John Davison Rockefeller once said that, "I believe it is every man's religious duty to get all he can honestly and then give all he can." (Abels.) John Rockefeller reached the top during his lifetime, simultaneously becoming the richest man in America. He then donated a good portion of his lifetime earnings to various charities around the world. He earned his fortune through the oil industry and the countless hours of hard work he put in to make his company the best. John Davison Rockefeller was born to William and Eliza Rockefeller on July 8, 1839, on a farm in Richford, New York. He was the second of six children raised in a middle-class family run mostly by his mother, who was very strict about religion. He taught children to remain religious, work hard, save money and donate to charity. Rockefeller's father was away most of the time on business and worked as a salesman claiming he could cure any disease for a small sum. By the age of twelve Rockefeller was doing many odd jobs for his neighbors. Then, with the money he earned, he lent some of it to a local farmer at a small interest rate, payable in one year. This impressed Rockefeller that he could make money this way and he continued to make small loans to people who earned money during his childhood. Also during his childhood his family moved from place to place quite often until they came to stay in Cleveland. Rockefeller went to school at Central High School in Cleveland. He was a good student who almost never got into trouble. During his high school years Rockefeller landed several jobs. He was initially employed as an assistant accountant by Hewitt and Tuttle, (a small firm of commission traders). After Rockefeller left high school in 1855, he went to college in Folsom Mercant... middle of paper.... ..and foreign markets in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Although Standard Oil advanced into other countries, it was mostly kept in the United States. Rockefeller once purchased oil land in Ohio before he was certain that this sulfuric oil could be successfully refined. He then hired scientist Herman Frasch, whose trial made these deposits produce a huge profit. In 1882, with Standard Oil at its immense size, Rockefeller decided to create the first large American trust. Because the laws prohibited one company's ownership of another's stock, Standard Oil had placed its acquisitions outside of Ohio in the hands of Flagler as "trustee" since 1872. Now all of Standard's properties were merged into the Standard Oil Trust. It had an initial capital of $70 million and there were originally 42 certificate holders, or owners, in the trust (“John D. Rockefeller”).