Reuben C. Baker

Reuben Carlton "Carl" Baker, Sr.[2] (July 18, 1872 – September 29, 1957[2]) was an American oil industry drilling pioneer. He established Baker Oil Tools in 1907 after developing a casing shoe that revolutionized cable tool drilling. In 1903, he introduced the offset bit for cable tool drilling to enable casing wells in hard rock and in 1912 the cement retainer that allowed casing to be cemented in the wells. Baker further improved the process with the float shoe in 1923. Having only a third grade education, he obtained more than 150 patents on oil drilling tools.[3] Baker Oil Tools merged with Hughes Tool Company in 1987 to form Baker Hughes Incorporated.

Reuben "Carl" Baker
Reuben "Carl" Baker in 1919
Born
Reuben Carlton Baker

(1872-07-18)July 18, 1872
Purcellville, Virginia U.S.
DiedSeptember 29, 1957(1957-09-29) (aged 85)
Whittier, California, U.S.
Burial placeBelmont Memorial Park, Fresno, California[1]
NationalityUnited States
OccupationFounder of Baker Hughes, inventor, businessman
Known forPioneering inventions in the oil industry
Spouse(s)
Minnie Myrtle Zumwalt
​
​
(m. 1897; died 1947)​
ChildrenThelma Ellen Baker (daughter)
Reuben Carlton Baker Jr. (son)

Personal life

On December 12, 1897, he married his childhood sweetheart Minnie Myrtle Zumwalt (October 24, 1870 – April 20, 1947).[2] They moved to Coalinga from Los Angeles in 1899.[4] They had two children, Thelma Ellen Baker (January 9, 1901 – April 13, 1986; later Anderson)[2] and Reuben Carlton Baker, Jr. (October 18, 1902 – October 1, 1965).[2][5][6]

Early life

Baker was born to Mary Elizabeth (née Stroud) and Reuben Baker in Purcellville, Virginia,[7] and grew up in Shasta County, California. [3] His father, a Civil War veteran from Chester County, Pennsylvania,[8] had a farm that was not very productive.[9][10] Baker never advanced beyond the third grade.[11] In 1895, at age 23, he decided to go to Alaska to prospect for gold. He got as far as Redding, California, when he ran out of money. He worked in a stone quarry and slept in a barn for two weeks, earning $24, but his clothes were stolen from the barn one day while he worked. An acquaintance suggested he head south instead, where oil had been discovered in Southern California.[12]:8

Career
Reuben C. Baker posing in 1914 next to a stack of Baker Casing Shoes, a device he invented to ensure the uninterrupted flow of oil.

Baker's older brother, Aaron Alphonso Baker, Sr. (December 10, 1867 – September 15, 1942[2]) had been a dry goods merchant in Fall River Township, Shasta County before he went into the oil business.[13]

Baker's followed his brother Aaron into the oil business. He arrived in Los Angeles on April 4, 1895 with a new suit and 95 cents in his pocket.[12] His first job was driving a horse team hauling oil in the Los Angeles City Oil Field for USD$2.00 for a 12-hour day. He soon got a job as an oilwell pumper, and then as a tool dresser for Irving Carl, a contract driller. When Carl couldn’t pay Baker’s wages, he made him his partner instead. Two years later, they had two rigs and a profitable business. In 1898, they divided their assets.[12]:7

In 1899 Baker moved to Coalinga, California where he continued as a drilling contractor, introducing one of the first rotary rigs in the San Joaquin Valley that same year. As he drilled he began to discover ways he could improve the equipment. He invented an improved drill bit with a dovetail groove in the side with a hole extending across the groove with a shank, key, and screw. He intended to continue as a contract driller and use his improvements to make his drilling business more competitive.[3][14][15] After encountering layers of hard rock in the Coalinga area, Baker developed an offset bit for cable tool drilling that made it easier to get casing down a freshly drilled hole.[12]:8

Baker and his brother Aaron formed the Coalinga Petroleum Company on January 23, 1905, capitalized with USD$75,000, initially owning six wells in Fresno County, [16] They sold the business to Samuel Allen "Al" Guiberson, Jr. on December 20, 1920.[17] In 1909, Baker's competitor Howard R. Hughes, Sr. patented the first roller cone drill bit, which made it possible to drill through deeper, harder rock. This was the basis for the Hughes Tool Company.[3][14][15][18]

Baker organized the St. Paul Consolidated Oil Company on September 24, 1910 with USD$600,000 in capital. Baker was president and W. T. Knowles was secretary. They owned five wells in Fresno County.[19] Four years later, on January 4, 1911, Baker formed the Coalinga Lost Hills Oil Company with USD$75,000 in capital. He served as president and Robert Lee Peeler as secretary.[17]

In 1912, Baker invented a way to make cementing more efficient and effective. The Baker Cement Retainer was designed to pack off between the casing and tubing when pumping cement through tubing. He then started working on a casing shoe, a device to ensure the uninterrupted flow of oil through a well at the bottom of the casing.[20] The next year, Baker organized the Baker Casing Shoe Company to take advantage of changes in U.S. income tax law, to hold his patents, and to collect royalties from the patents. He licensed the invention to third parties to manufacture, market, and use the casing shoe, while he continued in the contract drilling business. Over the next five years, the company received from $600 to $1,500 per month in royalties.[12]:9 By 1918 he decided the leasing business had greater opportunity and bought a machine shop in Coalinga. He left the contact drilling business and concentrated on finding ways to improve drilling tools. He patented those improvements and began selling the tools to other drillers.

