"They all went in to this conference room..Lyndon didn't stay that The program honors North Texas top projects, transactions, dealmakers, and industry leaders. Theyd graze everywhere. (G.J. In the vacuum of any historical record, there has been uncharitable speculation about what was discussed. 2. Johnson was still irate when he called Madeleine Brown the morning Wearing a dark, short-sleeved shirt, Roosevelt reached around their shoulders. Just before John F. Kennedy was assassinated he upset people like Clint Murchison and Haroldson L. Hunt when he talked about plans to submit to Congress a tax reform plan designed to produce about $185,000,000 in additional revenues by changes in the favourable tax treatment until then accorded the gas-oil industry. Clint . 7 BEDROOMS 7 BATHROOMS 2 HALF-BATH 18,600 SQ. Where Cedar Bayou separates San Jose from Matagorda, the cars forded the trickle of water onto Murchisons island. Clint Murchison Jr.: $1.4 billion inheritance Clint Murchison Jr. was bequeathed a bumper $200 million when his oil tycoon father died in 1969. made the remark, 'we may have lost a battle but we're going to win a war,' and And in 1933, the quiet, 5-foot-6 Murchison began a series of purchases to secure 9 miles of Matagorda, where he built a ranch and a sprawling home to host his friends. . One minute hes roping cattle, and the next hes calling a dealer in Paris or London to get a million-dollar painting shipped over for a client to look at, says Dallas art dealer David Dike. An aerial photo of San Jose (foreground) and Matagorda islands. Then there was also the problem of the client: he had never met her, nor was he likely to. An auctioneer`s assistant did not know whether the system extended into the eight mosaic-tiled bathrooms. Two isolated islands off the coast of South Texas became unlikely centers of power and influence after they were purchased by two of the richest men in the country. The owners were afforded a limited lease (1942) and continued full use and enjoyment of their property, which sold in the 1980's through The Nature Conservancy to the U.S. Fishing guide Ted Mathews (left) looks on. The president came ashore exactly once. In a curious bit of timing, a few days after Roosevelts lunch at Matagorda, the company changed its plea from not guilty to no contest and paid a nominal $17,500 fine. Sitting on more than half an acre and built in 2005, a Terrell Hills home recently listed for nearly $2.9 million features, Charles Haarmann paid just $1,000 for a half-acre lot in what's now the King William Historic District. Once Hall had his arms around the collection, the first wave of buyers came through. "We were playing poker at the Carousel Club and Jack Ruby came over and 21st 1963, the night before the assassination. Deadline Extended: D CEOs Commercial Real Estate Awards, Submit Your Transactions to D CEOs Deal Ticker. or found dead having allegedly shot themselves five times in the head. And when Lupe died in July 2001, at age 75, everything stood ready for the auction block. As the Saltaire pulled slowly away, the president maneuvered in on its stern and followed several miles to the San Jose dock. In 1986, Wynnes son, Toddie Lee Wynne Jr., sold all 11,502 acres to be used as a government wildlife refuge. Lupe offered the Big House to the DMA. Eileen Ray and Clemence Rawley were among the first of 700 who ponied up $8 for a catalog of the 1,500 items to be auctioned on successive weekends and for the voyeuristic thrill of poking around the sprawling home. Murchison was the wealthy son of a successful Texas oilman, graduating from Duke and earning a master's degree from MIT. Then read the Friday morning Houston newspapers for, answer is "no". Most Revealing Wink Of The 20th Century. From the veranda, the group moved on to lunch at the big drop-leaf table in the dining room. mapped out a strategy to kill Kennedy. And he would be working for a family with more money and more internecine battles than the Sopranos. He and Mr. Murchison were always teasing one another.. ''I was here as a guest once,'' she said wistfully. Roosevelt, who had been stricken with polio 15 years earlier, feared a fire at sea. The Texas tycoon had planned to work out a debt repayment plan without taking refuge in bankruptcy court, said head Murchison attorney Philip I . To the north is the nearly empty barrier island of San Jose, which rolls out for more than 20 miles to a brackish bayou. 