Talbot Frederick Rothwell

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Talbot Frederick Rothwell was born in West Virginia on February 27, 1887 to T. J. and Mary Jane Cross Rothwell. Educated in the public schools of both his native state and Ohio, he began his career in the oil fields and eventually moved to Saratoga, Texas, where he found work with the production division of the Sun Oil Company. On August 13, 1913, he married Mabel Martha Lee, the daughter of Thomas Peter Lee, and to this union, three daughters were born: Mary Elizabeth, Essie Lee, and Virginia Mae.

In 1914 he and Miles Franklin Yount formed the Yount-Rothwell Oil Company, which later became the Yount-Lee Oil Company, of which he became vice president and superintendent of production—and eventually its president.

Tal Rothwell had numerous business ties and held directorships on the boards of the Citizen National Bank of Sour Lake, the First National Bank of Beaumont, the Lake Tool Company, and the Rex Supply Company of Sour Lake. A devoutly religious man with a gentle voice and calm demeanor, he rose as one of the leaders of the First Methodist Church of Beaumont, where he was steward and chairman of the finance committee, and the music committee. Once during the Depression, when the church needed $39,000 to complete an addition to the Sunday School building, the Rothwells contributed $30,000 to the cause. They also donated the Aeolian-Skinner organ, and a new parsonage to First Methodist.

As a civic leader, Tal served on the Texas Y.M.C.A. board as a member-at-large; was vice president of the Community Chest board, and president of the board of directors of the Beaumont General Hospital, which later became St. Therese. As a devoted family man and humanitarian, he recognized the fact that some oil field roughnecks tended to drink away their paychecks immediately after receiving them. Due to a genuine concern that his employees’ families were not being adequately fed and clothed, at times he summoned the wives to Spindletop and gave their husbands’ pay to them directly to ensure that they would at least have the opportunity to see the money first. This type of spirit prevailed within the Yount-Lee organization, and Rothwell, like the other company officers, contributed some of his personal income to other worthy causes, which included aid to the area’s needly families.

After the sale of the Yount-Lee Oil Company, Tal Rothwell maintained an office on the fifteenth floor of the San Jacinto Building in Beaumont, Texas, where he looked after his family’s personal investments. He died at age sixty-two on December 16, 1949.

Afterward Mabel donated the Rothwell Bible Chair and Wesley Foundation to Lamar State College of Technology (now Lamar University), and the dedication was held on February 8, 1953. However, while discussing the terms of her will with Marvin McClendon and Martin Davis, certified public accountants; Harry Garnham, the Rothwell business manager for years; and Ken Linsley, another connection to the estate, she died suddenly of a heart attack in her home on November 14 of that same year. Both “Papa Tal” and Mabel are buried at Beaumont’s Magnolia Cemetery.

Source: McKinley, Fred B., and Greg Riley. Black Gold to Bluegrass: From the Oil Fields of Texas to Spindletop Farm of Kentucky. Austin: Eakin Press, 2005.