W. H. McFadden
Encyclopedia
Early life
William H. McFadden, born in Moundsville, West VirginiaMoundsville, West Virginia
Moundsville is a city in Marshall County, West Virginia, along the Ohio River. It is part of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 9,998 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marshall County. The city was named for the Grave Creek Mound. Moundsville was settled in...
on June 11, 1869, was an essential factor in opening up the oil fields of Oklahoma. At age 19 he apprenticed in the Mackintosh Hemphill Steel Foundry in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
and in 1909 at the age of 40, he became President of Mackintosh Hemphill, but resigned shortly thereafter due to ill health, suffering from lungs irritated by a galvanizing compound used in steel mills. He moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas thinking that he was going to die.
Oil Business Ventures
In 1910 he was approached by John G. McCaskeyJohn G. McCaskey
John Gruard McCaskey was an American oil businessman.-Early life:John Gruard McCaskey born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 3, 1874, was an essential factor in opening up the oil fields of Oklahoma and Texas...
, a social acquaintance from Pittsburgh and E. W. Marland
E. W. Marland
Ernest Whitworth Marland was an American lawyer, oil businessman, and politician who served as the tenth Governor of Oklahoma.-Career as an Oilman:...
, President and founder of the 101 Ranch Oil Company
101 Ranch Oil Company
Founded in 1908 by oil exploration pioneer E. W. Marland, The 101 Ranch Oil Company was located on the famous Miller Brothers 101 Ranch and headquartered in Ponca City, Oklahoma...
of Ponca City, Oklahoma
Ponca City, Oklahoma
Ponca City is a small city in Kay and Osage counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, which was named after the Ponca Tribe. Located in north central Oklahoma, it lies approximately south of the Kansas border, and approximately east of Interstate 35. 25,919 people called Ponca City home at the...
that was on the verge of failure having run out of money after drilling seven wells and only having found natural gas.(1) McFadden was impressed with Marland and after visiting the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch
Miller Brothers 101 Ranch
The Miller Brothers 101 Ranch was an cattle ranch in the Indian Territory of Oklahoma before statehood. Located near modern-day Ponca City, it was founded by Colonel George Washington Miller, a veteran of the Confederate Army, in 1893. The 101 Ranch was the birthplace of the 101 Ranch Wild West...
property decided to invest in the company. McCaskey then raised additional funds from Pittsburgh investors, reorganized the company and was elected President, McFadden was elected Vice President, General Manager. Shortly thereafter a drilling lease was obtained on the Willie Cry Ponca Indian allotment and on June 11, 1911 the well “Willy-Cries-For-War” struck oil, bringing wealth to the company and its investors. (2, 3)
Later, after McCaskey sold his interests in the 101 Ranch Oil Company and the Kay County Gas Company to Marland Refining Company, later the Marland Oil Company
Marland Oil Company
Marland Oil Company was an American oil company founded in 1917, by Ponca City, Oklahoma oil exploration pioneer E. W. Marland when he assembled his various holdings including the 101 Ranch Oil Company into one unit, forming Marland Oil Company...
McFadden was appointed President of the Kay County Gas Company, and also Vice President of Marland Refining Company and an executive at Marland Oil Company.
Philanthropic activities and Honors
McFadden funded and sponsored a private camp, Camp McFadden, for Camp Fire Girls with over 5,000 girls attending the camp through 1950. He also financed the American Legion Orphans Home School in Ponca City.In 1935 McFadden was placed in Oklahoma’s Hall of Fame. E. W. Marland had a statue of McFadden cast in his likeness called "The Plainsman" which is now on exhibition at Woolaroc
Woolaroc
Woolaroc is located in the Osage Hills of Northeastern Oklahoma on Oklahoma State Highway 123 about southwest of Bartlesville, Oklahoma and north of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Woolaroc was established in 1925 as the ranch retreat of oilman Frank Phillips...
Museum in Northeastern Oklahoma on Oklahoma State Highway 123 about 19 km (11.8 mi) southwest of Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Bartlesville is a city in Osage and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 43,070 at the 2010 census. Bartlesville is located forty-seven miles north of Tulsa and very close to Oklahoma's northern border with Kansas. It is the county seat of Washington County, in...
and 72 km (44.7 mi) north of Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1946 McFadden was awarded the Gulich Award given by the Camp Fire Girls.
McFadden married to Helen Charolette Williams Levi in 1920. They had no children. In 1928 McFadden moved to Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
where he died in 1956 at the age of 87.
Sources
- 1 American Biography a New Cyclopedia, Volume LXV. Published under the direction of The American Historical Society, Inc. New York. 1931. pg. 126 and 127.
- 2 Pittsburgh DispatchPittsburgh DispatchThe Pittsburgh Dispatch was a leading newspaper in Pittsburgh, PA, operating from 1846 to 1923. After being enlarged by publisher Daniel O'Neill it was reportedly one of the largest and most prosperous newspapers in the United States...
, 1913. Page 1. - 3 E. W. Marland: Life and Death of an Oil Man, John Joseph Mathews, (Norman: University of Oklahoma PressUniversity of Oklahoma PressThe University of Oklahoma Press is the publishing arm of the University of Oklahoma. It has been in operation for over seventy-five years, and was the first university press established in the American Southwest. It was founded by William Bennett Bizzell, the fifth president of the University of...
, 1951) ISBN 0-8061-1238-7.