The Marland Family History
Ernest
Whitworth "E.W." Marland (1874 - 1941)
The Early Years
  E.W.
Marland was born May 8, 1874 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
He studied to be an attorney, graduating from University of Michigan
Law School at the age of nineteen. Marland’s years of practicing
law led him to an interest in geology and a career in the oil
industry. He prospered in the oil business, making his first fortune
in the oil fields of West Virginia, only to lose it all in the
panic of 1907. In 1908, Marland came to Oklahoma with not much
more than belief in himself and a letter of credit. Mr. and Mrs.
Marland made their home at the Arcade Hotel, and E.W. set out
to explore for oil. (Right: Virginia Marland)
First Oil
The first gusher of Oklahoma oil came in for Marland in 1911,
on land he had leased from a Ponca Indian. Soon after, he discovered
two more wells and then it seemed he found oil everywhere he looked.
By 1922, E.W. Marland controlled one tenth of the world’s oil,
and more than a third of the city’s population were employed by
Marland Oil Company.
Marland's First Mansion
 E.W. and Virginia Marland built a lovely house at Tenth and Grand,
near the downtown area. That house had 22 rooms, but what it became
known for was the eight acres of formal, terraced gardens. It
was acclaimed to be the most beautiful collection of shrubs, flowers,
and foliage this side of the Mississippi.
 Marland Family
Mr. and Mrs. Marland had no children of their own so they invited
two of her sister’s children to come from Pennsylvania for a visit,
and they stayed. The nephew, George, and the niece,
Lydie, shared
in the wealth of their aunt and uncle, being sent to the finest
private schools and enjoying lavish parties with their friends
in the home on Grand Avenue. Eventually, E.W. and Virginia adopted
George and Lydie. (Pictured here clockwise from left - George
Roberts Marland, Mrs. Sam Collins - Virginia's mother, Virginia
Marland, Neighbor, E.W. Marland, and Lydie Roberts Marland.)
|
NOTE:
This site is provided by the Ponca City Publishing