Rockefeller family
The
Rockefeller family, founded by
John Davison Rockefeller (1839-1937) and his brother
William Rockefeller (1841-1922), is a
German-American industrial family that made a fortune in the
oil business during the late 19th century, primarily through the
Standard Oil Company.
The six-generation family is one of the great
philanthropic families in the
United States -- family leaders in business and philanthropy have included
John D. Sr.,
John D. Jr.,
John D. 3rd,
David Rockefeller and
Laurance Rockefeller. Several family members have held high public offices, including
Vice President of the United States (
Nelson Rockefeller),
United States Senator (
Jay Rockefeller), and
State Governor (Nelson, Jay, and
Winthrop Rockefeller), and
Lieutenant Governor (
Winthrop Paul Rockefeller). Another public family member was
Michael Rockefeller, son of Nelson, an anthropologist who came to media attention after he was presumed killed in New Guinea in 1961.
The name is an Americanized version of
Rokkenfelder or
Rockenfeller, meaning
from Rockenfeld. This indicates the roots of the family, which can be directly traced back to the villages of Ehlscheid, Segendorf and Fahr, (all suburbanised to
Neuwied) that are neighbored to the small settlement of Rockenfeld part of Neuwied's quarter Feldkirchen.[
1] In Germany the version
Rockenfeller is known as a family name.
The earliest ancestor known is Goddart Rockenfeller (*1590, Fahr).[
2] The Rockefeller family is descended from Johann Peter Rockenfeller (*1682,†1763), grandson of Goddart, and Johann Thiel Rockenfeller (*1965,†1796), great-grandson of Goddart. Both immigrated to
New Jersey and
New York respectively along with their wifes and their families.
John D. Rockefeller denied ever being worth $1,000,000,000. However, on
September 29,
1916, he officially passed the mark. He reportedly gave away more than half. The Rockefeller name is imprinted on a number of places throughout the United States, most notably in
New York City.
* The
Rockefeller Center - a
New York City building complex
* The
Rockefeller Foundation - a charitable organization
* Either of two congressional committees (in
1972 and
1975) dubbed the
Rockefeller Commission.
* He formed and funded the Bureau of Social Hygiene for the scientific study of prostitution (which he viewed as a vice associated with feeble-mindedness and disease).
The Rockefeller family donated some sizable sums towards the rebuilding of
France after
World War I. For this reason, it is still considered a comparison point for extreme wealth ("rich like Rockefeller"); this usage is now dated and fading out.
The Rockefeller family was also responsible for the creation and endowment of the
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation which operates the restored area at
Williamsburg, Virginia.
Family donations led to the formation of the
University of Chicago (1890), the Nobel Prize-Winning-Power where the first American Nobel Prize in science was produced in 1907.[
3]; and to the creation of the
Rockefeller University.
Conservation
Beginning with Rockefeller Sr., the family has been a major force in land conservation. Over the generations, it has created more than 20 national parks and open spaces, including the Cloisters, Acadia National Park, Forest Hill Park, Greenpeace, the Nature Conservancy, and Grand Teton National Park, amongst many others.
Rockefeller Jr, and his son
Laurance (and son
Larry) were particularly prominent in this area. Most of these efforts were accomplished out of the public arena.
The family was honored for its conservation efforts in November, 2005 by the
National Audubon Society, one of America's largest and oldest conservation organizations, at which over 30 family members attended. At the event, the society's president, John Flicker, notably stated:
"Cumulatively, no other family in America has made the contribution to conservation that the Rockefeller family has made".International politics
Members of the Rockefeller family (especially
David Rockefeller) have been heavily involved in international politics, and have donated money, established or been involved in the following major institutions:
* The
Council on Foreign Relations * The
Trilateral Commission * The
Bilderberg Group* The
World Economic Forum* The
Business Council* The
Round table groups* The
United NationsAncestors
*Godfrey Rockefeller
**
William Avery Rockefeller (1810–1906)
***
John Davison Rockefeller (1839–1937)
***
William Rockefeller (1841–1922)
*
Bessie Rockefeller Strong (1866–1906)
**
Margaret Rockefeller Strong de Larraín, Marquesa de Cuevas (1897–1985)
*
Alice Rockefeller (1869–1870)
*
Alta Rockefeller Prentice (1871–1962)
**
John Rockefeller Prentice (1902–1972)
***
Abra Prentice Wilkin (born 1942)
**
Mary Adeline Prentice Gilbert (born 1908)
**Spelman Prentice (born 1911)
***Pamela Prentice (born 1938)
***Peter Spelman Prentice (born 1940)
***Alta Rockefeller Prentice (born 1942)
***Michael Sartell Prentice (born 1944)
*
Edith Rockefeller McCormick (1872–1937)
**John Rockefeller McCormick (1896–1901)
**Editha McCormick (1897–1898)
**Harold Fowler McCormick, Jr. (1898–1973)
**Muriel McCormick Hubbard (1903–1959)
**Mathilde McCormick Oser (1906–1947)
***Anita Oser Pauling
*
John Davison Rockefeller, Jr. (1874–1960)
**
Abby Rockefeller Mauzé (1903–1976)
***Abby Rockefeller Milton O'Neill (born 1928)
***Marilyn Ellen Milton Simpson (1931–1980)
**
John D. Rockefeller 3rd (1906–1978)
***
John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV (born 1937)
****
John Davison "Jamie" Rockefeller V (born 1969)
*****Laura Chandler Rockefeller (born 2000)
*****Sophia Percy Rockefeller
****Valerie Rockefeller Wayne (born 1971)
****Charles Rockefeller (born 1973)
****
Justin Aldrich Rockefeller (born 1979)
***Sandra Rockefeller Ferry (born 1943)
****John Christian Rockefeller Ferry (born 1984)
****Jamie Aldrich Rockefeller Ferry (born 1990)
***
Hope Rockefeller Aldrich (born 1946)
***
Alida Rockefeller Messinger (born 1948)
**
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (1908–1979)
***
Rodman Rockefeller (1932–2000)
****
Meile Rockefeller****Peter Rockefeller
****Stuart Rockefeller
****Michael Rockefeller
***Ann Rockefeller Roberts (born 1934)
***
Steven C. Rockefeller (born 1936)
****
Steven C. Rockefeller, Jr.*****Steven C. Rockefeller III
*****Christian Rockefeller
*****Kayla Rockefeller
***
Michael Rockefeller (1938–1961?)
