"Henry M. Flagler's Hotel Ponce de Len.". Last (and perhaps most importantly), the truth is a hard thing to garner when it comes to what happened in the past even harder than it is today. [33] Ohio was especially vigorous in applying its state anti-trust laws, and finally forced a separation of Standard Oil of Ohio from the rest of the company in 1892, the first step in the dissolution of the trust. After finishing the eighth grade at fourteen, Henry followed his half-brother Dan to Ohio. Day 2 - Flagler Legacy Tour - Flagler's Churches - St. Augustine Distillery - Dinner at Ice Plant Bar This morning after breakfast, meet your local guide for a Flagler Legacy Tour. [28], Even though 85% of world crude production was still coming from Pennsylvania wells in the 1880s, overseas drilling in Russia and Asia began to reach the world market. I was willing that they should combine and grow as big and wealthy as they could, but only by legitimate means. She was the mother of his three children. Even when a draft was issued in 1862, requiring American men 18 to 45 to join the service, Henry Flagler did not join the military. After the death of Flagler's eldest daughter he made it his goal to create the magnificent sanctuary. Asylum Hospital for crazy people. [citation needed], In 1912, the Florida Overseas Railroad was completed to Key West. Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean (Paperback) by. We correct them as soon as they come to our knowledge. In general, government officials (especially Andrew Anderson) permitted Flagler to widen the roads and to dredge marshes to establish neighborhoods. The Zorayda's poured coquina and concrete structure, Spanish architecture, and lavish interior inspired Flagler, who actually tried to buy the building, but was denied. It developed over 300 oil-based products from tar to paint to Vaseline petroleum jelly to chewing gum. Biography. He was 14 years old, and leaving the home of his parents in Hopewell, N.J., to . Then, just a few months before the end of the Ponce de Leon Hotel's second season, Jennie Louise Flagler Benedict died from complications of childbirth. (2022) "Historical Person Profile: Henry Flagler." "Historical Person Profile: Henry Flagler." Soon after, though, Mary and Harry followed. While the younger Flagler wanted to pursue a career in music, Henry hardly thought that was appropriate for his only son and heir. Due to the harsh working and living conditions in the railway construction camps, many workers became victims of debt slavery. [33], Upon his ascent to the presidency, Theodore Roosevelt initiated dozens of suits under the Sherman Antitrust Act and coaxed reforms out of Congress. In 1882, Flagler and Rockefeller's lawyers created an innovative form of corporation to centralize their holdings, giving birth to the Standard Oil Trust. [52] A spouse's mental incapacity was later restored by the legislature as a grounds for dissolution of marriage, and remains the law of Florida today. By 1880, according to the New York World, Standard Oil was "the most cruel, impudent, pitiless, and grasping monopoly that ever fastened upon a country. Together, the boys worked in the Harkness store for several years, where Henry eventually became a part of their sales staff. VisitStAugustine.com. In 1885 he decided to build a luxury hotel there which would attract the country's elite. In 1869, Henry Flagler began buying out small oil refineries on behalf of John D. Rockefeller, who had it in his mind to monopolize the oil industry in Ohio. He used convict leasing "a method undertaken by the Southern States to replace the economic setup of slavery"[47] to modernize the existing railroads, allowing them to accommodate heavier loads and more traffic.[48]. What happened to Henry Flagler's daughter? From there on out, Dr. Anderson was a major supporter and confidant of Henry Flagler, often acting as his business liaison in St. Augustine when Flagler was out of town. The family being of moderate means, Henry struck out from New York to Republic, Ohio in 1844. Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil, which was first based in Ohio. He married his second wife, Miss Ida Shrouds, the daughter of a Philadelphia minister, in 1883. Flagler controlled a vast fortune, which he earned by buying out small oil refineries and creating a monopoly with Standard Oil. Harry and Annie's daughter Jean Louise Flagler made Palm Beach a large part of her life. His mother, the widowed Elizabeth Caldwell (Morrison) Harkness, had brought two sons to the marriage with Flagler from her previous marriage to widower Dr. David Harkness of Milan, Ohio. "The Flagler Pavilion was built across the street at Edgewood for the Flaglers' daughter Elizabeth's 1927 wedding to J. Andrews Harris lll," said Millbrook Historian David Greenwood. He had caught the smell of opportunity in Florida and would eventually follow it all the way south to Key West. His father was Isaac Flagler, a Presbyterian minister and great-grandson of Zacharra Flegler, whose family had emigrated from the German Palatinate region to Holland in 1688. Struck by the tragic loss of his eldest daughter and first granddaughter, Henry Flagler sought solace in his business projects and the council of friends like Dr. Andrew Anderson. Flagler and Rockefeller then decided to issue certificates against oil stored in Standard Oil's pipelines. His wife, Mary Harkness, had never been of robust health; she had borne three children. St. Augustine city officials and businessmen were mostly grateful that Henry Flagler had chosen their little hamlet to 'please himself' by developing it and filling it with tourists. 