William Randolph Hearst Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == Personal life == === Millicent Willson === {{Main|Millicent Hearst}} [[File:Millicent Hearst cph 3b16388.jpg|thumb|[[Millicent Hearst]]]] In 1903, 40-year-old Hearst married [[Millicent Hearst|Millicent Veronica Willson]] (1882–1974), a 21-year-old chorus girl, in New York City. The couple had five sons: [[George Randolph Hearst]], born on April 23, 1904; [[William Randolph Hearst Jr.]], born on January 27, 1908; [[John Randolph Hearst]], born September 26, 1909; and twins [[Randolph Apperson Hearst]] and [https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/05/13/David-Whitmire-Hearst-son-of-newspaper-magnate-William-Randolph/9324516340800/ David Whitmire (né Elbert Willson) Hearst], born on December 2, 1915. === Marion Davies === {{Main|Marion Davies}} [[File:Marion Davies.jpg|thumb|[[Marion Davies]]]] Conceding an end to his political hopes, Hearst became involved in an affair with the film actress and comedian [[Marion Davies]] (1897–1961), former mistress of his friend [[Paul Block]].<ref name=PaulBlockBrady>[http://www.toledoblade.com/Books/2001/02/25/Early-primaries-set-the-stage-for-great-Republican-battle.html Toledo Blade: "Paul Block: Story of success" by Jack Lessenberry] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226072947/http://www.toledoblade.com/Books/2001/02/25/Early-primaries-set-the-stage-for-great-Republican-battle.html |date=December 26, 2014 }} January 9, 2013</ref> From about 1919, he lived openly with her in California. After the death of [[Patricia Lake]] (1919/1923–1993), who had been presented as Davies's "niece," her family confirmed that she was Davies's and Hearst's daughter. She had acknowledged this before her death.<ref name=Golden>{{cite book|last=Golden|first=Eve|title=Golden Images: 41 Essays on Silent Film Stars|year=2001|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc|location=New York|isbn=0-7864-0834-0|page=26}}</ref> Millicent separated from Hearst in the mid-1920s after tiring of his longtime affair with Davies, but the couple remained legally married until Hearst's death. As a leading philanthropist, Millicent built an independent life for herself in New York City. She was active in society and in 1921 founded the Free Milk Fund for Babies. For decades, the fund provided New York's poverty-stricken families with free milk for children.<ref name=Golden /> === California properties === [[George Hearst]] invested some of his fortune from the [[Comstock Lode]] in land. In 1865 he purchased about {{convert|30,000|acre}}, part of [[Rancho Piedra Blanca]] stretching from Simeon Bay and reached to Ragged Point. He paid the original grantee Jose de Jesus Pico USD$1 an acre, about twice the current market price.<ref name="lidral">{{cite web |last1=Lidral |first1=Terry |title=Historic Hearst Ranch A Step Back into the 1860s |url=https://westernlivingjournal.com/historic-hearst-ranch-a-step-into-life-in-the-1860s/ |access-date=16 March 2022 |date=12 January 2022}}</ref> Hearst continued to buy parcels whenever they became available. He also bought most of [[Rancho San Simeon]].{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} In 1865, Hearst bought all of [[Rancho Santa Rosa (Estrada)|Rancho Santa Rosa]] totaling {{convert|13,184|acre}} except one section of {{convert|160|acre|km2|1}} that Estrada lived on. However, as was common with claims before the [[California Land Act of 1851|Public Land Commission]], Estrada's legal claim was costly and took many years to resolve. Estrada mortgaged the ranch to Domingo Pujol, a Spanish-born San Francisco lawyer, who represented him. Estrada was unable to pay the loan and Pujol foreclosed on it. Estrada did not have the title to the land.<ref>''George Hearst v. Domingo Pujol'', 1872, Reports of Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of California, Vol. 44, pp. 230-236, Bancroft-Whitney Co., San Francisco</ref> Hearst sued, but ended up with only {{convert|1340|acre|km2|1}} of Estrada's holdings.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} [[Rancho Milpitas (Pastor)|Rancho Milpitas]] was a {{convert|43281|acre|ha|adj=on}} land grant given in 1838 by California governor [[Juan Bautista Alvarado]] to Ygnacio Pastor.<ref name="auto1">Ogden Hoffman, 1862, ''Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California'', Numa Hubert, San Francisco</ref> The grant encompassed present-day [[Jolon, California|Jolon]] and land to the west.<ref>{{Cite GNIS| id = 245946|name = Rancho Milpitas}}</ref> When Pastor obtained title from the Public Land Commission in 1875, [[Faxon Atherton]] immediately purchased the land. By 1880, the James Brown Cattle Company owned and operated [[Rancho Milpitas (Pastor)|Rancho Milpitas]] and neighboring [[Rancho Los Ojitos]]. In 1923, [[Newhall Land and Farming Company|Newhall Land]] sold [[Rancho San Miguelito de Trinidad]] and [[Rancho El Piojo]] to William Randolph Hearst.