[5] Bourne was educated at public schools in New York before joining the work force at age fourteen.

[2] In order to support of his widowed mother and younger sisters, Bourne started his career in New York with the Atlantic Submarine Wrecking Company, later becoming a cashier and bookkeeper and the clerk of the Mercantile Library.

[2] Bourne and Clark developed a "close personal relationship" and in 1880, Clark recommended to his father that Bourne be invited to join his family's real estate company, which owned several parcels of valuable Manhattan real estate, and be brought on as construction manager of The Dakota, then being built on West 72nd Street along Central Park.

[8] Bourne greatly expanded global production as well as international sales of the Singer sewing machine.

[2] In 1902, Bourne hired architect Ernest Flagg to build him a small hunting lodge on the Dark Island property.

[12] Together, they were the parents of twelve children:[13] A sailing enthusiast, Bourne served as a Commodore of the New York Yacht Club.

[17] Bourne owned many boats that he frequently used in New York City and at his summer home in the Thousand Islands.

[18] After several months of ill-health, Bourne died at Indian Neck Hall, his residence in Oakdale on Long Island, on March 9, 1919.