Oliver Gould Jennings
Oliver Gould Jennings was a financier and an heir to a fortune from Standard Oil who served in the Connecticut House of Representatives.Early life
He was born on April 27, 1865 in New York City to Oliver Burr Jennings and Esther Judson Goodsell. His maternal aunt, Almira Geraldine Goodsell, was the wife of Standard Oil co-founder William A. Rockefeller, Jr.. He attended Phillips Andover, graduated from Yale University, was an 1887 initiate into Yale's Skull and Bones Society, and later graduated from Columbia Law School.Career
Jennings served on the boards of Bethlehem Steel, United States Industrial Alcohol Company, McKesson & Robbins, Kingsport Press, Signature Company, National Fuel Gas, and Grocery Store Products.
In 1923, Jennings was elected to serve in the Connecticut House of Representatives.Personal life
In 1896, he married Mary Dows Brewster, daughter of Benjamin Brewster and Elmina Hersey Dows. They had two children:
Jennings built a forty-room French Renaissance style home called the Mailands in Fairfield, Connecticut. The building later became part of the campus of Fairfield University and was renamed McAuliffe Hall. Jennings also owned a mansion on East 72nd Street in New York City, which is now known as Oliver Gould Jennings House.
He died on October 13, 1936. His funeral was held at St. James Episcopal Church in Fairfield, Connecticut with the Rev. H. W. B. Donegan presiding. His wife died in 1964 at the age of 93.
