Harry Ford Sinclair (July 6, 1876 – November 10, 1956) was an American industrialist, and the founder of Sinclair Oil. He was implicated in the 1920s

Teapot Dome scandal The Teapot Dome scandal was a bribery scandal involving the administration of United States President Warren G. Harding from 1921 to 1923. Secretary of the Interior Albert Bacon Fall had leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyomi ...

, and served six months in prison for jury tampering. Afterwards he returned to his former life and enjoyed its prosperity until his death. Sinclair was an avid owner of sports properties, one of the principal financial backers of baseball's

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

and a force in U.S.

thoroughbred racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing i ...

. Horses from his stable won the Kentucky Derby and three Belmont Stakes.

Biography

Early life

Harry Sinclair was born in Benwood, West Virginia, now a suburb of the city of Wheeling. Sinclair grew up in Independence, Kansas. The son of a pharmacist, after finishing high school, he entered the pharmacy department of the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

, at

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

. He was working as a pharmacist in 1901 when the business failed. He then began selling lumber for derricks in the oil fields of southeastern Kansas. On the side, he started speculating in oil leases.Kansapedia. "Harry Ford Sinclair". Kansas Historical Society. Retrieved November 14, 201

/ref> The opportunity in the rapidly expanding petroleum, oil industry saw him become a lease broker and acquire an interest in the White Oil Company. In 1904, Sinclair married Elizabeth Farrell of Independence, Kansas. By the time he was thirty, he had become a millionaire.

Oil business

In 1910, four businessmen: Eugene Frank Blaise, Charles J. Wrightsman, William Connelly, and Harry F. Sinclair bought the failed Farmers National Bank in

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

. They created a new entity, Exchange National Bank, and named Sinclair as president. This bank, later renamed as the National Bank of Tulsa, was a forerunner of the present

Bank of Oklahoma BOK Financial Corporation — pronounced as letters, "B-O-K" — is a financial services holding company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Offering a full complement of retail and commercial banking products and services across the American Midw ...

. On May 1, 1916, the highly successful Sinclair formed Sinclair Oil from the assets of eleven small petroleum companies. In the same year, he bought the Cudahy Refining Company of Chicago, owner of several oil pipelines and refineries.Weaver, Bobby D. "Sinclair Oil and Refining Corporation". ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. Retrieved November 14, 201

By the end of the 1920s, Sinclair Oil refineries had a production capacity of 80,000 barrels a day and had built almost of oil pipelines. Operations were expanded in various areas including a coal mining property. The company was ranked as the seventh largest oil company in the United States and the largest in the Midwest. Harry Sinclair's business acumen made him an important member of the local business community and he helped organize the State Bank of Commerce, which later was acquired by the First National Bank of Independence, of which Sinclair served on the board of directors. His brother, Earle W. Sinclair, served as president of Sinclair Refining Company until his death at age 70 of heart disease on September 21, 1944.

Organized sports

Sinclair was one of the main financiers of baseball's

. He was the principal owner of that league's Indianapolis franchise. Following the 1914 season, he purchased the remainder of the team and moved them to

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Newark Peppers The Newark Peppers, originally known as the Indianapolis Hoosiers, were a Federal League baseball team from 1913–1915. The Federal League (FL), founded in 1913, was a third major league in 1914 and 1915. History The Federal League began as an in ...

. After the season, the Federal League cut a deal with the other two baseball leagues. Sinclair reportedly made $2 million on his investment. Sinclair offered Helene Hathaway Britton $200,000 for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

in 1916 ($ in current dollar terms), but she declined. Sinclair invested a substantial amount of money in

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

race horse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

s, acquiring the prestigious Rancocas Stable in

Jobstown Jobstown (; ) is a suburb of Tallaght, and so an outer suburb of Dublin, in the administrative county of South Dublin, Ireland. History Jobstown takes its name from Henry Jope, who held land here in the 1250s. Jobstown was historically a small ...

in southwest

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

from the estate of

Pierre Lorillard IV Pierre J. Lorillard IV (October 13, 1833 – July 7, 1901) was an American tobacco manufacturer and Thoroughbred race horse owner. Early life Born in Westchester, New York, he was the son of Pierre Lorillard III (1796–1867) and Catherine Gri ...

