Harry F. Sinclair financial records, 1905-1960

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Summary

Creators:
Sinclair, Harry F., 1876-1956.
Abstract:
This collection contains financial documents, securities, legal records, correspondence, and ephemera of American industrialist Harry Ford Sinclair (1876-1956), founder of Sinclair Oil. Includes records of the Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corporation. Subjects include: Frederick Bonfils, Edward Doheny, Albert B. Fall, M. L. Requa, banks and banking, bonds, corporations, the oil and petroleum industries, securities, stockbrokers, tax protests and appeals and the Teapot Dome scandal.
Extent:
29 Linear Feet (10 boxes, 4 volumes, 6 oversize folders)
Language:
English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Harry F. Sinclair financial records, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection is divided into the following series: Financial documents, Securities, Legal records, Correspondence, Ephemera, and Oversize. The chronologically-arranged financial documents, including general business, accounting, financial statements, deposited checks/vouchers, etc. of the Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corporation, members of the Sinclair family, and their associates. A separate subseries is available for audits. Chronologically-arranged Securities, which include stocks, bonds, receipts, certificates, promissory notes, etc. of the Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corporation, Sinclair family, and their associates. Brokerage Firm Transactions constitute a subseries of securities and are grouped alphabetically by firm name. Chronologically-arranged legal records including contractual agreements, affidavits, and other information related to legal claims against Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corporation and/or Harry F. Sinclair. In addition to general legal records, this series contains two subseries. The first consists of documents related to Teapot Dome, including leases, agreements, and reports. The second include tax records of Sinclair family and associates, which were submitted as evidence in the trials against Sinclair. Chronologically-arranged Correspondence to and from Harry F. Sinclair as well as correspondence among his business associates. When possible, the business correspondence was grouped with relevant financial and legal documents. This small series contains correspondence that does not conform to the above categories. Chronologically-arranged ephemera contain newspaper clippings, poems, etc. Noteworthy clippings include an article entitled "Where are these bonds?" from the St. Louis Post Dispatch (1928), containing the serial numbers of the bonds involved in the Teapot Dome Scandal as well as Harry F. Sinclair's obituary printed in the Daily Racing Form (Nov. 13, 1956). The chronologically-arranged oversize documents contain financial and tax-related records. Note that the four volumes in the oversize series are extremely fragile. Access to one of these items, "H.F. Sinclair Cash Disbursements" (1916-1918), may be restricted. Please consult the Manuscripts Department for more information. Notable participants include: Owen J. Roberts, Archibald B. Roosevelt, Arthur Young & Company, Chas. D. Barney & Co., Kissell, Kinnicutt & Co., Security-First National Bank of Los Angeles, Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corporation, Sinclair Oil & Refining Corporation, the Internal Revenue Service and Dept. of the Interior. Subjects include: Frederick Bonfils, Edward Doheny, Albert B. Fall, M. L. Requa, banks and banking, bonds, corporations, the oil and petroleum industries, securities, stockbrokers, tax protests and appeals and the Teapot Dome scandal. Note: The volume entitled "H.F. Sinclair Cash Disbursements" (1916-1918) contains mold. Therefore access to this item may be restricted. For more information, please contact Reader Services.

Biographical / historical:

Harry Ford Sinclair (1876-1956) was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, and spent his childhood in Independence, Kansas. After studying pharmacy and working in his family's drugstore, Sinclair entered the oil business in 1901, working as a lease broker after oil was discovered in Kansas. Between 1903 and 1904, he married Elizabeth Farrell with whom he would have two children. Purchasing his first well in 1905, Sinclair continued to expand his petroleum investments, establishing and merging his various holdings, such as the Sinclair Oil and Refining Corporation (1916), Sinclair Gulf Corporation (1917), and Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corporation (1919). During the 1920s, Sinclair became embroiled in what became the Teapot Dome Scandal. The scandal began when U.S. Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall – whose papers are also housed at the Huntington – awarded non-competitive bids to Sinclair and Edward L. Doheny for the development of naval petroleum reserves in Wyoming and California. In 1922 Sinclair created a new corporate entity, Mammoth Oil Company, to execute operations at Teapot Dome. The contracts became the focus of the Senate Committee on Public Lands and Surveys, established to conduct hearings into the conditions surrounding the contracts. After declaring that the leases had been illegally procured, the government initiated legal action against Sinclair and was finally successful when the Supreme Court invalidated his company's lease in 1927. Although he was acquitted of the charge of conspiracy to defraud the government, Sinclair was found guilty of contempt of court for tampering with the jury and refusing to testify before the Senate Committee on Public Lands and Surveys. In 1929 he was sentenced to six and one- half months in jail. Upon his release from prison, Sinclair returned to his position as head of the Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corporation. Throughout the 1930s, his company continued to acquire assets, such as those of the Pierce Petroleum Corporation, Prairie Oil & Gas Company, Rio Grande Oil Company, and the Richfield Oil Company of California. He remained active in the petroleum industry through World War II. In 1949 Sinclair retired and moved to Pasadena, California, where he died in 1956. In addition to his petroleum interests, Sinclair also invested in baseball though with little success, providing financial support to the Federal League and becoming part owner of the St. Louis Browns during the 1910s. Sinclair also invested in horseracing, owning the Rancocas racing stable. His most successful horse, Zev (named after his lawyer-friend, J.W. Zevely), won the Kentucky Derby in 1923.

Acquisition information:
Gifts of Ted Weitz, January and March 2004.
Arrangement:

The collection is organized into four series: Series 1: Financial documents; Series 2: Securities; Series 3: Legal records, Correspondence, Ephemera; Series 4: Oversize.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Harry F. Sinclair financial records, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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