“Soapy”: An Authorized Biography of Earnest O. (Soapy) Gillam

By C. A. Sellers and Earnest O. Gillam

First published in 1958, this book is a biography of Fort Worth businessman Earnest O. (Soapy) Gillam, who rose from humble beginnings to become America’s best known independent soap manufacturer.

“‘Every generation or so, someone should sit down and sum up the history of a family so it can be passed down to future generations.’

“The man who spoke these words early in 1957 was Earnest О. Gillam, the subject of this book. His words are the reason for this book, written at his request to “sum up” his life and times and to put into permanent record all that is known of his ancestors

“There was a note of urgency in Gillam’s decision to publish this book He is the last of his family likely to bear the name of Gillam. His sisters gave birth to boys, but he and his brothers have no male lineage to perpetuate the Gillam name. So his branch of the Gillam family will end with his death. At least, the part of family bearing the name of Gillam will end.

“The remarkable history of the Gillams in general, and E. O. Gillam in particular, made this publication a must—a must for a permanent history of this remarkable family, and a must to emphasize once again that Horatio Alger-type men are still to be found in our land. For Gillam started life during the hardest times imaginable—on the frontier of Kansas—and by tireless” efforts of body and mind, managed to accumulate a fortune.

“He spent years gathering information for this book, a lifetime in fact….”—C. A. Sellers

• Language: English
• Publisher: Papamoa Press
• Release date: Dec 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9781789126372

C. A. Sellers

EARNEST ORATIO GILLAM was born on a Kansas farm known as Spring Valley, located near Canton, McPherson County, on July 24, 1884. In 1905, at age 21, he moved to Lawton, Oklahoma, with only $14.00 in his pocket and a pair of track shoes. He planned to return to Kansas after he finished high school and enter the University of Kansas for a course in law and business, but never returned to Kansas to live. In Oklahoma, Gillam worked for his brother Robert, the first elected Register of Deeds in Lawton, and he studied law at night. He met his wife, Merl, and the pair were married on October 21, 1908. They had a daughter, Jane. The family resided in Bartlesville and then moved to Texas, where Gillam was offered the Texas territory to sell gypsum plaster for S M Gloyd Lumber Co. His territory was enlarged to include not only Texas, but nineteen other states, and by 1919, Gillam had firmly established himself as the top performer in sales for the S M Gloyd firm. He then went into property leasing, and the Gillams moved to Fort Worth in 1921. Earnest also branched out into other enterprises, including the very lucrative handling of Texas oil leases from 1918-1923. In 1930, he went into the soapmaking business with Gillam Soap Works, which would occupy him for the next 25 years and make him very wealthy. He died in Tarrant County, Texas on August 5, 1963, aged 79.

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Text originally published in 1958 under the same title.

© Papamoa Press 2018, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Publisher’s Note

Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

SOAPY

AN AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF EARNEST O. SOAPY GILLAM

