Timeline

In 1803 Ohio became a state

In 1818 Illinois became the 21st state of the United States

In 1818 Stephen V. Harkness was born to Dr. David Harkness and Martha Cook in Fayette, New York

In 1820 Stephen V. Harkness’ mother Martha Cook dies…Stephen is 2 years old.

In 1820 Dr. David Harkness moved to Milan Ohio to practice medicine

In 1821 Dr. David Harkness married Elizabeth Morrison Caldwell

In 1822 Daniel M. Harkness was born to Dr. David Harkness and Elizabeth Caldwell Harkness in Milan, Ohio

In 1823 Dr. Lamon G. Harkness came to Ohio

In 1825 Dr. David Harkness dies and Elizabeth is left to care for Stephen V. and Daniel M. and returns to Hopewell(Salem?), New York where she marries Rev. Isaac Flagler.

In 1825 The Erie Canal, connecting the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, was completed

In 1828 Election of Andrew Jackson as President

In 1828 Sept 15 - Rev. Isaac Flagler married Elizabeth Morrison Caldwell Harkness in Romulus NY.

In 1829 August 21 - LG Harkness married Julia Follett recorded in Sandusky, OH

In 1830 Henry Morrison Flagler was born Jan. 2 in Hopewell, N.Y. - now younger half-brother to Daniel M. Harkness

In 1831 The Elizabeth Harkness family moved to Hammondsport, NY 

In 1831 Charles Darwin began his voyage on the HMS Beagle

In 1832 January Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad chartered

In 1832 Dr. LG Harkness moved his medical practice to Bellevue (Amsden Corners) 

In 1833  S.V.  Harkness started his apprenticeship in harness making in Water, NY at the age of 15

In 1833 Dr. LG Harkness partnered with Chapman Thomas Amsden to build a mercantile and grain business

In 1835 Texas declared independence from Mexico 

In 1836 Isaac Flaglers relocated to Toledo, OH where Isaac ran a parish

In 1836 Reverend Flagler marries a “mulatto” man and a white woman from Norwalk, Ohio creating a stir.  

In 1836 Stephen V. Harkness at the age of consent(18) returned to Bellevue, OH to seek his fortune

In 1837 Queen Victoria was crowned 

In 1837 Michigan became the 26th state of the United States

In 1838 Rev Isaac Flagler started the Temperance Movement in Toledo

In 1838 Dan Harkness leaves the family to live with his uncle William G. Harkness in Republic, Ohio

In 1839 Mad River and Lake Erie RR were completed. Bellevue is connected by rail

In 1839 Henry and his family are now living in Medina, NY

In 1829 Stephen V. Harkness at 21 was working in Lamon’s store in Bellevue

In 1840 Dan Harkness briefly left Bellevue for Lansingburgh, NY to apprentice as a printer's helper.

In 1842 Stephen V. Harkness married Laura Osborne

In 1842 British troops retreated from Kabul Afghanistan and were massacred

In 1844 Henry comes to Republic to work with Dan in William G. Harkness's store there

In 1845 Irish potato famine starts

In 1845 Dan Harkness asked to move to Bellevue to work with the Chapman Harkness business from there

In 1846 US declared war on Mexico

In 1847 Henry and his friend Charles Foster( Fostoria Oh) partied a bit too much at the Tremont House dancing on the tables and were asked to leave

In 1848 The California Gold Rush begins

In 1849 Henry Flagler recalled to Bellevue, salary increased to $400 annually. He roomed with Dan.

In 1849 Daniel M. Harkness married his cousin Isabella Harkness daughter of his uncle Dr. L.G. Harkness.

In 1850 Lamon V. Harkness was born to Stephen V. Harkness in Bellevue

In 1851 Samuel Martin Kier began selling kerosene to local miners, under the name "Carbon Oil". He distilled this by a process of his own invention from crude oil. 

