Frank Phillips
Encyclopedia
Frank Phillips founded Phillips Petroleum
in Bartlesville, Oklahoma
(marketed as Phillips 66
) in 1917, along with his brother, Lee Eldas "L.E." Phillips, Sr. In 2002, Phillips Petroleum merged with Conoco Oil Company
and became ConocoPhillips
.
, Nebraska
where his parents Lucinda and Lewis Franklin Phillips, the county's first magistrate, had a farm. The infant Frank was still in his crib in July 1874, when swarms of grasshoppers
descended on Nebraska, cutting a 100 miles (160.9 km) by 300 miles (482.8 km) swath and devastating crops throughout the area. The devastation eventually extended to include Greeley County, where the Phillips farm was. The Phillips quickly decided to pack up, and they moved the family to a small farm in rural southwest Iowa. Frank had two brothers, with whom he later went into business.
A few years later, the Phillips boy began his first entrepreneurial venture, hiring out to area farmers to dig potatoes for 10 cents a day (after completing his chores at home). At age 14, Phillips persuaded a barber
in nearby Creston, Iowa
, to take him on as an apprentice. Ten years later, Phillips owned all three barber shops in Creston. One of his barber shops was in the basement of a bank in Creston.
states and the Chicago
area.
During a stop in St. Louis while en route back to Creston from Chicago in 1903, Phillips encountered C. B. Larabee, an old friend from Iowa. He was serving as a Methodist missionary
to the Osage Indians
west of Bartlesville in Indian Territory
. The area, which is now Osage County, Oklahoma
, was rich in oil
. What proved to be a decades-long boom was just getting under way. Later that year, after Phillips and Gibson made two trips to Bartlesville, Phillips and his younger brother L.E. Phillips organized the Anchor Oil & Gas Company with Gibson's assistance.
Anchor opened an office in Bartlesville in 1905, secured a driller and drilled its first wildcat well, the Holland No. 1. The men struck oil on June 23, 1905. The brothers' second and third wells were dry holes, and they had barely enough money left to drill a fourth well, the Anna Anderson. The Anna Anderson was a gusher
, and the successful well enabled the brothers to raise $100,000 through the sale of stock. The Anna Anderson was the first of 80 consecutive producing wells drilled for the brothers' company.
Also in 1905, Frank and L. E. Phillips formed the Lewcinda Oil Company, with brother Waite
. Waite, who preferred to work independently, soon left Lewcinda and formed his own bank and oil company, the Independent Oil & Gas Co. in Tulsa. (In 1930 he merged it with Phillips Petroleum.) In late 1905, Frank and L.E. formed a bank, Citizens Bank and Trust, in Bartlesville with $50,000 capital. They also acquired a rival bank, the Bartlesville National Bank, and consolidating the two under the latter name. The bank later became the First National Bank of Bartlesville.
Phillips still wanted to be a big-time banker. In 1916, he and L.E. decided that the boom-bust instability of the oil business was not for them. They made plans to open a bank in Kansas City
that would be the cornerstone of a chain of banks throughout the Midwest. Before those plans could be carried out, the U.S. became involved in World War I
. With the price of oil quickly increasing from 40 cents a barrel to more than $1 a barrel, the brothers decided to consolidate their holdings in a single company, Phillips Petroleum Company. They incorporated on June 13, 1917 under Delaware law. The new company had assets of $3 million, 27 employees and leases throughout Oklahoma and Kansas
.
Phillips once said to employees, to whom he was known as "Uncle Frank": "Work hard and demonstrate loyalty, and I'm a great guy to work for. Do neither, and there is no one worse." On another occasion, he said, "I am egotistical. I exercise the 'privilege and prestige of the office.' I'm bombastic, hard to get along with, an easy touch, a farm boy at heart, and conveniently hard of hearing. I'm just a sentimental old man. I'm tough. and I know it. I'm the boss, and don't let anybody try to question it."
Frank Phillips led the company as its president until age 65, when in 1939 he named Kenneth S. "Boots" Adams to succeed him. The company had reported record profits of $24.1 million the previous year. As Phillips turned over the presidency to Adams, he became the company's first chairman of the board
, a position he held until he retired at the age of 76 in 1949, a year before his death. Jane Phillips, his wife of 50 years, died in 1948.
Phillips was buried beside his wife, Jane (Gibson) Phillips, in the Phillips Family Mausoleum at Woolaroc
, Phillips' ranch and country home in Osage County, Oklahoma
, southwest of Bartlesville.
