oil and Gas Corporation (Midland, Texas)Records, 1968-1984
620 leaves
The collection bulks with company annual reports (1968-1983) and Securities and
Exchange Commission Reports (1975-1983). The collection also includes a clipping file
(photocopied) from 1968 to 1984 on company events, activities, and milestones.
The Adobe Oil and Gas Corporation is an oil exploration, development, and production
company operating from Midland, Texas. Formed in 1960, B. J. Pevehouse hoped to create an
oil management company which could handle all phases of oil field development from
exploratory drilling to production for both clients and the company. Chiefly active in the
central Plains states, by the 1970s Adobe had operations across the country and had
substantial investments in Canada, Ecuador, East Africa, and the North Sea. By the 1980s,
Adobe had emerged as a diverse company active not only in oil, gas and mineral
exploration, and development and production, but also as the owner of natural gas
processing plants and an oil refinery, coal producer, processor, and marketer, uranium
prospector, and operator of intrastate gas pipelines. The 1980s saw the company
successfully weather the oil industry downturn, but B. J. Pevehouse stepped down as
president. In the late 1980s, the company changed its name to Adobe Resources.
Records, 1917-1920
168 leaves Contains correspondence and financial and legal documents pertaining to the formation, business activities, and liquidation of the Anna Zip Oil Association.
This was an unincorporated joint stock association formed on July 12, 1918, for the purpose of drilling oil wells near Brownwood, Texas, and selling crude oil to refineries. The association was liquidated in 1920.
Bassett, Julian Markus
Papers, 1857-1982
22,001 leaves
Includes correspondence, legal material, financial material, biographical material,
charts, photographs, reminiscences, and scrapbook material. Bulks (1917-1947) with land
descriptions and appraisals, as well as geological reports and drilling logs of oil and
gas wells located primarily in Terrell, Val Verde, and Pecos counties, Texas.
A rancher, land speculator, and oilman, Bassett was born in 1874 [H.A.] in New York. He
moved to West Texas in 1882 where his father, Roger M. Bassett, had joined the BS Ranch
outside Colorado City, Texas, with Harry Smith. In 1908, Bassett formed the C. B.
Livestock Company with the Coonley brothers of Chicago, Illinois, and soon thereafter
bought the Two-Buckle Ranch. It was through the course of the development of these ranch
lands that Crosbyton, Texas, came about. In 1910, Bassett built a 39 mile rail line that
connected Crosbyton to Lubbock, Texas. He married the former Cora Drake in 1915; the
marriage produced four children. Bassett also developed 374 sections of rangeland in
Terrell County, Texas. The land, bought from Sydney Webb, included the townsite of Dryden
and, in 1930, Bassett moved his family there after suffering heavy losses in Gila, New
Mexico, as a result of the depression. Later, he moved to San Antonio, Texas, where
Bassett devoted his time to developing oil and mineral properties until his death in 1947.
Dearing, Curtis L.
Papers, 1925-1929
Includes correspondence containing a week by week description of the beginnings of oil
drilling in West Texas and the inception of governmental drilling regulations.
Dearing was an oil driller for Westbrook and Company.
Double Five Oil Company (Amarillo, Texas)
Records, 1926-1929
312 leaves
The collection consists of a stock book (1926) listing stock
dispersal, stockholders, transactions, and a corporation record (1926-1929), containing
the stock subscription, company organization, secretary's minutes, and a stock register.
The Double Five Oil Company was incorporated on April 19, 1926, in Amarillo, Texas. G. C.
Odom, Allan Early, H. E. Knapp, and Lum Humphreys served as president, vice-president,
secretary, and treasurer, respectively. Odom, Knapp, and a group of others were directors
or firm members of Odom, Cotten, Turnley and Company, an incorporated real estate and
investment business in Amarillo, Texas. The oil company emerged as an additional venture
and ceased operations in the fall of 1929.
Five Star Oil Report
Collection, 1950-1956
96,326 leaves
The collection bulks with the newsletters "West Texas Daily
(1/1950-11/1956), "Midland Daily" (5/1950-12/1956), "West Texas-New Mexico
Semi-Weekly (1/1952-12/1956), "Dallas-Fort Worth Daily" (5/1952-9/1953), and
"New Mexico Weekly" (2/1953-11/1956). Each issue highlights technical
information on field exploration and developments, well completions, new fields, and
drilling progress. These reports provide a convenient listing of active companies, and the
news pages provide an informative clipped notice of field developments.
Published by the Petroleum News Corporation, the "Five Star Oil Report" focused
on the exploration and production of petroleum in Texas, New Mexico, and southern
Louisiana. Reports were issued yearly, semi-weekly, weekly, and daily.
