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105-682: The original hotel was built by Charles A. Fuller and designed by Edward Angell , who also designed several other prominent buildings on the Upper West Side. The hotel was originally intended to be an apartment house , the Endicott. The original plans filed in April 1889 called for two buildings, each with 44 families and seven stories high. But the initial plans were not approved by the Building Department. After several changes to

210-608: A central figure in the city's business community. He bought a residence in 1884 on 54th Street near the mansions of other magnates such as William Henry Vanderbilt . Despite personal threats and constant pleas for charity, Rockefeller took the new elevated train to his downtown office daily. In 1887, Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission which was tasked with enforcing equal rates for all railroad freight, but by then Standard depended more on pipeline transport. More threatening to Standard's power

315-459: A collision with steel magnate Andrew Carnegie , and their competition became a major subject of the newspapers and cartoonists. He went on a massive buying spree acquiring leases for crude oil production in Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia, as the original Pennsylvania oil fields began to play out. Amid the frenetic expansion, Rockefeller began to think of retirement. The daily management of the trust

420-515: A conservationist. Great-grandson John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV served from 1985 until 2015 as a Democratic Senator from West Virginia after serving as governor of West Virginia, and another Winthrop served as lieutenant governor of Arkansas for a decade. John D. Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York , then part of the Burned-over district , a New York state region that became

525-402: A decent offer. If they refused his offer, he told them he would run them into bankruptcy and then cheaply buy up their assets at auction. However, he did not intend to eliminate competition entirely. In fact, his partner Pratt said of that accusation "Competitors we must have ... If we absorb them, it surely will bring up another." Instead of wanting to eliminate them, Rockefeller saw himself as

630-409: A firestorm of protest from independent oil well owners, including boycotts and vandalism, which led to the discovery of Standard Oil's part in the deal. A major New York refiner, Charles Pratt and Company , headed by Charles Pratt and Henry H. Rogers , led the opposition to this plan, and railroads soon backed off. Pennsylvania revoked the cartel's charter, and non-preferential rates were restored for

735-578: A fortune worth nearly 2% of the national economy. His personal wealth was estimated in 1913 at $ 900 million, which was almost 3% of the US gross domestic product (GDP) of $ 39.1 billion that year. Rockefeller spent much of the last 40 years of his life in retirement at Kykuit , his estate in Westchester County, New York, defining the structure of modern philanthropy, along with other key industrialists such as Andrew Carnegie . His fortune

840-698: A hardened heroin user. In 1951, the hotel was leased by Milner Hotels, owner of the Eagle Hotels chain. It was to be completely remodeled and renamed the New Endicott Hotel. Yet the hotel continued its decline. By the 1960s, the hotel had been branded one of the worst welfare hotels in the city. A person could get a room there for $ 3 a night or, as most of its residents did, from $ 13.95 a week. Described by one neighbor as "a scene from Calcutta," scores of desperate people could be seen drinking, fighting, and screaming with prostitutes roaming up and down

945-406: A huge backlash against the company, Tarbell stated she was surprised at its magnitude. "I never had an animus against their size and wealth, never objected to their corporate form. I was willing that they should combine and grow as big and wealthy as they could, but only by legitimate means. But they had never played fair, and that ruined their greatness for me." Tarbell's father had been driven out of

1050-400: A large business is merely a survival of the fittest." Rockefeller was the second of six children born in Richford, New York , to con artist William A. Rockefeller Sr. and Eliza Davison. Rockefeller had an elder sister named Lucy and four younger siblings: William Jr. , Mary, and fraternal twins Franklin (Frank) and Frances. His father was of English and German descent, while his mother

1155-584: A million dollars in business) and $ 17,000 worth of profit, respectively, and their profits soared with the outbreak of the American Civil War when the Union Army called for massive amounts of food and supplies. During the second year of the American Civil War , Gardner withdrew from the business, and the firm became Clark & Rockefeller. When the Civil War was nearing a close and with

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1260-463: A month. His final year provided him $ 58 a month. As a youth, Rockefeller reportedly said that his two great ambitions were to make $ 100,000 (equivalent to $ 3.27 million in 2023 dollars) and to live 100 years. In 1859, Rockefeller went into the produce commission business with two partners, Maurice B. Clark and George W. Gardner , under Clark, Gardner & Company, and they raised $ 4,000 ($ 135,644 in 2023 dollars) in capital. Clark initiated

1365-783: A number of architects on public buildings in the Midwest. In 1883 he returned east and established a practice in New York City , where he would remain for the rest of his career. He worked in various popular styles during his career. He designed Queen Anne , Romanesque , neo-Grec and Renaissance Revival works, mainly in Greenwich Village and on the Upper West Side. His earliest known commissions were 44 and 46 West 85th Street (1886–87) 241-49 Central Park West (1887–88, altered), 170 West 75th Street (1888–89), 340-48 West End Avenue, 262-68 West 77th Street (both 1889-90), and

1470-459: A partner, and the firm of Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler was established. By 1868, with Rockefeller continuing practices of borrowing and reinvesting profits, controlling costs, and using refineries' waste, the company owned two Cleveland refineries and a marketing subsidiary in New York ; it was the largest oil refinery in the world. Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler was the predecessor of

