Ideastream: Know Ohio: John D. Rockefeller
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John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest Americans of all time and one of the richest people in history. Rockefeller was born into a large family in Upstate New York who moved several times before eventually settling in Cleveland, Ohio. He became an assistant bookkeeper at age 16 and went into several business partnerships beginning…
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business · American business magnate (1839–1937) · entrepreneur · accountant · banker · philanthropist · also John D. Rockefeller, John Davison Rockefeller, J.D. Rockefeller, J. D. Rockefeller, John Davison Rockefeller Sr., John D. Rockefeller Sr.
Born 8 July 1839 · Died 23 May 1937 · Q160278
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I cannot remember when hard work was new or strange to me. We were taught to work, to save and to give. Ours seemed to be a business training from the beginning. We were encouraged to be self-reliant. I was taught to do as much business at the age of 10 or 11 as it was possible for me to do. I was sent over the hills to buy cordwood. I did not require the presence of anybody to enable me to secure good measure of good wood from the men who sold it. It was good training for me.
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2026· 11 entries
Encyclopaedia Britannica: Today in History—September 29: John D. Rockefeller Becomes the World’s First Billionaire
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Encyclopaedia Britannica: Learn about John D. Rockefeller's historic-preservation of early American history at Williamsburg
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The Economic Times: John D. Rockefeller’s striking quote on wealth: ‘I know of nothing more despicable and pathetic…’ – One of
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“We did a business of $450,000 the first year. Our profit was not large--I think about $4,400.”
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“I cannot remember when hard work was new or strange to me. We were taught to work, to save and to give. Ours seemed to be a business training from the beginning. We were encouraged to be self-reliant. I was taught to do as much business at the age of 10 or 11 as it was possible for me to do. I was sent over the hills to buy cordwood. I did not require the presence of anybody to enable me to secure good measure of good wood from the men who sold it. It was good training for me.”
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“We must ever remember we are refining oil for the poor man and he must have it cheap and good.”
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“But it was simply out of the question. There was no one to take my place. We were in a new business, and if I had not stayed it must have stopped—and with so many dependent on it.”
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theepochtimes: John D. Rockefeller: The Deeply Religious Standard Oil Tycoon
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nytimes.com: John D. Rockefeller
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CNBC: From oil empire to global impact: How John D. Rockefeller Sr. reinvested his fortune in America
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2025· 3 entries
Telugu Post rated the claim “JD Rockefeller paid scientists to call oil ‘Fossil fuel’ to induce the idea of scarcity, and oil regenerates faster on earth than it gets depleted” False.
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Dollars) at auction and established the firm of Rockefeller & Andrews
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“It was the day that determined my career.”
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2024· 3 entries
Yahoo Finance: How John D. Rockefeller's Experience With Gasoline Offers Clues On How To Save Office Real Estate
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Snopes rated the claim “The Rockefeller family established the World Health Organization in the 1940s in order to conduct eugenics research.” False.
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Reported claimRated These claims are false. Scientists had used the phrase “fossil fuel” as early as 1759 before J.D. Rockefeller’s birth, and we have seen no evidence it was discussed by chemists at an 1892 meeting in Geneva about naming compounds. · Full Fact
Full Fact rated the claim “J.D. Rockefeller paid scientists to call oil a fossil fuel at the 1892 Geneva Convention to “induce the idea of scarcity”.” These claims are false. Scientists had used the phrase “fossil fuel” as early as 1759 before J.D. Rockefeller’s birth, and we have seen no evidence it was discussed by chemists at an 1892 meeting in Geneva about naming compounds..
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2023· 3 entries
Lead Stories rated the claim “Rockefeller Was Responsible For Widespread Arrests Of Alternative Medicine Supporters” No Arrests.
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Snopes rated the claim “John D. Rockefeller, who founded the General Education Board, once said "I don’t want a nation of thinkers, I want a nation of workers"” Unproven.
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Reported claimRated There is no evidence the text, which first appeared online in 2002 after being submitted anonymously to a financial advice website, had anything to do with Mr Rockefeller. · Full Fact
Full Fact rated the claim “John D. Rockefeller wrote a “secret covenant” detailing a plan to poison the population.” There is no evidence the text, which first appeared online in 2002 after being submitted anonymously to a financial advice website, had anything to do with Mr Rockefeller..
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2022· 1 entry
PolitiFact rated the claim “John D. Rockefeller coined the term “fossil fuel” to trick people into thinking that his product was scarce and drive up the price when fossil fuels are actually “the second most abundant liquid on the planet.”” False.
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2021· 2 entries
Lead Stories rated the claim “John D. Rockefeller penned a masonic creed for subjugation of the masses.” No Evidence.