Fuqua, H. B
Papers, 1963-1965
1 microfilm reel (20 ft.) : negative
Consists of Fuqua's personal files, including correspondence,
financial material, memos of meetings, and printed and miscellaneous items relating to the
dissolution of the Texas and Pacific Coal and Oil Company.
A geologist and banker, Fuqua began working for Gulf Oil Company in 1922 and later headed
its southwestern operations. In 1949, he became head of the Texas and Pacific Coal and Oil
Company. Later, he became the director of Fort Worth National Bank and was active in Fort
Worth's community life. Fuqua promoted oil and gas conservation and protection of fresh
water supplies from salt water incursion. He was inducted into the Permian Basin Petroleum
Museum in 1973.
Gordon, William Knox
Papers, 1881-1979
2 microfilm reels : negative
Includes biographical material, correspondence, printed materials
and company papers concerning coal and oil production. Bulks with materials relating to
Gordon's role as Vice-president and general manager of the Texas and Pacific Coal and Oil
Company at Thurber, Texas.
Born in Virginia in 1862, Gordon became a railroad surveyor and civil engineer. He came to
Texas in 1889 and worked for Texas and Pacific Coal Company and discovered the Ranger Oil
Field. He died in Fort Worth in March 1949.[H.A.]
Isett, Frank E.
Papers, 1838-1969
7,691 leaves
Includes correspondence, financial and legal material, and office
files pertaining to Isett's business activities in the oil and gas industry. The
collection bulks with financial documents, including oil and gas well receipts and
business files, including abstracts of title for Eastland County, Texas (1838-1958);
reports and drilling logs (1920-1966); plats, maps, and tables (undated); and Texas
Railroad Commission rulings and reports (1948-1969). Also included are personal files and
correspondence concerning family matters.
A resident of Brownwood, Texas, Isett served as an oil scout for the Gulf Oil Company
(1917-1918), as superintendent for Schermerhorn Company of Arizona, and owned independent
oil and gas wells in Eastland and Brown counties of Texas (1950-1969).
Livermore Drilling Company (Texas)
Records, 1936-1964
1,316 leaves
Contains correspondence, financial, legal, and printed material,
and literary productions pertaining to the business activities of Mr. Livermore. The
collection bulks (1948-1961) with business correspondence pertaining to South American oil
development, Livermore's involvement with various oil-related associations, and financial
and legal documents (1950-1955) related to drilling operations. One of the financial files
pertains to the Lubbock Baseball Club, Inc.(1955-1956).
The Livermore Drilling Company was founded in 1951 by George Pogue Livermore upon his
retirement from George P. Livermore, Inc., which Livermore founded in 1936. Based in
Kermit, Texas, George P. Livermore, Inc. handled contract drilling for major oil companies
and for Livermore's own interests in the Permian Basin of West Texas and Eastern New
Mexico. George P. Livermore, Inc. also pursued drilling operations in Oklahoma, Colorado,
and Utah. The offices were moved to Lubbock, Texas, in 1941. In the post-World War II era,
the company expanded drilling operations to South America and drilled the first producing
oil well in Chile in 1945. Upon Livermore's retirement, George P. Livermore, Inc. became
the Great Western Drilling Company. George P. Livermore was born in 1903 in Plattsville,
Illinois, and obtained his petroleum engineering degree from the University of Oklahoma in
1931. Livermore was employed by the Texas Company (1931-1935) and Mandeville &
Thompson (1935-1936) before founding his own company in 1936. He was a founding member,
and National Vice-President (1959), of the American Association of Oil Well Drilling
Contractors. Livermore served as director of the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association and
the Independent Petroleum Association of America. He was also a member of the American
Petroleum Institute, the Industrial Councilor for the University of Oklahoma Research
Institute, and chairman of the board of the Texas Technological College Foundation (1957).
He organized the Texas Tech Petroleum Advisory Committee in 1946, which worked with Texas
Technological College in establishing the Department of Petroleum Engineering in 1948.
Livermore married Mary Louise Luccock in 1930. He died in 1961.
Livingston Oil Company (Oklahoma)
Records, 1956-1968
252 leaves
The collection consists of legal materials (1956-1968) which
include stockholders' reports, a stock prospectus, an application for listing on the New
York Stock Exchange, and the Livingston Oil Company Annual Reports.
On May 16, 1955, the Oklahoma-based Livingston Oil Company incorporated and began
exploration drilling, development of oil and gas properties, and sale of crude oil and
natural gas. The company also developed interests in community antenna television (CATV)
and microwave relay systems.
