{{Short description|American naturalist and author (1898–1978)}} {{Infobox person | name = W. Douglas Burden | image = | caption = | birth_name = William Douglas Burden | birth_date = {{birth date|1898|09|24}} | birth_place = [[Troy, New York]], US | death_date = {{Death date and age|1978|11|14|1898|09|24}} | death_place = [[Charlotte, Vermont]], US | alma_mater = [[Harvard University]]<br>[[Columbia University]] | occupation = | parents = [[James A. Burden Jr.]]<br>[[Florence Adele Sloane]] | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Katherine Curtin White<br>|1924||reason=div}} * {{marriage|Elizabeth Chace Gammack<br>|1940||reason=div}} * {{marriage|Jeanne Wells Wight Booth<br>|1971}} }} | children = | relatives = [[James A. Burden III]] (brother)<br>[[Arthur Scott Burden]] (uncle)<br>[[William D. Sloane]] (grandfather)<br>[[Emily Thorn Vanderbilt]] (grandmother)<br>[[Sage Sohier]] (granddaughter)<br>[[Doug Burden]] (grandson) }} '''William Douglas Burden''' (September 24, 1898 – November 14, 1978),<ref name="WDBObit1978"/> was an American naturalist, filmmaker, and author who co-founded [[Marineland of Florida|Marineland]] in Florida.
==Early life== [[File:Burden, James A., Mr., and sons, portrait photograph LOC.tif|thumb|left|Photograph of William (right), his father [[James A. Burden Jr.|James]] and elder brother, by [[Arnold Genthe]], 1914]] Burden was born on September 24, 1898, in [[Troy, New York]], but grew up in Manhattan, where the family lived at [[James A. Burden House|7 East 91st Street]] in a home designed by [[Warren & Wetmore]].<ref name="sold1938">{{cite news |title=Burden Furnishings Sold |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/04/21/archives/burden-furnishings-sold.html |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |date=April 21, 1938 |access-date=2015-08-04 }}</ref><ref name="1938tap">{{cite news |title=Burden Furnishings Sold. Auction Yields Total of $31,591. Old Tapestry Brings $5,000 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/04/22/archives/burden-furnishings-sold-auction-yields-totalof-31591old-tapestry.html |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |date=April 22, 1938 |access-date=2015-08-04 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=[[Christopher Gray (architectural historian)|Christopher Gray]] |title=The Burden Mansion. The Soot's Coming Off, but a Blemish Will Remain |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/10/realestate/streetscapes-the-burden-mansion-the-soot-s-coming-off-but-a-blemish-will-remain.html |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |date=July 10, 1994 |access-date=2015-08-04 }}</ref> He was the second son of [[James A. Burden Jr.|James Abercrombie Burden Jr.]] (1871–1932)<ref name="JABObit1932">{{cite news |title=James A. Burden Dead In Syosset |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1932/06/02/archives/james-a-burden-dead-in-syosset-president-of-iron-company-bearing.html |quote= President of Iron Company Bearing the Family Name Victim of Embolism. Sequel To An Accident. Prominent In New York Society Prince of Wales Entertained at Woodside, His Estate |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |date=June 2, 1932 |access-date=2015-08-04 }}</ref> and [[Florence Adele Sloane]] (1873–1960).<ref name="MrsTobinObit1960">{{cite news |last1=Times |first1=Special to The New York |title=MRS. R.M. TOBIN, A SOCIAL LEADER; Owner of Vast L.I. Estate Once Used by Prince of Wales Is Dead at 86 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/01/11/archives/mrs-rm-tobin-a-social-leader-owner-of-vast-li-estate-once-used-by.html |access-date=12 May 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=11 January 1960}}</ref> His older brother was [[James A. Burden III|James Abercrombie Burden III]],<ref name="JAB3rdObit1979">{{cite news |title=James A. Burden Is Dead at 81. Roller-Bearing Concern Ex-Head |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/08/archives/james-a-burden-is-dead-at-81-rollerbearing-concern-exhead.html |quote=James A. Burden, a former president of the Orange Roller Bearing Company, died Saturday at his home in Locust Valley, L.I., after a long illness. He was 81 years old |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |date=May 8, 1979 |access-date=2015-08-04 }}</ref> and his younger sister was Florence "Sheila" Burden (the wife of Blake Leigh Lawrence, a descendant of the [[John Winthrop Chanler|Chanler]], Winthrop, and [[Astor family|Astor]] families).