HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Commodore Frederick Gilbert Bourne (December 20, 1851 – March 9, 1919) was an American businessman. He served as the 5th President of the
Singer Manufacturing Company Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I. M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by Isaac M. Singer with New York lawyer Edward C. Clark. Best known for its sewing machines, it was renamed Singer Manu ...
between 1889 and 1905. He made the business "perhaps the first modern multinational industrial enterprise of any nationality".


Early life

Bourne was born on December 20, 1851 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the son of the Rev. George Washington Bourne (1815–1872) and Harriet J. (
née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Gilbert) Bourne (1817–1907), who was from
Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...
. His older sister was Clara Bourne, who married John Loring Whitman. His paternal grandparents were Benjamin Bourne and Mary (née Hatch) Bourne, herself the daughter of Joshua Hatch, a soldier during the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
who was killed near Crown Point after the evacuation of Fort Ticonderoga in 1777. Bourne was educated at public schools in New York before joining the work force at age fourteen.


Career

In order to support of his widowed mother and younger sisters, Bourne started his career in New York with the Atlantic Submarine Wrecking Company, later becoming a cashier and bookkeeper and the clerk of the Mercantile Library. Bourne, who was interested in music, was a member of the
Mendelssohn Glee Club The Mendelssohn Glee Club of New York City, founded in 1866, is the oldest surviving independent musical group in the United States after the New York Philharmonic. Their concerts, given in very high-society settings, featured the new (to Americ ...
, which is likely where he met
Alfred Corning Clark Alfred Corning Clark I (November 14, 1844 – April 8, 1896) was an American philanthropist and patron of the arts. Early life He was the son of Edward Cabot Clark (1811–1882) and Caroline (née Jordan) Clark (1815–1874). His fathe ...
, the son of
Edward Cabot Clark Edward Cabot Clark (December 19, 1811 – October 14, 1882) was an American lawyer, businessman and investor. Early life Clark was born on December 19, 1811 in Athens, New York, Athens in Greene County, New York. He was the eldest child of t ...
, who along with Isaac Merritt Singer, was a co-founder of the Singer Company. Bourne and Clark developed a "close personal relationship" and in 1880, Clark recommended to his father that Bourne be invited to join his family's real estate company, which owned several parcels of valuable Manhattan real estate, and be brought on as construction manager of
The Dakota The Dakota, also known as the Dakota Apartments, is a cooperative apartment building at 1 West 72nd Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The Dakota was constructed between 1880 and 1884 in the Renaissance ...
, then being built on West 72nd Street along
Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...
. Clark frequently traveled abroad, often to Norway to visit the singer Lorentz Severin Skougaard (with whom he had a relationship despite his marriage to Elizabeth Scriven), and in his place, Clark sent Bourne to Singer board meetings. In 1882, following the elder Clark's death, Bourne became the manager of the late Clark's estate. In 1885, Bourne became Secretary of the company and in 1889, at the age of 38, Bourne became the fifth president of Singer. While president, Bourne also oversaw the construction of the company's headquarters, known as the
Singer Building The Singer Building (also known as the Singer Tower) was an office building and early skyscraper in Manhattan, New York City. The headquarters of the Singer Manufacturing Company, it was at the northwestern corner of Liberty Street and Broad ...
. Bourne greatly expanded global production as well as international sales of the Singer sewing machine. Bourne was revolutionary to the sewing machine industry. He used the "installment plan" to make sewing machines a household item. Bourne is also remembered "among the most important innovators in building vertically integrated firms". In 1905, and after sixteen years as president, Bourne retired and was succeeded by Douglas Alexander, who served as president for the next forty-four years. Alexander was created a
baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...
in the
1921 Birthday Honours The 1921 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of the King, and were ...
for his services to the welfare of industrial workers.


