| Harry Harkness Flagler |
| Harry Flagler was the only son of Henry Flagler. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio on December 2, 1870. His problems with his father began when Henry married his mother's nurse: Ida Alica Shrouds. In 1886 he entered on the New York scene as a member of the Larchmont Yacht Club. Another new member of the club was Henry Adams, Jr. Harry was on the boat Oneida when his sister died (along with Frederic Hart Benedict). He was also present at the groundbreaking and dedication of Memorial Presbyterian Church. He was a member of the class of 1894 at Columbia College and was a member of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity. At the end of his third year at college he left to work in the hotel system. He would receive receive an A. B. degree from Columbia in 1897. He also became engaged to Annie Louise Lamont. They were married on April 25, 1894 at the Madison Avenue Baptist Church by Rev. Dr. Henry M. Sanders. The bride's brother, Lansing Lamont, was the best man. She was the daughter of Charles A. Lamont who left a fortune of several million dollars to his wife (Anna M Pesetz) and two daughters. She'll be noted in St. Augustine as "a thoroughly charming lady of exquisite manners and address and consequently sought after on all and every occasion of social gatherings." She will share her husband's interest in music an serve on the Board of Managers of the Music School Settlement. and she was director of the Symphany Society of New York. She was a member of the Woman's Cosmopolitan Club. She died in 1939. He was a member of the board of directors for his father's Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railway. He spent one year in St. Augustine managing the hotels. He was appointed to be in control of the Ponce de Leon, the Alcazar and the Cordova in 1894. It is unclear if Osborn Seavey quits because of Harry or Harry is simply the beneficiary of Seavey quiting. Harry ends his managership in a blow-up with his father and will never see him again alive. After his graduation from Columbia in 1897 he toured Europe. He did make it to his father's side before Henry's death but Henry was not conscience. He was left 5,000 more shares of Standard Oil stock in the will. In 1910 Harry Flagler became a founding member of The Walpole Society. The Walpole Society was dedicated to the appreciation and scholarship of American Arts. Books by its members rank among the most important and long-lasting works in the fields of American decorative arts scholarship. In 1903 he became the secretary of the Permanent Fund Orchestra which planned the development of the Philharmonic Society. He served as President of the Symphony Society of New York and its orchestra from 1914 to 1928. When he merged with the Philharmonic he became president of the new group. In 1921 he was also a member of The American Administration Committee of the Fontainebleau School of Music, an outgrowth of General Pershing's school for army bandmasters at Chaumont, France. In 1921 he received an honorary Doctor of Music from New York University. In 1929 he received a letter from Henri Petain thanking him for a $500 contribution toward the American Verdun Memorial. He also thanked him for welcoming the Bishop of Verdun during a U.S. trip. He still received correspondence from John D. Rockfeller and on July 15 got a message about how Rockfeller was dreaming he was with Harry's father on his 90th birthday. In May of 1931 The George Edward Woodberry Poetry Room was opened at Harvard University at Widener Library. This room honored the poet George Woodberry who was a professor at Columbia and Harvard. His poetry was publicshed in The Atlantic Monthly and The Nation. As a friend of Flagler through their talks and correspondence they conceived an idea of a un-library-like room where students and faculty might find on tables and shelves the poetry of their own century. With a second grant from Flagler in 1949 the room (designed by Alvar Aalto) was moved to better quarters in the Lamont Library. With the room Harvard officially recognized modern poetry. In 1934 he became ill and resigned as president of the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York. He also resigned from his position as chairman of the pension fund and member of the executive committee. The Board quicky adopted a resolution that stated: "the resignation of Mr. Flagler from the presidency of the Philharmonic-Symphony Society has been received by the board with a deep sense of the loss thereby sustained, not only by the society, but by music lovers of orchestral music throughout the nation. .... For more than a quarter of a century Mr. Flagler has devoted his life and his fortune to the higher interests of the art of music and to the welfare of New York musicians. As president for many years of the New York Symphony Society and afterward of the combined New York Symphony and Philharmonic Symphony organizations, Mr. Flagler has a record of modest and disinterested service unequalled in the musical annals of the city. In 1934 he contributed to the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation. He supported FDR for president in 1936 and received a letter from Eleanor Roosevelt thanking he and his wife for their support. His life is spent on the New York art scene including becoming President of the Symphony Society, Trustee of Brick Presbyterian Church, Trustee of Roosevelt Hospital and Vassa Brothers Hospital; President of Millbrook Free Library; Director of the Fifth Avenue Bank of New York, Trustee of the Institute of Musical Arts and chairman of the New York Philharmonic Society (and President of the Philharmonic-Symphony). He endowed the Symphony Society by underwriting its deficits up to $100,000 a year. He gave money to the Symphony Orchestra to make the first American orchestra tour of Europe. At his death on June 30, 1952 his estate is left to his three daughters. Each daughter received 20,000 shares of Standard Oil (valued in 1952 at $1,600,000 for each daughter). The daughters were Mrs. Melbert B. Carey, Jr., of New York, Mrs. Flagler Harris of Philadelphia, and Mrs. Jean Flagler Matthews, of Rye, N. Y. (she would later buy and restore Whitehall the Palm Beach home of Henry Flagler. $25,000 each was given to his four grandchildren: Anne Lamont Harris, John Andrews Harris 4th, Henry Flagler Harris and George Gregory Matthews. The will provided $10,000 each to the First Presbyterian Church and Roosevelt Hospital, in New York City and $5,000 to Lyall Memorial Federated Church, at Millbrook, N. Y. He also gave matching dollars of up to $100,000 for Millbrook School for Boys and land was given to Millbrook Free Library . Harry Flagler St. Augustine Record Obit |
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