Great Personalities

John D. Rockefeller

John Davison Rockefeller was an American industrialist and philanthropist. As founder of the Standard Oil Company, he amassed such a fortune that the Rockefeller name came to stand for wealth and power. He was born near Richford, New York, on July 8, 1839, the second of six children. In 1853 the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio. After mandatory school, at 16, he worked as an accountant for a grocer in Cleveland. There, he gave the greatest satisfaction to his employer by his diligence. He was the kind of accountant that saw everything and forgot nothing. Rockefeller did not forget these early experiences when he came to run his own business

His family

In 1863, Rockefeller bought an interest in an oil refining company. The following year he married Laura Celetia Spelman. They had three daughters- Bessie, Edith and Alta - and one son, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (1874-1960).

The Oil Company

In 1870 he founded the Standard Oil Company with his brother William and three other partners. By the 1880’s the business had grown into one of the largest and richest manufacturing concerns in the world. Its large combination of companies, called a trust, almost monopolized the oil business. In 1911 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Standard Oil Company was a monopoly in restraint of trade and ordered it broken up. It was replaced by 38 separate companies.

Down to earth

In spite of his great wealth, Rockefeller lived a simple, thrift life. He seldom went to the theatre or concerts and paid little attention to clothes or food. One of his favourite dishes was bread and milk.
He received so many requests for gifts that four organizations were set up to help give his money to worthy causes- the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, the General Education Board, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial. He also founded the University of Chicago. Once, he had said, “Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient to become independent of it.”

Death

Rockefeller died at the age of 97 on May 23, 1937, in Ormond, Florida. He was buried in Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio.

-The New Book of Knowledge