Only his son Harry Harkness Flagler survived of the three children by his first marriage in 1853 to Mary Harkness. Mendez, Jesus. Standard Oil grew to become one of the largest shippers of oil and kerosene in the country. "[38] Flagler and Rockefeller worked hard for their company to achieve such prominence. This is a major source for this Historical Person Profile highly recommended! [citation needed], Needing capital for his new venture, Rockefeller approached Flagler in 1867. By the start of the Civil War in 1861, Rockefeller was brokering most of the Harkness grain. Perhaps Henry Flagler already planned that he would need a physician to confirm his wife suffered from insanity. 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. [39] According to Allan Nevins, in John D. Rockefeller (p 292), "Standard Oil was born as a big enterprise, it had cut its teeth as a partnership and was now ready to plunge forward into a period of greater expansion and development. After construction for the Ponce de Leon and the Alcazar were underway in St. Augustine, Flagler's railroad properties started to expand southwards. All this is to say that the winter and spring of 1885 were life-changing for Henry Flagler and his circle. Knetsch concludes that "Flagler in fact provided health care for his employees and was a far better employer than the press alleged. Rogers, in particular, became one of Flagler and Rockefeller's key men in the formation of the Standard Oil Trust. [1] The Royal Poinciana Hotel was at the time the largest wooden structure in the world. Flagler was the only person to be divorced under the law before it was repealed in 1905. Mary and Henry's first child was Jennie Louise (born March 1855), then Carrie (born June 1858 and named after Henry Flagler's older half-sister, Caroline), then finally, Harry Flagler (born December 1870). [citation needed], By 1905, Flagler decided that his Florida East Coast Railway should be extended from Biscayne Bay to Key West, a point 128 miles (206km) past the end of the Florida peninsula. An immense engineering effort was required to cut through the wilderness and marsh from St. Augustine to Palm Beach. whereas said Henry M. Flagler has recently lost by death a beloved daughter and in affectionate remembrance of her has been desirous of erecting some worthy monument to her Memory and believing that nothing should be more accordant with her known wishes and the tenor of her life on earth than that such Memorial should be a temple devoted to the worship of God and the teaching of that living faith in which she lived and died has erected in the City of St. Augustine a church edifice in loving . Ida. [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. Originally published by E.H. Reynolds in St. Augustine Florida, 1892. Chandler, David Leon. HENRY FLAGLER "Father of Florida" American Industrialist Early Days was born on January 2, 1830 in Hopewell, New York, raised in a. "[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. It seemed a new leaf was turning for the little family of the Robber Baron. Henry Morrison Flagler was born on January 2, 1830 in Hopewell, New York, to Reverend and Mrs. Isaac Flagler. . [14] Standard was growing horizontally and vertically. In the kerosene industry, Standard Oil replaced the old distribution system with its own vertical system. This project sparked Flagler's interest in creating a new "American Riviera." [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. The future "founder" of Florida found St. Augustine to be dirty, depressing, and worst of all boring. If Smith could raise $50,000, Flagler would invest $150,000 and they would build a hotel together. Flagler's son dropped out of school and failed to follow his father into business, causing a lifelong rift between the two men. [21], Standard Oil gradually gained almost complete control of oil refining and marketing in the United States through horizontal integration. Besides its two refineries and a barrel plant in Cleveland, it possessed a fleet of tank cars and warehouses in the oil regions as well as warehouses and tanks in New York. Visually exquisite, the Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church was built by Henry Flagler in 1889. Mary Harkness Flagler was the sweet, unpretentious first wife of Henry. For a time, Ida Alice and Henry Flagler both stayed and entertained guests within Kirkside, but trouble was on the horizon for Flagler and his second wife. He declined the honor, persuading them to use an old Indian name, "Mayaimi". Such incentive led to the development of Miami, which was an unincorporated area at the time. Not much more is known about Henry Flagler's early life. [26] Its share of world oil refining topped out above 90% but slowly dropped to about 80% for the rest of the century. [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. He was twenty-three and she was twenty and they were married in her father's home. Middle child Carrie died just before Christmas in the same year that Henry's mother died (1861). He married his second wife, Miss Ida Shrouds, the daughter of a Philadelphia minister, in 1883. Even more critical, the invention of the light bulb gradually began to erode the dominance of kerosene for illumination. Henry Morrison Flagler was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil. "[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. Together, the boys worked in the Harkness store for several years, where Henry eventually became a part of their sales staff. He returned to St. Augustine in 1885 and made Smith an offer. [citation needed], Flagler and Rockefeller began a publicity campaign to put the company and themselves in a better light. 