3. When he. Brown described Ruby as the "in man" in Texas who could be trusted Ancient dunes are unmarred by condos, and spring break is a distant thunder. received little media attention. In going through paperwork, he discovered mention of a $350,000 Larry Rivers paintingbut he couldnt find the piece. straight from the horse's mouth. The group included Jack Ruby, the Dallas nightclub owner who would later shoot Besides the sheer size of it, there was the matter of timing. The last flickering image of John Wayne faded decades ago. The visit was more than a recognition of Texas oil as a rising power; it was a cosmic shuffle. . But on the louvered hurricane shutters, the relentless salt air has scratched out a gray patina. Four miles later, they turned onto his ranch road. Everybody knew that Sid was a billionaire, recalled Murchisons widow, Virginia Murchison Linthicum. Amid the white wicker chairs lining Murchisons breezy veranda, Roosevelt spent an afternoon getting acquainted with Richardson, Murchison and Murchisons partner Toddie Lee Wynne. Richardson, who would never marry, had lost several small fortunes trying to drill his way to a large one. The following day, the three oilmen were back onboard to say goodbye before the president sailed away. Though still sturdy at its core, the house is an imposing study in decomposition a poignant reminder that sic transit gloria mundi: Thus passes the glory of the world. The views expressed herein are the writers' own and do not necessarily reflect those of Looking Glass News. On one of the yachts was President Franklin Roosevelt. Leaving the dock, Richardson led the small presidential motorcade of vehicles down the dusty center road of San Jose while turkeys, jackrabbits and cattle scattered. Mae told Stew Webb that Richard Nixon was one of the people who came to the party the night after the assassination! Murchison was friends with Madeleine Duncan Brown, an advertising agent who would later claim to have had an extended love affair and a son with President Lyndon B. Johnson. That was before she discovered the dead ''waterbug''--a huge, brown and extremely sturdy species of cockroach--by the full-length windows overlooking the atrium and statuary. In private, Roosevelt derided him as Jesus H. Jones. This home was built in 1935 and last sold on 2023-01-01 for $7,900,000. He has sold several. McCarthy/Staff Photographer). After the meeting, the governor dispatched a message to Lyndon Johnson. Before the jets, there were yachts. But, suffering from . safer out in the light and decided to let the world hear her story. Helen Frankenthaler, Blue Head On 1965, Migration, 1968, Nancy Graves, Pacific Ocean Floor II, 1972, Theodore Stamos, High Snow, Low Sun, 1957, 750 North St.Paul St. The mansion was built in 2005 and boasts 6-bedrooms, 11-bathrooms, and an elevator. Johnson would have probably gone to prison - they would have gotten rid of him Many, of course, came just to look. theories - an astounding deposition of a deliberately planned criminal conspiracy It was the rare occasion when a Hunt squared off against a Murchison, but when it finally happened, in Lamar's and Clint's pursuit of an NFL team for Dallas, all Texas paid attention. Ron has a tremendous eye for art, and he treats people fairly. Such praise (and much envy) is echoed throughout Dallas art community. (File photo). The burly oilman hopped off his boat and was escorted to the back of the ship and into a new milieu presidential politics. hitmen after the assassination, and upon hearing of the strange deaths of many He was also the father of Dallas Cowboys owner Clint Murchison Jr.. [2] Contents 1 Personal 2 Family 3 Death 4 JFK conspiracy allegations 5 References Personal Clint Murchison immediately called a meeting. proceedings, related to illegal kickbacks Johnson was receiving from agriculture Now I like this boy and youre going to help him with anything you can.. In 1985, Murchison designed, constructed and financed a 30-acre campus-style headquarters for the Dallas Cowboys called Valley Ranch located in Irving, Texas. After lunch at the Murchison house, Roosevelt returned the hospitality with a dinner in the salon of the Potomac for Richardson, Murchison and Wynne. Hes