In 1851 The first telegraph cable across the English Channel was laid

In 1852 Henry Flagler, along with half-brother Dan Harkness became a partner in the newly organized D. M. Harkness and Company in Bellevue, OH, and Bloomville, OH

In 1852 August - Stephen Harkness’ wife Laura died and is buried in Bellevue, Ohio

In 1852 S.V. Harkness moved to Caledonia, OH (South of Bucyrus) and is in the Stock and Distillery business

In 1853  Henry Flagler married Mary Harkness daughter of Dr. L.G. Harkness and sister of Daniel Harkness’ wife Isabella in Bellevue, OH on Nov. 9 at a service in Dr. Harkness's home in Bellevue.

In 1854 Widower Stephen V. Harkness married his second wife Anna Maria Richardson from Dalton, Ohio(East of Canton, OH and about 1hr from Caledonia today)

In 1855 S.V. Harkness moved back to Monroeville in the distillery business with Mr. Bishop Perkins

In 1855 Flagler's first child, Jennie Louise, was born March 18.

In 1856 Henry Bessemer invented a process that allowed the mass production of steel;

In 1858 Flagler’s second child, Carrie, was born June 18.

In 1858 William L. Harkness was born to Daniel M. and Isabella Harkness.

In 1858 Flagler Became acquainted with John. D. Rockefeller, a commission agent with Hewitt and Tuttle for the Harkness grain company.

In 1858 Henry’s parents, Isaac, Elizabeth, and half-sister Carrie come to live in Bellevue

In 1859 Edwin Drake drilled the first oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania

In 1859 Henry built the Gingerbread House in Bellevue for Mary (JD Rockefeller visits there)

In 1860 Stephen V. Harkness's family moved to Monroeville, OH, and also started a private banking(venture capital) business.

In 1860 Charles W. Harkness was born to Stephen V. and Anna Harkness in Monroeville

In 1860 South Carolina seceded from the union  

In 1861 Abraham Lincoln was president and the Civil War starts

In 1861 Flagler’s daughter Carrie died at age 3 and is buried in Bellevue, Ohio

In 1861 Elizabeth Flagler, Henry’s mother, died in Bellevue. Henry attends the funeral.

In 1861 Dan Harkness volunteered for the Union Army and was sent to Savannah Georgia

In 1862 Flagler, with brother-in-law Barney York, Flagler founded Flagler and York Salt Company, a salt mining and production business, in Saginaw, Mich.

In 1863 Dan Harkness was discharged from the Union Army and returned to Bellevue

In 1864 February- Katie Harkness, daughter of Daniel M. Harkness and Isabella Harkness died at the age of 8, buried in Bellevue, Ohio

In 1864 Civil War ended and Lincoln was assassinated

In 1864 Stephen V. Harkness formed a partnership with William Halsey Doan to provide crude oil to refineries.

In 1864 July 5 - Isabella Harkness, wife of Daniel M. Harkness dies and is buried in Bellevue, OH.

In 1865 Stephen Harkness's family moved to Cleveland at 572 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH

In 1865 The Civil War ended, causing a drop in the demand for salt. Flagler and York Salt Company collapsed, leaving Flagler in heavy debt.

In 1866 S.V. Harkness partnered with William Halsey Doan in the oil business to form Harkness & Doan which was later sold to Standard Oil

In 1866 Lamon V. Harkness moved to Eureka, Kansas to pursue a career in ranching.  His father, S.V. Harkness has land holdings there. 

In 1866 Flagler's salt business failed. Henry Flagler returns to Bellevue from Michigan then moves to Cleveland, Ohio, and re-enters the grain business as a commission merchant.

In 1867 Flagler paid off the last of his loan from Lamon Harkness

In 1867 Needing capital for his new oil business, J. D. Rockefeller approaches Flagler, who obtains $100,000 from Stephen V. Harkness, paternal half-brother of Dan Harkness. Rockefeller, Andrews, and Flagler form a partnership with Flagler in control of Harkness interest.

