Robert Buckner Morris: Entrepreneur and Oil Pioneer of Texas (1861–1937)
By: Steven W. Hooper
Published: September 17, 2025
Updated: September 18, 2025
Robert Buckner Morris, entrepreneur, securities broker, oil executive, and collector of customs at the port of Galveston, was born in Houston on December 9, 1861, to prominent parents Joseph Robert Morris and Hannah Cordelia (Buckner) Morris. He had seven siblings, but two sisters died very young. Morris’s ties to Texas began in 1833 when his maternal grandfather, Benjamin P. Buckner of Kentucky, arrived on Galveston Island. Buckner owned a line of steamers that operated between New Orleans and Mississippi ports, and these vessels carried supplies to the revolutionary army during the fight for Texas independence. Buckner later moved to what is now Houston and served as chief justice of Harris County and then became the first elected mayor of Houston after Texas became a state. Morris’s father, Joseph Robert Morris, was an early civic leader of Houston and became mayor from 1868 to 1869.
Robert B. Morris attended primary school in Houston and then attended Russell Military Academy in New Haven, Connecticut. He briefly attended Yale University before returning to Houston to help his father rebuild his business after a disastrous fire in 1878. Upon the death of his father in 1885, Morris continued to operate his father's hardware store for another fifteen years until an economic panic forced him to close the business.
With only $58, Morris moved to Quanah, Texas, and soon opened a movie film service business supplying the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma. When Morris returned to Houston a few years later, he owned every movie theater in Quanah, Vernon, Childress, Wichita Falls, and Henrietta, Texas.
Upon his return to Houston, Morris entered into a securities business and became interested in the Humble oilfield located north of Houston in Humble, Texas. For twenty-one years, he devoted a large part of his energy to locating crude oil in the Humble salt dome. The Galveston Daily News reported in 1929 that with “the perseverance of several ordinary men,” Morris searched for oil in the Humble salt dome. His friends “kidded” him about his search and often referred to his property as “Morris’ salt water pond.” Eventually, Morris persuaded Hugh Roy Cullen and James Marion West to lease 100 acres near the salt dome where they sank a 5,200-foot well. They struck oil on January 2, 1929. The royalties paid to Morris from this venture made it possible for him to accumulate a sizable fortune making him one of the wealthiest men in Houston.
Morris was appointed collector of customs at Galveston by President Herbert Hoover and confirmed by the United States Senate on May 9, 1930. At the time of his appointment, Morris was the highest paid collector of customs in Texas and had a salary of $5,600 per year. He served in this position until 1934 when his term expired.
Morris married Mary James Traylor in Victoria, Texas, on June 8, 1892. They had two children, Robert Jr. and Margaret. According to his biographical sketch in the Standard Blue Book of Texas, he married Ella Mitchell in October 1910. He then married Mary Elizabeth Hecker Rencher in San Antonio on October 14, 1922.
Morris was an organizer of the Planters and Mechanics National Bank in Houston and served as its first vice president. He was a member of the Republican party and served as the Harris County chairman of the party. Morris was a Mason and a charter member of the Holland Lodge No. 1 AF&AM and a member and president general (1934–36) of the Sons of the Republic of Texas. He received the organization’s honorary knighthood in the Knights of the Order of San Jacinto. Robert Buckner Morris died at the age of seventy-five in Houston on December 7, 1937. He was buried at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston, Texas.
Bibliography:
Emory A. Bailey, Who's Who in Texas (Dallas: John B. McCraw Press, 1931). Galveston Daily News, July 28, 1929. Houston Chronicle, May 1, 1930. Houston Post, May 1, 1930; December 1, 1937. “Joseph R. Morris,” Find A Grave Memorial (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/84359909/joseph_r-morris), accessed September 9, 2025. “Robert Buckner Morris,” Find A Grave Memorial (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/78254995/robert_buckner-morris), accessed September 9, 2025. Hubert Roussel, “Customs Commodore,” The Houston Gargoyle, May 4, 1930. The Standard Blue-Book of Texas (1914–1915). Waco News-Tribune, November 9, 1932.
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The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Steven W. Hooper, “Morris, Robert Buckner,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/morris-robert-buckner.
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