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 . In 1885, Standard Oil moved its corporate headquarters to New York City to the iconic 26 Broadway location. Please disable your ad blocker to view the video content. Second Marriage, Second Sojourn to St. Augustine After a time, Flagler began to turn over some of his duties at Standard Oil to younger blood. 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). Perhaps fortunately for Smith, he couldn't come up with the funds,[45] so Flagler began construction of the 540-room Ponce de Leon Hotel by himself, but spent several times his original estimate. Generally, we are not often able to share specifics about the man himself. 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. [22] Despite improving the quality and availability of kerosene products while greatly reducing their cost to the public (the price of kerosene dropped by nearly 80% over the life of the company), Standard Oil's business practices created intense controversy. The same year that she arrived in New York, her doctors insisted that she spend the winter in a kinder climate. Imagine how many different perspectives a group of people can have about the same topic. [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. [16] The railroad, seeing Standard's incursion into the transportation and pipeline fields, struck back and formed a subsidiary to buy and build oil refineries and pipelines. 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]. Flagler also pioneered in the development of Florida as a U.S. vacation centre. Tarbell's father had been driven out of the oil business during the South Improvement Company affair. They were rightfully concerned about allowing a wildly wealthy individual to have that much control over the public works of St. Augustine. By the end of the 1870s, Standard was refining over 90% of the oil in the U.S.[15], In 1877, Standard clashed with Thomas A. Scott the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, its chief hauler. 1-17. It added its own pipelines, tank cars, and home delivery network. [citation needed], In 1912, the Florida Overseas Railroad was completed to Key West. McGuire & McDonald were in charge of construction. [8] By 1872, it led the American oil refining industry, producing 10,000 barrels per day (1,600m3/d). By 1896, Flagler's railroad, the Florida East Coast Railway, reached Biscayne Bay. However, much to Flagler's chagrin, he had no legal grounds to be granted a divorce from Alice in New York or Florida. [17]This subsidiary, the Empire Transportation Company, which Joseph D. Potts created in 1865 and also ran, owned other assets including a small fleet of ships on the Great Lakes. Those first two seasons during which Flagler hosted an innumerable amount of parties, electric light displays, and opulent dinners (all of which were accompanied by music from the best musicians of the time) were met with eager approval by guests and the press. Covert, Robert. Craze became frenzy when Mary Lily Kenan and Henry Flagler married on August 24th, 1901. When Mary contracted tuberculosis, at her doctor's recommendation they traveled . That year he reportedly gave her more than $1 million in jewelry. [citation needed]. This touched off a firestorm of protest from independent oil well owners, including boycotts and vandalism, which eventually led to the discovery of Standard Oil's part in the deal. She was the daughter of Lamon G. Harkness and Julia Follet. Henry Flagler's daughter, Jennie Louise Benedict, had a baby girl on February 9, 1889. 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. His wife, Mary Harkness, had never been of robust health; she had borne three children. Hello students! [citation needed], When looking back at Flagler's life, after Flagler's death, George W. Perkins, of J.P. Morgan & Co., reflected, "But that any man could have the genius to see of what this wilderness of waterless sand and underbrush was capable and then have the nerve to build a railroad here, is more marvelous than similar development anywhere else in the world. He was the baby of the household, being born several years after the youngest of his siblings. While the younger Flagler wanted to pursue a career in music, Henry hardly thought that was appropriate for his only son and heir. Rockefeller admitted later, "We realized that public sentiment would be against us if we actually refined all the oil. As he went, Flagler spent exorbitant amounts of money to build hotels in certain cities along the way. The accommodation features a satellite TV. Flagler was eighteen years older than his 35-year-old bride. Henry Flagler and his wife Ida Alice traveled to Jacksonville, Florida for their honeymoon. [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. He recruited Henry Flagler to join him, and the youth went to Ohio at age 14, where he started work in 1844 at a salary of US$5 per month plus room and board. [65] After Flagler's death, she married an old friend, Robert Worth Bingham, who used an inheritance from her to buy the Louisville Courier-Journal newspaper. By 1849, Flagler was promoted to the sales staff at a salary of $40 per month. To learn more about the history of those buildings, visit the Alcazar Hotel Historical Place profile or the Casa Monica Hotel Historical Place profile on our website. Standiford, Les. '"[42] Flagler served as an active part of Standard Oil until 1882, when he stepped back to take a secondary role at Standard Oil. Because he was famous and successful and he made a lot of things in Florida. Harry Flagler was the only of Henry Flagler's children who outlived their father. However, Smith had fallen on some hard times and sold the hotel to Henry Flagler not long after it opened in 1888. Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil. 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