They carried him down the steps to a small twin-cockpit Chris-Craft and set him behind the wheel with his passengers Ruth and Elliott Roosevelt. the Kennedy's "would never embarrass me again" the night before the . Go to Original Article >>>. What they saw left them less than impressed. shocked to witness the arrival of Lyndon Johnson who had traveled from Houston. They called me and said, We dont know what to do with all this stuff. The estate managers had first offered the job to Sothebys auction house in New York. Jul 8, 2022 2:13 PM EDT FRISCO - Dallas Cowboys cornerback Everson Walls and linebacker Chuck Howley, as well as the late Dan Reeves and franchise founder Clint Murchison Jr., are among 54. Clyde Tolson, John J. McCloy, Jack Ruby, George Brown (of Brown and Root), numerous And it was at the Murchison mansion, just before Kennedy's trip to Dallas in 1963, where the fate of both LBJ and JFK would eventually be decided. tycoon with close links to the Genovese mafia, on November 21st 1963, the night proceedings, related to illegal kickbacks Johnson was receiving from agriculture The family that made the Dallas Cowboys into America's team were friends with John Wayne and helped finance the first movie he ever directed.. (Courtesy Murchison Collection). off to have a haircut. Mae told Stew Webb that Richard Nixon was one of the people who came to the party the night after the assassination! President, Id like to present our new congressman. Roosevelt smiled and gave Johnson an extended handshake as cameras clicked. spinned and whitewashed). business tycoon with close links to the Genovese mafia, on November. Those present at the. With Lupes thick address book in hand, Hall started with the very richand oftentimes titledfrom around the world: Englands Princess Michael of Kent; Romes Father Allen Duston, Patron of the Arts at the Vatican Museum; Australias Lady June Porter; as well as celebrities Phyllis George Brown; Cliff Robertson; and Phyllis Diller. by Barr McClellan, father of White House press secretary Scott McClellan. Main photo: An aerial view of the landing strip and home of Sid Richardson on San Jose Island. of the assassination, telling her the Irish mafia (meaning the Kennedy family) Having had her own (and LBJ's illegitimate) son and nanny disappeared by Johnson's Latest Headlines Odd News . In Roosevelts Trip File was a staff memorandum: When we get down to Texas, we have to arrange to have the Congressman-elect, who ran on a pro-New Deal, pro-Court Reorganization platform, to see the president.. It takes a special kind of person to squander a $200 million inheritance, but that is exactly what Clint Murchison, Jr. did. Everybody knew that Sid was a billionaire, recalled Murchisons widow, Virginia Murchison Linthicum. Upon entering a hair salon she saw the news that Kennedy DALLAS It was in the walk-in closet, the Texas-size one big enough for a cocktail party, that Eileen Ray`s disappointment finally spilled over. One woman, however, took a quick tour and departed. Hopefully A son of Clint Murchison, Sr. who made his first fortune in oil exploration and became notorious for exploiting the sale of "hot oil" (see Hot Oil case for explanation of this term), Junior and his . The home sits on nearly three acres of land. "When they met in California Joe Kennedy, John Kennedy's father, and H.L. Roosevelt, who had been stricken with polio 15 years earlier, feared a fire at sea. And there, he invited him to continue on to Fort Worth, where Roosevelt was attending a barbecue at Ruth and Elliotts Benbrook ranch with Sid Richardson and Clint Murchison. Clint Murchison Jr.: $1.4 billion inheritance Clint Murchison Jr. was bequeathed a bumper $200 million when his oil tycoon father died in 1969. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. 1898, d. 1926). the patsy Lee Harvey Oswald dead on November 24. motion-picture projector and its automatically descending screen to the color that would illuminate the tree trunks out front (white or red). Then came the real work: finding buyers outside the family who could afford the pieces. But, suffering from . It is important to note that before her death Brown carried no hostility towards In the tradition of the Florentine arts patrons of the Renaissance, Lupe and John used to sponsor young artists from around the country, paying their rent and buying their works when they were getting started. Cowboys connection: Clint Murchison was the father of Dallas Cowboys co-founder Clint Murchison Jr. Glen Abbey was created on [] safer out in the light and decided to let the world hear her story. In the video Brown describes the make-up and activities of the "8F group" Richardson enthusiastically turned into open grass to chase his herd of buffalo. Copyright 2023, D Magazine Partners, Inc. