Mortimer was born in New York City on April 24, 1852. He was the son of William Yates Mortimer of New York and Anna Elizabeth Mortimer of Albany. His siblings included Minnie Mortimer and Wilfred Mortimer, both of whom died young. His younger brother, Stanley Yates Mortimer, was married to Elizabeth Livingston Hall, the second daughter of socialite, banker, and merchant, Valentine Hall Jr. His paternal grandparents, of which his father was the only son, were Harriette Cordelia Mortimer and Richard Mortimer, a Cleckheaton, Yorkshire, England born merchant who came to America in 1816 and became incredibly wealthy. His grandfather was the brother-in-law of William Yates, a large woolen manufacturer. Upon his paternal grandfathers death in 1882, he inherited a large fortune. His maternal grandfather was Aaron Thorpe of Albany, New York.
Career
After receiving an education in Germany, he returned to New York at the age of 20 to take over management of his families estate, which was founded by his grandfather and greatly expanded by his father, including the construction of the Mortimer Building which was completed in 1885. Shortly after his death, the New York Stock Exchange acquired the Mortimer Building for $745,000 in December 1918. The Mortimer families real estate holdings were quite extensive, but smaller than the Astors, Goelets, and only a few other families.
Society life
In 1892, Mortimer and his wife Eleanor were included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times. Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom. Mortimer, a member of the Tuxedo Club, Metropolitan Club, Knickerbocker Club, Union Club, City Club, Racquet Club, Coaching Club, Riding Club and Westminster Kennel Club, wore a cravat that covered his throat with "a diamond stickpin so big that his friends called him "Flashlight Dick." The Mortimers, along with the Lorillards, are considered among the founding families of Tuxedo Park, New York. Their home in Tuxedo was known as Mortemar, a "turreted four-story mansion." Construction on Mortemar, which was designed by Richard Howland Hunt of Hunt & Hunt, began in the 1890s and continued for 10 years, getting larger and larger.
Personal life
On April 26, 1886, Mortimer was married to Eleanor Jay Chapman, a direct descendant of John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the United States. Eleanor was the sister of John Jay Chapman, and the daughter of Eleanor Chapman and Henry Grafton Chapman Jr., the president of the New York Stock Exchange. Together, they had a townhouse at 382 Fifth Avenue and were the parents of:
Mary Eleanor Mortimer, who married Maxime Hubert Furlaud.
Richard Mortimer Jr., a Harvard graduate who died in a plane crash in France.
Stanley Grafton Mortimer, a stockbroker who married Katherine Hunt Tilford, daughter of Henry M. Tilford, in 1911.
Mortimer died on March 15, 1918 in Palm Beach, Florida, where he had gone for his health. He was buried at St. Mary's Church Cemetery in Tuxedo Park, New York. His entire estate was left to his widow, Eleanor, who died at her home, 555 Park Avenue, after several months illness, in December 1929.
Descendants
Through his daughter Mary, he was the grandfather of Richard Mortimer Furlaud, the president and C.E.O. of Squibb Beech-Nut ; and Maxime Jay Furlaud. Through his son Stanley, he was the grandfather of Stanley G. Mortimer Jr., who was married to Babe Paley, and then Kathleen Harriman; Henry Tilford Mortimer, Richard Mortimer, Eve Mortimer, who married Clarence Pell, Jr., and later Lewis Cass Ledyard III; Katharine Mortimer, who married three times ; and John Jay Mortimer, a prominent financier. Through his daughter Wilfreda, he was the grandfather of John Mortimer Rutherfurd ; Jay Rutherfurd ; and Nathaniel Frothingham.