<ref name="1929Engagement">{{cite news|title=MISS SHIELA BURDEN ENGAGED TO MARRY; Kin of Commodore Vanderbilt to Wed Blake L. Lawrence Late This Autumn.|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F07EFD71E38E23ABC4852DFB6678382639EDE&legacy=true|access-date=19 September 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=10 October 1929}}</ref><ref name="1929BurdenWedding">{{cite news|title=SHIELA BURDEN WED TO B.L. LAWRENCE; Bride a Descendant of the Late Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt. 200 ATTEND THE RECEPTION Ceremony in Quaint Little St. John's Church at Cold Spring Harbor, L.I.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/10/27/archives/shiela-burden-wed-to-bl-lawrence-bride-a-descendant-of-the-late.html|access-date=19 September 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=27 October 1929}}</ref> After his father's death in 1932, his mother remarried in 1936 to [[Richard M. Tobin]],<ref name="1936Wedding">{{cite news |title=MRS. J. A. BURDEN WED TO RICHARD M. TOBIN; Civil Ceremony Held in Parism Religions One Today by Cardinal Verdier. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/07/07/archives/mrs-j-a-burden-wed-to-richard-m-tobin-civil-ceremony-held-in-parism.html |access-date=12 May 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=7 July 1936}}</ref> a banker who had been the [[U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands|American Minister to the Netherlands]] under President [[Calvin Coolidge]].<ref name="RMTObit1952">{{cite news |title=RICHARD M. TOBIN, FORMER DIPLOMAT; Ex-Minister to the Netherlands, President of Hibernia Bank in San Francisco, Dies at 85 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/01/24/archives/richard-m-tobin-former-diplomati-exministertothe-netherlands.html |access-date=12 May 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=24 January 1952}}</ref>
His father's family had organized and ran the [[Burden Iron Works]] in Troy, of which his father served as president from 1906 until his death.<ref name="albanyinstitute">{{cite web|title=Burden Iron Works|url=https://www.albanyinstitute.org/burden-iron-works.html|website=www.albanyinstitute.org|publisher=[[Albany Institute of History and Art]]|access-date=19 September 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref name="1885BurdenIronCo">{{cite news|title=THE BURDEN IRON COMPANY.; PROCEEDINGS IN THE SUIT TO HAVE A RECEIVER APPOINTED.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1885/01/11/archives/the-burden-iron-company-proceedings-in-the-suit-to-have-a-receiver.html|access-date=19 September 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=1885}}</ref> His paternal grandparents were Mary Proudfit ([[née]] Irvin) Burden (daughter of [[Richard Irvin (merchant)|Richard Irvin]]) and James Abercrombie Burden (son of [[Henry Burden]]).<ref name="JABWill1906">{{cite news|title=JAMES A. BURDEN'S WILL.; Bequests Made to Widow, Sons, and Business Associates.|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D05E3DC1631E733A2575AC1A9669D946797D6CF&legacy=true|access-date=19 September 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=19 October 1906}}</ref><ref name="Reynolds1911">{{cite book|last1=Reynolds|first1=Cuyler|title=Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs: A Record of Achievements of the People of the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys in New York State, Included Within the Present Counties of Albany, Rensselaer, Washington, Saratoga, Montgomery, Fulton, Schenectady, Columbia and Greene|date=1911|publisher=Lewis Historical Publishing Company|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_b4k-AAAAYAAJ|access-date=19 September 2017|language=en}}</ref> His uncle, [[Arthur Scott Burden]],<ref name="BurdenDeath">{{cite news |title=A. S. Burden Dies in White Plains {{!}} Victim of Pneumonia, He Passes Away in Hospital After a Brief Illness. He was 42 Years Old. Twice Injured by Falls From His Horse. Husband of Cynthia Roche. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/06/16/archives/as-burden-dies-in-white-plains-a-victim-of-pneumonia-he-passes-away.html | work = [[The New York Times]] | date = 16 June 1921 | access-date = 28 August 2009 }}</ref> was the first husband of [[Cynthia Roche]] (the daughter of the [[James Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy|3rd Baron Fermoy]] and [[Frances Ellen Work]], and a sister of the [[Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy|4th Baron Fermoy]], a grandfather of [[Diana, Princess of Wales]]).