Chauncey Devereux Stillman (November 9, 1907 – January 24, 1989) was a
philanthropist, art collector,
conservationist, and banking heir.
As one biographer noted, "He was one of the richest men of his generation, but he was never idle or indolent."
[Tharp, T. A. D. (2022).]
A Beautiful Life: Remembering Chauncey D. Stillman, Alpha 1931
(PDF). ''The Review''. St. Anthony Hall (Spring): 23.
He founded the
Homeland Foundation (now
Wethersfield Foundation) and its related Wethersfield Estate & Gardens in
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later or ...
, which is now listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
.
Early life
Stillman was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
to an affluent
Episcopalian family.
His parents were Mary Estelle Wight (1870 - 1925) and Charles Chauncey Stillman (1877 – 1926), who was a financier and one of
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
's "greatest benefactors."
Two of his father's sisters married sons of
William Rockefeller Jr.
His paternal grandfather was
James Jewett Stillman
James Jewett Stillman (June 9, 1850 – March 15, 1918) was an American businessman who invested in land, banking, and railroads in New York, Texas, and Mexico. He was chairman of the board of directors of the National City Bank. He forged all ...
, a railroad magnate, president of the
First National City Bank
Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
(now
Citibank), and one of the wealthiest men in the United States.
James Stillman was also a philanthropist and yachtsman.
As one writer put it, "In their heyday, the Stillmans were New York royalty—not quite Carnegies, but fabulously rich."
In February 1907, the family moved to a mansion at 9 East 67th Street in
Manhattan, New York
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
.
This home was filled with art, including at least twelve old masters such as
Rembrandt's ''Portrait of Titus.''
They also owned Kenridge, a large country estate at
Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York
Cornwall-on-Hudson is a riverfront village in the town of Cornwall, Orange County, New York, United States. It lies on the west bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of New York City.
The population as of the 2010 census was 3,018. It ...
.
Stillman attended
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, graduating in 1929.
There, he was a member of
Delphic Club
The Delphic Club is an all-male social group at Harvard University founded in 1846. It began the process of merging with the all-female Bee Club in August 2017, and the Delphic & Bee became one of fifteen Harvard-recognized social organizations ...
.
He was also the senior class odist, penning his class ode and reading it at the graduation ceremony. While he was at college, his mother, father, and brother all died of different causes.
As a result, he was the heir to a vast fortune.
Stillman was adrift for the rest of his twenties, "seeking a place and a purpose to call his own."
He graduated with a master's degree from the
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
School of Architecture.
While at Columbia, he joined the Fraternity of Delta Psi (
St. Anthony Hall).
In 1930 when his sister got married, Stillman moved out of his childhood home on 67th Street and into a new seven-room penthouse on 33 East 70th Street.
Career
Stillman served as a director of
Freeport Minerals Company (later
Freeport--McMoRan), beginning in December 1931.
In 1937, he founded, underwrote, and was president of Free America, Inc. and edited the monthly magazine ''Free America'' with
Ralph Borsodi
Ralph Borsodi (December, 1888 – October 27, 1977) was an American agrarian theorist and practical experimenter interested in ways of living useful to the modern family desiring greater self-reliance (especially so during the Great Depression) ...
and
Herbert Agar
Herbert Sebastian Agar (29 September 1897 – 24 November 1980) was an American journalist and historian, and an editor of the ''Louisville Courier-Journal''.
Early life
Herbert Sebastian Agar was born September 29, 1897 in New Rochelle, New Yor ...
.
Through 1947, the magazine promoted
agrarianism,
distributism
Distributism is an economic theory asserting that the world's productive assets should be widely owned rather than concentrated.
Developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, distributism was based upon Catholic social teaching pri ...
, the idea of spreading land-ownership to the entire population, and decentralization, expressing his belief "that independence could only be found in a society with decentralized business and political power."
Douglas Dewey notes, “By no means was he enamored with
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...
or
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
. He believed in the
free market
In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...
but he also believed strongly in
patronage.”
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, Stillman served as an air combat intelligence officer with Air Group 20 on the
''USS'' ''Enterprise'' CV-6 and
''USS'' ''Lexington'' CV-16, and fought in the
Battle of Leyte Gulf in October of 1944.
