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

John was born in 1839 in Richford, NY. His father's name was Big Bill. His mom's name was Eliza. John had five brothers and sisters. But Francis, one of John's sisters, died at a young age. In 1843 John's family moved to Moravia, NY. When John was only seven years old he raised some turkeys that he discovered in the woods. In 1853 John's family moved again and settled on the outside of Cleveland. John finished school there then he was ready to find a job. After a couple of weeks he found a job for 50¢ a day on September 26, 1855. John made that day a holiday. For him it was the most important day in his career. He called it "Job Day." John carried around a book called a ledger to put special numbers in it. John never got bored doing work. John used his savings to partner up with Maurice B. Clark, a friend from Folsom Commercial College. When John was twenty our he knew it was time to get married. John remembered Laura. In 1863 John married Laura Celestia Spelman. In 1863 John built an oil refinery outside of Cleveland. It produced 500 barrels a day. John and Laura moved to a fancy house on Cleveland's millionaire row. They also had a summer house in Forest Hill. IN 1888 John refined most of the oil in Cleveland. In 1882 John formed The Standard Oil Trust. In 1889 oil was found in Russia. Then in 1904 Ida Tarbell wrote about John's company. John would always give money to a charity. In 1891 John had so much money he hired Frederick T. Gates to help him decide who to give money to. John's first child was a girl, Bessie. She was born in 1866. Alice was born in 1869. Alta was born in 1872. J.D.R. Jr. was born in 1874. Each child did a chore and was paid for it. John took secret golf lessons then played with Laura and she was amazed. In 1911 John retired from Standard Oil. During that time John became a billionaire. John died in 1937.

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