Charles Deering
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Charles Deering (July 31, 1852 – February 5, 1927) was an American businessman, art collector, and philanthropist. He was an executive of the agricultural machinery company founded by his father that became
International Harvester The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...
. Charles's successful stewardship of the family firm left him with the means and leisure to indulge his interests in the arts and natural sciences. His activities and benefactions in the US were centered on Chicago and Miami; he also aspired to found an art museum in Spain.


Early life

Deering was born July 31, 1852, in
South Paris, Maine South Paris is a census-designated place (CDP) located within the town of Paris in Oxford County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 2,237 at the 2000 census. While the CDP refers only to the densely settled area in the southern p ...
, the son of Abby Reed Barbour and William Deering. His father was a successful businessman then engaged in real estate speculation and the manufacture and sale of woolens. In 1856, Charles's mother died, and, the following year, his father married Clara Barbour Cummings Hamilton, a cousin of his late wife. The two children of this marriage were
James Deering James Deering (November 12, 1859 – September 21, 1925) was an American executive in the management of his family's Deering Harvester Company and later International Harvester, as well as a socialite and an antiquities collector. He built ...
(1859–1925) and Abby Marion Deering (later Mrs Richard Flint Howe). Charles remained close to his half-brother and sister throughout his life. Charles attended
Kents Hill School Kents Hill School (also known as Kents Hill or KHS) is a co-educational, independent college-preparatory school for boarding and day students. Kents Hill is located in Kents Hill, Maine, 12 miles west of the state capital of Augusta. It is the 30 ...
, graduating in June 1869. At first, he set his sights on a career in the Navy. Obtaining a midshipman's warrant, he entered the
United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...
at Annapolis, where he graduated second in the class of 1873. He served as a naval officer until 1881, when he resigned in order to join his father's company. Naval service shaped Deering by exposing him to the cultures of Europe and Asia. He supplemented these experiences with extensive personal travel, developing cosmopolitan tastes, a cosmopolitan outlook, and a particular affinity with the arts of Spain. While still in the Navy, Charles met and married Ana Rogers Case, the daughter of Rear Admiral Augustus Ludlow Case; the couple wed in 1875 in Newport, Rhode Island. Ana Deering died October 31, 1876, shortly after giving birth to a son, Charles Case Deering (1876–1924). Deering was a gifted amateur artist, and while still in the Navy he used his free time to become acquainted with leading artists and to visit the world's great art galleries. He began a lifelong habit of collecting art, both by acknowledged masters and contemporaries. In 1876, he met the painter John Singer Sargent, who became a close friend. Other artist-friends included sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens, the Swedish artist
Anders Zorn Anders Leonard Zorn (18 February 1860 – 22 August 1920) was a Swedish painter. He attained international success as a painter, sculptor, and etching artist. Among Zorn's portrait subjects include King Oscar II of Sweden and three American ...
, and Catalan artist Ramon Casas i Carbo. In 1893, Deering took time off from his other duties to study painting in Paris under Zorn for an entire season. Throughout his life, Deering enthusiastically supported and championed the work of many living artists while also avidly purchasing hundreds of older, more obscure works along with many acknowledged masterpieces.


Business career

By 1881, William Deering's business activities had shifted to Illinois, where some earlier investments had led to his founding the Deering Harvester Company. As it grew, he enlisted both his sons in running the company. Charles moved to Chicago, taking up permanent residence in Evanston and becoming the company's secretary. His father retired in 1901. In 1902,
J. P. Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...
financed a deal that combined Deering Harvester and the company founded by
Cyrus McCormick Cyrus Hall McCormick (February 15, 1809 – May 13, 1884) was an American inventor and businessman who founded the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which later became part of the International Harvester Company in 1902. Originally from the ...
, along with several others, to form the
International Harvester The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...
Company. Charles Deering became chairman of the board of the newly created company. He served in this capacity until 1910, when he retired.


Art patronage and collecting

Deering devoted the rest of his life to art collecting and to the creation of several estates in the United States and Europe. Deering dreamed of creating an art center in Spain, and in 1910 he had the ''Palau Maricel'' built with the help of the artist
Miquel Utrillo Miquel Utrillo i Morlius (16 February 1862, Barcelona - 20 January 1934, Sitges) was a Catalan art critic, scenographer, painter, and engineer. Biography He was born to the lawyer, Miquel Utrillo i Riu, originally from Tremp, a liberal repub ...
in
Sitges Sitges (, , ) is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Spain, renowned worldwide for its Film Festival, Carnival, and LGBT Culture. Located between the Garraf Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, it is known for its beaches, nights ...
, a town just south of
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
. The building was connected by a bridge across the lane to a second building he purchased, which now houses the '' Museu Maricel''. A portrait of him by Catalan artist Ramon Casas i Carbó can be seen in the museum, which is open to visitors. The ''Palau Maricel'' is also open to visitors, but only in the summer. Deering's hope was that the complex would become a magnet for artists and artistic life, where people of many nations would come to make art and study. In addition, Deering's own large and many-sided collection of Spanish art and decorative objects would be on display. In the end, however, Deering abandoned much of this plan. Instead, much of his collection was given to the Art Institute of Chicago, while other works were transferred to his estate at Cutler, Florida.


