View source for Lamon V. Harkness

{{Short description|American businessman}}
{{Infobox person 
| name          = Lamon V. Harkness
| image         = Lamon V. Harkness.png
| caption       = 
| birth_name    = Lamon Vanderburgh Harkness
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1850|01|06}}
| birth_place   = [[Bellevue, Ohio]], U.S.
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1915|01|17|1850|01|06}}
| death_place   = [[Paicines, California]], U.S.
| education     = 
| occupation    = Businessman
| parents       = [[Stephen V. Harkness]]<br>Laura Osborne Harkness
| spouse        = Martha Frances Johnson
| children      = 3, including [[Harry S. Harkness|Harry]]
}}

'''Lamon Vanderburgh Harkness''' (January 6, 1850 – January 17, 1915) was an American businessman and one of the largest stockholders in [[Standard Oil]]. Lamon V. Harkness became involved with [[Standard Oil]] through his father [[Stephen V. Harkness]], who was a primary silent investor in the formation of [[Standard Oil]].

==Early life==
Harkness was born in [[Bellevue, Ohio]] on January 6, 1850.  He was the son of [[Stephen V. Harkness|Stephen Vanderburgh Harkness]] (1818–1888) and his first wife, Laura ([[née]] Osborne) Harkness (1815–1852). Lamon's mother Laura died in 1852 when Lamon was 2 years old. His father Stephen was remarried to [[Anna M. Harkness]] (née Richardson) in 1854. The Harknesses moved to Monroeville, Ohio around 1860, and in 1865 they moved from Monroeville to Willoughby, Ohio outside of Cleveland. Stephen and Anna had two children, [[Charles W. Harkness]], born 1860 in Monroeville, and [[Edward Harkness]], born 1874 in Cleveland. The age difference between Lamon and Charles was 10 years and between Lamon and Edward was 24 years.

==Career==
At the age of 16, Lamon bought a ranch outside of [[Eureka, Kansas]].  He entered the cattle business at the age of 19. About this same time, Lamon's father made an investment with [[John D. Rockefeller]] to start Standard Oil. This investment would soon change the lives of the whole Harkness family.

After Standard Oil started on its way, Lamon moved to [[Kansas City, Missouri]] where he dabbled in the banking business.

Standard Oil grew to become a behemoth and a huge success. However, in 1888, when Lamon was 38, his father Stephen died at the age of 69. After his father's death, Lamon decided to come back east and settle in [[Greenwich, Connecticut]] where he bought the [[William Avery Rockefeller]] mansion in 1891.  The mansion was situated on 34 acres and had 22 bedrooms.

===Horse breeding===
Following a trip to [[Kentucky]] in 1892, Lamon acquired a {{convert|400|acre|km2|adj=on}} farm in Donerail, Kentucky named Walnut Hall Farm. There he developed a [[Standardbred]] [[horse breeding]] operation of major importance to the [[harness racing]] industry. In 1904, Walnut Hall had expanded to 2,000 acres and 100 mares.<ref>[http://kyhorsepark.com Kentucky Horse Park]</ref> The farm became one of the best-known Standardbred farms in the world. The farm's Big Barn built by Harkness in 1897 is 476 feet long, and has 52 stalls, a sales area and auctioneer's block – and it was still in service more than 100 years later at the Kentucky Horse Park. When Harkness died in 1915, the then-5,000-acre farm with 1400 horses was passed to his heirs.  Although sub-divided several times, a part of which is now home to the [[Kentucky Horse Park]], Walnut Farm remains in the hands of his descendants.<ref>[http://walnuthallstockfarm.com/about.html Walnut Stock Farm history]</ref>

In recognition of his contribution to the industry, in 1958 Lamon Harkness was inducted posthumously in the [[Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame|Harness Racing Hall of Fame]].<ref>[http://www.tbheritage.com/TurfHallmarks/Graves/cem/GraveMattersWalnutHall.html Walnut Hall Farm and Walnut Hall Stud at Thoroughbred Heritage]</ref>[[File:Lamon V. Harkness.jpg|thumb|]]

===Yachting===
Harkness was well known as a [[yachtsman]] who owned the [[USS Wakiva II (SP-160)|SS ''Wakiva'']] which became part of the [[United States Navy]] during 1917 and 1918 and had war service during [[World War I]].

