George Franklin Getty was an American lawyer, father of industrialist Jean Paul Getty and patriarch of the Getty family.
Background
George Franklin Getty was born in 1855 in Allegany County, Maryland to Martha Ann Wily and John Getty (1835-1861), who was the son of James Getty and the grandson of another John Getty, a Scotch Irish Presbyterian who immigrated to America and was a relative of the namesake of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Education
Eventually Getty married and attended law school in Michigan and was admitted to the Barometer
Career
However, Robert Lenzner claims in his book "The Great Getty" that Gettysburg was founded by the Gettys family, not Getty. Shortly after his birth Getty"s family moved from Maryland to Ohio where his father died in 1861. In 1884, George F. Getty moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota where he specialized in insurance and corporate law and made a good living in what was the "flour capital" of America.
In 1892, the Gettys had another child, a son, Jean (later known as J ).
In 1904, the Gettys moved from Minnesota to Oklahoma, where George began a career as an independent oilman. Within two years, he had amassed a fortune from his Minnehoma Oil Company and moved his family to Los Angeles, California.
By 1915, Jean Paul had made his first million and the following year George and Jean Paul incorporated the Getty Oil Company, later to become Getty Oil. George never approved of Jean Paul"s lifestyle.
George F. Getty died in 1930.
Jean "s eldest son, George Franklin Getty"s grandson, was named George Franklin Getty II (1924–1973), and was an executive in the Getty Oil company until his death. His residence, Getty House, was then donated to the city, and became the official residence of the serving Mayor of Los Los Angeles