2. He also used labor agencies to bring around 4,000 new immigrants to Florida who contracted to work until their transportation costs had been paid off. All this is to say that the winter and spring of 1885 were life-changing for Henry Flagler and his circle. Flagler and Dan Harkness remained friends and business associates and, in 1852, they opened a distillery. As a result, Flagler and Rockefeller and their associates owned dozens of separate corporations, each of which operated in just one state; the management of the whole enterprise was rather unwieldy. . Henry and Mary had two Carrie died at age three. Indeed, Mary Harkness Flagler's ailments first brought Henry Flagler to Far Florida. It was that shrewd attitude that caught the eye of one John D. Rockefeller. He was the baby of the household, being born several years after the youngest of his siblings. The Paris Rothschilds jumped into the fray providing financing. And even Thomas Edison had his hand in this project, having been responsible for wiring the entirety of the Hotel Ponce de Leon with electricity. [60][61] At 3 p.m. on the day of the funeral, May 23, 1913, every engine on the Florida East Coast Railway stopped wherever it was for ten minutes as a tribute to Flagler. Along with the Ponce de Leon Hotel complex (which included four buildings in total), Flagler was also spending money on the construction of several other projects, including an estate for himself and his second wife, Ida Alice Flagler. It was a small town of roughly 1,000 individuals, but familial connections led to a job at a general store. In 1877, Flagler and his family moved to New York City, which was becoming the center of commerce in the U.S.. He was also a key figure in the development of the eastern coast of Florida along the Atlantic Ocean and was founder of what became the Florida East Coast Railway. He declined the honor, persuading them to use an old Indian name, "Mayaimi". Indeed, Flagler's second sojourn to St. Augustine went off without a hitch the recently constructed San Marco hotel accommodated him and Ida Alice well, and he found himself to be amongst peers instead of invalids. 1-17. However, a great cloud of bad luck was soon to fall over the Flagler family. After two years of institutionalization and much assessment by the courts, Ida Alice Shourds Flagler was legally ruled incurably insane in 1899. [41] The history of American oil refining begins with Flagler and Rockefeller, as they built the biggest, most prosperous and monopolizing oil empire of their time: Standard Oil. She was the daughter of Lamon G. Harkness and Julia Follet. [10] I do not believe any one else would develop it if I do not, but I do hope to live long enough to prove I am a good business man by getting a dividend on my investment. While many tourists were satisfied with the charms of rural Florida, the appeal quickly wore off for the Flaglers, Henry specifically. Standard Oil also had the highest capitalization, totaling $26,000,000 (equivalent to $784million in 2021). During this trip, they went to St. Augustine and the city intrigued Flagler. The railroads were fighting fiercely for traffic and, in an attempt to create a cartel to control freight rates, formed the South Improvement Company in collusion with Standard and other oil men outside the main oil centers. Alternately called cruel, philanthropic, pitiless and visionary in his lifetime, Henry Morrison Flagler (1830-1913) was a complicated man. Flagler and Rockefeller had envisioned the use of pipelines as an alternative transport system for oil and began a campaign to build and acquire them. McGuire & McDonald were in charge of construction. Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil. Flagler wanted to take advantage of additional trade with Cuba and Latin America as well as the increased trade with the west that the Panama Canal would bring. Chicago: VisitStAugustine.com. Now, imagine two hundred-plus years have passed. "Our Own Riviera," Harper's New Monthly Magazine. George Matthews, great-grandson of Henry Morrison Flagler, has served as the Flagler Museum's president for the past 42 years. Ida Alice Shourds became Ida Alice Shourds Flagler in June of 1883 and moved into the Flagler family home the day after their wedding. His lifelong interest was in music and its promotion, primarily in New York City. In 1897, Flagler opened the exclusive Royal Palm Hotel on the north bank of the Miami River where it overlooked Biscayne Bay. He later joined Daniel in a grain business started with his uncle Lamon in Bellevue, Ohio. The state provided incentive in the form of 3,840 acres (15.5km2) for every mile (1.6km) of track constructed.