Title supplied by cataloger.; Photograph was edited for publication purposes and has several tears and creases. Lucy Estelle Doheny was the daughter of Edward "Ned" Doheny, Jr., granddaughter of oil magnate Edward L. Doheny and mother of science fiction writer Larry Niven. Edward L. Doheny was born on August 10, 1856 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. After high school, he worked in mines and moved to Los Angeles in 1891. Living in near poverty, Doheny leased land and discovered oil north of Downtown Los Angeles. Doheny and his partner Charles A. Canfield soon made a fortune by drilling in the area and selling the oil to nearby factories and later by persuading railroads to switch from coal to oil as power for their trains. Doheny also became a pioneer in the Mexican oil industry. In the 1920s, Doheny was indicted in the Teapot Dome Scandal and was charged with offering a $100,000 bribe to United States Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall. He was twice acquitted of offering the bribe, but Fall was finally convicted of accepting it. Doheny was a noted philanthropist in Los Angeles, especially regarding Catholic schools and charities. He died on September 8, 1935. Edward L. "Ned" Doheny, Jr. was born on November 6, 1893 in Los Angeles. He was the son of oil magnate Edward L. Doheny. Doheny was an executive in his father's company and was expected to take charge when his father stepped down. On February 16, 1929, Doheny and his secretary Theodore Hugh Plunkett were found shot to death in Doheny's mansion in Beverly Hills. Officially ruled a murder-suicide, with Plunkett having killed Doheny, controversy surrounded the tragedy. Several theories circulated, especially after the story was out of the papers after thirty-six hours. The word was that Doheny Sr. was "too big to monkey with." It was speculated that Doheny killed Plunkett and then himself, that Doheny's wife killed both men, and that a hired gun may have been responsible. Both men had been implicated in the elder Doheny's Teapot Dome Scandal, the younger men having delivered bribe money to former secretary of the interior, Albert Fall on behalf of Doheny Sr. Plunkett was set to testify in that case. Pictured are Lucy Estelle Doheny and Edwina Hough. The women are dressed in what appear to be matching bridesmaids dresses.
Type
Image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;26 x 21 cm. Photographic prints
Doheny, Lucy Estelle Doheny, Edward L.--(Edward Laurence),--1856-1935--Family Women--California--Los Angeles Group portraits Portrait photographs Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express photographs Herald-Examiner Collection photographs
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