I love our little yellow-brick gingerbread house with its two original chandeliers. The couple that owned the home the longest--40 years--were Ray and Margaret Hillman. Ray played in a swing band around the Tulsa area. I found some ads in old newspapers for his events.
I love the fact that our home has been music-filled for so many years. My husband perpetuates this tradition with his own piano and guitar melodies. Nonetheless, I haven’t been able to uncover any particular intriguing history about our home or its previous residents.
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However, I did uncover an interesting personal connection from my research of the Renaissance Neighborhood of Tulsa. In some of the first documents in my property abstract, before there were any houses, before W. P. Miles subdivided the land, but after it had been allotted to citizens of the native Creek Tribe, I noticed a name: Harry Heasley. My mother’s maiden name is Heasley and our family comes from Oil City, Pennsylvania. We moved to Oklahoma in 1988, so finding this uncommon family surname on my property documents dating back to 1911 was incredible. I was determined to find out who was this Harry Heasley and most of all, was I related to him. Piecing together old newspaper articles, information on ancestry.com, I learned quite a bit about Harry Heasley. This blog post is a bit self-indulgent, so please bear with me. We are going down a rabbit hole on this one…
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In 1863, Harry Heasley, whose actual given name was Jeremiah Henry Heasley Jr., was born to Civil War Veteran, Captain Jeremiah Henry Heasley and Sarah (nee Downing) Heasley. Harry grew up in Emlenton, Pennsylvania, about 30 minutes from Oil City, where my mother’s family originated.
I don’t know if Harry was college educated, but he established himself in the oil business; a major industry in Pennsylvania. Think Pennzoil! The area newspaper was called The Oil City Derrick, which is still in publication today. In 1898, he and a partner formed the Worth Oil Company, followed by the Hecla Oil Company in 1905. Both of these companies were later absorbed by the Devonian Oil Company. Mr. J. H. Evans was an original founder of Devonian Oil, whose headquarters moved from Pittsburg to Tulsa prior to 1920. Harry started with Devonian Oil as the office manager and worked his way up to secretary, treasurer and ultimately, president of the company. Between 1889 and 1905, he also became very interested in mining and explored the industry in Arizona, Colorado and South America.
In April of 1912, Harry Heasley moved to Tulsa, possibly from Denver. The move was probably career-related because Tulsa was poised to become “Oil Capitol of the World”.
The Morning Tulsa Daily World. April 11, 1912
Mr. Harry Heasley and Mr. J. H. Evans purchased the rights to some large portions of land in the Tulsa area in 1911. This land encompasses much of the present-day Renaissance Neighborhood, including my own home. Heasley and Evans were likely ‘prospecting.’ Namely, buying up large plots of land for oil and gas rights.
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Land owned by Harry Heasley in 1911- He and his partner, J. H. Evans purchased 'rights', probably oil and gas rights, to this a other property around Tulsa. |
Harry married the year after he moved to Tulsa. He was 50 years old and his bride was 34-year-old Nell Porterfield of Denver, Colorado. Apparently, Nell had ties to the same area of Pennsylvania where Harry grew up.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/23/1913
Harry and Nell settled into married life and made their home in a suite at the Hotel Tulsa, which stood at 3rd Street and Cincinnati. The Hotel Tulsa was where the Performing Arts Center stands today. Stories tell of J.P. Getty and other wealthy oil men making million-dollar deals with handshakes in the lobby. Nell hosted ladies in their suite for cards and luncheon from time to time. They had a full-time chauffeur, Mr. J. F. Gordon, who proved to be a dedicated employee, driving for them for over 20 years.
Check out this Tulsa World article about oil men and celebrities living it up at Hotel Tulsa.
This blog post has some good pictures of the hotel.
During their first several years of marriage, they spent their holidays with Nell’s family in Denver.
(Morning Tulsa Daily World, 12/18/1914
(Morning Daily Tulsa World, 12/16/1915
Tulsa newspapers announced Harry and Nell’s summer vacations, which included Excelsior Springs, Missouri and Harry’s hometown, Emlenton, Pennsylvania.
(Morning Tulsa Daily World, 6/21/1918)
(Morning Tulsa Daily World, 8/16/1920)
For several years, Harry and Nell devoted much of their time to travel; both for pleasure and work. There are ship passenger lists from 1913-1916 that document their travel to Cuba, Venezuela, Columbia, Trinidad, Jamaica and France. Harry’s passport records that some of these destinations were to “Inspect Oil Fields and Development.”
Sadly, in late 1920, tragedy struck at Tulsa’s downtown Shriners Parade. On November 30, 36-year-old Harry Evans—son of Harry Heasley’s business partner, J.H. Evans—was riding in the parade, but began jumping on-and-off the vehicle, clowning around. He was even warned by a friend to be careful. Then on 3rd Street, between Main and Boston, Harry Evans clothing was caught in the drive-shaft, whirling him around several times before his clothing was torn and he was freed. Eyewitness accounts reported he was also run over. Essentially, he was mangled in front of hundreds of spectators. He died within a day from his injuries. Harry Evans was in the oil business in Kansas and left behind a wife and young daughter.
