Biography John D. Rockefeller, Sr.

Biography John D. Rockefeller, SR.

John Davison Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839 and died on Mai 23, 1937. He would become of the greatest entrepreneurs in history, as well as the richest man of the world.

John would grow up on the rural outskirts in Moravia near Ithaca and Binghamton. His father nicknamed “Big Bill” would “never deigned to dirty his hands with farmwork” (Ron Chernow Page 17), however his wife Eliza loved the garden work and John loved helping her. Besides his adore for the country life which he would later say toughened him up for the hard life as an economist, John always seemed to be interested in how to make money. “As a boy he bought candy by the pound, divided it into small portions, then sold it at a tidy profit to his siblings” (Ron Chernow Page 17). The passion for money was definitely passed on by his father who “loved fondling it, loved spending it, loved the power and freedom that it conferred” (Frost Bob, Page 1). However what made John D. Rockefeller so special was that he not only had a lust for money, but he was also very religious. Even though his father never joined the church it was important for Bill that John would. He even paid his son to read the bible but the true devotion to religion and faith came from his mother, Eliza a devout Baptist.

The church opened John’s sight to social concerns and it was a minister who once told John “Get money, get it honestly, and then give it wisely” (Frost Bob, First page). Rockefeller would remember this quote and live by it. Since getting his first paycheck, he would always donate 10 percent to the church and wherever he went he would always give nickels to children and dimes to adults. He created foundations and altogether he donated 550$ to charity causes. Nowadays he is remembered as one of the biggest philanthropists, donating money to education, health research, art and science.

At the age of sixteen Rockefeller went from the country side to the streets of Cleveland...