JOHN MUNRO McLEOD

Los Angeles County

Biographies

JOHN MUNRO McLEOD

McLEOD, JOHN MUNRO, Real Estate and Oil Operator, Los Angeles, Cal., is the eldest son of the late John Munro McLeod and Jessie Hunger (Brown) McLeod, both of Scotland. He was born in Stratford, Canada, November 3, 1871. He married Eva Ethel Largen at Vancouver, B. C., Oct. 26, 1898, and to them have come three children, Eva Ethel, John Munro, Jr. and Alfred Wellington McLeod.

Mr. McLeod’s father was a noted railroad builder and oil operator in Canada, having completed the construction of the Grand Trunk Line from Sarnia to Toronto, later going into the oil business at Petrolia, Canada. He owned one of the first refining plants in America, selling his product to the Grand Trunk Railway, and from this it is apparent that the younger McLeod had a good inspiration to guide him in the work of oil development, so it is not difficult to understand why he has become a leader in the industry.

Mr. McLeod was educated in the public schools of New Westminster, going through the various grades, and taking examination for the High School. At this point, however, he entered commercial pursuits and opened a general store in the home city at the age of eighteen, and after a few years as merchant went into dairying and farming in British Columbia, which business he followed for a number of years with marked success. Hearing of the great opportunities in Southern California, Mr. McLeod disposed of his farming and dairy interest and in the summer of 1900 moved to Los Angeles. The southern metropolis was then entering the boom period, and Mr. McLeod was one of the thousands who went there looking for an opportunity to invest.

Shortly after his arrival his attention was drawn to the oil business, which he had followed closely for several years, waiting for a chance to get into it. His first venture was in the Kern River field, where he became interested in a small way. The oil business held Mr. McLeod for four years, and then he turned his attention to real estate, which was thriving at that time. He opened an office in Los Angeles in 1904, and later organized the firm of Winton & McLeod, going into real estate on a large scale. They opened up a number large subdivisions in Los Angeles, among them the Calkins Figueroa Street Tract, and the Winton and McLeod Figueroa Street Tract, and the Winton and McLeod Figueroa Tracts Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

During the Eastern money panic in 1907 it took all of Mr. McLeod’s efforts to carry several syndicates of which he was the head, and after things became easier he withdrew from the active work of the real estate business and made a complete survey of the oil districts in California with one of the most competent geologists of the country. He supplemented this with advice from several of the older, practical oil men in the State.

In his inquiry he visited all the principal fields, including Santa Maria, Kern River, Coalinga and McKittrick, and investigated most fully what is know as the Midway Field, but which at that time was practically undeveloped. After studying formations there, he arrived at a conclusion contrary to that of the oldest oil men of the district, who thought there was only a narrow strip in which was oil; his judgment and faith in that section have since been justified. He took a lease on forty acres, which now constitute part of the Hale-McLeod property, but on account of the adverse opinion of old operators, which was generally believed, he was unable to get necessary funds to drill, and so forfeited his hold on that piece of property; however he later again secured that same property, with additional territory for the Hale-McLeod Co., and it is now conceded to be one of the best pieces of oil territory in California. The present sub-tenants, the Midway Premier, Midway 5, and Kalispell Companies, all have wells that have been large producers. During 1911 a well belonging to the Kalispell Co. has produce at the rate of 2500 barrels a day.

This body of oil lies below the salt water line, which it has always been contended by the oldest operators was the “bottom-water” below which oil would never be secured. Vindications of Mr. McLeod’s unfaltering belief in the field are the companies that went on the “flat” and have successfully operated, their stockholders having all been induced to enter the field at the instigation of Mr. McLeod.

Mr. McLeod is Vice Pres. of the Hale-McLeod Co. and Four Investment Co.; Director and Mgr. Toronto Midway Oil Co. and Director 32 Oil Co., Director Edmunds Midway Oil Co., and heavily interested in the Esperanza Consolidate Oil Co.

Mr. McLeod and associates have handled and financed a greater number of oil companies, combining a greater acreage, than almost any other company interested in the California oil fields. The acreage financed and operated through Mr. McLeod amounts to over 1700, and includes the wells of over twenty companies, representing a combined investment of upwards of five million dollars.

These achievements have placed Mr. McLeod among the real developers of the Southwest, and while he has made a large fortune for himself, he has also been the means of making others wealthy, and at the same time has added to the industrial strength of Southern California.

He is a member of the Union League Club, of San Francisco; Union League, Sierra Madre, San Gabriel Valley Country, and the Los Angeles Athletic Clubs, all of Los Angeles.

Transcribed By: Michele Y. Larsen on 10 January 2012.

Source: Press Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 909, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta. 1913.

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