William Casper "Captain W.C." Tyrrell, (January 12, 1847 – September 14, 1924), was an oil tycoon, venture capitalist, and prominent businessman of

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...

during the Texas oil boom of the early 20th century.

Life

William Casper Tyrrell was born in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in 1847 to Mallory and Polly (née Titus) Tyrrell. He married Frances Helen Rorick and the couple had one daughter together, Esther, born in 1869. Eventually settling in Pleasant Township, Iowa, Tyrrell was soon investing in grain mills and real estate. By 1873 he had purchased the large farm of Smith & Munson from state senator E. A. Howland. After learning of the 1901

Spindletop Spindletop is an oil field located in the southern portion of Beaumont, Texas, in the United States. The Spindletop dome was derived from the Louann Salt evaporite layer of the Jurassic geologic period. On January 10, 1901, a well at Spindleto ...

gusher in

, Tyrrell relocated his family to the area. Tyrrell established himself in Beaumont as an oil speculator and businessman and eventually earned millions from his ventures. An active philanthropist, he often donated to the poor, helped victims of natural disasters, and otherwise performed numerous other generous deeds throughout his lifetime. In 1923, Tyrrell purchased what had once been the First Baptist Church of Beaumont and donated it to the city for use as a public library, now known as the

Tyrrell Historical Library The Tyrrell Historical Library is a public library in Beaumont, Texas. Originally built in 1903 to serve as the First Baptist Church, the building displays a mix of Richardsonian Romanesque and Victorian Gothic architectures, with pointed arch ...

. Its historical holdings include many genealogical records."Tyrrell Historical Library"
, Beaumont Library official site Several other local landmarks, including the Tyrrell Park, draw their names from Tyrrell as well. As an investor during economically depressed times, Tyrrell provided much-needed capital to fledgling entrepreneurs and struggling businesses, such as funding the development of the city's first commercial port, contributing to an irrigation system to support the area's growing rice culture, and investing heavily in residential and commercial development. Tyrrell was also very active in the Port Arthur and

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

areas.

References

Businesspeople from Texas American financiers American investors American philanthropists 1847 births 1924 deaths Businesspeople from Pennsylvania People from Beaumont, Texas Place of birth missing American businesspeople in the oil industry {{US-business-bio-1840s-stub 19th-century American businesspeople