1575-759: A possible career. In September 1855, when Rockefeller was sixteen, he got his first job as an assistant bookkeeper working for a small produce commission firm in Cleveland called Hewitt & Tuttle. He worked long hours and delighted, as he later recalled, in "all the methods and systems of the office." He was particularly adept at calculating transportation costs, which served him well later in his career. Much of Rockefeller's duties involved negotiating with barge canal owners, ship captains, and freight agents. In these negotiations, he learned that posted transportation rates that were believed to be fixed could be altered depending on conditions and timing of freight and through

1680-535: A principal stockholder of the Denver and Rio Grande, for a loan. Gould, via Frederick Taylor Gates , Rockefeller's financial adviser, brought John D. Rockefeller in to help finance the loan. Analysis of the company's operations by John D. Rockefeller Jr. showed a need for substantially more funds which were provided in exchange for acquisition of CF&I's subsidiaries such as the Colorado and Wyoming Railway Company,

1785-539: A result, Rockefeller and his associates owned dozens of separate corporations, each of which operated in just one state; the management of the whole enterprise was rather unwieldy. In 1882, Rockefeller's lawyers created an innovative form of corporation to centralize their holdings, giving birth to the Standard Oil Trust. The " trust " was a corporation of corporations, and the entity's size and wealth drew much attention. Nine trustees, including Rockefeller, ran

1890-513: A son together. He was a faithful congregant of the Erie Street Baptist Mission Church, taught Sunday school, and served as a trustee, clerk, and occasional janitor. Religion was a guiding force throughout his life, and he believed it to be the source of his success. Rockefeller was also considered a supporter of capitalism based on a perspective of social Darwinism , and he was quoted often as saying, "The growth of

1995-462: A strike when a non-union "colored waiter" took the place of a union striker. The manager made an agreement with the strikers to pay them $ 32 a month and discharge the non-union (colored) waiter. In 1897, there was an explosion at the hotel when Charles E. Tripler, a chemist and inventor, was exhibiting a "secret fluid compound" made of nitrogen and oxygen to some friends. Tripler poured the liquid on bread, whiskey and pure alcohol, freezing them. One of

2100-413: A ten-week business course at Folsom's Commercial College , where he studied bookkeeping. Rockefeller was a well-behaved, serious, and studious boy despite his father's absences and frequent family moves. His contemporaries described him as reserved, earnest, religious, methodical, and discreet. He was an excellent debater and expressed himself precisely. He also had a deep love of music and dreamed of it as

2205-536: Is what we now, many years later, call ' vertical integration ' I do not know whether Mr. Rockefeller ever used the word 'integration'. I only know he conceived the idea. In 1877, Standard clashed with Thomas A. Scott , the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad , Standard's chief hauler. Rockefeller envisioned pipelines as an alternative transport system for oil and began a campaign to build and acquire them. The railroad, seeing Standard's incursion into

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2310-605: The Endicott Hotel (1890–91), at Columbus Avenue and 82nd Street. All are extant and located in historic districts on the Upper West Side. He designed a row of 11 Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival row houses from 101 to 121 Manhattan Ave (between West 104th and West 105th) for Joseph Turner. Construction of the row commenced in August 1889, and was completed in May 1890, at a recorded cost of $ 10,000 per house. These homes are in

2415-497: The South Improvement Company offering special deals to bulk customers like Standard Oil, outside the main oil centers. The cartel offered preferential treatment as a high-volume shipper, which included not just steep discounts/rebates of up to 50% for their product but rebates for the shipment of competing products. Part of this scheme was the announcement of sharply increased freight charges. This touched off

2520-572: The Standard Oil Company in 1870. He ran it until 1897 and remained its largest shareholder . In his retirement, he focused his energy and wealth on philanthropy, especially regarding education, medicine, higher education, and modernizing the Southern United States . Rockefeller's wealth soared as kerosene and gasoline grew in importance, and he became the richest person in the country, controlling 90% of all oil in

2625-1142: The Supreme Court of the United States found Standard Oil Company of New Jersey in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act . By then the trust still had a 70% market share of the refined oil market but only 14% of the U.S. crude oil supply. The court ruled that the trust originated in illegal monopoly practices and ordered it to be broken up into 34 new companies. These included, among many others, Continental Oil, which became Conoco , now part of ConocoPhillips ; Standard of Indiana, which became Amoco , now part of BP ; Standard of California, which became Chevron ; Standard of New Jersey, which became Esso (and later, Exxon ), now part of ExxonMobil ; Standard of New York, which became Mobil , now part of ExxonMobil; and Standard of Ohio, which became Sohio , now part of BP. Pennzoil and Chevron have remained separate companies. Rockefeller, who had rarely sold shares, held over 25% of Standard's stock at

2730-512: The Times then called “one of the biggest retailing busts in recent memory.” After several other unsuccessful attempts, the space became what is now the Milling Room, with Executive Chef Scott Bryan (formerly of Veritas). Olde Good Things, New York City's architectural salvage company, had a shop in this building from about 2010 to 2014. Edward Angell Edward L. Angell (1847 – 1923)

