The life of John D. Rockefeller was filled with silence and mystery. He owned one of the largest businesses of his time, yet there are many questions about him that still haven’t been answered. Attempts at tracing Rockefeller’s family roots have traced his family all the way back to ninth-century France, to a family by the name Roqufeuilles. Johann Peter Rockefeller immigrated to Philadelphia around 1723 with his kids and wife and moved to Amwell, NJ. They were obviously successful farmers who held large landholdings. After a decade Johann’s cousin, Diell, immigrated to Germantown, New York from southwest Germany. Diell’s granddaughter, Christina married her distant relative William. Their son, Godfrey Rockefeller, was the grandfather of John …show more content…
Rockefeller. Godfrey married Lucy Avery in Massachusetts. Godfrey enjoyed moderate success as a farmer and businessman. From 1832-1834 Godfrey and Lucy packed up everything and moved out west. The Rockefellers took their right as an American to move everything in an attempt to better their lives. During the construction of the Eerie Canal in the 1820s, droves of settlers began swarming into the wilderness areas of western New York. Godfrey once again packed up his family and began the journey to the territory, walking most of the way. When they finally reached their destination, Richford, New York, they were the owners of sixty acres. According to family legend, Godfrey walked up to the properties peak and said mournfully, “This is as close as we shall ever get to Michigan.” Rockefeller himself was born on July 8th, 1839 in Richford, Virginia.
There were three children in Rockefeller’s family Lucy, William, and of course John. All three of them had been born in Richford. Photos of John early in his life show a grim face lacking any expression. In what appeared to be a sudden turnaround in demeanor as John got older he found himself to be attracted and drawn to church. The church John went to as a young boy gave people some insight into his mind, personality, and character. John shared religion with his mother, who found comfort herself in the Bible. Rockefeller was not a fast learner. He was slow at learning, but he was very consistent. Rockefeller later commented about his learning as saying, “I was not an easy student, and I had to apply myself diligently to prepare my lessons.” Rockefeller and his student only attended school for thirty weeks a year, they needed time to work on the farm as well. The school house that he had lessons in a single room building. The discipline at the school was very harsh, especially when compared to today’s standards. If a student misbehaved in class the teacher would hold a slate over the student’s head. Even though Rockefeller went on to accomplish many great things, he lacked any sort of drive or motivation in school. While other students were competing with each other for gold stars and seeking the approval of others, Rockefeller was indifferent to the opinions of others and the school in
general. Rockefeller began searching for a job at sixteen years old. He faced disappointment every time. His first opportunity was with Hewitt and Tuttle, commission merchants and produce shippers in Cleveland. He walked into their office on September 26th, 1855 and after an interview, was told to come back after lunch. When Rockefeller returned from lunch, he was interviewed by Issac L. Hewitt. Issac decided to take a chance on Rockefeller and hired him as an assistant bookkeeper. Although Hewitt and Tuttle was a modest operation, it proved as a training ground for an aspiring businessman such as Rockefeller. Hewitt and Tuttle also used two new technological inventions that were boosting the American economy. Rockefeller stated that “My eyes were opened to the business of transportation.” No experience was wasted on Rockefeller and on the last day of 1855 he received $50 for three months work. This equates to roughly $0.50 a day. Shortly after, Rockefeller’s wage was raised to $300 a year. This was Rockefeller’s first big raise, oddly enough he felt guilty about it. Rockefeller reflected on his years at Hewitt and Tuttle as a time “drenched in sentimental syrup that only grew thicker and sweeter with time.” After spending his beginning years at Hewitt and Tuttle, Rockefeller paired up with his neighbor Maurice Clark. Each man chipped in $2,000 to start up a company. Clark and Rockefeller, as the business was named, was welcomed in the community and was extremely successful the first year of business. It netted $4,400, which was triple what Rockefeller made at Hewitt and Tuttle. On April 1st, 1859 George W. Gander joined Clark and Rockefeller. Rockefeller’s name was subsequently dropped from the name of the company, which was renamed Clark, Gander, and Company. Rockefeller wasn’t eager to express anger so he pretended to be ok with the name change. By 1862 the Civil war was underway and the profits of the company