He later served as a staff officer with the
United States National Security Council
The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Exe ...
.
As a civilian in 1947, he worked for the newly created
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...
under its first secretary,
James Forrestal
James Vincent Forrestal (February 15, 1892 – May 22, 1949) was the last Cabinet-level United States Secretary of the Navy and the first United States Secretary of Defense.
Forrestal came from a very strict middle-class Irish Catholic fami ...
.
A short time later, he worked for the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
through 1951.
Philanthropy
Stillman dedicated his life to
philanthropy, and was an advocate of
homesteading and agricultural experimentation.
Around 1936, he joined
Ralph Borsodi
Ralph Borsodi (December, 1888 – October 27, 1977) was an American agrarian theorist and practical experimenter interested in ways of living useful to the modern family desiring greater self-reliance (especially so during the Great Depression) ...
in becoming a founding board member of the
Independence Foundation, Inc., which secured land for homesteading communities.
In June 1938, he established and was president of the
Homeland Foundation (now called the
Wethersfield Foundation).
Its purpose was to “make, institute, conduct and carry out every manner and kind of scientific, agricultural, horticultural, or biological experiment, research, study and investigation, and in any other way to assist in improving and developing country life and to experiment, research, study and investigate with regard to the most satisfactory means of economic and social life in rural communities.”
Later, the foundation's mission would expand to encompass his diverse interests, “to display art and period furniture; to sponsor religious charitable, scientific, and literary programs; to use for cultural activities; public outdoor recreation and scenic enjoyment; protection of natural environmental systems; conservation, cultural, intellectual, religious, and recreations purposes; preservation of natural wildlife; and to make other contributions and gifts, but only if made for exclusively public purposes.”
He was president of the foundation's board of trustees until his death.
Under his leadership, grants were made that related to architectural preservation, art restoration, his religious faith, and religious art.
In 1959, Stillman donated a new Our Lady's Chapel at the Immaculate Conception Church in
Brownsville, Texas, a community founded by his great-grandfather. Around 1962, he endowed the Stillman Chair for Catholic Studies at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
.
In 1969, he acquired the circa 1793 Captain James Francis House in
Wethersfield, Connecticut
Wethersfield is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut. It is located immediately south of Hartford along the Connecticut River. Its population was 27,298 at the time of the 2020 census.
Many records from colonial times spell the name ...
, and donated it to the
Wethersfield Historical Society.
He was a director of the
National Audubon Society, a director of the
New York Botanical Garden
The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...
from 1946 to 1969, and a trustee of the
New York Zoological Society
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
for almost thirty years.
He was also an annual donor to the
Animal Kingdom Foundation.
Publications
* ''Important Paintings by Old and Modern Masters: From the Estate of the Late James Stillman Sold by Order of the Heirs and from the Collection of the Late C.C. Stillman,'' with James Stillman. New York: American Art Association, 1927.
* "Book Review: ''The Long Night''." ''The North American Review''. vol. 242, number 2 (1936): 438-441.
* ''Air Group 20: An Unofficial Portrayal of Carrier Air Group Twenty, 1949.''
* ''Charles Stillman, 1810-1875''. New York: Chauncey Devereux Stillman, 1956.
* ''The Annigoni Frescoes At Wethersfield House''. Amenia, New York: Chauncey Devereux Stillman, 1973.
* "Christopher Dawson Recollections from America." ''The Chesterton Review'', vol. 9, number 2 (1983): 143-148.
Honors
* Stillman was listed in ''
Who's Who in America
Marquis Who's Who ( or ) is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in America'', ''Who's Who of American Wome ...
''.
* The Stillman Chair for Catholic Studies at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
is named in his honor.
* He was honored as a
Gentiluomo de Sua Santita by the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
.
* Stillman Dormitory at
Thomas More College of Liberal Arts
The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts is a Private college, private Catholic Church, Roman Catholic liberal arts college in Merrimack, New Hampshire. It emphasizes Classical education movement, classical education in the Catholic intellectual t ...
is named in his honor.
