Hugh Roy Cullen (July 3, 1881 – July 4, 1957) was an American
industrialist
A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...
and
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
. Cullen was heavily involved in the
petroleum industry
The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The larges ...
having struck oil near Texas in 1928. He was a large supporter of multiple educational institutions in and around Houston, in one of which, the
University of Houston
The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...
, he became a longtime chairman of the board of regents. He is considered one of the most important figures in Texas during the
"oil boom" era.
Biography
Early life
Cullen grew up in
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
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with his mother and siblings; his father had abandoned the family when Roy was only four years old. A misguided kidnapping attempt by his father a couple of years later brought Roy closer to his mother, who was shaken by the event. Roy lived out his childhood in poverty, even resorting to dropping out of school in the fifth grade to work at a candy factory to help his mother pay the bills. At sixteen years of age, he made for
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, where he attempted to make amends with his ailing father. After this proved a failure, he attempted to join the army, recruiting young men to fight in the
Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
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. Roy was rejected after his father blew the whistle on Roy's age, too young to fight.
Still seeking a path in life, Roy moved with his half-sister and her husband to
Schulenburg, Texas
Schulenburg is a city in Fayette County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,633 at the 2020 census. Known for its German culture, Schulenburg is home of the Texas Polka Music Museum. It is in a rural, agricultural area settled by Germa ...
, where he found a job in a cotton-trading office. At eighteen, he became a cotton buyer, a position that had him buying cotton from farmers so that the company,
Ralli Brothers
The five Ralli brothers, Zannis a.k.a. John (1785–1859), Augustus (1792–1878),
Pandia a.k.a. Zeus (1793–1865),
Toumazis (1799–1858), and
Eustratios (1800–84), founded Ralli Brothers, perhaps the most successful expatriate Greek merchant ...
, could resell it at a profit. He eventually took a job with a
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 ...
firm and was dispatched to
Mangum, Oklahoma
Mangum is a city in and county seat of Greer County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,010 at the 2010 census. It was originally part of Old Greer County in the Texas panhandle. The community was named for A. S. Mangum, who owned the ...
, where his recovering father then lived. After marrying Lillie Cranz, his girlfriend of five years, he continued working as an independent cotton broker, but he searched for a new venture after he lost his savings in the
Panic of 1907
The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic or Knickerbocker Crisis, was a financial crisis that took place in the United States over a three-week period starting in mid-October, when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from ...
. He discovered that Houston was seeking much shipping business and Roy figured the city was ripe for opportunity. He relocated his family there in 1911 and focused his efforts on learning the business of real estate. After four years of poor results, however, Roy was again down on his luck.
Career
In 1915, Roy met Jim Cheek, a successful Houston real estate developer whose office was nearby Roy's. Cheek divulged to Roy his plan to enter the risky, but booming, oil industry. Neither man had any prior experience with oil, but they decided to pursue the venture. Roy worked for and traveled with Cheek for the next five years, buying leases on land in Central and West Texas, 43 in total. With investors' $250,000, they had three oil rigs built, but all three were dry. Back in Houston, Lillie would complain to Roy that he traveled too much and didn't spend enough time with his family. In an effort to move his venture closer to home, Roy decided to search for oil on his own and closer to Houston. In the early days of oil exploration,
creekology was the common method of finding drilling sites, a method involving looking for certain geological surface features that could indicate an oil field. Usually, a
salt dome
A salt dome is a type of structural dome formed when salt (or other evaporite minerals) intrudes into overlying rocks in a process known as diapirism. Salt domes can have unique surface and subsurface structures, and they can be discovered using ...
would be a hopeful sign of oil. Roy knew of one that he felt was promising, and it lay in the old Pierce Junction oil field inside the Houston city limits. He wouldn't drill near the center as the previous drillers had, however; Roy had a hunch that the outskirts of the salt dome, where it dipped in the ground, was where oil could be found. He mustered up $40,000 in investment with the help of Judge R. E. Brooks and together with $20,000 of his own savings, Roy bought a lease on the land from
Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger ...
. He hired Judge Brooks' son Emory to do the drilling job and after some delays, drilling began in the spot that Roy had picked out. It ended up being a "gusher" and was producing 2,500 barrels of oil a day. Roy's investors were impressed and most decided to fund other drill sites. The three other sites drilled came up dry, but the investors still made 300% returns on the initial gusher.
After several failed oil wells, Roy reevaluated how drilling was being done; he realized that oil wasn't being drilled for farther than 4,000 below the surface, beyond which were oil-rich sands. He decided to go to his investors with a plan to reach these sands, known as the Frio sands. He would drill deeper into the ground, despite technical issues and the higher cost, in order to reach the large oil deposits. The investors took the chance, and the result was the second Pierce Junction gusher, giving Roy his confidence again and establishing him as a respectable oilman.