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Lead Stories rated the claim “At the Geneva Convention, the smartest man in the oil industry JD Rockefeller paid scientists to call oil a "fossil fuel" to induce the idea of scarcity” No Proof.
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2020· 3 entries
AFP Fact Check rated the claim “Fossil fuels do not come from the “transformed remains of long dead organisms” and “fossil fuels” is a term coined by John D Rockefeller” False.
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Snopes rated the claim “American tycoon and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller wrote a "masonic creed" that started with the sentence: "We will keep their lives short and their minds weak while pretending to do the opposite."” Incorrect Attribution.
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AFP Fact Check rated the claim “Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo reads Rockefeller's secret document on COVID-19” False.
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2007· 1 entry
Reported net worth: $663.4M (as of 2007).
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1991· 1 entry
Awarded Dr. Nathan Davis Award for United States Senators (1991).
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1965· 1 entry
After expanding its mission to include graduate education
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1940· 1 entry
“Como citado in: John D. Rockefeller: The Heroic Age of American Enterprise - página 672, Allan Nevins · C. Scribner's sons, 1940”
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1939· 1 entry
It was purchased by the city in 1974 and now serves as a cultural center and is the community's best-known historical structure
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1937· 33 entries
Died 1937-05-23.
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Less than two months shy of his 98th birthday, at "The Casements", his home in Ormond Beach, Florida
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“A menos que creáis en vosotros mismos, nadie lo hará: este es el consejo que conduce al éxito..”
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Rockefeller's remaining fortune, largely tied up in permanent family trusts, was estimated at $1
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“I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.”
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“It is wrong to assume that men of immense wealth are always happy.”
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“The impression was gaining ground with me that it was a good thing to let the money be my slave and not make myself a slave to money.”
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“I believe the power to make money is a gift of God … to be developed and used to the best of our ability for the good of mankind. Having been endowed with the gift I possess, I believe it is my duty to make money and still more money and to use the money I make for the good of my fellow man according to the dictates of my conscience.”
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“The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee, and I will pay more for that ability than for any other under the sun.”
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“Try to turn every disaster into an opportunity.”
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“If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.”
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“The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets.”
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“If your only goal is to become rich, you will never achieve it.”
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“Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing.”
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“I would rather hire a man with enthusiasm, than a man who knows everything.”
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“Crescia em mim a impressão de que era bom deixar o dinheiro ser meu escravo, e não me tornar escravo do dinheiro.”
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“İyiyi, muhteşem için bırakırken korkmayın.”
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“Una buona leadership consiste nel mostrare a persone comuni come fare il lavoro di persone fuori dal comune.”
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“Zevke adanmış bir yaşam kadar zevkli bir şey düşünemiyorum.”
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“Paranın benim kölem olmasına izin vermenin ve kendimi paranın kölesi yapmamanın iyi bir şey olduğu izlenimi bende güç kazanıyordu.”
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“Creo en el valor supremo del individuo y en su derecho a la vida, la libertad y la búsqueda de la felicidad.”
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“Devemos sempre lembrar que estamos refinando petróleo para o pobre e ele deve tê-lo barato e bom.”
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“Fakir insanlar için petrol rafine ettiğimizi ve bu petrole ucuz ve iyi bir şekilde sahip olunması gerektiğini asla unutmamalıyız.”
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“Original: «I believe in the supreme worth of the individual and in his right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
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“Her türlü başarı için azim kadar gerekli başka bir nitelik olduğunu düşünmüyorum. Neredeyse her şeyin üstesinden gelir, doğanın bile.”
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“Compra cuando todos vendan y vende cuando todos compren.”
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“Büyük servet sahibi insanların her zaman mutlu olduğunu varsaymak yanlıştır.”
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“En todo fracaso hay una oportunidad nueva.”
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“Başka bir amacı olmayıp, bütün gününü sadece daha fazla para kazanma uğruna harcayan bir adamdan daha aşağılık ve zavallı birini tanımıyorum.”
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“No creo que haya ninguna otra cualidad tan esencial para el éxito de ningún tipo como la cualidad de la perseverancia. Supera casi todo, incluso la naturaleza.”
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“Bana zevk veren tek şey ne biliyor musun? Kar paylarımın geldiğini görmek.”
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“I know of nothing more despicable and pathetic than a man who devotes all the hours of the waking day to the making of money for money's sake.”
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“Original: «I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.”
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1932· 2 entries
That neither Rockefeller nor his parents or his father's father and mother's mother drank alcohol
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He wrote in a letter to Nicholas Murray Butler on June 6, 1932, that neither Rockefeller nor his parents or his father's father and mother's mother drank alcohol.
