William Stamps Farish II

Farish was born in Mayersville, Mississippi the son of William Stamps Farish I (1843–1899) and Katherine Maude Power (1860–1931)[1] and the grandnephew of Jefferson Davis.[2] He attended school at St. Thomas Hall, an Episcopal preparatory school at Holly Springs, Mississippi.[3] The school was founded in 1844 by a New Yorker, the Reverend Francis Lister Hawks (1798–1866). A brilliant, winsome, and sometimes controversial Episcopal priest and educator, Hawks attracted motivated students from all over the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi. Hawks's vision for the school in Holly Springs was derived in part from W.A. Muhlenberg's successful schools on Long Island. In 1847, Hawks left Mississippi to become the first President of the University of Louisiana in New Orleans (now the Tulane University of Louisiana).

After receiving a law degree from the University of Mississippi in 1900, he practiced law for three months at Clarksdale, Mississippi, before moving to Beaumont, Texas, when oil was discovered at the Spindletop oilfield. He became supervisor of wells for Texas Oil Fields, Limited, an English syndicate. The next year he organized the Brown-Farish Oil Company, which did contract drilling and traded in oil. The firm became bankrupt at Brown's death, but Farish succeeded in borrowing money to pay creditors. By 1904 Farish and Robert Lee Blaffer had formed a partnership to do contract drilling and lease trading. The next year Blaffer and Farish moved to Houston to be nearer the Humble field.[3]

In 1915, Farish became president of the Gulf Coast Producers Association and subsequently was named president of the Texas-Louisiana Oil and Gas Association. In March 1917, he and others organized the Humble Oil and Refining Company.[3] As vice president, Farish was in charge of production, advancing industry technology and helping the company expand rapidly. In 1918, he raised the profile of Humble, serving on the Petroleum Committee of the Council for National Defense. When Humble grew short of capital for expansion, Farish turned to industry executives he had met. He negotiated with Walter Teagle, head of Standard Oil of New Jersey (later Exxon Corporation), which paid $17 million for a slight majority of Humble in 1919, and Humble gained a market for its oil and financial backing to build in Baytown, Texas one of the world's largest refineries.[4]

Farish served as vice president for five years and in 1922 became president. The Houston company, which remained surprisingly autonomous, became Jersey Standard's largest operating unit. In 1926, Farish became a founder and president of the American Petroleum Institute, taking a leadership position in oil conservation. In 1933, he became chairman of the board of Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, which held substantial stock interest in Humble, and in 1937, he became president of Standard. At the beginning of World War II, Farish was a member of the National Petroleum Industry War Council.[4]

On June 1, 1911, he married Libbie Randon Rice in Houston. Libbie was a cousin of the first wife of Jefferson Davis, Sarah Knox Taylor, daughter of President Zachary Taylor, and a granddaughter of Walter Browne Botts, a founder of the international law firm of Baker-Botts. (Farish's great-grandfather, Hazelwood M. Farish (1809–1851), married Jane Lucinda Davis (1821–51), youngest sister of Jefferson Davis, President of the CSA.) Together, W.S. and Libbie Rice Farish had a son and a daughter:

• William Stamps Farish Jr. was in the US Air Force during World War II and was the father of William Stamps Farish III (b. 1939).
• Martha Farish (1918–2007), who married Edward Harriman Gerry (1914–2003), in 1939.[9] Gerry was the son of Robert Livingston Gerry Sr. (1877–1957) and Cornelia Averell Harriman (1884–1966), the daughter of railroad executive E. H. Harriman and his wife Mary Williamson Averell.[10]

Farish resided in the Shadyside community, developed by his friend, Joseph S. Cullinan.[11]

William Stamps Farish II died at the age of 61 on November 29, 1942, in Millbrook, New York, while visiting friends; he was buried in Houston. Farish had established the W. S. Farish Co. in 1929 to manage the family assets, which were valued by Forbes in 1992 at $400 million. The holdings include the Farish Fund foundation, providing millions for charitable causes. W. S. Farish Co., today is headed by grandson Will III, and still operates in Houston.[4]

• William Stamps Farish III (grandson)
• William Stamps Farish IV (great grandson)