Saturday, June 25, 2011

Connection between Robert G. Storey, Jr., Dal-Tex Bldg. and H.L. Hunt

 When John Stuart Hunt married in 1946, the rehearsal dinner was hosted by Mr. and Mrs. H.L. Hunt in their home on Lawther Drive. A bridesmaid was the daughter-in-law of Robert G. Storey, who was the former
Elizabeth Anne Toline (daughter of Basil Irving Toline). Toline, incredibly enough was from Moline (Rock Island) Illinois and was assistant sales manager for the farm implement company (John Deere) in 1930. Elizabeth had been born in Moline, IL in 1921. Once they moved to Dallas, B.I. Toline, as he was called, became president of the Dallas Agricultural Club.

501 Elm Street built in 1902
Originally ~ The John Deere Plow Company 

Dallas Textile ("Dal-Tex") Building (Kingman-Texas Building)
(John Deere Plow Company Building^)
501 Elm Street

Taken from "The Dallas Morning News" Friday, June 7, 1946
Best bonnets and prettiest dresses are being worked overtime this week going to parties for brides-to-be.
A rehearsal dinner will be given Friday evening by Mr. and Mrs. H. L. Hunt, Mr. and Mrs. Al Hill and Mr. and Mrs. Loyd Sands at the Hunt home on Lawther Drive in honor of Miss Jeanne Gannon and John Stuart Hunt, who will be married Saturday evening. Complimenting Miss Mary Hillman, bride-elect of Robert Heidrick, Miss Susan Diggie will entertain with a kitchen shower Friday at her home, 5101 Swiss Avenue. Miss Hillman has announced that her bridal attendants will be Miss Margaret Nell Carlisle, maid of honor; Mrs. Vernon Coe, sister of the bride-elect, matron of honor; Mrs. R. G. Storey, Jr., Mrs. Charles F. Heidrick Jr., of Beaumont, Miss Lenora Rose and Miss Houston Tripp, bridesmaids. Mr. Heidrick's best man will be his brother, Charles F. Heidrick Jr. Ushers will be Vernon Coe, Thomas Hanlon of Scarsdale, N.Y., James Tollison of Amarillo, Harry Underwood of Lubbock and Ronnie B. Cousin Jr. of Austin.  

Madison, Wisconsin THE CAPITAL TIMES, Thursday, April 19,1962
Ex-Chairman of
ABA Is Dead
DALLAS (UPI) — Robert G. Storey Jr., 50, past chairman of the American Bar Association, died Wednesday. Storey, a prominent attorney, was the son of Robert G. Storey Sr., president of the Southwestern Legal Foundation and a former dean of Southern "Methodist University law school.




John Stuart Hunt, whose father was Sherman Hunt, graduated from the University of Texas in 1943, a member of the same fraternity and class as James McQueen Moroney, Jr., who with his father worked with the Dealeys at the Dallas Morning News. Sherman Hunt was an elder brother of Harold Lafayette Hunt, the Dallas oil millionaire. Both were sons of Haraldson Lafayette Hunt, a South Carolinian who had relocated to Illinois before 1880 and reared his family there. Sherman had moved to Montana, where he established a family before moving them to Dallas in the 1930s after his brother H.L. discovered oil in East Texas. However, Sherman had previously traveled on business to Mexico, as shown by his passport application below:


Official Contends Gas
Company Defied Order
By United Press 
EL PASO HERALD-POST - Jan. 23, 1947
NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 23.—Joseph J. McHugh, Louisana conservation commissioner, charged today that natural gas was being piped to coal-producing regions outside the state through the Little Inch line in defiance of an order canceling a previously-granted permit. McKugh said that wells owned by H. L. Hunt, Texas millionaire" oil and gas man were running "full blast." The gas removal permit had been issued to the Tennessee Gas and Transmission Co., to transfer 50,000,000 cubic feet of gas daily to northern coal fields.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stevens Point (Wis.) Daily Journal - Thursday, March 3, 1977
FBI has letter Oswald wrote
to H.L. Hunt 
DALLAS (AP) — The FBI acknowledges that it has obtained a letter which Lee Harvey Oswald reportedly wrote to a Dallas millionaire, two weeks before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy,
asking about Oswald's "position"' before any "steps" were taken.
A spokesman for the FBI said here that the letter was "being investigated" and declined to comment on any findings since it was received. He indicated the letter was obtained only recently.
The FBI spokesman said Wednesday that the letter apparently came from a former aide to H. L. Hunt, a late Dallas millionaire who was a strong financial supporter of conservative causes. The brief letter, dated Nov. 8, 1963, said:
"Dear Mr. Hunt:"I would like information concerning my position. I am asking only for information. I am suggesting that we discuss the matter, fully before any steps are taken by me or anyone else. Thank you." 
A comparison of the handwritten note with samples of Oswald's handwriting led investigators to conclude that it was written by Oswald or someone who could imitate his handwriting. Oswald, according to the Warren Commission which investigated the assassination, fired the shots that killed Kennedy. Earlier this week published reports said a copy of the letter had been sent to a retired Texas newspaper editor, Penn Jones, at Midlothian. Tex., by an unidentified source in Mexico City. Jones said the source sent an accompanying letter explaining that he had given a copy of the letter to FBI director Clarence Kelly in 1977, but had received no response. Jones quoted the source as saying that because he had received no answer he was afraid something bad "might happen to me" and had decided to leave the country temporarily. Jones said he wrote to the address in Mexico City, but never heard from the man again. Oswald's widow, Marina, testified in 1964 before the Warren Commission that about two weeks before the assassination Oswald had mentioned he had found a job opening that would provide "more interesting work."


H. L. Hunt, oil tycoon, the youngest of eight children of Haroldson Lafayette and Ella Rose (Myers) Hunt, was born in Carson Township, Fayette County, Illinois, on February 17, 1889. He was educated at home. In 1905 he traveled through Colorado, California, and Texas. By 1912 he had settled in Arkansas, where he ran a cotton plantation that was flooded out by 1917. In 1921 he joined the oil boom in El Dorado, Arkansas, where he became a lease broker and promoted his first well, Hunt-Pickering No. 1. He claimed to have attained a "fortune of $600,000" by 1925, the year he bought a whole block in El Dorado and built a three-story house for his family. His El Dorado investments and a venture called Smackover taught Hunt lessons about the cost of wasteful practices and excessive drilling. Both fields were depleted rapidly. He also lost money on the Florida land boom, and by the time he got interested in the East Texas oilfield(qv) in 1930, he seems to have been broke again.

Hunt is in the famous photograph that immortalizes the drill test for Daisy Bradford No. 3 and the opening of the East Texas oilfield. On November 26, 1930, he made a deal with Columbus M. "Dad" Joinerqv that made him owner of the well and all Joiner's surrounding leases. Hunt used $30,000 that belonged to P. G. Lake, a clothier from El Dorado, and planned to make subsequent payments from revenue to buy out Joiner. He knew Joiner was beset by problems of oversold interests in the well. By December 1, 1930, Hunt had his own pipeline, the Panola Pipe Line, to run oil from the East Texas field. By 1932 the Hunt Production Company had 900 wells in East Texas.

In 1935 H. L. Hunt, Incorporated, was superseded by Placid Oil Company, and the shares were divided into trusts for Hunt's six children. In late 1936 Hunt acquired the Excelsior Refining Company in Rusk County and changed the name to Parade Refining Company. It was residue gas from this company's lines that caused the New London Explosion on March 18, 1937. Most of the people involved in that catastrophe were employees of H. L. Hunt. In 1937 or 1938 the family moved to Dallas. On April 5, 1948, Fortune printed a story on Hunt that labeled him the richest man in the United States. It estimated the value of his oil properties at $263 million and the daily production of crude from his wells at 65,000 barrels.



A Final Tribute to Stuart Hunt

John Stuart Hunt was born on July 6, 1921, and passed away on March 18, 2011. He was born in Miles City, Mont., to "Tot" and Sherman Hunt Sr. He arrived in Tyler at the age of 9. His brother, Sherman Jr., drove the entire distance from Montana to Texas at the age of 14 to meet with their father at the beginning of the East Texas Oil Boom. The family moved to Dallas in 1939.

He attended Washington and Lee University for two years before returning to Texas to be close to home at the outbreak of World War II, and graduated from The University of Texas in 1942. He was a proud member of the United States Marine Air Corps. Upon his return to Dallas after active duty, he married Jeanne Gannon in 1946. He remarked that he would marry the love of his life after seeing her enter the ballroom of the Dallas Country Club, before he ever knew her name.