<ref>{{Cite news| pages = 4| title = HEARST BUYS SITE OF MISSION: 17 Miles of Conduits Constructed in 1792 on Acquired Tract| work = Stockton Independent| date = 1923-01-12}}</ref> In 1925, Hearst's Piedmont Land and Cattle Company bought Rancho Milpitas and Rancho Los Ojitos (Little Springs) from the James Brown Cattle Company.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mchsmuseum.com/mcoverview.html|title=Monterey County Historical Society, Local History Pages—Overview of Post-Hispanic Monterey County History|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060522231029/http://www.mchsmuseum.com/mcoverview.html|archive-date=2006-05-22}}</ref> Hearst gradually bought adjoining land until he owned bout {{convert|250,000|acre}}.<ref name="lavender">{{cite web |last1=Lavender |first1=Natasha |title=The Crazy True Story Of William Randolph Hearst |url=https://www.grunge.com/313878/the-crazy-true-story-of-william-randolph-hearst/ |website=Grunge.com |access-date=16 March 2022 |date=15 January 2021}}</ref> === Fort Hunter Liggett === On December 12, 1940, Hearst sold {{convert|158000|acre|ha|0}}, including the Rancho Milpitas, to the United States government.<ref name=museum>[http://www.militarymuseum.org/FtHLiggett.html California State Military Department, The California State Military Museum. Historic California Posts: ''Fort Hunter Liggett''.] Retrieved March 1, 2009.</ref> Neighboring landowners sold another {{convert|108950|acre|ha|0}} to create the {{convert|266950|acre|ha|0|adj=on}} [[Fort Hunter Liggett|Hunter Liggett Military Reservation]] troop training base for the [[United States Department of War|War Department]]. The US Army used a ranch house and guest lodge named [[The Hacienda (Milpitas Ranchhouse)|The Hacienda]] as housing for the base commander, for visiting officers, and for the officers' club.<ref name=museum/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/pwro/fhl/fhl_resource_description2.pdf|title=Draft Fort Hunter Ligget Special Resource Study & Environmental Assessment: Chapter 2 Cultural Resources|access-date=September 3, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221000551/https://www.nps.gov/pwro/fhl/fhl_resource_description2.pdf|archive-date=February 21, 2017}}</ref> === Little Sur River === In 1916, the Eberhard and Kron Tanning Company of Santa Cruz purchased land from the homesteaders along the [[Little Sur River]]. They harvested tanbark oak and brought the bark out on mules and crude wooden sleds known as "go-devils" to [[Notleys Landing, California|Notleys Landing]] at the mouth of [[Palo Colorado Canyon, California|Palo Colorado Canyon]], where it was loaded via cable onto ships anchored offshore. Hearst was interested in preserving the uncut, abundant redwood forest, and on November 18, 1921, he purchased the land from the tanning company for about $50,000.<ref name=emc>{{cite web|title=Conservation Plan Camp Camp Pico Blanco|url=http://www.emcplanning.com/enewsletter/2014/Conservation_Plan_Report_091813.pdf|publisher=EMC Planning Group Inc.|access-date=November 7, 2014|date=September 18, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140831121004/http://emcplanning.com/enewsletter/2014/Conservation_Plan_Report_091813.pdf|archive-date=August 31, 2014|df=mdy-all}}</ref> On July 23, 1948, the Monterey Bay Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America purchased the property, originally {{convert|1445|acre}}, from the [[Hearst Corporation|Hearst Sunical Land and Packing Company]] for $20,000. On September 9, 1948, Albert M. Lester of Carmel obtained a grant for the council of $20,000 from Hearst through the Hearst Foundation of New York City, offsetting the cost of the purchase.<ref name="men">{{cite news|url=http://whitestag.org/files/men_in_the_making.pdf|title=The Making of Men|last=Young|first=Alfred|date=July 1963|publisher=Monterey Bay Area Council|location=Salinas, California|access-date=August 13, 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201153140/http://whitestag.org/files/men_in_the_making.pdf|archive-date=December 1, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref> === Hearst Castle === {{Main|Hearst Castle}} [[File:Hearst Castle Casa Grande September 2012 panorama 2.jpg|thumb|The [[Hearst Castle]] in [[San Simeon, California]]]] Beginning in 1919, Hearst began to build [[Hearst Castle]], which he never completed, on the {{convert|250000|acre|ha+km2|abbr=off|adj=on}} ranch he had acquired near [[San Simeon, California|San Simeon]]. He furnished the mansion with art, [[antique]]s, and entire historic rooms purchased and brought from great houses in Europe. He established an [[Arabian horse]] breeding operation on the grounds. === Northern California forest land === Hearst also owned property on the [[McCloud River]] in [[Siskiyou County, California|Siskiyou County]], in far northern California, called [[Wyntoon]].