Laura Spelman Rockefeller

Life and work

Laura Celestia Spelman was born in Wadsworth, Ohio to Puritan descendant Harvey Buell Spelman (September 15, 1811 – October 11, 1881) and Lucy Henry (February 28, 1818 – September 7, 1897), Yankees who had moved to Ohio from Massachusetts. Harvey was an abolitionist who was active in the Congregationalist Church, the Underground Railroad, and in politics. The Spelmans eventually moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Spelman had an elder adopted sister, Lucy Maria "Lute" Spelman (c. 1837 – February 6, 1920). In Cleveland, Lute and Spelman met John Davison Rockefeller while attending accounting classes together. He was the eldest son of con artist William Avery "Bill" Rockefeller (1810–1906) and Eliza Davison (1813–1889). They had five children; Elizabeth ("Bessie") (August 23, 1866 – November 14, 1906), Alice (July 14, 1869 – August 20, 1870), Alta (April 12, 1871 – June 21, 1962), Edith (August 31, 1872 – August 25, 1932), and John Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960). She later returned to New England to attend Oread Institute, with plans to become a schoolteacher. After returning to Ohio to teach, she married John in 1864. Following her wedding, Spelman remained active in the church (she joined Rockefeller's congregation, the Northern Baptists) and with her family. Once the family business, Standard Oil, began to take off, she further devoted her time to philanthropy and her children.

Throughout their lives, the Rockefeller family continued to donate ten percent of their income to charity, including substantial donations to Spelman College. Spelman died on March 12, 1915 at age 75 of a heart attack, at the family estate Kykuit in Pocantico Hills, New York.