Courtlandt Nicoll

Courtlandt Nicoll (December 2, 1880 in New York City – September 20, 1938 in Water Mill, Suffolk County, New York) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.

Courtlandt Nicoll
Nicoll, 1912
Member of the New York State Senate
In office 1925–1926
Preceded by	Ogden L. Mills
Succeeded by	Julius Miller
In office 1918–1918
Preceded by	Meyer Levy
Succeeded by	Abraham Greenberg
Personal details
Born	December 2, 1880 Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Died	September 20, 1938 (aged 57) Water Mill, New York, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Ione Page ​ ​ (m. 1911; his death 1938)​
Children	4
Parents	Benjamin Nicoll Grace Davison Lord
Relatives	De Lancey Nicoll (uncle)
Education	St. Paul's School
Alma mater	Princeton University New York Law School

Early life

He was the son of Benjamin Nicoll (1855–1921)[1] and Grace Davison (née Lord) Nicoll. His younger sister, Elsie Nicoll (1887-1947),[2] married John Sloane, Jr. (1883–1971),[3] chairman of W. & J. Sloane, in 1917.[2] the nephew of William D. Sloan and Emily Thorn Vanderbilt.[4] His father was a coal and steel merchant who, upon his 1921 death, left his estate three-fifths to Courtlandt and two-fifths to his sister Elsie, after providing for a $850,000 trust for their mother.[5]

His paternal grandparents were Solomon Townsend Nicoll (1813–1864) and Charlotte Anne Nicoll (1827–1891). Nicoll's uncle was De Lancey Nicoll (1854–1931), the New York County District Attorney.[6] He was a direct descendant of Matthias Nicoll, an English lawyer, who emigrated to America with his uncle, Sir Richard Nicholls, the first Governor of the English Province of New York following Dutch rule under Peter Stuyvesant, in 1664.[7] His maternal grandfather was James Couper Lord, son of Daniel Lord.[7]

He attended St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire.[8] He graduated A.B. from Princeton University in 1903; and from New York Law School in 1905.[9]

Career

He was an Alderman (28th D.) of New York City from 1911 to 1913.[10]

Nicoll was a member of the New York State Senate (17th D.) in 1918; and was Chairman of the Committee on Penal Institutions.

He was again a member of the State Senate in 1925 and 1926. In 1925, he sponsored legislation which forced New York City to use voting machines at subsequent elections.[11] In November 1926, he was defeated for re-election by Democrat Abraham Greenberg. At the opening of the next session in January 1927, Nicoll contested Greenberg's election,[12] but after long drawn out proceedings Greenberg's election was upheld in February 1928.[13]

Personal life

On April 19, 1911, he married Ione Page (d. 1940),[14] who served as Vice Chairman of the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform;[15] and a delegate to the New York State Convention to Ratify the 21st Amendment in 1933. She was the daughter of Howard Page (d. 1925), who was associated with the Standard Oil Company,[8] and Mildred A. (née Mitchell) Page (d. 1937).[14] Together, they were the parents of five children:[7]

• Mildred Nicoll (1913–1982), who married Charles Ellwood Rauch in 1940.[16]
• Courtlandt Nicoll Jr. (1916–1995), who married Kathryna Hoffman Ray (1924–2004) in 1944.[17] They divorced and he married Nancy C. Woods (b. 1927) in 1958.[18]
• Eileen Nicoll (1922–2001), who married Floyd Kirk Haskell (1916–1998), who later served as a United States Senator from Colorado, in 1941.[19]
• Benjamin Nicoll (b. 1926)

He was President of the Board of Trustees of the Museum of the City of New York from December 1935[20] to February 1938.[7]

He died in his sleep on September 20, 1938, at his country home in Water Mill, New York,[7] of coronary thrombosis. His widow died on August 9, 1940, after falling down 16 stories from a room in New York Hospital.[14] Her funeral was attended by Mayor LaGuardia and David Rockefeller.[21]

References

1. "BENJAMIN NICOLL DIES". The New York Times. 4 July 1921. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
2. "MISS ELSIE NICOLL WEDS JOHN SLOANE; Chairman of Junior Committee of American Ambulance Hospital Is a Bride. CEREMONY IN MORRISTOWN Reception at Merrywood, the Nicoll Summer Home--Bridegroom a Member of Squadron A." The New York Times. 24 June 1917. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
3. Times, Special To the New York (4 August 1971). "John Sloane, 88, Ex‐Chairman Of Furniture Company, Is Dead". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
4. Hutto, Richard Jay (2005). The Jekyll Island Club Members. Indigo Custom Publishing. p. 136. ISBN 9780977091225. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
5. "$850,000 FUND FOR WIDOW.; Will of Benjamin Nicoll Leaves Residuary Estate to Children". The New York Times. 16 July 1921. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
6. Courtlandt Nicoll, who is a nephew of De Lancey Nicoll... in NYT on September 10, 1911
7. C. NICOLL, LAWYER, DIES IN HIS SLEEP in NYT on September 21, 1938 (subscription required)
8. Downs, Winfield Scott; Company, American Historical (1940). Encyclopedia of American biography: New series. American Historical Society. pp. 19–20. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
9. Yearbook of the Bar Association of New York City (1939; pg. 431; "Memorial of Courtlandt Nicoll")
10. BLAMES CHARTER, NOT ALDERMEN, FOR CITY'S MUNICIPAL ILLS in NYT on December 29, 1912
11. VOTE MACHINE BILL PASSES THE SENATE; Nicoll Measure Forcing New York City to Buy Them Is Adopted in NYT on March 20, 1925 (subscription required)
12. NICOLL TO CONTEST FOR SENATE SEAT.; Charges Violation of Ballot Secrecy Caused His Defeat by Senator Greenberg in NYT on January 4, 1927 (subscription required)
13. GREENBERG'S RIGHT TO SEAT CONFIRMED in NYT on February 16, 1928 (subscription required)
14. MRS. NICOLL DIES IN 16-STORY PLUNGE in NYT on August 10, 1940 (subscription required)
15. MRS. NICOLL SCORES DRY LAW IN PULPIT in NYT on November 9, 1931 (subscription required)
16. "MISS MILDRED NICOLL ENGAGED TO BE WED; Alumna of Barnard Fiancee of Charles Rauch of Farmington". The New York Times. 9 November 1940. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
17. "KATHRYNA H. RAY WED TO AVIATOR; Bishop Manning and Father of Bride Officiate at Marriage ., to Lt. Courtlandt Nicoli". The New York Times. 15 April 1944. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
18. "NANCY WOODS IS WED". The New York Times. January 4, 1958. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
19. "EILEEN NICOLL WED TO FLOYD HASKELL; Escorted by Her Brother at Her Marriage in Chapel of Transfiguration Church". The New York Times. 28 December 1941. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
20. Nicoll Heads City Museum in NYT on December 20, 1935 (subscription required)
21. "NOTABLES AT RITES FOR MRS. NICOLL; Mayor La Guardia Among 200 Persons at Church of the Transfiguration FLOWERS SENT BY GROUPS Dr. Randolph Ray and Rev. B.A.E. McLaughlin Read the Episcopal Service". The New York Times. 13 August 1940. Retrieved 29 September 2017.