Bud Roark, age 14, of White Plains, N.Y., for his question:
WHO WAS THE ORIGINAL ROCKEFELLER?
Rockefeller is one of the most famous names in American business, philanthropy and finance. Members of the family also became active and famous in politics. And i t all started with John D. Rockefeller, the son of a peddler who was born in Richmond, N.Y., in the 1839.
Born to a family with almost no money, John Davison Rockefeller became one of the world's richest men. During his lifetime, he gave away more than $550 million to various faoundati ons, universities and educational organizations. Rockefeller's contributions to the welfare of mankind form an equally important part of his record, along with his great ability to make money. He was a brilliant thinker as well as a planner. He brought these abilities to philanthropy as he previously had to business.
At the age of 14 his family moved to Cleveland where he attended high school. He started to work as a clerk in a small produce firm when he.was 1 6 and soon formed a partnerhsi p i n a grain commission house. He used the profits to enter the oil business when he was 23.
In Rockefeller's day, oil production and refining had little organization. The young businessman set out to make the industry orderly and efficient. To do this, he realized that he must establish some centralized control. Fifteen years later he achieved his goal of having the flow of oil products from producer to consumer controlled by one company: Standard Oi 1, his company.
Standard Oil, established i n 1 870, grew out of several companies owned by Rockefeller. Soon it owned refineries in Cleveland, New York City, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
Rockefeller also concentrated on the transportation and distribution of crude petroleum and its refined products. He built tank cars and distribution systems.
In 1882 Rockefeller organized the Standard Oil Trust. He then controlled almost all United States oil refining and distribution and much of the world's oil trade.
The Ohio Supreme Court caused the Standard Oil Trust to be dissolved in 1892 and a holding company, called Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, replaced the trust.
From 1895 until to 1897, Rockefeller gradually retired from active business. By that time he had started his philanthropic activities.
Rockefeller had helped found the University of Chicago in 1890. By 1910, his gifts to that school totaled more than $35 million.
Rockefeller then spent the rest of his life establishing the foundations which gave much of his money to the public. He died i n 1 937.
Rockefeller had only one son: John D. Rockefeller Jr. This man extended the philanthropic work started by his father, donated $8.5 million to buy land in New York City for the United Nations headquarters, and also built the New York landmark called Rockefeller center.
One of the many sons of John D. Rockefeller Jr. was Nelson A Rockefeller, the man who served as governor of New York and as Vice President of the United States under Gerald Ford.