Grace Garrett Durand (August 25, 1867 – February 26, 1948), was the spouse of the founder of the S.S. Durand sugar brokerage in Chicago, Illinois, Scott Sloan Durand (1869–1949), and was, in her own right, an owner, manager, and promoter of an American dairy, a temperance activist, and a clubwoman.
Early life and education Grace Denise Garrett was born in Burlington, Iowa, the daughter of William Garrett and Martha Rorer Garrett.John William Leonard, ed., Woman's Who's Who of America (American Commonwealth Publishing 1914): 263. She went to school at St. Mary's in Knoxville, Illinois.C. Chamberlain Tracey, A History of Lake County, Illinois (R. S. Bates 1912): 501.
Career In 1904 Grace Durand began running a model dairy in Lake Forest, Illinois, to sell good quality local milk to Chicagoans,"A Model Dairy Farm" New Castle Herald (July 13, 1908): 6. via Newspapers.com and to support her other projects, such as a kindergarten for children in Chicago's tenements.Kate V. Saint Maur, "Mrs. Scott Durand – Milk Woman" Pearson's Magazine 24(November 1910): 634. Separately, Chicago railroad executive and federal judge Henry W. Blodgett owned and managed a 370-acre dairy farm, Crab Tree Farm, a property on Lake Michigan north of the Chicago suburb of Lake Bluff, Illinois (itself north of Lake Forest, Illinois). Scott Sloan Durand (1869–1949), spouse of Grace Garrett Durand and founder of the Chicago sugar brokerage S. S. Durand and Co., purchased a substantial part of the Blodgett farm (250 acres) in 1905. Mrs. Durand relocated her dairy operation to Lake Bluff in 1906.
Mrs. Durand explained in a 1905 interview, "I have not entirely given up society for my dairy... but the work is so interesting that I cannot look upon the time and effort given to it as any sacrifice."Ebner, Michael H. (1988) Creating Chicago's North Shore: A Suburban History (University of Chicago Press), pp. 202-203. Several of the buildings on the farm were lost by fire in 1910; she subsequently commissioned Pullman Village designer and Chicago architect Solon Spencer Beman,Newcomen, T. (1998) "Pullman, Illinois: Changes in community planning from the 1880s to the 1990s", International Journal of Heritage Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 10-29 and they redesigned and rebuilt the farm. See also currently presented information at this page. In 1915, her herd of Guernsey cows was destroyed by government officials because they were suspected of carrying foot and mouth disease.Alan L. Olmstead, Arresting Contagion: Science, Policy, and Conflicts over Animal Disease Control (Harvard University Press 2015): 126. She sued for $100,000 in damages. She lectured at farmers' institutes across the American Midwest on her methods and experiences in dairy work, and patented a design for milk jugs.Sarah Comstock, "Mrs. Durand: A Twentieth Century Product" Harper's Weekly (May 9, 1914): 28-30.
Grace Durand was the first woman elected to serve on the board of education in Lake Forest, Illinois. She was a member of the Lake Forest Golf Club,Kim Coventry, Daniel Meyer, Arthur H. Miller, Classic Country Estates of Lake Forest (W. W. Norton & Company 2003): 67. and president of the Lake Bluff chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. She wrote a book, Consider, opposing the repeal of Prohibition. Her temperance work was much remarked upon when her husband was accused of participating in a "rum ring" and indicted in 1933."Scott Durand Named in Rum Ring Indictment" Chicago Daily Tribune (February 17, 1933): 4."Wealthy Broker, Mate of Rum Foe, Indicted by U. S." Decatur Daily Review (February 17, 1933): 1. via Newspapers.com Charges against him were dismissed after the repeal.
Personal life
Grace Garrett Durand was married to a Chicago millionaire,"Mrs. Durand to Start Dairy" Omaha Daily Bee (June 18, 1915): 32. via Newspapers.com sugar broker Scott Sloan Durand, in 1894. Crab Tree Farm, the site of her dairy, and their home outside of Chicago, as of this date, remains a working farm near Lake Bluff.
The Durands traveled extensively, around the world. Mrs. Durand donated woven and embroidered shawls from India to the Art Institute of Chicago.,Long Shawl, Art Institute of Chicago.Long Shawl, Art Institute of Chicago. Their travels included a visit to Tristan da Cunha in 1935."Travelers Will Bring Tales of Strange Lands" Chicago Tribune (March 27, 1935): 12.
The Durands adopted two children; their son Jackson G. "Jack" Durand was convicted of robbing the home of F. Edson White in 1926, and served a prison sentence."Durand Appeal Denied" Belvidere Daily Republican (June 16, 1926): 1"Considering Parole of Jack Durand" Freeport Journal Standard (May 3, 1928): 1. via Newspapers.com
Mrs. Durand died in Lake Bluff on February 26, 1948, at the age of 80 years, and was buried at Lake Forest Cemetery.
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