A Typewritten Letter Signed (TLS) by John D. Rockefeller, dated June 20, 1925, addressed to Henry Thompson, Superintendent of Grounds at the Rockefeller family's famed Pocantico Hills estate in Tarrytown, New York.
Written just weeks before Rockefeller's 86th birthday, the letter captures the industrialist and philanthropist in a remarkably personal and unguarded moment. In it, Rockefeller encloses a check for fifty dollars to be divided among the men who assisted in moving a large elm tree—a task he had personally observed during one of his daily carriage drives. He also notes his pleasure with the ongoing landscaping work along the entrance to the estate's private golf course.
The letter is a quintessential example of Rockefeller's late-life correspondence: understated, precise, and unfailingly courteous. Despite being the wealthiest man in American history, his notes to household and estate staff were famously humble, often referring to even substantial sums as "a little check" or "a slight remembrance." This same impulse is documented in his June 13, 1925 letter to Mrs. William Baverstock, a newlywed employee, to whom he sent a wedding check in lieu of a gift.