William Crapo Durant

First Generation

      1. William Crapo Durant ¹  was born²  on 8 Dec 1861 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. He died on 18 Mar 1947 in New York, New York. He was buried³  in Woodland Cemetery, Bronx, New York.

William was counted in a census⁴  in 1900 in Flint, Genesee, Michigan, USA.

Industrialist and financier, best known as the founder of General Motors Corporation. He was born

William Crapo Durant on December 8th, 1861 in Boston. He quit school at 16 to work in his grandfather's

Flint, Michigan, lumberyard. By 1885 he had partnered with Josiah Dallas Dort to design a two-wheeled

carriage and organized the Coldwater Road Cart Company to produce it. Sales took off and Durant and

Dort soon became wealthy. By 1890, Durant-Dort Carriage Company was the nation's largest, producing

approximately 50,000 horse-drawn vehicles a year. In 1904, Durant was approached by James Whiting

of the Buick Company to promote his automobiles and persuaded him to join Buick as General Manager.

In three short years Buick led the U.S. automobile production by manufacturing 8,820 vehicles. Between

1904 and 1908, Durant was made Buick's president and established several essential parts and

accessory companies such as Weston-Mott and Champion Ignition Company. By 1908 the top four auto

producers in the U.S. were Buick, Reo (headed by Ransom E. Olds), Maxwell -Briscoe, (headed by

Benjamin and Frank Briscoe) and Ford (headed by Henry Ford). Benjamin Briscoe wanted all four

producers to merge and form one large company. Negotiations began in New York at the House of

Morgan, and ended when Ford demanded cash instead of stock and pulled out of the deal, along with

Reo. Still determined to start this new auto company, Durant continued without Ford and Reo. On

September 16, 1908, Durant incorporated General Motors of New Jersey (GM) with a capital investment

of $2,000. Within 12 days the company issued stocks that generated over $12,000,000 in cash. GM then

purchased Buick with stock. Six weeks later, GM acquired the Olds Corporation of Lansing, Michigan,

followed by the Oakland Company. Oakland was located in Pontiac, Michigan, and would later be

renamed Pontiac. Finally, Durant sought to acquire Cadillac Motor Car Company from the Leland father/

son team. The Leland’s would only settle for cash to the tune of $4.5 million. GM could not raise this

amount of money, but Buick, the cash cow, could. So, Cadillac was bought with Buick funds, thereby

becoming a subsidiary of Buick. During this same period, Durant also acquired many truck and parts

supply companies, including AC-Delco, which he helped form with Albert Champion and still bears his

initials today. In an 18 month burst of aggressive wheeling and dealing, Durant purchased a substantial

interest in almost 30 auto makers. However, all this acquisition came at a price. Durant became

financially overextended and consequently, lost control of GM to banking interests in 1910. Undeterred,

Durant partnered with Louis Chevrolet to form Chevrolet Motor Company in 1911 and used the profits

from Chevrolet to regain control of GM in 1915. However, Durant's aggressive management style once

again proved problematic. He was forced out in 1920 by then GM president Pierre DuPont in exchange

for paying off Durant's debts. Determined to regain status in the automotive world, he formed Durant

Motors in 1921 and produced a line of cars bearing his name for the next 10 years. However, a declining

market and the Great Depression ended Durant's automotive career in 1933. From 1934 until his death,

Durant dabbled in stocks, politics, and social issues. None of these later ventures reflected his former

bold thinking and he faded from public life. On March 18, 1947, William Durant died in New York City,

marking the end of a remarkable era in automotive excellence. (bio by: Edward Parsons)

William married (1) Clara Pitt ⁵  on 17 Jun 1885 in Flint, Genesee, Michigan, USA. The marriage ended in divorce.They were divorced in 5-27-1908.

Clara was born in Apr 1864 in California.

Clara was counted in a census⁶  in 1900 in Flint, Genesee, Michigan, USA.

William married (2) Catherine Lederer ⁷  on 28 May 1908. Catherine died after 1947. She was buried in Woodland Cemetery, Bronx, New York.

Sources

  1.  Steve Riddle, World Connect Project pages of Steve Riddle  (http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=sriddle).

  2.  Compiled by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915  (Compiled by: Family History Library; FamilySearch; (http://familysearch.org)), Family History Library, 35 N West Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150  USA.

  3.  Find A Grave  (http://www.findagrave.com/).

  4.  Compiled by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1900 United States Federal Census  (Compiled by: Family History Library; FamilySearch; (http://familysearch.org)), Family History Library, 35 N West Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150  USA.

  5.  Steve Riddle, World Connect Project pages of Steve Riddle .

  6.  Compiled by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1900 United States Federal Census .

  7.  Steve Riddle, World Connect Project pages of Steve Riddle .