[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.

In 1925, he sponsored legislation which forced New York City to use voting machines at subsequent elections.

[13] 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.

[14] Together, they were the parents of five children:[7] 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.