Harry S. Harkness

Harry Stephen Harkness was born in Kansas on July 17, 1880, to Standard Oil heir Lamon V. Harkness.

In 1918, Harry also commissioned the prestigious Schmieg/Hungate/Kotzian furniture manufacturer to exclusively create the Artcase for his Steinway Model B from Steinway & Sons. The piano was discovered in a mansion in 2008 and has been fully restored.

Harry Harness's Schmieg/Hungate/Kotzian Steinway Model B

In 1918 his personal yacht Wakiva II was taken by the United States Navy, becoming USS Wakiva II (SP-160) and was credited with sinking 3 German U-boats during World War I. Harkness sued the US government in 1918 because he did not believe that he was adequately compensated for the value of his yacht.

Harry died of influenza in 1919, at his home, 270 Park Avenue, New York - a short four years following the death of his father Lamon V. Harkness.

Following his death, his first wife, Mrs. Marie M Cowan (née Harkness née Marbeck), whom he married in 1906 and divorced in 1916, sued for his entire $20 million estate, claiming he was of unsound mind when leaving the estate to his second wife, Mrs. Florence Streuber Harkness née Gaines.

Harry and Auto Racing

Harry was an avid race car driver and won the first "Race to the Clouds", the Mount Washington Hillclimb Auto Race. He led a group of investors who bought the Sheepshead Bay Race Track, a thoroughbred horse racing facility they converted to use as an auto racing track.

Speedway President Harry Harkness and Everard Thompson as Vice-President and General Manager

Following Harkness' unexpected death, the facility was sold to real estate developers. As a noted racer of the day, he was retroactively awarded the 1902 American Automobile Association National Championship in 1951. 1902 was the first year of AAA-sanctioned racing. One of Harry's more famous races was against Henry Ford.

Henry Ford (left) raced Harry Harkness(right) in the “999” in 1903 at Grosse Pointe Racetrack. The Henry Ford Museum

Harry Harkness and passenger in Mercedes car during the 1904 White Mountains tour. Handwritten on back: "Mercedes, 60 h.p. Driven by Harry S. Harkness. Tours--White Mountains tour, 1904."

Harry and Aviation

Harkness financed the building of many early airplanes. On March 4, 1911, he contracted early aviator Charles F. Walsh to build an airplane for use by his chief mechanic John Kiley at the Harkness camp established on North Island in San Diego, CA.

Walsh delivered the plane to the aviation camp at North Island on April 7, 1911. This Harkness airplane was a Curtiss copy, but with four Farman-type ailerons mounted flush to the end of all four wings replacing the Curtiss-style ailerons normally located between the upper and lower wing. The upper and lower ailerons were connected to each other via a vertical pole and operated in unison. They were moved via wires connected to the pilot's steering wheel post. The wings also had about 1/3 more surface area than a Curtiss, spanning 40 feet with a 4.5-foot chord. It measured 37 feet from the tip of the forward elevator to the tail of the rudder. Both the rudder and front elevator were double surfaced, or box-type, with the rudder being enclosed by a pair of two-foot square vertical wings on either side of the horizontal surface. There was no elevator function to the tail. The tail and elevator surfaces measured approximately two feet by six feet and were set much farther out from the wings than a normal Curtiss. It was powered by a seven-cylinder Macomber rotary engine that reportedly weighed 250 pounds, generated 450 pounds of thrust, and produced 60 hp to turn an eight-foot propeller. According to at least one source, Walsh added "silver dust" to the unbleached muslin of the flying surfaces. This earned the aircraft the name "Silver Dart".

One of Harry's Antoinettes

Harry Harkness purchased three French-built Antoinette monoplanes to jump-start the new San Diego Aero club. This photo was taken by Waldo Waterman just after the arrival of Glenn Curtiss on the North Island and shows two of Harkness’ planes along with several early Curtiss pushers. 1911 view looking north across "North Coronado Island" (Historical Collection, Title Insurance and Trust Company) from Jackrabbits to Jets

"Aviator Harkness Has a Close Call"

Knoxville Daily Journal and Tribune,Knoxville, Tennessee: September 16, 1910.

Transcribed by Bob Davis - 3-18-07"New York, Sept. 15. - Harry S. Harkness, the aviator of Cleveland, and member of a prominent family in that city, had a narrow escape today when the monoplane in which he was flying at the aerodrome in Garden City, L.I., dived suddenly to the ground from a height of 25 feet. Harkness' machine was demolished but he fortunately escaped injury. This was Harkness' first flight in America."

Final Rest

Harry died of influenza in 1919, at his home, 270 Park Avenue, New York - a short four years following the death of his father Lamon V. Harkness. He was interred in the Lamon V. Harkness Mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, NY.