Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 43. Chapters: Rockefeller family, Mason family, Forbes family, Vanderbilt family, Gordy family, Astor family, Du Pont family, Cabot family, Guggenheim family, Pritzker family, Bancroft family, Koch family, Arison family, Hilton family, Widener family, Saunders family, Mugar family, Getty family, Gates family, Anheuser family, Lehman family. Excerpt: The Rockefeller patriarchs The Rockefeller family (pronounced ), the Cleveland family of John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) and his brother William Rockefeller (1841-1922), is an American industrial, banking, and political family of German origin that made one of the world's largest private fortunes in the oil business during the late 19th and early 20th century, primarily through the Standard Oil Company. The family is also known for its long association with and financial interest in the Chase Manhattan Bank, now JP Morgan Chase. Their ancestor, Johann Peter Rockefeller, moved to North America in 1723 from what is today Westerwald, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The family was heavily involved in many real estate construction projects in the U.S. during the 20th century. Chief among them: Senior's donations led to the formation of the University of Chicago in 1889, where the first American Nobel Prize in Science was produced in 1907, and notable for the Chicago School of Economics. This was one instance of a long family and Rockefeller Foundation tradition of financially supporting Ivy League and other major colleges and universities over the generations - seventy-five in total. This includes: Senior (and Junior) also created Junior also financially supported numerous other major institutions: Beginning with Rockefeller Senior, the family has been a major force in land conservation. Over the generations, it has created more than 20 national parks and open spaces, including the Cloisters, Acadia National Park, Forest Hill Park, the Nature Conservancy, the Rockefeller Forest in California's Humboldt Redwoods State Park (the largest stand of old-growth redwoods), and Grand Teton National Park, among many others. Rockefeller Jr, and his son Laurance (and his son Larry) were particularly prominent in this area. Most of these efforts were accomplished without public fanfare. The family was honored for its conservation efforts in November, 2005, by the National Audubon Soci