Los Angeles County
Biographies
EMMOR JEROME MILEY
MILEY, EMMOR JEROME, Oil Operator, Los Angeles, California, was born in St. Clair County, Illinois, October 22, 1873, the son of George C. Miley and Nancy (Wildermann) Miley. Fort Miley at San Francisco, is named in honor of his brother, John David Miley, one of the heroes of the Cuban and Philippine campaigns. He went to Cuba as First Lieutenant of the Regulars and was Chief Aide to General Shafter. For his services in the Spanish-American war he was brevetted Brigadier General and given and rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Volunteer Army. After the Cuban campaign he went to the Philippine Islands, as Inspector General of that Department, and while in that service was claimed by death.
His parents having died when he was very young, E. J. Miley left his native county at the age of seventeen years, after he had gone through the public schools there. He finished his education in the High School of San Francisco in 1895.
Mr. Miley became a business man immediately after leaving high school. He had spent a great part of his life on farms and ranches when he was not going to school and his first venture was in this line. He began by leasing bearing fruit orchards in Solano County, California, and shipping the product to outside markets. He engaged in this for about five years with considerable success.
During the last year of his connection with the fruit industry, Mr. Miley began to turn his attention to oil, which at that time was just looming up as the great industrial possibility of California, and in 1900, after selling his fruit business, he formed a partnership with Joseph B. Dabney for the purpose of engaging in the oil business. Together they leased a large tract of land in the McKittrick oil district, in the San Joaquin Valley of California. They began drilling for oil immediately and during their first year put down ten wells.
In January, 1901, Mr. Miley sold his interest in the firm to the Dabney Oil Company, which had been formed by his partner, and he sought other associates. He soon became interested in the Silver Bow Oil Company, which had holdings in the McKittrick and Midway oil districts. The latter, which has since become known as one of the world’s greatest oil producing districts, was at that time practically undeveloped and Mr. Miley put down one of the pioneer wells there. He held stock in the company and was General Manager for California, (the company being a Montana corporation) until 1903. During that time he drilled five wells, in the McKittrick District, in addition to the one in the Midway field.
The oil business having taken a slump in 1903, Mr. Miley’s company shut down operations and he went prospecting for himself. He drilled several wells during this year, but the market remaining inactive, he, too, left off operations and engaged in mining in Nevada. He became interested in copper mines and started development of some property, but met with reverses in 1906 when the disaster which visited San Francisco in that year caused a financial depression which extended into Nevada. He remained there until the latter part of 1907 however, and then went to San Francisco, where he became associated with the Summit Construction Company, which was engaged in the work of rebuilding the city.
Mr. Miley remained there until 1908, when he again became active in the oil business and returned to the McKittrick field, where he still had extensive interests. He formed a partnership with David J. Graham under the name of the State Oil Company, which they incorporated in January, 1908. Together they leased and bought lands and began work at once, Mr. Miley acting as President and General Manager of the company. They continued their work until March, 1911, when the State Consolidated Oil Company was formed by taking over the holdings of the State Oil Company and several properties held personally by Messrs. Graham and Miley, the latter being elected President and General Manager of the new corporation.
Mr. Miley and Mr. Graham still retain valuable property interests in the McKittrick Front and Midway districts, aside from the holdings of their company. Mr. Miley is also a Director on the Board of the Providence Oil Company.
Despite the fact that he is one of the youngest operators in the California oil fields, Mr. Miley is regarded as one of its leaders, and in 1910, when the National Congress called upon oil men of California for a report upon the industry, he was one of the first men chosen on what is officially known as the California Oil Men’s Washington delegation. Because of his extensive knowledge of the field, Mr. Miley greatly aided his fellow members of the committee in conducting the necessary investigation and preparing the data desired by them for presentation to Congress. The result was a document so complete in historical and statistical data that Mr. Miley was personally complimented by the Congressional Committee having the matter in charge.
Owing to the withdrawal of millions of acres of land, the oil operators were placed in a serious condition by the government and the report submitted by Mr. Miley, containing detailed data on every acre of land, every well and the combined production of the California field, influenced Congress in drafting new laws to clear up titles and protect investors against loss by government regulations.
His work in this connection placed Mr. Miley among the national figures in the oil industry.
Mr. Miley devotes most of his time to his business and his family, his only affiliation being with the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
Transcribed 3-26-10
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 397, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta.
1913.
© 2010 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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