<ref name="GYObit1966">{{cite news|title=MRS. GUY CARY, DIES; NEWPORT FIGURE, 82|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/12/19/archives/mrs-guy-cary-dies-newport-figure-82.html|access-date=14 June 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=19 December 1966}}</ref><ref name="NYTDeaths1966">{{cite news|title=Deaths {{!}} CARY -- Cynthia Burke Roche|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E01E6DA153EE731A25753C2A9649D946791D6CF&legacy=true|access-date=14 June 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=20 December 1966}}</ref> His sister, Adele Burden Lawrence, married the prominent writer [[Louis Stanton Auchincloss]].<ref name="WeddingNYT">{{cite news|title=ADELE LAWRENCE WED IN VERMONT; Bride of Louis Auchinoloss, a Virginia Law Alumnus, in Shelburne Church|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/09/08/121464714.html?action=click&contentCollection=Archives&module=ArticleEndCTA®ion=ArchiveBody&pgtype=article|access-date=14 October 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 8, 1957}}</ref> His maternal grandparents were [[William D. Sloane]], the head of [[W. & J. Sloane]], and [[Emily Thorn Vanderbilt]] (a daughter of [[William Henry Vanderbilt]] and granddaughter of [[Cornelius Vanderbilt]]). His aunt was [[Emily Vanderbilt Sloane]].<ref name="alovematch">{{cite news|title=A Love Match. An American Heiress is Content to Dwell in Her Native Land With an American Male. A Wedding Which Has Cost an Expenditure of a Round Million. A Vanderbilt Gathering. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/76724643/?terms=%22Edith%2BMinturn%22 |newspaper=The Wichita Beacon |date=6 June 1895 |page=1|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = August 4, 2015 }} {{Open access}}</ref>
Burden graduated with an A.B. degree from [[Harvard College]] in 1922, followed by a master's degree from [[Columbia University]] in 1926.<ref name="WDBObit1978"/> In 1922, [[John Singer Sargent]] did a charcoal portrait of Burden.<ref name="Garner2010">{{cite news |last1=Garner |first1=Dwight |title=A Man Who Knew the People Who Mattered, and Wrote About Them |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/15/books/15book.html |access-date=13 May 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=14 December 2010}}</ref><ref name="Ormond 2019">{{cite book |last1=Ormond |first1=Richard |title=John Singer Sargent : portraits in charcoal |date=2019 |publisher=Morgan Library & Museum |isbn=9781911282488 |url=https://www.themorgan.org/shop/books-and-media/john-singer-sargent-portraits-charcoal |access-date=13 May 2020}}</ref>
==Career== [[File:Komodo Dragon Diorama.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Komodo dragon]] diorama in the Hall of Reptiles and Amphibians at the [[American Museum of Natural History]].]] Shortly after graduating from Harvard,<ref name="Mitman1999">{{cite book |last1=Mitman |first1=Gregg |title=Reel Nature: America's Romance with Wildlife on Film |date=1999 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0-674-71571-4 |page=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iouILhWN1rMC&pg=PA20 |access-date=13 May 2020 |language=en}}</ref> Burden went to the [[Far East]] on an expedition to bring back specimens for the [[American Museum of Natural History]] which led to the establishment of the Department of Animal Behavior in 1928.<ref name="1928Lizard">{{cite news |title=NEW LIZARD GROUP ON VIEW AT MUSEUM; Three Komodo Specimens With 'Million-Year' Lineage Shown in Native Environment. SHOT BY DOUGLAS BURDEN Engineer and Sir Alan Cobham Told of Seeing Them in Dutch Malaysia --Notables at the Opening. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/02/02/archives/new-lizard-group-on-view-at-museum-three-komodo-specimens-with.html |access-date=13 May 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2 February 1928}}</ref> He was elected to the board of trustees of the museum in 1926.<ref name="WDBObit1978"/>
He led expeditions to various tropical islands and the Arctic, but his most well known expedition was to the [[Island of Komodo]] in the [[Dutch East Indies]] in 1926. Along with his first wife Catherine and their party, he went looking for the [[Komodo dragon]] (''Varanus komodoensis''), which the ''New York Times'' called a "fierce direct descendant of the dinosaur". By using sapling traps baited with buffalo meat, Burden was the first "white man" to find and trap the giant lizards which weighed 350 pounds and were approximately 10 feet long.<ref name="WDBObit1978"/> They also collected 3,000 insect and amphibian specimens. Of the three Komodo dragons they captured, two were given to the [[Bronx Zoo]], but died soon thereafter and were mounted in the new Hall of Reptiles and Amphibians at the museum.<ref name="WDBObit1978"/>
