Edward L. Doheny
Edward Laurence Doheny was a Californian 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.
Edward L. Doheny was born in 1856 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin to Patrick Pat and Eleanor Elizabeth Ellen 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, Dohenys father became a construction laborer and gardener.
Source: Wikipedia