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{{Short description|American con artist (1810–1906)}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Bill Rockefeller.jpg
|birth_name =William Avery Rockefeller
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1810|11|13}}
| birth_place = [[Ancram, New York]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1906|5|11|1810|11|13}}
| death_place = [[Freeport, Illinois]], U.S.
| burial_place = Oakland Cemetery (Buried as William Levingston)
| alias = Dr. William Levingston
| occupation = Businessman, Lumberman, Herbalist, "Snake Oil" Salesman
| spouse = Eliza Davison<br>(m. 1837–1889; her death, separated c. 1855)<br>Margaret Allen<br>(m. 1856–1906; his death)
| partner = Nancy Brown
| children = Lucy, Clorinda, [[John D. Rockefeller|John]], Cornelia, [[William Rockefeller Jr.|William Jr.]], Mary, [[Frank Rockefeller|Franklin]], and Frances
| parents = [[Godfrey Lewis Rockefeller]]<br>Lucy Avery
| relatives = See [[Rockefeller family]]
}}
'''William Avery''' "'''Devil Bill'''" '''Rockefeller Sr.''' (November 13, 1810 – May 11, 1906) was an American businessman, lumberman, herbalist, salesman, and con artist who went by the alias of '''Dr. William Levingston'''. He worked as a lumberman and then a traveling salesman who identified himself as a "botanic physician" and sold [[elixir]]s.{{Sfn | Chernow | 1998 | p = 11}} He was known to buy and sell horses, and was also known at one point to have bought a barge-load of salt in Syracuse. Land speculation was another type of his business, and the selling of elixirs served to keep him with cash and aided in his scouting of land deals. He loaned money to farmers at twelve percent, but tried to lend to farmers who could not pay so as to foreclose and take the farms.{{Sfn|Hawke|1980|pp=10, 24–25}} Two of his sons were [[Standard Oil]] co-founders [[John D. Rockefeller|John Davison Rockefeller Sr.]] and [[William Rockefeller Jr.|William Avery Rockefeller Jr.]]
== Family ==
William Avery Rockefeller was born in [[Ancram, New York]].{{Sfn|Hawke|1980|p=4}} He was the eldest son of businessman and farmer [[Godfrey Lewis Rockefeller]] and Lucy Avery. Godfrey and Lucy had married on September 20, 1806, in [[East Amwell Township, New Jersey|Amwell, New Jersey]]. Bill had two elder sisters, Melinda and Olympia, as well as seven younger siblings: Norman, Sally, Jacob, Mary, Miles, Mary Miranda, and Egbert.
== Ancestry ==
The Rockefellers trace their patrilineal line to Goddard Rockefeller (born Gotthard Rockenfeller; 1590) of [[Fahr (Neuwied)|Fahr]], Germany, and the now deserted village of [[Rockenfeld]] as namesake.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rockefeller - Rockefellow Genalogy - pafg01.htm - Generated by Personal Ancestral File |url=https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~4fathers/Rockefellow/pafg01.htm |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=homepages.rootsweb.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Dictionary of American Family Names (1 ed.) |chapter=Rockefeller |date=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195081374 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195081374.001.0001/acref-9780195081374-e-52785?rskey=khLxMP&result=52781 |access-date=30 August 2023}}</ref> The first Rockefeller to emigrate to America (1723) was Johann Peter Rockenfeller (1710 – 1787), who changed his name to Rockefeller. Godfrey Lewis Rockefeller was a son of distant cousins William Rockefeller (1750–1793) and Christina Rockefeller (1754–1800). Lucy Avery was born to Miles Avery and Melinda Pixley, New England Yankees of mostly English descent, being a descendant of [[James Avery (American colonist)|James Avery]].
