A Murphy family tradition
The year was 1991, and I was the editor of My most interesting assignment that year was the day I spent with Charles Murphy Jr. in El Dorado, who talked extensively about his views on economics, education, energy, politics and life in general.
Murphy, one of the top Arkansas business and civic leaders of the 20th century, took over his family’s businesses in 1941 at the age of 21 when his father, Charles Haywood Murphy Sr., suffered a stroke.
At the end of a fascinating day of touring and hearing about Murphy Oil Corp. operations, I asked Charles Murphy Jr. this question: “If you had one piece of advice for those starting in business in our state, what would it be?”
Murphy thought for a few seconds and then said: “At least once each day, you should look someone straight in the eyes and say, ‘I don’t know.’”
I’ve used that line many times through the years. It’s solid advice in a world where too many people try to bluff their way through certain situations when they should be asking questions.
Madison Murphy, a son of Charles Murphy Jr., smiles when I tell him the story. He heard that line while growing up, I assume. I’m having lunch with Madison Murphy and his cousin, Claiborne Deming, at Fayrays in downtown El Dorado. We’re talking about the new Murphy Arts District in El Dorado and their efforts to turn around population decline in this part of south Arkansas. Those efforts are detailed in a story on the front page of today’s Perspective section. It’s safe to say that improving south Arkansas is a Murphy family tradition.
As we visit, I think about the history of the Murphy family and its ongoing efforts in the region.
“When oil was discovered in the Caddo Field north of Shreveport, La., in 1907, Charles Murphy Sr., the owner of timber and banking interests in Union County, decided that his timber company should purchase land on a scattered noncontiguous pattern to provide more exposure to any oil development,” John Ragsdale writes in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. “When the large Smackover Field in Ouachita and Union counties was discovered in 1922, Murphy had oil royalty interests in it. He and joint operators owned about 100,000 acres in the Union County area. In 1936, Phillips Petroleum Co. discovered a small oil field at Snow Hill in Ouachita County, but the area’s extent was limited. Murphy preferred to spread drilling and production risks. He did not have an extensive operating company but rather owned interests in different operations.
“In 1937, an abandoned Phillips Petroleum well in western Union County, where some Murphy acreage was located, was re-entered by the Lion Oil Refining Co., which discovered deeper multiple zones between 5,000 and 8,000 feet below the surface in the Shuler Field. This included the Smackover limestone, which led to development of fields in the Smackover limestone throughout south Arkansas. Then in 1944, Murphy land was included in the development of Louisiana’s Delhi Field, a major oil producer.”
Charles Murphy Sr. had moved to El Dorado in 1904 to operate a bank. Within a few years he owned 13 banks in Arkansas and the Indian Territory. He built a sawmill at Cargile in Union County, then constructed a railroad to supply the mill with timber from throughout north Louisiana and south Arkansas.
It was this timber, banking and oil empire that Charles Murphy Jr. inherited at such a young age. He had been raised in El Dorado along with three sisters—Caroline M. Keller, Bertie M. Deming and Theodosia M. Nolan. Murphy attended the Gulf Coast Military Academy, learned French from private tutors, and read everything he could get his hands on. He graduated from El Dorado High School in 1938 and married Johnnie Azelle Walker in October of that year. The couple had three sons and one daughter.
Murphy Jr. and his three sisters pooled their business interests in 1946 to form C.H. Murphy & Co. with Charles Murphy Jr. as the managing partner. The name was changed to Murphy Corp. in 1950 and to Murphy Oil Corp. in 1964.
“From this stable beginning, the Murphy Corp. continued operation in the oil and gas business,” Ragsdale writes. “In 1951 the company began production in the large East Poplar Field in Montana and began moving into other areas. Four years later, the company acquired Marine Oil Co., which operated in the Smackover Field and other fields in south Arkansas. . . . In 1956 Murphy Oil became a public company by sale of stock on the American Stock Exchange. This allowed acquisition of Superior Refinery, Spur Oil Co. and Ingram Oil & Refining Co.”
In 1957 the company made its first foreign investments in Venezuela. That was followed by production in Iran in 1966, the North Sea and Libya in 1969, Spain in 1979, Ecuador in 1987 and the Gulf of Mexico in 1988. The company’s timber operations were spun off in 1996 into a separate company known as Deltic Timber Corp. Deltic also moved into real estate development, most notably Chenal Valley in Little Rock. In 2013 Murphy Oil USA spun off to operate retail establishments, allowing Murphy Oil Corp. to focus on exploration and production.
It wasn’t all about oil, timber and banking for Charles Murphy Jr. He was a renaissance man who wrote two books on yachting and lectured around the world on economics and education. He died at his home in El Dorado in March 2002 at age 82. I have to think that he would be proud that his son, a nephew and others associated with the companies he once headed are now working to turn his beloved El Dorado into a regional arts and entertainment capital. In the cover story, I use the adjective “audacious” to describe the current efforts. The history of the Murphy family is filled with audacious gambles that paid off.