{{Short description|American politician and baseball team owner (1855–1909)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Israel Wilson Durham | image = File:Portrait of Israel Wilson Durham.jpg | title = Member of the [[Pennsylvania Senate]] for the [[Pennsylvania Senate, District 6|6th district]] | term = 1897–1898 | predecessor = [[Boies Penrose]] | successor = John Morin Scott | office2 = Member of the [[Pennsylvania Senate]] for the [[Pennsylvania Senate, District 2|2nd district]] | term2 = 1899-1900 | predecessor2 = Elwood Becker | successor2 = George W. Holzwarth | birth_date = {{birth date|1855|10|24}} | birth_place = [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], US | death_date = {{death date and age|1909|06|28|1855|10|24}} | death_place = [[Atlantic City, New Jersey]], US | resting_place = [[Mount Moriah Cemetery (Philadelphia)|Mount Moriah Cemetery]],<br />Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | other_party = | alma_mater = | profession = }} '''Israel Wilson Durham''' (24 October 1855 – 28 June 1909) was an American politician from [[Pennsylvania]] who served as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] member of the [[Pennsylvania Senate]] for the [[Pennsylvania Senate, District 6|6th district]] from 1897 to 1898 and the [[Pennsylvania Senate, District 2|2nd district]] from 1898 to 1899. He was a [[political boss]] of Philadelphia's 7th ward and also briefly the president and principal owner of the [[Philadelphia Phillies]] baseball team in 1909.

==Early life== Durham was born in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]] to Thomas and Jane Durham. He received a public school education and briefly entered the cloth business with J.B. Ellison & Company. He apprenticed to Silas Emory, a brick-layer for two years. He later joined his father's flour dealer business as a buyer and salesman.<ref name=bio/>

==Career== From an early age he turned to politics, identifying himself with the Republican Party, then dominant in Philadelphia.

In 1885, he was elected police magistrate; he was re-elected in 1890. In 1897, he was elected to the [[Pennsylvania]] Senate from the 6th District to fill the unexpired term of [[Boies Penrose]], who had risen to the [[United States Senate]]. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention from Pennsylvania in 1900, 1904, and 1908. He was appointed state Insurance Commissioner by Governor [[William A. Stone]], then re-appointed by Governor [[Samuel W. Pennypacker]]. He held this post until June 1, 1905, when he resigned to go West for his health. He abandoned his position as party leader in January 1906.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0B15FC3F5C1A728DDDA90994D9405B868CF1D3 "ISRAEL DURHAM QUITS.; Abandons Claim to Leadership of Philadelphia Machine."], ''New York Times'', Jan. 10, 1906.</ref> He was re-elected to the state senate in 1908, to take the place of Senator Scott.<ref name=bio>{{cite web |title=Israel Wilson Durham |url=https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/BiosHistory/MemBio.cfm?ID=4569&body=S |website=www.legis.state.pa.us |accessdate=22 January 2019}}</ref>

Durham was a political boss of Philadelphia's 7th ward and was influential in the selection of Philadelphia's mayor and most of the city government members.<ref>{{cite web |title=Philadelphia State Hospital - The Story Part 1: 1906-1937 |url=http://www.philadelphiastatehospital.com/id2.html |website=www.philadelphiastatehospital.com |accessdate=20 February 2019}}</ref>

In February 1909, he and a group of investors bought the Philadelphia Phillies National League Baseball Club, of which he served as president.<ref>''Sporting Life Magazine'', Vol. 52, No. 26, March 6, 1909, Philadelphia.</ref>

He died while in office on 28 June 1909 in [[Atlantic City, New Jersey]].<ref>Obituary, ''Sporting Life Magazine'', Vol. 53, No. 17, July 3, 1909, Philadelphia, p. 1.</ref> He was interred in Philadelphia's [[Mount Moriah Cemetery (Philadelphia)|Mount Moriah Cemetery]] in Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Israel Wilson Durham |date=26 May 2021 |url=http://friendsofmountmoriahcemetery.org/israel-wilson-durham-politician-and-ownerpresident-of-the-phillies/}}</ref>

==Further reading== {{Portal|Philadelphia}} *William Bayard Hale, "An Empire of Illusion and its Fall", ''Leslie's Monthly Magazine'' (later ''American Illustrated Magazine''), Vol. 60, no. 4, pp.&nbsp;451–459, Colver Publishing House, 1905.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://mountmoriah.info/index.php?title=Israel_Wilson_Durham_%281855-1909%29 Biographical information] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328105052/http://mountmoriah.info/index.php?title=Israel_Wilson_Durham_(1855-1909) |date=2012-03-28 }} at MountMoriah.info

{{Philadelphia Phillies owners}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-pa-sen}} {{s-bef|before=[[Boies Penrose]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[Pennsylvania Senate]], [[Pennsylvania Senate, District 6|6th district]]|years=1897-1898}} {{s-aft|after=John Morin Scott}} {{s-bef|before=Elwood Becker}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[Pennsylvania Senate]], [[Pennsylvania Senate, District 2|2nd district]]|years=1899-1900}} {{s-aft|after=George W. Hozwarth}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durham, Israel Wilson}} [[Category:1855 births]] [[Category:1909 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century American people]] [[Category:American political bosses from Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Burials at Mount Moriah Cemetery (Philadelphia)]] [[Category:Politicians from Philadelphia]] [[Category:Republican Party Pennsylvania state senators]] [[Category:Philadelphia Phillies owners]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly]]