Raymond Belmont II (May 31, 1888 – April 5, 1934) was a champion polo player.

Early life

Belmont was born on May 31, 1888, in

Nassau County, New York Nassau County ( ) is a suburban County (United States), county located on Long Island, immediately to the east of New York City, bordering the Long Island Sound on the north and the open Atlantic Ocean to the south. As of the 2020 United St ...

. He was one of three sons born to financier August Belmont Jr. (1853–1924) and, his first wife, Elizabeth "Bessie" Hamilton (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Morgan) Belmont (1862–1898). Among his siblings was August Belmont III and Morgan Belmont. After his mother's death in 1898, his father remarried to the English born actress,

Eleanor Robson Eleanor Robson, (born 1969) is a British Assyriologist and academic. She is Professor of Ancient Middle Eastern History at University College London. She is a former chair of the British Institute for the Study of Iraq and a Quondam fellow of ...

. Belmont graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1910.

Career

After graduation from Harvard, he became a clerk in the office of August Belmont & Co., the banking house founded by his grandfather

August Belmont August Belmont Sr. (born Aron Belmont; December 8, 1813November 24, 1890) was a German-American financier, diplomat, and politician. He served as Chair of the Democratic National Committee from 1860 to 1872. He was also a thoroughbred racehors ...

. In 1916, Belmont attended the

Citizens' Military Training Camp Citizens' Military Training Camps (CMTC) were United States government authorized military training programs held annually each summer during the years 1921 to 1940. CMTC camps differed from National Guard and Organized Reserve training in that t ...

Plattsburgh, New York Plattsburgh is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. The population of the sur ...

, before shipping off to France in May 1918 as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the Headquarters Troop of the 78th Division. He was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the St. Mihiel advance.

Polo career

Belmont was a champion polo player, with a six-goal handicap, in 1923, and was a member of the team (along with

Devereux Milburn Devereux Milburn (September 19, 1881 – August 15, 1942) was an American champion polo player in the early to mid twentieth century. He was one of a group of Americans known as the Big Four in international polo, winning the Westchester Cup si ...

Thomas Hitchcock Jr. Thomas Hitchcock Jr. (February 11, 1900 – April 18, 1944) was an American polo player and aviator who was killed in an air crash during World War II. He was inducted posthumously into the Polo Hall of Fame. Early years Born in Aiken, ...

, and Robert Early Strawbridge Jr.) that won the National Open Championship from the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

four. He was also a horse breeder and one of the best known gentleman riders in the county. His horse, Oracle, twice won the Maryland Hunt Club.

Personal life

Belmont was married three times. His first marriage was in 1912 to Ethel Helen Linder, who was known by her stage name, Ethel Lorraine. They divorced in 1916 and his second marriage took place on September 20, 1916, he was married to Carolyn Brown Hulbert (1892–1970) in

Middleburg, Virginia Middleburg is a town in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 673 as of the 2010 census. It is the southernmost town along Loudoun County's shared border with Fauquier County. Middleburg is known as the "Nation's Horse ...

. Before their divorce, they were the parents of one daughter: * Elizabeth Hurlbert "Bettina" Belmont (1919–1993), who married Newell Jube "Buddy" Ward Jr. in 1939. Ward, a gentleman-farmer, was a great-grandson of the founder of

Prudential Insurance Prudential Financial, Inc. is an American financial services company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, retirement planning, investment management, and other products and services to both retail and institutional customers throughout the Uni ...

. Raymond and Carolyn divorced in Reno in August 1926 and she remarried to Arthur John White, with whom she had a son, Arthur Ridgely White. In September 1926, Belmont married Mrs. Marie Muurling Maddux. After an illness of several days, Belmont died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

at his home, known as Belray in Middleburg, near

Leesburg, Virginia Leesburg is a town in and the county seat of Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. It is part of both the Northern Virginia region of the state and the Washington metropolitan area, including Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. European se ...

, on April 5, 1934.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Belmont, Raymond II 1888 births 1934 deaths Belmont family American people of German-Jewish descent Sportspeople from Leesburg, Virginia Harvard University alumni American polo players Sportspeople from Nassau County, New York Deaths from pneumonia in Virginia United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army officers Military personnel from New York (state)