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TABLE OF CONTENTS |
A Guide to the Walter Benona Sharp Papers, 1865-1957
Biographical NoteWalter Benona Sharp (1870-1912) was an oilman and inventor. He began his career contracting for the drilling of water wells in and around Dallas before working as a driller for Gladys City Oil and Gas Manufacturing Company in its first test for oil on Spindletop Hill. Because of quicksand Sharp was forced to abandon the well at 418 feet only thirty yards from the spot where, eight years later, the first gusher of the Spindletop oilfield came in. Sharp was also a pioneer driller at Sour Lake and Corsicana. Over the years he perfected a method for drilling in soft soil, which allowed drillers to finally penetrate the quicksands at Spindletop. After Spindletop’s success he began trading in oil leases and did a large drilling-contracting business. In 1902 he formed the Moonshine Company with J. R. Sharp, Ed Prather and Howard R. Hughes, which would later become the Texas Company. Together with Hughes and J. S. Cullinan he also developed the Sharp-Hughes Rock Bit. Bibliography: Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. " SHARP, WALTER BENONA," (accessed September 18, 2009). Return to the Table of Contents Scope and ContentsThe papers concern Sharp’s work as a driller and inventor as evidenced in letters, speeches, interviews, memoranda, charts, payrolls, vouchers, insurance policies, bank book, lease, magazines, pamphlets, clippings, maps and photographs. Included are an abstract of geophysics education; a list of prospective interviews for a history of Texas oil pioneers; and "Founding of the Texas Company: Some of Its Early History and a Few Reminiscences." Return to the Table of Contents RestrictionsAccess RestrictionsUnrestricted access. Return to the Table of Contents
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Return to the Table of Contents Administrative InformationPreferred CitationWalter Benona Sharp Papers, 1865-1957, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin. Return to the Table of Contents Detailed Description of the Papers
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