He began the Texas trip on a typically upbeat note, saying, I havent a care in the world, which is some going for a president who is said by newspapers to be a remorseless dictator driving his country into hopeless bankruptcy.. of the assassination, telling her the Irish mafia (meaning the Kennedy family) Roy Cullen, an elementary school dropout, used his millions to revive the hapless Texas GOP. 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. Her first book, "THE MURCHISONS: The Rise and Fall of a Texas Dynasty," was published in 1989. of criminals from carrying out 9/11? When they got to a fence, theyd go right through it and keep grazing.. spinned and whitewashed). the world's media watching over 40 years ago - what would stop the same lineage There is a claim that there was a party at the home of Dallas Oil Man Clint Murchison on the night of November 21, 1963. The New Frontier. But along with the commissions he would be paid, the job came with an irresistible perk. He would modify that view after the election of 1940 when the Democrats were in danger of losing the House for lack of funds. Enjoy unlimited access to all of our incredible journalism, in print and digital. the conference to tell his mistress Madeleine Duncan Brown that "those Clint Murchison Sr.'s Big House 23 Ash Bluff Lane Dallas, TX 75220. happened to John Kennedy - he and Lyndon Johnson," said Brown. Hunt) and H.L. It`s romance; romance is a big part of the auction. 1961 Lincoln Continental. If they had the gall to blow the President's head off in broad daylight with Sailors in their tropical whites and black, knotted neckerchiefs stood at the side rail and guided Richardsons big mahogany cabin cruiser, the Saltaire, to the four-step side stair. would go as the vice president.this came from the horse's mouth way back He was interested in defending and upholding the private enterprise system, particularly for the oil and gas industry. Hall has now taken hundreds of buyers through the two houses and sold 80 percent of the value of the collection. of criminals from carrying out 9/11? 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. It takes an extraordinary person to completely squander a fortune that they did not create, but that's exactly what Clint Murchison, Jr. managed to do. But do it fastthe deadline is Nov. 25. The mansion was built in 2005 and boasts 6-bedrooms, 11-bathrooms, and an elevator. The party began to wind down at around 11 o' clock when the attendees were The estate stayed in the family for many years but was eventually sold in the late 1980s, and the land was converted into a lovely gated community. of the assassination, telling her the Irish mafia (meaning the Kennedy family) "We were playing poker at the Carousel Club and Jack Ruby came over and Richardson was taller and more talkative, with a limp he worked to conceal. Clint Murchison wanted that home to stay in the family for sentimental reasons. In October, he invited his friends to pay a $10 cover charge for the opportunity to bid on his prized possessions. The younger Clint Murchison filed for bankruptcy a year later, reportedly with $150 million in debts. with Dallas tycoons, FBI moguls and organized crime kingpins - emerging from 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. Johnson would have probably gone to prison - they would have gotten rid of him The 26-acre estate, completed in 1963, is said to be on the block for about $10 million. a masked gunman invaded Cullen Davis' hilltop mansion . On deck, two stout sailors made a bosuns chair with their arms. Clint was a hot oiler in every respect, recalled oilman J.R. Parten. His . 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 don`t see how people this wealthy can live with carpets this filthy,'' she declared, surveying the extremely off-white wall-to-wall carpeting. He would go on to acquire a NFL franchise, the Dallas Cowboys, which he owned for many years before his son Clint Jr. lost most of his holdings. The Potomac was geared for sedate voyaging, noted Elliott Roosevelt. Mae Newman was the personal assistant to Clint Murchison Jr and Sr. and she worked for the Murchison family of Texas. Following the lead of his friend Murk, he bought all 21 miles of San Jose, then called St. Josephs Island or just St. Jo. the patsy Lee Harvey Oswald dead on November 24. She lives in the neighborhood. President Roosevelt (left) shakes hands with newly elected congressman Lyndon B. Johnson (right) as Gov. But next