“Perseverance and sweet oil”

“Perseverance and sweet oil” seems like a Texas way of doing things, but this phrase dates from at least the mid-19th century.
 
 
Google Books
History of the Express Business
by Alexander Lovett Stimson
New York: Baker & Godwin
1881
Pg. 182:
“But patience, perseverance and sweet oil,
Make all things work agreeably to Hoyle.” 
 
Making of America
March 1854, Putnam’s Monthly Magazine, pg. 302:
...nevertheless, “patience, perseverance, and sweet oil” will, in time, cure this and all other absurdities and evils in Missouri, or under the sun.
 
29 April 1859, Daily Columbus Enquirer (Columbus, GA), pg. 3:
A little time and lubrication—perseverance and sweet oil, will overcome all the difficulty.
[Lou. Jour.
 
7 December 1952, Dallas Morning News, part 1, pg. 23:
For many months, perseverance and sweet oil, to use an old Texas phrase, have been used with manufacturers of tubular goods.