New-York tribune., 1922-09-09
John til. F'lagler ,
Fi1la1lcier Dies
AT Age Of s.
Former Head of National
Tube Company Victim
of Pneumonia. Affe r
AN Illness of Five Days
Began Life as a Clerk
WAS Director i'm Numer-
ous Corporations; Wed
His Third Wife i'm 1921

John ii. Flagler, New York capitalist
and founder of the National Tube Com
pany, now part Of the United States
Steel Corporation, died last night at
his summer home in Greenwich. Conn.
Death was caused by pneumonia, fol-
lowing an illness Of fve days. which
began with an attack OF bronchitis.
Mr.. Flagler was in his eighty-ffth
year and had retired from all active
prom otion of business enterprises. He
maintained an office at 200 Broadway
and had intended to reopen it on his
return to his New York home at Is
Park Avenue this week. He is sur
vlved by wife, daughter and a
sister.
Remained on DirectOrates
Mr.. Flagler still retained his position
on the directorates of several corpora
tions, among them the National Bank
OF North America, the National Stand
ard Insurance Company, the Assurance
Company Of America, the Mutual Mer-
camille Agency, #he American Union
Life Insurance Company and the
Crocker- Wheeler Company. His clubs
included the Lotos, New York Yacht,
Larchmont Yacht, American Yacht,
Democratic, Lake Hopatcong, Lawyers,
AQIOIAOUIlS S4uD pI AfUeIlNa,
Riding and Driving and Mle Scarsdale
Golf Club. He also was member of
the American Museum of Natural His
tory and the New York Genealogical
and Biographical Society.
A cousin Of the late Henry Fl. Flag
ler, the Standard Oil magnate, he was
born at Cold Spring, Putnam County,
in 1888. His early education was re-
ceived from private tutors and after
ward he completed a course in the
Academy of Paterson, N. j., Flagler's
business life began at an early age and
his rise in the world of finance was
rapid
Flagler's initial experience was as, o
clerk for Haldane & Co., New York
firm extensively engaged IN the iron
business. The partners were two of his
uncles, John and James Haldane. He
early proved himself to have an in
stinctive executive and constructive
ability, and within few years he was
given control of the Boston branch of
the business. While in Boston he
formed the firm of John III. F1agler g.
Co. and entered the iron and steel in
dustry on his own.
Employed Thousands of Men
The Flagler firm gradually became
noted for making tubing, and thus the
National Tube Company came into be-
ing in East Boston. This institution
rapidly became the chief manufacturer
in the United States of this product
and he established a great plant at
McKeesport, Pa, employing thousands
Of men. 1t is said that he provided
95 per cent of the tubing in the earliez
days of the Pennsylvania oil fields.
In addition to his operation of the
several companies allied with the steel
industry, Mr. Flagier made several in
ventions of Importance. These includ-
ed the bringing to practical iron pro-
ductive use a certain gas furnace, pre-
viously known only aDroad and there
restricted to the manufacture of glass.
Mr. Flagler's Improvement in the form
iron to-day is in universal use in Amer
lean steel plants.
Married Three Times
Mr.. Flagler was married three times.
His first wife was Anna H. Converse,
of Boston, whom he married in 1855;
the second was Alice Mandelica, of New
York, 1898, and the third, Frances
Wennecker, of Brooklyn, in 1921.
The third marriage took place at Co.
pake Falls, N. Y, a village in the Berk-
Snlre foothlilS. 1t developed rhaC MS
bride previously had been granted q
divorce from James Divisich jr. She
was born in Holland and had been an
artist in water colors. ~
Mr.. Flagler's fortune has been vari-
ously estimated as $20,o00,oo0 to $780,
100000
The body will be brought to New
York to-day and the funeral will be
held at the residence, 151 Park Avenue.
next Tuesday.