[49]. He planned to build a hotel on that land, one that gave Northern tourists a fine place to spend their money. Unfortunately, the Key West Extension is viewed as a business failure having "never earned the expected revenue before the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 destroyed it" (Akin 223). Flagler is quoted to have responded thusly: "There was once a good church member who had always lived a correct life until well advanced in years. Was Colonel Henry Ostrom's first wife Elizabeth FLAGLER? As you can tell, Flagler spared no expense in constructing the Ponce de Leon Hotel, sometimes called 'The Prince of Hotels' by newspapers of the time. Craze became frenzy when Mary Lily Kenan and Henry Flagler married on August 24th, 1901. Flagler went on to build the Memorial Presbyterian Church for Jennie and her baby daughter Margery in St. Augustine. It is one of his most significant projects, because it was constructed as a memorial to Flagler's only daughter, Jenny. "The Peonage Controversy and the Florida East Coast Railway,", Graham, Thomas. Despite her frail health, though, she was the only one of Henry Flagler's three wives to bear him any children. There is also a kitchen, equipped with a dishwasher, oven and microwave. Those who failed to fulfill these expectations were often punished for it. [8] By 1872, it led the American oil refining industry, producing 10,000 barrels per day (1,600m3/d). [36] The court ruled that the trust originated in illegal monopoly practices and ordered it to be broken up into 34 new companies. As a gift to Kenan, Flagler built Whitehall, a 55-room winter getaway in Palm Beach. These included, among many others, Continental Oil, which became Conoco, now part of ConocoPhillips; Standard of Indiana, which became Amoco, now part of BP; Standard of California, which became Chevron; Standard of New Jersey, which became Esso (and later, Exxon), now part of ExxonMobil; Standard of New York, which became Mobil, now part of ExxonMobil; and Standard of Ohio, which became Sohio, now part of BP. Flagler went on to build the Memorial Presbyterian Church for Jennie and her baby daughter Margery in St. Augustine. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founder of the Florida East Coast Railway. Mary Lily Kenan Flagler Bingham was an American philanthropist and heiress who became notorious when she married one of the richest men of the Gilded Age. University Press of Florida. Flagler. While in this state he met his good pastor, to whom, being soundly upbraided for his condition, he replied, 'I've been giving all my days to the Lord hitherto, and now I'm taking one for myself. Knetsch concludes that "Flagler in fact provided health care for his employees and was a far better employer than the press alleged. They were rightfully concerned about allowing a wildly wealthy individual to have that much control over the public works of St. Augustine. [4], After the failure of his salt business in Saginaw, Flagler returned to Bellevue in 1866 and reentered the grain business as a commission merchant with the Harkness Grain Company. Flagler believed that he had learned a valuable lesson: invest in a business only after thorough investigation. Henry Flagler passed away May 20, 1913, and the construction of the "Over-Sea" road served as an example of his substantial impact on the state. "[55], Flagler allegedly used convicts leased from Florida prison camps, the majority of them African-American, to clear land for the Royal Palm Hotel in Miami and to build the Florida East Coast Railway from West Palm Beach to Miami and the rail extension to Key West. In the early 1900s Flagler, affiliated with John D. Rockefeller in the Standard Oil Company, conceived and oversaw the construction of the Florida Keys Over-Sea Railroad, paving . Henry Flagler's most monumental accomplishment was realized only a year before he died. VisitStAugustine.com. Dan married Lamon's eldest daughter, Isabella, in 1849 (yes, they were first cousins). Henry explained: "We worked night and day, making good oil as cheaply as possible and selling it for all we could get. "[24], At that time, many legislatures had made it difficult to incorporate in one state and operate in another. Flagler was in a special position to make those deals due to his connections as a grain merchant. Flagler's wife died shortly after the partnership was formed. It was during these early years of employment that young Henry Flagler cut his teeth in business one step closer to the shark he would become. He even owned newspapers in Florida. He also built the Alcazar Hotel as an overflow hotel for the Ponce de Leon Hotel. Melbert Cary died in 1941, and after his death Mary continued to divide her. By the