2835-502: The district of Neuwied . In 1864, Rockefeller married Laura Celestia "Cettie" Spelman (1839–1915), daughter of Harvey Buell Spelman and Lucy Henry. They had four daughters and one son together. He said later, "Her judgment was always better than mine. Without her keen advice, I would be a poor man." The Rockefeller wealth, distributed as it was through a system of foundations and trusts, continued to fund family philanthropic, commercial, and, eventually, political aspirations throughout

2940-455: The 1880s Standard Oil had passed its peak of power over the world oil market. Rockefeller finally gave up his dream of controlling all the world's oil refining; he admitted later, "We realized that public sentiment would be against us if we actually refined all the oil." Over time, foreign competition and new finds abroad eroded his dominance. In the early 1880s, Rockefeller created one of his most important innovations. Rather than try to influence

3045-550: The 20th century. John Jr.'s youngest son David Rockefeller was a leading New York banker, serving for over 20 years as CEO of Chase Manhattan (now part of JPMorgan Chase ). Second son Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was Republican governor of New York and the 41st Vice President of the United States . Fourth son Winthrop Aldrich Rockefeller served as Republican Governor of Arkansas . Grandchildren Abigail Aldrich "Abby" Rockefeller and John Davison Rockefeller III became philanthropists. Grandson Laurance Spelman Rockefeller became

3150-417: The 41 companies in the trust. The public and the press were immediately suspicious of this new legal entity, and other businesses seized upon the idea and emulated it, further inflaming public sentiment. Standard Oil had gained an aura of invincibility, always prevailing against competitors, critics, and political enemies. It had become the richest, biggest, most feared business in the world, seemingly immune to

3255-419: The Civil War, military consumption of oil drove the price up from $ .35 a barrel in 1862 to as high as $ 13.75. This created an oil-drilling glut, with thousands of speculators attempting to make their fortunes. Most failed, but those who struck oil did not even need to be efficient. They would blow holes in the ground and gather up the oil as they could, often leading to creeks and rivers flowing with wasted oil in

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3360-553: The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania indicted Rockefeller in 1879 on charges of monopolizing the oil trade, starting an avalanche of similar court proceedings in other states and making a national issue of Standard Oil's business practices. Rockefeller was under great strain during the 1870s and 1880s when he was carrying out his plan of consolidation and integration and being attacked by the press. He complained that he could not stay asleep most nights. Rockefeller later commented: All

3465-676: The Crystal River Railroad Company, and possibly the Rocky Mountain Coal and Iron Company. Control was passed from the Iowa Group to Gould and Rockefeller interests in 1903 with Gould in control and Rockefeller and Gates representing a minority interests. Osgood left the company in 1904 and devoted his efforts to operating competing coal and coke operations. The strike, called in September 1913 by

3570-613: The Dolls jamming across the street and asked if they'd play in exchange for free food. By the late 1970s, the neighborhood had begun to recover and gentrification hit several upper west side buildings including the Endicott Hotel. In 1979, Robert Quinlan embarked on an $ 8.2 million project to convert the Endicott hotel into Museum Park Apartments, featuring 146 coop apartments and several commercial condominiums. Stephen B. Jacobs, who led several other condominium conversion projects at

3675-568: The Endicott continued to play an important role in the social life of New York. It was the site of several major society weddings and hosted several political and scientific conferences over the years. But the property's financial misfortunes continued. In late 1911, the executors of the Marshall O. Roberts estate brought suit against the hotels owners, who at the time included John D Rockefeller , to secure two mortgages made to Charles Fuller for $ 650,000. In August, after considerable legislation,

3780-583: The Euclid Avenue Baptist Church)—an independent Baptist church that eventually associated with the Northern Baptist Convention (1907–1950; now part of the modern American Baptist Churches USA ). His mother was deeply religious and disciplined, and had a major influence on him in religious matters. During church service, his mother would urge him to contribute his few pennies to the congregation. Rockefeller associated

3885-594: The German origin of Rockefeller and traced them to the early 17th century. Johann Peter Rockenfeller (baptized September 27, 1682, in the Protestant church of Rengsdorf ) immigrated in 1723 from Altwied (today a district of Neuwied , Rhineland-Palatinate ) with three children to North America. He settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania . The name Rockenfeller refers to the now-abandoned village of Rockenfeld in

3990-951: The Manhattan Avenue Historic District. He died of diabetes October 1, 1923, in Jersey City, New Jersey . John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest Americans of all time and one of the richest people in modern history. Rockefeller was born into a large family in Upstate New York who moved several times before eventually settling in Cleveland , Ohio. He became an assistant bookkeeper at age 16 and went into several business partnerships beginning at age 20, concentrating his business on oil refining . Rockefeller founded

4095-489: The Penny Whistle Toys Shop, Salou (a custom florist), and Endicott Book Sellers. In November 1982, movie mogul Dino De Laurentiis turned the restored Palm Court into DDL Foodshow , a specialty food shop. On a 34-foot marble counter, De Laurentiis served countless varieties of cheeses, breads, salads, even a suckling pig or two. By April 1984, DDL Foodshow had succumbed, along with many neighbors, to what

