| Name |
John Elmer Mabee |
| Birth |
18 Jun 1879 |
Cedar County, Missouri  [1] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Census |
11 Jun 1880 |
Kingston Township, Caldwell County, Missouri [2] |
- S. P. Mabee, White, Male, 40, Head, Married, Farming, born in Illinois, Father born in Ohio, Mother born in Connecticut
Mary Mabee, White, Female, 38, Wife, Married, Keeping House, born in Indiana, Father born in Pennsylvania, Mother born in New Jersey
Frank Mabee, White, Male, 14, Son, Single, attended school, born in Illinois, Father born in Illinois, Mother born in Indiana
George Mabee, White, Male, 12, Son, Single, attended school, born in Illinois, Father born in Illinois, Mother born in Indiana
Cora Mabee, White, Female, 10, Daughter, Single, attended school, born in Missouri, Father born in Illinois, Mother born in Indiana
Herbert Mabee, White, Male, 8, Son, Single, attended school, born in Illinois, Father born in Illinois, Mother born in Indiana
Sella Mabee, White, Female, 6, Daughter, Single, born in Missouri, Father born in Illinois, Mother born in Indiana
Eda Mabee, White, Female, 3, Daughter, Single, born in Missouri, Father born in Illinois, Mother born in Indiana
John Mabee, White, Male, 1, Son, Single, born in Missouri, Father born in Illinois, Mother born in Indiana
|
| Census |
6 Jun 1900 |
Marion, Dade County, Missouri [3] |
- S P Mabee, Head, W, M, July 1840, 59, M, 36, Illinois, Ohio, Connecticut, Farmer, owns farm free of mortgage
Mary J Mabee, Wife, W, F, Nov 1842, 57, M, 36, 8 children born - still living 8, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York
Joseph S Mabee, Son, M, W, Feb 1883, 17, S, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Farmer
followed by in same building
John E Mabee, Head, W, M, June 1879, 20, M, 0, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Farmer
Lottie E Mabee, Wife, W, F, Sept 1879, 20, M, 0, bore no children, Missouri, Illinois, Missouri
|
| Land |
1907 |
Comanche County, Oklahoma [1] |
- Shortly before Oklahoma entered statehood in 1907, John decided he and Lottie (he often called her Lottie Jane) would try to homestead in what was to become a new state. John made a brief trip to Oklahoma to look over 160 acres of land and compare it with government field notes. They looked pretty correct. He talked to some of the other people that were out there looking at the land and went back to Missouri and bid from the field notes. He said, "The 160 acres that I got was described in the field notes as 140 acres of tillable land, but it was the poorest 160 acres in Oklahoma. When I went to prove up on it, I had my neighbors for witnesses and the old Judge asked my neighbors how much land I had in cultivation and my neighbor told him that I didn't have any and that I had to plow up part of the section line to get a place big enough for a garden."
"We built a little house on it, dug a well and got gyp water. Our place was close to a creek that was called ‘Deep Red'. There was lots of red sand that blew in the water. There were lots of cyclones around there. Snyder, Oklahoma, was blown away three times that spring by cyclones, so we dug us a storm cave. There were lots of rattle snakes there and after we dug the storm cave, Lottie Jane and I were afraid to go in the cave on account of the rattle snakes and we were afriad to stay out because we were afraid we'd be blown away. We drank the gyp water and both of us took down with the typhoid fever."
