Lev H. Prichard,

Founder & CEO of Anderson-Prichard Oil Corporation

Lev Harrington Prichard was born on July 19, 1883 to Charles A. and Cornelia Byrd Prichard on their cotton farm in Franklin County, Mississippi.

From the time he was eight years old, Lev was tasked with doing a grown man’s work on his parent’s farm, squeezing in only about four months education a year after the cotton was finally planted and plowed and before the picking began. In spite of his limited access to education, school must have inspired him, because he became determined to be a lawyer.

The Prichard family moved to Meadville, Mississippi, Franklin County’s seat, in 1899. At that time, the town did not have railroad facilities, and the nearest train stop was twenty-five miles away. The move proved significant in Lev’s life because it provided him with sufficient schooling to enable him to later enter Mississippi College, located in Clinton, Mississippi.

[Photograph at right: Prichard home in Meadville, Franklin County, Mississippi, 1902. Seated are Charles Abel Prichard and Cornelia H. Byrd, parents of Lev Prichard. The man standing is W. L. Boyd, a guest of the Prichards at the time. The young man standing is Cornelius Prichard. The girls are Mamie Prichard, left and Viola Prichard Anderson, right.]

Lev Prichard - Education

Lev H. Prichard entered Mississippi College in about 1902, and he graduated in 1906 with an A.B. degree.

After matriculating from Mississippi College, Lev attended Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, where he graduated with an LL.B. degre. (The “LL.B.” stands for “Legum Baccalaureus,” the formal Latin designation for what was once almost universally the first professional law degree in the United States, known in English as the Bachelor of Laws. The double ‘L’ is known as the reduplicative form of the plural, and continues in modern usage.)

Lev Prichard - Professional Career

In 1909, at the age of 26, Lev moved to Oklahoma City where he practiced law until 1915. During part of this period, his law partner was Joe Baily Allen. During his law practice, he represented a few small companies and gradually became involved with the oil business, which had just begun to grow rapidly in the state.

Lev’s first venture into the oil business was with W.R. Ramsey, another notable name in Oklahoman history. Up until 1919, Lev was only involved in the oil brokerage business, and was a small, independent operator.

In 1919, Lev partnered with J. Steve Anderson to form the Anderson-Prichard Oil Corporation which grew rapidly along with the burgeoning oil industry throughout the United States, with significant oil and gas production and associated revenues. In 1945, Lev bought out Anderson’s interests in the company, and Anderson was no longer involved with the corporation. Lev eventually sold off the majority of the company’s assets to an investment group, and the new company was formally incorporated in Delaware as the “APCO Oil Corporation”.

By the time he was finished in his professional career, Lev H. Prichard had become one of the best-known names in the Oklahoma oil industry. He was a member of Oklahoma City’s Rotary Club, the Oklahoma Club, the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club, the American Petroleum Institute, and a director of the Liberty National Bank.

Lev "Prich" Prichard - Personal Life

On June 26, 1906, shortly after his graduation from Mississippi College, Lev had married Louise Melton Buckley of Hickory, Mississippi. (Louise M. Prichard would go on to become notable in her own right in Oklahoma City social circles and First Baptish Church for her philanthropic work, as well as for her eventual participation in the Board of Directors for the Anderson-Prichard Oil Corporation.)

Lev and Louise had one son, Lev H. Prichard, Jr., born June 3, 1908, just prior to when they relocated the family to Oklahoma.

Lev was known by his friends as “Prich”, and in his earlier days, he was easily recognized by the derby hat he always wore, and later also by the rosebud he consistently sported in his lapels, and the gold-handled cane he carried. No matter how he felt — ill or well — if anyone asked how he was doing, he would always answer, “I’m fine!”