4200-473: The Rockefellers and the coal industry. The United States Commission on Industrial Relations conducted extensive hearings, singling out John D. Rockefeller Jr. and the Rockefellers' relationship with Bowers for special attention. Bowers was relieved of duty and Wellborn restored to control in 1915, then industrial relations improved. Rockefeller denied any responsibility and minimized the seriousness of

4305-525: The Standard Oil Company. By the end of the American Civil War , Cleveland was one of the five main refining centers in the U.S. (besides Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , New York , and the region in northwestern Pennsylvania where most of the oil originated). By 1869 there was triple the kerosene refining capacity than needed to supply the market, and the capacity remained in excess for many years. On January 10, 1870, Rockefeller abolished

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4410-600: The United Mine Workers over the issue of union representation , was against coal mine operators in Huerfano and Las Animas counties of southern Colorado, where the majority of CF&I's coal and coke production was located. The strike was fought vigorously by the coal mine operators association and its steering committee, which included Welborn, president of CF&I, a spokesman for the coal operators. Rockefeller's operative, Lamont Montgomery Bowers, remained in

4515-508: The United States at his peak in 1900. Oil was used in lamps, and as a fuel for ships and automobiles. Standard Oil was the greatest business trust in the United States. Through use of the company's monopoly power , Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and, through corporate and technological innovations, was instrumental in both widely disseminating and drastically reducing the production cost of oil. Rockefeller's company and business practices came under criticism, particularly in

4620-429: The age of prohibition that distributed more than 650,000 gallons of alcohol. By the late 1940s and 1950s, the hotel had gone downhill. According to one mafia drug pusher, "Uncle Sonny," it was a venue where he could fill his packets with money from addicts, "some rich and famous, and some down and out losers who apparently had money." According to Sonny, jazz singer Billie Holiday had a room there and by then had become

4725-436: The background. Few miners belonged to the union or participated in the strike call, but the majority honored it. Strikebreakers (called "scabs") were threatened and sometimes attacked. Both sides purchased substantial arms and ammunition. Striking miners were forced to abandon their homes in company towns and lived in tent cities erected by the union, such as the tent city at Ludlow, a railway stop north of Trinidad . Under

4830-464: The beginning, I was trained to work, to save, and to give." When he was a boy, his family moved to Moravia, New York , and to Owego, New York , in 1851, where he attended Owego Academy. In 1853, his family moved to Strongsville, Ohio , and he attended Cleveland's Central High School , the first high school in Cleveland and the first free public high school west of the Alleghenies. Then he took

4935-428: The boom and bust of the business cycle, consistently making profits year after year. The company's vast American empire included 20,000 domestic wells, 4,000 miles of pipeline, 5,000 tank cars, and over 100,000 employees. Its share of world oil refining topped out above 90% but slowly dropped to about 80% for the rest of the century. Despite the formation of the trust and its perceived immunity from all competition, by

5040-471: The company's board of directors. In full retirement at age 63, Rockefeller earned over $ 58 million (~$ 1.65 billion in 2023) in investments in 1902. One of the most effective attacks on Rockefeller and his firm was the 1904 publication of The History of the Standard Oil Company , by Ida Tarbell , a leading muckraker . She documented the company's espionage, price wars, heavy-handed marketing tactics, and courtroom evasions. Although her work prompted

5145-624: The design and construction of the new Providence City Hall . Following a competition, Angell, along with architect Alpheus C. Morse and builder David Childs, recommended the design of Samuel J. F. Thayer , which was built. Over the next few years Angell designed several schools in Providence and the Grove Street Elementary School in Woonsocket . In 1878 City Hall was finished, and Angell went west, working for

5250-447: The end of the 1870s, Standard was refining over 90% of the oil in the U.S. Rockefeller had already become a millionaire ($ 1 million is equivalent to $ 32 million in 2023 dollars). He instinctively realized that orderliness would only proceed from centralized control of large aggregations of plant and capital, with the one aim of an orderly flow of products from the producer to the consumer. That orderly, economic, efficient flow

5355-439: The established laws of high-class dealing" seemed to be at odds with his true business methods. Rockefeller and his son continued to consolidate their oil interests as best they could until New Jersey, in 1909, changed its incorporation laws to effectively allow a re-creation of the trust in the form of a single holding company . Rockefeller retained his nominal title as president until 1911 and he kept his stock. At last in 1911,

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5460-624: The event. When testifying on the Ludlow Massacre , and asked what action he would have taken as Director, John D. Rockefeller Jr. stated, "I would have taken no action. I would have deplored the necessity which compelled the officers of the company to resort to such measures to supplement the State forces to maintain law and order." He admitted that he had made no attempt to bring the militiamen to justice. Against long-circulating speculations that his family has French roots, genealogists proved

5565-476: The fortune that I have made has not served to compensate me for the anxiety of that period. Although it always had hundreds of competitors, Standard Oil gradually gained dominance of oil refining and sales as market share in the United States through horizontal integration , ending up with about 90% of the US market. In the kerosene industry, the company replaced the old distribution system with its own vertical system. It supplied kerosene by tank cars that brought

