The Roosevelt Family Tree

Dutch Origins and Early American History

The Roosevelt family traced its roots to the Dutch merchants and settlers who had colonized the Hudson Valley in the seventeenth century. The family name was originally "van Roosevelt"—descendants of a man named Claes Martenzen van Rosenvelt who had emigrated from the Netherlands. This Dutch heritage was important to the family's identity; it connected them to the earliest European settlement of New York and gave them a sense of historical continuity stretching back centuries. The Roosevelt family had been in America for more than two hundred years by the time Theodore Roosevelt was born. They had accumulated wealth through mercantile enterprise, had maintained their social standing through careful marriages and civic engagement, and had developed a conviction that their prominence carried obligations to the broader community. This sense of noblesse oblige—that privilege carried responsibility—would be passed down through generations and would profoundly shape Theodore Roosevelt's understanding of what his family owed to the nation.

The Patriarch: Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt (1794–1871)

The founder of the Oyster Bay branch was Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt, a merchant of considerable wealth and standing in New York. He married Margaret Barnhill, and their son was Theodore Roosevelt Sr. (1831–1878), the father of President Theodore Roosevelt. The Oyster Bay branch was named for the Roosevelt estate on Long Island, located in that quiet village on the North Shore. This property became the heart of the Oyster Bay branch's identity—a place where generations of Roosevelts lived, raised children, and maintained the traditions that connected them to their past.

Theodore Roosevelt Sr. (1831–1878) and His Children

Theodore Roosevelt Sr. married twice. His first wife was Martha "Mittie" Bulloch (1835–1884), a gentlewoman from Georgia whose family had deep Southern roots. Their children were:

• Anna "Bamie" Roosevelt (1855–1931), the eldest and the family's emotional anchor. She never married but served as Theodore's most trusted confidant and, after his first wife's death, helped raise his daughter Alice.
• Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (1858–1919), the future President, born October 27, 1858, at 28 East 20th Street, Manhattan.
• Elliott Roosevelt (1860–1894), Theodore's younger brother, handsome and athletic but morally troubled. His descent into alcoholism was a profound grief for Theodore, and Elliott's early death at age 34 devastated the family.
• Corinne Roosevelt (1861–1927), the youngest and most intellectually accomplished of the four. She became a published author, political figure in her own right, and Theodore's lifelong ally.

Theodore Roosevelt Jr.'s Marriages and Children

Theodore Jr. married twice, each time with profound consequence.

First Marriage: Alice Hathaway Lee (1861–1884)

Theodore married Alice Hathaway Lee in 1880. She was his first love, and the marriage was intensely romantic. Their daughter was born in 1884: Alice Roosevelt Longworth (1884–1980), who would become one of the most formidable women in 20th-century American society. Alice inherited her mother's beauty and her father's wit, and became famous for her sharp political commentary and her ability to navigate Washington society for nearly a century.

Tragedy struck on February 14, 1884, when Alice Lee died of Bright's disease (kidney failure). Theodore's grief was absolute. He left New York, went to the Dakota Badlands, and spent two years as a rancher, processing his loss in solitude and work.

Second Marriage: Edith Kermit Carow (1861–1948)

In 1886, Theodore married Edith Kermit Carow, a childhood friend whom he had known all his life. Edith proved to be his ideal partner—intelligent, strong-willed, capable of managing the household and children while Theodore pursued his public career. Together they had five children:

• Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (1887–1944), known as "Ted Jr." He became a soldier and earned the Medal of Honor as a World War II general. He was wounded in both world wars, showing the same courage as his father.
• Kermit Roosevelt (1889–1943), Theodore's second son and perhaps his closest companion in adventure. Kermit accompanied his father on the African safari in 1909–1910 and later on the South American river expedition in 1913–1914. He struggled with alcoholism throughout his life, a tragedy that deeply grieved his father.
• Ethel Roosevelt Derby (1891–1977), the family's anchor and caretaker. She never sought the public spotlight, focusing instead on her family and her nursing work. She was the emotional center of the Roosevelt household.
• Archibald Bulloch Roosevelt Jr. (1894–1979), known as "Archie." He was wounded in World War I and served with distinction in World War II. Like his older brother Ted Jr., he embodied his father's ideals of service and sacrifice.
• Quentin Roosevelt (1897–1918), Theodore's youngest son. A pilot in World War I, Quentin was killed in aerial combat in 1918, shot down over France. His death was one of the greatest sorrows of Theodore's later years.

Elliott Roosevelt (Theodore Sr.'s Other Son) and Eleanor

Elliott Roosevelt, Theodore Sr.'s second son, had a daughter with his first wife, Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962), born after Elliott and his wife had divorced. Eleanor would become one of the most important First Ladies in American history through her marriage to Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The Hyde Park Connection: Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) descended from a different Roosevelt branch—the Hyde Park branch, descended from Theodore Sr.'s brother James. FDR and Theodore Roosevelt were therefore fifth cousins.

The crucial family connection came when Franklin married Eleanor Roosevelt on March 17, 1905. Eleanor was the daughter of Elliott Roosevelt (Theodore's troubled brother) and therefore Eleanor was Theodore's niece. Theodore, as the closest male relative of appropriate standing, gave Eleanor away at her wedding. The ceremony symbolized the linking of the two Roosevelt branches through marriage.

The Oyster Bay vs. Hyde Park Divide

The two branches were notably different in their politics and temperament. Theodore's Oyster Bay branch was Republican, progressive in the reform sense, and intensely engaged with public life. They lived in Manhattan, attended Harvard and Yale, held political office, led military expeditions, and pursued their ambitions with remarkable vigor and publicity. The Hyde Park branch, descended from Frederic Roosevelt (James' son), was Democratic, more inclined toward traditional aristocratic privacy, and more cautious in their engagement with politics. They lived in the Hudson Valley on a grand estate, maintained their distance from the machinations of partisan politics, and valued their privacy and family continuity over public achievement. Yet both branches understood themselves as Roosevelts—as members of a family whose Dutch heritage, commercial success, and sense of public obligation gave them standing and responsibility in American life. When the two branches came together through Eleanor's marriage to Franklin, they represented both the connections and tensions that characterized American wealth and privilege in the early twentieth century.

Eleanor Roosevelt: The Bridge Between Branches

Eleanor Roosevelt, the daughter of Elliott (Theodore's troubled brother), occupied a unique position in Roosevelt family history. She had been born in New York, raised initially by her parents, but orphaned by her father's death and her mother's early demise. She was Theodore's niece, but she was also his responsibility and his charge. She embodied the connection between the two Roosevelt lines—her blood was Oyster Bay (through her father Elliott and his ancestry), but her marriage would connect her to the Hyde Park branch through her husband Franklin. In some sense, Eleanor herself was the living embodiment of the Roosevelt family's continuation and integration across its different branches.

Key Figures and the Broader Roosevelt Influence

Beyond the two presidents and the First Ladies, the Roosevelt family produced remarkable figures who shaped American history in diverse ways. Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, Theodore's sister, was a published author, poet, and political activist in her own right. She supported women's suffrage, maintained intellectual independence, and served as her brother's closest confidant and political advisor. Anna Roosevelt Cowles (Bamie), the eldest of Theodore's siblings, never married but exercised enormous influence within the family, managing households, raising her nieces and nephews, and serving as the emotional anchor that held the sprawling Roosevelt network together. The Roosevelt men included military officers who served with distinction in multiple wars: Ted Jr. and Archie Roosevelt served in both world wars. The family also produced businessmen, writers, and public servants who carried the Roosevelt name into the latter twentieth century and maintained the family's tradition of engagement with American public life.