Biography of rockefeller

ROCKEFELLER, JOHN D. (8 July May ), industrialist and philanthropist, rose from his position as an assistant bookkeeper for a Cleveland commission merchant to become one of the wealthiest men in the U.S. through his efforts in developing the STANDARD OIL CO. Born on a farm near Richford, NY. Rockefeller was the son of Wm. A. and Eliza Davison Rockefeller. He came to the Cleveland area with his family in , settling in STRONGSVILLE. Boarding in Cleveland, he attended CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL from After additional courses at a business college, he became assistant bookkeeper for commission merchants Henry B. Tuttle and Isaac L. Hewitt in Sept. In Mar. , Rockefeller and Maurice B. Clark established their own commission business, which prospered during the CIVIL WAR.

In , Rockefeller entered the oil business, and in left the commission business to work full-time in oil. He organized Standard Oil Co. as its largest stockholder in , directing the company until he retired in , but retaining the title of president until By , Rockefeller was worth about $18 million. He was also involved in other business ventures, holding stock in the Cleveland Arcade Co., and in building the ROCKEFELLER BLDG. Rockefeller's business dealings necessitated increasingly more time in New York; he bought a home there in and eventually made that his legal residence. Nevertheless he maintained 2 homes in Cleveland and continued to summer at FOREST HILL until a tax dispute with local officials in His summer stays were usually short enough for him to avoid becoming liable for taxes, but his wife's illness had forced the Rockefellers to extend their stay in When the Rockefellers remained at Forest Hill past the February 1, , tax deadline, county officials assessed Rockefeller with a tax bill of $ million, which Rockefeller refused to pay. During the dispute, Rockefeller was under a subpoena that prevented him from entering Ohio. After the dispute was resolved, Rockefeller con

John D. Rockefeller: Early Years and Family

John Davison Rockefeller, the son of a traveling salesman, was born on July 8, , in Richford, New York. Industrious even as a boy, the future oil magnate earned money by raising turkeys, selling candy and doing jobs for neighbors. In , the Rockefeller family moved to the Cleveland, Ohio, area, where John attended high school before briefly studied bookkeeping at a commercial college.

In , at age 16, he found work as an office clerk at a Cleveland commission firm that bought, sold and shipped grain, coal and other commodities. (He considered September 26, the day he started the position and entered the business world, so significant that as an adult he commemorated this “job day” with an annual celebration.) In , Rockefeller and a partner established their own commission firm. That same year, America’s first oil well was drilled in Titusville, Pennsylvania. In , Rockefeller and several partners entered the booming new oil industry by investing in a Cleveland refinery.

In , Rockefeller married Laura Celestia “Cettie” Spelman (), an Ohio native whose father was a prosperous merchant, politician and abolitionist active in the Underground Railroad. (Laura Rockefeller became the namesake of Spelman College, the historically black women’s college in Atlanta, Georgia, that her husband helped finance.) The Rockefellers went on to have five children, four daughters (three of whom survived to adulthood) and one son: John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Edith Rockefeller McCormick, Elizabeth Rockefeller Strong, Alta Rockefeller Prentice and Alice Rockefeller, who died when she was 13 months old.

John D. Rockefeller: Standard Oil

John Davison Rockefeller (JDR) was the guiding force behind the creation and development of the Standard Oil Company, which grew to dominate the oil industry and became one of the first big trusts in the United States, thus engendering much controversy and opposition regarding its business practices and form of organization. JDR also was one of the first major philanthropists in the United States, establishing several important foundations and donating a total of $ million to charitable endeavors.

John D. Rockefeller was born on July 8, , on farm in Richford, New York, the second of the six children of William A. and Eliza Davison Rockefeller. The family lived in modest circumstances. When he was a boy, his family moved often, arriving in Ohio in JDR attended Central High School in Cleveland and joined the Erie Street Baptist Church, which later became the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church. Active in its affairs, he became a trustee of the church at the age of

JDR left high school in to take a business course at Folsom Mercantile College. He completed the six-month course in three months and became the assistant bookkeeper with Hewitt & Tuttle, a small firm of commission merchants and produce shippers. A few months later he was promoted to cashier and bookkeeper.

In , with $1, he had saved and another $1, borrowed from his father, JDR formed a partnership in the commission business with Maurice B. Clark. That same year, the first oil well was drilled at Titusville in western Pennsylvania, giving rise to the petroleum industry. Cleveland soon became a major refining center of the booming new industry, and in Rockefeller and Clark entered the oil business as refiners. Together with Samuel Andrews, they built and operated an oil refinery, Andrews, Clark & Co. The firm also continued in the commission business, but in the partners disagreed about the management of their business affairs and decided to sell the refinery to the partner

American business magnate (–)

For other people named John D. Rockefeller, see John D. Rockefeller (disambiguation).

John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, – May 23, ) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest Americans of all time and one of the richest people in modern history. Rockefeller was born into a large family in Upstate New York who moved several times before eventually settling in Cleveland, Ohio. He became an assistant bookkeeper at age 16 and went into several business partnerships beginning at age 20, concentrating his business on oil refining. Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company in He ran it until and remained its largest shareholder. In his retirement, he focused his energy and wealth on philanthropy, especially regarding education, medicine, higher education, and modernizing the Southern United States.

Rockefeller's wealth soared as kerosene and gasoline grew in importance, and he became the richest person in the country, controlling 90% of all oil in the United States at his peak in Oil was used in lamps, and as a fuel for ships and automobiles. Standard Oil was the greatest business trust in the United States. Through use of the company's monopoly power, Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and, through corporate and technological innovations, was instrumental in both widely disseminating and drastically reducing the production cost of oil.

Rockefeller's company and business practices