Page 100 - Cousins - Celebrities, Saints & Sinners

John D. Rockefeller

7th Cousin -

1 time removed

Common Ancestor

Father: Nathaniel Phelps
Crewkerne, Somerset, England
1624-1702

Mother: Elizabeth Copley
England
1620 -1712

Born: Died:
8 July 1839 23 May 1937
Richford, New York Ormond Beach, Florida

John Davison Rockefeller Sr. was an American business
magnate and philanthropist. He is widely considered the
wealthiest American of all time, and the richest person in
modern history.

Rockefeller was born into a large family in upstate New
York that moved several times before eventually settling
in Cleveland, Ohio. Rockefeller became an assistant
bookkeeper at age 16 and went into several business
partnerships beginning at age 20, concentrating his business
on oil refining. Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil
Company in 1870. He ran it until 1897 and remained its largest
shareholder.

Rockefeller's wealth soared as kerosene and gasoline grew in importance, and he became the richest
person in the country, controlling 90% of all oil in the United States at his peak. Oil was used throughout
the country as a light source until the introduction of electricity, and as a fuel after the invention of the
automobile. Furthermore, Rockefeller gained enormous influence over the railroad industry which
transported his oil around the country. Standard Oil was the first great business trust in the United
States. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and, through corporate and technological
innovations, was instrumental in both widely disseminating and drastically reducing the production cost
of oil. His company and business practices came under criticism, particularly in the writings of author Ida
Tarbell.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1911 that Standard Oil must be dismantled for violation of
federal antitrust laws. It was broken up into 34 separate entities, which included companies that
became ExxonMobil, Chevron Corporation, and others—some of which still have the highest level of
revenue in the world. Individual pieces of the company were worth more than the whole, as shares of
these doubled and tripled in value in their early years; consequently, Rockefeller became the country's

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