The East Texas oil boom brought men, women, and their families to the area. Landowners found themselves suddenly in the oil business, and new commerce came to small farm communities. The individual experiences of the era vary from adventure to heartache to something in-between. From the untold stories of the many, we would like to share a few accounts of remarkable women of the oil boom days. These women not only had their lives changed by oil, but they impacted the lives of countless others.
Let’s start at the beginning with Daisy Miller Bradford. "Miss Daisy," as she was known, married Dr. William Bradford in 1901. The couple lived in her childhood home on the Miller farm between Henderson and Overton. Dr. Bradford passed away on their third wedding anniversary, leaving her to live alone and run the 970-acre farm. She kept busy in the church, social clubs, and school affairs. However, she is remembered for her untiring efforts to discover the East Texas Oil Field.
Long after almost everyone else lost faith in the wildcat oil test, Miller-Bradford provided the men with food and places to sleep. Despite little prospects that she would ever get paid for her work and expense, Miller-Bradford carried on.
In the Fall of 1930, success came to her and her farm. The Daisy Bradford #3 became the first oil well in what would become the world's largest oilfield of the time. Miller- Bradford's role in discovering oil in East Texas was imperative to the changes that were to come.
She passed away just a few years later, in 1934, after an operation for appendicitis. Ed C. Laster, the driller of the Daisy Bradford #3, was a pallbearer, and oilman H. L. Hunt was an honorary pallbearer during her funeral. She was 66 years old.
Daisy Miller-Bradford was not the only woman finding herself in the middle of the oil discovery. Lou Della Crim owned a 900-acre farm where the second significant oil well came in at the end of December 1930, at 22,000 barrels of oil a day. The Lou Della Crim #1, as it is known today, made folks wonder what else lay beneath the surface. In January 1931, Humble Oil Co. bought the Crim lease for $2.1 million.
Lou Della Crim's name became forever tied to oil history, but it was only a portion of her life’s story. She became a widow in 1918 when William Crim passed away. During their marriage, they had seven children. One child, Malcolm Crim, became the first mayor of the City of Kilgore when the city was incorporated in 1931. He also ran the city mercantile store. Another son, L. N. Crim, opened the Crim movie theater in downtown Kilgore, which still stands today. Her legacy within the city of Kilgore lived beyond her passing in 1954 at the age of 86.
From those two wells, the boom gained momentum. An influx of expendable cash came with the young men making money from hard work in the oilfield. They needed places to spend those dollars.
Mattie Castlebury came to East Texas with just the entertainment folks wanted. In 1931 at the age of 41, she opened Mattie's Ballroom between Kilgore and Longview, hiring local young women as taxi dancers. The job title was a nickname because the women arrived alone in taxis and took taxis home. Castlebury wanted no confusion; they were not after-hours women. Patrons purchased tickets to dance with the taxi dancer; the more she danced, the more money she made. Each ticket to dance cost 10 cents. Half went to the house and a nickel to the dancer. Mattie's Ballroom created a haven to relax and enjoy the night without the threat of gunplay or knife fights.
Mattie’s Ballroom wasn’t the only dancehall in the area. However, the major competition opened in Longview in 1935. Investors built the Palm Isle dance hall featuring an 1800-square-foot dance floor. By 1942, Mattie leased and managed the club. In 1943, Castlebury purchased the Palm Isle and changed the name to “Mattie’s" Palm Isle Club, touting that it was the "largest and most beautiful nightclub in East Texas." Castlebury repaid the purchase price in just six months. In 1943, she also closed Mattie's Ballroom.
She brought in the top bands and performers of the day. Soon Palm Isle gained national notoriety under her leadership. Mattie Castleberry impacted the economy as an astute businesswoman during and after the boom.
Women in East Texas took care of business from the dance hall to the courtroom. Olga Herrmann was one of the first women to graduate from the Houston School of Law in 1927 at the age of 33. She started practicing part-time while working for the Chamber of Commerce in Grand Saline, about 60 miles northwest of Kilgore. However, fate would lead Herrmann on a drive with then office mate Jack Lapin to Kilgore after the first well in Gregg county was discovered in 1931. Oil was in Kilgore, but lawyers were not.
Jack Lapin and Olga Herrmann rented office space on Kilgore Street. Her first business cards read O. G. Herrmann, as the public did not readily accept women as lawyers. Herrmann was not only the first female lawyer in Gregg County; she was the first lawyer in Kilgore. H.L. Hunt was one of her early clients.
By age 37, her practice grew thanks to the area's bustling economy and oil dealings. She and Jack eventually married. She was elected PTA City Council President. Olga Lapin continued to practice law in East Texas until she was 82. She passed in 1978 at the age of 84.
The economy boomed thanks to the oil industry, and the banking business was no exception. The Everett Banking Company in Gladewater chartered in 1911; however, in 1928, the founder and president, Mr. L. J. Everett, passed away. His widow, Martha Jeter Everett, succeeded her husband as bank president.
When the oil boom came to Gregg County in 1931, Gladewater was on the front lines of the excitement. As a result, the bank increased its staff from two people, including the president, to seven. In 1935, the bank became state-chartered and changed its name to First State Bank of Gladewater. Individual deposits continued to grow through the boom.
In an interview given in 1947, Mrs. Everett stated that as far as she knew, no other woman in the United States had acted as a bank president longer than she did—11 years.
With all the movement of people, the United States Postal Service saw a spike in activity within the East Texas Oil Field. The Kilgore Post Office reported in 1932 that they serviced on average 3,400 persons daily at the general delivery window. Furthermore, they serviced 15,000 patrons through the physical post office and some 5,000 through rural delivery.
During this unprecedented spike in business, the Postmaster at the helm was Annie D. Barker. She was appointed the Acting Postmaster in 1923, and in 1924, she became Postmaster and remained until 1936.
Many remarkable women shaped the East Texas oil boom landscape in ways still uncovered and rediscovered. One thing always remains. The East Texas oil boom was an exciting and remarkable time for all who experienced it first-hand. It is a fascinating period in East Texas history for those who explore its history today.