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Historical article

Bill Oddo – Legendary Bellevue Historian

No discussion of Bellevue, Ohio, history can start without referencing the huge volume of work delivered by Bellevue’s most noted historian, Bill Oddo, Bellevue Historian (October 30, 1931 ~ August 25, 2020).

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Lamon V. Harkness

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Harkness Memorial Presbyterian – Bellevue, Ohio

Bellevue’s historic First Congregational Church aka “Harkness Memorial Presbyterian” is located on Southwest Street next to the Mad River Train Museum.

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

The last time Henry Flagler visited Bellevue was in October 1903 with Will L. Harkness.

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Daniel M. Harkness

Daniel M. Harkness – Henry Flagler’s half-brother Detailed life events Born September 26, 1822 in Milan, Ohio Died August 5, 1896 (age 74) in Bellevue, Ohio Resting place Bellevue Cemetery, Bellevue, Ohio Spouse Isabella Harkness Children 5 children: 3 died in childbirth; daughter Katie died at the age of 8, and son William L.

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Start Here: Scandal, Success, Oil and Steam: The Incredible Story of Henry Flagler and the Harkness Family

The Harkness and Flagler families help form Standard Oil. Hold onto your hats, folks, because we’re about to take a thrilling ride through the history books!

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Louisa Carolina Colleton (Graves) (1763-1822): a reversal of fortune

Louisa Carolina Colleton (Graves) (1763-1822): a Reversal of Fortune. Try out the podcast above for a great deep dive into Louisa’s history.

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The Two Henrys in Florida

Henry Flagler and Henry Plant were both trying to develop Florida at the same time.

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Robber Baron – Yes or No?

Did the Gilded Age have robber barons? Certainly, much like the current era.

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Palm Beach, Florida – Flagler’s Vision

Henry Flagler developed Florida as a second career after founding Standard Oil with Rockefeller.

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Henry Flagler’s two favorites

Henry is quoted near his death as saying two of his favorites on the earth were his wife Mary Lily and his dog Delos.

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Ponce de León Hotel – Henry Flagler

The Ponce de Leon Hotel, also known as The Ponce, was an exclusive luxury hotel in St. Augustine, Florida.

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Flagler’s Satanstoe aka “Lawn Beach” Retreat

Henry was deeply affected by the death of his wife, Mary Harkness Flagler, in 1881.

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Railcars #90 and #91 – Henry Flagler’s “Jets”

As one might expect since he was building railroads, Henry Flagler had his own private railcars.

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Where did all the money go?

The Standard Oil fortune was a tidal wave of cash that either built the foundations of modern America or dissolved into a haze of eccentric scandals, proving that inheriting a billion dollars is often the quickest way to lose your mind.

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Whitehall – Flagler’s Palm Beach Cottage

Henry Flagler married his third wife, Mary Lily Kenan in 1901. She was 34, and Henry was 72, a 38-year difference.

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The Tragic Life of Ida Alice Shourds Flagler: Madness, Money, and a $300 Million Divorce

The Price of Madness: Ida Alice Flagler and the $2 Million Settlement. Ida Alice Flagler was born in 1848 and grew up in Philadelphia.

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Cheat Sheet

All the names and relationships in the Flagler and Harkness families can certainly get very confusing.

Historical article

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.

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St. Augustine, Florida – Flagler’s start in Florida

The seeds for Henry Flagler’s “drift south” from the cold winters of Ohio and New York were likely started by Henry’s first wife Mary Harkness.

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Harry Harkness Flagler

Harry Harkness Flagler was the only son of Henry M. Flagler and Mary Harkness Flagler.

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Henry M. Flagler

Click to see how they were all related! Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil, which was first based in Ohio.

Historical article

The Gilded Age on TV

If you are here, you must be interested in the Gilded Age and the like. The Downton Abby series piqued a lot of interest in this period of history in the USA and around the world.

Historical article

Edward Harkness first to meet King Tut

Ned Harkness was a patron of the Department of Egyptian Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York after J.

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The Harkness Family in Bar Harbor: A Chronicle of a Gilded Age Presence, 1891-1925

The Harkness Family in Bar Harbor: A Chronicle of a Gilded Age Presence, 1891-1925. A Standard Oil Fortune Summers in Maine. As principals in the formidable Standard Oil trust, the Harkness family occupied a rarified position within America’s Gilded Age aristocracy.

