HENRY MORRISON FLAGLER
Henry Morrison Flagler was born on January 2, 1830 in Hopewell, New York to
Reverend Isaac and Elizabeth Caldwell Harkness Flagler. At the age of 14, after
completing the eighth grade in 1844, Flagler decided to move to Bellevue, Ohio
where he found work in the grain store of L.G. Harkness and Company at a salary
of $5 per month plus room and board. By 1849, Flagler was promoted to sales
staff of the company at a salary of $400 per month.
Flagler became a partner in the newly organized D. M. Harkness and Company with
his half-brother, Dan Harkness in 1852. The following year, on November 9, he
married Mary Harkness. On March18, 1855, their first child, Jennie Louise, was
born. Jennie Louise lived until 1889, when at the age of 34, she died following
complications from child birth. A second child, Carrie, was born on June 18,
1858. She died three years later. On December 2, 1870, the Flaglers' only son,
Harry Harkness Flagler, was born.
Flagler founded the Flagler and York Salt Company, a salt mining and production
business in Saginaw, Michigan in 1862 with his brother-in-law Barney York. By
1865, the end of the Civil War caused a drop in the demand for salt and the
Flagler and York Salt Company collapsed. Heavily in debt, Flagler returned to
Bellevue, Ohio. He had lost his initial $50,000 investment and an additional $50,000
he had borrowed from his father-in-law and Dan Harkness.
The next year Flagler reentered the grain business as a commission merchant.
Flagler had become acquainted with John D. Rockefeller, who worked as a
commission agent with Hewitt and Tuttle for the Harkness Grain Company. 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.
In 1867, Rockefeller, needing capital for his new venture, approached Flagler.
Flagler obtained $100,000 from a relative on the condition that Flagler be made
a partner. A Rockefeller, Andrews and Flagler partnership was formed with
Flagler in control of Harkness' interest.
On January 10, 1870, the Rockefeller, Andrews and Flagler partnership emerged as
a joint-stock corporation named Standard Oil and by 1872, Standard Oil led the
American oil refining industry, producing 10,000 barrels per day. Five years
later Standard Oil moved its headquarters to New York City, and the Flaglers
moved to their new home at 509 Fifth Avenue in New York City.
By 1878, Flagler's wife, who had always struggled with health problems, was very
ill. On advice from Mary's physician, she and Flagler visited Jacksonville,
Florida for the winter. Mary's illness grew worse, however, and she died on May
18, 1881 at age 47. Two years after Mary's death, Flagler married Ida Alice
Shourds. Soon after their wedding, the couple traveled to St. Augustine, Florida
where they found the city charming, but the hotel facilities and transportation
systems inadequate. Flagler recognized Florida's potential to attract out-of-state
visitors. Though Flagler remained on the Board of Directors of Standard Oil, he
gave up his day-to-day involvement in the corporation in order to pursue his
interests in Florida. He returned to St. Augustine in 1885 and began
construction on the 540-roomHotel Ponce de Leon. Realizing the need for a sound
transportation system to support his hotel ventures, Flagler purchased the
Jacksonville, St. Augustine & Halifax Railroad, the first railroad in what would
eventually become the Florida East Coast Railway.
The Hotel Ponce de Leon opened January 10, 1888 and was an instant success. Two
years later, Flagler expanded his Florida holdings. He built a railroad bridge
across the St. Johns River to gain access to the southern half of the state and
purchased the Hotel Ormond, just north of Daytona. His personal dedication to
the state of Florida was demonstrated when he began construction on his private
residence, Kirkside, in St. Augustine.
Flagler completed the 1150-room Royal Poinciana Hotel on the shores of Lake
Worth in Palm Beach and extended his railroad to West Palm Beach by 1894. The
Royal Poinciana Hotel was at the time the largest wooden structure in the world.
Two years later, Flagler built the Palm Beach Inn (renamed The Breakers in 1901)
overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Palm Beach.