In 1869 Union Pacific and Central Pacific completed the first transcontinental railway link at Promontory Summit

In 1870 Construction started on The Brooklyn Bridge

In 1870 WH Doan bought out S.V. Harkness from their partnership

In 1870 On Jan. 10, JD Rockefeller,  William Rockefeller, Samuel Andrews, Stephen V. Harkness, and Henry Flagler created a joint-stock corporation founding Standard Oil. Henry Flagler wrote the articles of incorporation.

In 1870 The Flaglers moved to 401 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH

In 1870 Flagler’s Son, Harry Harkness Flagler, was born on Dec. 2.

In 1872 Standard Oil led the American oil refining industry in production

In 1873 The collapse of Jay Cooke and Company, a Philadelphia investment bank, triggered a nationwide financial panic that led to a broader economic depression that lasted until 1879

In 1874 Edward Harkness was born in Cleveland, Ohio.

In 1876  First successful test of the Telephone by Alexander Graham Bell

In 1876 Custer's last stand

In 1876 Isaac Flagler, Henry’s father passed away. Henry does not attend the funeral.

In 1877 Standard Oil moved its headquarters to New York City, and the Flaglers relocated to NYC as well. 

In 1876 The lone hand of The Statue of Liberty stood for 5 years  1876-1882 until New York could find the money to build a base for it.

In 1878 Upon advice from Mary Flagler’s physician, Henry Flagler and his wife visited Jacksonville Florida for the winter. Since she was young Mary had traveled to Savannah GA in the winters due to her frail health.

In 1878 Edison demonstrated the phonograph

In 1879 S.V. Harkness bought the Willoughby Lake farm property 

In 1879 A federal grand jury indicted 238 people—including President Ulysses S. Grant's personal secretary, General O.E. Babcock, and dozens of whiskey distillers and revenue officials—for conspiring to defraud the United States government of tax revenues.

In 1879 Edison invented the electric light bulb

In 1880 Electric light was first used in New York City at the JP Morgan home…signaling the eventual end to the kerosene business for Standard Oil.

In 1880 Harry Flagler was sent to Ohio to live with his step-aunt Carrie, Mary Flagler’s health declining
In 1880 Dec 11 Dr. Lamon G. Harkness died at the age of 80 at the Cleveland home of his daughter Louisa
In 1881 Mary Harkness Flagler died at 47 on May 18 - she was initially interred at Woodlawn in NY then later moved to St. Augustine when the Flagler Memorial Mausoleum was completed.
In 1881 April - Henry Flagler sold Euclid Avenue home to Charles Brush
In 1881 Henry asked his half-sister Carrie to become Harry's caregiver and raise him
In 1881 William L. Harkness graduated from Yale
In 1881 Gunfight at OK Corral
In 1882 January 2  Standard Oil Trust Formed
In 1882 June Henry Flagler bought Satanstoe(Lawn Beach)…a forty-room home on 32 acres in Mamaroneck NY for $125,000 as a summer/country home

In 1883 Brooklyn Bridge Opened

In 1883 Flagler married Ida Alice Shourds (born July 4, 1848, died July 10,   1930) at Madison Avenue Methodist Church. They travel to St. Augustine, where Flagler finds hotel facilities and transportation systems inadequate and senses an opportunity.

In 1883 America's railroads implemented the standardized time zones (Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific) devised by William F. Allen of the General Time Convention.

In 1883 CW Harness graduated from Yale

In 1883 SV Harkness takes delivery of his new yacht The Twilight

In 1884 J.D. Rockefeller moved to New York

In 1885  February 17  The Flaglers returned to St. Augustine and stayed at San Marco Hotel and witnessed the annual celebration of the landing of Ponce de Leon in March 1885

In 1885  Flagler returns to St. Augustine; begins construction on the 540-room Hotel Ponce de Leon. He also purchased the Jacksonville, St. Augustine & Halifax Railroad.