In 1930, he co-wrote and produced, with William Chanler as part of Burden-Chanler Productions, the [[silent film]] entitled ''[[The Silent Enemy (1930 film)|The Silent Enemy]]'' starring [[Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance]] and [[Chauncey Yellow Robe]].<ref name="Morris1992">{{cite book |last1=Morris |first1=Oeter |title=Embattled Shadows: A History of Canadian Cinema, 1895-1939 |date=1992 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP |isbn=978-0-7735-6072-7 |page=264 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c08BBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA264 |access-date=13 May 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
Along with [[Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney]], [[Sherman Pratt]], and [[Ilya Andreyevich Tolstoy]] (grandson of [[Leo Tolstoy]]), Burden founded and served as president of [[Marineland of Florida|Marineland]], one of Florida's first [[marine mammal park]]s in [[St. Augustine, Florida]] in 1938.<ref name="WDBObit1978"/> The park was conceived as an oceanarium that could be used to film marine life.
During [[World War II]], he developed a shark repellent for the [[U.S. Navy]].<ref name="WDBObit1978"/>
===Published works=== In 1927, he wrote a book about the expedition to Komodo Island entitled ''The Dragon Lizards of Komodo.'' Burden's chapter "The Komodo Dragon"—in his book ''Look to the Wilderness'', published in 1956—describes the expedition, the habitat, and the behavior of the dragon.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burden |first1=W. Douglas |title=Look to the Wilderness |date=1956 |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |location=Boston |pages=169–193}}</ref> In 1960, Burden wrote ''Book to the Wilderness''.<ref name="Douglas1960">{{cite news |last1=Douglas |first1=William D. |title=The Wild; LOOK TO THE WILDERNESS. By W. Douglas Burden. Illustrated. 251 pp. Boston: Atlantic-Little, Brown. $6.50. Tangle of Woods, Crags and Streams |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/11/27/archives/the-wild-look-to-the-wilderness-by-w-douglas-burden-illustrated-251.html |access-date=13 May 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=27 November 1960}}</ref>
==Personal life== Burden was married three times, with his first and second marriage ending in divorce.<ref name="1939Apartment">{{cite news|title=WILLIAM D. BURDEN RENTS APARTMENT; Naturalist Engages the Last Vacant Space in House at 20 East 80th St.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/11/02/archives/william-d-burden-rents-apartment-naturalist-engages-the-last-vacant.html|access-date=19 September 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=2 November 1939}}</ref> His first marriage was to Katherine Curtin White (1902–1976),<ref name="KCObit1976">{{cite news |title=Katharine Caulkins |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/02/archives/obituary-1-no-title.html |access-date=13 May 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2 March 1976}}</ref> a daughter of Ernest Ingersol White and Katharine Curtin (née Sage) White, in 1924.<ref name="1924Wedding">{{cite news|title=MISS WHITE WEDS WILLIAM D. BURDEN; Daughter of Ernest Ingersoll White Married by Bishop Coadjutor Oldham in Albany.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/07/29/archives/miss-white-weds-william-d-burden-daughter-of-ernest-ingersoll-white.html|access-date=19 September 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=29 July 1924}}</ref> Her uncle, [[Horace White]], had been [[Governor of New York]] in 1910. Before their divorce, they lived at [[72nd Street (Manhattan)|East 72nd Street]] in Manhattan and were the parents of:<ref name="WDBObit1978"/>