Florida estates

Beginning around 1890, the William Deerings began wintering in Florida, first around St. Augustine, and later in the vicinity of Miami. Visiting them, both Charles and his half-brother became deeply interested in South Florida. Around 1908, Charles purchased some 212 acres of land in
Buena Vista Buena Vista, meaning "good view" in Spanish, may refer to: Places Canada *Bonavista, Newfoundland and Labrador, with the name being originally derived from “Buena Vista” *Buena Vista, Saskatchewan *Buena Vista, Saskatoon, a neighborhood in ...
. In 1910, he hired Clinton Mackenzie to design a Spanish-style villa for the property. He hired the great Chicago landscape architect
Ossian Cole Simonds Ossian Cole Simonds (November 11, 1855 – November 20, 1931), often known as O. C. Simonds, was an American landscape designer. He preferred the term 'landscape gardener' to that of 'landscape architect'. A number of Simonds' works are listed o ...
to lay out the grounds. Here he supported 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, ...
by providing them 25 acres to grow cacti. Around this time, Deering made the acquaintance of botanist
David Fairchild David Grandison Fairchild (April 7, 1869 – August 6, 1954) was an American botanist and plant explorer. Fairchild was responsible for the introduction of more than 200,000 exotic plants and varieties of established crops into the United State ...
and allowed the US Department of Agriculture to establish an experimental station on 25 acres of his property. Deering became an avid naturalist and preservationist. The book ''Ornamental Gardening in Florida'' by Charles Simpson is dedicated to him. Deering correctly foresaw that development would soon engulf the Buena Vista property, and by 1913 he had begun buying land further down on the coast, along
Old Cutler Road Old Cutler Road is an off-grid plan, main northeast–southwest road running south of Downtown Miami, downtown Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. Route description The northern terminus is Cocoplum C ...
. By 1915, he had acquired several hundred acres near Cutler and moved his winter quarters there permanently. His Buena Vista estate was broken up by developers during the land boom of 1925. Deering built a fine stone house on his second property. Now named the Charles Deering Estate, it is open to the public as a museum and nature preserve. Meanwhile, his brother James built an estate, Villa Vizcaya, on Biscayne Bay in
Coconut Grove Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as The Grove, is the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bound by North Prospect Drive to the south, LeJeune Road to the west, S ...
. Charles Deering was also a member of the famous
Jekyll Island Club The Jekyll Island Club was a private club on Jekyll Island, on Georgia's Atlantic coast. It was founded in 1886 when members of an incorporated hunting and recreational club purchased the island for $125,000 (about $3.1 million in 2017) from John ...
(aka the Millionaires Club) on
Jekyll Island, Georgia Jekyll Island is located off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia, in Glynn County. It is one of the Sea Islands and one of the Golden Isles of Georgia barrier islands. The island is owned by the State of Georgia and run by a self-sustaining, ...
.


Family

In 1883, Deering had married Marion Dennison Whipple, the daughter of Major General William Dennison Whipple. The Deerings had three children: Roger, Marion, and Barbara (later Mrs. Richard Ely Danielson). On July 6, 1914, Deering's daughter Marion (1887–1965) married Chauncey McCormick in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
over his objections. After a civil ceremony, a religious rite was held at James Deering's Paris residence. Mrs. McCormick became a patron of art in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
and "one of the nation's richest women". Her son Brooks McCormick (1917–2006) was the last family member to head International Harvester.


Death and memorial library

Charles Deering died February 5, 1927, in Miami. In 1930, construction began on the Charles Deering Library at
Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...
in
Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...
. Funding was provided primarily through donations made by the Deering, McCormick, and Danielson families. Dedicated in 1933, it served as Northwestern's primary library until 1970, when an adjacent library was constructed. The Deering Library now houses certain special collections of the
Northwestern University Library Northwestern University Libraries is the main academic library system of Northwestern University. The library holds 7.9 million item including 228,505 maps, 107,446 print journals and 173,089 electronic journals, making it the 11th largest librar ...
, along with art, music, and the University Archives. Deering's son Roger (1884–1936) also was an art patron and benefactor to Northwestern.


References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Carstensen, Fred. "William Deering". ''American National Biography'' (online edition). Retrieved September 27, 2011. * Ceo, Rocco J., and Joanna Lombard. ''Historic Landscapes of Florida''. The Deering Foundation and University of Miami School of Architecture, 2001. * Fairchild, David. ''The World Grows Round My Door''. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1947. * Fairchild, David. ''The World Was My Garden''. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1938. * Rothra, Elizabeth Ogren. ''Florida's Pioneer Naturalist''. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 1995. * Rybcznski, Witold, and Laurie Olin. ''Vizcaya: An American Villa and Its Makers''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007. * Scott, Walter Dill, and Robert B. Harshe. ''Charles Deering: An Appreciation; Together with His Memoirs of William Deering and James Deering''. Boston: privately printed, 1929. * Simpson, Charles Torry. ''Ornamental Gardening in Florida''. Little River, FL:(Self Published), 1916.


External links


About the Charles Deering Library (northwestern.edu)

Museus de Sitges
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deering, Charles 1852 births 1927 deaths People from Paris, Maine Philanthropists from Illinois American art collectors Businesspeople from Chicago Businesspeople from Maine Kents Hill School alumni