5670-559: The fray providing financing. Additional fields were discovered in Burma and Java. Even more critical, the invention of the light bulb gradually began to erode the dominance of kerosene for illumination. Standard Oil adapted by developing a European presence, expanding into natural gas production in the U.S., and then producing gasoline for automobiles, which until then had been considered a waste product. Standard Oil moved its headquarters to New York City at 26 Broadway, and Rockefeller became

5775-531: The fuel to local markets, and tank wagons then delivered to retail customers, thus bypassing the existing network of wholesale jobbers. Despite improving the quality and availability of kerosene products while greatly reducing their cost to the public (the price of kerosene dropped by nearly 80% over the life of the company), Standard Oil's business practices created intense controversy. Standard's most potent weapons against competitors were underselling, differential pricing, and secret transportation rebates. The firm

5880-564: The futility of continuing to compete against Standard Oil; in 1874, they made a secret agreement with Rockefeller to be acquired. Pratt and Rogers became Rockefeller's partners. Rogers, in particular, became one of Rockefeller's key men in the formation of the Standard Oil Trust . Pratt's son, Charles Millard Pratt , became secretary of Standard Oil. For many of his competitors, Rockefeller had merely to show them his books so they could see what they were up against and then make them

5985-405: The great expansion westward fostered by the growth of railroads and an oil -fueled economy. He borrowed heavily, reinvested profits, adapted rapidly to changing markets, and fielded observers to track the quickly expanding industry. In 1866, William Rockefeller Jr., John's brother, built another refinery in Cleveland and brought John into the partnership. In 1867, Henry Morrison Flagler became

6090-557: The hangings. Then in 1905, another fire broke out due to a faulty flue in the kitchen. The fire ate its way through the flooring of the second floor dining room. The hotel continued to change hands throughout the period. In 1901, the Hotel Endicott property, was sold by Isaac Anstatt and Cyrus C. Marble to the Hotel Endicott Company for $ 499,500 plus the assumption of all liens on the property. From 1910-1929,

6195-463: The hotel gradually fell into disrepair. In 1932, the building was auctioned to Diederich A. Christoffers, on a bid of $ 10,000 above a mortgage of $ 500,000. Throughout the 1930s, the building became a center for organized crime . The infamous gangster Dutch Schultz maintained a residence in the building. It also likely served as the headquarters for the Moe and Shim Syndicate, an alleged liquor ring during

6300-437: The hotel's third floor windows. From its earliest days, the hotel often played host to meetings of the elite of society and often served as the meeting place for the city's Republican Party . The cost of a suite at that time was $ 65 a month or upward furnished, or $ 50 a month unfurnished. The hotel also faced issues with race relations early on. In 1893, soon after opening, the hotel's chambermaids and pantry girls threatened

6405-403: The idea of the partnership and offered $ 2,000 towards the goal. Rockefeller had only $ 800 saved up at the time and so borrowed $ 1,000 from his father, "Big Bill" Rockefeller, at 10 percent interest. Rockefeller went steadily ahead in business from there, making money each year of his career. In their first and second years of business, Clark, Gardner & Rockefeller netted $ 4,400 (on nearly half

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6510-530: The industry's savior, "an angel of mercy" absorbing the weak and making the industry as a whole stronger, more efficient, and more competitive. Standard was growing horizontally and vertically . It added its own pipelines, tank cars, and home delivery network. It kept oil prices low to stave off competitors, made its products affordable to the average household, and, to increase market penetration, sometimes sold below cost. It developed over 300 oil-based products from tar to paint to petroleum jelly to chewing gum. By

6615-461: The least efficient competing refiners, improving the efficiency of his operations, pressing for discounts on oil shipments, undercutting his competition, making secret deals, raising investment pools, and buying rivals out. In less than four months in 1872, in what was later known as "The Cleveland Conquest" or "The Cleveland Massacre", Standard Oil absorbed 22 of its 26 Cleveland competitors. Eventually, even his former antagonists, Pratt and Rogers, saw

6720-471: The lobby of the hotel. Then in September, Don Carlos Frederico von Bauditz, the 26-year-old head of a wealthy Venezuelan family, shot himself in the head after a shattered romance. In 1909, the hotel witnessed one of the stranger events in its storied history. One of the chambermaids of the hotel had fallen in love with the superintendent of a nearby building on W. 83rd St. According to the Joseph Freal,

6825-405: The metal stairways selling themselves. In 1964, a 33-year-old man was arrested for shooting off a rifle on the roof of the hotel. By the early 1970s, the Endicott had become very dangerous. At the time, about 40-50% of its tenants were receiving welfare. Management tried to evict "undesirable elements" from the premises but was unsuccessful. A violent crime wave struck the building. In 1972, there

6930-435: The object of her affections, he had avoided the woman who appeared to be stalking him. Out of desperation, the chambermaid showed up to his apartment, drank carbolic acid , then knocked on the door of Freal's apartment. She died soon after. There were two major fires in the Endicott during the 1900s. In 1902, a fire broke out in the hotel when chemicals used by a chamber maid blazed up in some unexplained manner and set fire to