In 1885 CW Harkness takes delivery of a new yacht The Peerless

In 1886 First Coca-Cola served in Atlanta

In 1887 June, Henry Flagler built The Alcazar Hotel in St. Augustine

In 1887 on October 6, Jennie Louise Flagler married Frederick Hart Benedict

In 1888 The Jekyll Island Club opened its doors to millionaire members on Jekyll Island, Georgia 

In 1888 Hotel Ponce de Leon opens Jan. 10 as an instant success.

On 1888 March 6,  patriarch Stephen V. Harkness died on his boat The Twilight in Florida. William Lamon Harkness goes to Florida to make arrangements.

In 1888  April 20,  Henry Flagler bought the Casa Monica Hotel with all its furnishings and renamed the Cordova.

In 1888 December 25 Flagler’s new Alcazar Hotel opened in St. Augustine

In 1888 Harkness Memorial church was dedicated in Bellevue, OH as a memorial to Isabella Harkess, wife of Daniel M. Harness

In 1889 February 9  Jennie Louise Flagler Bennett gave birth to a baby girl Margery who passed away shortly after birth

In 1889 March 25 Henry’s daughter Jennie Louise Flagler Benedict passed away at the age of 34 from complications of childbirth on her way to St. Augustine on her husband's father’s steam yacht….E.C. Benedict’s yacht Oneida

In 1889 Henry Flagler built Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Augustine in memory of his daughter Jennie Louse Flagler Benedict and her daughter Margery.

In 1889 Industrialist Andrew Carnegie published an essay entitled "The Gospel of Wealth," which outlines the social responsibilities and social benefits of vast personal wealth.

In 1890 Sherman Anti-Trust act passed

In 1890 Flagler built a railroad bridge across the St. Johns River to gain access to the southern half of the state. Purchases the Ormond Beach Hotel in Ormond Beach.

In 1890 Stephen V. Harkness’ widow Anna built a new home replacing the original Willoughby OH lake home.

In 1890  March 16  Memorial Presbyterian Church dedicated Flagler’s Memorial Presbyterian with Flagler mausoleum at the front left(smaller domed hall in foreground) Jennie was Interred there. 

In 1891 Lamon and his family returned east and settled in Greenwich, Connecticut where he bought the William Avery Rockefeller mansion.  

In 1891 First gasoline automobile built

In 1892 Lamon Harkness acquired a 400-acre farm in Donerail, Kentucky named Walnut Hall Farm.

In 1892 General Electric Company formed

In 1892, after dropping out of Princeton, Henry invited his son Harry to work at his hotels in St. Augustine to teach him the ways of hotel management and the railroad, with the goal of having Harry succeed him.
In 1892 Feb 3 Grand Ball held at The Ponce de Leon – Hermitage Ball commemorative of Andrew Jackson

In 1893 Henry Flagler bought 140 acres between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Worth.

In 1893 Worlds Fair in Chicago highlighted major new technologies including electricity, 

In 1894 Flagler’s 1,150-room Hotel Royal Poinciana in Palm Beach was completed. Train service is extended to West Palm Beach. Ida Alice Shourds Flagler is institutionalized for mental illness.

Jacksonville, St. Augustine & Indian River Railway is renamed the Florida East Coast Railway.

In 1896 George Washington Vanderbilt II completed The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC

In 1895 Cornelius Vanderbilt II completed The Breakers “cottage” in Newport, Rhode Island

In 1895 Henry’s wife Ida Alice institutionalized for treatment of mental illness

In 1895 Niagara Falls electric generators start
In 1895 July 29th Florence Harkness Severance - Stephen V. Harkness’ daughter died unexpectedly at age 35.

In 1895 Harry Flagler leaves the hotel business and returns to New York.
In 1896 First public movie showing in New York

In 1896 Henry Flagler half brother, Daniel M. Harkness passed away at the age of 74. He is interred in Bellevue with a simple headstone.

