Lucius Payne Bennett, known by friends as L.P., married Flora Ruth Smith on December 21, 1898. The Bennetts started ranching early on, moving 500 head of cattle to a ranch in Yoakum County in 1914.
The couple had eight children while living on the ranch. In 1924, the family moved to Lubbock and then to Abilene in 1927 so they could be near the older children while they attended high school and college. Six of the eight Bennett children graduated from ACU.
In 1929, the Depression hit, bringing hard times for the Bennett family. Banks and other lenders demanded the payback of loans the Bennetts had taken out, and since the Bennetts used land as collateral, they advertised the sale of 8,320 acres of the Bennetts’ land on Oct. 1, 1935.
L.P. prayed "that something would happen to save the ranch," and the next day that something happened. On Sept. 27, 1935, a drilling rig on the Bennett ranch struck oil. The great Wasson Oil Field, one of the largest in the world, had just been tapped.
With his new found wealth, L.P. helped finance the first church building in Denver City in 1941 and supported a new building for the College Church of Christ in Abilene.
The Bennetts became some of the first major donors to ACU. L.P. was elected to the ACU Board of Trustees in 1940 and served as vice president 1951, the year the college first became accredited. The university named its new gymnasium in honor of L.P. and Ruth Bennett.
Before Ruth passed in 1949, the Bennetts had donated 1,603 acres of land plus mineral rights to ACU. In a note L.P. left behind he said, "What better service can we render than make it possible that our young men and women can develop their hearts and minds for a life of Christian service."
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