Historical article

Louise Harkness and David Sinton Ingalls

Louise Harkness and Flying Ace David Sinton Ingalls David Sinton Ingalls (January 28, 1899 – April 26, 1985) was the US Navy’s only flying ace of World War I, with six credited victories; thus he was the first ace in U.S. Navy history.

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What’s a “Harkness Table”?

The Harkness table, Harkness method, or Harkness discussion is a teaching and learning method championed by Edward S. Harkness, involving students seated in a large, oval configuration to discuss ideas in an encouraging, open-minded environment with only occasional or minimal teacher intervention.

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Stephen V. Harkness – Standard Oil Venture Capitalist

Stephen Vanderburgh Harkness (1818-1888) was an Ohio-based American businessman. He played a crucial role in the establishment of Standard Oil, serving as a “Venture Capitalist” alongside John D.

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The Gold Coast of Long Island and Harkness

The Harkness family has some understated connections to the famous Gold Coast of Long Island, NY.

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The Sinking of the Gunilda

William L. Harkness, son of Daniel M. Harkness of Bellevue, Ohio, lived a more adventurous life than his father, who stayed in Bellevue and lived a quiet life in a small town.

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Florence Harkness Severance

Florence Harkness Severance, the only daughter of Stephen V. Harkness and his second wife, Anna M.

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Pasadena, Paicines, Poissy and Pebble Beach – L.V. Harknesses and family

In 1906 Kingsley Macomber and Myrtle Harkness Macomber and partner George Sykes bought the 8,917.52-acre Rancho Cienega de los Paicines Ranch in Northern California.

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A. Kingsley and Laura Myrtle Harkness Macomber

Myrtle was born in Kansas in 1877, the daughter of Lamon V. Harkness. She developed a passion for horses living and working at Walnut Hall Farm, her father’s nationally renowned facility in Kentucky.

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Golf and Fishing – Ned Harkness

Ned Harkness, similar to myself, enjoyed golf and fishing, although I no longer actively fish.

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Stevana – Ned and Mary’s yacht

Edward and Mary Harkness used their steam yacht, Stevana (named after his parents Stephen and Anna) to commute back and forth between New York and Eolia and they also often traveled to Fishers Island and sometimes up the coast up to Maine.

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Wakiva II Yacht – Lamon V. Harkness

Clearly, Lamon V. Harkness loved traveling. Lamon had two “ Wakiva ” yachts, Wakiva I and the Wakiva II.

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St. Andrews, Scotland and Pilgrim Trust – Edward Harkness

One of my favorite places on this earth is Scotland – more specifically, St. Andrews, Scotland.

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Squash and Harkness

The Fast-Paced World of Squash: A Racquet Sport with Rich Origins and Harkness Connections Squash is a dynamic and fast-paced racquet sport with a fascinating history that stretches back to the early 19th century.

Historical article

William Lamon Harkness

Detailed Life Events Born August 8, 1858, in Bellevue, Ohio Died May 10, 1919 (aged 60) New Hyde Park, New York Resting place Woodlawn Cemetery Education Yale University (Class of 1881) Spouse Edith Hale Children Louise Hale Harkness (1898-1978), William Hale Harkness (1900–1954) Parent(s) Daniel M.

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Harry S. Harkness

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

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The Agawa – C.W. (and Will) Harkness Yacht

Charles W. Harkness’s first yachting experiences were on his father’s boats Peerless and Twilight.

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Edward S. Harkness gives away the family fortune

Detailed Life Events Born January 22, 1874 in Cleveland, Ohio Died January 29, 1940 (aged 66) Resting place Woodlawn Cemetery Bronx, New York Education St.

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Harkness Chapel at Case Western Reserve

Harkness Chapel at Case Western Reserve University was built in memory of Florence Harkness. Florence Harkness was the daughter of Stephen V.

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Eolia Mansion – Edward Harkness

Edward and Mary Harkness had a number of homes in addition to Harkness House in New York.

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Charles W. Harkness

Charles William Harkness (December 17, 1860 – May 1, 1916) was the son of Stephen V.

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Willoughby / Eastlake Lake House – Stephen V. Harkness

Stephen V. Harkness acquired his summer/country lake house at Willoughby outside of Cleveland, Ohio in 1879.

