Howard Robard Hughes (1869-1924)

He was born in rural Lancaster, Missouri, but his father's gradual success saw him accepted to read law at Harvard. Much to his father's disappointment, he dropped out after a year and returned to Iowa to pursue his passion for inventing and after a string of failures mining in Colorado and Missouri he settled in Houston and established the Hughes Tool Company. He invented the 64-tooth two-cone roller bit that is still used today to cut through hard rock while drilling for oil and petroleum. Having had it patented in 1909, this made his fortune (he died a millionaire at the age of 54) but made his son an even greater fortune during the Texas oil boom in the 1930s and beyond. In 1904, he married Allene Gano, grand-daughter of Confederate General Richard Montgomery Gano, the great-grandson of the Rev. John Gano, Chaplain to the Continental Army etc. Their only son, Howard Hughes, was the legendary aviation pioneer etc. who from 1960 to 1976 was considered to be the richest man in the States.