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1928· 1 entry
“TIME Magazine (21. May 1928)”
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1925· 1 entry
“Verses written on his eighty-sixth birthday (8 July 1925)”
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1923· 1 entry
Rockefeller was interviewed by early 20th century American woman writer and a member of the Newspaper Enterprise Association staff, Josephine Van De Grift
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1918· 1 entry
“The Men Who Are Making America (1918) by Bertie Charles Forbes”
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1915· 1 entry
“Women's Home Companion (1915), quoted in God's Gold (1932) by John T. Flynn”
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1913· 2 entries
Was estimated at $900 million, which was 2
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To continue and expand the scope of the work of the Sanitary Commission, which was closed in 1915
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1911· 2 entries
The Supreme Court of the United States found Standard Oil Company of New Jersey in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act
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That Standard Oil must be dismantled for violation of federal antitrust laws
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1909· 3 entries
Changed its incorporation laws to effectively allow a re-creation of the trust in the form of a single holding company
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He founded the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission in 1909, an organization that eventually eradicated the hookworm disease, which had long plagued rural areas of the American South.
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An organization that eventually eradicated the hookworm disease, which had long plagued rural areas of the American South
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1908· 1 entry
“Remark to a neighbor, quoted by John Lewis in Cosmopolitan (1908)”
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1906· 2 entries
Standard Oil of Indiana was indicted on 6,428 counts of violation of the Elkins Act for accepting rebates on shipments on the Chicago & Alton Railroad
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“Random Reminiscences of Men and Events (1906)”
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1904· 2 entries
“Como citado in: Harper's Weekly - Volume 48, Parte 1 - Página 784, John Bonner, George William Curtis, Henry Mills Alden · Harper's Magazine Company, 1904”
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And devoted his efforts to operating competing coal and coke operations
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1903· 2 entries
With Gould in control and Rockefeller and Gates representing a minority interests
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Was established to promote education at all levels everywhere in the country
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1902· 3 entries
Facing cash flow problems, John Cleveland Osgood turned to George Jay Gould, a principal stockholder of the Denver and Rio Grande, for a loan
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An audit showed Rockefeller was worth about $200 million—compared to the total national GDP of $24 billion then
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An audit showed Rockefeller was worth about $200 million, over 8% of the total national GDP of $24 billion at the time
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1901· 1 entry
Founded the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York City
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1892· 1 entry
The first step in the dissolution of the trust
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1890· 1 entry
Located in Ormond Beach, Florida, two years after it opened
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1887· 1 entry
Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission which was tasked with enforcing equal rates for all railroad freight, but by then Standard depended more on pipeline transport
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1884· 2 entries
On 54th Street near the mansions of other magnates such as William Henry Vanderbilt
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Rockefeller provided major funding for Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary in Atlanta for African-American women
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1882· 1 entry
Rockefeller's lawyers created an innovative form of corporation to centralize their holdings, giving birth to the Standard Oil Trust
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1880· 1 entry
“John D. Rockefeller, age 41, in 1880 — Allan Nevins, John D. Rockefeller (New York: Scribner, 1959), I:622.”
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1879· 2 entries
On charges of monopolizing the oil trade, starting an avalanche of similar court proceedings in other states and making a national issue of Standard Oil's business practices
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The New York State Legislature's The Hepburn Committee investigations into "alleged abuses" committed by the railroads uncovered the fact that Standard Oil was receiving substantial freight rebates on all of the oil it w
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1874· 2 entries
Made a secret agreement with Rockefeller to be acquired
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John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960)
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1872· 1 entry
In what was later known as "The Cleveland Conquest" or "The Cleveland Massacre", Standard Oil absorbed 22 of its 26 Cleveland competitors
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1870· 1 entry
Rockefeller abolished the partnership of Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler, co-founding Standard Oil of Ohio
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1867· 1 entry
Henry Morrison Flagler became a partner, and the firm of Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler was established
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1866· 1 entry
Elizabeth "Bessie" Rockefeller (August 23, 1866 – November 14, 1906)
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1864· 1 entry
Rockefeller married Laura Celestia "Cettie" Spelman (1839–1915), daughter of Harvey Buell Spelman and Lucy Henry
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1863· 2 entries
In "The Flats", then Cleveland's burgeoning industrial area
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Was around $13 a barrel, with a profit margin of around $5 to $8 a barrel
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1859· 1 entry
Rockefeller went into the produce commission business with two partners, Maurice B
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1853· 1 entry
His family moved to Strongsville, Ohio, and he attended Cleveland's Central High School, the first high school in Cleveland and the first free public high school west of the Alleghenies
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1839· 1 entry
Born 1839-07-08.
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