equally at home at his ranch in Palo Pinto County and his office on New Yorks Upper East Side. Having had her own (and LBJ's illegitimate) son and nanny disappeared by Johnson's The 26-acre estate, completed in 1963, is said to be on the block for about $10 million. The group included Jack Ruby, the Dallas nightclub owner who would later shoot He brought the government to an indignant standstill with a bill to appoint up to six additional justices to the Supreme Court to revive New Deal legislation that had been ruled unconstitutional. Enjoy unlimited access to all of our incredible journalism, in print and digital. It is important to note that before her death Brown carried no hostility towards Built in the early 20th century for oil magnate Clint Murchison, this grand Colonial-style manse anchors nearly three acres of lush land. - he was so involved with some of this," said Brown. You'll find that neither Clint Murchison Senior nor Clint Murchison Junior lived in Dallas in 1963. Hunt, an American oil tycoon, and Lyndon Once the residence of Dallas oilman Clint Murchison and Toddie Lee Wynne, the abandoned 13,000-foot-square mansion on Matagorda Island is now home to rattlesnakes and barn owls. In any kind of sea, the presidential yacht was likely to turn turtle., The term yacht was a slight misnomer. Personal. Meanwhile, on San Jose Island, the former home of Sid Richardson remains well maintained. In the beginning, things were a little wildanimals were. The swimming pool that Time magazine said could float the Titanic. The 29-karat diamond ring, designed for Lupe by surrealist Salvador Dali, which she wore the night the Pointer Sisters rocked the Murchison estate at a black-tie party for 400 guests. While selling the collection, Hall could live in Lupes $7.5 million contemporary home in Addison, on 12 acres of rolling lawn, dotted with dinosaur-sized sculptures, bound by wooded creeks. tycoon with close links to the Genovese mafia, on November 21st 1963, the night Mae Newman was the personal assistant to Clint Murchison Jr and Sr. and she worked for the Murchison family of Texas. They carried him down the steps to a small twin-cockpit Chris-Craft and set him behind the wheel with his passengers Ruth and Elliott Roosevelt. It's a jaw-dropping deposition After Clint Sr. died, Clint Jr. and his brother took over the family. He was 63 years old. James Allred looks on. Today, under the eaves of the main house, white paint stubbornly clings in the shadows. SOB's" would never embarrass him again. 9/11 Commission Report. But another son, John Murchison, had kept the family business alive and kicking. Carlos Don Stultz convicted in two murders signed confessions but now insists hes innocent. Ive just met the most remarkable young man, Roosevelt said. His 27-year-old wife, Anne, had died suddenly of a mysterious liver disease. and it's the biggest JFK smoking gun there is - despite the fact that it has Oil Company) land was not condemned and taken. The night before the Kennedy assassination, Lyndon Baines Johnson met Aikman's last purchase was an 11,000-square-foot Mount Vernon manse built by Tatum Brown on Normandy that is just incredible inside and out, with beautiful landscaping by Harold Leidner. In the 10th Congressional District, 29-year-old Lyndon Johnson had won his seat with a campaign that gave unconditional support for FDR and court reorganization. back at a quickly-smiling LBJ as he is being sworn in to be the next President Still, she made a last-ditch effort to do something to help the museum. proceedings, related to illegal kickbacks Johnson was receiving from agriculture McCarthy/Staff Photographer). His private office was. A three-story mansion in San Antonio's Monte Vista Historic District once owned by powerful oilman Clint Murchison has hit the market for $1.5 million. By the mid-1950s, Dwight Eisenhower and his affluent inner circle believed that their friend Sid Richardson was the wealthiest man in the country. shocked to witness the arrival of Lyndon Johnson who had traveled from Houston. the world's media watching over 40 years ago - what would stop the same lineage McCarthy/Staff Photographer). President, Id like to present our new congressman. Roosevelt smiled and gave Johnson an extended handshake as cameras clicked. had been shot and immediately thought to call Lou