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Most Revealing Wink Of The 20th Century: Congressman Albert Thomas winks He inherited his fortune from his father,. If they wanted any of it, they would have to buy it from her estate. and I looked up.he had this motorcade route.it He did not drink much but he held respect for no person. But some of the familys friends bristled at the notion. But along with the commissions he would be paid, the job came with an irresistible perk. That was before she discovered the dead ''waterbug''--a huge, brown and extremely sturdy species of cockroach--by the full-length windows overlooking the atrium and statuary. So now that you know the back story, why not make yourself at home here and add your own chapter? "They all went in to this conference room..Lyndon didn't stay that I wrote a book about the Murchison family in 1989, and I can imagine Lupe spinning in her grave as the DMA tried to work this scheme. then the day of the assassination he said 'well, we won the war'," said Two days later, he was back to escort the presidential party, first to his island, San Jose, and then to Matagorda for lunch. I've heard that John was out of town the night of 11/21, but I cannot . And when Lupe died in July 2001, at age 75, everything stood ready for the auction block. 21st 1963, the night before the assassination. Inside, rattlesnakes and barn owls inhabit the 13,000-square-foot mansion where Roosevelt sipped mint juleps. Lupe had told her three grown, very rich children that, at her death, her art would be sold and the proceeds would go to charity. He was 63. Soaring tray ceilings, floors of harlequin marble, and expansive public spaces make the home ideal for elegant entertaining, while well-appointed private quartersincluding a master suite, study, and media roomlend the spacious dwelling a sense of warmth and comfort. The former home of Clint Murchison Sr. and, later, his partner Toddie Lee Wynne Sr., has come under assault by the elements since the land became a government wildlife refuge in 1986. There, he entertained guests such as Elliott Roosevelt, the raffish son of the president, who had moved to Fort Worth to find his fortune. An air base was built and the island was used as a bombing range. John and Lupe took the house on the condition that it was Lupe's house and Clint Sr. had no say in the way it was run. Murchison died at 10:40 p.m. Monday at Gaston Episcopal Hospital after developing pneumonia, which complicated a crippling nerve disease similar to Lou Gehrig's disease. Howard Nemerov. Oil produced above the legal limit was called hot oil. When he. The highest vantage point on San Jose is still the rooftop sundeck over Richardsons bedroom. Corcoran believed that businessmen rarely contributed enough money to political campaigns to have any true influence. Some guests excused themselves to freshen and change for lunch. said Brown. Mae Newman was the personal assistant to Clint Murchison Jr and Sr. and she worked for the Murchison family of Texas. My friends all have plenty of money, she had told her lawyers. Instead of attending college he worked in his father's bank. The group met for a party in Dallas hosted by Clint Murchison, another business rolling oil tycoons, judges and then FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Clint Murchison immediately called a meeting. This Toddie L. Wynne - clint Murchison (American Liberty. 1. United States was.at that time in my life I thought they were untouchable," "They had this lodge.outside of Dallas and they would meet there.he an inside job planned from the very top years in advance. On Wednesday, May 5, a wind blew out of the southeast and pushed up a swell that rolled under the Potomac as it sat anchored in the shallow bay water near the Aransas Pass lighthouse. Clint Murchison Jr. me again - that's no threat - that's a promise.'" They spent their lives as bachelors, living together, sharing a bedroom in their 54-room mansion. Dallas, Texas 75201. Richardson and his friend Clint Murchison Sr. played hosts to President Franklin Roosevelt in 1937. But Sothebys, which routinely handles large estates, found the job overwhelming and overlooked some 150 works in its appraisal. About the only promising name was that of Clint W. Murchison who, according to the memo, came into the East Texas Field several months after it started with no money and [after] a little over three years sold out for about five million dollars., Of Richardson, the memorandum said he was in debt and borrows money to develop leases. But that was obsolete information. (Port Aransas Preservation and Historical Association). made the remark, 'we may have lost a battle but we're going to win a war,' and Clint Murchison in 1933 began a series of purchases of the lower nine miles of Matagorda Island, where he built a ranch and a sprawling home. No spam, ever. the world's media watching over 40 years ago - what would stop the same lineage A String of Murders Dating Back to 1951. from 1909 to 1913, died March 8, 1930. Murchison and his wife, Anne, have moved to more modest quarters where he has around-the-clock nursing care. Clinton Williams Murchison, Sr., oil and gas developer and financier, son of John Weldon and Clara (Williams) Murchison, was born in Tyler on April 11, 1895. about two years prior to the assassination of John Kennedy.". (G.J. Son of an oil tycoon, Clint Murchison Jr. received $200 million after the death of his father in the late 1960s. During the mid-1950s, shortly before Vail was started, John Murchison built two of the . Murchisons company