Erle Palmer Halliburton was an American businessman specializing in oil field services.

Early life

Halliburton was born on September 22, 1892, near Henning,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, the son of Lou Emma (Cothran) and Edwin Graves Halliburton. When Halliburton was 12 years old, his father died. At 14, Halliburton left home to support the family. As a youth, he learned how to operate heavy machinery such as a locomotive, a steam crane, and a steam shovel. Later, Halliburton was a salesman in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Business career

Before the

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entered into

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Halliburton gained exposure to shipboard engineering as a member of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. After his

honorable discharge A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and th ...

in 1915, he headed for the oilfields of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where he was able to apply techniques analogous to the technology with which he had worked in the Navy. His drive and his sense of innovation soon brought him into conflict with his boss, Almond Perkins. Halliburton later quipped that getting hired and getting fired by the Perkins Oil Well Cementing Company were the two best opportunities he had ever received. Halliburton then moved to

Duncan, Oklahoma Duncan is a city and county seat of Stephens County, Oklahoma, United States. Its population was 22,310 at the 2020 census. Its main claim to fame is as the birthplace of the Halliburton Corporation. Erle P. Halliburton established the New Me ...

where he invented, perfected, and patented a new method of oil well cementing. According to one of the inscriptions on the pictured monument, Halliburton's method "isolates the various downhole zones, guards against a collapse of the casing and permits control of the well during its producing life." In 1919, based on this new method, Halliburton started Duncan's New Method Oil Well Cementing Company. By 1922, the company was operating as the Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company. On July 5, 1961, it became known as the

Halliburton Company Halliburton Company is an American multinational corporation responsible for most of the world's hydraulic fracturing operations. In 2009, it was the world's second largest oil field service company. It has operations in more than 70 countries ...

. Halliburton also founded

Southwest Air Fast Express Southwest Air Fast Express (SAFE), also known as S.A.F.E.way, was a United States airline. It was founded by Erle P. Halliburton, the founder of the New Method Oil Well Cementing Company (now known as Halliburton), and Zero Halliburton, a brief ...

, which was later acquired by

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

. Halliburton designed the aluminum suitcases which are now manufactured by

Zero Halliburton Zero Halliburton, stylized as ZERO Halliburton, is a company that manufactures hard-wearing travel cases and briefcases, mainly of aluminum. On December 29, 2006, Zero Corporation sold its consumer division to ACE Co., Ltd., a Japanese lug ...

Halliburton was inducted into the

Oklahoma Hall of Fame The Oklahoma Hall of Fame was founded in 1927 by Anna B. Korn to officially celebrate Statehood Day, recognize Oklahomans dedicated to their communities, and provide educational programming for all ages. The first Oklahoma Hall of Fame Induction Cer ...

in 1957. Halliburton died on October 13, 1957, in

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at the age of 65.

Private life

Halliburton was married to Vida C. Taber Halliburton. They had 5 children: Erle P., Jr., David, Zola Catherine, Vida Jessie, and Ruth Lou. Erle Halliburton was a cousin of the famed adventure writer

Richard Halliburton Richard Halliburton (January 9, 1900 – Declared death in absentia, presumed dead after March 24, 1939) was an American travel writing, travel writer and adventurer who swam the length of the Panama Canal and paid the lowest toll in its hi ...

Notes

External links

Yearbook portrait of Erle Halliburton, Los Angeles, 1935.

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library,

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Halliburton, Erle P. 1892 births 1957 deaths People from Duncan, Oklahoma American businesspeople in the oil industry Halliburton people American company founders People from Henning, Tennessee United States Navy sailors 20th-century American inventors

Early life

Business career

Private life

Further reading

Notes

External links