WILLIAM ELPHINSTONE KEITH2 MITTENDORF (William Frederick1) was born at Manhattan. New York County, New York on 20 May 1877, a son of William Frederick Mittendorf and his first wife Emma vom Keith Zeuschner .[1] He died at Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida, on 7 December 1957.[2] He married at Manhattan on 15 February 1806 MARIA ALVINA BORCHERS.[3] She was born at Richmond, Virginia, on 13 June 1865, a daughter of Louis Deitrich Christoph Borchers and his wife Emilie Louise Euker. She died at Ossining, Westchester County, New York, on 1 August 1953.[4] They divorced at Florida in 1927.[5]
William Elphinstone Keith Mittendorf was baptized at Saint Luke's Methodist Church, Manhattan, by sprinkling, on 28 February 1880, along with his two younger brothers.[6]
W. E. K. Mittendorf completed his undergraduate education at Princeton University, graduating in 1897. He studied medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, graduating in 1898 with a degree in medicine.[7] William served as a 1st Lieutenant on the hospital ship U. S. S. Missouri in Havana during the Spanish-American War of 1898. In 1899 William went abroad to continue his studies in Würzberg, Germany.[8] His passport application described him as 5' 7½", medium forehead; blue eyes; regular nose; regular mouth; round chin; light brown hair; fair complexion; oval face.[9]
As a wedding present for his new bride, William built Marie a new home in Crugers. The residence was modeled after another Crugers mansion named "Boscobel," a superb Federal style dwelling built in 1808 for Staats Dyckman and his family. According to Harpers Official Golf Guide 1901 the Elphinstone property was first used as a nine-hole, 50 member golf course, with the greens being "somewhat rough" according to the Guide. The club president was Dr. Mittendorf (probaly son William not father william F.) vice president--George Mittendorf, treasurer--Mrs. W. F. Mittendorf, and house committee member--Captain Alfred Mittendorf.[10]
Unfortunately, during the 1906 honeymoon of William and Marie, the couple's new home burned to the ground. Elphinstone was rebuilt, however, and became the family home. Emilie Borchers Mittendorf was born in the residence. Elphinstone allegedly was sold around 1925, to the Orbachs, the New York City department store family, possibly as a result of the couple's divorce. Phyllis Ann Bagster-Collins remembers visiting Elphinstone when the Orbach family lived there. According to her account, she was escorted around the property by Jerry Orbach, a broadway actor, who played Det. Lennie Briscoe on TV's Law and Order.[11]
The 1910 Census reported this family in the town of Cortlandt, Westchester County, as follows:[12]
| Line | Name | Related | Sex | Race | Age | MS | B | FB | MB | Occupation |
| 18. | Mittendorf, William | head | M | W | 33 | M1 | NY | Germany | NY | doctor, practice |
| 19. | Mittendorf, I. Marie | wife | F | W | 24 | M1 | VA | Germany | VA | none |
| 20. | Mittendorf, Virginia | daughter | F | W | 3 | S | VA | NY | VA | none |
| 21. | Mittendorf, Emilie | daughter | F | W | 10/12 | S | NY | NY | VA | none |
When William Keith Mittendorf signed up for the draft, at Westchester Clounty, on 12 September 1918, he was described as, medium height, blue eyes, brown hair.[13]
After their divorce in 1927, William was reported in the 1930 Census at Manhattan, a surgeon of ophthalmology and a veteran of the Spanish War.[14] Marie was reported at Cortlandt near several relatives.[15] The 1940 Census reported William still at Manhattan, in private practice.[16] Marie Mittendorf was reported at Cortlandt with a household that included their daughter, Virginia Harcourt, 32, son-in-law Allan Harcourt, 40, civil engineer for the state, and grandchildren Elaine Harcourt, 13 and Elizabeth Harcourt, 7.[17]
The following obituary from the New York Times announced William's death in 1957:[18]
| Dr. W. K. Mittendorf Dr. William K. Mittendorf, a retired ophthalmologist, died in Tampa, Fla., yesterday, of a heart attack. His age was 80. He formerly practiced and lived here. Dr. Mittendorf graduated from Princeton in 1897, and from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University in 1898. During the Spanish-American War he served in the Army Medical Corps. He was formerly surgeon-general of the United Spanish War Veterans. Surviving are two daughters, Mrs. Virginia Harcourt and Mrs. Emilie Baxter-Jones; a brother, Dr. Alfred D. Mittendorf; seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren |
William and Marie Alvina (Borshers) Mittendorf had the following children:
1New York City Department of Records/Municipal Archives, "New York, New York, Extracted Birth Index, 1866-1909," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 16 July 2021), certificate 207801; William Elphinstone Keith Mittendorf. "Passport Applications, 1795-1925," digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 8 July 2021), Dr William E K Mittendorf, certificate10136; National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.
