I was willing that they should combine and grow as big and wealthy as they could, but only by legitimate means. By the start of the Civil War in 1861, Rockefeller was brokering most of the Harkness grain. Through his work with the Harkness company, Henry Flagler made the acquaintance of John D. Rockefeller. [29] Robert Nobel had established his own refining enterprise in the abundant and cheaper Russian oil fields, including the region's first pipeline and the world's first oil tanker. During the Gilded Age, this new class of robber barons like Flagler, Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Vanderbilt were shaking up American society. [26] Its share of world oil refining topped out above 90% but slowly dropped to about 80% for the rest of the century. In the early 1880s, Flagler and Rockefeller created one of their most important innovations. First A Little On Henry Flagler. Henry Flagler's most monumental accomplishment was realized only a year before he died. "[39] Not only did Flagler and Rockefeller's Standard Oil company become well known in Ohio, they expanded to other states, as well as gained additional capital in purchasing smaller oil refining companies across the nation. He is known as the father of Miami, Florida, and founded the city of Palm Beach. Flagler. Instead of attending lunch with his fellow businessmen, he took to hosting grand parties at his new summer estate (which was ominously named "Satan's Toe"). The couple had two daughters, Jennie Louise, born in 1855, and Carrie, born in 1858. However there were many reports harsh working conditions and forced indebtedness to the company, and malfeasance by labor agents who hired men for the railway. Those who failed to fulfill these expectations were often punished for it. [citation needed], One of the most effective attacks on Flagler and Rockefeller and their firm was the 1905 publication of The History of the Standard Oil Company, by Ida Tarbell, a leading muckraker. His parents were very poor and struggled to feed their family. Version accessed: St. Augustine, FL: Historic Print & Map Company, 2004. When the Civil War broke out, Dan Harkness was among the first in Bellevue, Ohio to enlist in the Union efforts. In the case of Henry Flagler's life, it seems his personal troubles compounded in the 1890s. "Historical Person Profile: Henry Flagler." As he went, Flagler spent exorbitant amounts of money to build hotels in certain cities along the way. Also, on July 28, 2006, a statue of Flagler was unveiled on the southeast steps of Miami's Dade County Courthouse, located on Miami's Flagler Street. Carrie died at the age of 3. [1] The Royal Poinciana Hotel was at the time the largest wooden structure in the world. Henry Morrison Flagler was born in Hopewell, New York on January 2nd, 1830 to Isaac Flagler and Elizabeth Caldwell Harkness Flagler. He became president of the Symphony Society of New York in 1914 . "[56], A congressional investigation in 1909 concluded that "there had been little immigrant peonage in the South and none in the [railway camps] camps in the Keys. Two years later, Flagler built the Palm Beach Inn (renamed The Breakers in 1901), overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Palm Beach. [13] Eventually, even former antagonists Pratt and Rogers saw the futility of continuing to compete against Standard Oil: in 1874, they made a secret agreement with their old nemesis to be acquired. In the kerosene industry, Standard Oil replaced the old distribution system with its own vertical system. [8] By 1872, it led the American oil refining industry, producing 10,000 barrels per day (1,600m3/d). To add to the sting, Henry 'Harry' Flagler was generally known as Harry Harkness, showing more deference for his mother than his father. "I never had an animus against their size and wealth, never objected to their corporate form. Henry married Nancy Flagler in month 1861, at age 25 at marriage place, Michigan. Flagler went on to build the Memorial Presbyterian Church for Jennie and her baby daughter Margery in St. Augustine. But in the aftermath of that battle, in 1879 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania indicted Flagler and Rockefeller on charges of monopolizing the oil trade, starting an avalanche of similar court proceedings in other states and making a national issue of Standard Oil's business practices. . "When John D. Rockefeller was asked if the Standard Oil company was the result of his thinking, he answered, 'No, sir. By 1852, Henry had saved enough money to become the one-third-owner of the Harkness & Company alongside his half-brother Dan and Dan's uncle Lamon. Julia was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1849 to Ephraim Sturtevant and his wife. If Smith could raise $50,000, Flagler would invest $150,000 and they would build a hotel together. Rockefeller admitted later, "We realized that public sentiment would be against us if we actually refined all the oil. Their estate was called Kirkside and was built west of the Ponce de Leon property. [32] More threatening to Standard's power was the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, originally used to control unions, but later central to the breakup of the Standard Oil trust. Equivalent to a 15% discount, they put Standard Oil in position to significantly undercut other oil refineries. 1. Originally published by E.H. Reynolds in St. Augustine Florida, 1892. Pratt and Rogers became Flagler and Rockefeller's partners. The Standard Guide to St. Augustine. Graham, Thomas. In February of 1885, the couple took a delayed honeymoon to St. Augustine Ida Alice was thirty-seven and Henry Flagler was fifty-five. 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. Resources So, the Flagler family (Henry, Mary, little Harry, Jennie, and her first husband, John Arthur Hinckley) spent the winter of 1877-1878 in St. Augustine. In a few years, it seems he embraced the life of a wealthy widower. Henry started spending a great deal more time in Florida, soon claiming the state as his permanent residence. Eldest daughter Jennie Louise died when she was a young woman (more on her later). Although not much is known about Ida Alice Flagler, many sources claim she became fond of opulent parties and leisurely pursuits that were available to the fabulously wealthy. You see, during the Gilded Age [and for far too long after it], women could be sent to a mental institution for just about anything. [20] The New York State Legislature's Hepburn Committee in 1879 conducted hearings in response to the complaints of local merchants that were not involved in the oil trade in order to investigate railroad rebate practices. See more ideas about flagler, key west, florida. Commander John Flagler, USN. "The