soared to $17,000. At the end of 1862, Rockefeller terminated Gardner from the company and erased any evidence of him ever being there, renaming the company Clark and Rockefeller. Before oil was struck in Pennsylvania, it had been oozing up and marketed by Samuel Kier as “Rock Oil”. With claims that it would cure liver complaints, bronchitis, and various other ailments. In the 1850’s George Bissel founded the Pennsylvania Rock Oil company and bought land to attempt to gain access to oil in commercial quantities. On August 28th, 1859 Drake struck oil, it began bubbling up from a well drilled a day before. He had found a way to extract oil in a controlled manner. With this discovery, Rockefeller and Clark soon made a new company, Andrews, Clark and Co., Rockefeller was in the oil business. Later on Rockefeller and Clark would separate due to a clash of personalities. In 1865, Rockefeller decided it was time to battle Clark and ended up buying his company for $72,500. Rockefeller was self-invented and had extreme faith in his own judgement. Rockefeller once told Henry Ford that he would see him again in heaven. In early 1937 Rockefeller was very close to heaven. His body was weak, but his mind was still very lucid. His son mentioned that he had been doing better that day than in the past years. Before the day was over on May 2, 1937 Rockefeller passed away of cardiac arrest that sent him into a coma. Rockefeller had given away most of his wealth. He left behind an estate of $26.4 million.
Daniel Oduntan Linda Graham HIST 1302 30 October 2017 Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858 in New York City, New York in the United States. Theodore was the second child of four children in a wealthy, upper-class family. Theodore’s father was a businessman and philanthropist. Theodore’s mother was also born into an affluent family.
It's said that before John D. Rockefeller died, "he gave away about $550,000,000 to charity, more than any other American before him had ever possessed" (98). His money went to schools, churches and also "paid teams of scientists who found cures for yellow fever, meningitis, and hookworm"(97).
Rockefeller was the son of a trader, and began in the oil company when he was 20. He knew this was the area to invest in, because coal was being replaced by oil in the power industries. By 1870, he had his first oil business, called the Standard Oil Company. Like Carnegie, Rockefeller used horizontal integration and within two years, he had also created a monopoly. He made more money because he paid his workers extremely low wages and treated them poorly. Unlike Carnegie who offered his workers benefits and stock options, Rockefeller gave his workers poor conditions and even abused them at times. Even though Rockefeller was a philanthropist and gave a lot of his money away, that does not make up for how he treated other people and put people out of business to become wealthy. He is best known for a robber baron because he simply used his power to destroy other businesses. He did whatever he could to control the oil industry, even if that meant stepping on others on the way to his success. He reduced the costs of his company, and he was then able to drive other companies out of business, which is how he became one of the richest men in history.
Matthew Josephson agreed that Rockefeller was indeed a "robber baron". In the book Taking Sides, he claims that Rockefeller was a deceptive and conspiratorial businessman, whose fortune was built by secret agreements and wrung concessions from America's leading railroad companies (Taking Sides 25). When John D. Rockefeller merged with the railroad companies, he had gained control of a strategic transportation route that no other companies would be able to use. Rockefeller would then be able to force the hand on the railroads and was granted a rebate on his shipments of oil. This was a kind of secret agreement between the two industries.
Another questionable hard workingman is that of John Davison Rockefeller. Rockefeller was born in R...
Many people consider Rockefeller a robber of industry because of his forcible ways of gaining his monopolies. Rockefeller was fond of buying out small and large competitors. If the competitors refused to sell they often found Rockefeller cutting the prices of his Standard Oil or in the worst cases, their factories mysteriously blowing up. Rockefeller was obsessed with controlling the oil market and used many of undesirable tactics to flush his competitors out of the market. Rockefeller was also a master of the rebate game. He was one of the most dominant controllers of the railroads. He was so good at the rebate that at some times he skillfully commanded the rail road to pay rebates to his standard oil company on the traffic of other competitors. He was able to do this because his oil traffic was so high that he could make or break a section of a railroad a railroad company by simply not running...
