Ogden Mills (financier) explained
Ogden Mills |
Birth Date: | 18 December 1856 |
Birth Place: | Sacramento, California, US |
Death Place: | New York City, US |
Resting Place: | St. James Churchyard, Hyde Park, New York |
Occupation: | Businessman, philanthropist, racehorse owner/breeder |
Children: | Gladys, Beatrice, Ogden |
Parents: | Darius Ogden Mills Jane Templeton Cunningham |
Relations: | Whitelaw Reid (brother-in-law) |
Ogden Mills (December 18, 1856 – January 29, 1929) was an American financier and Thoroughbred racehorse owner.
Early life
Ogden Mills was born on December 18, 1856, in Sacramento, California, to Jane Templeton Cunningham and Darius Ogden Mills (1825–1910).[1] His father was a highly successful banker and investor who, upon his death in 1910, left Ogden Mills and his sister, Elisabeth Mills, who married Whitelaw Reid an estate valued at $36,227,391.[2] As a result of his father's many corporate investments, Ogden Mills served on the Board of Directors of a number of companies including the New York Central Railroad.[3]
Thoroughbred racing
A member of The Jockey Club, Ogden Mills raced horses in the United States and maintained a racing stable in France in partnership with Lord Derby. Among their successes in that country, they won the 1928 Grand Prix de Paris with the colt Cri de Guerre, bred by Evremond de Saint-Alary.[4] On his death in 1929, Ogden Mills left to his daughter Beatrice, a resident of London, England, married to Bernard Forbes, 8th Earl of Granard, his French racing stable and a home at 73 Rue de Varenne in Paris. That year, Beatrice led all French owners in purses earned.[5]
In 1926, Mills' daughter Gladys and son Ogden established Wheatley Stable, which became one of the preeminent racing and breeding operations in American racing history.
Personal life
In 1882,[6] Ogden Mills married Ruth T. Livingston (1855–1920), daughter of Maturin Livingston Jr. and Ruth Baylies a descendant of Thomas Baylies (1687–1756). She was the twin sister of Elizabeth Livingston (1855–1943),[7] who was married to William George Cavendish-Bentinck (1854–1909).[8] [9] She was also the granddaughter of Maturin Livingston (1769–1847) and Margaret Lewis (1780–1860), who was the only daughter and sole heiress of Gov. Morgan Lewis (1754–1844). Together, Ogden and Ruth had three children, twin daughters and a son:
Mills' wife inherited the Livingston mansion in Staatsburg, New York, which the couple used as a summer home and where they raised horses.[15]
Ruth Livingston Mills died at their residence in Paris, France, on October 13, 1920.[16] Ogden Mills died of pneumonia on January 29, 1929, at the family home in New York City.[17] Ogden Mills was buried with his wife at the mausoleum in St. James's Cemetery in Hyde Park, New York.
Philanthropy
Like his father, Ogden Mills was involved in a number of charitable causes and the Ogden Mills & Ruth Livingston Mills State Park encompasses their mansion at Staatsburg, New York, that is now Staatsburgh State Historic Site.[18] [19]
Mills was instrumental in assisting the State of New York to erect a statue of Robert Livingston, his wife's great-great-great grandfather, into the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington, D.C., highlighting him as one of the state's two most illustrious citizens.[20] [21]
Descendants
Through his eldest daughter, he was the grandfather of Barbara Phipps Janney and Ogden Phipps (1908–2002), and the great-grandfather of Ogden Mills Phipps (1940–2016) and Cynthia Phipps, also major figures in horse racing.
Further reading
- News: Ogden Mills Will Leaves Millions To Many Institutions. https://web.archive.org/web/20121022221043/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/810762712.html?dids=810762712:810762712&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Feb+06,+1929&author=&pub=Hartford+Courant&desc=Ogden+Mills+Will+Leaves+Millions+To+Many+Institutions&pqatl=google. dead. October 22, 2012. February 6, 1929. Hartford Courant.
- News: Bury Ogden Mills Near His Estate. February 1, 1929. The New York Times..
Notes and References
- News: D. Ogden Mills Dies Suddenly. Financier and Philanthropist. Father of Mrs. Whitelaw Reid Fortune Estimated at $60,000,000 Mr. Reid to Attend Funeral . https://web.archive.org/web/20121106172432/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/763488932.html?dids=763488932:763488932&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jan+05,+1910&author=&pub=Hartford+Courant&desc=D.+OGDEN+MILLS+DIES+SUDDENLY&pqatl=google . dead . November 6, 2012 . Darius Ogden Mills, the financier and philanthropist and father of Mrs. Whitelaw Reid, wife of the United States ambassador to Great Britain, died of heart disease at his winter home near this city last night, aged 84 years. Mrs. Reid, who came to California with her .... . January 5, 1910 . 2011-05-10 .
- News: Estate of Mills Worth $36,227,391. https://web.archive.org/web/20121022223430/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/383147091.html?dids=383147091:383147091&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Apr+18,+1914&author=&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=ESTATE+OF+MILLS+WORTH+$36,227,391&pqatl=google. dead. October 22, 2012. Chicago Daily Tribune . Apr 18, 1914.
