John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. As a result of his businesses, he was one of the wealthiest Americans of all time and also he was one of the richest people in modern history.
He came from a large family. Richford, on the way to Ithaca was, and remains, a very rural area. His homestead was a small house that housed eight family members. Later, having moved to the Mid-West, he started out as a bookkeeper, then entered several business partnerships and eventually concentrating on oil refining. He began a firm he called Standard Oil Company.
He was in the “right place at the right time.” Oil, kerosene and gasoline were growing in importance. This was the time of the rise of the industrial age and oil was used in lamps for lighting, and as fuel for ships and the growing prominence of automobiles. He revolutionized the petroleum industry through technological innovations including the processes of the large-scale refining needs. Then, through corporate mergers, trusts, monopolies and other dealings he became the world’s richest man. He had, at one point, 3% of the wealth of the United States.
As an extremely wealthy man, Rockefeller entered in a giving phase. He developed the structure of modern philanthropy. He created a systematic approach that made foundations for medicine, education, and scientific research. He founded the University of Chicago and colleges. He was a Northern Baptist and was active in the church in leadership roles, teaching Sunday School, and being a random janitor. He maintained total abstinence from alcohol and tobacco throughout his life.
People who had actually known him said that he was religious, reserved and discrete, earnest and precise. John D.’s mother, Eliza, raised the six children while his father was frequently gone away as a philanderer or purveyor of elixirs. Eliza taught John D. that "willful waste makes woeful want" and she herself was thrifty by necessity as well.
John D. Rockefeller had stated his belief, that he had also lived in. "From the beginning, I was trained to work, to save, and to give."
The money he had gained has been distributed over the many years since he has passed away, being a permanent benefit to society and an example of a Profile in Character.
John D. Rockefeller birthplace, Richford, NY.
***
Inspiring History is a compendium of people we could recognize for their good traits: knowledge, skills, abilities, and intentions that amount to qualities that have made our world a better place. These Profiles in Character offer us examples that we could emulate ourselves for us to also improve the human condition and the world around us.
***
Thanks for reading Inspiring History! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Follow me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TruranBill/
Read my new book Honest Ogden
Available on Amazon and at Sparta Book Store & Branchville Broad Street Bookstore
***
Images from public domain.
***
Episode 31 8/3/2024
Thanks for reading Inspiring History! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.