Lubbock-Bridgeport Oil Development Company
Records, 1918-1922
2,702 leaves
The collection consists primarily of business correspondence (1919-1922) and financial documents (1919-1921) relating to the company's drilling activities. The Bridgeport, Texas-based Lubbock-Bridgeport Oil Development Company was formed as an unincorporated joint-stock association of Shallowater, Lubbock, Bridgeport, and Fort Worth, Texas, businessmen and investors to tap into the oil "boom" frenzy prevalent in North Central Texas. Tempted by the proximity of oil in nearby Petrolia, Texas, the company leased wildcat prospects in Wise County, Texas, beginning in February, 1918. Drilling began in May 1919 and, with varying success, continued through 1920 with an exploratory wildcat dipping into depths of 4,500 feet--one of the deepest wells drilled to that date. The company formally incorporated as the Lubbock Oil Corporation in January 1920, and, with additional financing, resumed drilling operations. The company completed a dry-hole on June 27, 1920, which financially ruined Lubbock Oil. The company sold off leases and other property to complete the well. In July 1921, the stockholders dissolved the corporation.
Tye, William Orby
Papers, 1939-1983
4,454 leaves
Includes financial material, logs, printed items, soil
stratification records, and wage records pertaining to the Tye and Sons Drilling Company.
Also included is a four-page 1950 diary of W. Orb Tye. These materials contain references
to Bill Goldsmith, Frank G. Goldsmith and George Goldsmith, Jim Tye, and Keith Tye.
A West and North Central Texas well drilling contractor, Tye is the son of George
Goldsmith Tye who, in 1907, moved his family from Rotan, Texas to San Jon, New Mexico, and
started a well-drilling business. The family moved to Floydada in 1911, where Orb and
Frank Tye formed a partnership during the oil boom years at Burkburnett and Borger, Texas.
In the 1930s, they continued in irrigation well drilling, covering a three-state area. In
1940, W. O. and his son, Bill, built the first Tye rotary drilling rig in Wichita Falls.
This led to the eventual formation of the Tye and Sons Drilling Company at Floydada, of
which W. O. remained head until his retirement in 1960, when his son, Bill, became head of
the business. Their company had the distributorship for Layne Pumps and Continental
Engines.
Ungren, Einar Augustus
Papers, 1847-1932
1 microfilm reel (10 ft.) : negative
Contains papers concerning Einar A. Ungren and his daughter,
Marcia Ungren Foster (1847-1932), and includes photographs, newspaper clippings,
certificates, and invitations.
An early West Texas oilman, Ungren was born in 1887 in Wimmerly, Sweden. He emigrated to
Texas in 1910 and, by 1917, was wildcatting for oil. He formed the Onyx Oil company and
successfully developed oil wells near Sipe Springs, Putman, and Abilene, Texas. He was the
director and organizer of the Abilene Petroleum Club and a member of the executive
committee of the West-Central Texas Oil and Gas Association. Underwood was also a member
of the Lions Club and American Legion and was a 32nd degree Mason. He died in 1951 in
Abilene.
Geologists
Counselman, Frank
Papers
Petroleum geologist.
Kemp, Augusta Hasslock
Papers, 1853-1974
4,354 leaves
Includes correspondence, financial material, genealogical material, legal material,
literary productions, photographs, printed material, and scrapbook material. Bulks
(1902-1967) with the personal papers of Kemp.
A teacher, geologist, and writer, Kemp was born in 1882, in Nashville, Tennessee. She
received her M.S. in Geology and taught high school in Tennessee, Arizona, and Texas. She
wrote numerous scientific articles and discovered several fossils, which were named Kempar
in her honor. Augusta Kemp died in 1963.
Murray, Grover E.
Papers, 1904-1982
397,500 leaves
Bulks (1944-1982) with personal and professional correspondence, news items, printed
programs and bulletins, financial and legal material, awards and notices, and scrapbook
material, all pertaining to the professional career of Grover Murray. Also includes
photographs and slides and a collection of rare postcards collected by Murray's daughter.
Murray holds a Ph.D. in geology and was a geologist for Ashland Oil Co., and
Vice-President of academic affairs at Louisiana State University before succeeding Dr. R.
C. Goodwin as President of Texas Technological College in 1966. He continued in that role
until his retirement in 1976, and now serves as consultant at Texas Tech University.
Patton, Joseph T.
Papers, 1927
52 leaves
Includes a scrapbook containing captioned photographs of the first geology field trip
undertaken by Texas Technological College. There also exist related clippings and cards
not listed on the inventory.
The first professor of Geology at Texas Technological College, Patton conducted a field
trip to New Mexico from June 7 to July 14, 1927. Participating students included Henry
Mobley, W. T. Reed, Percy Denton, John McElroy, Lloyd Preatt, J.T. Gist, Eldon Thorpe, and
J.F. Clingingsmith.
Perini, Vincent Charles, Jr.