|
| Census |
Apr 1910 |
Randlett, Comanche County, Oklahoma [4] |
- John Mabee, Head, M, W, 30, M1, 10, Arkansas, Arkansas, Illinois, Stockman, Buying Stock, owns home
Lottie E. Mabee, Wife, F, W, 30, M1, 10, no children, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, none
|
| Anecdote |
12 Sep 1918 |
Lawton, Comanche County, Oklahoma [5] |
- John Elmer Mabee of 304 D Ave, Lawton, Comanche, Oklahoma, born June 18, ‘79, registered for the draft on September 12, 1918, at Port Huron, St Clair County, Michigan. He was a Horse and Mule Trader for himself at the above address. His nearest living relative was Lottie Estella Mabee, at the above address. He was white, of medium height and build, with blue eyes and brown hair
|
| Residence |
12 Sep 1918 |
304 D Avenue, Lawton, Comanche County, Oklahoma [5] |
| Census |
Jan 1920 |
Walters, Cotton County, Oklahoma [6] |
- John E Mabee, Head, M, W, 40, M, Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Mule skinner
Lottie E Mabee, Wife, F, W, 40, M, Missouri, Illinois, Illinois, housewife
|
| Census |
7 Apr 1930 |
810 South Elgin, Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma [7] |
- John E Mabee, Head, M, W, 57, M@19, Illinois, Illinois, Illinois, Drilling Contractor for an Oil Well
Lottie E Mabee, Wife, F, W, 40, M@21, Missouri, Illinois, Missouri
|
| Witness-Obituary |
4 Mar 1932 |
Lockwood, Dade County, Missouri [8] |
- Simon P Mabee was born in Iroquois county, Illinois, July 10, 1840. At the age of 21 years he enlisted as a volunteer in the Civil war in the first regiment of artillery that left Illinois, and was in the first battle that was fought at Shiloh, Tenn, April 6, 1862. He was at the siege of Vicksburg which lasted 47 days. He was in the Civil war 3 years and 3 months.
After the war Mr Mabee was united in marriage with Mrs Mary Jane Shouffler, of Milford, Ill on January 19, 1865. Eight children were born to this union, five boys and three girls, all of whom are living and married. They are William Frank Mabee, of Golden City; George Elbert Mabee, of Lockwood, Cora Edith Polly and James Herbert Mabee of Eagle, Idaho; Mary Estelle Clark, Hood River, Oregon; Ada Rosalie Pyle, of Midland, Texas; John Elmer Mabee, of Tulsa, Okla; and Joseph Simon Mabee of Lockwood. There are 18 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.
Mr Mabee and his good wife were converted and baptized and united with the Christian church in the year 1873. They moved from Illinois to Caldwell county, Mo. in 1867, and to Dade county 1882, settling on a 400 acre farm near Cedarville and engaged extensively in stock raising.
In later years they moved to Lockwood, where they were still living. No man was better known and more respected than Mr Mabee by the host of friends who knew him and mourn his departure. He was loyal to his beloved church, a noble husband and model father. He died at his home in Lockwood, February 24, 1932, at the age of 91 years, 7 months and 14 days.
Funeral service were held at the Methodist church, conducted by Rev R R Coffey, of Jericho Springs, assisted by Rev W H Watson of Greenfield, and the American Legion of Lockwood.
|
| Census |
24 Apr 1940 |
2141 E 30th, Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma [9] |
- John E Mabee, owns home worth $25000, Head, M, W, 60, M, completed 4 years school, born in Missouri, Producer, Petroleum, Employer
Lottie E Mabee, Wife, F, W, 60, M, born in Missouri
|
| Anecdote |
1948 |
Tulsa, Oklahoma [10] |
- In 1948, John and Lottie formed The J. E. and L. E. Mabee Foundation, Inc., a Delaware non-profit corporation., with its office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As stated in its charter, the purposes of the Foundation are to aid Christian religious organizations, charitable organizations, institutions of higher learning, hospitals and other organizations of a general charitable nature. The Mabee Foundation makes grants in the states of Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. It was the feeling of John and Lottie that their wealth had come from this area and they wanted the benefits of the Foundation to be spent in that area. The Foundation continues to honor that feeling and confines its grants to that geographical area. From its beginning to 1989, the Mabee foundation made grants totaling approximately 250 million dollars.
See the website at www.mabeefoundation.com.
Directors include John H. Conway, Jr. in Tulsa and Joe G. Mabee and his son J. Guy Mabee, Jr.
|
| Census |
19 Apr 1950 |
3141 E 30th Street, Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma [11] |
- John E Mabee, Head, White, Male, 70, Married, born in Missouri, Owner, Oil Company
Lotta E Mabee, Wife, White, Female, 70, Married, born in Missouri
|
| Death |
24 Jan 1961 |
Hillcrest Hospital, Tulsa, Oklahoma [1] |
| Obituary |
19 Sep 1971 |
Abilene, Texas [12] |
- Mr. Mabee, called "Mr. Philantropy," by a leading Tulsa newspaper upon in his death Jan. 25, 1961, and his wife, the former Lottie Estella Boren, established the foundation in 1948. She died in October of 1965.
