Erle Palmer Halliburton

Born: Sept. 22, 1892

Died: Oct. 13, 1957

Hometown: Henning, Tenn.

Early beginnings: Raised on a farm, Erle Palmer Halliburton gathered wood, pulled weeds and helped with planting and harvest crops as a boy.

Halliburton was only 12 years old when his father died, leaving him to help support his mother, sister and four brothers. At age 14, he left home and worked at various jobs before joining the U.S. Navy in 1910. Following his military service, where he served as a shipboard engineer, Halliburton headed to the oil fields of California, where he worked for the Perkins Oil Well Cementing Co. in 1915. A disagreement with his boss Almond Perkins ended with Halliburton getting fired, but the 22-year-old turned that into a business opportunity. Halliburton and his wife Vida moved to Burkburnett, where he started an oil field cementing business of his own. Starting with a borrowed wagon full tools and two horses, Halliburton went on to improve what he learned in California on the oil fields of Oklahoma and Texas.

The rest, as they say, is history.

From its humble beginnings as the oil well cementing company of Oklahoma native Erle P. Halliburton, the Houston-based energy titan has carved out a legacy “with which few individuals can compare,” said Oklahoma Hall of Fame CEO Shannon Rich. Courtesy Halliburton Company

Robert Yarnall Richie / DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University, Robert Yarnall Richie photograph collection