James A. Chapman

James A. Chapman
Born	James Allen Chapman April 3, 1881 Ellis County, Texas
Died	September 22, 1966 Tulsa, Oklahoma
Nationality	United States
Occupation	Businessman
Known for	Oilman, philanthropist, rancher

James A. Chapman (April 3, 1881 – September 22, 1966) was a businessman and philanthropist closely associated with Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was nephew, son-in-law and business partner to Robert M. McFarlin.

James A. Chapman was born April 3, 1881 to Phillip and Roxana Chapman in Ellis County, Texas. He moved to Holdenville, Oklahoma in 1901. He was a co-founder of first Holdenville Oil and Gas Company, then McMan Oil Company, and finally McMan Oil and Gas Company with his uncle and father-in-law Robert M. McFarlin. The companies participated in the exploitation of the Glenn Pool and Cushing oil fields of Oklahoma in the early 20th century. The McMan Oil Company was sold to the Magnolia Petroleum Company for $39,000,000 in 1916, and the McMan Oil and Gas Company was sold to the Standard Oil (Indiana) subsidiary Dixie Oil for $20 million in 1930.

Chapman married Leta McFarlin (1889 - 1974) in 1908, and moved to Tulsa in 1912. They had a son, H. Allen Chapman (1919 - 1979), who was born in Colorado in 1919. Harry, who owned Chapman Exploration, Inc. and a controlling interest in the National Bank of Commerce in Tulsa, married Mary Kathryn Lancaster, who had been a nurse before the marriage, in 1960.

Chapman and his family used the resulting fortune to establish philanthropic trusts that fund charities in Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas. Funds are only distributed to the named beneficiaries of the trusts, which include institutions such as the University of Tulsa, Trinity University of San Antonio, Texas, John Brown University of Siloam Springs, Arkansas, and the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. According to Internal Revenue Service Form 990 filings found at GuideStar[1], these trusts have reported well over one billion dollars in assets in recent years.

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