. One of the most successful stables in the late 19th century, the farm continues to operate today as the Helis Stock Farm. The more than 2,000-acre (8.1 km2) farm includes a training barn with 1,100 windows enclosing a half-mile oblong indoor track. Sinclair again made it a major force in thoroughbred racing during the 1920s. Under trainer

Sam Hildreth Samuel Clay Hildreth (May 16, 1866 – September 24, 1929) was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame trainer and owner.Kentucky Derby and three Belmont Stakes. Such was the fame of Rancocas Stable that the Pennsylvania Railroad named baggage car #5858 in its honor. Two of the stable's colts, Grey Lag and Zev, are in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Scandal

Harry Sinclair's high-profile image as a reputable American business leader and sportsman came into question in April 1922 when ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' reported that, Albert B. Fall, the

United States secretary of the interior The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natur ...

, had granted an oil lease to Sinclair Oil without competitive bidding. The oil field lease was for government land in

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

that had been created as an emergency reserve for 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 ...

. What became known as the

, ultimately led to a

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

establishing a Committee on Public Lands and Surveys to conduct hearings into the circumstances surrounding the government oil lease. The result was a finding of fraud and corruption which led to a number of civil lawsuits and criminal charges against Harry Sinclair and others. In 1927 the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

declared the Sinclair oil lease had been corruptly obtained and ordered it canceled. Two weeks after Harry Sinclair's trial began in October 1927, it abruptly ended when the judge declared a

mistrial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, ...

following evidence presented by the government prosecutors showing that Sinclair had hired a detective agency to shadow each member of the

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Juries developed in England du ...

. Sinclair was charged with contempt of court, the case eventually winding up before the Supreme Court who, on June 3, 1929 upheld Sinclair's conviction. He was fined and sentenced to six and a half months in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

, which he served as prisoner #10,520, at the District of Columbia jail. While in prison, Sinclair was allowed to work as both pharmacist and physician's assistant, and it was while working within these capacities that he was allowed to be taken by car to attend to the prisoners assigned to work details at the city wharfs. Public attention and perceived favoritism prompted George S. Wilson, District Director of Public Welfare, to order an end to these rides, but rumors of Sinclair's preferential treatment continued. In 1929, Secretary Fall was found guilty of bribery, fined $100,000 and sentenced to one year in prison, making him the first Cabinet member to go to prison for his actions in office.

Later life

After serving his short prison term Sinclair returned to his successful business. He had owned a luxurious

French Renaissance The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define th ...

-style

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Now ...

Ukrainian Institute, originally the Isaac and Mary Fletcher House
/ref> on the southeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 79th Street in New York City. His reputation destroyed there, Sinclair sold the property in 1930. Located in the same area as several major museums, it was eventually acquired by the

Ukrainian Institute of America The Harry F. Sinclair House is a mansion at the southeast corner of East 79th Street and Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The house was built between 1897 and 1899. Over the first half of the 20th century, the ...

and is now open to the public. Harry Ford Sinclair retired as president of Sinclair Oil and Gas Company in January 1949. He died a wealthy man in Pasadena, California in 1956, at age 80, and was interred in the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles Calvary Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles runs in the community of East Los Angeles. It is also called "New Calvary Cemetery" because it succeeded the original Calvary Cemetery (on north Broadway), over whi ...

Notes

References

External links

Harry Ford Sinclair
from the

Kansas Historical Society The Kansas Historical Society is the official state historical society of Kansas. Headquartered in Topeka, it operates as "the trustee of the state" for the purpose of maintaining the state's history and operates the Kansas Museum of History, Kan ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Harry Ford 1876 births 1956 deaths American businesspeople in the oil industry American racehorse owners and breeders People from Benwood, West Virginia People from Independence, Kansas American white-collar criminals Federal League executives Sinclair Oil Corporation Teapot Dome scandal Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Los Angeles) Businesspeople from Tulsa, Oklahoma People from Pasadena, California American businesspeople convicted of crimes