# The History of the Standard Oil Company/Volume 2/Appendix/Number 52

NUMBER 52 (See page 136)
THE TRUST AGREEMENT OF 1882
[Proceedings in Relation to Trusts, House of Representatives, 1888. Report Number 3,112, pages 307-313.]
   This agreement, made and entered upon this second day of January, A.D. 1882, by and between all the persons who shall now or may hereafter execute the same as parties thereto:
   Witnesseth: I. It is intended that the parties to this agreement shall embrace three classes, to wit:
   1st. All the stockholders and members of the following corporations and limited partnerships, to wit:
   Acme Oil Company, New York; Acme Oil Company, Pennsylvania; Atlantic Refining Company of Philadelphia; Bush and Company (limited); Camden Consolidated Oil Company; Elizabethport Acid Works; Imperial Refining Company (limited); Charles Pratt and Company; Paine, Abbett and Company; Standard Oil Company, Ohio; Standard Oil Company, Pittsburg; Smith's Ferry Oil Transportation Company; Solar Oil Company (limited); Sone and Fleming Manufacturing Company (limited).
   Also, all the stockholders and members of such other corporations and limited partnerships as may hereafter join in this agreement, at the request of the trustees herein provided for.
   2d. The following individuals, to wit:
   W. C. Andrews, John D. Archbold, Lide K. Arter, J. A. Bostwick, Benjamin Brewster, D. Bushnell, Thomas C. Bushnell, J. N. Camden, Henry L. Davis, H. M. Flagler, Mrs. H. M. Flagler, John Huntington, H. A. Hutchins, Charles F. G. Heye, A. B. Jennings, Charles Lockhart, A. M. McGregor, William H. Macy, William H. Macy, Jr., estate of Josiah Macy, William H. Macy, Jr., executor, O. H. Payne, A. J. Pouch, John D. Rockefeller, William Rockefeller, Henry H. Rogers, W. P. Thompson, J. J. Vandergrift, William T. Wardwell, W. G. Warden, Joseph L. Warden, Warden, Frew and Company, Louise C. Wheaton, H. M. Hanna and George W. Chapin, D. M. Harkness, D. M. Harkness, trustee, S. V. Harkness, O. H. Payne, trustee; Charles ​Pratt, Horace A. Pratt, C. M. Pratt, Julia H. York, George H. Vilas, M. R. Keith, trustees, George F. Chester.
   Also, all such individuals as may hereafter join in the agreement at the request of the trustees herein provided for.
   3d. A portion of the stockholders and members of the following corporations and limited partnerships, to wit:
   American Lubricating Oil Company; Baltimore United Oil Company; Beacon Oil Company; Bush and Denslow Manufacturing Company; Central Refining Company of Pittsburg; Cheesborough Manufacturing Company; Chess, Carley Company; Consolidated Tank Line Company; Inland Oil Company; Keystone Refining Company; Maverick Oil Company; National Transit Company; Portland Kerosene Oil Company; Producers' Consolidated Land and Petroleum Company; Signal Oil Works (limited); Thompson and Bedford Company (limited); Devoe Manufacturing Company; Eclipse Lubricating Oil Company (limited); Empire Refining Company (limited); Franklin Pipe Company (limited); Galena Oil Works (limited); Galena Farm Oil Company (limited); Germania Mining Company; Vacuum Oil Company; H. C. Van Tine and Company (limited); Waters-Pierce Oil Company.
   Also, stockholders and members (not being all thereof) of other corporations and limited partnerships who may hereafter join in this agreement at the request of the trustees herein provided for.
   II. The parties hereto do covenant and agree to and with each other, each in consideration of the mutual covenants and agreements of the others, as follows:
   1st. As soon as practicable a corporation shall be formed in each of the following states, under the laws thereof, to wit, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey; provided, however, that instead of organising a new corporation any existing charter and organisation may be used for the purpose when it can advantageously be done.
   2d. The purposes and powers of said corporations shall be to mine for, produce, manufacture, refine, and deal in petroleum and all its products, and all the materials used in such businesses, and transact other business collateral thereto. But other purposes and powers shall be embraced in the several charters such as shall seem expedient to the parties procuring the charter, or, if necessary to comply with the law, the powers aforesaid may be restricted and reduced.