== Marriage and children ==
Rockefeller married his first wife, Eliza Davison, on February 18, 1837 in [[Niles, New York]]. Rockefeller met Eliza on one of his business trips in [[Burned-over district|Upstate New York]]. It is said that Rockefeller pulled out a slate and chalk to communicate when he arrived at the Davison residence, as he often pretended to be deaf and dumb on his selling trips. Eliza is to have supposedly remarked, "If that man were not deaf and dumb, I'd marry him."{{Sfn|Hawke|1980|p=10}}
The couple had three sons and three daughters:
*Lucy Rockefeller (1838–1878), married Pierson Briggs
*[[John D. Rockefeller|John Davison Rockefeller Sr.]] (1839–1937), married [[Laura Spelman Rockefeller|Laura Celestia "Cettie" Spelman]]
*[[William Rockefeller Jr.|William Avery Rockefeller Jr.]] (1841–1922), married Almira Geraldine Goodsell
*Mary Ann Rockefeller (1843–1925), married William Cullen Rudd Sr.<ref>{{Cite web |title=William Cullen Rudd |url=http://www.genealogybug.net/oh_biographies/rudd.shtml |access-date=April 26, 2023 |agency=Ohio Biographies}}</ref>
*[[Frank Rockefeller|Franklin "Frank" Rockefeller]] (1845–1917) [twin]
*Frances Rockefeller (1845–1847) [twin]
Bill once bragged, "I cheat my boys every chance I get. I want to make 'em sharp."{{Sfn | Segall | 2001 | pp = 15–16}} Although Bill abandoned the family while Lucy, John, and William Jr. were teenagers, he remained legally married to Eliza until her death. In 1856, having assumed the name Dr. William Levingston, he married Margaret Allen in [[Norwich, Ontario]], Canada. Bill and Margaret had no children together. Before leaving his first wife, he also had two daughters with his mistress and housekeeper Nancy Brown:
After hearing rumours that the richest man in the world — then at the height of his notoriety as a monopolist — had a shameful family secret, the press went into a frenzy. [[Joseph Pulitzer]] offered a reward of eight thousand dollars for information about "Doc Rockefeller" who was known to be alive and living under a false name, but whose whereabouts were a family secret. Despite slender clues picked up from interviews with family members and an eighteen month search, the journalists failed to track him down before he died, and the full story wasn't exposed until two years later.▼
*Clorinda Rockefeller (c. 1838–?, died young)
*Cornelia Rockefeller (c. 1840–?)
Before marrying Eliza, Bill had been in love with Nancy. However, he ended up marrying Eliza since her father was to give her $500 when she married, and Nancy was poor.<ref name=Titan>{{harvnb|Chernow|1998|loc=[https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/c/chernow-titan.html Chapter one: "The Flimflam Man"]}} via New York Times.</ref>
When John D. Rockefeller started his own produce commission business with Maurice B. Clark in 1859, Clark initiated the idea of the partnership and offered $2,000 towards the goal. John D. Rockefeller had only $800 saved up at the time and so borrowed $1,000 from his father, "Big Bill" Rockefeller, at 10 percent interest.{{Sfn|Hawke|1980|p=[https://archive.org/details/johndfoundingfa00hawk/page/26 26]}}
==References== ▼
Bill visited with his grandchildren at the Forest Hill estate in Cleveland and at Pocantico Hills in Tarrytown. He taught his grandchildren how to shoot and played fiddle in the evenings for them. Prior to Bill's visits, John D. would invite some of Bill's Upstate New York relatives and friends.{{Sfn|Hawke|1980|pp=5–6}}
==External links==▼
== Scandal ==
[[Category:Rockefeller family|Rockefeller, William Avery]]▼
On July 26, 1849, in the city of [[Auburn, New York]],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m4FahrcJmIEC&q=william+rockefeller+%22with+force+and+arms%22&pg=PA18|title=The Rockefeller Women: Dynasty of Piety, Privacy, and Service|date=June 2000 |isbn=9781583488560|last1=Stasz|first1=Clarice|publisher=iUniverse }}</ref> William was indicted for a rape which had occurred at gunpoint.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Uv5mgQMdFYC&pg=PA203 |title=Rockefellerocracy: Kennedy Assassinations, Watergate and Monopoly of the ... |page=203 |date=8 April 2013|isbn=9781481738224|last1=Desocio|first1=Richard James|publisher=AuthorHouse }}</ref> His victim had worked in the Rockefeller household;<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |url=http://artscience.nku.edu/content/dam/hisgeo/docs/archives/Vol10_1994-1995perspectives.pdf#page=19 |title=Perspectives in History, Volume 10, 1994-1995}}</ref> her name was Ann Vanderbeak.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> In the 1905 book ''Memoirs of an American Citizen'', Robert Herrick says an improper relationship had been rumoured to exist.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4eKsluRCOT0C&q=rape&pg=PP1 |title=John D. Rockefeller |last=Hamen |first=Susan E. |date=January 2011 |isbn=9781617589423}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674184060|title=The Memoirs of an American Citizen — Robert Herrick, Daniel Aaron |website=Harvard University Press |access-date=2016-11-13}}</ref>