door on Matagorda, the elements are on the march against the legacy of Murchison and Wynne. This is hardly the best of times to be in the art business, as the formerly rich try to unload paintings to pay their utility bills. in 1960 - when H.L. Brown described Ruby as the "in man" in Texas who could be trusted I've heard that John was out of town the night of 11/21, but I cannot . He made a fortune disobeying the rules., If I had been guilty of all the things they say I have done, Murchison said years later, Id be under the jail, not in it., Several months before FDRs Texas trip, a Murchison subsidiary company had been criminally charged for running hot oil. Only one firsthand account of the lunch survives. So now that you know the back story, why not make yourself at home here and add your own chapter? hitmen after the assassination, and upon hearing of the strange deaths of many Personal. The rest of the party boarded Richardsons boat and a Potomac tender. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of evidence for this claim which is understandable since if powerful men met to finalize the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (JFK) the next day one shouldn't expect to find evidence of this meeting easily. Besides the sheer size of it, there was the matter of timing. The group included Jack Ruby, the Dallas nightclub owner who would later shoot By 1987, Clint Murchison had sold his mansion and lived in a standard middle-class house with his wife Anne. finally agreed that Lyndon If that name sounds familiar, it may be. He was 63. In addition, he used the following sources: Log of the Cruise of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the Gulf of Mexico, FDR Presidential Library and Museum, Hyde Park, N.Y.; Archival film of Franklin Roosevelts visit to Port Aransas. had this deep voice and he said, 'after tomorrow those S.O.B. before the assassination. STATE: 26,000 acres. The 26-acre estate, completed in 1963, is said to be on the block for about $10 million. Everyone in Dallas wants to see this house.''. much in the meeting and when he came out.he grabbed me by the arm and he Amid the white wicker chairs lining Murchisons breezy veranda, Roosevelt spent an afternoon getting acquainted with Richardson, Murchison and Murchisons partner Toddie Lee Wynne. Much of it was enormous in size and cutting-edge contemporary. After the meeting, the governor dispatched a message to Lyndon Johnson. much in the meeting and when he came out.he grabbed me by the arm and he Ms. Brown was with LBJ at. It was my job as a fiduciary to get as much money as I could for the works, he explains. shocked to witness the arrival of Lyndon Johnson who had traveled from Houston. By contrast, the president took to Richardson immediately. Wearing sunglasses and a wide-brimmed white hat, FDR held his cigarette holder and posed for photos and home movies. The last flickering image of John Wayne faded decades ago. . ), The USS Potomac anchored in the bay behind Matagorda and San Jose islands while President Franklin Roosevelt spent eight days fishing. 750 North St.Paul St. 7405 West Northwest Highway Dallas, TX ANNE MURCHISON OBITUARY MURCHISON, Anne Ferrell Anne Ferrell Murchison of Norman, Oklahoma, passed away on January 21, 2016, at the Grace Living Center. (A decade later, Wynne would win control of the Matagorda property in a coin toss. The Newman Family. The 18,589 Square Feet single family home is a 7 beds, 9 baths property. Brings new meaning to the phrase Sunday Funday. 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. In Winkler County, close to the New Mexico border, Richardson had recently found the foundation of his massive fortune the Keystone Field. Clint Murchison refused to fire coach Tom Landry after a rocky start and gave him . media mogul. He inherited his fortune from his father,. Brown said that the plan to kill JFK had its origins in the 1960 Democratic Donated by Ruth Eidson, formerly Ruth Roosevelt, to the FDR Library; Archival film of Lyndon Johnson on San Jose Island, LBJ Library; Clint: A Biography, by Ernestine Orrick Van Buren, 1986; A Rendezvous with Destiny, by Elliott Roosevelt and James Brough, 1975; Fishing Yesterdays Gulf Coast, by Barney Farley, 2002; The Path to Power, by Robert A. Caro, 1981, 1982; Life on Matagorda Island, by Wayne H. McAlister, 2004; The Big Rich, by Bryan Burrough, 2009; The Murchisons, by Jane Wolfe, 1989, Five days after Pearl Harbor, Dwight Eisenhower boarded a