   3d. At any time hereafter, when it may seem advisable to the trustees herein provided for, similar corporations may be formed in other states and territories.
   4th. Each of said corporations shall be known as the Standard Oil Company of (and here shall follow the name of the state or territory by virtue of the laws of which said corporation is organised).
   5th. The capital stock of each of said corporations shall be fixed at such an amount as may seem necessary and advisable to the parties organising the same, in view of the purpose to be accomplished.
   ​6th. The shares of stock of each of said corporations shall be issued only for money, property, or assets equal at a fair valuation to the par value of the stock delivered therefor.
   7th. All of the property, real and personal, assets and business of each and all of the corporations and limited partnerships mentioned or embraced in class first, shall be transferred to and vested in the said several Standard Oil companies. All of the property, assets, and business in or of each particular state shall be transferred to and vested in the Standard Oil Company of that particular state, and in order to accomplish such purpose the directors and managers of each and all of the several corporations and limited partnerships mentioned in class first are hereby authorised and directed by the stockholders and members thereof (all of them being parties to this agreement) to sell, assign, transfer, convey, and make over, for the consideration hereinafter mentioned, to the Standard Oil Company or companies of the proper state or states, as soon as said corporations are organised and ready to receive the same, all the property, real and personal, assets and business of said corporations and limited partnerships. Correct schedules of such property, assets, and business shall accompany each transfer.
   8th. The individuals embraced in class second of this agreement do, each for himself, agree for the consideration hereinafter mentioned to sell, assign, transfer, convey, and set over all the property, real and personal, assets and business mentioned and embraced in schedules accompanying such sale, and transfer to the Standard Oil Company or companies of the proper state or states, as soon as the said corporations are organised and ready to receive the same.
   9th. The parties embraced in class third of this agreement do covenant and agree to assign and transfer all of the stock held by them in the corporations or limited partnerships herein named, to the trustees herein provided for, for the consideration and upon the terms hereinafter set forth. It is understood and agreed that the said trustees and their successors may hereafter take the assignment of stocks in the same or similar companies upon the terms herein provided, and that whenever and as often as all the stocks of any corporations or limited partnerships are vested in said trustees, the proper steps may then be taken to have all the moneys, property, real and personal, of such corporation or partnership assigned or conveyed to the Standard Oil Company, of the proper state, on the terms and in the mode herein set forth, in which event the trustees shall receive stocks of the Standard Oil companies, equal to the value of the money, property, and business assigned, to be held in place of the stocks of the company or companies assigning such property.
   10th. The consideration for the transfer and conveyance of the money, property, and business aforesaid to each or any of the Standard Oil companies shall be stock of the respective Standard Oil Company to which said transfer or conveyance is made, ​equal at par value to the appraised value of the money, property, and business so transferred. Said stock shall be delivered to the trustees hereinafter provided for, and their successors, and no stock of any of said companies shall ever be issued except for money, property, or business, equal, at least, to the par value of the stock so issued, nor shall any stock be issued by any of said companies for any purpose, except to the trustees herein provided for, to be held subject to the trusts hereinafter specified. It is understood, however, that this provision is not intended to restrict the purchase, sale, and exchange of property by said Standard Oil companies as fully as they may be authorised to do by their respective charters; provided only that no stock be issued therefor except to said trustees.
   11th. The consideration for any stocks delivered to said trustees, as above provided for, as well as for stocks delivered to said trustees by persons mentioned or included in class third of this agreement, shall be the delivery by said trustees, to the persons entitled thereto, of trust certificates hereinafter provided for, equal at par value to the par value of the stocks of the said several Standard Oil companies so received by said trustees and equal to the appraised value of the stocks of other companies or partnerships delivered to said trustees.
   The said appraised value shall be determined in a manner agreed upon by the parties in interest and said trustees.