He was a member of [[New York Athletic Club|The New York Athletic Club]], Columbia Yacht Club,  [[New York Yacht Club|The New York Yacht Club]] and [[Indian Harbor Yacht Club|Greenwich Indian Harbor Yacht Club]].

==Personal life==
[[File:W. C. Stuart Residence and Later L.V. Harkness residence in Pasadena, CA.png|thumb|W. C. Stuart Residence and Later L.V. Harkness residence in Pasadena, CA]]
Harkness was married to Martha Frances Johnson (1853–1905). In addition to the home at Walnut Hall Farm, Lamon Harkness owned several homes including a mansion at 933 [[Fifth Avenue]] in [[New York City]], and a home in [[East Hampton (town), New York]]. Harkness had two daughters and a son:

* Lela Harkness (1873–1946), who married Ogden M. Edwards (1869–1940).
* [[Harry S. Harkness|Harry Stephen Harkness]] (1880–1919),<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9901E1DD1039E13ABC4C51DFB7668382609EDE Harry S. Harkness dies of Influenza], ''New York Times'', January 24, 1919</ref> who married Marie M. Marbeck in 1906. They divorced in 1916 and he remarried that same year to Florence Streuber (1882–1945), the former wife of David Huyler Gaines.  After his death at age thirty-eight, she married Robert Whitslar Schuette.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30614FD3B5F1B728DDDAB0A94DA405B808EF1D3 FRAUD IN HARKNESS WILL IS ALLEGED]</ref>
* Myrtle Harkness (1883–1962), who married [[California]] businessman [[A. Kingsley Macomber]] (1877–1955), a major [[Thoroughbred]] [[horse racing|racehorse]] owner and breeder, in 1899. After his death she married Pasha Ilhamy Hussein (1908–1992) in 1960.

Harkness died in 1915 at his daughter's ranch, [[Rancho Cienega de los Paicines]] in [[San Benito County, California]], leaving an estate of approximately $100 million (${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|100000000|1915|r=-8}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}} dollars).<ref name="LVHObit1915">{{cite news |title=L. V. Harkness Dies. Racing Man Was Early Associate of John D. Rockefeller |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1915/01/18/100131479.pdf |accessdate=28 April 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 18, 1915}}</ref>   Predeceased by his wife, they are buried together in [[Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)|Woodlawn Cemetery]] in [[The Bronx]], [[New York (state)|New York]].

=== Tax suit===
With multiple residences including New York City as well as Kentucky, California and Connecticut, the question of where inheritance taxes should be paid came into play upon L.V.'s death.<ref>[https://casetext.com/case/estate-of-harkness#.U8RVjZRdV14 Supreme Court of California. Department One.  Estate of Harkness 169 P. 78 (CAL. 1917) decided Nov. 22, 1917]</ref> The case went to the State Supreme Court and The Harkness Estate was successful in defending the assertion that he was not a resident of New York upon his death.<ref name="1917Estate">{{cite news |title=HARKNESS ESTATE MUST PAY TAX HERE; Ruling, if Upheld in Higher Courts, Will Give Millions to New York. LEGAL ABODE IN THIS CITY Surrogate Answers Claim That Oil Man Had His Residence on Kentucky Stock Farm. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/02/18/118137149.pdf |accessdate=28 April 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=18 February 1917}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{find a Grave| 66298704}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harkness, Lamon V.}}
[[Category:1915 deaths]]
[[Category:American businesspeople in the oil industry]]
[[Category:American racehorse owners and breeders]]
[[Category:United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Cleveland]]
[[Category:Harkness family|Lamon V.]]
[[Category:1850 births]]
[[Category:Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)]]
[[Category:People from Bellevue, Ohio]]
[[Category:People from Eureka, Kansas]]