Sterrett , who was an Austin "They had this lodge.outside of Dallas and they would meet there.he One feature that most of the potential bidders didn`t see was the elaborate audio-video security-lighting-drapery system that Murchison had installed. A String of Murders Dating Back to 1951. Yet they were not entirely unknown to Roosevelt. Do pictures prove LBJ was NOT at Murchison Ranch Nov. 21, 1063? off to have a haircut. It has four refrigerator-freezers, three sinks and two dishwashers. Still in need of cash, Murchison sold everything else--for something less than $500,000--to Dallas auctioneer S. Norman Garrett. "Had the assassination not happened the day that it did, Lyndon a Texas Dynasty. The only way to get Roosevelt out of the low-sitting boat and into his wheelchair was to bring it alongside the chute used to load and unload livestock. The 18,589 Square Feet single family home is a 7 beds, 9 baths property. One woman, however, took a quick tour and departed. The Potomac was geared for sedate voyaging, noted Elliott Roosevelt. happened to John Kennedy - he and Lyndon Johnson," said Brown. In 1941, with World War II on the horizon, the federal government used its power of eminent domain to buy the northern two-thirds of Matagorda Island from a group of reluctant landowners. ''I just wanted to see what he had. Ross had the opportunity to conduct an 80 minute sit-down interview with Madeleine Three weeks before election day, checks rained down on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from Clint Murchison, Sid Richardson, Perry Bass and their friends. Outside the debate of magic bullets, multiple shooters and grassy knoll Main photo: An aerial view of the landing strip and home of Sid Richardson on San Jose Island. The infamous November 21, 1963 "party" at the oil baron Clint Murchison mansion in Dallas, Texas consisting of Richard Nixon, J. Edgar Hoover, H.L. I've heard that John was out of town the night of 11/21, but I cannot . Clint W. Murchison, Sr. was born April 11, 1895, in Tyler to John W. and Clara (Williams) Murchison. to perhaps the biggest smoking gun proving that the assassination of JFK was Clint W. Murchison Sr. and Sid W. Richardson spent their boyhood years together in Athens and remained very close friends until the end of Richardson's life in 1959. Legendary oil magnate Clint Murchison bought 350 acres in 1930 so that his three young sons could have a little room to run around. If they had the gall to blow the President's head off in broad daylight with before the assassination. In the official log of the trip, Pa Watson wrote simply, The party had a grand time at table lots of fun., From left: An unidentified man, President Roosevelts son Elliott, President Roosevelt, Dudley Golding and Sid Richardson preparing to leave Richardsons dock for a tour of San Jose Island. to arrange call girls, drugs, gambling fixes and even contract killings. Burks two older brothers, John and Clint Jr., would eventually be on the cover of Time magazine, portrayed as financial wizards, owners of the Dallas Cowboys. In an appearance on the television program A Current Affair, Brown asserted that on November 21, 1963 the night before the assassination of President . Then he jumped to his death. Of course, I knew who Lupe Murchison was, but she couldnt have picked me out of a police lineup, says 57-year-old Hall, who previously owned Hall Galleries in Dallas. This first installment of a three-part series examines President Franklin Roosevelts 1937 visit that would affect the lives of future island guests Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson. Richardson was taller and more talkative, with a limp he worked to conceal. Email: editor@lookingglassnews.org. It's a story that simply hasn't got enough attention, besides a 2003 book written Brown said that in the immediate aftermath of the convention Hunt and Johnson In October, he invited his friends to pay a $10 cover charge for the opportunity to bid on his prized possessions. When Lyndon B. Johnson finally arrived, she said: Lupe had told her three grown, very rich children that, at her death, her art would be sold and the proceeds would go to charity. received little media attention. She was flatly rejected. Clint Jr. and John's father were the sons of the legendary Clint Murchison Sr., who built one of the largest financial empires in the nation through his oil holdings. They started the Dallas Cowboys football franchise and built Cowboys' Stadium. - he was so involved with some of this," said Brown. then the day of the assassination he said 'well, we won the war'," said The former home of Clint Murchison Sr. and, later, his partner Toddie Lee Wynne Sr., has come under assault by the elements since the land became a government wildlife refuge in 1986. How He Went From a Mansion to a Rundown Rental. Murchison and his wife, Anne, have moved to more modest quarters where he has around-the-clock nursing. 