Mortimer W. Churchill

Birth: Dec. 20, 1843 Spafford Onondaga County New York, USA Death: Jul. 25, 1873 Raleigh Wake County North Carolina, USA

Mortimer W. Churchill (or Churchell) was the son of Gilbert Ward Churchell (1815-1899) and his first wife Eleanor Rainey Churchell (1816-1851), of Spafford, Onondaga Co., NY. His father was a carpenter and small farmer. During the Civil War young Churchill served in the Army of the Potomac, enlisting at Spafford on October 8, 1861. He was assigned to Co. D, 76th New York Infantry Regiment and saw action in Virginia before being discharged on a medical disability on December 6, 1862.

After the war, Churchill moved to Raleigh, NC, where he worked as a bookkeeper and served as City Treasurer. In May 1870 he married Cornelia Rutjes, 19-year old daughter of Adolph John Rutjes (ca. 1825-after 1890), the proprietor of the National Hotel in Raleigh, and his wife Théonie Marie Louise Alexandrine de la Rivière Mignot Rutjes (1819-1875). Churchill entered into partnership with his father-in-law. In August 1872 it was announced that Churchill had assumed management of the National Hotel. Unfortunately, the hotel venture failed later that year, the result of lavish overspending by Rutjes. By this time, Churchill had contracted tuberculosis. Despite a trip to Florida for his health, he died at the age of 29 years. He and his wife had no children.

In the mid-1870s, his young widow moved with her parents north to New York City, then later to Chelsea, MA, finally returning to New York where she died in 1921 without remarrying. ______________________

DEATH AND FUNERAL OF M.W. CHURCHILL.--The death of Mr. M.W. Churchill, occurred on the morning of Friday last week of consumption. Mr. Churchill was a Northern man whose conduct here had shown him to be possessed of a sterling character. Few young men had the faculty of attracting to themselves the large number of warm personal friends and admirers who surrounded Mr. Churchill, and whose grief at his death was apparent and sincere. The funeral took place on Saturday evening at half past five o'clock. [The Weekly Era (Raleigh, NC), July 31, 1873, p.3.]

Family links:

Parents:

 Gilbert W Churchell (1815 - 1899)

 Eleanor Rainey Churchell (1816 - 1851)

Spouse:

 Cornelia Rutjes Churchill (1851 - 1921)*

• Calculated relationship

Note: The cemetery office confirms that the grave site is unmarked.

Burial: Oakwood Cemetery Raleigh Wake County North Carolina, USA

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Created by: John W. Coffey Record added: Nov 20, 2012 Find A Grave Memorial# 101043485