One of Roy's original investors,
Jim West, a highly successful Texas lumberman, approached him with an offer to partner with Roy to run West's Western Production Company. West laid $3,000,000 on the table and promised Roy the title of President and complete charge of the company if he accepted. After a week of ignoring West's offer, Roy declined it, but proffered a new arrangement: Roy would put up $5,000 and West would match it. Upon being asked why that offer was better than $3,000,000 up front, Roy said that with his arrangement, he wouldn't be working for West.
The partners squabbled over where to drill their acres for oil. One such salt dome, the Blue Ridge dome, had been previously drilled by West, but Roy insisted on drilling its flanks. The resulting well brought in 60,000 barrels of oil a day. Roy had similar fortunes drilling the perimeter of the old Humble Field, championing a troublesome layer of shale rock 3,500 feet below the surface, eventually reaching oil-rich Yegua sand. Also at this site, Roy displayed his characteristic approach to his job in that he led by example instead of from a distance; he led the wrangling of an errant pipe to the admiration of the crew.
He enjoyed the success of his business into his fifties.
Zoning activist
In 1948, Cullen led the effort to prevent new zoning regulation for land development in the city of Houston. This was in response to a group of zoning advocates led by
Jesse H. Jones
Jesse Holman Jones (April 5, 1874June 1, 1956) was an American Democratic politician and entrepreneur from Houston, Texas. Jones managed a Tennessee tobacco factory at age fourteen, and at nineteen, he was put in charge of his uncle's lumbery ...
, financier and owner of the
Houston Chronicle
The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...
. Cullen believed zoning regulations to be socialist and un-American. Two more attempts to introduce zoning regulations to the city of Houston failed in 1962 and 1993.
Personal life and philanthropy
Cullen married Lillie Cranz in 1902 and had five children: Roy Gustav, Lillie, Agnes, Margaret, and Wilhelmina.
In 1938, the Cullens made a contribution to build the
Roy Gustav Cullen Building
The Roy G. Cullen Building (dedicated as Roy Gustav Cullen Memorial Building) is the oldest building on the present-day campus of the University of Houston. It is believed to be the first building on a campus of higher education in the United Sta ...
on the new campus of the
University of Houston
The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...
. He would continue to make large donations to the university throughout his lifetime. The Cullen Foundation is still a large contributor to the school.
Cullen had been in his early life a Democrat, but supported
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...
and other
Republicans after 1929, due to the belief that the Democratic Party was, at the national level, the party of
machine politics
In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership co ...
and socialism, labelling
FDR
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
's policies the 'Jew Deal'. Additionally, he was critical of fellow Houston leader
Jesse H. Jones
Jesse Holman Jones (April 5, 1874June 1, 1956) was an American Democratic politician and entrepreneur from Houston, Texas. Jones managed a Tennessee tobacco factory at age fourteen, and at nineteen, he was put in charge of his uncle's lumbery ...
. He was also at one point a supporter of the Dixiecrat movement:
"Although Cullen aided the
Dixiecrat movement in 1948, he normally supported Republican candidates, particularly
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
in 1952." - Handbook of Texas Online
In 1946, he donated the land in Houston that later became
Texas Southern University
Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically black university in Houston, Texas. The university is one of the largest and most comprehensive historically black college or universities in the USA with nearly 10,00 ...
.
In 1947, the Cullens created the Cullen Foundation. The still extant foundation continues the Cullens legacy of significant support for educational institutions. It funded the expansion and renovation of what became known as the
Hugh Roy and Lillie Cullen Building
The Hugh Roy and Lillie Cullen Building (formerly the Administration Building) is the central administration building of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. Completed in 1900, the Cullen Building was declared a Recorded Texas Historic La ...
of
Southwestern University
Southwestern University (Southwestern or SU) is a private liberal arts college in Georgetown, Texas. Formed in 1873 from a revival of collegiate charters granted in 1840, Southwestern is the oldest college or university in Texas. Southwestern o ...
in Georgetown, Texas.
In late 1954, less than three years before his death, Cullen's fortune was estimated to be $200–300 million.
Cullen is the grandfather of coal magnate
Corbin Robertson, Jr.
See also
*
Cullen College of Engineering Cullen may refer to:
Places Canada
*Cullen, Saskatchewan, a former hamlet in Benson No. 35 Rural Municipality
Ireland
*Cullen, County Cork, a village near Boherbue, County Cork
*Cullen, County Tipperary, a small village in County Tipperary
Scotl ...
*
Cullen Center
Cullen Center is a skyscraper complex in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. The complex is now managed by Brookfield Properties. Previously Trizec Properties owned all four office buildings. The complex includes the headquarters of the Ho ...
*
The Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
The Cullen Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullen, Hugh Roy
American businesspeople in the oil industry
American energy industry businesspeople
Businesspeople from San Antonio
1881 births
1957 deaths
Texas Oil Boom people
Texas Dixiecrats
Texas Democrats
People from Denton County, Texas
Businesspeople from Houston
People from Mangum, Oklahoma
University of Houston System regents
Old Right (United States)
20th-century American philanthropists
20th-century American academics