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Rockefeller

John Davison, an American millionaire. He was born at Richford, New York, July 8, 1839. He was educated in the public schools of Cleveland. He began life as a clerk and worked his way along as a bookkeeper and cashier. In 1858 he became a member of a firm dealing in oil. In 1865 he built the Standard Oil works at Cleveland, and in 1870 the Standard Oil Company was incorporated with Rockefeller as President. Mr. Rockefeller is enormously wealthy. He owns a half interest in the Standard Oil Company which controls practically the world's supply of petroleum. He has large holdings of railroad stock and other securities. His income from oil is $20,000,000; his income from other sources is believed to be even greater, bringing the total up to not less than $53,000,000 a year. Mr. Rockefeller has given what seem large sums to various causes and institutions. The total, January 1, 1910, was placed at $132,760,000. The following is a statement of his principal gifts, an amount equivalent in all approximately to over two years' income:

General education board$53,000,000
University of Chicago25,309,000
Rush Medical College6,000,000
Churches (known)3,100,000
Missions (known)2,300,000
Baptist foreign mission fund2,000,000
Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research4,600,000
Barnard College1,375,000
Southern education fund1,125,000
Union Theological Seminary1,100,000
Harvard University1,000,000
Baptist Educational Society1,000,000
Yale University1,000,000
Juvenile reformatories1,000,000
Cleveland city parks1,000,000
"Hookworm" fund1,000,000
Nine Y. M. C. Associations845,000
Teachers' College500,000
Johns Hopkins500,000
Vassar College400,000
Brown University325,000
Seven small colleges320,000
McMasters College275,000
Rochester Theological Seminary250,000
Cornell University250,000
Bryn Mawr College250,000
Case School of Science, Cleveland200,000
Oberlin College200,000
Spelman Seminary, Atlanta180,000
Newton Theological Seminary150,000
Adelphi College125,000
University of Wooster, Ohio125,000
Children's Seaside Home125,000
Presbyterian work in Egypt and the Soudan100,000
Cleveland Social Settlement100,000
Syracuse University100,000
Smith College100,000
Wellesley College100,000
Columbia University100,000
Dennison College100,000
Curry memorial100,000
Furman University100,000
Lincoln memorial fund100,000
University of Virginia100,000
Cleveland Y. W. C. A100,000
University of Nebraska100,000
Arcadia University100,000
Indiana University50,000
Mount Holyoke College50,000
Shurtleff College35,000
School of Applied Design for Women25,000
Bucknell University25,000
William Jewell Institute25,000
Howard College25,000
Miscellaneous gifts prior to 18927,000,000

See Petroleum; Standard Oil Company

Volume IV · Aiton’s Encyclopedia