Henry M. Flagler (1830–1913) oil executive

Born in Canandaigua, New York, to a Presbyterian minister of modest means, Flagler attended local schools until he was 14. Leaving home while still in his teens, he traveled to Sandusky, Ohio, where he became a grain merchant. He established a business, and one of his clients was John D. ROCKEFELLER, who was then in the produce business. After switching to the salt business, he lost most of his money and had to start over again in the grain business in Cleveland.

Flagler joined forces with Rockefeller in the firm of Rockefeller, Andrews, and Flagler in Cleveland in 1867. The new firm was not a grain firm but one that produced oil, a new commodity showing much promise. Three years later, the firm was incorporated as the Standard Oil Company. Throughout the 1870s, Flagler and Rockefeller split duties at the company, with Rockefeller handling personnel and logistics while Flagler concentrated on legal matters. He also negotiated the rates railroads charged for shipping oil and oil products, often striking advantageous deals for the new company.

As the public outcry against large corporations grew louder in the 1880s, Flagler developed the first trust agreement for the company and in 1882 designed the Standard Oil Trust, which proved to be a revolutionary industrial organization. Under the agreement, Flagler, Rockefeller, and Andrews effectively held the stock of the company in trust for other shareholders, keeping control of Standard Oil while still proclaiming it to be a public company. The agreement served its purpose well, for it was another 30 years before Standard Oil was ordered broken up by a Supreme Court decision.

His interests after 1880 are those for which he is best remembered. Flagler began developing an interest in railroads and in land development in Florida. He developed the first railroad line to serve the east coast of Florida—the Florida East Coast Railroad—stretching from Daytona to Miami, and also built luxury hotels along the line to serve passengers. The rail line was extended to Key West in 1912 despite significant technical difficulties. The various projects helped contribute significantly to the state’s rapid development in the 20th century as the country’s premier resort area.

Flagler also developed land in south Florida. His companies dredged the Miami harbor, and he also established steamship companies connecting Florida to the Bahamas as well as to Key West. Among the hotels he developed, the Breakers in Palm Beach is perhaps the best known. The area around St. Augustine also benefited from his business activities, while Flagler College in that city enjoyed his family’s largesse over the years.

Further reading

• Akin, Edward N. Flagler, Rockefeller Partner and Florida Baron. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1988. 
• Martin, Sidney Walter. Florida’s Flagler. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1949. 
• Standiford, Les. Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean. New York: Crown, 2002. 
• Tarbell, Ida. A History of the Standard Oil Company. Reprint, 1904. Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 1963.