Chauncey Devereux Stillman (November 9, 1907 – January 24, 1989) was a philanthropist, art collector, conservationist, and banking heir. As one biographer noted, "He was one of the richest men of his generation, but he was never idle of indolent."
He founded the Homeland Foundation (now Wethersfield Foundation) and its related Wethersfield Estate & Gardens in Dutchess County, New York, which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Early life
Stillman was born in New York City to an affluent Episcopalian family. His parents were Mary Estelle Wight (1870 - 1925) and Charles Chauncey Stillman (1877 – 1926), who was a financier and one of Harvard University's "greatest benefactors." Two of his father's sisters married sons of William Rockefeller Jr. His paternal grandfather was James Jewett Stillman, a railroad magnate, president of the First National City Bank in New York City (now Citibank), and one of the wealthiest men in the United States. James Stillman was also a philanthropist and yachtsman. As one writer put it, "In their heyday, the Stillmans were New York royalty—not quite Carnegies, but fabulously rich."
In February 1907, the family moved to a mansion at 9 East 67th Street in Manhattan, New York. This home was filled with art, including at least twelve old masters such as Rembrandt's Portrait of Titus. They also owned Kenridge, a large country estate at Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York.
Stillman attended Harvard University, graduating in 1929. There, he was a member of Delphic Club. He was also the senior class odist, penning his class ode and reading it at the graduation ceremony. While he was at college, his mother, father, and brother all died of different causes. As a result, he was the heir to a vast fortune. Stillman was adrift for the rest of his twenties, "seeking a place and a purpose to call his own." He graduated with a master's degree from the Columbia University School of Architecture. While at Columbia, he joined the Fraternity of Delta Psi (St. Anthony Hall).
In 1930 when his sister got married, Stillman moved out of his childhood home on 67th Street and into a new seven-room penthouse on 33 East 70th Street.
Career
Stillman served as a director of Freeport Minerals Company (later Freeport--McMoRan), beginning in December 1931.
In 1937, he founded, underwrote, and was president of Free America, Inc. and edited the monthly magazine Free America with Ralph Borsodi and Herbert Agar. Through 1947, the magazine promoted agrarianism, distributism, the idea of spreading land-ownership to the entire population, and decentralization, expressing his belief "that independence could only be found in a society with decentralized business and political power." Douglas Dewey notes, “By no means was he enamored with socialism or communism. He believed in the free market but he also believed strongly in patronage.”
During World War II, Stillman served as an air combat intelligence officer with Air Group 20 on the USS Enterprise CV-6 and USS Lexington CV-16, and fought in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October of 1944. He later served as a staff officer with the United States National Security Council.
As a civilian in 1947, he worked for the newly created United States Department of Defense under its first secretary, James Forrestal. A short time later, he worked for the Central Intelligence Agency through 1951.
Philanthropy
Stillman dedicated his life to philanthropy, and was an advocate of homesteading and agricultural experimentation. Around 1936, he joined Ralph Borsodi in becoming a founding board member of the Independence Foundation, Inc., which secured land for homesteading communities.
In June 1938, he established and was president of the Homeland Foundation (now called the Wethersfield Foundation). Its purpose was to “make, institute, conduct and carry out every manner and kind of scientific, agricultural, horticultural, or biological experiment, research, study and investigation, and in any other way to assist in improving and developing country life and to experiment, research, study and investigate with regard to the most satisfactory means of economic and social life in rural communities.” Later, the foundation's mission would expand to encompass his diverse interests, “to display art and period furniture; to sponsor religious charitable, scientific, and literary programs; to use for cultural activities; public outdoor recreation and scenic enjoyment; protection of natural environmental systems; conservation, cultural, intellectual, religious, and recreations purposes; preservation of natural wildlife; and to make other contributions and gifts, but only if made for exclusively public purposes.” He was president of the foundation's board of trustees until his death. Under his leadership, grants were made that related to architectural preservation, art restoration, his religious faith, and religious art.
In 1959, Stillman donated a new Our Lady's Chapel at the Immaculate Conception Church in Brownsville, Texas, a community founded by his great-grandfather. Around 1962, he endowed the Stillman Chair for Catholic Studies at Harvard University. In 1969, he acquired the circa 1793 Captain James Francis House in Wethersfield, Connecticut, and donated it to the Wethersfield Historical Society.
He was a director of the National Audubon Society, a director of the New York Botanical Garden from 1946 to 1969, and a trustee of the New York Zoological Society for almost thirty years. He was also an annual donor to the Animal Kingdom Foundation.