Edward Doheny
| Edward L. Doheny | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Edward Laurence Doheny August 10, 1856 Fond du Lac, Wisconsin |
| Died | September 8, 1935 (aged 79) Los Angeles, California |
| Occupation |
Miner Prospector Driller Businessman Philanthropist |
| Spouse(s) | Carrie Louella Wilkins Carrie Estelle Betzold |
| Children | Eileen Doheny Edward L. (Ned) Doheny, Jr. |
Edward Laurence Doheny /doʊˈhiːni/ (August 10, 1856 – September 8, 1935) was a California oil tycoon who, in 1892, drilled the first successful oil well in the Los Angeles City Oil Field. His success set off a petroleum boom in Southern California, and made him a fortune when, in 1902, he sold his properties.
He then began highly profitable oil operations in Tampico, Mexico, drilling the first well in the nation in 1901. He expanded operations during the Mexican Revolution, and opened large new oil fields in Mexico's "golden belt" inland from Tampico. His holdings developed as the Pan American Petroleum & Transport Company, one of the largest oil companies in the world in the 1920s.
In the 1920s, Doheny was implicated in the Teapot Dome Scandal and accused of offering a $100,000 bribe to United States Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall. Doheny was twice acquitted of offering the bribe, but Fall was convicted of accepting it. Doheny and his second wife and widow, Carrie Estelle, were noted philanthropists in Los Angeles, especially regarding Catholic schools, churches and charities. The character J. Arnold Ross in Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil! (the inspiration for the 2007 film There Will Be Blood) is loosely based on Doheny.
Edward L. Doheny was born in 1856 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin to Patrick "Pat" and Eleanor Elizabeth "Ellen" (née Quigley) Doheny. The family was Irish Catholic. His father was born in Ireland, and fled Tipperary in the wake of the Great Famine. Patrick tried whaling after reaching Labrador. His mother was born in St. Johns, Newfoundland, and was a school teacher. After Patrick and Ellen married and moved to Wisconsin, Doheny's father became a construction laborer and gardener.
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