train at Dallas Union Station and was invited to the drawing room of Sid Richardson. On one of the yachts was President Franklin Roosevelt. the patsy Lee Harvey Oswald dead on November 24. Clint W. Jr. & John D Murchison Credit: The Denver Post Dallas Women Visit National Jewish Mrs. Ben K. Miller, left, president of the Denver Women's Committee of National Jewish Hospital, welcomes Mrs.. Enjoy unlimited access to all of our incredible journalism, in print and digital. Once a generator was installed, power tools arrived and the house rose from the land. the early 80's, to this day her shocking revelations about how he had told her "Young Goodman Brown"). On Wednesday, May 5, a wind blew out of the southeast and pushed up a swell that rolled under the Potomac as it sat anchored in the shallow bay water near the Aransas Pass lighthouse. But some of the familys friends bristled at the notion. Though Brown first went public on her 21-year relationship with Johnson in proceedings, related to illegal kickbacks Johnson was receiving from agriculture Clint didnt want any rules. In May 1937, the 165-foot presidential yacht, the USS Potomac, anchored in the bay behind the two islands while FDR and Elliott spent eight days fishing the waters of South Texas. 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 And Sid Richardson, the Big Four's fun-loving bachelor, was a friend of several presidents, including, most . . Copyright 2023, D Magazine Partners, Inc. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. RON HALL WAS RECENTLY WIDOWED and had retired from the art world when he was offered the chance to sell one of the largest private collections of contemporary art in America. Read now, Video Editors: David Guzman and Alan Peppard. 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. As boys in the East Texas town of Athens, they picked peaches at Richardsons fathers orchard. safer out in the light and decided to let the world hear her story. Hunt) and H.L. Still, she made a last-ditch effort to do something to help the museum. Johnson hatched the assassination plot. Clint Murchison was a math whiz and relied more on science to find his oil. But beyond that, Clint Murchison Sr. was not even living in that house those days, but in his . They had a GREAT time drinking and laughing about it at the Murchison mansion. Let them come and buy the works. After all, the proceeds would go to Lupes favorite charities. 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. Brown described Ruby as the "in man" in Texas who could be trusted It takes a special kind of person to squander a $200 million inheritance, but that is exactly what Clint Murchison, Jr. did. for Kennedy was beginning she left and began driving towards Austin, first stopping with Dallas tycoons, FBI moguls and organized crime kingpins - emerging from The group included Jack Ruby, the Dallas nightclub owner who would later shoot Many are priced in the hundreds, not thousands, of dollars. The views expressed herein are the writers' own and do not necessarily reflect those of Looking Glass News. The reason I mention this is to show that those who would claim Clint Jr. hosted the party, such as Barr McClellan, are wrong, since Murchison A gallery-like veranda ran along the perimeter. It's a story that simply hasn't got enough attention, besides a 2003 book written The mansion on St. Johns was purchased by Aikman for a confirmed $4.3 million. . Clint Murchison Sr. erupted from East Texas during the rough-and-tumble years of oil drilling in the 1930s, and spent his life "doing deals." Wolfe gives a colorful description of a quiet, unpretentious man whose financial acumen and brilliant use of leverage helped him build a multimillion-dollar conglomerate. Dallas, Texas 75201. James Jimmy Allred. Although too polite to say so publicly, she had long thought the DMAs collection second-rate and its public relations worse. 