(The Morning Tulsa Daily World, 12/1/1920)
We don’t know the closeness of the relationship between Harry Heasley and J.H. Evans. Were they friends? After this tragic loss, did Harry support and comfort his long-time business partner? We can only wonder.
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In 1921, Harry was unanimously chosen as president of the Oklahoma Natural Gas Company (ONG; now known as ONEOK). An oil and gas newsletter of the day states, “As president of the gas company he has an opportunity to devote about six hours a day to executive work, if he so desires.” When Harry took over leadership of ONG, he capitalized on the extensive oil-bearing properties ONG had found while seeking natural gas by creating two oil companies. One of these, Oklahoma Eastern, was later merged with Devonian Oil through an exchange of stock.
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With all I had learned, I wondered about Harry’s social circles. Did he rub elbows with Waite or Frank Phillips? Did he talk black gold with William Skelly at his mansion on 21st Street and South Madison Avenue? Did he drink prohibited liquor with Earl Palmer Harwell in the hidden basement bar at Harwelden? Did his driver ever take him out to Ponca City to hobnob with E. W. Marland at the Marland Mansion?
I also have questions related to Tulsa historical events that Harry lived through. In particular, his perspective on the Race Massacre in the summer of 1921. On the one hand, Harry was a Yankee; being born and raised in the North. His father was a Civil War Veteran, who fought for the Union. He also had several uncles who served in the Civil War. On the other hand, Harry was a wealthy white-man living in a city with overt racism and mounting hostility between white and Black people. Could he see the Greenwood District burning from his Hotel Tulsa view? What were his thoughts, feelings and reactions to the events on those dark days?
I will never know I much as I would like about his social life, thoughts, feelings or personality. All I have are the facts recorded in newspapers. But there were a few clues that suggested his character.
A 1922 Tulsa Daily World Article states, “…not one man out of a hundred, even in Tulsa, knows that Mr. Heasley is president [of Oklahoma Natural Gas]; because Mr. Heasley, if it were left up to him, would never tell anybody.” (Tulsa Daily World, Sunday, May 14, 1922) Another article states “Harry Heasley has a remarkably pleasant personality in all associations of private life.” (Petroleum Age, 1921, Vol 9, No 9, p. 30)
As the oil and gas business continued to boom in the 1920s, Oklahoma Natural Gas (ONG) increased in value significantly. In 1926, Harry let go of the reins of the ONG, which was sold to White, Weld and Company, a New York investment bank. Right about this time, ONG completed a new Art Deco style building at 624 South Boston Avenue for headquarters. Harry and Nell then moved from Tulsa, returning to Emlenton, Pennsylvania.
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| Art Deco style Oklahoma Natural Gas Headquarters completed in 1927 Photograph by A. Mueller, 2015. |
In 1936, J. H. Evans passed away at the age of 86. His obituary details his history in Pennsylvania’s and Oklahoma’s oil industry. Evans moved to Oklahoma four years before statehood and was one of Oklahoma’s “pioneer” oil producers.
Harry’s business partner, “Uncle Joe” Evans died in October 5th, 1936
(The Daily Oklahoman, 10/5/1936)
Harry and Nell remained in Emlenton, Pennsylvania for the rest of their lives. Harry worked as vice-president and later as president of the First National Bank of Emlenton.
The Oil City Derrick. November 12, 1927
Harry also took on the role of president of Devonian Oil after Evans death. Harry and Nell became active and respected members of their Pennsylvania community.
Harry passed away in 1941 and Nell died in 1953. At the time of Nell’s death one paper reported Harry was “generally esteemed throughout Venago County for his thoughtfulness of and kindness to others. Both he and his wife were gracious people [:] mindful of the needs of others, [and] ready to lend a willing hand when sorrow or disaster struck.”
They left nearly a half-million dollars to local hospitals. Harry’s obituary was published in newspapers across the country including New York, Chicago and Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh Press
April 22, 1941: Death of Harry Heasley
September 24, 1953: Death of Nell P. Heasley.
She leaves an estate of more than a half-million dollars.
In December of 1962 Harry’s chauffeur of 21 years dies. J. F. Gordan lived to age 81 in Emlenton.
(The News-Herald {Franklin, Pennsylvania} 12/18/1962)
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To determine my relationship to Harry, I traced my Heasley family-line with Ancestry.com. Harry’s grandfather was first born in a family with 10 children. The 2nd child in the sibship was William Heasley, my 4th great grandfather. William’s son, Conrad was my 3rd great-grandfather. Conrad was Jeremiah's (Harry’s Father) uncle and they both served in the Civil War. Further, Harry Heasley’s great-grandfather was my 4th great-grandfather. The official relationship is…second cousin three times removed. Admittedly, it is a distant relationship. For me, the fact remains, the property I purchased in 2009 was land that my relative had purchased in 1911. That is a remarkable enough for me.
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In my research, I found only one photograph of Harry. The Oil City Derrick published a historic photograph collection of important local people and events in 1953. The photograph below was included and labeled simply: Harry Heasley- Emlenton Oil Man.
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