![William West Durant at Camp Pine Knot](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/William_West_Durant_at_Camp_Pine_Knot.jpg)
William West Durant (1850–1934) was a designer and developer of camps in the
Adirondack Great Camp
__NOTOC__
The Great Camps of the Adirondack Mountains refers to the grandiose family compounds of cabins that were built in the latter half of the nineteenth century on lakes in the Adirondacks such as Spitfire Lake and Rainbow Lake. The camp ...
style, including
Camp Uncas
Camp Uncas is an Adirondack Great Camp, the second built by William West Durant for his own use. It lies on the shore of Lake Mohegan, near Great Camp Sagamore, and was completed in two years.
Previously Durant had built Camp Pine Knot, wh ...
,
Camp Pine Knot
Camp Pine Knot, also known as Huntington Memorial Camp, on Raquette Lake in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State, was built by William West Durant. Begun in 1877, it was the first of the "Adirondack Great Camps" and epitomizes the "Great Camp ...
and
Great Camp Sagamore
Great Camp Sagamore is one of several historic Great Camps located in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York State.
History
Great Camp Sagamore was constructed by William West Durant on Sagamore Lake between 1895-1897. Prior to Sagamore, W ...
which are
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
s. He was the son of
Thomas C. Durant
Thomas Clark Durant (February 6, 1820 – October 5, 1885) was an American physician, businessman, and financier. He was vice-president of the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) in 1869 when it met with the Central Pacific railroad at Promontory Sum ...
, the financier and railroad promoter who was behind the
Crédit Mobilier scandal
The Crédit Mobilier scandal () was a two-part fraud conducted from 1864 to 1867 by the Union Pacific Railroad and the Crédit Mobilier of America construction company in the building of the eastern portion of the First transcontinental railroad. ...
.
Biography
William West Durant was born in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, in 1850. He attended Twickenham School in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and was privately tutored. Although in his biographies William states he was educated at Bonn University, the University has no record of his attendance between 1866-1875. A review of his collection of letters housed at the Library of Congress does not reveal any indication that he undertook a formal education while living abroad. He did however travel extensively as a youth in Europe. He toured Egypt in the years 1869 and 1873. While in Egypt he was escorted by a tutor. At 24, his father,
Dr. Thomas C. Durant, summoned him home from Egypt to help develop the central Adirondacks where the Durants owned 1/2 million acres.
While working to complete the eastern half of the
First transcontinental railroad
North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...
in 1869 as vice-president of the
Union Pacific
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
,
Dr. Thomas C. Durant formed the
Adirondack Company in 1863, accumulating half a million acres of land at State auctions for five cents an acre. He also sold a large parcel of land in Brooklyn for the development of Prospect Park for two hundred thousand dollars. His goal for the Adirondack Railroad was to cross the Adirondacks to
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and the
Saint Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...
. By 1871, tracks had been laid from Saratoga to
North Creek, New York
North Creek is a census-designated place and hamlet in the Adirondack Park, in the town of Johnsburg, in Warren County, New York, United States. It is an area known for skiing ( Gore Mountain), hiking and other outdoor recreational activities. I ...
, at which point, financial problems and the 1873 Depression caused the project to stall.
In 1876, Durant built a rustic compound on Long Point in
Raquette Lake
Raquette Lake is the source of the Raquette River in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. It is near the community of Raquette Lake, New York. The lake has of shoreline with pines and mountains bordering the lake. It is located in the t ...
in the center of the Adirondacks to entertain potential investors in the railroad and in his land development schemes. William had first seen Raquette Lake the summer before and spent the following winter living there in a tent. This group of simple cabins would become Camp Pine Knot, which would be hugely influential in the development of the Great Camp style. William had a hand in its development from the start, but especially after 1879, when tourism to the area exploded following the publication of
WHH Murray
William Henry Harrison Murray (1840–1904), also known as Adirondack Murray, was an American clergyman and author of an influential series of articles and books which popularized the Adirondack Mountains in Upstate New York. He became known as th ...