BY

C. A. SELLERS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

FOREWORD 5

CHAPTER I—A PREVIEW 6

CHAPTER II—IN THE BEGINNING... 11

CHAPTER III—JOHN RIGGINS GILLAM 14

CHAPTER IV—EARLY RECOLLECTIONS 23

CHAPTER V—REVERSALS 27

CHAPTER VI—OPENING OF OKLAHOMA 32

CHAPTER VII—ATHLETICS 34

CHAPTER VIII—LOVE AND MARRIAGE 37

CHAPTER IX—BEGINNING OF A CAREER 40

CHAPTER X—S M GLOYD LUMBER CO. 43

CHAPTER XI—BRANCHING OUT 47

CHAPTER XII—SOAP 49

CHAPTER XIII—PICKING UP THE PIECES 52

CHAPTER XIV—EARLY CHRISTIAN TRAINING 58

CHAPTER XV—CHRISTIAN GROWTH 61

CHAPTER XVI—PEAK OF SERVICE 65

CHAPTER XVII—AN HOUR OF SORROW 69

CHAPTER XVIII—EARLY DAY POLITICS 71

CHAPTER XIX—A YOUNG POLITICIAN EMERGES 73

CHAPTER XX—ENTRY INTO TEXAS POLITICS 78

CHAPTER XXI—FORT WORTH POLITICAL ACTIVITY 81

CHAPTER XXII—THE GAS UTILITY FIGHT 85

CHAPTER XXIII—POLITICAL FIGHTS WITH AMON CARTER 88

CHAPTER XXIV—CAMPAIGNS FOR PUBLIC OFFICE 94

CHAPTER XXV—A MEASURE OF REVENGE 99

CHAPTER XXVI—THE WATER CONTROVERSY 101

CHAPTER XXVII—PARTY POLITICS 107

CHAPTER XXVIII—VOLLEYBALL 110

CHAPTER XXIX—CONCLUSION 117

APPENDIX 123

Poems 123

Letters to the Editor 134

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 144

FOREWORD

Every generation or so, someone should sit down and sum up the history of a family so it can be passed down to future generations

The man who spoke these words early in 1957 was Earnest О. Gillam, the subject of this book. His words are the reason for this book, written at his request to sum up his life and times and to put into permanent record all that is known of his ancestors

There was a note of urgency in Gillam’s decision to publish this book He is the last of his family likely to bear the name of Gillam. His sisters gave birth to boys, but he and his brothers have no male lineage to perpetuate the Gillam name. So his branch of the Gillam family will end with his death. At least, the part of family bearing the name of Gillam will end.

The remarkable history of the Gillams in general, and E. O. Gillam in particular, made this publication a must—a must for a permanent history of this remarkable family, and a must to emphasize once again that Horatio Alger-type men are still to be found in our land. For Gillam started life during the hardest times imaginable—on the frontier of Kansas—and by tireless" efforts of body and mind, managed to accumulate a fortune.

He spent years gathering information for this book, a lifetime in fact. For the information in this book came only from his recollection and personal records. About the latter, a word.

Throughout his business life, Gillam faithfully dictated to his secretary each day any event which he had reason to believe might be significant or interesting in some future date. His personal records are voluminous, and have paid off to him many times.

Twice, his records have proved conclusive in law suits, and enabled him to win the cases. And they were invaluable in the compilation of data from which this book is written.

The information about his ancestors was gathered over many years, and the search spanned three continents.

Another reason for this publication is a very personal one for E. O. Gillam. Early in the 1950s, Gillam was stricken with leukemia. By careful attention to the regime directed by his doctors, and frequently submitting himself to untested treatments for the disease, his life has been prolonged and doctors now believe his case is arrested to the point that it should not prove fatal.

So interested is he in research for a cure to end the blight of leukemia and other cancerous diseases, he decided before a word was written that the profits, if any, from the sales of this publication will be donated to cancer research.

CHAPTER I—A PREVIEW

A lean, hungry Kansas youth arrived in Lawton, Oklahoma in 1905 with $14, the clothes he had on his back and a pair of track shoes.

The youth, Earnest O. Gillam, wisely tucked away the $14 to live on and quickly ran the track shoes into a $200 nest egg.

From this humble beginning, Gillam rose to become the nation’s best known independent soap manufacturer and a fabulous benefactor to Texas Churches.

Most of the Gillam story occurred in Texas, and the Gillam story reads like a tall Texas tale.

Actually it’s a succession of stories, beginning with his childhood in Kansas, followed by days as an Oklahoma youth and young government worker. In rapid-fire order, the stories moved to a career as a salesman, to the nation’s capital and back to Texas and a new career as a manufacturer. The soap manufacturing firm grew in a decade from a $30-a-day enterprise to a giant, $2-million-a-year operation. Gillam’s career began back there in Lawton, Oklahoma as soon as he arrived from his Kansas farm home.

There was a fever in Oklahoma in those days, land fever. Great tracts of Indian lands had been opened to homesteaders. Lawton was a boom town when Gillam arrived in 1905.

Foot races were prime entertainment, and Gillam loved to race. He carefully tended his track shoes, and often raced for the sheer delight of showing his heels to the local youth.

Another young man challenged Gillam to a race as word spread of Gillam’s speed. A date and place were arranged, and, inevitably, bets were placed.

Gillam won handily, and some of the men who gambled on his ability gratefully presented him with $200 after the race.

I didn’t know there was that much money in the world, Gillam chuckles today.

