Rufus T. Bush - Oil and Standard Oil

Oil and Standard Oil

After the laundry-line venture and other business enterprises, such as buying land in the mountains of Virginia, Rufus T. Bush invested in the oil refining business, providing capital for the new firm of Bush & Denslow, which operated an oil refinery on the South Brooklyn waterfront. The refinery at 25th Street in the part of Brooklyn now called Sunset Park was destroyed by fire in 1881 and rebuilt in Bay Ridge.

As co-owner of a smaller refinery, Rufus T. Bush publicly testified in 1879 against Standard Oil's practice of railroad rebates, stating that, "All the profit that the Standard Oil got, they out of the railroad in the form of rebates." Academic historians recently described Bush's testimony as notable for its "quotable accusations" that subsequently became a "cliché permanently included" in histories of Standard Oil. Muckraker Ida Tarbell published verbatim Rufus T. Bush's testimony concerning Standard Oil's hold over railroad lines and the effects of these discriminatory practices within the body of her landmark book The History of the Standard Oil Company in 1904.

Bush & Denslow's Brooklyn refinery was later bought by Standard Oil during the 1880s, allowing Rufus to retire from business. The refinery itself was dismantled by Standard Oil.