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Notable people · Business

John D. Rockefeller

Founded Standard Oil in Cleveland in 1870 and built it into the dominant American oil company, becoming the richest man of his era.

Born July 8, 1839, farm near Richford, New York
Died May 23, 1937, The Casements, Ormond Beach

John D. Rockefeller
Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born
July 8, 1839, farm near Richford, New York source
Died
May 23, 1937, The Casements, Ormond Beach source
Buried
Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland (Cuyahoga County) source
Also known as
John D. Rockefeller, J. D. Rockefeller
Education
Central High School, Cleveland, OH
Folsom's Commercial College, Cleveland, OH, ten-week bookkeeping course
Known as
Business
Organizations
Standard Oil

Life story

John D. Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York, in 1839. In 1853 his family moved to Strongsville, Ohio. He attended Cleveland's Central High School, then took a ten-week bookkeeping course at Folsom's Commercial College.

In September 1855, at 16, he started as assistant bookkeeper at a Cleveland produce firm. In 1859 he entered a commission partnership, in 1863 he built an oil refinery in Cleveland's Flats, and in 1865 he bought out his partners, the Clark brothers, for $72,500. Henry Flagler joined in 1867.

On January 10, 1870, he founded Standard Oil of Ohio. In 1872 the firm absorbed 22 of 26 Cleveland competitors within four months. He married Laura Spelman on September 8, 1864, and they had five children. He is buried at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland.

Ohio ties

  • Strongsville (1853)
    the family settled here after leaving New York, at first with relatives Cuyahoga County · source
  • Cleveland (1853-1884)
    school, first job, oil refining and Standard Oil headquarters; home on Euclid Avenue from 1868 Cuyahoga County · source
  • Forest Hill, East Cleveland and Cleveland Heights (1873-1915)
    summer estate of about 700 acres Cuyahoga County · source
  • Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland (1937)
    burial in the family plot Cuyahoga County · source

Timeline

  1. 1853 The family moved to Strongsville, and John boarded in Cleveland to attend Central High School until 1855. source
  2. 1855 Took a job in September as assistant bookkeeper for commission merchants Henry B. Tuttle and Isaac L. Hewitt. source
  3. 1856 Gave $19.31 to local charities. source
  4. 1859 Formed a commission business with Maurice B. Clark in March. source
  5. 1863 Went into oil with Maurice Clark and Samuel Andrews, building a refinery in the Cleveland Flats. source
  6. 1864 Married Laura Celestia Spelman. source
  7. 1865 Bought out his partners and formed Rockefeller & Andrews, which became Cleveland's largest refinery. source
  8. 1868 Moved his family to Euclid Avenue, Cleveland's 'Millionaires' Row'. source
  9. 1870 Organized the Standard Oil Company of Ohio on 10 January. source
  10. 1872 In the 'Cleveland Massacre', Standard Oil absorbed 22 of its 26 Cleveland competitors. source
  11. 1873 Bought the Euclid Avenue tract in East Cleveland that became the Forest Hill estate. source
  12. 1884 Bought a home in New York City, which became his legal residence. source
  13. 1897 Rockefeller Park, named for him, opened to the public along what is now Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. source
  14. 1905 Built the Rockefeller Building in downtown Cleveland. source
  15. 1913 Cuyahoga County officials assessed him about $1.5 million in taxes after his family stayed at Forest Hill past the 1 February deadline. He refused to pay. source
  16. 1917 A fire of unknown cause destroyed the Forest Hill house on 17 December. source
  17. 1937 Died on 23 May in Ormond Beach, Florida, and was buried at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland. source

What John is known for

  • Founded Standard Oil Company in Cleveland, 10 Jan 1870
  • Controlled about 90 percent of US refining by 1900
  • Philanthropy of roughly $530 million
  • Standard Oil Company (1870)
  • Cleveland oil refinery (1863)

Stories

A sanitarium that became a summer home

In 1873 Rockefeller bought a large tract along Euclid Avenue in East Cleveland and sold it to the Euclid Ave. Forest Hill Association, in which he held shares. The plan was a water-cure and public resort. When that failed, he finished the big sanitarium building and ran it for the summer of 1878 as a club for paying guests. After that, he kept it as a family summer home and expanded the grounds to about 700 acres, reaching into Cleveland Heights. The family kept coming back every summer until Laura Rockefeller's death in 1915, even after the move to New York. The house burned on 17 December 1917, and the land was later divided for houses, a hospital, a junior high school and Forest Hill Park.

Source

The tax bill that kept him out of Ohio

In 1912 Laura Rockefeller's illness kept the family at Forest Hill longer than usual. Because they were still there on 1 February 1913, county officials treated him as taxable in Ohio and assessed a $1.5 million tax bill. Rockefeller refused to pay. During the dispute a subpoena effectively barred him from entering Ohio. The matter was eventually resolved, and he kept giving to Cleveland institutions, but he never went back to Forest Hill.

Source

Inventions and firsts

All Ohio inventions and firsts

Honors and things named for them

  • Rockefeller Hall, Spelman College, Atlanta

Named for John D. Rockefeller

Family

  • wife: Laura Celestia 'Cettie' Spelman
  • son: John D. Rockefeller Jr.
  • brother: William Rockefeller Jr.
  • partner: Henry Morrison Flagler

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments; the numbered ones are on the map.

123

Places in Ohio to see

Ohio places

Where John D. Rockefeller was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

  • painted in 1917 at Rockefeller's winter home in Ormond Beach, Florida.
    painted in 1917 at Rockefeller's winter home in Ormond Beach, Florida.
    Public domain
  • John D. Rockefeller by John Singer Sargent Identifier: internationalstu64newy (find matches) Title: International studio
    John D. Rockefeller by John Singer Sargent Identifier: internationalstu64newy (find matches) Title: Internatio...
    No known restrictions
  • Standard Oil's Stock
    Standard Oil's Stock
    Public domain
  • Standard Oil's Stock
    Standard Oil's Stock
    Public domain
  • Rockefeller
    Rockefeller
    Public domain
  • John D. Rockefeller
    John D. Rockefeller
    Public domain
  • Title: Five men posed, standing with golf clubs, possibly John D. Rockefeller(?), Garwin(?), J.E. McGuire(?), and two ot
    Title: Five men posed, standing with golf clubs, possibly John D. Rockefeller(?), Garwin(?), J.E. McGuire(?), ...
    Public domain
  • Title: House of John D. Rockefeller - South front & formal garden Abstract/medium: 1 photographic print.
    Title: House of John D. Rockefeller - South front & formal garden Abstract/medium: 1 photographic print.
    Public domain
  • Interior view of John D. Rockefeller's Tea House
    Interior view of John D. Rockefeller's Tea House
    Public domain
  • Title: J.D. Rockefeller [New York] Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.
    Title: J.D. Rockefeller [New York] Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.
    Public domain
  • Title: J.D. Rockefeller and wife Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.
    Title: J.D. Rockefeller and wife Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.
    Public domain
  • Bain News Service,, publisher. J.D. Rockefeller & wife [between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915] 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in
    Bain News Service,, publisher. J.D. Rockefeller & wife [between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915] 1 negative : glass ...
    No known restrictions

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.

Every link goes to the original source. Profile researched 2026-10-14.

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