American Liberty Oil owned the Matagorda Island ranch. and I looked up.he had this motorcade route.it Still, he sold both daughters a few pieces. If that name sounds familiar, it may be. When Richardson learned from Elliott that the president would be fishing near Aransas, he suggested that FDR visit his and Murchisons two islands. Clint Murchison Jr. was born on September 12, 1923 and would have been only 8 years old when Taft died. before the assassination. Garrett insisted the auction be held on the Murchison estate. As boys in the East Texas town of Athens, they picked peaches at Richardsons fathers orchard. Clint Murchison in 1933 began a series of purchases of the lower nine miles of Matagorda Island, where he built a ranch and a sprawling home. Journalists defined the two men by their fortunes, but their unshakeable loyalty to each other was forged by their misfortunes. Some 100 works remain, worth perhaps $800,000. Ive just met the most remarkable young man, Roosevelt said. Brown was in Dallas in the day of the assassination but just as the parade His own vice president, Texan John Nance Garner, thought the court-packing plan was a rancid proposal. ''I`m stunned,'' she murmured, ''I`m just stunned. When Lyndon B. Johnson finally arrived, she said: Among his companies was the Southern Union Company. On deck, two stout sailors made a bosuns chair with their arms. As the waves broke to the right, Roosevelts procession rolled for miles along the isolated beach. Hopefully 3. Murchison, Jr. squandered his inheritance of nearly 200 million dollars and was forced to sell assets to repay debts of 500 million. Many are priced in the hundreds, not thousands, of dollars. to arrange call girls, drugs, gambling fixes and even contract killings. 7405 West Northwest Highway Dallas, TX ANNE MURCHISON OBITUARY MURCHISON, Anne Ferrell Anne Ferrell Murchison of Norman, Oklahoma, passed away on January 21, 2016, at the Grace Living Center. The swimming pool that Time magazine said could float the Titanic. The 29-karat diamond ring, designed for Lupe by surrealist Salvador Dali, which she wore the night the Pointer Sisters rocked the Murchison estate at a black-tie party for 400 guests. stung me that he would be this involved in knowing where the President of the A town house project in Washington flopped, as did condominiums in Richmond and Palm. SOB's" would never embarrass him again. Built in the early 20th century for oil magnate Clint Murchison, this grand Colonial-style manse anchors nearly three acres of lush land. But Ron Hall finally stood up for her and refused to donate the Larry Rivers painting. McCarthy/Staff Photographer). His private office was. to John Currington (an aide to H.L. Three weeks before election day, checks rained down on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from Clint Murchison, Sid Richardson, Perry Bass and their friends. It takes an extraordinary person to completely squander a fortune that they did not create, but that's exactly what Clint Murchison, Jr. managed to do. Amid the white wicker chairs lining Murchisons breezy veranda, Roosevelt spent an afternoon getting acquainted with Richardson, Murchison and Murchisons partner Toddie Lee Wynne. His inheritance would be worth over $400 million today. When Johnson was elected, the president serendipitously announced a fishing trip to Port Aransas. Once a generator was installed, power tools arrived and the house rose from the land. "It was a political crime for political power," said Brown as she She became his patron. Then he jumped to his death. Son of an oil tycoon, Clint Murchison Jr. received $200 million after the death of his father in the late 1960s. By the mid-1950s, Dwight Eisenhower and his affluent inner circle believed that their friend Sid Richardson was the wealthiest man in the country. A black-and-white photo of the smiling boy holding a piglet under his arm would be on Murchisons bedside table for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, on San Jose Island, the former home of Sid Richardson remains well maintained. Sid explained to the president that he was going to roll him down, recalled fishing guide Barney Farley, who was there with the president. Allan Richards, the chief decorator at Neiman Marcus, came from Dallas and filled the place with comfortable, nautical furniture. In private, Roosevelt derided him as Jesus H. Jones. He would go on to acquire a NFL franchise, the Dallas Cowboys, which he owned for many years before his son Clint Jr. lost most of his holdings. If he returned, he would find his home much as it was immaculately maintained for decades by his nephew, the late Perry Bass, and by Bass sons. They lived big before living big was the thing, Hall says. Clyde Tolson, John J. McCloy, Jack Ruby, George Brown (of Brown and Root), numerous In the spring of 1936, Murchison had been preparing for a summer entertaining at the island when his 11-year-old son, Burk, was admitted to Dallas Medical Arts Hospital with pneumonia. I guess when the dollars ran out, so did the caretaker.''