's ''Adventures in the Wilderness''. William opened a stagecoach line from North Creek to Raquette Lake, dammed the
Marion River
The Marion River is a river that connects Blue Mountain Lake via Utowana Lake and Eagle Lake (the Eckford chain) to Raquette Lake in Hamilton County in the central Adirondacks. New York State has classified the Marion as a Scenic River.
The M ...
to allow steamboat travel from Blue Mountain Lake through to Eagle and Utowana Lakes, and built steamboats ''Killoquah'' and ''Toowahloondah'' on Raquette and Blue Mountain Lakes, respectively. He also arranged for the construction of the
Church of the Good Shepherd on St. Hubert's Isle, and created a telegraph company to provide service through to Raquette Lake.
In 1884, William married Janet Lathrop Stott, 19, the only surviving daughter of the Stotts of Bluff Point and
Stottville, New York, a family with which the Durants had had business and family relationships for several generations. They settled in
Saratoga Springs
Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...
, conveniently located between Raquette Lake and
Albany where many of William's dealings took him.
Dr. Durant became ill in 1883 and died,
intestate
Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without having in force a valid will or other binding declaration. Alternatively this may also apply where a will or declaration has been made, but only applies to part of the estat ...
, in 1885. William took control of the family finances, although not without discord with his sister,
Ella
Ella may refer to:
* Ella (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname
Places United States
* Ella, Kentucky, an unincorporated community
* Ella, Oregon, an unincorporated community
* Ella, Pennsylvania, an unincorporate ...
. William promptly set out to raise capital by selling land and timber, and sought a buyer for the Adirondack Railway, finally succeeding in 1899 with a sale to the
Delaware and Hudson Canal Company
The Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H) is a railroad that operates in the Northeastern United States. In 1991, after more than 150 years as an independent railroad, the D&H was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). CP operates D&H ...
. He also started work on a new camp,
Camp Uncas
Camp Uncas is an Adirondack Great Camp, the second built by William West Durant for his own use. It lies on the shore of Lake Mohegan, near Great Camp Sagamore, and was completed in two years.
Previously Durant had built Camp Pine Knot, wh ...
. At about this time, William befriended industrialist
Collis P. Huntington
Collis Potter Huntington (October 22, 1821 – August 13, 1900) was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the Big Four of western railroading (along with Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker) who invested ...
, who would prove instrumental in advancing William's fortunes, lending William over $200,000 using the Adirondack Land holdings as collateral. In 1895, William and his wife initiated divorce proceedings against one another. William sold Pine Knot to Huntington and
J.P. Morgan
JP may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''JP'' (album), 2001, by American singer Jesse Powell
* ''Jp'' (magazine), an American Jeep magazine
* ''Jönköpings-Posten'', a Swedish newspaper
* Judas Priest, an English heavy metal band
* ''Jurassic Park ...
bought Uncas. He and his wife Janet were granted a divorce, which was sealed from the public in 1898.
William started work on a new camp complex on Shedd Lake, later renamed
Sagamore Lake
Sagamore Lake is a lake located south of Raquette Lake, New York. Sagamore Lake was known as Shedd Lake before being renamed "Sagamore Lake" by Alfred G. Vanderbilt after he purchased Great Camp Sagamore in 1901. South Inlet is the outlet creek, ...
. It was to be the largest and most expensive of Durant's camps, centered on a three-story, main lodge, with a raised stone cellar adding to the height, and
verandah
A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure.
Although the form ''veran ...
s on three levels. No sooner was the work completed on
Sagamore Camp
Great Camp Sagamore is one of several historic Great Camps located in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York State.
History
Great Camp Sagamore was constructed by William West Durant on Sagamore Lake between 1895-1897. Prior to Sagamore, W ...
than he was forced to sell it, along with , to
Alfred G. Vanderbilt
Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Sr. (October 20, 1877 – May 7, 1915) was a wealthy American businessman, and a member of the Vanderbilt family. A sportsman, he participated in and pioneered a number of related endeavors. He died in the sinking of ...
