Oliver Burr Jennings

Oliver Burr Jennings (June 3, 1825 – February 12, 1893) was an American businessman and one of the original stockholders in Standard Oil.

Contents

Early life and family

Jennings was born in 1825 in Fairfield, Connecticut to Abraham Gold Jennings and Anna Burr.[1] At a young age he came to New York to learn the dry goods business.[2] In 1849 he headed West to seek his fortune in the California Gold Rush. He set up a general mercantile store in San Francisco with Benjamin Brewster and amassed a considerable fortune by outfitting prospecting camps along the coast and around Sacramento.[3]

On December 13, 1854, he married Esther Judson Goodsell (1828–1908) in Fairfield. Her sister, Almira Geraldine Goodsell, married William Rockefeller in 1864.[4] They had five children:[1]

Standard Oil

In 1862 he returned to New York with the intention of retiring from all business activities. However, as a consequence of his relation by marriage to William Rockefeller, he became interested in the affairs of the Standard Oil Company.[2] In 1871, when Standard Oil was incorporated in Ohio, Jennings was one of the original stockholders. Of the initial 10,000 shares, John D. Rockefeller received 2,667; William Rockefeller, Henry Flagler, and Samuel Andrews received 1,333 each; Stephen V. Harkness received 1,334; Jennings received 1,000; and the firm of Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler received 1,000.[5]

Jennings served as a director of Standard Oil of Ohio and then as a trustee of the Standard Oil Trust that resulted from the company's reorganization in 1882.[4]

Death

Jennings died in 1893 at his residence in New York City.[2] His estate amounted to $10 million, which he left entirely to his family.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Ward, George Kemp (1910). Andrew Warde and His Descendants, 1597-1910. A.T. De La Mare. pp. 117, 189. http://books.google.com/books?id=ZG9ZAAAAMAAJ. 
  2. ^ a b c "Oliver Burr Jennings". The New York Times: p. 4. 1893-02-13. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A06E6DB1731E033A25750C1A9649C94629ED7CF. Retrieved 2008-12-10. 
  3. ^ Men of Progress. New England Magazine. 1898. pp. 402–3. http://books.google.com/books?id=NlwoAAAAYAAJ. 
  4. ^ a b McCash, June Hall (1998). The Jekyll Island Cottage Colony. University of Georgia Press. p. 220. ISBN 9780820319285. http://books.google.com/books?id=GumIp_e6jWQC. 
  5. ^ Dies, Edward (1969). Behind the Wall Street Curtain. Ayer. p. 76. http://books.google.com/books?id=DVA2Hdri9XsC. 
  6. ^ "All in the Family; Provisions of the Will of Oliver Burr Jennings of this City". The New York Times: p. 4. 1893-02-26. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=950DE1DE1031E033A25755C2A9649C94629ED7CF. Retrieved 2008-12-10.