Residences

Bourne owned several homes and estates. He maintained an apartment at
The Dakota The Dakota, also known as the Dakota Apartments, is a cooperative apartment building at 1 West 72nd Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The Dakota was constructed between 1880 and 1884 in the Renaissance ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, which occupied the entire first floor; he owned a 2,000-acre (4 km²) country estate named
Indian Neck Hall Indian Neck Hall was a country residence of Frederick Gilbert Bourne, president of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. Located on the Great South Bay in Oakdale, New York, it was reputed to have been the largest estate on Long Island when it was bui ...
in Oakdale on
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...
next to Idle Hour, the estate of William Kissam Vanderbilt; he owned a 375 acre farm near
Montauk, New York Montauk ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, on the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2020 United States census, the CDP's population was 4,318. The ...
, which he used as an undeveloped hunting preserve; an apartment on Jekyll Island, Georgia; and the 7-acre Dark Island in the
Thousand Islands The Thousand Islands (french: Mille-Îles) constitute a North American archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the Canada–US border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for abo ...
in the St. Lawrence River. In 1902, Bourne hired architect
Ernest Flagg Ernest Flagg (February 6, 1857 – April 10, 1947) was an American architect in the Beaux-Arts style. He was also an advocate for urban reform and architecture's social responsibility. Early life and education Flagg was born in Brooklyn, N ...
to build him a small hunting lodge on the Dark Island property. The building was based on a book written by
Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...
in 1826 called ''Woodstock''. This book describes an elegant castle with secret passageways, tunnels, and a dungeon. Today, the castle is known as
Singer Castle Dark Island, a prominent feature of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, is located in the lower (eastern) Thousand Islands region, near Chippewa Bay. It is a part of the Town of Hammond, in St. Lawrence County, New York. A historic landmark on the is ...
.


Personal life

On February 9, 1875, he was married to Emma Sparks Keeler (1855–1916), the daughter of James Rufus Keeler and Mary Louise (née Davidson) Keeler. Emma was a granddaughter of Commodore Davidson, one of the founders of the New York Yacht Club. Together, they were the parents of twelve children: * Frederick Gilbert Bourne Jr (1876–1884). * Arthur Keeler Bourne (1877–1967), who married Edith Hollins; their son: Arthur Keeler Bourne (1899-1974); divorced. Married Alberta M. Bourne, with whom he had three children. * Louisa D. Bourne (1879–), who died in infancy. * May Miller Bourne (1881–1975), who married Ralph B. Strassburger, a
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
businessman and prominent
thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...
racehorse owner and breeder who owned Haras des Monceaux Thoroughbred horse farm at
Lisieux Lisieux () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It is the capital of the Pays d'Auge area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland. Name The name of the town derives from the ...
in Lower Normandy,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.Normandy Farm, Pennsylvania
/ref> * Marion Bourne (1882–1969), who married Robert George Elbert. * Alfred Severin Bourne (1883–1956), who married Hattie Louise Barnes. * Helen Bourne (1884–1887), who died in infancy. * Florence Bourne (1886–1969), who married Anson Wales Hard (1884-1935). They divorced in 1932 after having seven children. * George Gault Bourne (1888–1964), who married Nancy Atterbury Potter, a granddaughter of Bishop Alonzo Potter. * Marjorie Bourne (1890–1962), who married Alexander Dallas Thayer (1888-1968). * Kenneth Bourne (1891–1898), who died in childhood. * Howard Davidson Bourne (1893–1918), who died aged 25. A sailing enthusiast, Bourne served as a Commodore of the New York Yacht Club. He was also a member of the famous Jekyll Island Club (aka The Millionaires Club) on Jekyll Island, Georgia. Bourne owned many boats that he frequently used in New York City and at his summer home in the Thousand Islands. After several months of ill-health, Bourne died at Indian Neck Hall, his residence in Oakdale on Long Island, on March 9, 1919. He died one of the wealthiest men in America, leaving an estate valued at $25,000,000.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bourne 1851 births 1919 deaths American manufacturing businesspeople Members of the New York Yacht Club People from Oakdale, New York People from St. Lawrence County, New York 19th-century American businesspeople