Parents
Henry Rogers and Abbie Gifford had been raised in working-class families of Mayflower lineage in the small coastal fishing town of Fairhaven, adjacent to New Bedford, in Bristol County, Massachusetts. Long a whaling port, the industry was in serious decline as they became teenagers. Childhood sweethearts, they were both among the graduates of Fairhaven's first high school class in 1857. Afterwards, Henry went to work on a local railroad and saved carefully for several years. Petroleum was replacing whaling oil for lighting, and at 21, he invested his $600 savings, and in 1861, set out with a friend for the newly-discovered oil fields of Venango County, Pennsylvania .
In 1862, Henry returned to Fairhaven on vacation, and he and Abbie were married. Returning to western Pennsylvania, the young couple lived in a one-room shack near Oil City, where Henry Rogers and his a partner worked at their tiny Wamsutta Oil Refinery for several years. The first daughter, Anne, was born there in 1865. Living frugally and working hard, Rogers drew the attention of oil pioneer Charles Pratt, who hired him. Moving with Abbie and Anne to Brooklyn, he soon became Pratt's right hand. Rogers developed a process for separating naphtha from crude oil, and received a U.S. patent in 1870. A few years later, Henry Rogers helped negotiate successfully when John D. Rockefeller acquired Pratt interests to become part of Standard Oil.
By 1874, Henry Rogers had become a wealthy principal in Standard Oil, and was living in New York City and maintaining a summer home in Fairhaven. In later years, he became one of the wealthiest men in the United States. He held many investments outside of his key role at Standard Oil. Particularly noteworthy, in the early 20th century, was the 440-mile (710 km) "engineering marvel" Virginian Railway, a low gradient route from southern West Virginia coal fields to the Atlantic port of Hampton Roads, which was built almost entirely from his private fortune, an unparalleled feat. 100 years later a large portion of the former Virginian Railway, which was merged into the rival Norfolk and Western in 1959, forms a key piece of the Norfolk Southern rail network.
Read more about this topic: Mary (Mai) Huttleston Rogers Coe
Famous quotes containing the word parents:
“Few parents nowadays pay any regard to what their children say to them. The old-fashioned respect for the young is fast dying out.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“Love is at the root of all healthy discipline. The desire to be loved is a powerful motivation for children to behave in ways that give their parents pleasure rather than displeasure. it may even be our own long-ago fear of losing our parents’ love that now sometimes makes us uneasy about setting and maintaining limits. We’re afraid we’ll lose the love of our children when we don’t let them have their way.”
—Fred Rogers (20th century)
“With all the attention paid to your new baby, it’s easy for your own feelings and needs to get lost in the shuffle. Although all parents engage in some self-sacrifice for their children, keep in mind that your goal isn’t just to raise a happy, healthy child. You want that child to be part of a happy, healthy family as well.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)