In 1896 Flagler’s Palm Beach Inn(The Original Breakers) opened in Palm Beach. The railway reaches Biscayne Bay.

In 1897 Harry Harkness Flagler graduated from Columbia at the age of 26

In 1897 Flagler’s Hotel Royal Palm opened in Miami.

In 1897 Edward S. Harness graduated from Yale

In 1897 Flagler enlisted Alexander H. Findlay, the father of American golf and a close friend of Flagler’s partner, John D. Rockefeller, to design the first golf course in Florida, adjacent to the Palm Beach Inn.  It was originally constructed with only nine holes, as Flagler thought golf a passing fancy.

In 1899 Cornelius Vanderbilt II died at the age of 55

In 1900 Henry Flagler moved his declared residency from New York to Palm Beach, FL

in 1901, January 22, Queen Victoria

In 1901 The Florida Legislature passed a bill that made incurable insanity grounds for divorce. Flagler divorces Ida Alice.

In 1901 Aug. 24, Henry Morrison Flagler, 71 years old, married Mary Lily Kenan, 34 years old, in Kenansville, North Carolina on August 24.

In 1901 The Palm Beach Inn was renamed The Breakers.

In 1901 Harry Harkness and Ann purchased their townhouse in New York at 32 Park Avenue. 

In 1902 The last time the Harknesses were at the Willoughby Lake House in Ohio

In 1902 The Flaglers moved into Whitehall, the Palm Beach winter retreat Flagler built as a wedding present for Mary Lily.

In 1903 Flagler’s The Breakers Hotel was destroyed by fire. Rebuilt and opened in 1906.

In 1903 Wright brothers' first flight

In 1903 Henry and Will Harkness visited Bellevue, Ohio, and the graves of their parents and relatives

In 1903 Harry and Ann purchased a summer residence in Millbrook, NY called Edgewood.
In 1904 The former Henry Flagler, then Daniel Harkness gingerbread house was converted to a YMCA in Bellevue

In 1904 Lamon V. Harkness tears down One Elm, The William Rockefeller mansion in Greenwich to build a grander home

In 1904 Henry Flagler built the Woodlawn Cemetery in Palm Beach and planned to be interred there.

In 1905 Henry Flagler began to be less enamored of Palm Beach, possibly because of the "Law and Order League" who started to oppose anything he was doing in the area.

In 1905 Lamon Harkness’ wife Martha dies at the age of 55 and is laid to rest at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx in The LV Harkness mausoleum.

In 1905 Expansion of Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway to Key West began.

In 1905 Henry goes back to St. Augustine and builds the Flagler Mausoleum extension to Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church where he will ultimately be laid to rest along with his first wife Mary, daughter Jennie, and her daughter Marjorie.

In 1906 William L. Harkness donated funds to build a new hospital in Bellevue, OH..his wife Edith Hale Harkness contributed regularly to the hospital until her passing.

In 1906 CW Harkness sold The Peerless

In 1907 CW Harkness bought The Agawa

In 1908 Ford Model T hit the market.

in 1908 Henry Flagler moved his legal residence from Palm Beach to St. Augustine, FL

In 1909 L.V. Harkness owned the Wakiva I and Wakiva II yachts. Wakiva I may have been sold to Edward Doheny in Los Angeles (There Will Be Blood movie subject)

In 1909 C.W. Harkness built Mirador in Madison  NJ

In 1910 The typewriter became mainstream

In 1911 Joseph Pulitzer died aboard his yacht Liberty off of Charleston SC on his way to his winter home at Jekyll Island, GA

In 1911 Standard Oil Trust dissolved

In 1911 Flagler ceased being an active director at Standard Oil 

In 1911 W.L. Harkness's boat Gunilda sank in Lake Superior

In 1912 Flagler rides the first train into Key West on Jan. 21.

