The Quiet Dynasty Behind One of Standard Oil’s Great Fortunes

Hey guys! We're now on Spotify 🎧 Join us here: https://open.spotify.com/show/2OSafPW... Fall asleep to the story of the Harkness family, the quiet partners behind one of Standard Oil's great fortunes. On January 10, 1870, the Standard Oil Company was divided into 10,000 shares, and 1,334 of them went to Stephen V. Harkness, a former harnessmaker's apprentice and Ohio distiller, more than anyone but John D. Rockefeller. He remained a silent partner. His widow Anna and their sons Charles and Edward held the stake for half a century, then gave much of it away, quietly and often anonymously. So who was the quiet man beside Rockefeller, and where did his fortune go? Subscribe to the channel: @oldsocietynights In this video, we talk about how the Harkness stake was made, kept and given away, including the five names on the founding papers of Standard Oil, a harnessmaker's apprentice from Fayette, New York, the distillery and bank at Monroeville, the Civil War whiskey tax, stepbrother Henry Flagler, the silent partnership of 1867, "All right, J.D., I'll give you all I've got", Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, the 1879 and 1882 trusts and the trust certificate, a death aboard a yacht in 1888, Anna Harkness and her quiet giving, Charles and the Standard Oil stock, the chapel for Florence, Lamon and the trotters of Walnut Hall, the cousins' share, the breakup of May 15, 1911, Edward and Mary Harkness at 1 East 75th Street and Eolia, Harkness Tower at Yale, the Commonwealth Fund, the houses at Harvard and the Harkness table at Exeter, and the shy man who would rather have been under the sofa. 🔔 Subscribe, and the next long night with an old American family will be waiting for you. 💬 Comment where you're listening from, and tell us which Harkness gift you would most like to visit on a quiet evening. 📢 Share this with anyone who has studied at a Harkness table or walked beneath Harkness Tower, on Facebook, Reddit or a family group chat. Every share keeps these quiet nights going. Chapters: 00:00 Opening 19:25 Grain, a distillery and a bank 35:28 Stepbrother Henry 52:19 The silent partner 1:09:52 All I've got 1:26:33 A slice of every company 1:44:20 A death at sea 2:01:15 Charles keeps the stake 2:18:06 Lamon and the trotters 2:35:43 The fifteenth of May, nineteen eleven 2:53:01 A tower for Charles 3:11:08 Anna's last years 3:28:27 The table at Exeter 3:44:45 The quiet house Sources: Allan Nevins, John D. Rockefeller (1940), Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.... Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, Harkness, Stephen V. HARKNESS, STEPHEN V. | Encyclopedia of Cleveland History | Case Western Reserve University John D. Rockefeller, Random Reminiscences of Men and Events (1909), Project Gutenberg https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/... Ida M. Tarbell, The History of the Standard Oil Company (1904), Project Gutenberg The History of the Standard Oil Company by Ida M. Tarbell Phillips Exeter Academy, History of Harkness History of Harkness: the man behind the 'revolution' - Phillips Exeter Academy Yale Alumni Magazine, The Memorial Quadrangle's beginnings The Memorial Quadrangles beginnings The Commonwealth Fund, Edward Harkness Edward Harkness | The Commonwealth Fund DISCLAIMER: This video is based on real historical events and figures, drawn from the sources listed above alongside primary archives, biographies, court records, period press, and leading historical scholarship. While every video is heavily researched, occasional minor inaccuracies in dates, quotes, or specific details may occur — historical sources sometimes disagree, and interpretation is sometimes required where the historical record is silent. Any errors are unintentional. #OldSocietyNights #StandardOil #GildedAge