Source: Phillips: The First 66 Years, 1983, Phillips Petroleum Company, Pp 1–20, 56, 59-61, 72. (The principal author of this official corporate history, though not credited in the book, is Bill Wertz, who was the speech writer for Wm. C. Douce, then chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Phillips Petroleum Company.)
Phillips Petroleum
Phillips Petroleum Company was founded in 1917 by L.E. Phillips and Frank Phillips, of Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Their younger brother Waite Phillips was the benefactor of Philmont Scout Ranch....
in Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Bartlesville is a city in Osage and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 43,070 at the 2010 census. Bartlesville is located forty-seven miles north of Tulsa and very close to Oklahoma's northern border with Kansas. It is the county seat of Washington County, in...
(marketed as Phillips 66
Phillips 66
Phillips 66 is a brand of gasoline and service station in the U.S. It is owned by the ConocoPhillips Company.Phillips 66 will also be the name of the future downstream company created when ConocoPhillips repositions its integrated assets and businesses into two independent, publicly-traded...
) in 1917, along with his brother, Lee Eldas "L.E." Phillips, Sr. In 2002, Phillips Petroleum merged with Conoco Oil Company
Conoco Inc.
Conoco Inc. was an American oil company founded in 1875 as the Continental Oil and Transportation Company. It is now a brand of gasoline and service station in the United States which belongs to the ConocoPhillips Company...
and became ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational energy corporation with its headquarters located in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas in the United States...
.
Early life and education
Frank Phillips was born in ScotiaScotia, Nebraska
Scotia is a village in Greeley County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 308 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Scotia is located at ....
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
where his parents Lucinda and Lewis Franklin Phillips, the county's first magistrate, had a farm. The infant Frank was still in his crib in July 1874, when swarms of grasshoppers
Grasshoppers
Grasshoppers are insects of the suborder Caelifera.Grasshoppers may also refer to:* Grasshopper , a Hong Kong-based musical group* Grasshopper Club Zürich, a Swiss football club...
descended on Nebraska, cutting a 100 miles (160.9 km) by 300 miles (482.8 km) swath and devastating crops throughout the area. The devastation eventually extended to include Greeley County, where the Phillips farm was. The Phillips quickly decided to pack up, and they moved the family to a small farm in rural southwest Iowa. Frank had two brothers, with whom he later went into business.
A few years later, the Phillips boy began his first entrepreneurial venture, hiring out to area farmers to dig potatoes for 10 cents a day (after completing his chores at home). At age 14, Phillips persuaded a barber
Barber
A barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....
in nearby Creston, Iowa
Creston, Iowa
Creston is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,597 at the 2000 census. McKinley Lake lies within a large, multi-purpose municipal park within the city limits, and three additional recreational lakes are located within seven miles of Creston:...
, to take him on as an apprentice. Ten years later, Phillips owned all three barber shops in Creston. One of his barber shops was in the basement of a bank in Creston.
Marriage and family
On February 18, 1897 Phillips married Jane Gibson, daughter of the bank president John Gibson, in Creston. They had one son and adopted two daughters.Career
The bank's president, John Gibson, had considered Phillips an up-and-coming entrepreneur for some time. Shortly after Phillips married Jane Gibson, the father asked Phillips to join him in the bond business. Phillips began selling bonds in the New EnglandNew England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
states and the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
area.
During a stop in St. Louis while en route back to Creston from Chicago in 1903, Phillips encountered C. B. Larabee, an old friend from Iowa. He was serving as a Methodist missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
to the Osage Indians
Osage Nation
The Osage Nation is a Native American Siouan-language tribe in the United States that originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky. After years of war with invading Iroquois, the Osage migrated west of the Mississippi River to their historic lands in present-day Arkansas, Missouri,...
west of Bartlesville in Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
. The area, which is now Osage County, Oklahoma
Osage County, Oklahoma
Osage County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Coterminous with the Osage Indian Reservation, it is the home of the federally recognized Osage Nation. As of the 2010 census, the population was 47,472 a 6.8 percent increase from 2000, when the population was 44,437...
, was rich in oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
. What proved to be a decades-long boom was just getting under way. Later that year, after Phillips and Gibson made two trips to Bartlesville, Phillips and his younger brother L.E. Phillips organized the Anchor Oil & Gas Company with Gibson's assistance.