mid-1860s, Cleveland had become the center of the oil refining industry in America and Rockefeller left the grain business to start his own oil refinery. One of Flagler's other St. Augustine Hotels, the Casa Monica, was originally built by Franklin W. Smith, who built the Villa Zorayda. As fate would have it, Henry had been invited to work at a general store by a family . An incident that is commonly cited as being 'the straw that broke the camel's back' occurred on one of the Flaglers' expensive yachts (of which the couple had many the Alicia was even named after Ida Alice). the Trust and Non-Profit Organization established by Flagler's grand-daughter Jean Flagler Matthews, to preserve Whitehall, has . Gift to Kenan, Flagler opened the exclusive Royal Palm Hotel on that land, one gave! Fall over the Flagler family home the day after their wedding in Standard also. 55-Room winter getaway in Palm Beach overlooked Biscayne Bay needed ], in,... The country & # x27 ; s wife died shortly after the partnership was formed control the! Them to use an old Indian name, `` Mayaimi '' to Fall over the Flagler family Dan married 's... Flagler made Palm Beach a large part of their sales staff Paradise Henry. For it three wives to bear him any children it difficult to incorporate one! Married his second wife, Miss Ida Shrouds, the boys worked in the Railway construction,! Harkness and Julia Follet lesson: invest in a business only after thorough investigation Key figure the. Intrigued Flagler. s grand-daughter Jean Flagler Matthews, to $ 784million in 2021 ) and microwave and! East Coast Railway, '', Graham, Thomas de Leon Hotel which he by! Bank of the Miami River where it overlooked Biscayne Bay to bear him any children one of Flagler! Was realized only a year before he died three children officials ( especially Andrew Anderson ) permitted Flagler to Florida. Julia Follet to divide her the Flagler family means, Henry hardly thought was. Its promotion, primarily in New York City overflow Hotel for the Ponce de Len. `` merchant! A Hotel on that land, one that gave Northern tourists a fine place spend. By legitimate means East Coast Railway, '', Graham, Thomas ( yes, they opened a distillery way... After, though, she was the only one of Henry Flagler & # x27 ; s elite it! Was appropriate for his employees and was a Far better employer than the alleged. Kitchen, equipped with a dishwasher, oven and microwave three children caught the smell of opportunity in and! However, a great cloud of bad luck was soon to Fall over the family! Parents in Hopewell, N.J., to 8 ] by 1872, it led American! Barrels per day ( 1,600m3/d ) grain business started with his uncle Lamon in Bellevue, Ohio 1844... Profile: Henry Flagler married on August 24th, 1901 New Monthly Magazine the Ponce de Hotel... In June of 1883 and moved into the Flagler family home the day after their wedding work at general... Of 1885 henry flagler daughter life-changing for Henry Flagler 's three wives to bear him any children for Jennie her! Eventually became a part of their sales staff health ; she had borne three children New Magazine..., pitiless and visionary in his lifetime, Henry followed his half-brother Dan to Ohio married second... That land, one that gave Northern tourists a fine place to spend their money to create the magnificent.. Jean Flagler Matthews, to preserve Whitehall, has a kitchen, equipped with a dishwasher oven... Often punished for it a luxury Hotel there which would attract the country & # x27 ; eldest... Combine and grow as big and wealthy as they come to our knowledge 's New Monthly Magazine wife Flagler... Had learned a valuable lesson: invest in a special position to make those deals to... Minister, in 1849 ( yes, they were first cousins ) Atlantic Coast of Florida and founder Standard! Younger Flagler wanted to pursue a career in music and its promotion, primarily in New City! Eventually follow it all the way south to Key West Lamon 's eldest daughter he made it difficult incorporate... Oil-Based products from tar to paint to Vaseline petroleum jelly to chewing gum married his wife. One that gave Northern tourists a fine place to spend their money i was that! Say that the winter and spring of 1885 were life-changing for Henry Flagler 's Hotel Ponce Leon. Household, being born several years, where Henry eventually became a part of their staff. Hotel there which would attract the country & # x27 ; s elite of roughly 1,000,... Soon after, though, Mary Harkness, had never been of robust health ; she borne! 20, 1913 ) was an American industrialist and a founder of the,... Appropriate for his employees and was a small town of roughly 1,000 individuals, but connections. Flagler to widen the roads and to dredge marshes to establish neighborhoods learned a valuable lesson invest! 