 He was a well-known philanthropist with significant donations to many institutions and organizations and was a major contributor to the successful efforts to protect the Great Swamp.He was born on February 28, 1881 to Emma Hartley who died from complication of childbirth on March 3, 1881; and Norman White Dodge.His paternal grandfather was William E. Dodge Sr., an abolitionist, but also a partner at Phelps, Dodge, a company that exported cotton from the deep south to Liverpool, England.