Rochester, Paul A
railroad manager, was born Aug. 21, 1857, in Rochester, N. Y. He received his education at the United States Military academy and at the Rochester university. He has been in railroad service since 1878; has been in the engineer's corps of several railroads; and since 1895 has been general eastern agent of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe railway at New York city.
ROCHESTER, THOMAS FORTESCUE, physician, author, was born Oct. 8, 1823, in Rochester, N. Y. He was a prominent physician of Buffalo; and the author of The Army Surgeon; and Medical Men and Medical Matters in 1776. He died May 24, 1887, in Buffalo, N. Y.
ROCHESTER, WILLIAM BEATTY, lawyer, jurist, congressman, governor, was born in Washington county, Md. He was a representative in congress from New York from 1821 to 1823. He subsequently held the office of circuit judge in New York, but resigned to compete with De Witt Clinton for the office of governor. He died June 15, 1838, at sea. ROCHESTER, WILLIAM BEATTY, soldier, was born Feb. 15, 1826, in Angelica, N. Y. He entered the United States service as major and additional paymaster of volunteers in 1861. He was transferred to the permanent establishment as paymaster in 1867, and in February, 1882, was appointed paymaster-general of the army, with the rank of brigadier-general.
ROCKEFELLER, JOHN DAVISON, founder of the Standard Oil company, was born July 8, 1839, in Richford, N. Y. In 1870 the firm of Rockefeller, Andrews and Flagler dissolved and organized the Standard Oil company of Ohio, with John D. Rockefeller as its president and William Rockefeller as vice-president.
The Standard Oil companies have been able to reduce the cost of oil to consumers, and they now own thousands of acres of oil lands, an extensive system of wells, refineries, pipe lines, oil steamships and business houses in all the principal cities of the United States and the representative cities of nearly every civilized country on the face of the globe. They control the greater part of the petroleum business of this country and export much of the oil used in other countries.