Flagler Mausoleum – St. Augustine, FL

Jennie Louise Flagler Benedict was the daughter of Henry Flagler. On March 25, 1889, Jennie passed away from childbirth complications while on the way to visit her father. She was traveling by yacht, and died off the coast of South Carolina, aboard her father-in-law’s (Commodore Benedict’s) yacht the Oneida.

The video above is an excellent overview of Flagler’s Memorial Presbyterian Church.

The women in Flagler’s life had a profound influence on him, and after the shock of his daughter’s passing, the guilt he felt led him to change his work habits and lifestyle.

Henry hired renowned architects John M. Carrere and Thomas Hastings to build the Venetian Renaissance Revival-style church in 1890. Jennie, her daughter Marjorie, Henry Flagler, and his first wife Mary Harkness are laid to rest in the church’s mausoleum.

Upon her death in 1881 in New York, Henry’s first wife, Mary Harkness Flagler, was initially interred at Woodlawn in The Bronx, New York. After Henry built the Memorial Presbyterian Church and the attached Flagler Mausoleum, he had Mary’s remains moved to be with their daughter there in the new mausoleum. When Henry passed away, he too was interred there along with his family. I believe his son Harry took the plot at Woodlawn for his use since he had moved to New York. Harry and his family are interred there.

After Henry’s passing, his third wife, Mary Lily Kenan Flagler, married again. Upon her passing, she was interred at Oakdale Cemetery, Wilmington, NC.

Mary and Jennie and baby Marjorie in the center, Henry on the right

Henry’s parents were initially interred in Bellevue Cemetery in Bellevue, Ohio. In 1972, Henry’s granddaughter Jean Flagler Matthews decided to bring all the Flaglers together back in New York and took on the task of creating a Flagler family cemetery. Henry’s parents were relocated from Bellevue, Ohio, to the new family cemetery in New York. Established in 1976, the private burial ground is unique because it functions as a consolidated family plot for ancestors who lived centuries ago. While the cemetery itself is relatively modern, many of the headstones mark the remains of individuals who passed away in the 18th and 19th centuries, including the family’s original New World ancestor, Zachariah Flegler, who arrived in 1701.

The creation of this site was a massive undertaking led by Jean Flagler Matthews, who was inspired by local genealogical records to reunite her scattered ancestors. Over four years, she worked to identify 71 gravesites and exhume the remains from 13 different cemeteries across Dutchess County. This monumental effort included hiring specialists to handle the delicate re-interments and commissioning local artisans to build the cemetery’s distinctive fieldstone walls and wrought-iron gates. Despite the grand vision of a unified resting place, the cemetery today faces the common struggle of private family plots: as descendants moved away, the grounds became overgrown and largely abandoned, with local historians and volunteers occasionally helping to maintain the grounds.

For some reason, Henry and Mary’s young daughter Carrie Harkness Flagler, who passed at the tender age of 3 years, remained undisturbed and interred in Bellevue, Ohio. More HERE You can search the Flagler Cemetery HERE.