Mary Lily Kenan Conspiracy." When the city was incorporated in 1896, its citizens wanted to honor the man responsible for its growth by naming it "Flagler". [12], Undeterred, though vilified for the first time by the press, Flagler and Rockefeller continued with their self-reinforcing cycle of buying competing refiners, improving the efficiency of operations, pressing for discounts on oil shipments, undercutting competition, making secret deals, raising investment pools, and buying rivals out. [citation needed], Flagler's third wife, Mary Lily Kenan Flagler Bingham was born in North Carolina. Dazzled by the prospect of tremendous wealth and supported by his father-in-law, Flagler followed the smell of money to Michigan. They had 3 children: Maud Aiken and 2 other children. As the 1870s progressed, Henry Flagler, John D. Rockefeller, and their families began to move from Cleveland to New York and back again about twice a year such were the demands of their beloved business. His half-sisters Mary Esther (16 y/o in 1830), Jane Augusta (14), and Caroline (3.5) were the daughters of his father's first two wives. The Alcazar Hotel and Casa Monica Hotel have their own fascinating histories. Sixty miles (97km) south, the area today known as Miami was reportedly unharmed by the freeze. Pratt's son, Charles Millard Pratt, became Secretary of Standard Oil. In 1853 Mary married Henry Morrison Flagler and together they were parents of three children. One stormy night, Alice is said to have nearly caused a shipwreck by not allowing the captain to return to port for several hours, despite experiencing gale-force winds and seasick friends. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founder of the Florida East Coast Railway. Along with cheques and stocks, Flagler also gifted his wife with a new estate in Palm Beach, Florida. First, Dr. Anderson worked through the bureaucracy to get Flagler approval to fill in the marshland that was west of the original town plan. The rumor mill suspected that this change in priorities was due to Henry's association with one Ida Alice Shourds a red-haired, green-eyed actress who was rumored to have been Mary Harkness Flagler's nursemaid during her final years. [2] Flagler's mother was Elizabeth Caldwell Harkness Flagler, Isaac's third wife and a widow who had a stepson, Stephen V. Harkness, and a son, Daniel M. Harkness, from her marriage to deceased widower David Harkness of Milan, Ohio. His grandson Solomon changed the spelling of the surname to Flagler and passed it on to his 11 children. After two years of institutionalization and much assessment by the courts, Ida Alice Shourds Flagler was legally ruled incurably insane in 1899. This project sparked Flagler's interest in creating a new "American Riviera." 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. She had two sons from her previous marriage. He had caught the smell of opportunity in Florida and would eventually follow it all the way south to Key West. It was reported that people along the railway line waited all night for the passing of the funeral train as it traveled from Palm Beach to St. They had two daughters, Jennie Louise and Carrie. . She endured three more frigid northern winters until in 1881, when at the age of forty-eight, Mary Harkness Flagler died. Flagler's stepbrother Stephen V. Harkness invested $100,000 (equivalent to $1.94million in 2021[6]) on the condition that Flagler be made a partner. Henry Flagler was seventy-one, whilst his beaming bride was thirty-four. These certificates became traded by speculators, thus creating the first oil-futures market which effectively set spot market prices from then on. She and her family were given expensive gifts by Henry Flagler in celebration. Welcome to Ms. Collins, Ms. Bellino, and Ms. King's 4th grade history virtual fieldtrip! Col Henry Ostrom & Elizabeth Flagler? His next project was the Ponce de Leon Hotel, now part of Flagler College. 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). 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. Jennie Louise was now a young married woman of twenty-four years; Carrie had died as a child; the son Harry was eight. Henry had 3 siblings: Melacinda Flagler and 2 other siblings. The family moved as was necessary for Isaac's job, having lived in Virginia and Ohio during Henry's childhood. Flagler found the city charming, but the hotel facilities and transportation systems inadequate. You see, demand for salt had risen with the beginning of the war it was necessary for the preservation of food for the troops. A major New York refiner, Charles Pratt and Company, headed by Charles Pratt and Henry H. Rogers, led the opposition to this plan, and railroads soon backed off. Flagler divorced Shourds in 1901 and just 10 days later married Mary Lily Kenan. His wife, Mary Harkness, had never been of robust health; she had borne three children. In fact, Henry Flagler was so pleased with his Florida projects that he began the construction of a second hotel, just across the street from the Ponce de Leon. [citation needed], In 1912, the Florida Overseas Railroad was completed to Key West. Not much more is known about Henry Flagler's early life. A Second Wife and a Second Career. After her husband died, Julia and her children returned to Ft. Dallas and purchased 640 acres on the north shore of the Miami River. Henry is also best known as, Entrepreneur best known as the founder of Standard Oil and for helping to develop what came to be known as the Florida East Coast Railway. The case can be made that Flagler was the intellectual genius who devised both the overall concepts and the details of the company policies and programs that turned Standard Oil into the most feared, powerful, and profitable company of the 19th and early . 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. Pennzoil and Chevron have remained separate companies. In 1887, Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission, which was tasked with enforcing equal rates for all railroad freight, but by then Standard depended more on pipeline transport. Mendez, Jesus. If you ask the same question in Florida, most people will have known someone who lives on Flagler Blvd., in Flagler County, or down the road from the Flagler Museum. "Flagler's Magnificent Hotel Ponce de Leon," FL: The Florida Historical Quarterly, Issue 54, Volume 1. [43], When Flagler's first wife Mary (ne Harkness) fell sick, his physician recommended they travel to Jacksonville for the winter to escape the brutal conditions of the North. Congress concluded that newspapers in Florida and across the South spread the deceitful news against 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. 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