Samuel Calvin Tate Dodd devises the trust…

Samuel Calvin Tate Dodd devises the trust arrangement to solidify Rockefeller’s control over his various acquisitions and in order to avoid state controls.

Dodd, Standard Oil’s legal counsel, who has helped to organize Standard Oil as one of the earliest large holding companies, creates the business trust arrangement that enables Rockefeller's control of many oil companies.

A North Carolina-based railroad is, according to some researchers, the actual owner of Standard Oil.

The Standard Oil Trust will soon absorb virtually all other oil companies.