. mafia kingpins, several newspaper and TV reporters, and Richard Nixon. The group met for a party in Dallas hosted by Clint Murchison, another. Clint Murchison, Sr. As the court and both houses of Congress expressed outrage, a headline in the Washington Post carried sympathetic news from the Texas Hill Country: Texas Supporter of Court Change Appears Elected.. ''I don`t see how people this wealthy can live with carpets this filthy,'' she declared, surveying the extremely off-white wall-to-wall carpeting. This first installment of a three-part series examines President Franklin Roosevelts 1937 visit that would affect the lives of future island guests Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson. Most Revealing Wink Of The 20th Century. No power lines connect them to the grid. Brown was in Dallas in the day of the assassination but just as the parade The Dallas art market has never been anything to hoot and holler about, says Brian Roughton, who sells 19th- and 20th-century traditional American paintings. - he was so involved with some of this," said Brown. As the 25 wooded acres surrounding his Dallas mansion were about to be auctioned off, Murchison-owned Klimanorm Corp., owner of the land, filed in bankruptcy court Monday for protection from creditors. Selling millions in art during a down market would not be easy. Contact: Allie Beth Allman & Associates/Christies International Real Estate, 214-521-7355; alliebeth.com, 2023 Cond Nast. ''I just wanted to see what he had. In fact, many of John and Lupes friends looked askance at the collection. He was also the father of Dallas Cowboys owner Clint Murchison, Jr.. Clint Murchison, Sr. Steven Barclay: The Murchison Mansion: All the Vice President's Men "My God, they are going to kill us all" Lit Crit: The National Archives: The Strand Bookstore: Howard Nemerov: Poet Laureate Consulate in Poetry to the Library of Congress, 1963-64: The New Frontier: The Internet: New Orleans, Louisiana: Marfa, Lannan . (Courtesy Murchison Collection) In the early. The only way to get Roosevelt out of the low-sitting boat and into his wheelchair was to bring it alongside the chute used to load and unload livestock. He was interested in defending and upholding the private enterprise system, particularly for the oil and gas industry. A groundbreaking interview with Madeleine Duncan Brown, now deceased, the mistress of LBJ for many years, conducted by Gaylon Ross. Brown said that the plan to kill JFK had its origins in the 1960 Democratic Having had her own (and LBJ's illegitimate) son and nanny disappeared by Johnson's hitmen after the assassination, and upon hearing of the strange deaths of many other people connected to the events in Dealy Plaza, Brown felt that she was safer out in the light and decided to let the world hear her story. 0. Mr. Brown said that the plan to kill JFK had its origins in the 1960 Democratic In 1893, he tapped architect, A midcentury Alamo Heights home recently listed for $2.1 million was once home to one of San Antonio's most-distinguished military leaders, according, An 8,800-square-food Terrell Hills mansion built for now-retired AT&T Senior Executive Vice President Richard G. Lindner and his wife has hit the, Members of San Antonio's Ukrainian community gathered with elected officials and others Thursday in front of City Hall for a candlelight vigil, What good is it to live in Mad Men-style home without a chance to engage in some serious leisure? had this deep voice and he said, 'after tomorrow those S.O.B. He slept below decks in a stateroom that few admirals would have looked at twice.. Recently, while living in Lupes home, Hall started a new series of sculptures. But the names of the men getting rich from it would remain virtually unknown to most Americans for many years. the patsy Lee Harvey Oswald dead on November 24. a Texas Dynasty. The New Frontier. In a curious bit of timing, a few days after Roosevelts lunch at Matagorda, the company changed its plea from not guilty to no contest and paid a nominal $17,500 fine. Ron has a tremendous eye for art, and he treats people fairly. Such praise (and much envy) is echoed throughout Dallas art community. In the beginning, things were a little wildanimals were. Tommy the Cork, and told Johnson that if he needed something in Washington, he should call Tommy. stands next to him. Clint Murchison was a math whiz and relied more on science to find his oil. In fact, if one person personified the center of business and political power in Texas in 1963 it would be Clint Murchison, Sr. His son, Clint Jr. was a founding owner of the Dallas Cowboys in 1960. Roy Cullen, an elementary school dropout, used his millions to revive the hapless Texas GOP. In the early 1930s, Murchison was a grieving father of three young boys. could make a self-incriminating statement at it. It is important to note that before her death Brown carried no hostility towards (Port Aransas Preservation and Historical Association). For dealer Ron Hall, it was the chance of a lifetime. Murchison Jr. was brought up to experience the finer things in life, and this would align with how he spent his fortune. Enjoy unlimited access to all of our incredible journalism, in print and digital. ''The nicest thing I can say for this whole house,'' Rawley concluded, ''is it has swell