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John
Warne
(Bet-a-Million)
Gates, barbed
wireqv
promoter and
oilman, son of
Asel and Mary
(Warne) Gates,
was born in
Winfield,
Illinois, on
May 18, 1855.
His two
brothers were
killed early
in life and
left John an
only child at
fifteen. He
attended
school at
Gary's Mill
and later took
a five-month
course in
bookkeeping,
penmanship,
and business
law at
Northwest
College at
Naperville. He
married
Dellora Baker
on February
25, 1874; they
had one son.
After
meager success
in the
hardware
business Gates
went to work
for the
Washburn-Moen
Company as a
barbed wire
salesman in
Texas. He
arrived in San
Antonio in
1876. Inspired
by Doc
Lighthall's
medicine show,
he rented
Military
Plaza,
constructed a
barbed-wire
corral, filled
it with
longhorn
cattle,qv
and
successfully
demonstrated
the holding
power of
barbed wire.
His
demonstration
resulted in
order for more
wire than the
factory could
produce. Gates
returned to
Illinois and,
upon being
refused a
partnership in
Washburn-Moen,
quit. He went
to St. Louis,
where, in
partnership
with Alfred
Clifford, he
built the
Southern Wire
Company into
the largest
manufacturer
and
distributor of
unlicensed
"moonshine/non-patented"
barbed wire.
His
later
achievements
included
ownership or
control of
Consolidated
Steel and Wire
Company,
Illinois Steel
Company,
American Steel
and Wire
Company of
Illinois, and
Republic Steel
Company. He
invested in
the building
of the Kansas
City,
Pittsburg and
Gulf Railroad
from Kansas
City to Sabine
Lake, Texas;
the road later
became the
Kansas City
Southern
Railway, which
Gates
controlled. By
1900 Patillo
Higginsqv
had dug a
2,000-foot
well on
Spindletop (see
SPINDLETOP
OILFIELD), but
he ran out of
money before
he struck oil.
He applied to
Gates for
financing, and
Gates formed
the Texas
Company (now
Texacoqv), in
which he owned
46 percent of
the stock. On
January 10,
1901,
Spindletop
blew in. Gates
urged
construction
of pipelines
and a refinery
and furnished
$500,000 for
the purpose.
In addition to
forming the
Texas Company
he constructed
new docks;
built the
First National
Bank in Port
Arthur, the
Port Arthur
Light, Power,
and Ice
Company, and
the Plaza
Hotel; and
contributed
$60,000 to
build Port
Arthur
Business
College.
He
gambled at
poker, the
stock market,
and horse
races. In 1900
at a horse
race in
England he bet
$70,000 on
Royal Flush
with 5½-to-1
odds and won
$600,000.
Rumors had him
winning over
$2 million and
said he had
bet a cool
million, a
fabrication
that gave him
his nickname.
Early
in 1911, ill
with kidney
ailments and
diabetes,
Gates
developed a
malignant
growth in his
throat. He
went to France
in July, but
doctors
operated too
late. He died
on August 9,
1911. His
funeral in the
grand ballroom
of the Plaza
Hotel in New
York City was
conducted by
Rev. Wallace
McMullen of
Madison Avenue
Episcopal
Church and
Rev. J. W.
LaGrone of
Port Arthur.
Flags in Port
Arthur and on
the Texas
Company
vessels flew
at half mast,
and crepe was
displayed on
the locked
doors of other
Gates
interests.
Gates left his
fortune to his
wife, their
son, and
selected
others. His
charity
contributions
included Mary
Gates Memorial
Hospital in
Port Arthur
and St.
Charles Home
for Boys. Mrs.
Gates later
gave funds to
establish
Gates Memorial
Library in
Port Arthur,
the forerunner
of Lamar
University at
Port Arthur.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Herman Kogan
and Lloyd
Wendt, Bet-A-Million!:
The Story of
John W. Gates
(New York:
Bobbs-Merrill,
1948).
Vertical
Files, Barker
Texas History
Center,
University of
Texas at
Austin.
Sidney
A. Brintle
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