{{efn|Wyntoon is located at approximately {{Coord|41|11|21|N|122|03|58|W}} }} The buildings at Wyntoon were designed by architect [[Julia Morgan]], who also designed Hearst Castle and worked in collaboration with [[William J. Dodd]] on a number of other projects. === Beverly Hills mansion === In 1947, Hearst paid $120,000 for an H-shaped Beverly Hills mansion, (located at 1011 N. Beverly Dr.), on 3.7 acres three blocks from [[Sunset Boulevard]]. The [[Beverly Estate|Beverly House]], as it has come to be known, has some cinematic connections. According to ''Hearst Over Hollywood'', [[John F. Kennedy|John]] and [[Jacqueline Kennedy]] stayed at the house for part of their honeymoon. The house appeared in the film ''[[The Godfather]]'' (1972).{{explain|date=December 2020}}<ref name="expensive">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6290160.stm |title="Most expensive" U.S. home on sale |work=BBC News |date=July 11, 2007 |access-date=July 26, 2013 |archive-date=June 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615164802/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6290160.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> In the early 1890s, Hearst began building a mansion on the hills overlooking Pleasanton, California, on land purchased by his father a decade earlier. Hearst's mother took over the project, hired Julia Morgan to finish it as her home, and named it [[Hacienda del Pozo de Verona]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.castlewoodcc.org/default.aspx?p=DynamicModule&pageid=254060&ssid=113155&vnf=1|title=Castlewood History – Castlewood Country Club|work=castlewoodcc.org|access-date=November 24, 2014|archive-date=November 29, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129152422/http://www.castlewoodcc.org/default.aspx?p=DynamicModule&pageid=254060&ssid=113155&vnf=1|url-status=live}}</ref> After her death, it was acquired by Castlewood Country Club, which used it as their clubhouse from 1925 to 1969, when it was destroyed in a major fire. === Art collection === [[File:Landscape with Huntsman and Dead Game 1697 Jan Weenix.jpg|thumb|''Allegory of the Sense of Smell'' by [[Jan Weenix]], a 1697 portrait once owned by Hearst]] Hearst was renowned for his extensive collection of international art that spanned centuries. Most notable in his collection were his Greek vases, Spanish and Italian furniture, Oriental carpets, Renaissance vestments, an extensive library with many books signed by their authors, and paintings and statues. In addition to collecting pieces of fine art, he also gathered manuscripts, rare books, and autographs.<ref name=Seely>{{cite journal|last=Seely|first=Jana|title=The Hearst Castle, San Simeon: The Diverse Collection of William Randolph Hearst|journal=Southeastern Antiquing and Collecting Magazine|url=http://www.go-star.com/antiquing/hearst_collection.htm|access-date=July 13, 2012|archive-date=June 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614160417/http://www.go-star.com/antiquing/hearst_collection.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> His guests included varied celebrities and politicians, who stayed in rooms furnished with pieces of antique furniture and decorated with artwork by famous artists.<ref name=Seely /> Beginning in 1937, Hearst began selling some of his art collection to help relieve the debt burden he had suffered from the Depression. The first year he sold items for a total of $11 million. In 1941 he put about 20,000 items up for sale; these were evidence of his wide and varied tastes. Included in the sale items were paintings by [[Anthony van Dyck|van Dyke]], crosiers, chalices, [[Charles Dickens]]'s [[sideboard]], pulpits, stained glass, arms and armor, [[George Washington]]'s waistcoat, and [[Thomas Jefferson]]'s Bible. When Hearst Castle was donated to the State of California, it was still sufficiently furnished for the whole house to be considered and operated as a museum.<ref name=Seely /> === St Donat's Castle === {{Main|St Donat's Castle}} After seeing photographs, in ''[[Country Life (magazine)|Country Life Magazine]]'', of [[St Donat's Castle|St. Donat's Castle]] in [[Vale of Glamorgan]], Wales, Hearst bought and renovated it in 1925 as a gift to his mistress Marion Davies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2008/08/03/lydia-hearst-is-queen-of-the-castle-91466-21454996/|title=Lydia Hearst is queen of the castle|author=Bevan, Nathan|publisher=Wales on Sunday|date=August 3, 2008|access-date=August 3, 2008|archive-date=October 22, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081022101008/http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2008/08/03/lydia-hearst-is-queen-of-the-castle-91466-21454996/|url-status=live}}</ref> The Castle was restored by Hearst, who spent a fortune buying entire rooms from other castles and palaces across the UK and Europe. The Great Hall was bought from the [[Bradenstoke Priory]] in Wiltshire and reconstructed brick by brick in its current site at St. Donat's. From the Bradenstoke Priory, he also bought and removed the guest house, Prior's lodging, and great tithe barn; of these, some of the materials became the St. Donat's banqueting hall, complete with a sixteenth-century French chimney-piece and windows; also used were a fireplace dated to c. 1514 and a fourteenth-century roof, which became part of the Bradenstoke Hall, despite this use being questioned in Parliament. Hearst built 34 green and white marble