Marcellus Hartley Dodge Jr. (July 29, 1908 – August 29, 1930) was the heir to the Remington-Rockefeller fortune. He lived at

Giralda Farms Giralda Farms was the estate of Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge in Madison, New Jersey. She would hold dog shows at the property. After her death it was converted into a corporate park containing the headquarters for Quest Diagnostics Quest Diag ...

Madison, New Jersey Madison is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 16,937, an increase of 1,092 (+6.9%) from the 2010 United ...

. He died in a car accident in France.

Life

Dodge was born in

to Ethel Geraldine Rockefeller and Marcellus Hartley Dodge Sr. He was a grandson of William A. Rockefeller Jr., co-founder of

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company was a Trust (business), corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil of Ohio, Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founde ...

; great-grandson of

Remington Arms Company Remington Arms Company, LLC, was an American manufacturer of firearms and ammunition. It was formerly owned by the Remington Outdoor Company, which went bankrupt in 2020 with its lines of business sold to several purchasers. Two resulting com ...

founder Marcellus Hartley; and grandnephew of Standard Oil's other co-founder,

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was one of the List of richest Americans in history, wealthiest Americans of all time and one of the richest people in modern hist ...

. Dodge was often referred to as "Hartley." Dodge was instantly killed in an automobile accident on August 29, 1930, when his car struck a tree on the Bayonne-Bordeaux road in Mogesca,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The accident occurred shortly after his graduation from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in June 1930, where he played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. Two passing motorists, Henri Dupin, and Paul Theau, pulled Dodge's body, and the still living Ralph Applegate, from the burning car. Dodge's carotid artery had been severed, and the car's engine was pushed against the back seat. Marcellus Hartley Dodge Sr. went to the site of the accident, looked at the car, and talked to Dupin and Theau. Dodge's mother, Geraldine, had sent him there as a diversion from his hobby of

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

, which she felt was too dangerous. Dodge was buried at

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York, is the cemetery, final resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set in the adjacent burying ground of the ...

Sleepy Hollow, New York Sleepy Hollow is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant, New York, Mount Pleasant in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. The village is located on the east bank of the Hudson River, about ...

Legacy

To honor Dodge's memory, his parents funded the Dodge Gateway on Princeton's campus in 1933, and contributed to the construction of the Marcellus Hartley Dodge Physical Fitness Center at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. Dodge's mother also gave Madison,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

the Hartley Dodge Memorial Building that was dedicated on Memorial Day, Thursday, May 30, 1935 to house its

police department The police are a constituted body of people empowered by a state with the aim of enforcing the law and protecting the public order as well as the public itself. This commonly includes ensuring the safety, health, and possessions of citize ...

. The building later housed Madison's Borough Hall. His mother also donated a memorial to him at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, which was founded with extensive efforts by his father.

External list

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodge, Marcellus Hartley Jr. 1908 births 1930 deaths Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Dodge family People from Madison, New Jersey Princeton University alumni Road incident deaths in France Rockefeller family