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The Cleveland Arcade built by Harkness

The Arcade in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, is a Victorian-era structure of two nine-story buildings, joined by a five-story arcade with a glass skylight spanning over 300 feet (91 m), along the four balconies.

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Harkness House, New York, NY

Photos and all details below courtesy of Tom Miller, Daytonian in Manhattan Note: I would like to recognize the late Paul Engel, formerly Curator and Director of Harkness House, who so graciously gave my wife and I a full tour of this beautiful home.

Historical article

Oh, Rebekah! Burning through the money!

Rebekah Harkness inherited a Standard Oil fortune from Bill Harkness, then poured millions into ballet, art, Holiday House, and an extravagant life that became legend.

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C.W. and W.L. Harkness in Newport, RI

There have been a few times in this Harkness/Flagler journey that have surprised me.

Historical article

Taylor Swift sings about Bill and Rebekah Harkness in “American Dynasty”

What on earth does the Harkness family have to do with Taylor Swift you ask? William (Bill) Harkness

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Deep Lowcountry Roots: The Story of Bolan Hall, Chelsea Plantation, and the Phipps Legacy

If you’ve ever driven down the winding, canopy-covered dirt roads of Jasper County, South Carolina, you know that the landscape feels heavy with history.

Historical article

Belfair Plantation, Bluffton SC

Belfair Plantation Above is Belfair’s “Avenue of the Oaks” with the oak trees planted in the late 1920s when William Moseley Swain owned Belfair.

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George Huntington Hartford II – The Visionary Life and Fall of an Heir

What is interesting about George Huntington Hartford II? The Bluffton SC Connection He is connected to the Souther Gilded Age through his mother from Bluffton SC, Henrietta Pollitzer Hartford.

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Palmetto Bluff – Richard Thornton Wilson Jr. & The “Marrying Wilsons”

Palmetto Bluff and the Marrying Wilsons If you’ve recently been to the Bluffton, SC area, you might know about the Palmetto Bluff Development.

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Chelsea Plantation – Ridgeland, SC

Chelsea Plantation Okatie SC One of the most beautiful properties in the Lowcountry of South Carolina is in Okatie, SC, between Bluffton, SC, and Beaufort, SC, along the Okatie River.

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The Lords Proprietors of Carolina: A Royal Reward and a Colonial Struggle

The 1600s were a time of fierce European competition for control of North America.

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Alfred Lee Loomis Wall Street Tycoon, Physicist and Hilton Head Owner

Alfred Lee Loomis Wall Street Tycoon, Physicist and Hilton Head Owner Alfred Lee Loomis and his brother-in-law, Landon K.

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The Great Skedaddle of 1861

To understand “The Great Skedaddle” in its entirety, you have to look at it as a tale of two panics: one military and one civilian.

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Bluffton in Ashes: The Day the Lowcountry Burned

An excellent book by Jeff Fulgham about the Burning of Bluffton. On June 4, 1863, the small southern town of Bluffton, SC, was burned.

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Pete Bostwick in the SC Lowcountry

The name Bostwick can be found throughout South Carolina from Aiken to Haig Point near Hilton Head, SC.

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Spring Island

In the tidal waters of South Carolina’s Port Royal Sound lies Spring Island, a place where history is written not in monuments, but in land use, ownership, and restraint.

Historical article

Rose Hill Plantation, Bluffton SC

Rose Hill, Bluffton SC Rose Hill Plantation House, also known as Rose Hill Mansion, is a historic Carpenter Gothic house located on US 278 in Bluffton, Beaufort County, South Carolina.

Historical article

Bluffton, SC’s Gilded Age Princess

Special thanks to Sydney Whiteside, Library Assistant, Beaufort District Collection, Beaufort County Library, for her excellent assistance in accessing key resources for this article.

Historical article

John D. Rockefeller & The Standard Oil Partners: Flagler and Harkness

When we think of the massive wealth and industrial power of the Gilded Age, John D.

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When the Lowcountry Became America’s Private Hunting Preserve

By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the South Carolina Lowcountry had quietly transformed into one of America’s most exclusive sporting landscapes.

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Anna Maria (Richardson) Harkness

Anna Maria (Richardson) Harkness turned a Standard Oil inheritance into a philanthropic legacy, supporting hospitals, universities and the arts and founding the Commonwealth Fund.

Historical article

The Harkness/Flagler Timeline

View Timeline It’s often fascinating to observe historical events and their connection to concurrent events occurring at the same time.