Fair Oil History

R. W. Fair was born near Arp, Texas in 1886 and grew to become a successful pecan farmer, oilman, philanthropist and religious and civic leader.  In 1923, Fair leased one of his peach orchards to a Dallas oilman who had drilled a successful oil producer on a farm just down the road.  Although R. W. Fair had no experience in the oil business, his entrepreneurial instincts took over and shortly thereafter, he became the first individual to finance 100 percent working interest in a well drilled on his own property with 100 percent royalty interest.  The rest is history and Fair was in the petroleum business, sucessfully developing fields in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, Louisiana and Mississippi.