His lengthy and colorful career ran the gamut of endeavors. He started in the oil industry, purchasing leases at the age of 18 after convincing a judge to remove his status as a minor. Stuart participated in the prosperity and growth of Dallas after World War II. He owned, operated or served on the boards of numerous corporations and businesses in banking, to insurance, ranching and real estate development.

In looking over his 70 years as a businessman, his greatest personal achievement was the founding of Preston Trails Golf Club. He was the visionary behind the concept and the driving force to see it through to fruition. Preston Trails was opened in 1965 and is continually regarded as one of the most respected private golf clubs in the United States. Mr. Hunt's crowning recognition came about last year on the first tee box, upon the reopening of the golf course. He was honored as the last living founder of Preston Trails. A man of few words, he expressed humble appreciation for the spirit and camaraderie that has existed throughout the life of the club. He further stated that this "brotherhood" had exceeded his wildest dreams, and for this he was most grateful.

He is survived by his three children, John Ward Hunt, Elizabeth Hara Hunt, Hilre Lucille Hunt; six grandchildren, Elizabeth Gannon Hunt, John Ward Hunt Jr., Andrew Stuart Hunt, Margaret Camille Hunt, William Kent Hunt, Henry William Frost V; one great-grandchild, Beau Turner Jr.; two nephews, Clay McLean Hunt and Todd McLean Hunt, sons of the late Mary and [his brother] Sherman Hunt Jr.

Ted Dealey Steps Up to Dallas 
News Board Chairman
MARCH 17, 1960  
DALLAS (AP) — E. M. (Ted) Dealey has stepped up to become chairman of the board and publisher of the Dallas Morning News. Joseph M. Dealey succeeded his father as president of The News and its associated enterprises, WFAA television and radio. The announcement Tuesday by the board of directors of A. H. Belo Corp., formal name of the company, also said that Managing Editor Jack Krueger, formerly of The Associated Press, had been named one of three new directors.
The board elevated James M. Moroney Sr. from senior vice president to vice chairman of the board; elected Ben H. Decherd Jr. and James M. Moroney Jr. to vice presidents, and elevated Joe Lubben from vice president to senior vice president. Other than Krueger, the new directors named include A. Earl Cullum Jr., prominent in radio and television engineering; D. Gordon Rupe, a leader in investment banking and civic affairs, and Sol M. Katz, circulation manager of The News.

 The man whose wedding rehearsal dinner would be hosted by his uncle, oil millionaire H.L. Hunt, lived in the same fraternity house at the University of Texas with James M. Moroney, Jr., whose father had long worked with the Dealey family at the Dallas Morning News.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Excellent work tracking down Dallas Morning News personnel for Nov. 1963.Thank you. JVB.

Anonymous said...

John Elrod claim he was cell-mate of Lee harvey Oswald as well as Daniel Wayne Douglas. Didn't Elrod say LHO talk to him told him he knew Jack ruby -and 5 men at dallas Motel inwhich money was given for contract ?So why didn't Douglas mention it ? Only Elrod did? even Lindy Elrod pick up bro John Elrod Nov26-63 the same day all (3)tramps were released by DPD Beck as well Douglas.So why did Elrod moved Memphis -when Douglas already lived there? 1. jack ruby 2.Donnell C whittier (texaco mechanic dallas) 3.Lawrence Reginald Miller (car with Whittier) 4.Lee Harvey Oswald (cell dallas tx 11-22-63) 5. John Franklin Elrod 11-22-63 near rail road tracks. wife pat lived dallas, Elrod moved Memphis Tn(dob nov12-1932-dod feb5,2004 osceola arkansas).6.David Wayne Douglas 11-22-63 dallas court building -cellmate- gave address:5092 Sea Isle Memphis Tn. His parents at same address: Raymond R (Matilda) Douglas. 5092 Sea Isle Rd Memphis Tennesseee. (from 1955-1963-) other addresses:1948 340 alabama Memphis.1950-1954 884 Valley Blvd Memphis. David Wayne Douglas(Memphis Tn) West Point,Clay ,Mississippi Dob:may15,1944 Dod:October 28,2006 .SSN issued Tenn 1959-1960.Any Douglas family know testimony?