William Goodsell Rockefeller
{{infobox person
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1870|05|21}}
| birth_place = New York City, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1922|11|30|1870|05|21}}
| death_place = New York City, U.S.
| alma_mater = Yale University
| parents = William Rockefeller
Almira Geraldine Goodsell
| spouse = Elsie Stillman
| children = 5
| relations = See Rockefeller family
}}
William Goodsell Rockefeller (May 21, 1870 – November 30, 1922) was a director of the Consolidated Textile Company and a member of the prominent Rockefeller family.
Early life
Rockefeller was born on May 21, 1870, in Manhattan, New York City. He was the third child of Standard Oil co-founder William Avery Rockefeller Jr. and Almira Geraldine Goodsell, who married in 1864. His uncle was John D. Rockefeller and his paternal grandfather was William Rockefeller Sr.{{cite news |title=WM. ROCKEFELLER DIES OF PNEUMONIA; ILL ONLY A WEEK; A Founder of Standard Oil Company, Brother of John D., Succumbs at Tarrytown. CAUGHT COLD IN THE RAIN Exposure as He Left His Office Recently Led to Death at the Age of 81. WORKED ALMOST TO LAST Active in Varied Affairs Which Brought Him a Fortune Estimated at $150,000,000.|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/06/25/112681609.pdf |access-date=4 April 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=25 June 1922}}
Rockefeller attended Yale University, where he was a member of Alpha Delta Phi, and graduated in 1892.
Career
Although he was predicted by Thomas W. Lawson to be the future head of Standard Oil, the prediction did not prove true. Following his graduation from Yale, he suffered a serious attack of typhoid fever before entering 26 Broadway. Rockefeller was treasurer of the Standard Oil Company of New York for several years until his retirement in 1911.
Rockefeller served as a director of the Brooklyn Union Gas Company (of which he was also vice-president), the Inspiration Consolidated Copper Company, the New York Mutual Gas Light Company, the Oregon Short Line Railroad, the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company, the Union Pacific Railroad, and the Consolidated Textile Company, of which he had only been elected a director shortly before his death in 1922.
Personal life
On November 21, 1895, Rockefeller married Sarah Elizabeth "Elsie" Stillman, daughter of National City Bank president James Jewett Stillman and Sarah Elizabeth Rumrill.{{cite news |title=MRS. ROCKEFELLER DIES IN GREENWICH; Widow of William Goodsel Rockefeller Daughter of Late James Stillman |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1935/05/18/94610059.pdf |access-date=4 April 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=18 May 1935}} Rockefeller's father had become a large shareholder of the National City Bank and his alliance with the Stillman family was sealed by the marriage of his two sons with two Stillman daughters. Rockefeller's brother, Percy Avery Rockefeller, married Elsie's sister, Isabel Goodrich Stillman. Together, William and Elsie were the parents of four sons and a daughter:{{cite web|title=The Rockefeller family, one of the most powerful families in the history of the United States|url=http://agent4stars.com/the-rockefeller-family-one-of-the-most-powerful-families-in-the-history-of-the-united-states/|publisher=Agent4Stars|access-date=26 November 2012}}
- William Avery Rockefeller III (1896–1973),{{cite news |title=Governor's Cousin Apparent Suicide |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1973/10/15/91010079.pdf |access-date=4 April 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=15 October 1973}} who married Florence Lincoln (1897–1998), sister of Frederic W. Lincoln IV, in 1918.{{cite news |title=Paid Notice: Deaths FARR, FLORENCE LINCOLN. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/29/classified/paid-notice-deaths-farr-florence-lincoln.html |access-date=4 April 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=29 May 1998}}
- Godfrey Stillman Rockefeller (1899–1983), who married Helen Gratz, brother-in-law of Edward H. Watson.{{cite news|title=Godfrey S. Rockefeller, Dies; Executive in Textiles Was 83|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/25/obituaries/godfrey-s-rockefeller-dies-executive-in-textiles-was-83.html|access-date=30 November 2016|work=The New York Times|date=25 February 1983}}
- James Stillman Rockefeller (1902–2004),{{cite news |title=James S. Rockefeller, 102, Dies; Was a Banker and a '24 Olympian |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/11/business/james-s-rockefeller-102-dies-was-a-banker-and-a-24-olympian.html |newspaper=New York Times |date=August 11, 2004 |access-date=September 16, 2012 }} who married Nancy Carnegie (1900–1994), a grandniece of Andrew Carnegie.{{cite news|title=Nancy Rockefeller, 93, Community Volunteer|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/23/obituaries/nancy-rockefeller-93-community-volunteer.html|access-date=March 3, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=January 23, 1994}}
- John Sterling Rockefeller (1904–1988), who married Paula Watjen.{{Cite news| pages = 36| title = J.S. Rockefeller engaged to marry| work = The New York Times| date = March 4, 1931| url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1931/03/04/102217485.html?action=click&contentCollection=Archives&module=ArticleEndCTA®ion=ArchiveBody&pgtype=article&pageNumber=36}}{{Cite news| issn = 0362-4331| title = Rockefeller, Paula Watjen| work = The New York Times| access-date = 17 March 2018| date = August 3, 2000| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/03/classified/paid-notice-deaths-rockefeller-paula-watjen.html}}
- Almira Geraldine Rockefeller (1907–1997),{{cite news |title=Almira Scott Of Edgemont, 89 |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB32EB7C4660110&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 14, 1997 |access-date=January 11, 2011 }} who married M. Roy Jackson in 1929.{{cite news |title=ALMIRA ROCKEFELLER WEDS M.R. JACKSON; Grandniece of John D. Becomes the Bride of Westchester Clubman. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/01/13/95870285.pdf |access-date=4 April 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=13 January 1929}} After his death in 1944, she remarried in 1945 to Samuel Weston Scott.{{cite news |title=MRS. A.R. JACKSON WED TO S.W. SCOTT; Daughter of Late William G. Rockefeller of Standard Oil Married in Bryn Mawr |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1945/10/06/95795423.pdf |access-date=4 April 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=6 October 1945}}
Rockefeller was a member of the Union Club of the City of New York, the Union League Club, the Metropolitan Club, and the University Club.
William Goodsell Rockefeller died of "double pneumonia" at his home, 292 Madison Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, on November 30, 1922, five months after his father.{{cite news |title=W. G. Rockefeller Dies of Pneumonia. Nephew of John D., Stricken on Monday, Suffered Relapse Wednesday. In Many Corporations. Elected Only Last Tuesday a Director of the Consolidated Textile Company |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/12/01/98791496.pdf |newspaper=New York Times |date=December 1, 1922 |access-date=January 11, 2011 }} He was interred at the Rockefeller Mausoleum at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York.{{cite news |title=MRS. ROCKEFELLER BURIED; Hundreds Prominent In Business and Social Circles at Funeral. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1935/05/21/95076807.pdf |access-date=4 April 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=21 May 1935}}
References
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{{Rockefeller family}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rockefeller, William Goodsell}}
Category:American people of English descent
Category:American people of German descent