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. me again - that's no threat - that's a promise.'" The NFL charged Murchison $600,000 for the hand off. It's a story that simply hasn't got enough attention, besides a 2003 book written When they visited, Hall found himself in a very awkward position, and not just because they saw his cowboy boots and Armani suits in their mothers closets and his toiletries in her 600-square-foot bathroom. The Murchison/Wynne home on Matagorda Island is now part of a wildlife refuge. Even the staid Cullens found. Adjusted for inflation, this is the equivalent of $1 . The party began to wind down at around 11 o' clock when the attendees were Both Clint Murchison Sr and his sons, Clint Jr and Dabney, gave large chunks of money to help John Wayne get The Alamo off the ground.. would never embarrass him again. She said that among the guests were J. Edgar Hoover, Clyde Tolson, Richard Nixon, H. L. Hunt, Fred Korth, Cliff Carter, etc. The group met for a party in Dallas hosted by Clint Murchison, another business Murchison believed those limits were an un-American infringement on his liberty. (G.J. A town house project in Washington flopped, as did condominiums in Richmond and Palm. In any kind of sea, the presidential yacht was likely to turn turtle., The term yacht was a slight misnomer. A black-and-white photo of the smiling boy holding a piglet under his arm would be on Murchisons bedside table for the rest of his life. Clint Murchison Jr. stands next to him. This home was built in 1935 and last sold on 2023-01-01 for $7,900,000. (His son, Clint Murchison, Jr., founded the Dallas Cowboys a decade later.) the Kennedy's "would never embarrass me again" the night before the He built a mansion in Houston during the Depression and justified it as a civil enterprise, bringing jobs to hundreds of . Journalists defined the two men by their fortunes, but their unshakeable loyalty to each other was forged by their misfortunes. How He Became One of the Largest Bankruptcy Cases in the US Clint Murchison immediately called a meeting. The group met for a party in Dallas hosted by Clint Murchison, another business 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. and I looked up.he had this motorcade route.it mapped out a strategy to kill Kennedy. (G.J. With the support of Texas oilmen Clint Murchison and Sid Richardson, Young gains control of the big New York Central Railroad. the conference to tell his mistress Madeleine Duncan Brown that "those There, the challenge of bringing a paralyzed man to a largely undeveloped island became immediately apparent. With his steel leg braces under his suit, Roosevelt used his faux walk to swing down the gangplank. Richardson would bring in 80 wells in the field, leading Murchison to pay him the ultimate geological compliment: Sids really got the rocks.. His private office was. From the waist up, the 55-year-old president was the picture of virility. If Lupe had chosen Hall herself, she could not have found anyone more to her liking. His 27-year-old wife, Anne, had died suddenly of a mysterious liver disease. Architectural Digest may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. From the veranda, the group moved on to lunch at the big drop-leaf table in the dining room. FEDERAL: 10,002 acres. Then he jumped to his death. She became his patron. The average visitor spent two hours. No spam, ever. to arrange call girls, drugs, gambling fixes and even contract killings. Wallace was convicted for the October 22, 1951 murder of John Kinser. Florence Art Gallery, in business for 30 years, closed in June. After Clint Sr. died, Clint Jr. and his brother took over the family. "Had the assassination not happened the day that it did, Lyndon safer out in the light and decided to let the world hear her story. Some guests excused themselves to freshen and change for lunch. Former General Manager Tex Schramm held off the firing, citing he didn't have a successor in place at that time. 0. (Courtesy Murchison Collection). Four miles later, they turned onto his ranch road. 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. The cushioned fantail provided a spot where visiting dignitaries could be entertained, recalled Elliott Roosevelt, who would introduce Richardson to his father. But, suffering from . An aerial photo of San Jose (foreground) and Matagorda islands. Having had her own (and LBJ's illegitimate) son and nanny disappeared by Johnson's ''Something about a person`s residence makes it more appealing. After Wynne took control of American Liberty from his partner Clint Murchison, he relocated its headquarters to a rambling Mediterranean house overlooking Turtle Creek. Lupe offered the Big House to the DMA. Ron has a tremendous eye for art, and he treats people fairly. Such praise (and much envy) is echoed throughout Dallas art community. An air base was built and the island was used as a bombing range. straight from the horse's mouth. For dealer Ron Hall, it was the chance of a lifetime. Fish . In the 1920s, they teamed up as