[[Category:American bigamists|Rockefeller, William Avery]]▼
[[Category:1810 births|Rockefeller, William Avery]]▼
[[Category:1906 deaths|Rockefeller, William Avery]]▼
The court document reads, "That William A. Rockefeller late of the Town of Moravia in the County of Cayuga, on the first day of May in the year of the Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty eight, with force and arms at the Town of Moravia in said County, in and upon one Ann Vanderbeak in the Peace of God with the People of the State of New York then and there being, violently did make an assault on her, the said Ann Venderbeak, then and there make violently and against her will feloniously did ravish and carnally know […]".{{cn|date=November 2022}} William Cooper, the Rockefeller family doctor, was also indicted for assault and battery with the intention of raping Ann Vanderbeak.<ref name=":2" />
Because of the allegations, William sold the Moravia home and moved to [[Owego, New York]], possibly to avoid trial,<ref name=":2"/> under the pretence of providing better opportunities for the boys.<ref name=":1"/> Four days later, Eliza's father sued Bill in the Supreme Court of Cayuga for failure to pay a $1,175 debt. His plea states that Bill had asked him for help with his bail for the rape charges, but that Eliza's father had not seen Bill since. Eliza also informed authorities that her husband had "absconded and cannot now be found within the state."<ref name=":2"/> William assumed the title Doctor Bill Levingston<ref name=":1"/> and worked as a travelling [[snake oil]] specialist.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/13/books/from-dimes-to-millions-and-mystery.html|title=From Dimes To Millions And Mystery|last=Smith|first=Dinitia|date=1998-07-13|newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331|access-date=2016-11-13}}</ref> Although nothing came of the charges, William left the family penniless.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/moneypowerhisto00mean|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/moneypowerhisto00mean/page/151 151]|quote=snake oil rockefeller.|title=Money & Power: The History of Business|last=Means|first=Howard|year=2001 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9780471400530 }}</ref>
▲After hearing rumours that John D. Rockefeller—then the richest man in the world
== Death ==
Rockefeller had spent some time in [[Park River, North Dakota]] under the Levingston alias. He died on May 11, 1906, in [[Freeport, Illinois]], at the age of 95. He was buried there in Oakland Cemetery. John D. Rockefeller never publicly acknowledged the truth about his father's life as a [[bigamy|bigamist]], and the cost for Bill's grave marker was paid by the second wife's estate.<ref>Chernow, p. 465</ref>
{{Reflist}}
== Sources ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book| last = Chernow | first = Ron| author-link = Ron Chernow | title = Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller Sr. | publisher = Random House | date = May 5, 1998 | isbn = 978-0-679-43808-3}}
* {{cite book | last = Hawke | first = David Freeman | author-link = David Freeman Hawke | title = John D. The Founding Father of the Rockefellers | publisher = Harper & Row | date = 1980 | isbn = 978-0060118136 | url = https://archive.org/details/johndfoundingfa00hawk }}
* {{Cite book|last=Segall|first=Grant|date=February 8, 2001|title=John D. Rockefeller: Anointed With Oil|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19512147-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGsoQKfXs90C |access-date=December 19, 2012}}
{{refend}}
▲== External links ==
* {{Find a Grave|5034173}}
{{Rockefeller family}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:American people of English descent]]
[[Category:American people of German descent]]
[[Category:People from Allegany County, New York]]
[[Category:People from Walsh County, North Dakota]]
[[Category:People from Freeport, Illinois]]
[[Category:American confidence tricksters]]
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