James A. Roosevelt

James Alfred Roosevelt (June 13, 1825 – July 15, 1898) was an American businessman and philanthropist. A member of the Roosevelt family, he was an uncle of President Theodore Roosevelt.[1]

James A. Roosevelt
Born
James Alfred Roosevelt

June 13, 1825
DiedJuly 15, 1898 (aged 73)
Resting placeGreen-Wood Cemetery
OccupationBusinessman
EmployerRoosevelt & Son
Spouse(s)
Elizabeth Norris Emlen
(m. 1847; his death 1898)
Children
Parents
RelativesSee Roosevelt family

Early life

Roosevelt was born on June 13, 1825, to Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt (1794–1871) and Margaret Barnhill (1799–1861). His siblings were Silas Weir Roosevelt (1823–1870), Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt, Jr., Robert Barnhill Roosevelt (1829–1906), Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. (1831–1878), who was married to Martha "Mittie" Bulloch (1835–1884), and William Wallace Roosevelt (1834–1835).[2][3]

Career

Roosevelt became a member of his father's mercantile firm, Roosevelt & Son, at the age of twenty, and eventually succeeded him as its head. He was connected with many other institutions, including as vice president of the Chemical Bank of New York; president of the Broadway Improvement Company; vice president of the Bank of Savings; member of the board of managers of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company; director of the New York Life Insurance Trust.[4]

He was a trustee to the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children and on the New York Board of Park Commissioners during the William Lafayette Strong Administration.[5] He was a president of Roosevelt Hospital that was founded by his distant cousin James H. Roosevelt.[1]

Personal life

On December 22, 1847, he married Elizabeth Norris Emlen (1825–1912), the daughter of William Fishbourne Emlen (1786–1866) and Mary Parker Norris (1791–1872). Together, they had four children, including:[6]

  • Mary Emlen Roosevelt (1848–1885)
  • Leila Roosevelt (1850–1934),[7] who married Edward Reeve Merritt (1850–1931).[5][8][9]
  • Alfred Roosevelt (1856–1891), who married Katherine Lowell (1858–1925) in 1882.[6]
  • William Emlen Roosevelt (1857–1930), who married Christine Griffin Kean (1858–1936) in 1883.[6]

He died on July 15, 1898 near Mineola, New York while riding a train on his way home to Oyster Bay, New York.[1]

Descendants

Through his son, Alfred, he was the grandfather of Elfrida Roosevelt, who married Sir Orme Bigland Clarke, 4th Baronet, and was the mother of Sir Humphrey Clarke, 5th Baronet.[10]

References

Sources

  • Cobb, William T. (1946). The Strenuous Life: The Oyster Bay Roosevelts in Business and Finance. William E. Rudge's Sons.
  • Whittelsey, Charles B. (1902). The Roosevelt Genealogy, 1649–1902.
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