David Milne Fasken (December 31, 1860 – December 2, 1929) was a Canadian lawyer from Wellington County, Canada West, whose wealth, later inherited by his family, formed Fasken Oil & Ranch in 1979, an oil company which currently owns approximately 300,000 acres of land in Texas. In 2015, the family was estimated to have a net worth of $3 billion.

Life

David Fasken was born in 1860 the son of Robert Fasken and Isabel Milne. The Fasken family emigrated from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in 1837 to Elora, then in Upper Canada, but by the time he was born in Canada West. David was the 5th of ten children and went to school in Elora. He graduated from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

in 1882 and pursued law. He later worked at the law firm of

William Henry Beatty William Henry Beatty (December 10, 1833 – November 20, 1912), was a Canadian lawyer and businessman. William Henry Beatty was the eldest of three sons and five daughters of James Beatty, an Irish-born Toronto merchant. James had operated the ...

who mentored him. In 1913, Fasken acquired 226,000 acres for $1.50 an acre in what would later be called Fasken, near

Midland, Texas Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States. A small part of Midland is in Martin County. At the 2020 census, Midland's population was 132,524. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas metropolitan ...

, intending to convert it to a farm. He retired there and ended his law practice in 1919.

Death

Fasken died on December 2, 1929 at the age of 68 leaving behind an estate worth $1,792,300, excluding unknown oil reserves on the land. The

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

, while interpreting his will, commented that his inheritance was "very substantial". The ''

Toronto Daily Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'' ran the headline ''"David Fasken, Wealthy Mining Magnate Dies"''. Oil was discovered on the property leading to the creation of the Fasken Oil & Ranch company in 1979.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fasken, David 1860 births 1929 deaths People from Wellington County, Ontario Canadian emigrants to the United States