A Portrait of
John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
by Kaitlin

John D. Rockefeller was born on July 8th, 1839 in Richford, NY. John's family was very poor. In 1843, he moved to Moravia with his family. He lived on a farm and went to a one-room schoolhouse. After they moved to Moravia and lived there for a few year, John and his family moved into a house just outside of Cleveland, Ohio. In Moravia John had raised and sold turkeys as a small job. Finally, after many years of studying, he got his first real job as a bookkeeper. In 1859, John and a friend opened their own business called Clark & Rockefeller. In 1863, he built an oil refinery just outside Cleveland, Ohio. John married Laura C. Spelman on September 8th, 1864. In 1865, John partnered up with a man named Samuel Andrews. In 1870, The Standard Oil Company was formed. John bought land in Pocantico Hills, NY in 1839. John was very wealthy by then. He retired from Standard Oil in 1911. In Pocantico Hills in 1915, Laura died. 22 years later, John died in Ormond Beach, Florida when he was 97.

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