* The gates of
Dunster House
Dunster House is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University. Built in 1930, it is one of the first two dormitories at Harvard University constructed under President Abbott Lawrence Lowell's House Plan and one of the sev ...
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
were given in memory of Stillman in 1931.
* The Chauncey Stillman Professor of Sephardic Law and Ethics of
Bar Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...
in
Tel Aviv, Israel
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
, was created in his honor by the Homeland Foundation in 2005.
*
Goodspeed Musicals
Goodspeed Musicals is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theater and the creation of new works, located in East Haddam, Connecticut. A distinctive feature of the view from the Connecticut River, the ...
' Chauncey Stillman Production Facility in
East Haddam, Connecticut
East Haddam is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut. The population was 8,875 at the time of the 2020 census.
History
Until 1650, the area of East Haddam was inhabited by at least three Indigenous peoples: the Wangunk, the Mohegan and the N ...
, was named in his honor.
Personal life
Stillman married Theodora Moran Jay of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
on January 21, 1939, in a chapel in her grandmother's house.
She was the daughter of Elizabeth Morgan and DeLancey Kane Jay of
Long Island, New York, and a descendant of
John Jay
John Jay (December 12, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, patriot, diplomat, abolitionist, signatory of the Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served as the second governor of New York and the f ...
, the first
Chief Justice of the United States.
They had three daughters: Emily Theodora Jay Stillman (born and died 1939), Elizabeth Jay Stillman (born 1944), and Mary Theodora Stillman (born 1945).
In 1949, Theodora went to
Reno, Nevada
Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...
, and secured a divorce from Stillman on the basis of "extreme cruelty" on July 29, 1949.
She retained custody of their two daughters and received an "extremely large property settlement" in a sealed agreement.
On December 29, 1954, Theodora returned to Reno and received a modified alimony of $5,600 per month.
The supplemental agreement also gave her $950 a month for child support.
He collected
Renaissance art
Renaissance art (1350 – 1620 AD) is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as the Renaissance, which emerged as a distinct style in Italy in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments which occ ...
, especially religious art such as works by
Lorenzo di Credi
Lorenzo di Credi (1456/59 – January 12, 1537) was an Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor best known for his paintings of religious subjects. He is most famous for having worked in the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio at the same time ...
and
Francesco Francia
__NOTOC__
Francesco Francia, whose real name was Francesco Raibolini (1447 – 5 January 1517) was an Italian painter, goldsmith, and medallist from Bologna, who was also director of the city mint.Levinson:492
He may have trained with Marco Zop ...
.
However, his collection also included works by
James E. Buttersworth,
Mary Cassatt
Mary Stevenson Cassatt (; May 22, 1844June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh's North Side), but lived much of her adult life in France, where she befriended Edgar De ...
,
Edgar Degas,
Nicolas Lancret
Nicolas Lancret (22 January 1690 – 14 September 1743) was a French painter. Born in Paris, he was a brilliant depicter of light comedy which reflected the tastes and manners of French society during the regency of the Duke of Orleans and, late ...
,
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo,
John Singer Sargent,
Gilbert Stuart, and
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in th ...
.
His "prize" was ''Portrait of a Halberdier'' which was painted by
Jacopo Pontormo
Jacopo Carucci (May 24, 1494 – January 2, 1557), usually known as ''Jacopo da Pontormo'', ''Jacopo Pontormo'', or simply Pontormo, was an Italian Mannerist painter and portraitist from the Florentine School. His work represents a profound sty ...
in the 1530s.
Stillman was also an avid
equestrian
The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse".
Horseback riding (or Riding in British English)
Examples of this are:
* Equestrian sports
*Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...
and saw the beauty of rural
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later or ...
, while riding the Millbrook Hunt.
In 1937, he purchased two depleted farms in the area, with a combined total of around .
There, he built Wethersfield, a country estate near
Amenia, New York. He named his estate after his family's first home in America in 1705—
Wethersfield, Connecticut
Wethersfield is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut. It is located immediately south of Hartford along the Connecticut River. Its population was 27,298 at the time of the 2020 census.
Many records from colonial times spell the name ...
.
He gradually expanded the estate to .