Anchor opened an office in Bartlesville in 1905, secured a driller and drilled its first wildcat well, the Holland No. 1. The men struck oil on June 23, 1905. The brothers' second and third wells were dry holes, and they had barely enough money left to drill a fourth well, the Anna Anderson. The Anna Anderson was a gusher
Blowout (well drilling)
A blowout is the uncontrolled release of crude oil and/or natural gas from an oil well or gas well after pressure control systems have failed....
, and the successful well enabled the brothers to raise $100,000 through the sale of stock. The Anna Anderson was the first of 80 consecutive producing wells drilled for the brothers' company.
Also in 1905, Frank and L. E. Phillips formed the Lewcinda Oil Company, with brother Waite
Waite Phillips
Waite Phillips was an American petroleum businessman who created a fully integrated operation that combined petroleum producing, refining and marketing. With headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he also developed several office complexes and engaged in banking and ranching...
. Waite, who preferred to work independently, soon left Lewcinda and formed his own bank and oil company, the Independent Oil & Gas Co. in Tulsa. (In 1930 he merged it with Phillips Petroleum.) In late 1905, Frank and L.E. formed a bank, Citizens Bank and Trust, in Bartlesville with $50,000 capital. They also acquired a rival bank, the Bartlesville National Bank, and consolidating the two under the latter name. The bank later became the First National Bank of Bartlesville.
Phillips still wanted to be a big-time banker. In 1916, he and L.E. decided that the boom-bust instability of the oil business was not for them. They made plans to open a bank in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
that would be the cornerstone of a chain of banks throughout the Midwest. Before those plans could be carried out, the U.S. became involved in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. With the price of oil quickly increasing from 40 cents a barrel to more than $1 a barrel, the brothers decided to consolidate their holdings in a single company, Phillips Petroleum Company. They incorporated on June 13, 1917 under Delaware law. The new company had assets of $3 million, 27 employees and leases throughout Oklahoma and Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
.
Phillips once said to employees, to whom he was known as "Uncle Frank": "Work hard and demonstrate loyalty, and I'm a great guy to work for. Do neither, and there is no one worse." On another occasion, he said, "I am egotistical. I exercise the 'privilege and prestige of the office.' I'm bombastic, hard to get along with, an easy touch, a farm boy at heart, and conveniently hard of hearing. I'm just a sentimental old man. I'm tough. and I know it. I'm the boss, and don't let anybody try to question it."
Frank Phillips led the company as its president until age 65, when in 1939 he named Kenneth S. "Boots" Adams to succeed him. The company had reported record profits of $24.1 million the previous year. As Phillips turned over the presidency to Adams, he became the company's first chairman of the board
Chairman of the Board
The Chairman of the Board is a seat of office in an organization, especially of corporations.Chairman of the Board may also refer to:*Chairman of the Board , a 1998 film*Chairmen of the Board , a 1970s American soul music group...
, a position he held until he retired at the age of 76 in 1949, a year before his death. Jane Phillips, his wife of 50 years, died in 1948.
Phillips was buried beside his wife, Jane (Gibson) Phillips, in the Phillips Family Mausoleum at Woolaroc
Woolaroc
Woolaroc is located in the Osage Hills of Northeastern Oklahoma on Oklahoma State Highway 123 about southwest of Bartlesville, Oklahoma and north of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Woolaroc was established in 1925 as the ranch retreat of oilman Frank Phillips...
, Phillips' ranch and country home in Osage County, Oklahoma
Osage County, Oklahoma
Osage County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Coterminous with the Osage Indian Reservation, it is the home of the federally recognized Osage Nation. As of the 2010 census, the population was 47,472 a 6.8 percent increase from 2000, when the population was 44,437...
, southwest of Bartlesville.
Legacy and honors
- In 1944, Phillips had given 3700 acres (15 km²) acres of the 17000 acres (68.8 km²) ranch to the Frank Phillips Foundation and sold the remainder.
- Frank Phillips College, a community junior college in Borger, Texas, was named after him.
Source: Phillips: The First 66 Years, 1983, Phillips Petroleum Company, Pp 1–20, 56, 59-61, 72. (The principal author of this official corporate history, though not credited in the book, is Bill Wertz, who was the speech writer for Wm. C. Douce, then chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Phillips Petroleum Company.)
External links
- Voices of Oklahoma interview with Elliot "Chope" Phillips. First person interview conducted on May 5, 2009 with Elliot "Chope" Phillips, nephew of Frank Phillips. Original audio and transcript archived with Voices of Oklahoma oral history project.