These industrialists are the pillars of the American society due to the successful outcomes of their hard works. Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller were both born in an underprivileged families. Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller became the breadwinner of the family at a young age. They both worked hard despite of being born to a
Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller: Captains of industry, or robber barons? True, Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller may have been the most influential businessmen of the 19th century, but was the way they conducted business proper? To fully answer this question, we must look at the following: First understand how Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller changed the market of their industries. Second, look at the similarities and differences in how both men achieved dominance.
An interesting chief of justice is John Roberts. Reason for this being is that he has participated in many important case in which have related to the violation of the first amendment. Chief Justice Roberts has had a successful start to his career and will be known for his very interesting cases and arguments.
Name of serial killer: My serial killer is named Richard Chase. He was also known as the “Vampire of Sacramento” or the “Dracula Killer”.
To begin the look at Rockefeller’s life, let’s look back to his birth. John D. Rockefeller was born on July 8th, 1839 to Eliza and William Avery Rockefeller in Richmond, New York and was the eldest of his other 4 siblings; Lucy, William Jr., Mary and Franklin. John’s parents could easi...
John D. Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839 in Rickford, New York. He grew up in a very poor family. His father was William Avery Rockefeller. He claimed to be a doctor, who for $25 would cure various diseases. His mother was Eliza Davison Rockefeller. She was the role model who taught Rockefeller his values and morals (Poole). John Rockefeller was the second child. Altogether he had five brothers and sisters (Outman 139). As a child he was very business smart. At the young age of 12 he loaned $50 to a famer. He charged a 7% interest. When he was older he said this about the business deal, “The impression was gaining ground with me that it was a good thing to let money be my servant and not make myself a slave to money” (Poole).
St. John Rivers exhibits all of the qualities of a respectable Victorian man. His father "was a plain man enough; but a gentleman, and of as ancient a family as could be found" (Bronte 383). St. John's father, although a gentleman, had lost a great deal of money "by a man he had trusted turning bankrupt" (384). In short, St. John's station in life is one of a gentleman, although he lacks an inheritance of any kind. As he describes himself to Jane, "since I am poor and obscure, I can offer you but a service of poverty and obscurity... for I find that, when I have paid my father's debts, all the patrimony remaining to me will be this crumbling grange" (395-396). St. John sees his financial situation as a virtue. It is obvious that his financial situation does not distress him; he still goes to college and becomes a minister. In his account of his personal life he leaves out nothing. His past is known, an...
John D. Rockefeller, born on July 8, 1839, has had a huge impact on the course of American history, his reputation spanning from being a ruthless businessperson to a thoughtful philanthropist (Tarbell 41). He came from a family with not much and lived the American dream, rising to success through his own wit and cunning, riding on the backs of none. His legacy is huge, amassing the greatest private wealth of any American in history. Rockefeller’s influence on our country has been both a positive and a negative one, he donated huge sums of money to various public institutions and revolutionized the petroleum industry. Along with all the positives to the country, Rockefeller also had many negative affects as well, including, by gaining his riches by means of a monopoly, often using illegal methods, by giving others a reason to frown upon capitalism, and by hurting smaller businesses.
Ford Jr. was born Leslie Lynch King Jr. on July 14, 1913, in Omaha, Nebraska, but kept neither his name nor his hometown for long. In just weeks, he was whisked away by his mother, Dorothy Ayer Gardner, to her parents' home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A plucky woman who would not tolerate abuse, she divorced his father, Leslie Lynch King Sr., within the year, and less than three years later, was married to Gerald Rudolff Ford, a local paint company salesman, from whence "Jerry" Jr. got his name—although it was not made legal until he was 22 years old.