, in 1900. As with each of William's great camps, there was little or no profit.
In 1890, William had granted his sister a monthly $200 allowance. She had doubts about whether she was receiving her fair share of their father's estate, especially when, in 1890, William bought a $200,000, ocean-going luxury yacht, ''
Utowana''. In 1893, Ella brought suit to attempt to force her brother to render a public accounting of the estate; William's legal stratagems would delay the trial for six years. When the case finally came to trial, it generated a substantial public interest. The court ruled against William, and he was ordered to pay Ella $753,931. William appealed, and lost again.
Ella's victory, however, proved largely
pyrrhic
A pyrrhic (; el, πυρρίχιος ''pyrrichios'', from πυρρίχη ''pyrrichē'') is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. It consists of two unaccented, short syllables. It is also known as a dibrach.
Poetic use in English
Tennyson us ...
. William had been living beyond his means for several years, and Collis Huntington had bailed him out as needed, but in 1900, Huntington died unexpectedly at Pine Knot. Between his divorce, his creditors and his sister's suit, William's financial position deteriorated rapidly, and by 1904, he declared bankruptcy. His ex-wife Janet followed suit, claiming bankruptcy in 1913.
He married a Canadian woman 23 years his junior who kept a boardinghouse in New York City and dabbled in real estate. He tried a number of modest ventures, and then returned to the Adirondacks to manage a hotel on Long Lake, and then another on Lake Harris. This was followed, in 1910 by an attempt at mushroom farming in Maine that went nowhere. He worked for three years for a development on Long Island, and then worked doing title searches for Adirondack land sales.
William West Durant died at
Mount Sinai Hospital on June 1, 1934, age 83, and was interred in the family's mausoleum, built in Brooklyn's fashionable Greenwood Cemetery in 1873 for $60,000. His sister Heloise was not to have a place there. According to a letter he wrote in 1932 to his old friend
Poultney Bigelow
Poultney Bigelow (10 September 1855 – 28 May 1954) was an American journalist and author.Bigelow, Patricia, ''The Bigelow Family Genealogy'', the Bigelow Society, Flint, Michigan, 1986, vol II, p. 492; #16312.744.
He was born in New York City, ...
, William said, "I am poor but in good health and not unhappy. What more can anyone expect?"
[Letter from William West Durant to Poultney Bigelow. December 26, 1932. Poultney Bigelow papers. Manuscripts and Archives Division. The New York Public Library. Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations]
William West Durant's life has been written about in Donaldson's, Hochschild's and Gilborn's non-fiction biographies. Sheila Myers wrote a trilogy of novels on the Durant family which includes William West Durant as a main character.
References
* Donaldson, Alfred L., ''A History of the Adirondacks''. New York: Century, 1921. (1977 reprint)
*Durant, William West, Bernice Eugenie Durant. The 1868-1869 and 1873 Egyptian Diaries of William West Durant. The Family Document Series. 1979.
* Gilborn, Craig. ''Durant: Fortunes and Woodland Camps of a Family in the Adirondacks''. Utica, NY: North Country Books, 1981.
*Hochschild, Harold. Township 34. Adirondack Museum, 1961.
*Myers, Sheila. Durant Family Sagas. Imaginary Brightness (2015), Castles in the Air (2016), The Night is Done (2017). ; ;
* Timm, Ruth, ''Raquette Lake: A Time to Remember'', Utica, North Country Books, 1989, .
*''William West Durant correspondence''. Library of Congress.
External links
St. Hubert's Isle - History of the Durant family work at Raquette Lake*
*
*
ttp://digitale-sammlungen.ulb.uni-bonn.de/ulbbn/periodical/structure/775910 University of Bonn Attendance Recordsbr>
''Brooklyn Daily Eagle''''The New York Times'' 1913Durant Family Saga
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durant, William West
Rustic style architects
Adirondack Great Camps
1850 births
1934 deaths
People from Brooklyn
University of Bonn alumni