* Katharine Sage "Wendy" Burden (b. 1927), who married Walter Denegre Sohier.<ref name="1949Engagement">{{cite news |title=W. D. SOHIER FIANCE OF WENDY BURDEN; Columbia Law Student to Wed Descendant of Commodore Vanderbilt on Dec. 17 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/10/01/archives/w-d-sohier-fiance-of-wendy-burden-columbia-law-student-to-wed.html |access-date=13 May 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=1 October 1949}}</ref><ref name="1949Wedding">{{cite news |title=Wendy Burden Becomes the Bride Of Walter D. Sohier, Former Officer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/12/18/archives/iwendy-burden-becomes-the-bride-of-walter-d-ofiler-former-officer.html |access-date=13 May 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=18 December 1949}}</ref> They divorced and she married the journalist [[Edward P. Morgan]].<ref name="EPMObit1993">{{cite news |last1=Lambert |first1=Bruce |title=Edward P. Morgan, 82, Anchor And Reporter for TV and Radio |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/29/us/edward-p-morgan-82-anchor-and-reporter-for-tv-and-radio.html |access-date=13 May 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=29 January 1993}}</ref> * William Douglas Burden Jr. (1931–2008),<ref name="Run2008">{{cite news |title=Taking a run for Doug Burden |url=https://www.aspentimes.com/news/taking-a-run-for-doug-burden/ |access-date=13 May 2020 |work=[[Aspen Times]] |date=February 12, 2008}}</ref> who was one of America's top ski racers, competing internationally, until a near-fatal ski racing accident in Italy in 1954 ended his career.<ref name="WDBJrObit2008">{{cite news |title=Paid Notice: Deaths BURDEN, WILLIAM DOUGLAS, JR., ''DOUG'' |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage-9506EFDD143AF933A25751C0A96E9C8B63.html |access-date=13 May 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 10, 2008 |language=en}}</ref> His life partner was Marilyn Hodges Wilmerding.<ref name="Axelsson1954">{{cite news |last1=Axelsson |first1=George |title=WORLD SKI TITLE GOES TO ERIKSEN; Norwegian Scores in Slalom, Beating Obermueller by 5 Seconds in Sweden |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/03/01/archives/world-ski-title-goes-to-eriksen-norwegian-scores-in-slalom-beating.html |access-date=13 May 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=1 March 1954}}</ref> * Andrew White Burden (b. 1935), who married Meta Craig Paumgarten, a daughter of [[Harald Paumgarten]], in 1962.<ref name="1962Wedding">{{cite news |last1=Times |first1=Special to The New York |title=Debutante of '57 Becomes Bride Of A.W. Burden; Meta Paumgarten Wed to Ex-Columbia Student in Whitermarsh, Pa. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1962/04/15/archives/debutante-of-57-becomes-bride-of-aw-burden-meta-paumgarten-wed-to.html |access-date=13 May 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=15 April 1962}}</ref> His wife died in a tragic avalanche on the back of [[Aspen Mountain (Colorado)|Ajax]] in 1972.<ref name="1972Obit">{{cite news |title=Mrs. Andrew Burden |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/12/11/archives/mrs-andrew-burden.html |access-date=13 May 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=11 December 1972}}</ref>
After their divorce, Katherine married Dan Platt Caulkins (who had previously been married to a daughter of banker [[Seward Prosser]]) in 1939.<ref name="1939Wedding">{{cite news |title=MRS. BURDEN IS WED TO DAN P. CAULKINS; Justice Shientag Officiates-- Bridegroom Is a Banker |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/12/30/archives/mrs-burden-is-wed-to-dan-p-caulkins-justice-shientag-officiates.html |access-date=13 May 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=30 December 1939}}</ref> He married secondly to Elizabeth (née Chace) Gammack (1911–2013) in 1940. Elizabeth was a daughter of [[Malcolm Greene Chace]] and the former wife of Thomas Hubbard Gammack.<ref name="1940Wedding">{{cite news |title=MRS. E.C. GAMMACK BRIDE OF W.D. BURDEN; Daughter of Malcolm Chaces of This City Is Married Here |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/01/27/archives/mrs-ec-gammack-bride-of-wd-burden-daughter-of-malcolm-chaces-of.html |access-date=13 May 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=27 January 1940}}</ref> Before their divorce, they were the parents of one son, Christopher Burden.<ref name="WDBObit1978"/>
After their divorce, Elizabeth married Grenville Temple Emmet (a son of diplomat [[Grenville T. Emmet]]) in 1973.<ref name="GTWJrObit1989">{{cite news |title=Grenville T. Emmet Jr.; Lawyer, 80 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/24/obituaries/grenville-t-emmet-jr-lawyer-80.html |access-date=23 July 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=24 May 1989}}</ref> His third, and final, marriage was in 1971 to Jeanne Wells (née Wight) Booth (1922–1995). Jeanne, the former wife of John Welles Booth, was a daughter of George Houghton Wight and Vida (née Johnson) Wight.