Some of his first additions to the property were a stables and large carriage house for his collection of 22 19th-century carriages that were drawn by a team of
Hackney horses that he imported from England.
In 1939, he hired the architect
L. Bancel LaFarge to create a brick and brownstone
Georgian-style
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, Geor ...
house at Wethersfield that included a private chapel, a library decorated with wood carvings from a Scottish castle, and a room with a vaulted ceiling with frescoes by
Pietro Annigoni
Pietro Annigoni, OMRI (7 June 1910 – 28 October 1988) was an Italian artist, portrait painter, fresco painter and medallist, best known for his painted portraits of Queen Elizabeth II. His work was in the Renaissance tradition, contrasting ...
to display ''Portrait of a Halberdier''.
In addition to its art collection, Wethersfield was also known for its of formal gardens that were inspired by 17th-century Italy.
Designed by
Evelyn N. Poehler, the gardens include "a painterly sequence of
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...
–inspired spaces was conjured, linked by sweeping terraces, speckled with thrilling statues in a modern-classical style, and punctuated by an ornamental oval pool with water dyed jet-black to mirror the passage of the sun."
The Italian Gardens combine perennials and evergreens with stonework, a swimming pool (now a reflecting pond), the brick Grasshopper House
folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings.
Eighteenth-cent ...
, and the Belvedere, a circular temple with six columns.
In addition, Poehler designed a 7-acre (2.8 ha) Wilderness Garden with trails and carriage drives through a deciduous woodland with ferns, mountain laurels, and rhododendrons as an "allegorical journey" based on Dante's ''
Divine Comedy
The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature ...
''—like the ''bosci'' of the Italian Renaissance.
The Woodland Garden also features statues by Peter Watts and
Jozef Stachura that represent figures from Greek and Roman mythology.
Poehler worked with Stillman for more than 25 years to develop and maintain the estate's gardens.
Stillman also raised vegetables and livestock, using the estate for agricultural experimentation.
He became a pioneer in soil and water conservation, banning herbicides, rotating crops, and practicing
biodynamic agriculture
Biodynamic agriculture is a form of alternative agriculture based on pseudo-scientific and esoteric concepts initially developed in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925). It was the first of the organic farming movements. It treats soil fertility ...
.
He added twelve irrigation ponds and reforested his land.
He also prohibited automobiles on the property, instead adding twenty miles of carriage trails.
Stillman maintained a residence in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, and divided his time between both homes.
He read Greek and did needlepoint.
He also enjoyed yachting on his flagship ''Westerly.''
In 1942, he gave ''Westerly'' to be used as a patrol boat during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
He was a member of the
New York Yacht Club
The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. ...
, becoming its commodore in the 1960s.
He was also a member of the Carriage Association of America (CAA); Caroline Kennedy rode with Stillman in his carriage at a CAA event in Newport, Rhode Island in March 1968.
When he was 45 years old, Stillman converted to
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
.
He said, “In 1952, I joined the Catholic Church after three decades of deliberation."
In the 1980s, he established the
Wethersfield Institute in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, to sponsor religious seminars.
In 1989, Stillman died of lung cancer in his apartment in New York City at the age of 82 years.
He left Wethersfield and much of his personal art collection to the Homeland Foundation.
Wethersfield opened to the public shortly after his death and is now managed by the nonprofit Friends of Wethersfield.
It is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
.
To help expand the foundation's reach, ''Portrait of a Halberdier'' was sold at auction in 1989 to the
Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa.
The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and fe ...
for $34 million, then the highest price ever paid for an old master.
In 1998, the foundation's assets totaled $103 million.
However, over the next seventeen years, the foundation's trustees overspent and misappropriated funds, resulting in a balance of just $31 million.
Stillman's heirs stepped in and the foundation sold more paintings to be able to preserve Wethersfield.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stillman, Chauncey
1907 births
1989 deaths
20th-century American philanthropists
American art collectors
American Episcopalians
American Roman Catholics
Businesspeople from New York City
Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni
Harvard University alumni
Philanthropists from New York (state)
St. Anthony Hall
Thomas More College of Liberal Arts
United States Navy officers