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W.L. Connelly (1873-1964) was a pioneer of the American oil industry, whose career spanned 73 years. He drilled his first well in 1895 in Wood County, Ohio. He did oil work in Montgomery County, Kansas from 1903-1905. In early 1906 he became associated with Harry F. Sinclair. Connelly moved to Tulsa Oklahoma with Sinclair in 1912. In 1916 he was one of the founders of Sinclair Oil and Refining Company and became president of the subsidiary Sinclair-Cudahy Pipeline Company. He moved to Houston in 1917, where he was vice president of Sinclair Gulf Oil Corporation with responsibility for operations in Mexico. Between 1922 and 1928 he was stationed in Casper, Wyoming, as president of Mammoth Oil Company. This was during the period of the Teapot Dome scandal. He was then promoted to vice president of Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corporation and president of Venezuelan Petroleum Corporation. In this capacity he oversaw operations in Mexico, Venezuela, and Africa from a base in New York City. In 1932 Sinclair Oil merged with Prairie Oil and Gas Company, and Connelly became chairman of the board (1932-1950).

William L. Connelly married Elizabeth Conlisk in Toledo, Ohio, in 1898. The couple had a daughter and a son. In 1933 he received the rank of Knight Commander of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre from Pope Pius XI. Connelly published a book on his experiences in the oil industry, "The Oil Business As I Saw It," in 1955. During his life he traveled to Europe, Russia, Turkey, South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean to pursue business, as well as to pursue his favorite hobby of fishing.