In 1913 Federal Income Tax Amendment enacted

In 1913 JP Morgan dies

In 1913 Henry Flagler died May 20 in Palm Beach at the Nautilus Cottage at the Breakers at the age of 83 and is buried in St. Augustine along with daughter Jennie, granddaughter Margery and his first wife Mary Harkness Flagler in the Flagler Mausoleum at Flagler Memorial Presbyterian in St. Augustine. No Standard Oil associates attended the funeral. 

In 1914 Panama Canal opens

In 1914 World War I began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary

In 1915  Lamon V. Harkness died in California at his daughter’s ranch, RANCHO CIENEGA DE LOS PAICINES, and is buried along with his wife Martha at Woodlawn in The Bronx on 1/17/1915

In 1916 May 1 C.W. Harkness died at the age of 56. He is initially buried in the L.V. Harkness mausoleum in Woodlawn.

In 1916 Anna and Edward gave $3 million to Yale University for the construction of the Harkness Memorial Quadrangle in honor of C.W. Harkness; four years later, they gave the college another $3 million to increase faculty salaries

In 1916 Nov 16 Mary Lily Flagler married Robert Bingham

In 1916 Battle of the Somme became one of the bloodiest battles in history

In 1916 Dec 8  C.W.’s wife Mary Warden Harkness dies and is buried in the Warden Mausoleum in Philadelphia. C.W. Harkness is moved from the LV Harkness Mausoleum at Woodlawn to join her in Philadelphia.

In 1917 United States entered World War I on the side of the Allies

On 1917 July 27 Mary Lily Flagler Bingham died. Her niece Louise Wise Lewis inherits most of the estate including Whitehall, Lawn Beach (Satanstoe), and Kirkside in St. Augustine. 

In 1917 Bolshevik Revolution overthrew the Provisional Government and established the Soviet Union in Russia

In 1919 William L. Harkness died and was laid to rest in the Lamon V. Harkness mausoleum until his own mausoleum is completed  4 years later nearby in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx.

In 1919 Louise Wise Lewis sold Satanstoe (Lawn Beach) to DW Griffith for film production.

In 1919 Louise Wise Lewis sold Whitehall which was converted into a hotel.

In 1919 Treaty of Versailles was signed, officially ending World War I

In 1923 William L. Harkness was moved from Lamon V. Harkness mausoleum to a new family mausoleum nearby on 5/31/23

In 1924 Calvin Coolidge became President of the United States after the death of Warren G. Harding

In 1924 Feb 2  Edward S. Harkness was in Egypt with Albert Lythgoe and witnessed the opening of the King Tut Sarcophagus along with Howard Carter

In 1925 Edward Harkness donated $3 million to establish the Harkness Fellowships (Originally known as Commonwealth Fund Fellowships), which provide opportunities for postgraduate study and research abroad. https://www.harknessfellows.org.uk/

In 1926 Edward Harkness offered Yale $12 million to build a series of residential colleges on the Oxbridge model after he had already endowed the drama school. However, after a year of negotiations, Yale declined his offer. Harkness then went to Harvard with a similar offer and Harvard’s president quickly accepted it. Dismayed Yale administrators appealed to Harkness to reconsider his offer and in 1930 he agreed to give Yale $11 million for nine residential colleges of its own.

1931 Edward Harkness donates millions to form the Columbia Eye Institute named the Harkness Eye Institute in New York, NY. 

In 1937 Louise Wise Lewis, heir to Henry and Mary Lily Flagler’s fortune, passed away at the age of 42.

In 1940 Edward S. Harkness passed away at 66 years of age, interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx near cousin Willam and stepbrother Lamon’s mausoleums.

In 1947 Edith Hale Harkness, wife of William L. Harkness, passed away at the age of 83 and is interred in the William L, Harkness mausoleum at Woodlawn in The Bronx. 

In 1950 Mary Stillman Harkness passed away at 75 years of age, wife of Edward S. Harkness

In 1959, Jean Flagler Matthews saved Whitehall from the demolition ball and formed the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum

In 1960 the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum at Whitehall was opened to the public