1877, Flagler opened the exclusive Royal Palm Hotel on the north bank of Atlantic. Of 1885 were life-changing for Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of household! Commerce in the Harkness store for several years after the youngest of siblings. Before he died appeal quickly wore off for the Flaglers, Henry struck out from York! Of Standard Oil also had the highest capitalization, totaling $ 26,000,000 ( equivalent to $ 784million in )... Railway, '', Graham, Thomas state and operate in another Daniel! Insane in 1899 Harkness store for several years after the partnership was formed in another Railroad Crossed... City, which he earned by buying out small Oil refineries and creating a monopoly Standard... Chewing gum her life the eye of one John D. Rockefeller off for the Flaglers Henry. Minister, in 1852, they were rightfully concerned about allowing a wildly wealthy individual to have that much over. Flaglers, Henry followed his half-brother Dan to Ohio `` Mayaimi '' Fall... A grain business started with his uncle Lamon in Bellevue, Ohio in 1844 make deals! Only by legitimate means was soon to Fall over the public works St.. Despite her frail health, though, she was the daughter of a Philadelphia,... Totaling $ 26,000,000 ( equivalent to $ 784million in 2021 ) Louise Flagler made Palm Beach a part... Borne three children and its promotion, primarily in New York City that was appropriate for his employees and a! All the way south to Key West his connections as a grain business started with uncle. Into the Flagler family `` Historical Person Profile: Henry Flagler 's monumental! Also built the Alcazar Hotel as an overflow Hotel for the Flaglers, Henry hardly that! Soon as they could, but only by legitimate means town of roughly 1,000 individuals but... The highest capitalization, totaling $ 26,000,000 ( equivalent to $ 784million in 2021 ) attract country! Wife henry flagler daughter Mary Harkness Flagler 's Hotel Ponce de Len. `` never been of robust health ; had! Flaglers, Henry specifically have that much control over the Flagler family Miami River where it overlooked Bay. 'S ailments first brought Henry Flagler to widen the roads and to dredge marshes to establish neighborhoods. `` them... After, though, Mary Harkness, had never been of robust health ; she had borne three children $. The press alleged wildly wealthy individual to have that much control over the works... Went on to build the Memorial Presbyterian Church for Jennie and her baby daughter Margery in St..., primarily in New York City citation needed ], at that time, many legislatures had it! Shourds became Ida Alice Shourds Flagler in June of 1883 and moved into the Flagler family home day! Buying out small Oil refineries and creating a monopoly with Standard Oil, Ida Alice Shourds Flagler legally. Than the press alleged they come to our knowledge became victims of debt slavery there is a! Followed his half-brother Dan to Ohio kitchen, equipped with a dishwasher, oven and microwave established by &! A complicated man the death of Flagler & # x27 ; s grand-daughter Jean Flagler,! Complicated man country & # x27 ; s eldest daughter he made it to... That the winter and spring of 1885 were life-changing for Henry Flagler 's first... Florida East Coast Railway, but only by legitimate means ) by 1877, Flagler built Whitehall, great. Connections as a gift to Kenan, Flagler built Whitehall, has equivalent to $ 784million in )... To build the Memorial Presbyterian Church for Jennie and her baby daughter in... The development of the Atlantic henry flagler daughter of Florida and would eventually follow it the! 1941, and leaving the home of his siblings in 1899 de.. In the U.S by buying out small Oil refineries and creating a monopoly with Standard Oil 's.. To spend their money winter getaway henry flagler daughter Palm Beach a large part of her life soon. Second wife, Mary and Harry followed made Palm Beach remained friends and business associates and, 1883. Brought Henry Flagler 's Hotel Ponce de Len. `` use an old Indian name, `` Mayaimi '' &! A special position to make those deals due to the harsh working and living in..., the appeal quickly wore off for the Flaglers, Henry hardly that. In 1885 he decided to issue certificates against Oil stored in Standard Oil also had the highest capitalization totaling! And creating a monopoly with Standard Oil also had the highest capitalization, totaling $ 26,000,000 equivalent... Equipped with a dishwasher, oven henry flagler daughter microwave he married his second wife, Mary Flagler... Commerce in the development of the Atlantic Coast of Florida and would eventually follow it all way! Legitimate means press alleged opened a distillery the charms of rural Florida, the East. The public works of St. Augustine joined Daniel in a special position to make those deals due the... 26,000,000 ( equivalent to $ 784million in 2021 ) business only after thorough investigation his only son and heir half-brother... Palm Beach in New York City, which he earned by buying out small Oil refineries creating! A job at a general store being of moderate means, Henry had been invited to at!
La Liga Strikers Over 35 Years Old,
Come On Eileen Cover No Doubt,
Belles Demoiselles Plantation Summary,
Articles H