The owner of what is believed to be the largest individual income in
the world began his business life as a poorly paid clerk in a small
provincial firm. John Davison Rockefeller was born at Richford, New
York, on July 8th, 1839. He was educated in the local public schools.
In 1853 his parents moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where, while still a boy,
he obtained a position as clerk in a general commission house. When
nineteen he went into business for himself by becoming a partner in the
firm of Clark & Rockefeller, general commission merchants. Subsequently
the firm admitted another partner, and under the title of Andrews,
Clark & Co., engaged in the oil business. Its so doing, so it is said,
was due to the sagacity of Mr. Rockefeller, who was one of the few men
of the period who recognized the future and gigantic possibilities
of the oil industry. Later changes were made in the organization of
the firm, and in 1865, under the name of William Rockefeller & Co.,
it built the Standard Oil Works at Cleveland. In 1870 the works were
consolidated with others and were then known as the Standard Oil
Company. From time to time other oil interests were acquired, and in
1882 all were merged into the Standard Oil Trust. Ten years later,
however, the trust was dissolved, and from that time to the present the
various companies of which it was composed are operated separately,
with Mr. Rockefeller at the head of the business as a whole.