   It is understood and agreed, however, that the said trustees may, with any trust funds in their hands, in addition to the mode above provided, purchase the bonds and stocks of other companies engaged in business similar or collateral to the business of said Standard Oil companies on such terms and in such mode as they may deem advisable, and shall hold the same for the benefit of the owners of said trust certificates, and may sell, assign, transfer, and pledge such bonds and stocks whenever they may deem it advantageous to said trust so to do.
   III. The trusts upon which said stock shall be held, and the number, powers, and duties of said trustees shall be as follows:
   1st. The number of trustees shall be nine.
   2d. J. D. Rockefeller, O. H. Payne and William Rockefeller are hereby appointed trustees, to hold their office until the first Wednesday of April, A.D. 1885.
   3d. J. A. Bostwick, H. M. Flagler and W. G. Warden are hereby appointed trustees, to hold their office until the first Wednesday of April, A.D. 1884.
   4th. Charles Pratt, Benjamin Brewster and John Archbold are hereby appointed trustees, to hold their office until the first Wednesday of April, A.D. 1883.
   5th. Elections for trustees to succeed those herein appointed shall be held annually, at which election a sufficient number of trustees shall be elected to fill all vacancies occurring either from expiration of the term of the office of trustee or from any other cause. All trustees shall be elected to hold their office for three years, except those ​elected to fill a vacancy arising from any cause except expiration of term, who shall be elected for the balance of the term of the trustee whose place they are elected to fill. Every trustee shall hold his office until his successor is elected.
   6th. Trustees shall be elected by ballot by the owners of trust certificates or their proxies. At all meetings the owners of trust certificates, who may be registered as such on the books of the trustees, may vote in person or by proxy, and shall have one vote for each and every share of trust certificates standing in their names, but no such owner shall be entitled to vote upon any share which has not stood in his name thirty days prior to the day appointed for the election. The transfer books may be closed for thirty days immediately preceding the annual election. A majority of the shares represented at such election shall elect.
   7th. The annual meeting of the owners of said trust certificates for the election of trustees, and for other business, shall be held at the office of the trustees in the City of New York, on the first Wednesday of April of each year, unless the place of meeting be changed by the trustees, and said meeting may be adjourned from day to day until its business is completed. Special meetings of the owners of said trust certificates may be called by a majority of the trustees, at such times and places as they may appoint. It shall also be the duty of the trustees to call a special meeting of holders of trust certificates whenever requested to do so by a petition signed by the holders of ten per cent. in value of such certificates. The business of such special meetings shall be confined to the object specified in the notice given thererfor. Notice of the time and place of all meetings of the owners of trust certificates shall be given by personal notice so far as possible, and by public notice in one of the principal newspapers of each state in which a Standard Oil Company exists, at least ten days before such meeting. At any meeting, a majority in value of the holders of trust certificates represented consenting thereto, by-laws may be made, amended, and repealed relative to the mode of the election of trustees, and other business of the holders of trust certificates; provided, however, that said by-laws shall be in conformity with this agreement. By-laws may also be made, amended, and repealed at any meeting, by and with the consent of a majority in value of the holders of trust certificates, which alter this agreement relative to the number, powers, and duties of the trustees, and to other matters tending to the more efficient accomplishment of the objects for which the trust is created; provided only, that the essential intents and purposes of this agreement be not thereby changed.
   8th. Whenever a vacancy occurs in the board of trustees, more than sixty days prior to the annual meeting for the election of trustees, it shall be the duty of the remaining trustees to call a meeting of the owners of Standard Oil Trust certificates for the purpose of electing a trustee or trustees to fill the vacancy or vacancies. If any vacancy occurs in the board of trustees, from any cause, within sixty days of the date of the annual meeting for the election of trustees, the vacancy may be filled by a majority ​of the remaining trustees, or, at their option, may remain vacant until the annual election.
   9th. If for any reason at any time a trustee or trustees shall be appointed by any court to fill any vacancy or vacancies in said board of trustees, the trustee or trustees so appointed shall hold his or their respective office or offices only until a successor or successors shall be elected in the manner above provided for.
