Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.

Chapter 14 shows Rockefeller at the apex of his power in the 1880s. Standard Oil owns an effective global monopoly, selling kerosene as far away as the interior of China. Recent developments, however, threaten this monopoly. An oil strike in Russia creates international rivals, including the Rothschild family of Paris. The Suez Canal allows a London-based merchant named Marcus Samuel to distribute Russian oil (Samuel’s company eventually becomes Shell Transport and Trading).

Near the end of the 19th century, the international market moves toward competition, which makes Rockefeller all the more determined to stave off competition at home. Rockefeller often denied direct knowledge of actions taken in the name of preserving Standard Oil’s monopoly, but Chernow, with full access to the titan’s surviving papers, argues that Rockefeller was lying. Contrary to Rockefeller’s repeated claims, for instance, Standard Oil in the 1880s continues to collude with the railroads: In a “revolutionary development,” Standard Oil builds “thousands of tank wagons to service every American town” (252).

Having captured refining, transport, storage, export, and nearly every other major aspect of the oil business, Standard Oil turns to direct distribution and marketing. There seems to be no limit to the trust’s anti-competitive behavior. Each marketing district boasts “an extensive intelligence network” (256) that reports on potential rivals. Standard Oil salesmen even browbeat individual grocers who do not carry Standard’s kerosene. When some cities plan to use gaslight as an alternative to kerosene, Standard Oil bribes local and state-level politicians and then establishes the Natural Gas Trust. Rockefeller knows about all of these maneuvers, including measures taken “to damage the business interests of [his] adversaries” (264). Meanwhile, journalists, led by Henry Demarest Lloyd, begin to take notice of monopolistic practices they regard as a threat to democracy.

Operating under the assumed name “Dr. William Levingston,” Rockefeller’s father Bill continues peddling phony medicinal remedies. From his ranch in North Dakota, he and an associate named Charles Johnston travel throughout the Northern Plains, defrauding many. Only later does Johnston learn that “Levingston” is John D. Rockefeller’s father.

When Rockefeller’s mother Eliza has a stroke and passes away on March 28, 1889, Bill does not attend the funeral. Rockefeller ensures that Eliza’s death certificate identifies her as a widow. Bill appears in Cleveland six months later and again periodically in the ensuing years, but Rockefeller keeps a cool distance. Frank, the only one of the three brothers who remains in regular contact with Bill, tries in vain to match the business exploits of the now-famous brother whom he has come to resent. Rockefeller keeps Frank afloat and even pays his debts, but Frank, physically and psychologically wounded, nurses a grudge against Rockefeller.

A fresh oil strike in 1885 turns Lima, Ohio, into another boomtown, and the Ohio-Indiana border becomes the focus of fortune-seekers. Charles Pratt, a member of the Standard Oil executive committee, doubts that this new strike will yield commercial-grade crude oil, for the product emits a terrible odor—sulfur—that does not go away even when refined into kerosene. Rockefeller, however, believes in the Ohio-Indiana fields. Over Pratt’s objections, Rockefeller sets to work in the usual way, buying properties and building pipelines. Rockefeller hires a European scientist named Herman Frasch, who in 1888 announces that his experiments with eliminating sulfur from the Ohio-Indiana oil have resulted in a marketable product. Rockefeller builds new refineries, including one at Whiting, Indiana, where another scientist one day would discover how to maximize gasoline from petroleum.

Chernow then shifts to politics. The 1884 and 1888 elections brought accusations of political corruption against Standard Oil, particularly in US senatorial races, which still occurred in state legislatures. Rockefeller gives characteristically evasive answers while testifying before a New York Senate committee investigating Standard Oil’s business practices. Meanwhile, the pace of reform accelerates. Congress passes the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887 and the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890, neither of which derails the Standard Oil juggernaut.