The Day Henry Flagler and Will Harkness returned to Bellevue, Ohio

The last time Henry Flagler visited Bellevue was in October 1903

The last time Henry Flagler visited Bellevue was in October 1903 with Will L. Harkness. Henry was 73 and Will was 45. It had been quite a while since Henry had returned to his roots there in Bellevue because he was so busy building Standard Oil and Florida. Henry’s wife Mary, his parents, and her parents had already passed away along with his half-brother Daniel Harkness (and Will’s father). They were all interred at Bellevue Cemetery. Henry had married for the third time in 1901, to Mary Lily Kenan. His Florida mansion Whitehall had just been completed, and Henry was busy building railroads and hotels in Florida. Also, Henry’s Breakers Hotel had just burned down in June of that year! So, it was pretty unusual for Henry to take time out of that busy schedule to visit Bellevue. Will Harkness had just bought The Gunilda and would soon (in 1906) help fund the building of a new Bellevue Hospital.

Henry Flagler

William L Harkness

Snippet from Bellevue Gazette

Henry’s old Gingerbread House, which Henry had built in 1859 for his wife Mary and which Will Harkness had inherited from his father Dan, was still standing. Will would shortly turn it over to the City of Bellevue to be used as the new YMCA for the town in 1904. There are records showing that JD Rockefeller had visited the Flagler family there early on.

Henry Flagler’s Gingerbread House as the YMCA

Sadly, in 1973 the YMCA, aka “Flagler’s Gingerbread House,” was demolished. One can only wonder how much revenue this house would have brought to Bellevue if it had been saved and turned into the Henry Flagler Museum.

They also visited old friends and toured the town, following up with dinner at the Bourdette Hotel.

Bourdette Hotel, Bellevue, Ohio

Visiting the Graves of their parents

Per the Bellevue Gazette, Henry, and Will also visited the graves of their parents at Bellevue Cemetery. It was the last time Henry would visit Bellevue. In just 10 years, Henry himself would pass away at Whitehall in Palm Beach, and 6 years following Henry’s passing, Will would pass at the young age of 60 in Hyde Park, NY.

Bellevue Gazette, Nov. 5, 1903

Note: In the 1970s, Jeanne Flagler Mathews, Henry and Mary Flagler’s granddaughter, had the bodies of Henry’s parents Isaac and Elizabeth moved from Bellevue Cemetery to the Flagler family cemetery she had created outside of Hopewell Junction, NY. Expand the section below for more details on this.

Flaglers reunited in the family plot after 71 gravesites exhumed from 13 other cemeteries

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 and exhume 71 gravesites 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 preserve the cemetery’s history.

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

Also, when Henry’s wife Mary (who was born in Bellevue) passed away in 1881, they were living in New York City and she was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. In 1890, after his daughter Jenny and her child had passed away, Henry built a church and a Flagler Columbarium in St. Augustine, Florida, in her honor. He relocated Jenny, his granddaughter, and his wife Mary there at the Memorial Presbyterian Church and Columbarium. He is interred there as well.