Most visitors to St. Augustine are well aware of Henry Flagler and his legacy as an American business tycoon. In the Oldest City, two of his hotels, the Ponce de Leon and the Alcazar, remain standing to this day; while the Florida East Coast Railway continues to transport goods up and down the Atlantic coast of Florida. Such lasting entities are a testament to his starring role in developing the Eastern Seaboard of Florida. What is lesser known about Flagler’s life are the stories of his three wives, Mary Harkness, Ida Alice Shourds, and Mary Lily Kenan. The story of Mary Lily Kenan, much like that of Ida Alice, stands out. Her sudden death in 1917 after marrying Robert Worth Bingham in 1916 generated countless speculations that there may have been foul play. Numerous books in our collections recount her story, with some even going so far as to suggest that Bingham may have had a hand in murdering her to obtain some of the wealth she inherited from Henry Flagler after his death in 1913.
Mary Lily Kenan’s story began in 1867 when she was born in Duplin County, North Carolina, just north of Wilmington. Growing up in an affluent household, she soon moved with her family to Wilmington in the late 1870s. Her affluence afforded her education, uncommon for a woman on the cusp of the twentieth century. She first met Henry Flagler in 1891 at a party in Newport, Rhode Island. Kenan was only twenty-three years old; Flagler was sixty-one, and still married to Ida Alice. As they became more romantically involved, Mary Lily’s family grew suspicious of Flagler’s intentions, at least until the tycoon gifted her two million dollars’ worth of jewelry and stock in Standard Oil, along with a mansion in Palm Beach that would come to be known as Whitehall. Flagler also set about divorcing Ida Alice, which resulted in him paying Florida state legislators off in order to have insanity declared a viable reason for initiating divorce proceedings. Two months after the law was passed, Flagler divorced her, and he married Mary Lily on the Kenans’ family plantation ten days later in 1901. The law was repealed shortly thereafter.
Henry Flagler and Mary Lily Kenan Flagler by most accounts had a comfortable and loving marriage, though Mary Lily’s youth proved problematic for a slower and older Mr. Flagler in social circles. Their marriage lasted until May of 1913, as after a fall down the stairs at Whitehall, the 83-year-old Flagler passed away, leaving his massive fortune to her. Mary Lily Kenan thus became the world’s richest woman. Three years later, she married Robert Bingham, after the death of his wife in an automobile accident. Much like her, Bingham was a North Carolinian socialite from a wealthy and respected family. The two married in 1916, though Mary Lily’s health took a turn for the worst by December of that year.
Kenan’s condition remained on the decline until she passed away on July 27, 1917. Her death sparked a series of public controversies, centering around the idea that Robert Bingham had been involved somehow via some form of foul play. Some argue that the suddenness of her death, as well as Bingham’s waiver of his rights to the Flagler fortune indicate a conspiracy. While some authors, such as David Leon Chandler, argue vehemently in support of this scenario, no evidence has yet come forth to prove it. Historians note that Bingham may not have been the most scrupulous person, but he was likely not a conspiratorial murderer. Mary Lily Kenan more than likely succumbed to complications brought on by heart issues and her alcoholism.
Sources Consulted
Mr. Flagler’s St. Augustine by Thomas Graham, 2014
The Binghams of Louisville- The Dark History Behind One of America’s Great Fortunes by Daniel Leon Chandler, 1987
Murder in the Tropics- The Florida Chronicles, Vol. II by Stuart B. McIver, 1995
Written by Robert Covert