***Nelson Rockefeller, Jr. (born 1964)
***
Mark Rockefeller (born 1967)
**
Laurance Spelman Rockefeller (1910–2004)
***
Laura Rockefeller Chasin (born 1936)
***
Marion Rockefeller Weber (born 1938)
***Dr. Lucy Rockefeller Waletzky (born 1941)
***Larry Rockefeller (born 1944)
**
Winthrop Rockefeller (1912–1973)
***
Winthrop Paul Rockefeller (1948–2006)
**
David Rockefeller (born 1915)
***David Rockefeller, Jr. (born 1941)
***Abby Rockefeller (born 1943)
***
Neva Rockefeller Goodwin (born 1944)
***Margaret Rockefeller (born 1947)
***Richard Rockefeller (born 1949)
***
Eileen Rockefeller Growald (born 1952)
*
Lewis Edward Rockefeller (1865–1866)
*Emma Rockefeller McAlpin (1868–1934)
*
William Goodsell Rockefeller (1870–1922)
**
William Avery Rockefeller (1896–1973)
**Godfrey Stillman Rockefeller (1899–1983)
**
James Stillman Rockefeller (1902–2004)
***James Stillman Rockefeller, Jr. (born 1926)
****Liv Merlin Rockefeller Hessler (born 1957)
****Ola Stillman Rockefeller (born 1959)
***Nancy Sherlock Carnegie Rockefeller (born 1927)
***Andrew Carnegie Rockefeller (born 1929)
***Georgia Stillman Rockefeller (born 1933)
****Sarah Elizabeth Rose (1958–1989)
*****Kevin Randolph Hearst (born 1984)
*****Kyle Carnegie Hearst (born 1986)
*****Charlotte Rose Hearst (born 1986)
**
John Sterling Rockefeller (1904–1988)
**
Almira Geraldine Rockefeller (born 1907)
*John Davison Rockefeller (1872–1877)
*
Percy Avery Rockefeller (1878–1934)
**Isabel Rockefeller Lincoln (1902–1980)
**Avery B. Rockefeller (1903–1986)
**
Winifred Rockefeller Emeny (1904–1951)
**
Faith Rockefeller Model (1909–1960)
***
Robert Model (born 1942)
**Gladys Rockefeller Underhill (born 1910)
*
Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge (1882–1973)
**
Marcellus Hartley Dodge, Jr. (1908–1930)
Spouses
*Cettie Spelman Rockefeller (1839–1915)
*
Elsie Stillman Rockefeller (1872–1935)
*
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (1874–1948)
*Isabel Stillman Rockefeller (1876–1935)
*Martha Baird Rockefeller (1895–1971)
*
Mary Todhunter Rockefeller (1907–1999)
*
Blanchette Ferry Rockefeller (1909–1992)
*
Margaretta Fitler Murphy Rockefeller (born 1926)
*Abels, Jules.
The Rockefeller Billions: The Story of the World's Most Stupendous Fortune. New York: The Macmillian Company, 1965.
*Aldrich, Nelson W. Jr.
Old Money: The Mythology of America's Upper Class. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988.
*Boorstin, Daniel J.
The Americans: The Democratic Experience. New York: Vintage Books, 1974.
*Brown, E. Richard.
Rockefeller Medicine Men: Medicine and Capitalism in America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979.
*Chernow, Ron.
Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. London: Warner Books, 1998.
*Collier, Peter, and David Horowitz.
The Rockefellers: An American Dynasty. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1976.
*Harr, John Ensor, and Peter J. Johnson.
The Rockefeller Century: Three Generations of America's Greatest Family. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1988.
*Harr, John Ensor, and Peter J. Johnson.
The Rockefeller Conscience: An American Family in Public and in Private. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992.
*Lundberg, Ferdinand.
The Rockefeller Syndrome. Secaucus, New Jersey: Lyle Stuart, Inc., 1975.
*Manchester, William R.
A Rockefeller Family Portrait: From John D. to Nelson. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1959.
*Moscow, Alvin.
The Rockefeller Inheritance. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., 1977.
*Rockefeller, David.
Memoirs. New York: Random House, 2002.
*Stasz, Clarice.
The Rockefeller Women: Dynasty of Piety, Privacy, and Service. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995.
*
Rockefeller Center*
Rockefeller University*
Philanthropy*
American Experience: The Rockefellers A full transcript of the
PBS documentary on the family, with contributions from
Paul Krugman and author
Ron Chernow.
*
The Rockefeller Archive Center: Family bibliography An extensive (though limited) list of autobiographies, biographies and general works on the family and its companies and institutions.
*
They Saved Land Like Rockefellers: The Rockefeller family and conservation November, 2005, New York Times (Times Select) article detailing the family's conservation efforts over 5 generations.
*
Rockefeller Family Tree