1930s residence designed by local architect Anton Korn. Former General Manager Tex Schramm held off the firing, citing he didn't have a successor in place at that time. He built a mansion in Houston during the Depression and justified it as a civil enterprise, bringing jobs to hundreds of . "Had the assassination not happened the day that it did, Lyndon Land owned by Roosevelts luncheon host and all of Richardsons San Jose Island went untouched. Read now, Video Editors: David Guzman and Alan Peppard. Alan Peppard of The Dallas Morning News reviewed Bryan Burrough's best-selling book in the March 1 issue of The News. To the south is Port Aransas, a postcard beach town where fishing yachts and sailboats mingle in the harbor. chose different people to do certain things for him and I'm sure it went on by Barr McClellan, father of White House press secretary Scott McClellan. The highest vantage point on San Jose is still the rooftop sundeck over Richardsons bedroom. Journalists defined the two men by their fortunes, but their unshakeable loyalty to each other was forged by their misfortunes. Not only will he have to stop living like a billionaire (or at least living in a billionaires house), but when the collection is finally sold, Hall will have to break an almost intimate bond hes formed with his departed client. ''The nicest thing I can say for this whole house,'' Rawley concluded, ''is it has swell closet space. They had a GREAT time drinking and laughing about it at the Murchison mansion. Murchisons company American Liberty Oil owned the Matagorda Island ranch. I guess when the dollars ran out, so did the caretaker.''. There, he entertained guests such as Elliott Roosevelt, the raffish son of the president, who had moved to Fort Worth to find his fortune. Following the lead of his friend Murk, he bought all 21 miles of San Jose, then called St. Josephs Island or just St. Jo. Murchison's [read more] instinctive mastery of banking and lending practices translated easily into an understanding of the new business of oil and gas exploration. 0. The two brothers, John and Clint Jr., formed the Murchison Brothers Company and over the next several years gained tremendous success in oil, real estate and other businesses. Clint Murchison wanted that home to stay in the family for sentimental reasons. Clint Murchison in 1933 began a series of purchases of the lower nine miles of Matagorda Island, where he built a ranch and a sprawling home. Brings new meaning to the phrase Sunday Funday. Galleries with more important works are doing well, because the economy doesnt affect the very rich. 0 MILES Larger Map Update this organization Report a problem Create a widget Submit an event Trending on A&S. Art&Seek is made possible in part by: Clint Murchison was a math whiz and relied more on science to find his oil. this article and the video clip contained therein will help to bring more attention the conference to tell his mistress Madeleine Duncan Brown that "those Clinton Williams "Clint" Murchison Sr. (April 11, 1895 - June 20, 1969) [1] was a noted Texas -based oil magnate and political operative. stung me that he would be this involved in knowing where the President of the He had received a list of oilmen who had contributed to the Democratic National Committee in 1935. 1898, d. 1926). It was my job as a fiduciary to get as much money as I could for the works, he explains. This Toddie L. Wynne - clint Murchison (American Liberty. Clint Murchison Jr.: $1.4 billion inheritance Clint Murchison Jr. was bequeathed a bumper $200 million when his oil tycoon father died in 1969. Johnson as his running mate, where H.L. He suffers from a degenerative nerve disease and is confined to a wheelchair. I guess we`re going to be selling a little romance this weekend.''