rockefeller Essays (780 words) - Rockefeller Family,

Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839 in Richford, New York. He married Laura C. Spelman (1839-1915) on September 8, 1864. His mother, Eliza Davison Rockefeller, was very religious and disciplined, she was the person who taught him to work hard, save and give to charities. Rockefeller's mother had the biggest influence on him involving his religion and philanthropy. John D. Rockefellers father, William Avery Rockefeller, was a pitch man or a doctor that says he can cure cancers for a fee. John and Laura Rockefeller had four girls and one boy. The one boy they did have, John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (1874-1960), went on to continue his father's work and make the Rockefeller name a well-liked one instead of one that was a bitter reminder of his father's business techniques. Rockefeller attended Folsom's Commercial College for ten weeks where he studied single and double entry bookkeeping, penmanship, commercial history, mercantile customs, banking and exchange to help him get a job. He never attended any other type of school after attending Folsom's Commercial College. Standard Oil was founded in 1870 by Rockefeller, William Rockefeller, Henry Flagler, Samuel Andrews, Stephen Harkness and O.B. Jennings, but John Rockefeller had the largest share of the company at thirty percent. Rockefeller had the largest share because he was the founder of the company and he knew how stock shares could earn him more money. By now Rockefeller was one of America's wealthiest men and he was just getting started. By 1879 he had bought out almost all other refineries and Standard Oil refined ninety percent of the oil in America. Rockefeller wanted to make the company successful by expanding and since Standard Oil used their own tank car fleet, ships, docking facilities, barrel-making plants, draying services, depots, warehouses and pipelines, it didn't have to spend much money for any outside parties to make something. Rockefeller was a careful planner and wanted to waste as little as possible. Rockefeller changed the thinking in businesses because he was a first to o wn all the materials to run a large business. Soon Standard began refining crude oil, moving westward and it began foreign markets in Europe, Asia and Latin America and at this point it was almost a monopoly. Rockefeller was becoming so powerful and around this time many rumors about how he ran his business started to come out and he got a reputation as being a cold-hearted money lover, which was actually pretty accurate. Rockefeller had wanted since he was a boy to earn $100,000 and he ended up being the first billionaire in America Rockefeller created the Sanitary Commission that helped raise an interest in public health, especially in the south where Hookworm Disease was a problem. He wanted to keep the public healthy and despite what many people thought, Rockefeller did care about other people. By the time he died he had given the University of Chicago more than $80 million, as well as founding it. In 1902 Rockefeller established the General Education Board and his son John D. Rockefeller Jr. planned the construction of Rockefeller Center in New York City and donated the land upon which the United Nations building now stands. Rockefeller and his son also created Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in 1901, renamed Rockefeller University in New York, and he founded the University of Chicago in 1892. These universities greatly help in the study of the human body and finding cures for many illnesses or diseases. Rockefeller in a way shaped the American industry and set a good example of what giving is. John D. Rockefeller died on May 23, 1937 in Ormond, Florida after retiring from the oil industry in 1911. John D. Rockefeller greatly changed American industry. Rockefeller is a good example of rags to riches story of someone who worked hard their whole life and never gave up on what he wanted. Bibliography Bill, Bell. Titan, by Ron Chernow; Random ($30). (Originated from New York Daily News). Knight/Tribune News Service27 May 1998: p527K2422. Byers, Paula K., ed. Encyclopedia of World Biography.18 vols. Detroit: Gale Publishing, 1998. Draper, Roger. Titan The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. (book review). Find Articles. 5 October 1998. 3pp. 25 October 2000. MacMillian Profiles. Rockefeller, John D. MacMillian Profiles: Tycoons and