Bellevue's historic First Congregational Church is located on Southwest Street next to the Mad River Train Museum. The architect is L.D. Grosvenor of Kalamazoo, MI, and the builder is John Parker from Norwalk. The church was built in 1887 with funds contributed by Daniel M. Harkness in memory of his wife Isabella, who died in 1864.
The church was built next to his house, which was the former home of his half-brother Henry Flager (many in Bellevue remember this house as the former home of the YMCA). Harkness stipulated that the church must not have a bell since he didn't wish to be disturbed by the regular ringing. Behind the church still stands the former carriage house that was part of the Harkness home. It is known as Amos' garage. It was the heating source and served as servant's quarters and the carriage house(garage). The carriage house can be seen at the far left in the photo above.
Daniel Harkness was a Standard Oil trustee and the half-brother of Bellevue residents Henry Flagler and Stephen V. Harkness.
One wonders about the spark that caused Daniel to build the First Congregational Church 23 years after Isabella's passing. Perhaps the motivation was Henry Flagler, who was building the magnificent Ponce de Leon Hotel at the same time. Just maybe, Daniel took the building cue from his half-brother Henry and his other half-brother Stephen Harkness who was about to build The Cleveland Arcade.
When Daniel died in 1896, his estate was estimated to be 35 Million Dollars (today's value is nearly $1 Billion dollars.). His estate was left to his only surviving child, William L. Harkness. Many know of Will's contributions that helped build Bellevue Hospital and he also donated his father's home, the former Flagler Gingerbread House, to be used as the city's YMCA.
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