John Davison ROCKEFELLER, Jr.
1874 - 1960 (86 years)
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Name John Davison ROCKEFELLER Suffix Jr. Born 1874 Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co, OH 
[1, 2] Gender Male Occupation industrialist Died 1960 [1, 2] Buried SLEEPY HOLLOW CEM Tarrytown, Westchester Co, NY Notes - He may have been heir to the worlds largest fortune, but John D. Rockefeller Jr. was an intensely shy young man, so shy that he decided to spurn his 1893 acceptance letter from Yale because he thought he would be "lost in the crowd" on the New Haven campus. It was a decision that worked to the benefit of young Rockefeller, Brown, and arguably the world, as the son of the billionaire Standard Oil baron grew into his very public role as the leading philanthropist of the Twentieth Century. Rockefeller would later credit his years at Brown University, where he graduated in 1897, with helping him emerge from his shell. He ultimately was elected president of the junior class and also served as senior manager of the Brown football team.
By 1901, when Rockefeller was working with his father, the senior Rockefeller was largely out of the oil business and had moved full-time into philanthropic work, a mission for which the son was well suited. In 1920 John D. Rockefeller Jr. served as chairman of a special Manhattan grand jury that investigated white-slave trafficking, an experience that sharpened his interest in aiding the poor and fighting diseases of poverty. He once said that wealth should be "an instrumentality of constructive social living," and he spent much of his life proving the point. In all, Rockefeller gave an estimated $537 million to charity, an amount equivalent to billions today. He built New Yorks Rockefeller Center, donated the land for the United Nations complex, and during World War II helped establish the United Service Organizations (USO), the social-service agency for members of the armed forces and their families. It was during the war that he uttered his credo "I Believe," words familiar to Brown University students entering the campus library that bears his name. [Brown University web site]
Person ID I5667 Doddridge County Roots Last Modified 7 Apr 2008
Father John Davison ROCKEFELLER, b. 8 Jul 1839, Richford, Tioga Co, NY , d. 23 May 1937, Ormond Beach, Volusia Co, FL (Age 97 years) Mother Laura Celestia SPELMAN, b. 9 Sep 1839, Wadsworth, Medina Co, OH , d. 12 Mar 1915, Tarrytown, Westchester Co, NY (Age 75 years) Family ID F1960 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family 1 Abby Greene ALDRICH, b. 1874, Providence, Providence Co, RI , d. 1948 (Age 74 years) Married 9 Oct 1901 [2] Children + 1. Abby "Babs" ROCKEFELLER, b. 9 Nov 1903, New York City, NY , d. 27 May 1976, New York City, NY (Age 72 years)+ 2. John Davison ROCKEFELLER, III, b. 21 Mar 1906, New York City, NY , d. 10 Jul 1978, Mt. Pleasant, Westchester Co, NY (Age 72 years)+ 3. Nelson Aldrich ROCKEFELLER, b. 8 Jul 1908, Bar Harbor, Hancock Co, ME , d. 26 Jan 1979, New York City, NY (Age 70 years)+ 4. Laurance Spelman ROCKEFELLER, b. 26 May 1910, New York City, NY , d. 11 Jul 2004 (Age 94 years)+ 5. Winthrop ROCKEFELLER, b. 1 May 1912, New York City, NY , d. 22 Feb 1973, Palm Springs, Riverside Co, CA (Age 60 years)+ 6. David ROCKEFELLER, b. 12 Jun 1915, New York City, NY Family ID F1961 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family 2 Martha BAIRD, b. 15 Mar 1895, Madera, Madera Co, CA , d. 24 Jan 1971 (Age 75 years) Married 15 Aug 1951 [2] Family ID F13735 Group Sheet | Family Chart
- He may have been heir to the worlds largest fortune, but John D. Rockefeller Jr. was an intensely shy young man, so shy that he decided to spurn his 1893 acceptance letter from Yale because he thought he would be "lost in the crowd" on the New Haven campus. It was a decision that worked to the benefit of young Rockefeller, Brown, and arguably the world, as the son of the billionaire Standard Oil baron grew into his very public role as the leading philanthropist of the Twentieth Century. Rockefeller would later credit his years at Brown University, where he graduated in 1897, with helping him emerge from his shell. He ultimately was elected president of the junior class and also served as senior manager of the Brown football team.
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