Burden died in [[Charlotte, Vermont]] on November 14, 1978.<ref name="WDBObit1978">{{cite news|last1=Campbell|first1=Barbara|title=WILLIAM D. BURDEN, NATURALIST, IS DEAD|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/11/16/archives/william-d-burden-naturalist-is-dead-explorer-had-ties-to-new-yorks.html|access-date=19 September 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=16 November 1978}}</ref> He was buried at Grand View Cemetery in [[Chittenden County, Vermont]]. After his death, his widow remarried to [[Dunbar Bostwick]] in 1983. Bostwick was the widower of Burden's cousin, Electra Webb (a daughter of [[James Watson Webb, Sr.]] and [[Electra Havemeyer Webb]]).<ref name="1932Wedding">{{cite news|title=MISS WEBB BRIDE OF D. W. BOSTWICK; The Great-Granddaughter of Commodore Vanderbilt Wed at Garden City. SISTER IS MAID OF HONOR Mrs. R. V. McKim, Bridegroom's Sister, Matron of Honor Dean Sargent performs Ceremony.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1932/06/29/archives/miss-webb-bride-of-d-1-bostwick-the-creatgranddaughter-of-commodore.html|access-date=16 January 2018|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=29 June 1932}}</ref>
===Descendants=== Through his daughter Katharine,<ref name="EPMObit1993"/> he was a grandfather of the photographer and educator [[Sage Sohier|Katharine Sage Sohier]] (b. 1954).<ref name="Dillon2019">{{cite magazine |last1=Dillon |first1=Brian |title=The Mysterious Relationship Between Pets and Their Owners |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/the-mysterious-relationship-between-pets-and-their-owners |access-date=13 May 2020 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=October 27, 2019 |language=en}}</ref>
Through his son Andrew, he was a grandfather of [[Princeton University]] graduate [[Doug Burden|William Douglas Burden III]] (b. 1965), who became a decorated Olympic rower.<ref name="Mullen1996">{{cite news |last1=Mullen |first1=John |title=After Retirement, U.S. Picks Up Burden |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/olympics/longterm/locals/burden.htm |access-date=13 May 2020 |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=July 5, 1996}}</ref><ref name="PAW2016">{{cite journal |title=Princeton's Olympic medalists: A brief history |journal=[[Princeton Alumni Weekly]] |date=21 January 2016 |url=https://paw.princeton.edu/article/princetons-olympic-medalists-brief-history |access-date=13 May 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
==Legacy== Burden is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of lizard, ''[[Cryptoblepharus burdeni]]''.<ref>Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. ("Burden", p. 43).</ref>
==See also== * [[Vanderbilt family]]
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * {{find a Grave|45053592}} * [http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/4074 Results of the Douglas Burden Expedition to the Island of Komodo. 1, Notes on Varanus komodoensis. American Museum novitates ; no. 286]
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burden, William Douglas}} [[Category:1898 births]] [[Category:1978 deaths]] [[Category:Vanderbilt family]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Troy, New York]] [[Category:People from the Upper East Side]] [[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]] [[Category:Harvard College alumni]] [[Category:Burden family|William Douglas]]