When we take groups on history tours around Cleveland, we tend to get many different questions, as one might imagine. But the minute we bring up John D. Rockefeller, Sr. – the questions come in droves: Where was Standard Oil located? Why did he have his Euclid Avenue mansion torn down as a stipulation in his will? Why did he leave Cleveland? Why didn’t he invest in Cleveland like he did in New York City (Rockefeller Center) or Chicago (the University of Chicago)?
For many people around Northeast Ohio, John D. Rockefeller is a Cleveland curiosity because one of the richest persons ever to inhabit the Earth came from Cleveland, started his successful business career here in Cleveland – and then spent most of the rest of his life (as did his heirs) in New York City and on the east coast. In the second half of his long life, he mostly parted ways with his adopted hometown, only coming back here at the very end of his life – as he chose to be buried next to his devoted wife, Laura Spelman Rockefeller, at Lake View Cemetery.
Ron Chernow, the acclaimed author of Hamilton, wrote Titan in 2004 to try to capture the brilliant, complex, and generous recluse with objectivity, nuance, and detail. The 832-page tome is a testament to Chernow’s expert historical research, and although the length may be intimidating, Chernow takes the reader on a fascinating journey through Rockefeller’s life.
For as much as Clevelanders like to claim John D. Rockefeller – and for as much as Rockefeller put Cleveland on the map – he actually only spent 31 years of his 97-year life in Northeast Ohio, from age 14 to 45. His family moved to Strongsville when he was 14 and happened to be in Northeast Ohio when the industrial boom exploded in the Civil War – propelling the precocious young man from Central High School (the first public high school west of the Allegheny mountains) into a full-time accounting role when he was only 16.
At age 20, he entered into a professional partnership which did well in the Civil War, and Rockefeller jumped into the oil business at the ripe old age of 24. As was the case for many back then, he wasn’t sure what to make of the crude oil gushing out of the earth just east of Cleveland around Oil City and Titusville in Pennsylvania. It took two years for Rockefeller to figure out that oil promised incredible opportunities – and by age 30 he had formed the Standard Oil Company, whose operations would come to dominate the Cuyahoga River industrial valley. Eventually that company would control more than 90% of the world’s oil.
Chernow’s book is so richly detailed – exploring Rockefeller’s incredible business acumen, his home life and relationships, and his deep religious devotion, which ultimately seemed to be a source of both tortured reasoning justifying his cutthroat tactics and a level of generosity few had ever seen before him.
It is in exploring Rockefeller’s inner life that Chernow is at his best. For example, from Rockefeller’s earliest days and into his adult life, he exhibited an obsessive fixation on making and saving money, examining the smallest details of any business transaction (no matter how seemingly insignificant), and controlling as much of his business or the businesses within his syndicate. He remorselessly eliminated his oil competitors in the famous “Cleveland Massacre.” By the time he died in 1937, Rockefeller, who was worth roughly $30 billion and who controlled about 1.5% of the total U.S. economy, believed his desire for money didn’t control his actions – it was his commitment to help others.
In truth, Rockefeller was also committed to giving away much of his money to support people and organizations. By the time he died, it is estimated he gave away more than $530 million in today’s dollars. He established the University of Chicago, Spelman College, and the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, which would come to improve the lives of millions because of his investments. In Cleveland, he donated the land that would become the Cultural Gardens, supported the Western Reserve School of Medicine, the Cleveland YMCA, and established the Alta House, a settlement for Italian immigrants named after his daughter Alta.
Chernow’s book helps to answer those burning questions from Clevelanders. Why did he leave Cleveland for New York City? New York offered more opportunities to build his wealth because he understood the increasingly global nature of the oil industry. Why did he order the destruction of his Euclid Avenue mansion at East 40th (now the home of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District)? He did not want it to fall into disrepair. Why did he leave Northeast Ohio for good in 1917? A fire destroyed a major portion of his Forest Hills home in East Cleveland.
If you want to understand how dynamic Cleveland was in the late 19th century, Chernow’s book provides insights into a fascinating chapter of our history. If you want to understand how one man could change so much with focused determination and an unwavering righteous belief – Chernow’s book is for you.
