William Lamon Harkness

Background

William Lamon Harkness was born on August 8, 1858, in Bellevue, Ohio, to Daniel M. Harkness and Isabella Harkness. His father was a merchant and an early Standard Oil shareholder, as well as a half-brother of Standard Oil associates Henry Flagler and Stephen V. Harkness. Through his family, William was connected to one of the business networks that helped establish the petroleum corporation's immense fortune.

Harkness attended Bellevue public schools and the Brooks Military School in Cleveland. The Brooks school provided preparatory education in the nineteenth-century tradition of private military academies, while Bellevue was a small Ohio community closely connected with the Harkness family. When Daniel Harkness died in 1896, William inherited a large share of his father's Standard Oil holdings.

Education

Harkness received his early education in the Bellevue public schools and continued at the Brooks Military School in Cleveland. He entered Yale College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1881. Yale, founded in 1701, was one of the leading American collegiate institutions of the period and combined classical undergraduate education with a strong tradition of residential societies, clubs, and alumni networks.

At Yale, Harkness belonged to the freshman glee club and the class supper committee. His association with the university continued after graduation through philanthropy, including a major gift that later supported William L. Harkness Hall.

Career

Harkness was not actively engaged in an operating business after graduating from Yale. His economic position rested principally on the Standard Oil shares inherited from his father in 1896, and he became known in New York as a financier and wealthy investor. Standard Oil, incorporated in 1870 by a group that included John D. Rockefeller and Stephen V. Harkness, became one of the dominant American industrial corporations of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

In 1896, Harkness moved from Cleveland to New York City, where he maintained a residence at 12 East 53rd Street. He also owned the Dosoris estate at Glen Cove on Long Island; in 1913, the house was remodeled by architect James Gamble Rogers and renamed The Wings. His social and recreational life was associated with New York's elite club culture and with long-distance cruising.

Harkness purchased the steam yacht Gunilda in 1903. Built in Scotland in 1897, the 195-foot yacht became associated with the New York Yacht Club and carried Harkness, his family, and guests on cruises in the Atlantic, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, northern Europe, and the Great Lakes. In 1911, during a Lake Superior voyage toward the Nipigon fishing region, Gunilda ran aground on McGarvey Shoal near Rossport, Ontario, and sank after salvage efforts failed.

Shortly before his death, Harkness and his family gave $400,000 to Yale University. William L. Harkness Hall, a Collegiate Gothic building designed by William Adams Delano, was completed in 1927 with lecture and recitation rooms and offices for the French, German, and Music departments. Harkness died in New Hyde Park, New York, on May 10, 1919.

Achievements

• Harkness and his family donated $400,000 to Yale University shortly before his death, supporting the construction and maintenance of a university building later completed as William L. Harkness Hall.

• Harkness became a prominent yachtsman and owned Gunilda, a large Scottish-built steam yacht that was used for extensive cruises before sinking in Lake Superior in 1911.

Membership

Harkness belonged to several private, civic, and sporting clubs associated with Cleveland, New York City, and Long Island. His memberships included the Union Club of Cleveland, the Metropolitan Club of New York, the New York Yacht Club, the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, and the Piping Rock Club. These organizations served as social, recreational, and professional meeting places for affluent Americans during the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era.

• Union Club of Cleveland , United States of America

• Metropolitan Club of New York , United States of America

• New York Yacht Club , United States of America

• Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club , United States of America

• Piping Rock Club , United States of America

Interests

• Yachting, cruising, fishing, and club life

• Sport & Clubs

  Yachting and recreational sailing

Connections

Harkness married Edith Hale on June 22, 1897. Their children included Louise Hale Harkness and William Hale Harkness. Edith Harkness later inherited half of William's estate, together with the New York residence, the Glen Cove estate, the yacht, and personal effects.

William was the son of Daniel M. Harkness and Isabella Harkness. He was also related to other members of the Harkness family who benefited from Standard Oil investments, including the philanthropist Edward Harkness.

Father:

Daniel M. Harkness

Merchant and early Standard Oil shareholder; father of William Lamon Harkness.

Mother:

Isabella Harkness

Wife:

Edith Hale Harkness

Married William Lamon Harkness in 1897 and was active in civic and philanthropic causes.

Daughter:

Louise Hale Harkness

Son:

William Hale Harkness

Cousin:

Edward Harkness

Philanthropist and Yale benefactor from the Harkness family.

References

• Obituary Record of Yale Graduates, 1918–1919 Documents Harkness's birth, family background, education at Bellevue schools, Brooks Military School, and Yale, his inherited Standard Oil wealth, his life as a financier and yachtsman, his ownership of Gunilda, and his $400,000 gift to Yale University.
  1919
• William Lamon Harkness authority record Identifies William Lamon Harkness as an American philanthropist and heir whose fortune was connected with Standard Oil and who donated to Yale University.