Flagler originally intended for West Palm Beach to be the terminus of his
railroad system, but during 1894 and 1895, severe freezes hit the area, causing
Flagler to rethink this original decision. Sixty miles south, the town today
known as Miami was reportedly unharmed by the freeze. To further convince
Flagler to continue the railroad to Miami, he was offered land from private
landowners, the Florida East Coast Canal and Transportation Company, and the
Boston and Florida Atlantic Coast Land Company, in exchange for laying rail
tracks.
Flagler's railroad, renamed the Florida East Coast Railway in 1895, reached
Biscayne Bay by 1896.Flagler dredged a channel, built streets, instituted the
first water and power systems, and financed the town's first newspaper, the
Metropolis. When the town incorporated in 1896, its citizens wanted to honor the
man responsible for its growth by naming it "Flagler." He declined the honor,
persuading them to use an old Indian name, "Miami." In 1897, Flagler opened the
exclusive Royal Palm Hotel in Miami.
Flagler's second wife, Ida Alice, had been institutionalized for mental illness
since 1895. In 1901, the Florida Legislature passed a bill that made incurable
insanity grounds for divorce, opening the way for Flagler to remarry. On August
24, 1901, Flagler married Mary Lily Kenan and the couple soon moved into their
Palm Beach estate, Whitehall. Built as a wedding present to Mary Lily in 1902 by
architects John Carrere and Thomas Hastings, Whitehall was a 60,000 square foot,
55-room winter retreat that established the Palm Beach season for the wealthy of
America's Gilded Age.
By 1905, Flagler decided that his Florida East Coast Railway should be extended
from Biscayne Bay to Key West, a point 128 miles past the end of the Florida
peninsula. At the time, Key West was Florida's most populated city and it was
also the United States' closest deep water port to the canal that the U.S.
government proposed to build in Panama. 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. In 1912, the Florida Over-Sea
Railroad was completed to Key West.
In 1913, Flagler fell down a flight of stairs at Whitehall. He never recovered
from the fall and died of his injuries on May 20 at 83 years of age. He was
buried in St. Augustine alongside his daughter, Jennie Louise and first wife,
Mary Harkness.
Henry Morrison Flagler was born on January 2, 1830 in Hopewell, New York to
Reverend Isaac and Elizabeth Caldwell Harkness Flagler. At the age of 14, after
completing the eighth grade in 1844, Flagler decided to move to Bellevue, Ohio
where he found work in the grain store of L.G. Harkness and Company at a salary
of $5 per month plus room and board. By 1849, Flagler was promoted to sales
staff of the company at a salary of $400 per month.
Flagler became a partner in the newly organized D. M. Harkness and Company with
his half-brother, Dan Harkness in 1852. The following year, on November 9, he
married Mary Harkness. On March18, 1855, their first child, Jennie Louise, was
born. Jennie Louise lived until 1889, when at the age of 34, she died following
complications from child birth. A second child, Carrie, was born on June 18,
1858. She died three years later. On December 2, 1870, the Flaglers' only son,
Harry Harkness Flagler, was born.
Flagler founded the Flagler and York Salt Company, a salt mining and production
business in Saginaw, Michigan in 1862 with his brother-in-law Barney York. By
1865, the end of the Civil War caused a drop in the demand for salt and the
Flagler and York Salt Company collapsed. Heavily in debt, Flagler returned to
Bellevue, Ohio. He had lost his initial $50,000 investment and an additional $50,000
he had borrowed from his father-in-law and Dan Harkness.
The next year Flagler reentered the grain business as a commission merchant.
Flagler had become acquainted with John D. Rockefeller, who worked as a
commission agent with Hewitt and Tuttle for the Harkness Grain Company. 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.
In 1867, Rockefeller, needing capital for his new venture, approached Flagler.
Flagler obtained $100,000 from a relative on the condition that Flagler be made
a partner. A Rockefeller, Andrews and Flagler partnership was formed with
Flagler in control of Harkness' interest.
