Mary Lily Kenan Flagler Bingham (1867–1917) was an American philanthropist and heiress who became notorious when she married one of the richest men of the

Gilded Age In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Weste ...

. Mary Lily outlived her first husband,

Henry Flagler Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil, which was first based in Ohio. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founde ...

, inherited his huge fortune, married again three years later, and died under suspicious circumstances at age fifty. She left the millions she inherited to members of her family and to the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

Childhood

Before she became famous and extraordinarily wealthy, Mary Lily grew up in an affluent household. She was the daughter of William Rand Kenan Sr and Mary Hargrave Kenan, Mary Lily was born in

Duplin County Duplin County ()
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

...

, on June 14, 1867. When she was little, her father was a life insurance agent. By the late 1870s, her family lived in

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the ...

Mary Lily attended Amy Bradley’s Tileston school in Wilmington.Walter E. Campbell, ''Across Fortune’s Tracks: A Biography of William Rand Kenan, Jr.'' (UNC Press, 1996) Mary Lily was well-educated for a woman in the late 19th century: she both attended school in Wilmington, and attended

Peace College William Peace University is a private college in Raleigh, North Carolina. Formerly affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, it offers undergraduate degrees in more than 30 majors and the School of Professional Studies (SPS) offers accelerated ba ...

in Raleigh. Kenan was also well known for her musical abilities and according to one account, she was North Carolina’s “reigning belle” because of her vivaciousness, beauty, and accomplishments. By this time, Mary Lily had become well acquainted with some of the richest members of Wilmington society. She traveled with the Mr. and Mrs. Pembroke Jones and became socially intimate with the Jones’ friend,

Henry Walters Henry Walters (September 26, 1848 – November 30, 1931) was noted as an art collector and philanthropist, a founder of the Walters Art Gallery (now the Walters Art Museum) in Baltimore, Maryland, which he donated to the city in his 1931 will f ...

, as well as Mr. and Mrs.

Marriages

Mary Lily Kenan married the much-older Henry Morrison Flagler in 1901. She was his third wife. Henry Morrison Flagler was 72 years old. She was 34, but it wasn’t only the age gap that scandalized the nation. In order to marry Mary Lily, Henry Morrison Flagler had to obtain a divorce from his second wife, who had become mentally ill over the course of their marriage.“The career of the Late Henry M. Flagler,” ''The Concord Daily Tribune'', May 21, 1913. P. 1 In order to obtain a divorce, he changed his legal residence to Florida, and persuaded the Florida legislature to allow divorce on the grounds of insanity. He was criticized for this action, partly due to societal attitudes toward

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

, and partly because of her mental state. According to the ''Goldsboro Argus'', “a Man who would thus cast off an aged wife, blameless herself, is simply beyond execration.” When the couple married in 1901 in Duplin County, Flagler gave Mary Lily Kenan “…a check for $1,000,000, and $3,000,000 in bonds as a wedding present.” After their marriage, Henry lavished gifts and attention on Mary Lily. Henry built Whitehall, a “….75-room, 100,000-square-foot Gilded Age mansion…as a wedding present for his wife, Mary Lily Kenan Flagler. The couple used the home as a winter retreat from 1902 until Flagler's death in 1913, establishing the Palm Beach season for the wealthy of the Gilded Age.” Henry Flagler died in 1913, and passed the majority of his wealth on to Mary Lily. Three years later, Mary Lily married a college friend of her brother’s, whom she had dated previously in the 1890s. She and Judge

Robert Worth Bingham Robert Worth Bingham (November 8, 1871 – December 18, 1937) was a politician, judge, newspaper publisher and the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1933 to 1937. Background Bingham attended the University of North Carolina an ...

married in New York City, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Pembroke Jones in 1916. This second marriage did not last long. Mary Lily Kenan Flagler Bingham died in July 1917.

Death

Mary Lily Kenan Bingham’s death also sparked scandal and controversy. Mary Lily died after a short illness, and, according to the ''Wilmington Morning Star'', “…the news of her death produced a profound shock in the family and among many friends in the city and in other cities of the State…” Mary Lily was buried on July 31, 1917, after a service in the residence of Mary Lily’s sister Sarah. The shock of Mary Lily’s death seems to have quickly turned to suspicion about how she died. Headlines spoke of a “tragic mystery,” “foul play” and “murder” and seemed to imply that Mary Lily’s husband may have had something to do with her death.“Foul Play Suspected in Flagler Case,” ''The Statesville Sentinel'', September 24, 1917, p. 7 Before they married, Judge Bingham waived his rights to the Flagler fortune and most of the estate was left to Mary Lily’s birth family members. Judge Bingham did receive $5 million, and some of the concerns about him seem to have stemmed from this inheritance, which was a late addition to Mary Lily’s will. So rather than remaining at rest in Oakdale Cemetery, Mary Lily Kenan Flagler Bingham’s body was exhumed in September 1917, with armed guards stationed around the gravesite as her body was dug up in the night. The autopsy was requested by Graham Kenan, Mary Lily’s sister Sarah’s husband, not Robert Bingham. Despite these irregularities and mysterious circumstances, no charges were ever levied against anyone in the matter of Mrs. Bingham’s death. Bingham went on to be an ambassador to England in the 1930s, and parlayed Mary Lily’s money into a newspaper empire.David Leon Chandler, ''Henry Flagler: The Astonishing Life and Times of the visionary Robber Barron who Founded Florida'' (New York: MacMillan, 1986) The results of the autopsy were never released. Rumors of drug use, alcoholism, and murder have swirled around the life of Mary Lily Kenan Flagler Bingham ever since. The estate left was vast – “…estimated to be worth all the way from $65,000,000 to $130,000,000.”

Legacy

Mary Lily’s marriage to Henry Flagler helped make her entire family extremely wealthy.

William R. Kenan Jr. William Rand Kenan Jr. (April 30, 1872 – July 28, 1965) was an American chemist, engineer, manufacturer, dairy farmer, and philanthropist. Early life William Rand Kenan Jr. was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, on April 30, 1872., son of Willi ...

and her sisters Jessie Kenan Wise and

Sarah Graham Kenan Sarah Graham Kenan (February 17, 1876 – March 16, 1968) was an American heiress and philanthropist. She inherited a third of her sister's share of the Standard Oil fortune in 1917 and established the Sarah Graham Kenan Foundation. Through her fo ...

and niece Louise Wise, were all recipients of her will’s largess. So was the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While Mary Lily Kenan attended Peace College at a time when women were not admitted to the University of North Carolina, one of her greatest legacies is the Kenan Professorship Fund, considered to be a milestone endowment in the university's history, consisting of $75,000 per annum in memory of her father and two uncles, who were university alumni. Mary Lily’s legacy of giving to UNC was enhanced by the actions of her brother William and her sister Sarah, who both donated generously to UNC after they inherited millions from their sister.

References

{{reflist American women philanthropists Burials at Oakdale Cemetery (Wilmington, North Carolina)

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

Philanthropists from North Carolina University of North Carolina William Peace University alumni Flagler family