John Davison Rockefeller is a man of many mysteries, some argue that he is a
vicious, cold-blooded, money-crazed politician, while others view him as an evangelical
philanthropist. Determining his contribution to America would be like saying: " Hitler
may have killed off 6 million accounted Jews, but he still helped the cause of millions
and millions of Germans." Or like saying, "Nike sets up sweatshops but we get shoes
cheap." J.D Rockefeller did much for this world but only so that he could receive it
tenfold, would that then be considered philanthropy or propaganda?
John Davison Rockefeller was born to William Avery Rockefeller and Eliza
Davison in Richford, New York July 8, 1839. In 1853, at the age of 15, John entered high
school in Cleveland, Ohio. He left high school in 1855 to take a 6-month business course
at Folsom Mercantile College, which he completed in 3 months, and 6 weeks after, was
hired by Hewitt & Tuttle as an apprentice bookkeeper.
John D. Rockefeller founded the University of Chic...
John D. Rockefeller's painting by John Singer Sarg...
English: John D. Rockefeller (left) and his son Jo...John and his comrade Maurice
Clark decided to leave Hewitt and Tuttle in 1859 and formed a produce commission
Business (vegetable imports.) It wasn't until 1863 though that Rockefeller had made his
mark, when he invested in an oil refinery with chemist, Samuel Andrews.
Rockefeller married Laurie Celestia Spelman on September 8, 1864 in Cleveland.
Rockefeller and his wife produced 5 children:
The eldest daughter, Bessie (1866-1906), married Charles Strong, a philosopher.
The second daughter, Alice (1869-1870), died in infancy. Alta (1871-1962), married E.
Parmalee Prentice, a lawyer. The youngest daughter, Edith (1872-1932), married Harold
Fowler McCormick, a friend of John, Jr., and son of Cyrus McCormack, inventor of the
mechanical harvesting reaper. His only son, John D., Jr. (1874-1960), married the
daughter of the most powerful leader in the Senate, Nelson W. Aldrich, and eventually...