O'Donohoe, John F.

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some men find oil. And some men find oil before anybody else knows there's oil to be found.

John F. O'Donohoe was the second kind. Born in Mississippi in 1885, he showed up in Wichita Falls in 1909, not as a roughneck, not as a driller, but as a scout.

A scout for the J.M. Guffey Petroleum Company, the outfit that would later become the Gulf Oil Corporation. Think about that for a moment.

He arrived before the boom, before the derricks crowded the skyline, before everybody and their cousin was calling themselves an oilman. He checked into the Jolene Hotel, got his bearings, and went to work. Without a surveyor.

No surveyor. He located the company's first major discovery well in the area himself, and he staked out the company's first lease in Clay County, in what became known as the Petrolia Oilfield near Henrietta. Now, there's confidence, and then there's that.

After parting ways with the Guffey Company, O'Donohoe set up an office in the Anderson-Bean building, right here on this site, where he'd be sharing an address, so to speak, with the likes of Wichita Truck, Wichita Falls Traction Co., and Floral Heights Realty. Good company to keep. In 1916, the city's own Chamber of Commerce appointed him manager of the Wichita Falls Fuel and Development Company.

They knew who to call. Then in 1919, he organized the United Petroleum Producers Company. The very next year, he joined the Cline Oil Company.

And in 1927, he organized the Petroleum Producers Company, serving as its president for many years, until 1941, when Shell Oil bought all of the stock in the company. He also married Carrie Kell, daughter of oilman and miller Frank Kell, a man O'Donohoe was associated with. Family and business, running together the way they often do in oil country.

Outside of the fields and the boardrooms, O'Donohoe served as chair on the board of Midwestern University, now Midwestern State University. He served as director of the Independent Petroleum Associates of America, the North Texas Oil and Gas Association, the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association of Texas, and Wichita Falls' First National Bank. The industry took notice.

In 1941, the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association honored him with a distinguished service award. John F. O'Donohoe died in 1967 and was buried in Crestview Memorial Park in Wichita Falls.

A man who walked into this city in 1909 with a company assignment and no surveyor, and helped put Wichita Falls on the petroleum map. Not bad for a Mississippi scout who checked into the Jolene Hotel.

What the marker says

Mississippi native John F. O' Donohoe (1885-1967) first came to Wichita Falls in 1909 as a scout for the J.M. Guffey Petroleum Company, which later became the Gulf Oil Corporation While staying in the Jolene Hotel, the wildcatter O' Donohoe staked out the company's first lease in Clay County in what became knkown as the Petrolia Oilfield near Henrietta. Without the assistance of a surveyor, he located the company's first major discovery well in the area. After leaving the Guffey Company, O' Donohoe opened an office in the Anderson-Bean building at this site, where other significant businesses, such as Wichita Truck, Wichita Falls Traction Co. and Floral Heights Realty had also operated. In 1916, he was appointed manager of the Wichita Falls Fuel and Development Company, a firm established by the city's Chamber of Commerce. He continued his success in the oil business, organizing the United Petroleum Producers Company in 1919. The next year, he joined the Cline Oil Company, and in 1927 he organized the Petroleum Producers Company, serving for many years as the group's president. In 1941, Shell Oil bought all of the stock in the company. O' Donohoe married Carrie Kell, daughter of oilman and miller Frank Kell, with whom O' Donohoe was associated. Active in the local community, O' Donohoe served as chair on the board of Midwestern University (now Midwestern State University). He also served as director of many industry institutions: Independent Petroleum Associates of America, North Texas Oil and Gas Association, and Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association of Texas, as well as Wichita Falls' First National Bank. In 1941, the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association honored O' Donohoe with a distinguished service award. He died in 1967 and was buried in the city's Crestview Memorial Park, Today, he is remembered for helping establish Wichita Falls in the petroleum industry. (2004)