Lewis Henry Lapham

Lewis Henry Lapham was an American businessman and entrepreneur who made a fortune consolidating smaller business in the leather industry. He was also one of the co-founders of the oil brand Texaco, Inc. then Texaco Oil Company.

Biography

Lapham was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Samantha Lapham and Henry Griffith Lapham, who were second cousins. The Laphams built their fortune as leather merchants, strategically consolidating smaller tanning businesses into larger enterprises, including the United States Leather Co.
He built Waveny House in New Canaan, Connecticut, as a summer residence for his family to escape the heat of New [York City]. The mansion and property are now a public park and arts center in New Canaan.
Lapham was the husband of Antoinette N. Lapham, the father of San Francisco mayor Roger D. Lapham, and Ruth Lloyd, a singer and mother of seven children from her marriage including Samuel Lloyd, who died in 2017, the grandfather of actor Christopher Lloyd and banking executive Lewis A. Lapham, and the great-grandfather of both Lewis H. Lapham and Sam Lloyd.
Lapham's children included Roger D. Lapham, who was noted for his investments in shipping.