- News: Mrs. Reid and Ogden Mills Inherit All Save $400,000 Left to Public institutions . The will of Darius Ogden Mills was filed yesterday in the Surrogates Court. It was a comparatively short document, and with the exception, of six bequests to public institutions, divided the estate, which has been estimated at between $50,000,000 and $60,000,000, equally between his two children -- Ogden Mills and Elisabeth Mills Reid, wife of Ambassador Whitelaw Reid. . . January 18, 1910. 2011-05-10 .
- Web site: American's Great Triumph: Ogden Mills Cri De Guerre Wins Grand Prix De Paris. Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives . 1928-06-26 . 2019-02-22.
- News: French Turf Honors Go to Lady Granard. https://archive.today/20130131224952/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/821239502.html?dids=821239502:821239502&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=May+20,+1929&author=&pub=Hartford+Courant&desc=French+Turf+Honors+Go+to+Lady+Granard&pqatl=google. dead. January 31, 2013. The Hartford Courant . May 20, 1929.
- Web site: Staatsburgh State Historic Site. parks.ny.gov. 25 February 2017.
- News: Mrs. Cavendish-Bentinck – Former Elizabeth Livingston, a Member of Noted N.Y. Family. 24 February 2017. The New York Times. 7 November 1943. 56.
- News: Times. Special Cable To The New York. G. Cavendish Bentinck Dead – Wife Was Elizabeth Livingston, Sister of Mrs. Ogden Mills. 24 February 2017. The New York Times. 23 August 1909.
- Web site: Lloyd. Brigitte Gastel. Biography of William George Cavendish-Bentinck (1854-1909). brigittegastelancestry.com. 24 February 2017.
- News: Alden Whitman . Alden Whitman . Mrs. H.C. Phipps, Leader in Horse Racing, Dies; Wheatley Stable Owner, 87, Was Noted for Breeding of Winning Thoroughbreds . Mrs. Gladys Mills Phipps, widow of Henry Carnegie Phipps and celebrated for many years as the First Lady of the Turf, died yesterday after a short illness at Spring Hill, her Westbury, L. I., estate. The New York and Palm Beach society leader and owner of Wheatley Stable was 87 years old. . . October 20, 1970 . 2015-04-28 .
- News: Lady Granard, Daughter Of Ogden Mills, Dies at 88. New York Times. 3 February 1972. 18 December 2013.
- News: Times. Special To The New York. Mills Takes Oath as Treasury Head – Ambassador Mellon and Assistant Secretary Ballantine Are Sworn In at the Same Time – Crowd Attends Ceremony – Hoover, in Accepting Mellon's Formal Resignation, Commends His Long Public Service. 25 February 2017. The New York Times. 13 February 1932.
- News: Times. Special To The New York. Congressman Ogden L. Mills Is Wed to Mrs. Dorothy R. Fell by Peace Justice. 25 February 2017. The New York Times. 3 September 1924.
- News: Ogden Mills Dies Suddenly At 53 – Former Secretary of Treasury Is Stricken by Heart Attack in His Home Here . Ogden L. Mills, former Secretary of the Treasury and a Republican party leader often suggested as a possible Presidential nominee, died suddenly yesterday of a heart attack in his home at 2 East Sixtyninth Street. . . October 12, 1937 . 2013-12-18 .
- Book: Reynolds. Cuyler. Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation. 1914. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. 1343. Maturin Livingston married Margaret Lewis.. 11 September 2016. en.
- News: Mrs. Ogden Mills Dies in Paris Home – New York Social Leader Who Was Noted for Her Aristocratic Gatherings – Husband at Her Bedside – Mother of Countess Granard, Mrs. H.C. Phipps and Ex-Senator O.L. Mills Was Ruth Livingston. 25 February 2017. The New York Times. 14 October 1920.
- News: Ogden Mills Dies At His Home Here – Financier Is the Victim of Pneumonia After Three Weeks' Illness – He Was 72 Years Old – Active in Many Philanthropies and Long a Leader in Social Affairs . Ogden Mills financier and father of Ogden L. Mills, Under-Secretary of the Treasury, died at 1:30 A.M. today at his home, 2 East Sixty-ninth Street, following an illness of more than three weeks. ... . . January 29, 1929 . 8. 2013-12-18 .
- News: Times. Special To The New York. Mrs. Mills Will Probated – Leaves Estate to Husband and Children, With $40,000 Yearly to Sister. 25 February 2017. The New York Times. 29 November 1920.
- News: Mills Mansion Given to State as Museum – Colonial Home of Gen. Morgan Lewis at Staatsburg. 25 February 2017. The New York Times. 29 June 1938.
- News: Fiscal: Red Year's End. https://web.archive.org/web/20081215023842/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,741998,00.html. dead. December 15, 2008. July 13, 1931. Time Magazine.
- Web site: Robert R. Livingston. Architect of the Capitol.