John Dustin Archbold
John Dustin Archbold (July 26, 1848 – December 6, 1916) was an American capitalist and one of the United States' earliest oil refiners. He was the grandfather of zoologist Richard Archbold.
Personal life
Archbold was born on July 26, 1848, to the Reverend Israel Archbold, a Methodist minister, and Frances Foster Dana (Archbold) at Leesburg, Ohio. Archbold was educated in public schools. He moved to Pennsylvania by 1864.[1]
On February 20, 1870, Archbold married Annie Eliza Mills, "daughter of Samuel Myers Mills of Titusville and Lavinia Jenkins."[2] The couple had four children:
- Mary Lavina Archbold (b 1871)
- Anne Mills Archbold (b 1873), mother of John Dana Archbold[3]
- Frances Dana Archbold (b 1875)
- John Foster Archbold (b 1877-1930),[1] father of zoologist Richard Archbold
In 1885, Archbold purchased a large mansion in Tarrytown, New York. The estate, called Cedar Cliff, was located at 279 S. Broadway just across from the Carmelite Transfiguration Church.[4]
Professional life
Standard Oil Company
In 1864 he went to the north-west Pennsylvania oil fields and spent eleven years in the oil industry there. When John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company began buying up refiners in this oil-rich region, many independent refiners felt squeezed out, and Archbold was among Standard's harshest and loudest critics.
However, Archbold was subsequently recruited by Rockefeller to Standard Oil where he became a director and served as its vice-president and president until its dissolution in 1911.
From 1911-1916, Archbold was president of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey.[5]
Syracuse University
In 1886, Archbold became a member of the board of trustees of Syracuse University, and was the board’s president from 1893 until his death in 1916. From 1893-1914, he contributed nearly $6,000,000 for eight buildings, including the full cost of Archbold Stadium (opened 1907, demolished 1978; the Carrier Dome was built on this site), Sims Hall (men's dormitory, 1907), Archbold Gymnasium (1908, nearly destroyed by fire in 1947, but still in use), and the oval athletic field.
Theodore Roosevelt scandal
Archbold was involved in a scandalous affair involving monetary gifts to the Republican Party. In 1912, he was called to testify before a committee which was investigating political contributions made by the Standard Oil Company to the campaign funds of political parties.
He claimed that President Theodore Roosevelt was aware of the $125,000 contribution made by Standard Oil Company to the 1904 campaign fund of the Republican Party, but President Roosevelt produced letters written by him which directed his campaign managers to return such monetary contributions if they were offered.
Assassination attempt
In 1915 an attempt was made by anarchists and Industrial Workers of the World radicals to assassinate him at Cedar Cliff by planting a large dynamite bomb at the entrance to the estate.[6][7] The bomb, which failed to go off, was discovered by Archbold's gardener. Police suspected that the attempted bombing was precipitated by the execution by firing squad of 'Joe Hill', alias Joseph Hillstrom in Salt Lake City, Utah the day before. Joe Hill was an IWW member, songwriter and labor organizer who had been convicted of murder.[8]
Death
Archbold died of complications from appendicitis in Tarrytown, New York, on December 6, 1916.[7][9] He is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York.
Legacy
- In 1914, the "John Dustin Archbold College of Liberal Arts" at Syracuse University was renamed in his honor.[10] The entrance to the university's Hall of Languages remains inscribed with this name.
- The John D. Archbold Memorial Hospital, now the Archbold Medical Center, in Thomasville, Georgia, was established in 1925, through a donation by his son, John Foster Archbold.[11]
- His grandson, John Dana Archbold, was a member of the Board of Trustees of Syracuse University from 1976-1993.[3]
- The John Dana Archbold Theatre at Syracuse Stage (Central New York's only professional theater) is named after his grandson.[12]
See also
References
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Archbold Collection, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Accessed: March 9, 2014.
- ↑ Dwight, Benjamin W. (1874). The History of the Descendents of John Dwight, of Dedham, Massachusetts, Vol. 2. J.F. Trow & Son, p. 662.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 John D. Archbold Papers, Clemson University. Accessed: March 9, 2014.
- ↑ Steiner, Henry, The Other Oil Tycoon, River Journal Online, retrieved 20 July 2011: Cedar Cliff was demolished in 1980, and is now a condominium development known as The Quay; the old stone pillars marking the entrance to the estate are still visible.
- ↑ "Archbold, John D. (John Dustin), 1848-1916," Library of Congress Name Authority File. Accessed: March 9, 2014.
- ↑ "DYNAMITE BOMB FOR J.D. ARCHBOLD; Four One-Pound Sticks Found Hidden in Roadway of His Tarrytown Estate. PERCUSSION CAPS ATTACHED. Explosive Was So Placed That Auto Wheel Would Have Fired It. POLICE SUSPECT THE I.W.W. Believe Attempt to Kill Standard Oil President Was Protest Against Hillstrom Execution.". New York Times. November 22, 1915. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Steiner, Henry, The Other Oil Tycoon, River Journal Online, retrieved 20 July 2011
- ↑ DYNAMITE BOMB FOR J.D. ARCHBOLD, The New York Times, 22 November 1915
- ↑ "J. D. ARCHBOLD DIES; MOURNED BY MANY; Office Boys and Elevator Men Join in Regret with John D. Rockefeller. NEVER KNOWN TO BE ANGRY. Left Office Whistling Two Week Ago for Operation. Fortune Estimated at $100,000,000". New York Times. December 6, 1916. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
- ↑ Greene, John Robert. (2000). The Hill: An Illustrated Biography of Syracuse University, 1870-present. Syracuse University Press. Accessed: March 9, 2014.
- ↑ "Our History," Archbold Medical Center. Accessed: March 9, 2014.
- ↑ John Dana Archbold Theater, Syracuse University buildings. Accessed: March 9, 2014.
Further reading
- Chernow, Ron. Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. London: Warner Books, 1998.
- Yergin, Daniel. The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Dustin Archbold. |
- "Archbold, John Dustin," Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1918, pp. 20–22
- Burton, Rick. (2011). "Archbold's Greatest Gift," Syracuse University Magazine 30(3)
- Archbold Biological Station, Venus, Florida
- Archbold Mausoleum, Mausoleums.com
- John D. Archbold Family Papers, Syracuse University
- The New York Times (1916, December 6). "J.D. Archbold Dies; Mourned by Many."
- Steiner, Henry. (2003, October 6). "The Other Oil Tycoon," River Journal, Tarrytown, New York
- John Dustin Archbold at Find a Grave
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