Not to mention a talented young woman named Mary Lily. Despite (or perhaps because of) the tragic death of the mother of his children, Henry Flagler poured himself into the business of Standard Oil. VisitStAugustine.com. It is one of his most significant projects, because it was constructed as a memorial to Flagler's only daughter, Jenny. Over 30 years, Flagler had invested about $50 million in railroad, home and hotel construction and had made donations to suffering farmers after the freeze in 1894. 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. Luckily, the couple found the city to be even more promising than before. The public and the media in Florida exploded with the scandal of it all. After the death of Flagler's eldest daughter he made it his goal to create the magnificent sanctuary. Nine trustees, including Rockefeller, ran the 41 companies in the trust. At the time, Key West was Florida's most populous city, with a population of 20,000, and it was also the United States' deep water port closest to the canal that the U.S. government proposed to build in Panama. Despite her frail health, though, she was the only one of Henry Flagler's three wives to bear him any children. In 1897, Flagler opened the exclusive Royal Palm Hotel on the north bank of the Miami River where it overlooked Biscayne Bay. His grandson Solomon changed the spelling of the surname to Flagler and passed it on to his 11 children. 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. Henry Flagler's daughter, Jennie Louise Benedict, had a baby girl on February 9, 1889. Henry explained: "We worked night and day, making good oil as cheaply as possible and selling it for all we could get. Though Henry Flagler didn't join in on the war, it certainly affected his career choices. 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. The swamplands south of Savannah were thought of as a dangerous land of rugged enchantment where alligators lurked in the shadows and strange miasme was thought to carry diseases like yellow fever through the damp air. (2022) "Historical Person Profile: Henry Flagler." It was initially intended to house entertainment amenities for the Ponce de Leon guests but was soon reimagined as its own hotel. the Trust and Non-Profit Organization established by Flagler's grand-daughter Jean Flagler Matthews, to preserve Whitehall, has . https://staughs.com/the-mary-lily-kenan-conspiracy/. In February of 1885, the couple took a delayed honeymoon to St. Augustine Ida Alice was thirty-seven and Henry Flagler was fifty-five. [citation needed], The Overseas Railroad, also known as the Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway, was heavily damaged and partially destroyed in the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. The company collapsed when the war undercut commercial demand for salt. 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. Dr. Shelton had attended Flagler's daughter Jennie Benedict when she died from complications after childbirth in 1889. In the case of Henry Flagler's life, it seems his personal troubles compounded in the 1890s. All this is to say that the winter and spring of 1885 were life-changing for Henry Flagler and his circle. During this trip, they went to St. Augustine and the city intrigued Flagler. [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. 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. Mendez, Jesus. The couple had two daughters, Jennie Louise, born in 1855, and Carrie, born in 1858. "[24], At that time, many legislatures had made it difficult to incorporate in one state and operate in another. 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). [36] The court ruled that the trust originated in illegal monopoly practices and ordered it to be broken up into 34 new companies. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founder of the Florida East Coast Railway. Standard's most potent weapons against competitors were underselling, differential pricing, and secret transportation rebates. 1. After their wedding, the couple traveled to Saint Augustine. 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. 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. Smith helped train the masons on the mixing and pouring techniques he used on Zorayda. When Mary contracted tuberculosis, at her doctor's recommendation they traveled . At least, not yet. However, this building's history is tragic and short. As such, the salt industry was tax-exempt during the Civil War and essential employees were exempt from the draft. First A Little On Henry Flagler. In 1853, young Henry followed suit when Lamon Harkness' middle daughter, Mary, became his first wife. This is somewhat my case. 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. Biography. The accommodation features a satellite TV. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1986. Her eldest daughter, Jennie Louise, was twenty- six. Flagler and Rockefeller saw themselves as the industry's saviors, "an angel of mercy" absorbing the weak and making the industry as a whole stronger, more efficient, and more competitive. The Flagler family, originally spelled Flegler, hailed from the southwestern corner of Germany known as the Palatinate region. Their efforts to monopolize the oil industry are referred to as the 'Cleveland Massacre,' and though John D. Rockefeller is generally more well-known than Henry Flagler, quotes from Rockefeller credit Flagler with the monopolization idea. Flamingo Visitor Center is 24 miles away. Eldest daughter Jennie Louise died when she was a young woman (more on her later). Two years after his first wife died in 1881, he married again. Imagine how many different perspectives a group of people can have about the same topic. For many of the competitors, Flagler and Rockefeller had merely to show them the books so they could see what they were up against and make them a decent