DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Charles Vernon Terrell. Wise County, Texas.
And if you've ever wondered what it looks like when one man's life tracks almost perfectly with the rise of a great state, well — pull up a chair and listen close. Terrell was born right here in Wise County, to settlers who'd put down roots as far back as 1854. That's early, even by Texas standards.
He studied two years at Texas A and M, then read law the old-fashioned way — books, mentors, and sheer determination — and began his practice in 1886. From there, the man just kept climbing. He served as Decatur city attorney from 1888 to 1892, then moved up to county attorney from 1892 to 1896.
And then came the Texas Senate, where he served from 1896 to 1901 representing Denton, Montague, and Wise counties, and again from 1909 to 1913. In the Senate, he sponsored the act that created North Texas State University. That right there would be enough for most men's careers.
But Terrell wasn't close to finished. He served as state treasurer of Texas from 1921 to 1924, and then — and here's where the story really opens up — he was appointed in 1924 to the Texas Railroad Commission, where he served as chairman for two terms. Now.
The Railroad Commission. You might think that sounds like a board of men arguing about train schedules, but what it actually became — on Terrell's watch — was the agency that made production rules for oil and gas. Through regulation of oil and gas shipping, the Railroad Commission shaped the very flow of energy in this state and beyond.
Texas was being catapulted, the marker says — catapulted — into the role of a major world energy supplier. And then came East Texas in the 1930s. Oil in volumes such as the world had never known.
You can imagine what that kind of discovery does to a region — to a state. It caused strife serious enough that Texas invoked martial law to quell it. Right in the middle of all that, Commissioner Terrell and his associates were pioneering conservation without sacrificing industrial leadership.
That's a tightrope walk of the highest order, and they walked it. Terrell retired in 1939. And here's the thing about this county — it wasn't done with oil either.
After he stepped away, Wise County had a discovery at Park Springs in 1942. Then the Chico field came in with even larger yields in 1947. The land kept giving.
C. V. and Etta May Terrell were the parents of three children — Tully Vernon, John Preston, and Margaret, who married F. Ward.
A leading public man in Texas from 1896 to 1939, the marker says. And when you lay out what those years actually contained — the law, the Senate, the treasury, the Railroad Commission, the oil boom, the martial law, the conservation — leading public man might just be the understatement carved in stone.
What the marker says
A leading public man in Texas, 1896-1939. Born in Wise County to early (1854) settlers. After two years at Texas A & M, read law and began practice in 1886. Served 1888-92 as Decatur City attorney; 1892-96 as county attorney; 1896-1901 and 1909-13 from Denton-Montague-Wise counties, in Texas Senate. There he sponsored act creating North Texas State University. He was state treasurer of Texas from 1921 to 1924. Appointed in 1924 to the Texas Railroad Commission (chairman 2 terms), he served during landmark years when Texas was catapulted into role of a major world energy supplier. Through regulation of oil and gas shipping, the Railroad Commission became the agency for making production rules. When East Texas in the 1930s began to produce oil in volumes such as the world had never known, and the state invoked martial law to quell strife there, Commissioner Terrell and associates pioneered in conservation without the sacrifice of industrial leadership. After his retirement in 1939, his native county had an oil discovery at Park Springs, in 1942. The Chico field came in with larger yields in 1947. C. V and Etta (May) Terrell were parents of Tully Vernon, John Preston, and Margaret (Mrs. F. . Ward). (1972)