7035-770: The oil business during the " South Improvement Company " affair. Rockefeller called her "Miss Tarbarrel" in private but held back in public saying only, "not a word about that misguided woman." He began a publicity campaign to put his company and himself in a better light. Though he had long maintained a policy of active silence with the press, he decided to make himself more accessible and responded with conciliatory comments such as "capital and labor are both wild forces which require intelligent legislation to hold them in restriction." He wrote and published his memoirs beginning in 1908. Critics found his writing to be sanitized and disingenuous and thought that statements such as "the underlying, essential element of success in business are to follow

7140-429: The other 40% in rivers and massive sludge piles, Rockefeller used the gasoline to fuel the refinery, and sold the rest as lubricating oil, petroleum jelly and paraffin wax, and other by-products. Tar was used for paving, naphtha shipped to gas plants. Likewise, Rockefeller's refineries hired their own plumbers, cutting the cost of pipe-laying in half. Barrels that cost $ 2.50 each ended up only $ 0.96 when Rockefeller bought

7245-425: The partnership of Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler, co-founding Standard Oil of Ohio. Continuing to apply his work ethic and efficiency, Rockefeller quickly expanded the company to be the most profitable refiner in Ohio. Likewise, it became one of the largest shippers of oil and kerosene in the country. The railroads competed fiercely for traffic and, in an attempt to create a cartel to control freight rates, formed

7350-427: The place of water. A market existed for the refined oil in the form of kerosene. Coal had previously been used to extract kerosene, but its tedious extraction process and high price prevented broad use. Even with the high costs of freight transportation and a government levy during the Civil War (the government levied a tax of twenty cents a gallon on refined oil), profits on the refined product were large. The price of

7455-545: The plans, the Endicott began construction in 1889 at a cost of over $ 1,500,000. The first building, opening on 81st Street for 52 families was finished in 1890; the second building on 82nd Street for 72 families opened in 1891. When the hotel opened, it was described as "in all respects, the finest and best appointed in this part of the city." The Hotel was built of Roman brick and terra cotta and boasted many modern marvels of its day including steam heat, lighting by its own electric plant, and good ventilation. The original decor

7560-517: The price of crude oil directly, Standard Oil had been exercising indirect control by altering oil storage charges to suit market conditions. Rockefeller then ordered the issuance of certificates against oil stored in its pipelines. These certificates became traded by speculators, thus creating the first oil-futures market which effectively set spot market prices from then on. The National Petroleum Exchange opened in Manhattan in late 1882 to facilitate

7665-590: The property was sold under foreclosure and transferred to the trustees of the estate, for an expressed consideration of $ 750,000. Later in October that year, the property was leased by the trustees for $ 1 million for 21 years to William and J. Manger, bankers of 10 Wall Street , who at the time also owned the Plaza Hotel in Chicago. When the depression hit in 1929, the neighborhood began to spiral downward and

7770-470: The prospect of those war-time profits ending, Clark & Rockefeller looked toward the refining of crude oil. While his brother Frank fought in the Civil War, Rockefeller tended his business and hired substitute soldiers . He gave money to the Union cause, as did many rich Northerners who avoided combat. "I wanted to go in the army and do my part," Rockefeller said. "But it was simply out of the question. There

7875-464: The protection of the National Guard, some miners returned to work and some strikebreakers, imported from the eastern coalfields, joined them as Guard troops protected their movements. In February 1914, a substantial portion of the troops were withdrawn, but a large contingent remained at Ludlow. On April 20, 1914, a general fire-fight occurred between strikers and troops, which was antagonized by

7980-427: The refined oil in 1863 was around $ 13 a barrel, with a profit margin of around $ 5 to $ 8 a barrel. The capital expenditures for a refinery at that time were small – around $ 1,000 to $ 1,500 and requiring only a few men to operate. In this environment of a wasteful boom, the partners switched from foodstuffs to oil, building an oil refinery in 1863 in " The Flats ", then Cleveland's burgeoning industrial area. The refinery

8085-582: The regular household chores and earned extra money raising turkeys, selling potatoes and candy, and eventually lending small sums of money to neighbors. He followed his father's advice to "trade dishes for platters" and always get the better part of any deal. Bill once bragged, "I cheat my boys every chance I get. I want to make 'em sharp." However, his mother was more influential in John's upbringing and beyond, while he distanced himself further and further from his father as his life progressed. He later stated, "From

8190-615: The site of an evangelical revival known as the Second Great Awakening . It drew masses to various Protestant churches—especially Baptist ones—and urged believers to follow such ideals as hard work, prayer, and good deeds to build "the Kingdom of God on Earth." Early in his life, he regularly went with his siblings and mother Eliza to the local Baptist church—the Erie Street Baptist Church (later