offer. Chicago: VisitStAugustine.com. Dr. Shelton had attended Flagler's daughter Jennie Benedict when she died from complications after childbirth in 1889. Researching those perspectives is like playing the telephone game with the dead; something is bound to get confused.). This 'FEC' project had been underway since the late 1880s, when Flagler purchased the St. Augustine & Halifax Railroad in Jacksonville. What kind of a man was Henry Flagler and why do you think this? One of the grain brokers By the end of this field trip, we hope will you have an understanding of who Henry Flagler was, and the great impact he had on the state of Florida! To add to the tragic circumstances, her baby daughter also died. The Awakening of Saint Augustine: The Anderson Family and the Oldest City: 1821-1924. She and her family were given expensive gifts by Henry Flagler in celebration. His business dealings, along with those of partner John D. Rockefeller's, were laid out in painstaking detail by one bold muckraker of the era, Ida Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean (Paperback) by. Two years later, Flagler built the Palm Beach Inn (renamed The Breakers in 1901), overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Palm Beach. Originally published by E.H. Reynolds in St. Augustine Florida, 1892. Mary Harkness had been frail since childhood and her father often sent to a boarding school Savannah, Georgia as a means of sparing her from harsh northern winters. The church was dedicated in March 1890. [10] After construction for the Ponce de Leon and the Alcazar were underway in St. Augustine, Flagler's railroad properties started to expand southwards. He married his second wife, Miss Ida Shrouds, the daughter of a Philadelphia minister, in 1883. 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. Featuring air conditioning, The Henry Flagler offers accommodations in Layton. At the age of 14, after completing the eighth grade, Flagler moved to Bellevue, Ohio where he found work with his cousins in the grain store of L.G. Sixty miles (97km) south, the area today known as Miami was reportedly unharmed by the freeze. 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). They had two daughters, Jennie Louise and Carrie. The National Petroleum Exchange opened in Manhattan in late 1882 to facilitate the oil futures trading. According to Florida historian Thomas Graham in his book The Awakening of St. Augustine, an acquaintance of the businessman once inquired about whether his judgment was sound when he decided to invest in Florida (one can imagine that they may not have been acquaintances for very long afterward). The voyage was harrowing and long northern tourists traveled by railroad, steamship, and mule-driven omnibus. "Especially since her father would have never stepped foot in the house. He found that salt mining required more technical knowledge than he had and struggled in the industry during the Civil War. July, 1975. pg. 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. In 1885, Standard Oil moved its corporate headquarters to New York City to the iconic 26 Broadway location. One day when very old he went on a drunken spree. The future "founder" of Florida found St. Augustine to be dirty, depressing, and worst of all boring. "[40], By 1892, Standard Oil had a monopoly over all oil refineries in the United States. University Press of Florida. Henry Flagler was born on January 2, 1830, in the little village of Hopewell, in upstate New York, to Elizabeth and Isaac Flagler. The Washington Post. Version accessed: St. Augustine, FL: Historic Print & Map Company, 2004. Pennsylvania revoked the cartel's charter, and non-preferential rates were restored for the time being. His parents were very poor and struggled to feed their family. Along with that, Henry Flagler being referred to as a 'Robber Baron' alongside businessmen like Carnegie and Rockefeller is no exaggeration. 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. Volume 86, Number 514, 1893. In fact, the exterior bares a memorial script to his daughter who perished giving birth to his . Henry married Nancy Flagler in month 1861, at age 25 at marriage place, Michigan. 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. Augustine. [citation needed], In 1912, the Florida Overseas Railroad was completed to Key West. [citation needed], Flagler and Rockefeller began a publicity campaign to put the company and themselves in a better light. He was born in New York. The couple traveled to St. Augustine, Florida, which they . 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. Carolina Story: Virtual Museum of University History", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mary_Lily_Kenan_Flagler_Bingham&oldid=1125142626, This page was last edited on 2 December 2022, at 11:49. Immediately, she began taking advantage of the fortune she had married into like any budding socialite, she loved gowns, jewelry, and yachts. In 1885 he decided to build a luxury hotel there which would attract the country's elite. He returned to St. Augustine in 1885 and made Smith an offer. Enamoured by what Henry Flagler had been up to down south, droves of rich tourists made that harrowing journey to St. Augustine. Flagler also pioneered in the development of Florida as a U.S. vacation centre. He never recovered and died in Palm Beach of his injuries on May 20, 1913 at 83 years of age. "[35], Flagler and Rockefeller continued to consolidate their oil interests as best they could until New Jersey, in 1909, changed its incorporation laws to effectively allow a re-creation of the trust in the form of a single holding company. Flagler's wife died shortly after the partnership was formed. 91 is preserved inside a Beaux Arts pavilion built to look like a 19th-century railway palace. 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.
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