. from 1909 to 1913, died March 8, 1930. Murchison Oil . He displayed the kinetic workswhich are in the style of Alexander Calderat Lupes house. Jul 8, 2022 2:13 PM EDT FRISCO - Dallas Cowboys cornerback Everson Walls and linebacker Chuck Howley, as well as the late Dan Reeves and franchise founder Clint Murchison Jr., are among 54. The Murchison estate also included what the family called the Big House, a 22,000-square-foot mansion that Clint Sr. built and which Lupe abandoned in 1998, when she completed her house just a few hundred yards away. Those present at the event included J. Edgar Hoover, assassination are often ignored by the media who prefer to keep the debate focused Contact: Allie Beth Allman & Associates/Christies International Real Estate, 214-521-7355; alliebeth.com, 2023 Cond Nast. assassination are often ignored by the media who prefer to keep the debate focused would never embarrass him again. During the mid-1950s, shortly before Vail was started, John Murchison built two of the . He inherited his fortune from his father,. the early 80's, to this day her shocking revelations about how he had told her But Hall is in no hurry to finish his work and move out. No causeways extend from the mainland. (A decade later, Wynne would win control of the Matagorda property in a coin toss. ''Something about a person`s residence makes it more appealing. Hot Property: 23 Ash Bluff Lane, $8.95 Million. There was no negotiating. Not even with her children. ''I`ve been in my house 18 years, and I`ve replaced the carpet three times.''. By contrast, the president took to Richardson immediately. During the early 1930s, he became involved in a fierce battle over oil proration. said Brown. ''I`m stunned,'' she murmured, ''I`m just stunned. United States was.at that time in my life I thought they were untouchable," Clyde Tolson, John J. McCloy, Jack Ruby, George Brown (of Brown and Root), numerous Roy Cullen, an elementary school dropout, used his millions to revive the hapless Texas GOP. SOB's" would never embarrass him again. Although Hall never met Lupe, she became much more than just a client. As the court and both houses of Congress expressed outrage, a headline in the Washington Post carried sympathetic news from the Texas Hill Country: Texas Supporter of Court Change Appears Elected.. Presidents and senators explored the beaches and basked in the enormous fortunes of their hosts Clint Murchison Sr. of Dallas and his lifetime best friend, Sid Richardson of Fort Worth. No spam, ever. John Murchison and his brother Clint Murchison Jr. were the first owners of the Dallas Cowboys. Jane Wolfe is the author of The Murchisons: The Rise and Fall of a Texas Dynasty. Clint Murchison, Sr. View more property details, sales history, and Zestimate data on Zillow. In addition, he used the following sources: Part 2: A fortress of power built to last, Part 3: Toddie Lee Wynne and the reach for the stars. Brown said that in the immediate aftermath of the convention Hunt and Johnson In their twenties, the brothers began speculating on land and buildings in the Cleveland area. Richardson and his friend Clint Murchison Sr. played hosts to President Franklin Roosevelt in 1937. Sixty years ago this week, the Rangers, who would become the Dallas Cowboys, were born on Jan. 28, 1960 at a NFL meeting in Miami Beach, Fla. had this deep voice and he said, 'after tomorrow those S.O.B. As the 25 wooded acres surrounding his Dallas mansion were about to be auctioned off, Murchison-owned Klimanorm Corp., owner of the land, filed in bankruptcy court Monday for protection from creditors. the patsy Lee Harvey Oswald dead on November 24. Suite 2100 on issues which can't definitively be proven either way (or at least can be The Murchisons were one of the most prominent oil families in Texas, a state knee deep in them. "It was a total political crime and H.L. had been shot and immediately thought to call Lou Sterrett , who was an Austin Before her death on June 22 2002, prolific author and lecturer Robert Gaylon Clint Murchison entertained British royalty on his Mexican hacienda and bet on racehorsesand conducted dirty dealswith J. Edgar Hoover. Clinton Williams Murchison, the son of John Weldon Murchison and Clara Lee Murchison, was born in Dallas, Texas, on 11th April, 1895.