Baker formed other businesses. With his brother Aaron formed the Future Success Oil Company, with Carl as president and Aaron as secretary, with USD$100,000 of capital on May 3, 1913.[21] His business interests included farming and oil production companies.[12]:9

When he needed a better base of operations for the company he moved back to Los Angeles and bought a yard on Slauson Avenue.[4] In 1921 he started working on an improved and simplified dump bailer,[22] and also a cement retainer.[23] At the same time the Long Beach Oil Field was discovered and with that Baker returned to the Los Angeles area.[24]

Death and legacy

Carl Baker, Sr. died in Whittier, California in 1957 at the age of 85.[25][26][27] Baker Oil Tool Company and Hughes Tool Company merged in 1987 to form Baker Hughes Incorporated. By then both were global oilfield service leaders with many innovative product lines.[28]

Patents

Baker received more than 150 U.S. patents in his lifetime.[11] A few of the early patents that Baker received included:

  • "Drilling Bit", patented December 22, 1903[29]
  • "Gas Trap for Oil Wells", patented August 25, 1908[30]
  • "Well Casing Shoe", patented November 11, 1913[31]
  • "Plug for Well Casings", on November 18, 1913[32]
  • "Pump-Plunger", on June 23, 1914[33]
  • "Shoe Guide for Well Casings", on November 16, 1920[34]

References
  1. Reuben C. Baker at Find a Grave
  2. California Death Records. - California Department of Health Services Office of Health Information and Research.
  3. "Carl Baker, Oil Pioneer, Dies", Petroleum Week, Volume 5: 32, 1957
  4. Rintoul, William (1976), Spudding In: Recollections of Pioneer Days in the California Oil Fields, California Historical Society, p. 63
  5. Carrier, Helynn Marie (1995), One Zumwalt Family, H.M. Carrier, p. 15
  6. "Reuben Carlton Baker". RC Baker Museum. 9 September 2014. Archived from the original on September 9, 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  7. Walton, Hettie Ann; Eastburn Reeder, Harry Speight (1903), The Eastburn Family, Intelligencer Company, p. 78
  8. "Man Who Voted for Lincoln to Vote Tomorrow", San Jose Evening News, p. 19, August 25, 1930
  9. 1870 United States Federal Census. - United States Census Bureau.
  10. 1880 United States Federal Census. - United States Census Bureau.
  11. "Carl Baker and Howard Hughes". American Oil & Gas Historical Society. 15 December 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  12. "InDepth Volume 13, 2007: 100 Years of Service" (PDF). Baker Hughes. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
  13. 1900 United States Federal Census. - United States Census Bureau.
  14. Independent Petroleum Association of America (1957). "R. C. Baker Turns Over Firm's Presidency to Ted Sutter". Independent Petroleum Association of America monthly. 28: 23.
  15. Gulf Publishing Company (1957). "R. C. Baker Resigns as Baker Oil Tool President". World Oil. 144: 290.
  16. Division of Oil and Gas (1918). "Summary of Operations: Oil Fields". Annual Report of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor. State of California. 3: 109.
  17. Division of Oil and Gas (1921). "Summary of Operations: Oil Fields". Annual Report of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor. State of California. 7: 109.
  18. Jarvis, Barry (6 March 2009). "Baker Hughes Drilling Fluids". Energy Oil and Gas. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  19. Division of Oil and Gas (1921). "Summary of Operations: Oil Fields". Annual Report of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor. State of California. 7: 142.
  20. "History of Baker Hughes Incorporated – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  21. Division of Oil and Gas (1921). "Summary of Operations: Oil Fields". Annual Report of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor. State of California. 7: 115.
  22. Jeffery, Walter Henry (1921). Deep Well Drilling. W. H. Jeffery Company. p. 312.
  23. Copp, W. W. (1922). "Improved California Oil-Field Tools". Pacific Mining News of the Engineering & Mining Journal-Press. McGraw-Hill Company of California. 1–2: 260.
  24. "Baker Casing Shoe Co. Is Expanding in West". Petroleum Age. Petroleum Age Publishing Company. 9: 30. 1922.
  25. Independent Petroleum Association of America (1957). "Obituaries: R. C. Baker, Sr.,". Independent Petroleum Association of America monthly. 28: 80.
  26. Gulf Publishing Company (1957). "Deaths". World Oil. 145: 245.
  27. Petroleum Engineer Publishing Company (1957). "Deaths". Petroleum Management. 29 (3): E-22.
  28. Turner, Tyya (2005). Vault guide to the top energy & oil/gas employers (First ed.). Vault. p. 46. ISBN 978-1581313185.
  29. US 747575 Drilling Bit
  30. US 896967 Gas Trap for Oil Wells
  31. US 1078530 Well Casing Shoe
  32. US 1078895 Plug for Well Casings
  33. US 1101234 Pump-Plunger
  34. US 1359017 Shoe Guide for Well Casings
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