Reuben C. Baker

Reuben Carlton "Carl" Baker, Sr. (July 18, 1872 – September 29, 1957 Baker Oil Tools merged with Hughes Tool Company in 1987 to form Baker Hughes Incorporated.

Personal life

On December 12, 1897, he married his childhood sweetheart Minnie Myrtle Zumwalt (October 24, 1870 – April 20, 1947). They had two children, Thelma Ellen Baker (January 9, 1901 – April 13, 1986; later Anderson)

Early life

Baker was born to Mary Elizabeth (née Stroud) and Reuben Baker in Purcellville, Virginia, and grew up in Shasta County, California. had a farm that was not very productive. Baker never advanced beyond the third grade.

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

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. 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. They sold the business to Samuel Allen "Al" Guiberson, Jr. on December 20, 1920. 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.

Baker organized the St. Paul Consolidated Oil Company on September 24, 1910, with US$600,000 in capital. Baker was president and W. T. Knowles was secretary. They owned five wells in Fresno County. Four years later, on January 4, 1911, Baker formed the Coalinga Lost Hills Oil Company with US$75,000 in capital. He served as president and Robert Lee Peeler as secretary. 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. His business interests included farming and oil production companies. and also a cement retainer. At the same time the Long Beach Oil Field was discovered and with that Baker returned to the Los Angeles area.

Death and legacy

Carl Baker, Sr. died in Whittier, California, in 1957 at the age of 85. 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.

Patents

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

"Drilling Bit", patented December 22, 1903 "Gas Trap for Oil Wells", patented August 25, 1908 "Well Casing Shoe", patented November 11, 1913 "Plug for Well Casings", on November 18, 1913 "Pump-Plunger", on June 23, 1914 "Shoe Guide for Well Casings", on November 16, 1920