Cold-hearted, greedy, self-centered. These words are used to describe many businessmen but they are not always accurate. They were not so for Henry Morrison Flagler who not only built hotels and started business ventures but built up communities - including the centerpieces of many communities: churches. Flagler's own affiliation was to the Presbyterian church; in St Augustine he took the old Presbyterian Church (founded in 1824) and built a new building. The building was dedicated in 1890 to Jennie Louise Benedict - Flagler's daughter who died in childbirth - as a memorial. The church then came to be known as Memorial Presbyterian Church and the beautiful structure would one day be the resting place for Henry Flagler and his first wife Mary Harkness, as well as, Jennie Louise and Marjorie (her daughter).



Text by Kayleigh Gades