Huile

réf. FRE51 — Folio strap cloth binding ca. 334x227 cm 13 x 9 in. 129 pp. of typewritten text including 2 plats. Previous owners’ pencil inscriptions “T. G. Lindsey” and “Contract. T. J. Davis / R. R. Jinkler Issue” on the front cover and page no. 1. First page with minor tears at the edges but otherwise very good. Abstract of title for “Tract No. 16 in the Fairview Gardens Annex No. 3” today’s 15835 Northwest Fwy Houston Texas documenting a century of Texas land history from the early Republic period through the Great Depression and the Texas Oil Boom. The abstract was compiled by Southern Abstract & Title Co. for Wright Loan & Securities Co. in 1938 apparently to establish clear ownership records for the sale of individual lots and to support the leasing of underground mineral rights during the height of the local drilling rush. The Texas oil boom began with the 1901 discovery of oil at the Spindletop field near Beaumont where a massive gusher transformed Texas into the center of the American petroleum industry. The resulting land rush which continued through the major discoveries of the 1930s compelled owners and developers to meticulously document property boundaries and ownership histories to safely lease mineral rights and avoid costly legal disputes. As follows from the abstract the property's history begins in 1838 when the military bounty land claim of deceased soldier Thomas Hogan established the 1476-acre Hogan Survey Abstract 326. The tract was patented in 1851 and remained in the Brashear family until its first subdivision in 1895. After a series of inheritances and sales the property was reduced to a 73.19-acre parcel before passing to the Wright Loan & Securities Company during the Great Depression which platted the Fairview Gardens Annex No. 3 subdivision in 1933. Amid the Texas oil boom the mineral rights for a 22.35-acre block of the subdivision encompassing the 4.84-acre Tract 16 were leased in 1934 to Ralph A. Johnston and later assigned to Stanolind Oil & Gas Company which later became part of Amoco/BP and Amerada now known as Hess Corporation. During our internet research we discovered that historical drilling records identify the broader 1476-acre Hogan Survey as part of a highly productive natural gas field with the No. 1 Fischer well producing an estimated 11 million cubic feet of gas per day in the 1950s. Modern GIS mapping however confirms that no well was ever drilled on the 4.84-acre Tract 16 itself and instead the parcel was pooled into neighboring drilling units. Today the historic Tract 16 has been absorbed into Houston’s urban sprawl with its modern address 15835 Northwest Fwy Jersey Village now occupied by a municipal Public Works facility directly fronting the Northwest Freeway US-290. The abstract covers the period from 1838 to 1938 presenting a detailed sequence of early Texas notary-certified documents that trace the legal history of the tract. It opens with two rare original plats: one showing the division of the original Thomas Hogan Survey into twelve tracts and another detailing the wedge-shaped Fairview Gardens Annex No. 3 subdivision highlighting Tract 16. Among the featured documents are letter patents petitions deeds including deeds of trust right-of-way deeds and quitclaim deeds estate documents affidavits releases assignments certified copies of wills earnest money contracts extensions and mineral leases with references to prominent Texas pioneers. Especially interesting is an 1859 application for administration of the estate of Isaac W. Brashear ca. 1811–1859 a Harris County senator which records that he left “an estate consisting of lands negroes and other property.” Documents from the early 1930s include multiple extensions of deeds of trust echoing developers’ desperate efforts to avoid foreclosure during the Great Depression. Another important 1934 “Assignment of Oil and Gas Lease” records Ralph A. Johnston’s transfer of drilling rights on a 22.35-acre tract to Stanolind Oil & Gas Company and Amerada Petroleum Corporation shortly after securing the lease. This decision likely reflected the applier’s attempt to capitalize on the oil boom and generate urgently needed funds. The folder concludes with a notarized certificate from Southern Abstract & Title Company confirming the accuracy of the abstract. Overall historically important abstract documenting a century of Texas land history from the early Republic period through the Great Depression and the Texas Oil Boom. hardcover