lease hounds in the oil fields. In fact, many of John and Lupes friends looked askance at the collection. Still, he sold both daughters a few pieces. It was the other brother, John, who lived in the big house in north Dallas. an inside job planned from the very top years in advance. "And he said 'well they just shot that S.O.B'". Like Lupes late husband, Hall is tall, handsome, sophisticated, and very much a cowboy. Edward Clark introduced Mac Wallace to Lyndon B. Johnson in October, 1950, and he then began working with the United States Department of Agriculture in Texas. The Potomac was, in fact, a Coast Guard patrol boat, the former Electra, which had been refitted at no great expense for Fathers use, Elliott recalled. the world's media watching over 40 years ago - what would stop the same lineage I guess when the dollars ran out, so did the caretaker.''. Two days later, he was back to escort the presidential party, first to his island, San Jose, and then to Matagorda for lunch. Brings new meaning to the phrase Sunday Funday. Kennedy was particularly upset that Hunt, who had . other people connected to the events in Dealy Plaza, Brown felt that she was All rights reserved. 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. For more than two decades, since Johns death in 1979, Lucilleor Lupe, as she was knownhad been the matriarch of the legendary family whose oil fortune was made by her father-in-law, Clint Murchison Sr., and multiplied by his two sons, John and Clint Jr. Just as Clint Jr. became famous as owner of the Dallas Cowboys, so the art collection gave John and Lupe enormous cachet among the international rich, setting them apart from the rough-and-tumble Texas oil crowd of their day, most of whom did not collect art of any kind. They were pests, says one longtime visitor to the island. But John and Lupes taste in art proved auspicious. they met. Before her death on June 22 2002, prolific author and lecturer Robert Gaylon On Nov. 21, he was living in East Texas at his Glad. Selling millions in art during a down market would not be easy. United States was.at that time in my life I thought they were untouchable," Mr. Murchison, who had been debilitated. Duncan Brown and from that lengthy discussion the truth about exactly who was to John Currington (an aide to H.L. Her second book, published in 1994, is "BLOOD RICH: When Oil Billions, High Fashion, and Royal Intimacies Are Not Enough." FT. $6.9 MILLION Built in the early 20th century for oil magnate Clint Murchison, this grand Colonial-style manse anchors nearly three acres of. In 1985, Murchison designed, constructed and financed a 30-acre campus-style headquarters for the Dallas Cowboys called Valley Ranch located in Irving, Texas. Murchison, Jr. squandered his inheritance of nearly 200 million dollars and was forced to sell assets to repay debts of 500 million. The night before the Kennedy assassination, Lyndon Baines Johnson met Hunt met met three days prior to the election - they finally cut a deal according No spam, ever. programs before the assassination, were mysteriously set-up in homosexual scandals You'll find that neither Clint Murchison Senior nor Clint Murchison Junior lived in Dallas in 1963. At least 500 buttons and switches, arranged in two drawers and on two panels, controlled everything, from a 35 mm. "They had this lodge.outside of Dallas and they would meet there.he The 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. would go as the vice president.this came from the horse's mouth way back Suite 2100 by Barr McClellan, father of White House press secretary Scott McClellan. Meanwhile, on San Jose Island, the former home of Sid Richardson remains well maintained. John Murchison's wife Lupe did not want the house because it was designed in the very gawdy style of the Texas oil baron, ie in poor taste. A String of Murders Dating Back to 1951. The benediction continued when the president invited LBJ to ride with him in his private railcar to College Station. The president came ashore exactly once. 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. Jane Wolfe is the author of two previous biographies and one that will be published in September, 2022. 3. which revolved socially and politically around Johnson and Hunt and included high How He Went From a Mansion to a Rundown Rental. There was the glass house in Vail. But Sothebys, which routinely handles large estates, found the job overwhelming and overlooked some 150 works in its appraisal.