On January 10, 1870, the Rockefeller, Andrews and Flagler partnership emerged as
a joint-stock corporation named Standard Oil and by 1872, Standard Oil led the
American oil refining industry, producing 10,000 barrels per day. Five years
later Standard Oil moved its headquarters to New York City, and the Flaglers
moved to their new home at 509 Fifth Avenue in New York City.
By 1878, Flagler's wife, who had always struggled with health problems, was very
ill. On advice from Mary's physician, she and Flagler visited Jacksonville,
Florida for the winter. Mary's illness grew worse, however, and she died on May
18, 1881 at age 47. Two years after Mary's death, Flagler married Ida Alice
Shourds. Soon after their wedding, the couple traveled to St. Augustine, Florida
where they found the city charming, but the hotel facilities and transportation
systems inadequate. Flagler recognized Florida's potential to attract out-of-state
visitors. Though Flagler remained on the Board of Directors of Standard Oil, he
gave up his day-to-day involvement in the corporation in order to pursue his
interests in Florida. He returned to St. Augustine in 1885 and began
construction on the 540-roomHotel Ponce de Leon. Realizing the need for a sound
transportation system to support his hotel ventures, Flagler purchased the
Jacksonville, St. Augustine & Halifax Railroad, the first railroad in what would
eventually become the Florida East Coast Railway.
The Hotel Ponce de Leon opened January 10, 1888 and was an instant success. Two
years later, Flagler expanded his Florida holdings. He built a railroad bridge
across the St. Johns River to gain access to the southern half of the state and
purchased the Hotel Ormond, just north of Daytona. His personal dedication to
the state of Florida was demonstrated when he began construction on his private
residence, Kirkside, in St. Augustine.
Flagler completed the 1150-room Royal Poinciana Hotel on the shores of Lake
Worth in Palm Beach and extended his railroad to West Palm Beach by 1894. The
Royal Poinciana Hotel was at the time the largest wooden structure in the world.
Two years later, Flagler built the Palm Beach Inn (renamed The Breakers in 1901)
overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Palm Beach.
Flagler originally intended for West Palm Beach to be the terminus of his
railroad system, but during 1894 and 1895, severe freezes hit the area, causing
Flagler to rethink this original decision. Sixty miles south, the town today
known as Miami was reportedly unharmed by the freeze. To further convince
Flagler to continue the railroad to Miami, he was offered land from private
landowners, the Florida East Coast Canal and Transportation Company, and the
Boston and Florida Atlantic Coast Land Company, in exchange for laying rail
tracks.
Flagler's railroad, renamed the Florida East Coast Railway in 1895, reached
Biscayne Bay by 1896.Flagler dredged a channel, built streets, instituted the
first water and power systems, and financed the town's first newspaper, the
Metropolis. When the town incorporated in 1896, its citizens wanted to honor the
man responsible for its growth by naming it "Flagler." He declined the honor,
persuading them to use an old Indian name, "Miami." In 1897, Flagler opened the
exclusive Royal Palm Hotel in Miami.
Flagler's second wife, Ida Alice, had been institutionalized for mental illness
since 1895. In 1901, the Florida Legislature passed a bill that made incurable
insanity grounds for divorce, opening the way for Flagler to remarry. On August
24, 1901, Flagler married Mary Lily Kenan and the couple soon moved into their
Palm Beach estate, Whitehall. Built as a wedding present to Mary Lily in 1902 by
architects John Carrere and Thomas Hastings, Whitehall was a 60,000 square foot,
55-room winter retreat that established the Palm Beach season for the wealthy of
America's Gilded Age.
By 1905, Flagler decided that his Florida East Coast Railway should be extended
from Biscayne Bay to Key West, a point 128 miles past the end of the Florida
peninsula. At the time, Key West was Florida's most populated city and it was
also the United States' closest deep water port to the canal that the U.S.
government proposed to build in Panama. 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. In 1912, the Florida Over-Sea
Railroad was completed to Key West.
In 1913, Flagler fell down a flight of stairs at Whitehall. He never recovered
from the fall and died of his injuries on May 20 at 83 years of age. He was
buried in St. Augustine alongside his daughter, Jennie Louise and first wife,
Mary Harkness.