Memorial Presbyterian Church St. Augustine

History

History information is some background and history about the location. This is meant to be a basic summary. Below the history records you will find sources in which you can click on to find out more information. There may be multiple history records per location.

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The Memorial Presbyterian Church is a historic church constructed in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1889 by American industrialist Henry Morrison Flagler. It is located at 32 Sevilla Street. It was dedicated to the memory of his daughter Jennie Louise Benedict, who died following complications from childbirth at sea in March 1889.

Flagler was a lifelong member of the Presbyterian Church, and upon his daughter's death chose a plot of land on the corner of Sevilla and Valencia Streets, which was very near his hotels, to construct a new church building for the Presbyterian congregation in St. Augustine, the first in Florida. The building, the land it sits on, and the parsonage at the time were all donated to the Presbyterian Church and exchanged for land they owned on St. George and Hypolita Streets (Flagler would later build a municipal building for the city on this site.)

The cost of the construction was around $250,000. Many of the exterior architectural details were created with gold and white terracotta. The copper dome was created in Italy, the floors are Italian marble, the pews are carved from mahogany, and the baptismal font was carved from a single block of Siena marble.

Added by: sdonley on 03/20/2025 DB#:698
Source(s):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Presbyteria...

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Henry Morrison Flagler

Industrialist, businessman. He was a co-founder with John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil Company. By 1890, Henry Flagler was one of the wealthiest men in the world with a personal fortune of over $900 million. Flagler grew up in upstate New York, where he earned only an eighth-grade education. At age 14, his stepbrother Daniel Harkness encouraged him to work at a family business in Ohio. By 1852, he was in the grain business, where he became friends with John D. Rockefeller, another grain dealer. Rockefeller wanted to enter the oil business, which then was centered in Cleveland, Ohio. He approached Flagler seeking backing for this new venture. Flagler secured a loan from a family member with the provision he become a partner in the venture. Through this arrangement, Standard Oil of Ohio would eventually be formed. It soon became the dominant company in the oil industry. John Rockefeller would credit the financial acuity of Flagler with putting together the world's largest oil company. In the 1870s, Standard Oil was the dominant leader in the oil industry, producing over 10,000 barrels of oil a day. As profits increased, Rockefeller and Flagler continued to buy out the competition, becoming larger and more dominant, thus creating a monopoly in the oil industry. Congress took notice and, in the 1890s, began trust-busting to break up the company. In the 1880s, the headquarters had moved from Ohio to New York, which was becoming the leading financial center for the United States. During this time, Flagler's wife began to have health issues. Their doctor advised they retreat to Jacksonville, Florida. Though she died there, Flagler remained when he saw the potential as a place for the wealthy to retreat from the cold northern winters. Giving up his daily responsibilities at Standard Oil, he began the pursuit of developing Florida as "An American Riviera." He first purchased the Jacksonville, Halifax, and St. Augustine Railroad. He then developed the Ponce de Leon Hotel (now Flagler College) in St. Augustine. It was an immediate success, becoming a winter retreat for the social set of the northern wealthy. Over the subsequent years, he would continue to purchase small, side railroad lines, forming the Florida East Coast Railroad, continuing south along the Florida coastline. As the railroad was being extended, he would also build hotels and develop properties up and down the east coast. Eventually, he would build the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, still one of the most exclusive hotels in the world. In 1901, he would marry Mary Lily Kenan of North Carolina, sister to his financial adviser, William Rand Kenan. As a wedding present, he presented to her a magnificent home, which they called "Whitehall," comparable to any home of the Gilded Age. During "The Season," January through March, Mary Kenan Flagler would host many different charity functions, raising funds for a number of causes. By 1896, Flagler continued to extend the railroad further south to Fort Dallas, a former United States military station and a fishing village in the swamps near the Everglades. In exchange for bringing the railroad, he received land for payment. He enlarged the town with roads, utilities, and a major tourist hotel on the beach. The village wanted to rename the town after Flagler, but he encouraged them to name it after the local Indian river, the Miami River. At the turn of the century, Key West was the largest city in Florida and had become a major port between the Gulf of Mexico, South and Central America, the Caribbean, and the east coast of the United States. However, it lacked a land route to the rest of Florida and the United States. Henry Flagler took on the mammoth project of building an overseas railroad connecting Key West to the mainland. It was considered Flagler's Folly. However, he persisted in the endeavor, and, by 1912, he was joined by the President in the first train car to arrive in Key West. In 30 years, he spent over $50 million of his own wealth to develop the East Coast of Florida. His companies, in addition to a continued interest in Standard Oil, included the Florida East Coast Railway, the Florida Hotel chain (which consisted of hotels in Bermuda), and what would become Florida Power and Light. During all this time, his relationship continued with Rockefeller, building his Florida winter home across the street from the Ormond Hotel, a Flagler property. While at his Palm Beach home in 1913, Flagler fell down the marble steps of his mansion. Several days later, he succumbed to the injuries from his fall and died at age 83. His tremendous fortune would pass to his wife, who died a few years later, allowing the wealth to pass into the hands of her family, who would invest it in education, health, and charitable organizations across the country. Flagler, Colorado, along with Flagler Beach, Florida; Flagler County, Florida; and Flagler Estates, Florida, are named after him.

Added by: sdonley on 03/20/2025 DB#:699
Source(s):
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7254612/henry_...

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