Wallace Libby Hardison (August 26, 1850 – April 10, 1909) was a co-founder of the

Union Oil Company of California Union Oil Company of California, and its holding company Unocal Corporation, together known as Unocal was a major petroleum explorer and marketer in the late 19th century, through the 20th century, and into the early 21st century. It was headqu ...

, later known as

Unocal Union Oil Company of California, and its holding company Unocal Corporation, together known as Unocal was a major petroleum explorer and marketer in the late 19th century, through the 20th century, and into the early 21st century. It was headqu ...

. Hardison was born in

Caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

Aroostook County, Maine Aroostook County ( ; french: Comté d'Aroostook) is a county in the U.S. state of Maine along the Canada–U.S. border. As of the 2020 census, the population was 67,105. Its county seat is Houlton, with offices in Caribou and Fort Kent. Kno ...

, the youngest of eleven children. He followed his brother, James Henry Hardison, to the oil fields of

Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...

. At first, they worked as field hands, but eventually befriended Milton and

Lyman Stewart Lyman Stewart (July 22, 1840 – September 28, 1923) was a U.S. businessman and co-founder of Union Oil Company of California, which eventually became Unocal. Stewart was also a significant Christian philanthropist and cofounder of the Bible Insti ...

. Wallace Hardison also co-founded

Limoneira Limoneira (Portuguese for "Lemon Tree") is a public limited agribusiness and real estate development company based in Santa Paula, California, United States. The Company's operations mainly consist of production, sales and marketing of citrus an ...

a lemon processing company.

Union Oil Company of California

After

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...

had effectively taken control of the Western Pennsylvania oil fields, Hardison and

went to

Santa Paula Santa Paula (Spanish for " St. Paula") is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. Situated amid the orchards of the Santa Clara River Valley, the city advertises itself to tourists as the "Citrus Capital of the World". Santa Pau ...

Ventura County Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises the Oxnar ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

in 1883 to develop newly discovered

oil field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...

s there. The original venture was called Hardison & Stewart Oil Company. A few years later, Stewart and Hardison joined forces with

Thomas Bard Thomas Robert Bard (December 8, 1841March 5, 1915) was an American political leader in California who assisted in the organization of Ventura County and represented the state in the United States Senate from 1900 to 1905 as a Republican. He is kn ...

and Paul Calonico to form the

. Hardison eventually sold out his share of Union Oil and invested a portion of the proceeds to form Inca Mining Company, which controlled a

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

vian gold mine called the Santo Domingo.

Death

Wallace Hardison was killed when his car was struck by a train in Roscoe near Sun Valley, Los Angeles.Porter, Florence Collins & Trask, Helen Brown, eds. (1913)
''Maine Men and Women in Southern California''
p. 78. Kingsley, Mason & Collins Company. in 1909.

References

American businesspeople in the oil industry Businesspeople from California Founders of the petroleum industry Union Oil Company of California 1850 births 1909 deaths People from Caribou, Maine {{US-business-bio-1850s-stub 19th-century American businesspeople Railway accident deaths in the United States Road incident deaths in California