Mr. Mabee was born in Cedar County, Missouri, near Jericho Springs, Missouri. He worked at home, helping his father and mother and got what education he could. At the age of 18, he went to Idaho to work on a ranch. He stayed in Idaho two years, after having worked on several ranches, then came back home.
He was 20 years old when he married Mrs. Mabee. They rented a farm and farmed it for seven years. During that period, they went to Fort Worth, Texas for one year. Mr. Mabee worked for the Swift's Packing House for 15 cents per hour. Later, they both got a job in a hotel there in Fort Worth waiting on tables. Soon they returned to the farm.
Mr. and Mrs. Mabee moved to Oklahoma during statehood in 1907. They homesteaded 160 acres of land located about two miles from Randlett, Oklahoma. Mr. Mabee carried the mail for awhile then he started buying mules, cattle, and hogs. In 1910, the Mabees moved to Oklahoma City and there Mr. Mabee got into the "mule trading" business. From Oklahoma City they went to Fort Worth again, where Mabee became known as the best livestock auctioneer in the country. He bought horses and mules for the government and "drove a might hard bargain."
In 1920 he moved to Walters, Oklahoma where he bought and sold oil leases. In 1921 he started his career as a drilling contractor. He drilled wells for about all the major companies. In the Oklahoma City field alone, he drilled over 200 wells.
In 1923, he and his brother-in-law, W. M. Pyle, formed a partnership and went into the cattle business in West Texas and New Mexico. Mr. Mabee owned three ranches himself and Mabee and Pyle owned three ranches. They were big ranchers and breeders of Hereford cattle and had about 20,000 head. In 1943 Mr. Pyle died and gradually Mr. Mabee retired from the cattle and ranch business.
Mr. Mabee was always a very colorful character. He was presented to the Hall of Fame in 1947, of which he was very proud, and one of his best friends was the late Will Rogers. He wrote about Mr. Mabee, quote, "I came in from the West Coast to Wichita, Kansas, got a little sleep that night and then on down to Tulsa in Oilman Mabee's plane, a fast Lockheed. He used to trade and sell mules. Now he has more holes in the ground than a gopher, and the funny part of it, the things got oil spouting out of ‘em. They got one field called ‘Mabee Field,' but its not just maybe, its really there."
In 1948, Mr. and Mrs. Mabee formed the J. E. and L. E. Mabee Foundation. He wanted to do good with his money and to especially help the youth of America, to make the country strong and durable.
Upon his death, a Tulsa paper paid him tribute: "The death of John E. Mabee was a distinct shock to the city of Tulsa and the state of Oklahoma."
Here was a genuine pioneer of the Southwestern oil industry--a real-life personification of the self-made man who, having accrued the equivalent of several fortunes, lived to express his gratefulness through benefactions to his hometown, to his state, and to good works too numerous to mention.
There just aren't many men like John Mabee. We find it a virtual impossibility to list the grand sum of his benefactions or the variety of institutions and good works into which they went. To the Community Chest, to the University of Tulsa, to medical and hospital benefit, to religious and benevolent groups, to all these, and more, the name Mabee will be forever remembered.
It should go without saying that John E. Mabee was Oklahoma's ‘Mr. Philanthropy," yet the heritage he leaves behind runs much deeper. Mr. Mabee's personality and attitude were those of a human being with an unquenchable love of live, of optimism for the future and of confidence that all will be well as long as people, with means or without, will but contribute of their time and their effort to making life better for one and all
|
| Reference Number |
19373 |
| Burial |
Memorial Park Cemetery, Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma [13] |
| Person ID |
I19269 |
Maybee Society |
| Last Modified |
7 Apr 2024 |
1879 - 1961 (81 years)
