Harkness Memorial Presbyterian - Bellevue, Ohio

Bellevue's historic First Congregational Church aka "Harkness Memorial Presbyterian" is located on Southwest Street next to the Mad River Train Museum. The architect is L.D. Grosvenor of Kalamazoo, MI, and the builder was John Parker from Norwalk. The church was built in 1887 with funds contributed by Daniel M. Harkness in memory of his wife Isabella, who had passed away in 1864.

The Family Connections

Daniel M. Harkness was a Standard Oil trustee and the half-brother of Bellevue residents Henry Flagler and Stephen V. Harkness, two of the five founders of Standard Oil along with JD Rockefeller.

Daniel M. Harkness, bottom left, built Harkness Memorial Presbyterian.

The Church

The church was built next to Daniel's house, which was the former home of his half-brother Henry Flager (many in Bellevue remember this house as the former home of the YMCA).

Most of the Flagler and Harkness buildings were nearby each other in Bellevue, Ohio.

Initially Henry Flagler's home in Bellevue, Ohio the "Gingerbread House" was sold/passed to his half-brother Daniel M. Harkness. This home was just to the right of Harkness Memorial Presbyterian.

The local rumor is that Daniel stipulated that the church must not have a bell since he didn't wish to be disturbed by the regular ringing right next door to his home.

Harkness Memorial Presbyterian, built 1887 by Daniel M. Harkness in memory of his wife Isabella

To the left and behind the church in the photo above, you can see the former carriage house that was part of the Harkness home. It is known as "Amos' garage" in the town today. It was the heating source and served as servants' quarters and the carriage house (garage). The carriage house can be seen at the far left in the photo above.

There have been many efforts to salvage Harkness Memorial, but they have largely been fruitless. Click on the articles above for details on that.

The scrollable photo gallery above show the various efforts at preserving Harkness Memorial Presbyterian.

Motivations

One may wonder about the spark that caused Daniel to build the First Congregational Church 23 years after Isabella's passing. While there are no records available to validate his reason, perhaps the motivation was Henry Flagler, who was building the Ponce de Leon Hotel and the magnificent Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Augustine (where Henry Flagler is interred) at about the same time.

Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Augustine, FL where Henry M. Flagler, wife Mary Harkness Flagler, daughter Jennie Louise Benedict and her daughter Margery(who was lost in childbirth) are interred.  https://memorialpcusa.org/ This was built at the same time Daniel Harkness built Harkness Memorial church in Bellevue, Ohio.

Continued Philanthropy

Not long after, another Harkness church/chapel was built at Case Western Reserve in memory of Florence Harkness Severance who had passed away at the young age of 30 in 1895. The project broke ground in 1899 and the building was dedicated on Easter Sunday in 1902. You can read more about Harkness Chapel by clicking HERE and more about Florence Harkness HERE.

Florence Harkness Memorial Chapel. The project broke ground in 1899 and the building was dedicated on Easter Sunday in 1902. You can read more about Harkness Chapel by clicking HERE.

The Torch is Passed

When Daniel died in 1896, his estate was estimated to be 35 Million Dollars (today's value is nearly $1 Billion dollars.). His estate was left to his only surviving child, William L. Harkness.

Will had homes in Cleveland and New York.

Some in Bellevue know of Will Harkness's contributions that helped build Bellevue Hospital and he also donated his father's home, the former Flagler Gingerbread House, to be used as the city's YMCA.