8295-686: The society pages. By then, according to an article in the Brooklyn Eagle , a room at the Endicott cost $ 3 on the American plan (including room and meals) and $ 1 for the European plan (room only). The hotel was home to several disasters and scandals during the first decade of the century. In 1900, the hotel was the site of a grisly murder when Mrs. Mary Hayes was shot in the left temple by Dr. Franklin Caldwell, who then shot himself. Dr. Caldwell

8400-459: The spectators touched a lighted match to the alcohol, shattering the glass and injuring several onlookers. The hotel seemed to run into hard financial times almost from the beginning. The Hotel Endicott changed hands several times during the period, from Charles Fuller to Cyrus C. Marble and Benjamin Gates to Cyrus Marble and Isaac Anstatt. Throughout the 1900s, the hotel was frequently mentioned in

8505-456: The time being. While competitors may have been unhappy, Rockefeller's efforts did bring American consumers cheaper kerosene and other oil by-products. Before 1870, oil light was only for the wealthy, provided by expensive whale oil. During the next decade, kerosene became commonly available to the working and middle classes. Undeterred, though vilified for the first time by the press, Rockefeller continued with his self-reinforcing cycle of buying

8610-485: The time of the breakup. He and all of the other stockholders received proportionate shares in each of the 34 companies. In the aftermath, Rockefeller's control over the oil industry was somewhat reduced, but over the next 10 years the breakup proved immensely profitable for him. The companies' combined net worth rose fivefold and Rockefeller's personal wealth jumped to $ 900 million. In 1902, facing cash flow problems, John Cleveland Osgood turned to George Jay Gould ,

8715-485: The time, was the architect for the ambitious project. The 144 apartments were put on the market in March 1981. They had nearly all sold by June, at prices ranging from $ 67,000 to $ 205,000. Peter Salwen in his book Upper West Side Story wrote that “By 1983, even the Endicott Hotel had been emptied, fumigated and converted to expensive co-ops.” The newly revived building included ground floor shops with wood facades including

8820-462: The trading of oil futures. Although 85% of world crude production was still coming from Pennsylvania in the 1880s, oil from wells drilled in Russia and Asia began to reach the world market. Robert Nobel had established his own refining enterprise in the abundant and cheaper Russian oil fields, including the region's first pipeline and the world's first oil tanker. The Paris Rothschilds jumped into

8925-405: The transportation and pipeline fields, struck back and formed a subsidiary to buy and build oil refineries and pipelines. Standard countered, held back its shipments, and, with the help of other railroads, started a price war that dramatically reduced freight payments and caused labor unrest. Rockefeller prevailed and the railroad sold its oil interests to Standard. In the aftermath of that battle,

9030-420: The troops and mine guards. The camp was burned, resulting in 15 women and children, who hid in tents at the camp, being burned to death. Costs to both mine operators and the union were high. This incident brought unwanted national attention to Colorado. Due to reduced demand for coal, resulting from an economic downturn, many of CF&I's coal mines never reopened and many men were thrown out of work. The union

9135-403: The use of rebates to preferred shippers. Rockefeller was also given the duties of collecting debts when Hewitt instructed him to do so. Instead of using his father's method of presence to collect debts, Rockefeller relied on a persistent pestering approach. Rockefeller received $ 16 a month for his three-month apprenticeship. During his first year, he received $ 31 a month, which was increased to $ 50

9240-504: The wood and had them built for himself. In February 1865, in what was later described by oil industry historian Daniel Yergin as a "critical" action, Rockefeller bought out the Clark brothers for $ 72,500 (equivalent to $ 1 million in 2023 dollars) at auction and established the firm of Rockefeller & Andrews. Rockefeller said, "It was the day that determined my career." He was well-positioned to take advantage of postwar prosperity and

9345-783: The work of Abraham Flexner , who in his essay "Medical Education in America" emphatically endowed empiricism as the basis for the US medical system of the 20th century. Rockefeller was the founder of the University of Chicago and Rockefeller University , and funded the establishment of Central Philippine University in the Philippines. He was a devout Northern Baptist and supported many church-based institutions. He adhered to total abstinence from alcohol and tobacco throughout his life. For advice, he relied closely on his wife, Laura Spelman Rockefeller : they had four daughters and

9450-425: The writings of author Ida Tarbell . The Supreme Court ruled in 1911 that Standard Oil must be dismantled for violation of federal antitrust laws . It was broken up into 34 separate entities, which included companies that became ExxonMobil , Chevron Corporation , and others—some of which remain among the largest companies by revenue worldwide . Consequently, Rockefeller became the country's first billionaire, with

9555-459: Was a homemaker and a devout Baptist who struggled to maintain a semblance of stability at home, as Bill was frequently gone for extended periods. She also put up with his philandering and his double life, which included bigamy. He permanently abandoned his family around 1855 and lived with second wife, Margaret L. Allen. Eliza was thrifty by nature and by necessity, and she taught her son that "willful waste makes woeful want". John did his share of

9660-467: Was a slaying of four women in the hotel. In 1973, a 63-year-old welfare recipient was found murdered and the body set afire. Then in 1974, a man was stabbed to death in the elevator. The sole highlight was that it played host to the American rock band, the New York Dolls ' first public performance around Christmastime 1971. Workers at the hotel were organizing a party for the residents; they heard