bathrooms for the many guest suites in the castle and completed a series of terraced gardens which survive intact today. Hearst and Davies spent much of their time entertaining, and held a number of lavish parties attended by guests including [[Charlie Chaplin]], [[Douglas Fairbanks]], [[Winston Churchill]], and a young [[John F. Kennedy]]. When Hearst died, the castle was purchased by Antonin Besse II and donated to [[Atlantic College]], an international boarding school founded by [[Kurt Hahn]] in 1962, which still uses it. === Interest in aviation === Hearst was particularly interested in the newly emerging technologies relating to aviation and had his first experience of flight in January 1910, in Los Angeles. [[Louis Paulhan]], a French aviator, took him for an air trip on his Farman biplane.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=BBMvAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA109 Aircraft, Volume 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215172844/https://books.google.com/books?id=BBMvAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA109 |date=February 15, 2017 }}, 1910</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=7yVDAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA12-IA335 Hearst an Aviator] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215180240/https://books.google.com/books?id=7yVDAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA12-IA335 |date=February 15, 2017 }}, [[Editor & Publisher]], Volume 9, 1910</ref> Hearst also sponsored ''[[Old Glory (aircraft)|Old Glory]]'' as well as the [[Hearst Transcontinental Prize]]. === Financial disaster === Hearst's crusade against Roosevelt and the New Deal, combined with union strikes and boycotts of his properties, undermined the financial strength of his empire. Circulation of his major publications declined in the mid-1930s, while rivals such as the New York ''Daily News'' were flourishing. He refused to take effective cost-cutting measures, and instead increased his very expensive art purchases. His friend [[Joseph P. Kennedy]] offered to buy the magazines, but Hearst jealously guarded his empire and refused. Instead, he sold some of his heavily mortgaged real estate. San Simeon itself was mortgaged to ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' owner [[Harry Chandler]] in 1933 for $600,000.<ref name="Victoria Kastner 2000">{{cite book| title=Hearst Castle: The Biography of a Country House| first=Victoria| last=Kastner| publisher=Harry N. Abrams| year=2000| page=183}}</ref> Finally his financial advisors realized he was tens of millions of dollars in debt, and could not pay the interest on the loans, let alone reduce the principal. The proposed bond sale failed to attract investors when Hearst's financial crisis became widely known. Marion Davies's stardom waned and Hearst's movies also began to hemorrhage money. As the crisis deepened he let go of most of his household staff, sold his exotic animals to the Los Angeles Zoo and named a trustee to control his finances. He still refused to sell his beloved newspapers. At one point, to avoid outright bankruptcy, he had to accept a $1 million loan from Marion Davies, who sold all her jewelry, stocks and bonds to raise the cash for him.<ref name="Victoria Kastner 2000" /> Davies also managed to raise him another million as a loan from ''[[Washington Herald]]'' owner [[Cissy Patterson]]. The trustee cut Hearst's annual salary to $500,000, and stopped the annual payment of $700,000 in dividends. He had to pay rent for living in his castle at San Simeon. Legally Hearst avoided bankruptcy although the public generally saw it as such, since appraisers went through the tapestries, paintings, furniture, silver, pottery, buildings, autographs, jewelry, and other collectibles. Items in the thousands were gathered from a five-story warehouse in New York, warehouses near San Simeon containing large amounts of Greek sculpture and ceramics, and the contents of St. Donat's. His collections were sold off in a series of auctions and private sales in 1938–39. John D. Rockefeller, Junior, bought $100,000 of antique silver for his new museum at [[Colonial Williamsburg]]. The market for art and antiques had not recovered from the depression, so Hearst made an overall loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars.<ref name="Victoria Kastner 2000" /> During this time, Hearst's friend George Loorz commented sarcastically: "He would like to start work on the outside pool [at San Simeon], start a new reservoir etc. but told me yesterday 'I want so many things but haven't got the money.' Poor fellow, let's take up a collection."<ref name="Victoria Kastner 2000" /> He was embarrassed in early 1939 when ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine published a feature which revealed he was at risk of defaulting on his mortgage for San Simeon and losing it to his creditor and publishing rival, Harry Chandler.<ref name="Victoria Kastner 2000" /> This, however, was averted, as Chandler agreed to extend the repayment. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page