Papers, 1896-1979
73,236 leaves
Consists of Perini Mining Company records and general business correspondence. Bulks
(1896-1966) with records relating to expired, plugged, and producing oil leases. Records
are subdivided by county and the individual lease names. Also bulks with ledgers
(1927-1962) pertaining to business finances, leases, payroll, company minutes, and oil
runs. Also contains materials related to drilling activity (1925-1955). Subdivided by
county, these include geologic reports, maps, and profit/loss statements. Other materials
include incorporation records and minutes of the Oil States Exploration Company which
operated from 1936 to 1940.
An Abilene, Texas, oil man, petroleum geologist, and oil company executive, Perini was
born January 15, 1895 in Denver, Colorado. He received B.A. and M.S. degrees from the
University of Colorado (1919, 1920). He worked in Colorado as geologist, and joined
Marland Oil Company in 1920s. He formed the early West Central Texas surface geology
company of Merry Brothers and Perini in 1924. From the mid-1940s to the 1960s, Perini
worked independently as a geologist and oil producer, and became the West Central Texas
"dean" of geologists. During the mid-1950s, the Perini Mining Company prospected
for uranium, mercury, and iron in Texas and the West. Perini's professional activities
include: founder and first president of the Abilene Geological Society, former first
president of the West Central Texas Oil and Gas Association, former Vice-president of both
the Independent Petroleum Association of America and the National Stripper Well
Association, charter member of the American Institute of Professional Geologists, and a
member of the Texas Academy of Science. Perini died in 1965.
Robinson, W. I.
Papers, 1915-1955
270 leaves
Includes a scrapbook consisting of one letter, postcards, and photographs of Robinson's
home, Texas Technological College, Blanco Canyon, and various trips. The collection bulks
with literary productions (1915-1923) and printed material (1936-1955). Also includes
copies of geology and paleontology articles by Robinson and others.
A geology professor at Texas Technological College during the 1950s, Robinson was born in
1890. The author of scientific articles on paleontology, Robinson was one of three Texas
Technological College professors to see the Lubbock Lights UFO on August 25, 1951. He died
in 1977.
Sidwell, Raymond
Papers, 1943-1951
106 leaves
Includes printed materials including Sidwell's article reprints in Sedimentary
Petrology and American Mineralogist journals.
Born in Nebo, Illinois, in 1892, Sidwell attended the University of Iowa, where he
received his B.A. (1925), M.A. (1926) and Ph.D. (1928). At Texas Technological College he
worked as an assistant professor (1928-1932), associate professor (1932-1944) and full
professor of geology(1945-1958). He also served as head of the department. Sidwell
specialized in studying the origins and alterations of sediments. He published numerous
articles for scholarly publications focusing upon such topics and examined sedimentary
alterations in the terrain of West Texas and eastern New Mexico. He is a member of the
Society of Economic Paleontology and Mineral Sedimentation and the American Association of
Petroleum Geologists. Sidwell served as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Army during World War
I (1917-1918), and married in 1926. He returned to his farm in Illinois after retiring
from Texas Tech.
PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTIONS
Alexander, John D.
Photograph collection, 1908-1978
43 copy prints
Consists of photographs of the Alexander family and their experiences in farming and in
the oil industry (1908-1949; 1978).
John D. Alexander grew up on the Screw Bean Ranch near Orla, Texas. In 1918, he went to
work in the oil fields following the oil boom as a pipeliner, roughneck and, finally,
drilling superintendent. He retired to Carlsbad, New Mexico in 1961.
Breckenridge, Texas
Photograph collection, 1898-1925
119 copy prints, 127 copy negatives
Consists of photographs of Breckenridge, Texas (1898-1925), and includes photographs of
oil derricks, a devastating petroleum fire (1920s), and a panoramic view of the town
(1925).
Breckenridge, Texas, county seat of Stephens County, has a population of 7,000.
Established in 1885, Breckenridge was the center for an oil boom from 1918 to 1921.
Presently, its industry centers around machine shops and cotton gins.
Freeman, Bennett
Photograph collection, 1920
137 copy prints
Collection consists of agricultural, railroad, and oil industry photos of Breckenridge,
Desdemona, Jakehamon and Ranger, Texas. (1920s).
Bennett Freeman served in the U. S. Navy during World War I. He also worked for surveying
and drilling companies near Ranger, Texas during the oil boom of the 1920s.
Thompson, Maurice
Photograph collection, 1920
9 copy prints
Consists of family photos of the Thompson family and of the petroleum industry in
Mitchell County, Texas (1920). The collection also contains photos of the Badgett #1 Oil
Well, Mitchell County, Texas (1920).
Maurice Thompson moved to Colorado City, Texas, with his family in 1919. His father worked
as a driller for the Texas and Pacific Coal and Oil Company.