M.E. Spry

University of Texas at Austin's Briscoe Center for American History

A Guide to the Irving H. Webb Texas Surveyors Collection, 1836-1976
link to web site

Mr. Webb's collection includes a copy in box 3P328. You might check and see if it's on microfilm.

There are bootleg scans of the Spry book floating around. I will see if I can find a copy of it. As I understand, Chapter 10 looked for his heirs to get permission to reprint the book. It was believed he had a daughter, but she was no longer in the Odessa area.

Having reviewed the Spry publication for my RPLS test eleven years ago, I feel that Ken Gold adequately covers the same material that is in Spry so that if you have "Decisions", you will not be missing anything by not having read Jack's book. My opinion. Others may disagree.

Perhaps Lance Armour has a copy?

I have the book in my records that I got from my grandfather when he took the test. I do believe we may have a copy of it scanned in. I'll see what I can find on our server.

I do still have my copy of Decisions and that is another publication recommended by TSPS. Not a bad idea to check with Lance though.

Thanks Matthew.

Thanks, I will check into that as well.

The history in that book is interesting and useful for study.

However, almost all of the laws cited are out of date.

I would recommend learning more of the Texas Natural Resources Code that apply to land surveying.

Ken Gold's book is out of date also; there has been promised updates. Naturally, Spry's book
being older has more things out of date.

Could you imagine some kids at your junior college (Tyler) citing a bunch of court
cases and then a few parties on your board of registration calling them PRECEDENTS??

It wasn't chapter 10, it was me and Doug Loveday w/TSPS trying to locate Spry's family. I will email you a copy unless someone can tell me how to attach it.

Me spry, too, but not nearly as spry as me used to be. Me getting old now.

I was surprised to see the Spry book being reviewed in an LSLS seminar yesterday so I decided to do a little more searching. There are a lot more archives being scanned and put on line now. I think this is his obituary from the Odessa American Newspaper from 1968.

Marion E. (Jack) Spry, 60-year-old former Ector County surveyor and a civil engineer, died Tuesday afternoon at Medical Center Hospital after a short Illness.

Funeral services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Thursday in the Hubbard-Kelly Funeral Chapel by Rev. Joe M. Brown, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, and Rev. Sam Wayman, pastor of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

Burial will be in Sunset Memorial Gardens.

Spry formerly served as county surveyor here from 1946 to 1949. In 1948, he was an unsuccessful candidate for county judge. Spry, a civil engineer for Pillips [sic] Petroleum Co. at the time of his death, moved to Odessa in 1938 from Ottawa, Kan.

Born Sept. 24 1907, in Blairstown, Mo., he married Martha W. Halloren on June 17, 1933, at Lawrence, Kan. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church here. A 1931 graduate of the University of Kansas, Spry was a member of the Texas Surveyors Association.

Marion Jack Spry Died in 1968 and is buried in Sunset Memorial Gardens in Prairie Garden Lot 84 Space 3. (Per the front office at Sunset. They didn't know if his wife was buried next to him).

Compiled by T.A. Nold, December 16, 2025

Unfortunately, still no leads on any heirs. I also found the 1940 census records showing him as a petroleum engineer in Odessa but his wife had a different name. He was one of the founding members of the local chapter of the TSPE and I'd guess he was involved with the formation of the local chapter of the TSPS in the 1950s. I think his survey registration number was 10.

Here is a clip from the TPE magazine circa 1950s: