John D. Rockeffelar and Northern Securities

In 1859 John D. Rockefeller started one of the greatest monopolies of the progressive era. The Standard Oil Company grew to dominate the oil industry and became one of the first big trust in the United States. In 1870 the Northern Pacific Railway which span from Duluth and St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon. Northern Pacific Railway was the first to offer passenger and service across the Western U.S.


John Rockefeller was born July 8th, 1839, the second of six children. He took a business course at Folsom Mercantile College in 1855. He was employed as an assistant bookkeeper by Hewitt and Turtle. He was paid only $50 for 3 months of work. Moving up to a cashier he made $25 a month.


With $1,000 saved and another $1,000 borrowed form his father, Rockefeller formed a partnership in commission business with Maurice B. Clark. In the same year the first oil well was drilled at Titusville in western Pennsylvania, give a rise to the petroleum industry. Cleveland soon became a major refining center of he booming new industry. In 1863 Rockefeller and Clark entered the oil business as refiners. With Samuel Andrews as their new partner they named the company Andrews, Clark & Co. In 1865 the partnership was broke because of disagreement in management. Rockefeller bought the Company for $72,500 and with Andrews it was named Rockefeller & Andrews.  


The oil industry began to expand because of the use of kerosene lamps. Rockefeller renamed the business to Standard Oil Company when his brother William, Andrews, Henry M. Flagler, S.V. Harkness, and others joined his partnership. The company reached a capitol of $1million.


By 1872 Standard Oil had purchased and controlled nearly all the refining firms in Cleveland, also two refineries in New York. The company was able to refine 29,000 barrels of crude oil a day and had its own cooper shop manufacturing wooden barrels. In 1882 Standard merged all its properties into...