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Harry F. Sinclair Financial Records: Finding Aid
mssSinclair records
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Title: Harry F. Sinclair Financial Records
Dates (inclusive): 1905-1960
Collection Number: mssSinclair records
Creator:
Sinclair, Harry F., 1876-1956.
Extent: 2,176 items in 9 boxes and
oversize
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
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.
Language: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
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.
[Identification of item]. Harry F. Sinclair Financial Records, The Huntington
Library, San Marino, California.
Gifts of Ted Weitz, January and March 2004.
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.
Bibliography
Davis, Margaret Leslie.
Dark Side of Fortune: Triumph and
Scandal in the Life of Oil Tycoon Edward L. Doheny.
Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press, 1998.
Stratton, David H.
Tempest Over Teapot Dome: The Story of
Albert B. Fall.
Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998.
Werner, M.R. and John Starr.
Teapot Dome. New
York: Viking Press, 1959.
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.
The collection is divided into the following series: Financial documents,
Securities, Legal records, Correspondence, Ephemera, and Oversize.
Arthur Young & Company.
- Subject in Audits. Boxes 2-3.
Banks and banking - - Securities processing - - United States.
- Subject in Securities. Boxes 4-7.
Bonfils, Frederick Gilmer, 1860-1933.
- Subject in Contractual agreements concerning the U.S. Naval Reserves. Box 8 (8).
Campaign funds - - United States - - History - - 20th century.
- Subject in Bond Investments and Expenditures of Harry F. Sinclair. Box 5 (8).
Chas. D. Barney & Co.
- Subject in Bonds received from and paid by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Box 5 (1).
- Subject in Chas. D. Barney & Co. Account #480. Box 6 (7).
Doheny, Edward L. (Edward Laurence), 1856-1935.
- Subject in Contractual agreements concerning the U.S. Naval Reserves. Box 8 (8).
Dominion Bank.
- Subject in Bond and Dividend Summary of Continental Trading Company. Box 5 (6).
Fall, Albert B. (Albert Bacon), 1861-1944.
- Subject in Contractual agreements concerning the U.S. Naval Reserves. Box 8 (8).
- Subject in G.T. Stanford’s collection of documents relating to legal claims involving Harry F. Sinclair. Box 8 (1).
Kissell, Kinnicutt & Co.
- Subject in Kissell, Kinnicutt, & Co. Sinclair Account. Box 6 (16).
Mechanics and Metals National Bank.
- Subject in Stock and bond transactions between Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corporation and Mechanics and Metals National Bank of the City of New York. Box 5(2).
Republican National Committee (U.S.).
- Subject in Bond Investments and Expenditures of Harry F. Sinclair. Box 5 (8).
Requa, M. L. (Mark Lawrence), 1865-1937.
- Subject in W.J. Wollman & Co. Accounts guaranteed by Harry F. Sinclair. Box 7 (12).
Roberts, Owen J. (Owen Josephus), 1875-1955.
- Subject in Statements and reports of business transactions concerning the U.S. Naval Oil Reserves. Box 8 (10).
Roosevelt, Archibald B. (Archibald Bulloch), 1894-1979.
- Subject in Affidavits. Box 8 (2).
- Subject in Sinclair Consolidated Oil stock transferred from Archibald B. Roosevelt to Harry F. Sinclair. Box 4 (5).
Securities - - United States.
- Subject in Securities. Boxes 4-7 and Oversize.
Security-First National Bank of Los Angeles.
- Subject in Security-First National Bank of Los Angeles. Elizabeth Farrell Sinclair: Private Trust. Box 5 (14).
Sinclair Consolidated Oil Company.
- Subject in Financial Documents and Securities. Boxes 1, 4-5.
Sinclair Gulf Corporation.
- Subject in Memorandum of the Sinclair Gulf Corporation Board of Directors and Statements of Stock Accounts. Box 4 (4).
Sinclair Oil & Refining Corporation.
- Subject in Securities. Box 4 (2-3).
Stockbrokers - - United States - - Accounting.
- Subject in Securities. Boxes 6-7.
Tax protests and appeals - - New York (State) - - Cases.
- Subject in Tax Documents. Box 9 (1-11).
Teapot Dome Scandal, 1921-1924.
- Subject in Documents related to Teapot Dome. Box 8 (8-10).
United States. Dept. of the Interior. Office of the Secretary.
- Subject in Statements and reports of business transactions concerning the U.S. Naval Oil Reserves. Box 8 (10).
United States. Internal Revenue Service.
- Subject in Tax Documents. Box 9 (2-8).
Wise, Henry A. (Henry Alexander), 1874-1968.
- Subject in G.T. Stanford’s collection of documents relating to legal claims involving Harry F. Sinclair. Box 8 (1).
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Bonfils, Frederick
Gilmer, 1860-1933.
Doheny, Edward L.
(Edward Laurence), 1856-1935.
Fall, Albert B.
(Albert Bacon), 1861-1944.
Requa, M. L. (Mark
Lawrence), 1865-1937.
Roosevelt , Archibald
B., (Archibald Bulloch), 1894-1979.
Sinclair, Harry F.,
1876-1956.
Sinclair Consolidated
Oil Corporation.
Sinclair Gulf
Corporation.
Sinclair Oil &
Refining Corporation.
Banks and banking -- Securities
processing -- United States.
Bonds -- New York (State) -- New
York.
Corporations -- Finance.
Oil industries -- United
States.
Negotiable instruments -- New York
(State)
Petroleum industry and trade -- United
States -- History -- Sources.
Securities -- United States.
Stockbrokers -- Accounting.
Tax protests and appeals -- New York
(State) -- Cases.
Teapot Dome Scandal, 1921-1924 --
History -- Sources.
New York (N.Y.) --
History -- 20th century -- Sources.
Affidavits -- United States -- 20th
century.
Business records -- United States --
20th century.
Financial records -- United States --
20th century.
Legal documents -- United States --
20th century.
Letters (correspondence) -- United
States -- 20th century.
Tax records -- United States -- 20th
century.
Roberts, Owen J. (Owen Josephus),
1875-1955.
Roosevelt, Archibald B. (Archibald
Bulloch), 1894-1979.
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.
United States. Internal Revenue
Service.
United States. Dept. of the Interior.
Office of the Secretary.