2Florida Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, "Florida Death Index, 1877-1998," database of index, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 16 July 2021), William E Von Keith Mittendorf.
3New York City Department of Records/Municipal Archives, "New York, New York, Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 28 July 2021), Mittendotf-Borchers, 1906.
4Elaine Shisler Smith, History of the Family and Her Story Too: A Portrait of the Bagster-Collins Family Tree (N.p.: self published, [2010]), 51. "Deaths: Mittendorf," New York Times, 3 August 1953; Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 28 February 2015), Historic Newspapers, Birth, Marriage & Death Announcements, 1851-2003.
5Florida Department of Health, Jacksonville, Florida, "Florida Divorce Index, 1927-2001," index, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 28 February 2015).
6Saint Luke's Methodist Church (Manuscripts and Archives Division of the New York Public Library; New York, New York), Baptisms, William Elphinstone Keith Mittendorf, 1880; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 16 July 2021).
7Smith, History of the Family and Her Story Too, 50.
8Ibid.
9"Passport Applications, 1795-1925," Dr William E K Mittendorf.
10Smith, History of the Family and Her Story Too, 51.
11Ibid.
12Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population, Cortlandt, Westchester County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 18, roll 1090, p. 13A, household 271, William Mittendorf family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 12 March 2018); NARA group T624, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
13"World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," digital image, United States, Selective Service System, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 28 February 2015), Westchester County, New York, draft board 1, no. 1981, Dr. William Keith Mittendorf; citing : National Archives and Records Administration. Washington, D.C., microfilm record group M1509: Imaged from Family History Library microfilm.
14Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, population, Manhattan, New York County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 574, p. 9A, household 257, William Mittendorf; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 19 March 2018); NARA microfilm record group T626; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
151930 Census, Cortlandt, Westchester County, New york, ED 391, p. 1A, household 2, Marie A. Mittendorf.
16Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, population, New York County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 31-1329, p. 16B, household 290, William Mittendorf; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 8 July 2021); NARA microfilm group T627.
171940 Census, Cortlandt, Westchester County, New York, ED 60-22, p. 15B, household 322, Marie Mittendorf family.
18"Dr. W. K. Mittendorf," obituary, New York Times, 8 December 1957; Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 28 February 2015), Historic Newspapers, Birth, Marriage & Death Announcements, 1851-2003.
19Social Security Administration, "U.S. Social Security Death Index," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 17 April 2017), Virginia Harcourt, 083-26-5889.
20New York State Department of Health; Albany, New York, "New York State, Marriage Index, 1881-1967," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 16 July 2021), certificate 39403; Harcourt-Mittendorf.
21New York State Department of Health; Albany, New York, "New York State, Birth Index, 1881-1942," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 16 July 2021), certificate 12940; Alan Harcourt.
22New York Department of Health; Albany, New York "New York, Death Index, 1852-1956," index, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 16 July 2021), certificate 20075; Alan L Harcourt.
23"New York State, Birth Index, 1881-1942," certificate 32215; Elaine Harcourt.
24"Virginia Harcourt Bride of Pvt. Frederick Snowden, Jr.," Poughkeepsie (New York) Journal, 27 June 1945; Newspapers+ (newspapers.com : accessed 16 July 2021). p. 8.
25"New York State, Birth Index, 1881-1942," certificate 16568; Elizabeth Harcourt.
26"U.S. Social Security Death Index", Elizabeth Fenaughty, 093-48-8527.
27"New York State, Marriage Index, 1881-1967," Fenaughty-Harcourt, 1950.
28United States, Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC, "Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File, 1850-2010," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 28 July 2021), Michael J Fenaughty.
Florida Department of Health, Office of Vital Records. "Florida Death Index, 1877-1998." Database of index. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
________. "Florida Divorce Index, 1927-2001." Index. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2015.
New York City Department of Records/Municipal Archives. "New York, New York, Extracted Birth Index, 1866-1909." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
________. "New York, New York, Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
New York State Department of Health; Albany, New York. . "New York State, Birth Index, 1881-1942." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
________. "New York, Death Index, 1852-1956." Index. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
________. "New York State, Marriage Index, 1881-1967." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
New York Times. New York. New York. 3 August 1953; 8 December 1957.
Poughkeepsie Journal. Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York. 27 June 1945.
Saint Luke's Methodist Church (Manuscripts and Archives Division of the New York Public Library; New York, New York). Methodist Episcopal Church Records in New York City and vicinity. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
Smith, Elaine Shisler. History of the Family and Her Story Too: A Portrait of the Bagster-Collins Family Tree. N.p.: self published, [2010].
United States Department of the Census. Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
________. Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
________. Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021
United States of America, "Passport Applications, 1795-1925." Database and images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
United States, Selective Service System. "World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918." Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2015.
United States Social Security Administration. "U.S. Social Security Death Index." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2017.
United States, Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC. "Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File, 1850-2010." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.