James Roosevelt Roosevelt

For other people named James Roosevelt, see James Roosevelt (disambiguation).

James Roosevelt "Rosy" Roosevelt (April 27, 1854 – May 7, 1927) was an American diplomat, heir, and the older half-brother of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States.^[1]

James Roosevelt Roosevelt
Born	April 27, 1854
Died	May 7, 1927 (1927-05-08) (aged 73) Hyde Park, New York, U.S.
Other names	Rosy
Alma mater	Columbia University (1877)
Occupation	Diplomat
Spouses	Helen Schermerhorn Astor ​ ​ (m. 1878; died 1893)​ Elizabeth Riley ​ (m. 1914)​
Children	2, including Tadd
Father	James Roosevelt I
Relatives	Roosevelt family

Early life

James Roosevelt "Rosy" Roosevelt was born on April 27, 1854.^[2] He was the son of James Roosevelt I (1828–1900) and his first wife, Rebecca Brien Howland (1831–1876), who were second cousins.^[3] When his father died in 1900, the family's estate was split between Rosy and his half-brother, Franklin.^[1] Throughout his life he was considered "an aimless if charming member of New York society's sporting set."^[4]

Career

Roosevelt graduated with honors from Columbia College in 1877.^[5] President Grover Cleveland, who counted Rosy's father as a friend and supporter, appointed him first secretary of the United States legation in Vienna, Austria, and as first secretary of the embassy in London, England.^[1][6]

Roosevelt was a trustee of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and a close friend of Cardinal Patrick Joseph Hayes. He donated more than $250,000 to St. Francis Hospital in New York and also gave substantial funds to the parish of St. James Episcopal Church in Hyde Park, New York.^[1]

During World War I, he sold Liberty bonds and war savings stamps from an office he maintained in New York's Post Office Building.^[5]

Personal life

On November 18, 1878, Roosevelt married Helen Schermerhorn Astor (1855–1893), the second daughter of businessman William Backhouse Astor Jr. (1829–1892) and socialite Caroline Webster Schermerhorn (1830–1908).^[7][8] Together, Roosevelt and Helen had two children:

• James Roosevelt "Tadd" Roosevelt Jr. (1879–1958), who married Sadie Messinger (c. 1880–1940)
• Helen Rebecca Roosevelt (1881–1962), who in 1904 married Theodore Douglas Robinson (1883–1934), the eldest nephew of President Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919)^[9]

After his first wife's death in 1893, Roosevelt married Elizabeth Riley on August 7, 1914.^[1] On May 7, 1927, Roosevelt died at his Hyde Park home as a result of complications related to bronchitis and asthma, according to news reports at the time. His second wife died in 1948.^[1]

References

Notes

1. "J. R. Roosevelt, 73, Dies at Hyde Park; Philanthropist and Trustee of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Victim of Bronchitis – Brother-in-Law of Late Col. J. J. Astor and Half Brother of Franklin D. Roosevelt". The New York Times. 8 May 1927. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
2. "Roosevelt – Claes Martensen of New Amsterdam–New York City".
3. Whittelsey, Charles Barney (1902). The Roosevelt Genealogy, 1649-1902. Press of J.B. Burr & Company. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
4. Ware, Susan. "Hyde Park Bucolic" The New York Times. (July 14, 1985). Review of Ward, Geoffrey C. Feore the Trumpet Young Franklin Roosevelt: 1882–1905 (New York: Harper & Row, 1985)
5. "J. R. ROOSEVELT, 73, DIES AT HYDE PARK; Philanthropist and Trustee of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. VICTIM OF BRONCHITIS Brother-in-Law of Late Col. J, J, Astor and Half Brother of Franklin D. Roosevelt". The New York Times. May 8, 1927.
6. "LIFE". 9 September 1940.
7. "A Notable Social Event; The Wedding of Miss Astor and Mr. Roosevelt; An English Morning Ceremony in Grace Church the Reception in the Astor Mansion; The Bride's Presents and Some of the Costumes". The New York Times. 19 November 1878. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
8. "Court Disposes of an Astor Fund.; Provisions as to It in Mrs. Roosevelt's Will Held to be Inoperative". The New York Times. 25 May 1894. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
9. "Mrs. Theodore Robinson Dies | Navy Official's Widow Was 80". The New York Times. July 10, 1962. Retrieved 4 October 2016.

Sources

• Black, Conrad Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom (2005)
• Miller, Nathan Theodore Roosevelt: A Life (1992)
• Moffat, R. Burnham The Barclays of New york: who they are and who they are not, – and some other Barclays (1904)

External links

• "Roosevelt family papers" on the FDR Library website
• "FDR Genealogy" on the FDR Library website
• James Roosevelt Roosevelt at Find a Grave
• "Helen Rebecca Roosevelt" on Ancestry.com