Отец Джона Д. Рокфеллера скрывался в Северной Дакоте под именем доктора Левингстона

For the earliest settlers of Park River, North Dakota, the elderly stranger posed an intriguing question: How could a traveling “doctor” have such an extravagant farming operation? For eight years in the 1880s, the man calling himself Dr. William Levingston owned property near the northeastern Dakota Territory community. Already in his 70s, he arrived each spring, conducted complicated land deals and disappeared again in the fall, apparently offering few details about where he came from or where he spent the winter. ADVERTISEMENT Residents developed their own theory. They suspected someone with far deeper pockets was behind the operation — perhaps even Standard Oil, the powerful company controlled by John D. Rockefeller. The property became known locally as the “Standard Oil Ranch.” The rumors came closer to the truth than anyone could have ever imagined. Dr. William Levingston was actually William Avery Rockefeller — the elusive father of one of the richest men in the world. It was a secret the Rockefeller family guarded for decades and one that would eventually ignite a newspaper frenzy. But who was the man nicknamed “Devil Bill” Rockefeller? A physician? A swindler? A fugitive? Or, for eight improbable years, a North Dakota country gentleman? William Avery Rockefeller was born Nov. 13, 1810, in New York. Merry Helm of Prairie Public’s “Dakota Datebook” described him at age 24 as “tall, handsome and rugged and did whatever he pleased no matter the consequences.” At 27, he married Eliza Davison, a deeply religious woman from New York. They had six children, including John D. Rockefeller, born in 1839. ADVERTISEMENT When the kids were little, William was frequently absent, sometimes disappearing for months before returning with large amounts of unexplained cash, which he'd then stack in piles in front of his children. “He made a practice of never carrying less than $1,000,” John D. Rockefeller once said. John told people he got his love of money from his father, but he never told people where that money came from. William Rockefeller was a traveling salesman and con man. Nicknamed “Devil Bill,” he reportedly posed at times as a deaf and mute peddler or a physician who could cure whatever ailed you. "He had a big jug of medicine and he treated all diseases from the same jug," an associate once recalled, remembering that Bill would laugh that his concoction could cure anyone willing to give him money. He apparently regarded deception as a valuable business lesson. Rockefeller was later quoted as saying that he cheated his sons whenever he could because he wanted to make them “sharp.” His deception extended into his personal life. Although still legally married to Eliza, he began a relationship with Margaret Allen, a woman more than 20 years his junior. The two married in Canada in 1856 and eventually settled in Illinois. Margaret apparently did not know William was already married and wouldn't find out until after his death. ADVERTISEMENT Rockefeller spent the following years moving among different places, names and lives. Eventually, his trail led to what would become North Dakota. From 1881 until 1889, Rockefeller — now calling himself Dr. William Levingston — owned agricultural property near Park River. He bought and sold horses, speculated in land and loaned money to struggling farmers at high interest rates. According to accounts of his life, he sometimes targeted borrowers unlikely to repay him, allowing him to foreclose and acquire their property. Exactly why he chose Park River remains uncertain. In 1937, former business associate C.D. Johnston reportedly said John D. Rockefeller had encouraged his father to go to North Dakota in hopes of separating him from Margaret Allen. If that was the plan, it didn't work. Rockefeller was a snowbird. He'd spend the warmer months in North Dakota and go back to Margaret in Illinois each fall. By spring, he was back in Dakota Territory. His complicated and apparently lucrative dealings on his North Dakota land fueled local speculation that Standard Oil — or someone connected to it — was financing the operation. Whether John D. Rockefeller actually owned or financed the property remains unclear. But its nickname, the “Standard Oil Ranch,” suggests Park River residents sensed a Rockefeller connection long before Levingston’s identity became publicly known. The arrangement ended after Eliza Rockefeller died in 1889. Six months later, William — then about 79 — sold his North Dakota property and returned permanently to Margaret. He spent the rest of his life in Illinois, still known as William Levingston. ADVERTISEMENT To the public, however, William Rockefeller had seemingly disappeared. In 1905, investigative journalist Ida Tarbell published her widely read examination of John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil. Her reporting delved into the elder Rockefeller’s disreputable past, including his career as a fraudulent physician and allegations that he had been indicted for rape. Newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer also recognized the value of the mystery, offering an $8,000 reward for information leading to Rockefeller’s whereabouts. Reporters searched the country, but they were no match for a man who had spent decades practicing the art of disappearing. William Rockefeller remained largely out of sight. He died in Illinois, on May 11, 1906, at age 95. His grave marker bears the name Levingston. Only after his death did journalists piece together the truth. When reporters confronted Margaret with evidence that her husband was William Rockefeller, she reportedly directed them toward the famous son who had refused to publicly acknowledge the story. “John D. Rockefeller. Let him tell if he will.” ADVERTISEMENT He did not. John D. Rockefeller and his family disputed portions of Tarbell and Pulitzer's reporting, including claims that the sons had known where their father was and quietly supported him. Later evidence indicated, however, that family members had remained aware of William’s whereabouts. Margaret died four years after her husband. John D. Rockefeller would eventually build the Standard Oil empire and become synonymous with extraordinary wealth. But while the younger Rockefeller carefully cultivated an image of discipline, thrift and religious respectability, his father left behind a far more unruly and mysterious legacy.