Seth Kaller, Inc.

John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) incorporated the Standard Oil Company in 1870. Through mergers and the elimination of competitors, he achieved a vertically integrated monopoly of the production, refining, and distribution of oil. Standard Oil Trust was created by secret agreement in 1882, combining management of its companies in different states. In 1906, the Federal government brought suit under the 1890 Sherman Anti-Trust Act, and in 1911, the Supreme Court ordered Standard Oil to be broken up. Among its successor companies are Amoco, Chevron, and ExxonMobil.

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER. Partially Printed Document Signed as President, certificate #492 for 10 Shares to George E. Mann, September 28, 1882. Co-signed by Henry M. Flagler as Secretary and Jabez A. Bostick as Treasurer of Standard Oil Trust. 1 p.

Inventory #27885       ON HOLD

Henry Flagler (1830-1913) was associated with Rockefeller in the development of the Standard Oil Company. He later organized the Florida East Coast Railway and built great hotels on the Atlantic coast of  Florida. He was instrumental in founding both Miami and Palm Beach, Florida.

Jabez Abel Bostwick (1830-1892) was a founding partner and treasurer of Standard Oil Company.

The recipient was likely George E. Mann (1845-1897) who was born in Buffalo, New York, and studied engineering at Dartmouth College until his health forced him to leave and travel west. After a year and a half in Wisconsin, he became a member of the engineer corps of the Union Pacific Railroad in California. In 1869, he returned to Buffalo, where he became an engineer for the Lake Shore and Southern Michigan Railroad. In 1870, he became assistant city engineer, then city engineer in 1874, a position he held until 1878 and again from 1888 to 1893. He then served as chief engineer of the Grade Crossings Commission. He was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a member and first president of the Engineers’ Society of Western New York.