Equity Firm Co-Owner Kneeland Youngblood Sues Oil Company For $900M Over Land On Behalf Of Enslaved Ancestors

Victory for descendants sets a precedent for equitable land ownership.

The founder of a Black-owned equity firm is suing one of America’s largest oil firms on behalf of his enslaved ancestors, the Daily Mail reported. Kneeland Youngblood, co-founder of Pharos Capital Group, has filed a lawsuit against ConocoPhillips for $900 million for allegedly keeping money from him and his family for the property – a 14.77 acre tract of land – in Texas that he claims was bought by his freed slaved ancestors. The land in question is 60 miles southeast of San Antonio and could be worth millions. The lawsuit is on behalf of Youngblood’s great-great-grandfather’s descendants for royalty payouts.

According to the suit, the oil giant ignored the Youngblood claim of the land and decided to side with another family, listed as the Korths. The firm signed with the Korth family in order to streamline oil royalty payments and allegedly cut Youngblood completely out of the equation.

Disputes over the land date back to a period after the Civil War. Youngblood’s great-great-grandfather, Louis Eckford, bought the land in Karnes County in 1889 after he and his wife were freed from slavery. Following his death in 1896, his half passed on to his wife, Eliza, while the rest went to their nine kids. When Eliza died, a well-known white money lender, named Fritz Korth, took over her interest in the property as repayment for a $300 loan. The loan was secured by a deed of trust on the land.

Now, both sides are fighting for their legacy on the land as Korth family descendants claim he bought her children’s shares as well.

Fritz paid $735.50 for the land in 1939 after none of Eliza’s children claimed the land after her death, essentially passing control of the tract to the Korths. As of 2023, the family runs a cattle operation on the ranch. Two-hundred Eckford descendants, including Youngblood, have never profited from the land.

Decades later in 2008, ConocoPhillips approached the Kroths to begin drilling for crude oil. The company then acquired leases with the family and signed leases with some of the Eckford heirs. Since 2011, when Youngblood’s family first heard about the plot of land, the former emergency room doctor has been formally trying to establish his family’s shared ownership rights.

According the Daily Beast, Youngblood said in an interview with The Wall Street Street Journal that the fight is about legacy.

“This is about legacy,” Youngblood said. He continued to say that the outcome of this fight “for many of my relatives, it could be transformative.”

A Texas jury confirmed during the summer of 2023 that the Youngblood’s family were the rightful co-owners of the oil-rich land. Youngblood describes the victory as win, especially for other Black families who may have missed out on the benefits from Texan land that has been dispossessed in the last century.

ConocoPhillips has denied any wrongdoing in court filings.