9765-464: Was an American architect who worked in Providence, Rhode Island , and New York City . Edward Lewis Angell was born March 11, 1847, in Providence, Rhode Island , to Tristram Harris Angell and Caroline Mason (Lewis) Angell. He was educated by private tutors and in architecture in the office of Charles P. Hartshorn . In 1874 he was appointed advisory architect to the committee that had charge of

9870-474: Was an assistant to Mrs. Hayes' husband, Dr. E.P. Hayes, a dentist at the Siegel Cooper Company . Caldwell allegedly had an infatuation with his employer's wife. The year 1904 was particularly tough for the hotel. In May, a "mentally unbalanced" forty-year-old woman dropped from one of the hotel's sixth story rooms and died shortly afterward. A month later, a former state senator was assaulted in

9975-496: Was attacked by journalists and politicians throughout its existence, in part for these monopolistic methods, giving momentum to the antitrust movement. In 1879, the New York State Legislature 's Hepburn Committee investigations into "alleged abuses" committed by the railroads uncovered the fact that Standard Oil was receiving substantial freight rebates on all of the oil it was transporting by railroad—and

10080-567: Was crushing Standard's competitors thereby. By 1880, according to the New York World , Standard Oil was "the most cruel, impudent, pitiless, and grasping monopoly that ever fastened upon a country". To critics, Rockefeller replied, "In a business so large as ours ... some things are likely to be done which we cannot approve. We correct them as soon as they come to our knowledge." At that time, many legislatures had made it difficult to incorporate in one state and operate in another. As

10185-466: Was described by locals as "Big Bill" and "Devil Bill." Unshackled by conventional morality, he led a vagabond existence and returned to his family infrequently. Throughout his life, Bill was notorious for conducting schemes. In between the births of Lucy and John, Bill and his mistress and housekeeper Nancy Brown had a daughter named Clorinda, who died young. Between John and William Jr.'s births, Bill and Nancy had another daughter, named Cornelia. Eliza

10290-412: Was directly owned by Andrews, Clark & Company, which was composed of Clark & Rockefeller, chemist Samuel Andrews , and M. B. Clark's two brothers. The commercial oil business was then in its infancy. Whale oil had become too expensive for the masses, and a cheaper, general-purpose lighting fuel was needed. While other refineries would keep the 60% of oil product that became kerosene, but dump

10395-479: Was elaborate, sporting marble tile and onyx wainscoting. The original hotel included a glass-roofed Palm Room where today in its place is the restaurant The Milling Room. There was a dining room on the second floor which could seat upwards of 500 to 600 people, as well as a cafe, barber shop and newsstand on the ground floor. Outside, the platforms of the Ninth Avenue El 's 81st Street station ran by

10500-638: Was forced to discontinue strike benefits in February 1915. There was destitution in the coalfields. With the help of funds from the Rockefeller Foundation , relief programs were organized by the Colorado Committee on Unemployment and Relief. A state agency created by Governor Carlson, offered work to unemployed miners building roads and doing other useful projects. The casualties suffered at Ludlow mobilized public opinion against

10605-480: Was no one to take my place. We were in a new business, and if I had not stayed it must have stopped—and with so many dependent on it." Rockefeller was an abolitionist who voted for President Abraham Lincoln and supported the then-new Republican Party . As he said, "God gave me money", and he did not apologize for it. He felt at ease and righteous following Methodist preacher John Wesley 's dictum, "gain all you can, save all you can, and give all you can." During

10710-499: Was of Ulster Scot descent. One source says that some ancestors were Huguenots , the Roquefeuille family, who fled to Germany from France during the reign of Louis XIV and a period of religious persecution. By the time their descendants immigrated to North America, their name had taken German form. William Sr. worked first as a lumberman and then a traveling salesman. He claimed to be a "botanic physician" who sold elixirs, and

10815-489: Was the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, originally used to control unions, but later central to the breakup of the Standard Oil trust. Ohio was especially vigorous in applying its state antitrust laws, and finally forced a separation of Standard Oil of Ohio from the rest of the company in 1892, the first step in the dissolution of the trust. In the 1890s, Rockefeller expanded into iron ore and ore transportation, forcing

10920-791: Was turned over to John Dustin Archbold and Rockefeller bought a new estate, Pocantico Hills , north of New York City, turning more time to leisure activities including the new sports of bicycling and golf. Upon his ascent to the presidency, Theodore Roosevelt initiated dozens of suits under the Sherman Antitrust Act and coaxed reforms out of Congress. In 1901, U.S. Steel , then controlled by J. Pierpont Morgan , having bought Andrew Carnegie's steel assets, offered to buy Standard's iron interests as well. A deal brokered by Henry Clay Frick exchanged Standard's iron interests for U.S. Steel stock and gave Rockefeller and his son membership on

11025-494: Was used chiefly to create the modern systematic approach of targeted philanthropy through the creation of foundations that supported medicine, education, and scientific research. His foundations pioneered developments in medical research and were instrumental in the near-eradication of hookworm in the American South, and yellow fever in the United States. He and Carnegie gave form and impetus through their charities to

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