Godfrey Lewis Rockefeller (September 24, 1783 – September 28, 1857), was an American farmer and businessman. He was an early settler of
Richford, New York
Richford is a town in Tioga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,043 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Ezekial Rich, an early settler and benefactor of the town.
The Town of Richford is the northernmost town in the cou ...
, and his personal characteristics have led him to be called "a most unlikely progenitor of the clan". He was the father of con artist
William Rockefeller Sr.
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 travel ...
Early life and marriage
Godfrey Rockefeller was born September 24, 1783, in
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...
. His parents were William (1750-1793) and Christina (1754-1800) Rockefeller. William and Christina were third cousins; William's grandfather was Johann Peter Rockenfeller then John Peter Rockefeller, a miller who migrated in 1708 from
Rockenfeld
Rockenfeld is an abandoned village in the Feldkirchen district of Neuwied, Germany.
The names Rockenfeller and Rockefeller are derived from Rockenfeld. It is said that the ancestors of the Rockefeller family (including John D. Rockefeller ...
,
Wied-Neuwied
Wied-Neuwied was a German statelet in northeastern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located northeast of the Rhine River flanking the northern side of the city of Neuwied. Wied-Neuwied emerged from the partitioning of Wied. Its status was elevat ...
,
Rhineland
The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...
, Germany, to
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
where he was a plantation owner and landholder in
Somerville, New Jersey
Somerville is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in and the county seat of Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Amwell, New Jersey. Christina's grandfather was Johann Peter's cousin, Diell Rockefeller, who immigrated to Germantown, New York. On November 20, 1806 in
Livingston, New York
Livingston is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 3,628 at the 2020 census.US Census Bureau, 2020 census, Livingston town, Columbia County, New York https://www.census.gov/search-results.html?searchType=web&c ...
, Godfrey married former schoolteacher Lucy Avery (
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington is a New England town, town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,172 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Bot ...
, February 11, 1786 –
Richford, New York
Richford is a town in Tioga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,043 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Ezekial Rich, an early settler and benefactor of the town.
The Town of Richford is the northernmost town in the cou ...
, April 6, 1867) against opposition from her parents Miles Avery (
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
,
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
, September 5, 1760 - Great Barrington, Massachusetts, June 27, 1830) and wife (Great Barrington, Massachusetts, November 1783) Melinda Pixley (Great Barrington,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, August 4, 1764 - Great Barrington, Massachusetts, October 1, 1827). Lucy Avery's ancestors were
Puritans
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...
who had emigrated from
Devon
Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, to
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem was one ...
, in about 1630.
Godfrey was said to be outmatched by his wife, who was taller, more confident, and better educated than Godfrey. Godfrey himself was said to have a "stunted, impoverished look and a hangdog air of perpetual defeat". He was also said to be jovial and good-natured, but his propensity to drink upset his wife. The pair would have ten children.Chernow 2007, p4
Career
Godfrey and Lucy first lived in Great Barrington, where Godfrey became sheriff, and worked as a farmer and businessman with little success. He and his young family moved from Great Barrington to
Granger, New York
Granger is a town in Allegany County, New York, United States. The population was 522 at the 2020 census. The town was named after Francis Granger, United States Postmaster General.
The town lies on the county's northern border and is northwes ...
, and then to
Ancram, New York
Ancram is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 1,440 at the 2020 census,US Census Bureau, 2020 census, Ancram town, Columbia County, New York https://www.census.gov/search-results.html?searchType=web&cssp=SERP&q ...
, and then to
Livingston, New York
Livingston is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 3,628 at the 2020 census.US Census Bureau, 2020 census, Livingston town, Columbia County, New York https://www.census.gov/search-results.html?searchType=web&c ...
. Between 1832 and 1834, the family moved by
Conestoga wagon
The Conestoga wagon, also simply known as the Conestoga, is a horse-drawn freight wagon that was used exclusively in North America, primarily the United States, in the 18th and 19th centuries. Such wagons were probably first used by Pennsylvania ...
west. Various reasons for this move have been given. One account is that Godfrey and several neighbors lost their land in a title dispute. Another is that Godfrey traded his farm for a farm in Tioga County, a trade which Godfrey would have been ill-advised to make as the farm at his final destination had thin acidic soil that was poor for farming. Another is that the family intended to move to Michigan, but Lucy preferred the New England culture of upstate New York. Whatever the reason, they spent two weeks along the Albany-Catskill turnpike with nine of their ten children (all excepting William) travelling to their new home, a sparsely populated wilderness near Richford, New York. A family legend is that from the top of the hill on his new, 60-acre property, Godfrey said that "This is as close as we shall ever get to Michigan", and therefore named the spot, Michigan Hill. At Michigan Hill, Lucy built a stone fence with two field-hands, and the family worked a farm. Their son, William, arrived in Richford in about 1835.
Death and family
Godfrey Lewis Rockefeller died on September 28, 1857, and Lucy died April 6, 1867, both in Richford, New York.Nevins 1940, p31 Godfrey and Lucy had 10 children:
*Melinda Rockefeller (September 12, 1807Sweet 1894, p604-605 – May 2, 1880), married to William Harris
*Olymphia Rockefeller (April 20, 1809 – July 21, 1893),
* William Avery "Bill" Rockefeller Sr. (November 13, 1810 – May 11, 1906). His son John Davison Rockefeller Sr. founded the
Standard Oil Company
Standard Oil Company was a corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founded in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller. The ...
in 1870.
*Norman Rockefeller (October 27, 1812 – January 20, 1905)
*Sally Ann Rockefeller (September 28, 1814 – March 3, 1884)
*Jacob S. Rockefeller (July 14, 1816 – August 14, 1892)
*Mary Rockefeller (February 18, 1819 – July 15, 1819)
*Miles Avery Rockefeller (July 27, 1821 – ?)
*Mary Miranda Rockefeller (June 17, 1824 – November 12, 1879)
*Egbert Rockefeller (February 8, 1827 – September 20, 1878).