   10th. Whenever any change shall occur in the board of trustees, the legal title to the stock and other property held in trust shall pass to and vest in the successors of said trustees without any formal transfer thereof. But if at any such time formal transfer shall be deemed necessary or advisable, it shall be the duty of the board of trustees to obtain the same, and it shall be the duty of any retiring trustee, or the administrator or executor of any deceased trustee, to make said transfer.
   11th. The trustees shall prepare certificates which shall show the interest of each beneficiary in said trust and deliver them to the persons properly entitled thereto. They shall be divided into shares of the par value of $100 each, and shall be known as the Standard Oil Trust certificates, and shall be issued subject to all the terms and conditions of this agreement. The trustees shall have power to agree upon and direct the form and contents of said certificates and the mode in which they shall be signed, attested, and transferred. The certificates shall contain an express stipulation that the holders thereof shall be bound by the terms of this agreement and by the by-laws herein provided for.
   12th. No certificates shall be issued except for stocks and bonds held in trust as herein provided for, and the par value of certificates issued by said trustees shall be equal to the par value of the stocks of said Standard Oil Company and the appraised value of other bonds and stocks held in trust. The various bonds, stocks, and moneys held under said trust shall be held for all parties in interest jointly, and the trust certificates so issued shall be the evidence of the interest held by the several parties in this trust. No duplicate certificates shall be issued by the trustees, except upon surrender of the original certificate or certificates for cancellation, or upon satisfactory proof of the loss thereof, and in the latter case they shall require a sufficient bond of indemnity.
   13th. The stocks of the various Standard Oil companies, held in trust by said trustees, shall not be sold, assigned, or transferred by said trustees, or by the beneficiaries, or by both combined, so long as this trust endures. The stocks and bonds of other corporations held by said trustees may be by them exchanged or sold and the proceeds thereof distributed pro rata to the holders of trust certificates, or said proceeds may be held and reinvested by said trustees for the purposes and uses of the trust; provided, however, that said trustees may, from time to time, assign such shares of stock of said Standard Oil Company as may be necessary to qualify any person or persons chosen or to be chosen as directors and officers of any of said Standard Oil companies.
   ​14th. It shall be the duty of said trustees to receive and safely to keep all interest and dividends declared and paid upon any of the said bonds, stocks, and moneys held by them in trust, and to distribute all moneys received from such sources or from sales of trust property or otherwise by declaring and paying dividends upon the Standard Trust certificates as funds accumulate which in their judgment are not needed for the use and expenses of said trust. The trustees shall, however, keep separate accounts of receipts from interest and dividends, and of receipts from sales or transfers of trust property, and in making any distribution of trust funds, in which moneys derived from sales or transfers shall be included, shall render the holders of trust certificates a statement showing what amount of the fund distributed has been derived from such sales or transfers. The said trustees may be also authorised and empowered by a vote of a majority in value of holders of trust certificates, whenever stocks or bonds have accumulated in their hands from moneys purchases thereof, or the stocks or bonds held by them have increased in value, or stock dividends shall have been declared by any of the companies whose stocks are held by said trustees, or whenever, from any such cause, it is deemed advisable so to do, to increase the amount of trust certificates to the extent of such increase or accumulation of values and to divide the same among the persons then owning trust certificates pro rata.
   15th. It shall be the duty of said trustees to exercise general supervision over the affairs of said several Standard Oil companies, and, as far as practicable, over the other companies or partnerships, any portion of whose stock is held in said trust. It shall be their duty, as stockholders of said companies, to elect as directors and officers thereof faithful and competent men. They may elect themselves to such positions when they see fit so to do, and shall endeavour to have the affairs of all of said companies managed and directed in the manner they may deem most conducive to the best interests of the holders of said trust certificates.
   16th. All the powers of the trustees may be exercised by a majority of their number. They may appoint from their own number an executive and other committees. A majority of each committee shall exercise all the powers which the trustees may confer upon such committee.
   17th. The trustees may employ and pay all such agents and attorneys as they deem necessary in the management of said trust.
   18th. Each trustee shall be entitled to a salary for his services not exceeding $25,000 per annum, except the president of the board, who may be voted a salary not exceeding $30,000 per annum, which salaries shall be fixed by said board of trustees. All salaries and expenses connected with or growing out of the trust shall be paid by the trustees from the trust fund.
