The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 67, July 1963 - April, 1964 Page: 42
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Southwestern Historical Quarterly and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Texas State Historical Association.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Southwestern Historical Quarterly
ination of Horace Greeley, a Liberal Republican, for president.
He believed that a Northern Democrat could more successfully
weld together the two factions of the party than a Liberal Re-
publican.
From the time O'Brien became a resident of Beaumont until
his death in 1909, he witnessed the small village on the Neches
grow and develop until it became the leading lumber producing
center of the South, and after the discovery of oil at Spindletop
in i901, temporarily the oil capital of the world. He was prom-
inently identified with Beaumont's economic growth, and there
was no worthy civic program that did not have his support and
leadership. O'Brien soon became the attorney for several of the
sawmill and lumber companies of Beaumont, invested in the
building of a new railroad which later became part of the Mis-
souri Pacific System, aided in the establishment of the first elec-
tric light company, worked tirelessly to make Beaumont a deep
water port, and was always a generous donor to the various cul-
tural and benevolent organizations of his community.
In his later years, O'Brien perhaps is best remembered for his
efforts in assisting Patillo Higgins and Anthony F. Lucas in their
search for oil on the Spindletop dome. In 1892, he and several
associates organized the Gladys City Oil, Gas and Manufacturing
Company for the purpose of exploring for oil at Spindletop.
Each of the incorporators conveyed certain of their lands at
Spindletop to the company in payment of the capital stock.
O'Brien and his daughter received for their property one-half
of the stock of the corporation. It is interesting to note that
Spindletop hill had been the location of a camp of Spaight's
Battalion during the war. The soldiers had observed oil and gas
seeps which O'Brien remembered when Patillo Higgins became
interested in the oil development. The organization of the com-
pany antedated the discovery of commercial oil production at
Corsicana by two years and the drilling of exploratory wells on
the Gulf Coast. With the Gladys City Company as the corporate
vehicle, Patillo Higgins and the other stockholders were able to
finance the drilling of three wells before 1900oo, all of them
failures. Higgins eventually interested Anthony F. Lucas, an
Austrian mining engineer, in the oil prospects, and the Gladys
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View one page within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 67, July 1963 - April, 1964, periodical, 1964; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101197/m1/62/?q=%221777%22&rotate=180: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Texas State Historical Association.