Prudently, he invested part of the money in law books. During the day, he worked as a Deputy in the County Clerk’s office. At night, he studied his law books.

Although he never took the bar examination, his night studies paid off in later years. The training aided him throughout his business days, and helped establish a unique claim he never lost a law suit

But the law suits didn’t come until later. His knack for making friends, his love of people, his sheer drive pointed directly to a sales career.

It wasn’t long coming. Offered a post as salesman for a cement plaster firm, Gillam readily accepted and soon became one of its top performers. Thriftily, he set aside a portion of his earnings each year and soon other fields beckoned.

A friend persuaded him to serve as campaign manager in his attempt to win a seat in Congress. The same friend, after a successful campaign, urged him to accompany him to Washington as Administrative Assistant.

During the campaign, Gillam had purchased half interest in a struggling new soap manufacturing firm, although he had never been in the business in his life.

He invested his money in the firm because he knew that—logically—there was every reason for such an enterprise to thrive. Fort Worth had vast, well-established packing plants to furnish raw materials. Since no other soap manufacturing firm was located in the Southwest, Gillam felt that the business was a natural.

So he accepted his friend’s invitation for the Washington post—and promptly began learning the soap business while helping the Congressman to keep his fences mended.

I knew I could get all the information I needed to learn the soap business from the Library of Congress and Government pamphlets, Gillam explained.

So once again, Gillam burned the midnight oil. By days a Congressional Assistant, by nights, a student of the soap business.

Gillam returned to Fort Worth a year later to find his business in a sorry state: four salesmen, but no sales to speak of; creditors by the dozen, but no cash readily available to pay them off.

With characteristic energy, Gillam rolled up his sleeves and moved in. First, he gave notices to the salesmen. Next, he went to the creditors, one by one, and persuaded them to agree to a moratorium on his debts.

Despite the seemingly hopeless odds, Gillam felt there was a future in soap manufacturing in Fort Worth, Texas.

Gillam returned to selling, this time his own product. Everything, it seemed, was against him. Competition was often waged without conscience. Retailers were refused other soap products from competitors if they bought from Gillam. Others were directed by the competitors to bury—i.e., put in inconspicuous spots—Gillam’s EGO soap.

My wife and I used to pray every night for $30 worth of business the next day, Gillam recalled. That was precisely how much was needed each day to keep his doors open.

Somehow, Gillam managed to keep the doors open during those trying first years. Then he began to build a team, a team that carried the firm to the top of the heap.

The first member was Mrs. Gillam. A thirfty housewife, she soon became an expert in the business office. That was her department.

Then came Gillam’s son-in-law, A. P. Ticknor, who soon developed into a top-flight soap chemist. He ran that department.

With Gillam in overall direction, the firm began to shake out of its doldrums and started to move.

Twice, though, disaster struck. In 1942, and again in 1944, fire swept his soap plant and destroyed virtually all the equipment, inventory, and the building itself.

Each time, Gillam made his decision not only to rebuild, but to enlarge. His faith paid off in ever-increasing sales. By then, Gillam was ready to put into reality a vision that had stayed with him since childhood: a desire to help others who could not help themselves.

Gillam rapidly became Fort Worth’s No. 1 champion of the underdog. He took on utility companies and the City Government in legal battles against discrimination.

The City had been plagued with a rash of fires, including the two at Gillam’s firm. He learned that gas was being diluted, causing pilot lights to choke out. Gillam gathered 118 other citizens to join him as plaintiffs and went to court to halt the dilution.

He led a campaign that ended with a new hospital to care for the indigent. He fought for equitable water rates.

About the same time, Gillam was elected President of the Independent Soap Makers of America. He promptly took the soapers into Federal Court to force an end of discriminatory practices against the small independents.

Throughout these battles and the direction of his business, Gillam found time to slip away to the YMCA (he’s Fort Worth’s longest continuous Y member), to play handball and volleyball.

Each year, he personally paid expenses of a team to represent Fort Worth in the National Volleyball Tournament. He competed himself until he was 67, once winning All-American honors.

Then illness struck him down. Doctors discovered he was suffering with leukemia. He relinquished control of his business and set to work to get well. It was a tedious project, but through it,