William Larimer Mellon, Sr.

William Larimer Mellon Sr. (June 1, 1868 – October 9, 1949), sometimes referred to as W. L., was an American businessman who was active in Republican Party politics. A co-founder of Gulf Oil, he was a member of the prominent Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. According to The Miami News, "Politically, Mellon was known as the 'field marshal' for the Mellon political forces in the days preceding the New Deal. Formative years and family Born as William Larimer Mellon in Pittsburgh on June 1, 1868, William L. Mellon was a son of James Ross Mellon and Rachel Larimer. His father was the second son of Judge Thomas Mellon, and his mother was a daughter of railroad and land baron William Larimer Jr. After spending part of his childhood in the West with his uncle Andrew Mellon, who deeply influenced him, William L. Mellon married Mary Hill Taylor. They had four children: Matthew Taylor Mellon I, PhD (1897-1992), who was an American Studies professor at the University of Freiburg from 1928 to 1939; Rachel Mellon Walton (1899-2006), a philanthropist who became the longest serving board member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; Margaret Mellon Hitchcock (1901-1998), and William Larimer Mellon Jr., MD (1910-1989), a physician and humanitarian who established a medical mission in Haiti.