Whitehall in Palm Beach was once the mansion of US oil magnate Henry Morrison Flagler. He was also the owner of a railroad company and built the railway line on Florida's east coast. There he owned a lot of land and was able to enormously increase the value of his cheaply acquired land with the expansion and construction of noble hotels along the railway line. In doing so, he created the basis for the expansion of Florida's tourism infrastructure.
Today, Whtiehall is a National Landmark and is open to the public as the Flagler Museum (Henry Morrison Flagler House). Henry had the stunning monument built as a wedding gift to his third wife, Mary, and it was completed in 1902.
In a 1910 letter to a friend who regularly played music at his Palm Beach mansion, Henry Flagler captioned a photograph: "Our household treasures."
You can see his wife Mary Lily Flagler and a German Spitz.
The medium-sized Pomeranian entered the couple's life around 1910, about three years before Henry's death. According to sources, it was a gift from Frederic Sterry, who managed the hotels for the family.
Choosing the name of the spitz was no coincidence
Delosis also the name of a Greek island and the mythological birthplace of the Greek god Apollo. There are many references to the figure of Apollo in Flagler's Palm Beach Villa.
I don't know what we would do if Mr. Sterry hadn't sent the dog. He is a beauty and no words can describe his sharp mind.
As a companion in Flagler's final years, Delos seems to have been a source of joy and comfort. Not for nothing did he describe Delos as "dandy", "darling" and "dearest".
It was often perched on Flagler's lap as the Palm Beach magnate rode around in a popular Golden Age mode of transportation: a comfortable wicker chair mounted on the front of a bicycle and propelled by a service attendant.
It was perfectly normal for Delos to regularly do his duty as a lap dog as you can see in the pictures. It is assumed that he also used to stay on all the valuable furniture in the elegant villa.
Unfortunately, in 1913, Henry Flagler suffered a bad fall down a marble staircase in Whitehall. He died weeks later on May 20, 1913 at the age of 83 as a result of these injuries. His widow Mary Lily kept the faithful Delos and he was her lifelong companion.
Sources:
Mr. Flagler's St. Augustine.” Thomas Graham, 2014
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