The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1892-04-21
The Richest Man in the World.

Mr.. John d. Rockefeller, the leading
spirit of the Standard Oil Company, is
supposed to be the richest man in the |
United States, and his fortune Is stated |
at somewhere about $125. u00, 900. His !
annual income is said 30 be about Il, sos, |
OUU, which is equivalent to an accumu
lation of nearly $3.50 an hour. Ii he is
not the richest man in the world he is
the richest man in America. Neither
the Astors, with their vast real estate in
vestments, nor Jay Gould, with his
great reailroad possessions, nor the rich
est of the Vanderbilt heirs can show up
any such bank account as his. His rise
to wealth makes Que of the most re-
narkable chapters in cote1nporaneous
history. John ID. Rockefeller started at
the bottom or the latter. He was a
workingman. For that matter ne is
still IL workingInan. lie works as hard
to day as he Gid when, twenty five years
ago, he was "a clerk in Il produce com
mission house i'll Cleveland, Ohio lie
climbed up to a partnership III tie firm
His home had previously been in New
Bedford, n Y.
AT the beginning of the Pennsylvania
oil excitement in Il 64-5 he and las part
ner, Mr.. Clark, bought some Penusy!-
vania oil lard, and through Samuel An
drews tried The experiment OF refining
crude petroleum. Anurews Was the re
finer, while Clark and Rockefeller fur
nished the capital. Andrews had beef
a day laborer in reneries, and SO pp,,i
that his wife took in sewing He founu
d way OF reiiulng by Which more kero
sene could be gotten out OF a barrel OF
petroleum than by any other method
AS result vi the Combined efforts OF
the two young men, tsilG WITH Tie aid OF
borrowed capital, Il small refinery was
built aud put i'll operation. The re tinery
made money from the start. and iii
year or SO Rockefeller sold out his in
terest in the produce house and gave Ills
entire time to the Oil business. He in
duced his brother William to start a re.
fnery, which was soon consolidated with
the one owneu by him and Andrews.
Then warehouse was opened in New
York City for the sale of the manufac-
tured product of the two rehneries.
The Rockeieilers and Andrews saw mil
lions almost within their grasp All
they needed was little more reauy
money, and this kindly fortune at the
right moment threw in their way.
Young Henry al. Fiagier had married
rich mans daughter, and his father in
law had started han ia the lumber bust
ness out III Michigan. Fagler was a
a successful lulnberfnan. In some way
Rockefeller got the ear of Flagler's
father i'll law and told him his plans,
which did not stop short of the control
of the entire oil production of the coun-
try. The old gentleman thought the
matter over Carefully. His son IA law
was not making money us d iuin German,
and Rockefellers scheme seemed On She
face a good one In the end he gave
Flagler $50. 600 and told him TO go in with
the Rockefeilers and Andrews
The Standard Oil Company was forms
ed with capital stock of IL 900 0OG, and
with John ID. Rockefeller as its presi-
dent. 1t at once began to buy out and
crush out rival refineries The Owner S
of some of the refneries thus absorbed
were paid with Standard stock; others
received a fair cash price for their plants
Inside of seven years the Standard OBJ
tanned practical monopoly of the re
filming business, its rivals being few ard
weak. It's enormous volume of business
gave it a commanding influence with
the railroad COMPANIES and enabled it to
obtain freight Rites lower than those
granted any other refiner.
What with the rivals it has bought
out and the lines it has projected the
pipe>line system of the Standard is
something prOdigiouS-a monster sDi
ders web covering thousands of miles
Until very recently it has never Geured
as a producer, but its complete and 0e,-
feet system gives it absolute control of
the oil trade. The Standard is incArpo-
rated in half a dozen States. The differ
ent companies are all under the control
of the Standard Trust Company, with
headquarters in New York The stock
of the Trust pays enormous dividends
every year, Al! this has grown since
1864 from an original Investment of less
than $4,000, made by four young men
who saw grand opportunity for money
making and were i,rainy enough and
shrewd enough to take advantage of il.
Mr.. Rockefeller, the head of the
Standard, is Il man OF commonplace APP
pearance, bat in this respect he resem-
bles the singed cat in the fable, for be
feels better than he looks He is rather
above the medium height, of stout build,
but round shoulde:ed. His face is not
striking one, and usually wears an air
of subdued melancholy. His sandy hair
and gray eyes bespeak his Scotch ex
traction. He is plain and simple in his
tastes, and dresses as cheaply as any one
OF his Thousand aui one clerks
A good portion of his time is spent in
finding sources OF investment for his
great income. 1t is said that he holds
that a man should never retire from
business, but should GO on accommodating
money until the end of life, spending bis
money wisely and for the benefit OF
others. He married Clevelan nd school
mistress, who is now sweet-faced, gray
i haired woman of forty~tive.
: The Reckefel ers have a handsome
mansion on ifty-fourth street. New
York, and Summer home near Greens
witch on the Sound. The wIIe is as care
full and economic u as the husband, and
they live plainly and unostentatiously
The oldest of his three daughters is mar
ried to a young Baptist clergyman. On
the wedding day she got dowry OIL
al 600 600