closet space. And he has done well by her. Enjoy Dallas' best trends, hot properties, and tips from local designers to help you nest in style delivered weekly. Still in need of cash, Murchison sold everything else--for something less than $500,000--to Dallas auctioneer S. Norman Garrett. Hall spent the first month just trying to figure out what was in the collection. One minute hes roping cattle, and the next hes calling a dealer in Paris or London to get a million-dollar painting shipped over for a client to look at, says Dallas art dealer David Dike. of criminals from carrying out 9/11? His research led him to the Dallas Museum of Art, which had borrowed the painting and never returned it. The owners were afforded a limited lease (1942) and continued full use and enjoyment of their property, which sold in the 1980's through The Nature Conservancy to the U.S. Lupe offered the Big House to the DMA. The dramatic stone-and-glass house was the perfect backdrop for selling the art, and it made sense for someone to live there while both the house and the art were on the market. The night before the Kennedy assassination, Lyndon Baines Johnson met If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Legendary oil magnate Clint Murchison bought 350 acres in 1930 so that his three young sons could have a little room to run around. Im surprised she survived the trip down, Roosevelt joked when he first saw the ship at anchor. For more than two decades, since Johns death in 1979, Lucilleor Lupe, as she was knownhad been the matriarch of the legendary family whose oil fortune was made by her father-in-law, Clint Murchison Sr., and multiplied by his two sons, John and Clint Jr. Just as Clint Jr. became famous as owner of the Dallas Cowboys, so the art collection gave John and Lupe enormous cachet among the international rich, setting them apart from the rough-and-tumble Texas oil crowd of their day, most of whom did not collect art of any kind. Untitled Document It did not go unnoticed that the land seizure stopped at Clint Murchisons fence line. For FDR, its virtue was that it was metal. For passing fishermen, the only clue to a deeper story comes when an occasional private jet descends over the bay and touches down on San Jose. The chance encounter would change both of their lives. There was no negotiating. Not even with her children. And it was at the Murchison mansion, just before Kennedy's trip to Dallas in 1963, where the fate of both LBJ and JFK would eventually be decided. There is a claim that there was a party at the home of Dallas Oil Man Clint Murchison on the night of November 21, 1963. Read now, Video Editors: David Guzman and Alan Peppard. Leaving the dock, Richardson led the small presidential motorcade of vehicles down the dusty center road of San Jose while turkeys, jackrabbits and cattle scattered. The case of Zackary Filip, once named Soldier of the Year, illustrates the clash of military and medical cultures within Warrior Transition Units. The Murchison estate also included what the family called the "Big House," a 22,000-square-foot mansion that Clint Sr. built and which Lupe abandoned in 1998, when she completed her house. On the train, Roosevelt wrote down the number of his political fixer Thomas Corcoran, a.k.a. In Winkler County, close to the New Mexico border, Richardson had recently found the foundation of his massive fortune the Keystone Field. His 27-year-old wife, Anne, had died suddenly of a mysterious liver disease. In their twenties, the brothers began speculating on land and buildings in the Cleveland area. on issues which can't definitively be proven either way (or at least can be behind the assassination of JFK was exposed. Copyright 2023, D Magazine Partners, Inc. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. The president will be very happy indeed to see you when he lands at Galveston. much in the meeting and when he came out.he grabbed me by the arm and he Sailors in their tropical whites and black, knotted neckerchiefs stood at the side rail and guided Richardsons big mahogany cabin cruiser, the Saltaire, to the four-step side stair. The views expressed herein are the writers' own and do not necessarily reflect those of Looking Glass News. (File photo). would go as the vice president.this came from the horse's mouth way back This love-hate conflict with the Kennedy administration was especially felt by one wealthy, big-oil man named Clint Murchison. . Clint Senior, the one LBJ knew, lived 80 miles away from John near Athens, Texas. The Murchison estate also included what the family called the Big House, a 22,000-square-foot mansion that Clint Sr. built and which Lupe abandoned in 1998, when she completed her house just a few hundred yards away. The estate stayed in the family for many years but was eventually sold in the late 1980s, and the land was converted into a lovely gated community. Brown said that in the immediate aftermath of the convention Hunt and Johnson Lupe wanted her friends to be next in line to buy the art. Murchison was friends with Madeleine Duncan Brown, an advertising agent who would later claim to have had an extended love affair and a son with President Lyndon B. Johnson.