Durant Family Saga
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What We Leave BehindĀ 

6/25/2021

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PictureDr. Thomas C. Durant mausoleum. Greenwood cemetery, Brooklyn, NY. Source: Sheila Myers
I dragged my daughter, who lives in Brooklyn, to the Green-Wood cemetery. I wanted to see where one of the main characters in my Durant Family Saga: Dr. Thomas C. Durant, had a family mausoleum.

The whole place intrigued me. I had not known much about the rural cemetery movement during the mid 19th century until I visited this site.

First, I must say I was a tad disappointed in the Doc's mausoleum. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it was so, well  - plain. No angels embellishing the entrance, no epitaph, no dates, no sign of who was even interred inside these gray (granite?) walls embedded into the side of the hill. But then the variety of burial sites did surprise me. As you can see from the slide show below, there are all types of statues and burial plots at this cemetery.

While visiting, I learned a lot about this small oasis of tranquility in the middle of bustling Brooklyn. The Green-Wood Cemetery was founded in 1838 at the height of the rural cemetery movement. Before these massive land plots were developed into cemeteries most people were buried either in churchyards or private property. Many city residents, fearful of the spread of cholera from burials too close to heavily populated areas such as Manhattan, pushed for the development of rural cemeteries. At the time both Brooklyn and Queens had the land available. So many of the current cemeteries in and around New York City are in the borders of these two boroughs. In fact, there are more dead people in Brooklyn and Queens than live.

Green-Wood is 478 acres. It hosts 7,000 trees, glacial ponds, valleys, scenic views, and a lot of historical figures. Indeed there are over 560,000 permanent residents in the cemetery. Many famous.

It became vogue for wealthy New Yorkers to be interred in these rural cemeteries. The landscape was an escape for city residents as well. These cemeteries served as the first public parklands in New York state. People would go to pay homage to their loved ones, stroll the winding paths and maybe even picnic along one of the ponds.

I had to wonder though, why the mausoleums? There were so many at Green-Wood. And according to my sources Durant's somber gray monument cost him $60,000 at the time (1884), that is more than one million in today's dollars.

I read a few various accounts of why. One is that people were afraid of being buried alive and the mausoleum guaranteed a way out. Other sources believe it was purely a status symbol. A place to show off, even after one is dead.

I'm sure it is a combination of the two. Either way, Dr. Durant, who, for all intents and purposes, was bankrupt at the time he died,
was able to afford this opulent abode in Brooklyn. He was land rich yes -  but cash poor. I guess it shouldn't surprise me though given the propensity of his family to spend money.


Postscript: I contacted the Green Wood Cemetery staff and they ere very helpful in identifying who was interred in the Mausoleum. I was curios to know if Ella Durant Rose, Dr. Durant's daughter was there, but she was not. Who is buried there: Dr. Durant, his wife Hannah Heloise Durant, William West Durant,  one of Williams's sons - Lawrence, and Ella's son Timbrell Durant Rose and his wife Lillian Tiffany.

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National Library Week

4/5/2021

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Picture
It's National Library Week in the U.S. and I thought it fitting to write a short blog about librarians, archivists, and museum curators.

I dedicated my historical novel Imaginary Brightness to all of you; it says, "This is dedicated to librarians everywhere, because they never stop searching."

For me the research journey started with the one of the librarians on my campus. It was summer and slow and I asked her, how would I find out where a person from 1890 lived and more about her? I gave Margaret the name of Minnie Kirby, the famed mistress of the woods in my novel - and real person. And voila! Within what seemed like minutes but was probably longer, Margaret had her obituary in front of me.

"How did you get that?" I asked her. She showed me this magical site that has old newspaper archives from the North Country in New York.

One thing I appreciate the most about the librarians and archivists I have worked with (and there are many) is their absolute delight, professionalism, and curiosity  when it comes to looking up information. I think some may call it an obsession. I for one am glad. I recall another instance when I was trying to track down William West Durant's transcribed Egyptian Diaries from 1869-1873. I was lucky enough to find a citation on the internet but only two libraries in the U.S. housed it.

The librarian at the Onondaga County Library was able to obtain for me a digital copy from the folks at the NY Public Library.  Within weeks I had it in my possession. Brilliant!

And the collections! Oh the collections. I fall in love with collections. There was nothing like finding a post card drawing made in 1932 by the artist Lillian Tiffany, addressed to Poultney Bigelow tucked away in the 10,000 letters that are housed under his name at the NY Public Library.

And then there was the visit I made to the Isle of Wight Registry Office in the UK in the summer of 2014. I was feeling forlorn that I didn't find what I was looking for on the Durants when the archivist showed me this wonderful 1876 real estate portfolio of the Binstead Estate.  It had a hand drawn color map, and layout of the estate from the time period when  William West Durant would have been a visitor of his family lawyer and friend Sir Charles Locock who lived there at the time. Grist for the mill: I was able to visualize what it would have been like for William to participate in a hunting party on the estate.

What amazes me as well is the various levels of sophistication at each of the places I have visited. The Library of Congress as a fancy schmancy digitzer. Then there is the old copying machine at the Adirondack Museum. I was in there copying a court case document for so long that the archivist came to check that I was still alive
(mind you, it wasn't fragile). I promised him if I made money on my book I would try to donate some to them so they could buy a digitizer.

Big, small, old, new. It's all the same. Libraries are the world's repositories of all of our secrets.


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    Sheila Myers  Professor at Cayuga Community College in Upstate New York.

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