188 GILBERT HOLLAND MONTAGUE 



ized a Standard Oil company in New York, in New Jersey, 

 in Kentucky, in Iowa, in Minnesota; and similar corporations 

 already existed in Ohio and Pennsylvania." 



As the first " trust" form of combination, the agreement 

 under which this union was brought about deserves atten- 

 tion. There were three classes of parties to the contract: 

 first, all the stockholders and members of the Standard " alli- 

 ance," together with members of some other companies; sec- 

 ond, all the more important officers and stockholders of these 

 several companies; and, third, a portion of the stockholders 

 and members of some additional corporations and limited 

 partnerships. Provision was made for the admission of new 

 companies and individuals and for the formation, whenever 

 advisable, of a Standard Oil company in any state or terri- 

 tory in the union. The parties of the several classes were to 

 transfer all their property to the Standard Oil companies in 

 their several states, in consideration of which they should 

 receive stock equal at par value to the appraised value of the 

 property so transferred. This stock — and here is the signifi- 

 cant feature of the new organization — was to be delivered to 

 trustees, and held by them and their successors thereafter; and 

 no subsequent issue of stock should be made by the companies 

 except to these trustees. In return for the stock intrusted to 

 them, the trustees were to deliver trust certificates, equal to 

 the par value of the stock of the several Standard Oil com- 

 panies to be established and to the appraised value of the 

 stocks of other companies delivered to the trustees. The 

 trustees provided for were nine in number. They were John 

 D. Rockefeller, O. N. Payne, and William Rockefeller, elected 

 to hold office till 1885; J. A. Bostwick, H. M. Flagler, and 

 W. G. Warden, to hold office till 1884; and Charles Pratt, 

 Benjamin Brewster, and John D. Archbold, to hold office till 

 1883. At each annual meeting the certificate owners elected 

 three trustees, for three years each, to fill vacancies due to 

 expiration of term. Such was the "trust" as formed by the 

 agreement of January 2, 1882. 



Four years before the formation of the trust, two pipe 

 line companies, the Seaboard Pipe Line company and the 

 Equitable Petroleum company, projected to afford an outlet 



