John H. Galey & James M. Guffey

John Galey was born in Pennsylvania in 1840, and from the time that oil was discovered in the state, he was involved in the business. He searched for oil through the Civil War period and made several important discoveries. He searched the Allegheny River area, where he discovered his famous "Island Queen," "Island King," "Mellon," and "Andrew" wells. In 1880, he joined forces with Col. James M. Guffey, an early wildcatter, to open the McDonald field with the famous Matthews gusher, the greatest of all producers until the Lucas gusher took over supremacy. Those two men, at one point, had production in excess of 40,000 barrels a day, establishing them as the largest producers in the world. They followed this record with the discovery of Spindletop in 1901 to establish a truly phenomenal record. Clark and Halbouty state that in spite of all the wealth that he helped create, he was a man with a complete disregard for money. He threw away millions in his never-ending search for oil and regarded money only as a means to pursue his wildcatting aims.

The two partners made their office in Pittsburgh, where they were approached by Capt. Anthony Lucas in 1900 for investment capital for the drilling on Spindletop. Lucas met Galey in the Corsicana oil field, and Galey was interested enough in the description of the Gulf coast salt dome to suggest that the two men go to Pittsburgh to discuss the investment with Guffey.

The meeting in Pittsburgh is described by Clark and Halbouty in the book Spindletop. They say that Guffey "was a picturesque figure with long, white, curly hair, blue eyes, and a healthy, ruddy complextion. His features were almost delicate. He wore a Prince Albert coat, a dazzling waistcoat, a handsome, pleated shirt, with a wide lay-down collar and a Windsor tie. The wide-brimmed, black felt hat resting on the desk completed the ensemble of this version of a western dandy. (p. 129)" The only incongrouous note was his uncreased trousers. Galey was very different, very quiet and modest. Guffey was the promoter, a "combination exhibitionist, politician, and capitalist."

It was Guffey that suggested that they would need at least $300,000 in capital and that they approach the Mellon banking interests for the cash. Guffey proposed a partnership of 5/8 interest for himself, 1/4 ifor Galey, and 1/8 for Lucas. This was a slightly better deal than the one that Lucas had offered Pattillo Higgins the preceding year when Higgins ran out of money. Now Lucas was the one out of money, and he accepted the deal though he had hoped for something much better for himself.

These are the two men who convinced the Mellon banking interests to put money into the southeast Texas project that had been rejected by Rockefeller and by investors in southeast Texas after earlier dry holes. Neither man stayed in the field for long. Galey went on to drill in new fields. Guffey kept his interests here long enough to participate in the development of Gulf Oil (now Chevron), but left the company after a short time.