   19th. The board of trustees shall have its principal office in the City of New York unless changed by a vote of the trustees, at which office, or in some place of safe deposit in said city, the bonds and stocks shall be kept. The trustees shall have power ​adopt rules and regulations pertaining to the meetings of the board, the election of officers, and the management of the trust.
   20th. The trustees shall render at each annual meeting a statement of the affairs of the trust. If a termination of the trust be agreed upon, as hereinafter provided, or within a reasonable time prior to its termination by a lapse of time, the trustees shall furnish to the holders of trust certificates a true and perfect inventory and appraisement of all stocks and other property held in trust, and a statement of the financial affairs of the various companies whose stocks are held in trust.
   21st. This trust shall continue during the lives of the survivors and survivor of the trustees in this agreement named, and for twenty-one years thereafter: provided, however, that if, at anytime after the expiration often years, two-thirds of all the holders in value, or if, after the expiration of one year, ninety per cent. of all the holders in value of trust certificates, shall, at a meeting of holders of trust certificates called for that purpose, vote to terminate this trust at some time to be by them then and there fixed, the said trust shall terminate at the date so fixed. If the holders of trust certificates shall vote to terminate the trust as aforesaid, they may, at the same meeting, or at a subsequent meeting called for that purpose, decide by a vote of two-thirds in value of their number the mode in which the affairs of the trust shall be wound up, and whether the trust property shall be distributed, or whether it shall be sold and the values thereof distributed; or whether part, and, if so, what part, shall be divided and what part shall be sold, and whether such sales shall be public or private.
   The trustees, who shall continue to hold their offices for that purpose, shall make the distribution in the mode directed; or, if no mode be agreed upon by two-thirds in value, as aforesaid, the trustees shall make distribution of the trust property according to law. But said distribution, however made, and whether it be of property or values, or of both, shall be just and equitable, and such as to insure to each owner of a trust certificate his due proportion of the trust property, or the value thereof.
   22d. If the trust shall be terminated by expiration of the time for which it is created, the distribution of the trust property shall be directed and made in the mode above provided.
   23d. This agreement, together with the registry of certificates, books of accounts, and other books and papers connected with the business of said trust, shall be safely kept at the principal office of said trustees.
   Whereas, in and by an agreement dated January 2, 1882, and known as the Standard Trust agreement, the parties thereto did mutually covenant and agree inter alia as follows, to wit: That corporations to be known as Standard Oil companies of various states should be formed, and that all of the property, real and personal, assets, and business of each and all of the corporations and limited partnerships mentioned or embraced in class first of said agreement should be transferred to and vested in the said several Standard Oil companies; that all of the property, assets, and business in or of each particular state should be transferred to and vested in the Standard Oil company of that particular state, and the directors and managers of each and all of the several corporations and associations mentioned in class first were authorised and directed to sell, assign, transfer, and convey, and make over to the Standard Oil Company or companies of the proper state or states, as soon as said corporations were organised and ready to receive the same, all the property, real and personal, assets, and business of said corporations or associations; and
   Whereas, it is not deemed expedient that all of the companies and associations mentioned should transfer their property to the said Standard Oil companies at the present time, and in case of some companies and associations it may never be deemed expedient that the said transfers should be made and said companies and associations go out of existence; and
   Whereas, it is deemed advisable that a discretionary power should be vested in the trustees as to when such transfer or transfers should take place, if at all. Now, it is hereby mutually agreed between the parties to the said trust agreement, and as supplementary thereto, that the trustees named in the said agreement and their successors shall have the power and authority to decide what companies shall convey their said property as in said agreement contemplated, and when the said sales and transfers shall take place, if at all; and until said trustees shall so decide, each of said companies shall remain in existence and retain its property and business, and the trustees shall ​hold the stocks thereof in trust as in said agreement provided. In the exercise of said discretion, the trustees shall act by a majority of their number as provided in said trust agreement. All portions of said trust agreement relating to this subject shall be considered so changed as to be in harmony with this supplemental agreement.
   In Witness Whereof, the said parties have subscribed this agreement, this fourth day of January, 1882.