William Rhodes Davis

William Rhodes Davis (February 10, 1889 – August 1, 1941) was a United States businessman whose oil interests involved him in furthering the strategic interests of Nazi Germany.

Early years

Davis was born in Montgomery, Alabama, on February 10, 1889, into a family of limited means. His father was a policeman. He claimed to be a relative of Cecil Rhodes on his mother's side and of Jefferson Davis on his father's side, assertions which remain unproven. He held menial positions on railroad trains and eventually became a locomotive engineer.

His career in the oil industry began in 1913 when he organized a small company in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and became a "wildcatter". He volunteered for the U.S. Army during World War I and was discharged as a second lieutenant in 1920. He saw action in France and later claimed to have been wounded, though the only injuries he received occurred when he jumped from a moving train. He worked as an oil broker in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and late in the 1920s was party to a complicated conflict between several independent oilmen and Standard Oil that revolved around settling thousands of colonists on land in Peru.

William Rhodes

William Rhodes may refer to:

Sportsmen

Businessmen and Politicians

William Rhodes (Canadian politician)

William Rhodes (November 29, 1821 – February 16, 1892) was a soldier, farmer and political figure in Quebec. He represented Mégantic in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from 1854 to 1858 as a Reformer and in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1888 to 1890 as a Liberal.

He was born at Bramhope Hall in Yorkshire, England, the son of William Rhodes and Ann Smith. Rhodes entered the British Army in 1838 and served in Canada East from 1842 to 1844. In 1847, he retired from the army as a captain and settled near Sillery, Canada East. In the same year, he married Anne Catherine Dunn, who was the granddaughter of Thomas Dunn and Mathew Bell. Rhodes was one of the founders of the Union Bank of Lower Canada. He was president of the Quebec Bridge Company, the North Shore Railway, the Quebec and Trois-Pistoles Railway and the Quebec and Richmond Railway. Rhodes was also president of the Quebec Geographical Society, a justice of the peace and a lieutenant in the militia. He served in the Quebec cabinet as Commissioner of Agriculture and Colonization. Rhodes was defeated when he ran for reelection in 1890. He died at home in Sillery at the age of 70.

William Rhodes (rugby league born c. 1900)

William "Billy" Rhodes was a Welsh professional rugby league footballer of the 1920s playing at representative level for Wales, and at club level for Pontypridd, and Warrington, as a wing, i.e. number 2 or 5.

International honours

Rhodes won a cap for Wales while at Pontypridd in 1926.

References

External links