The Roosevelt family is an American political family and dynasty from New York whose members have included two United States presidents, a first lady, and various merchants, bankers, politicians, inventors, clergymen, artists, and socialites. The progeny of a mid-17th-century Dutch immigrant to New Amsterdam, many Roosevelts became nationally prominent in New York State and City politics and business and intermarried with prominent colonial families. Two distantly related branches of the family from Oyster Bay and Hyde Park, New York, rose to global political prominence with the presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909) and his fifth cousin Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945), whose wife, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, was Theodore's niece. The Roosevelt family is one of four families to have produced two presidents of the United States by the same surname; the others were the Adams, Bush, and Harrison families.
History
Claes Maartenszen van Rosenvelt (c. 1626–1679), the immigrant ancestor of the Roosevelt family, arrived in New Amsterdam (present-day New York City) sometime between 1638 and 1649. About the year 1652, he bought a farm from Lambert van Valckenburgh, comprising 24 morgens (i.e., 20.44 ha or 50.51 acres) in what is now Midtown Manhattan, including the present site of the Empire State Building. The property included approximately what is now the area between Lexington Avenue and Fifth Avenue, bounded by 29th St. and 35th St.
Claes van Rosenvelt's son Nicholas was the first to use the spelling Roosevelt and the first to hold political office, as an alderman. His sons Johannes and Jacobus are usually referred to as the progenitors of the Oyster Bay and Hyde Park branches of the family, though it was a more distant descendant of each who first moved to those locations, with some other descendants living elsewhere. By the late 19th century, the Hyde Park Roosevelts were generally associated with the Democratic Party and the Oyster Bay Roosevelts with the Republicans. President Theodore Roosevelt, an Oyster Bay Roosevelt, was the uncle of Eleanor Roosevelt, later wife of Franklin Roosevelt. Despite political differences that caused family members to actively campaign against each other, the two branches generally remained friendly.
The wife of Jacobus Roosevelt, whose name is recorded as Catharina Hardenbroek, is believed to be a member of the same family as Johannes Hardenbergh (1670–1748), the owner of a two million acre land patent in the Hudson Valley, New York.
In addition to his Roosevelt ancestors, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a descendant of the following people and families:
Wilhelmus Beekman, Mayor of New York City Richard Warren, Mayflower passenger John Howland, Mayflower passenger Anne Hutchinson, religious reformer William Walton, merchant (collateral descendant) Antoine Crispel, patentee of New Paltz, New York Maria Vigne, the first European child born at Fort Orange DeWitt family Hoffman family
Coats of arms
In heraldry, canting arms are a visual or pictorial depiction of a surname, and were and still are a popular practice. It would be common to find roses, then, in the arms of many Roosevelt families, even unrelated ones; the name Rosenvelt means "rose field". Also, grassy mounds or fields of green would be a familiar attribute.
The Van Roosevelts of Oud-Vossemeer in Zeeland have a coat of arms that is divided horizontally, the top portion green with a white chevron between three white roses, while the bottom half is gold with a red lion rampant. A traditional blazon suggested would be, Per fess vert a chevron between three roses argent and Or a lion rampant gules.
The coat of arms of the namesakes of the Dutch immigrant Claes van Rosenvelt, ancestor of the American political family that included Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt, was white with a rosebush with three rose flowers growing upon a grassy mound, the crest being of three ostrich feathers divided into red and white halves each. In heraldic terms this would be described as, Argent upon a grassy mound a rose bush proper bearing three roses gules barbed and seeded all proper, with a crest upon a torse argent and gules of Three ostrich plumes each per pale gules and argent. Franklin Roosevelt altered his arms to omit the rosebush and use in its place three crossed roses on their stems, changing the blazon of his shield to Three roses one in pale and two in saltire gules barbed seeded slipped and left proper.
Members
Claes Martenszen van Rosenvelt (1623–1660), m. Jannetje Samuels Thomas (1625–1660) Elsie Roosevelt (bap. 1652–1703), m. Hendrick Meyer, New York City assistant alderman. Descendants include Henry Rutgers, Revolutionary War hero and namesake of Rutgers University, Samuel Provoost, Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and Maria Provoost, wife of Mayor of New York City Cadwallader D. Colden. Anna Margaret Roosevelt (1654–1706), m. Heyman A. Roosa (1643–1708) Nicholas Roosevelt (1658–1742), m. Heyltje Jans Kunst (1664–1730) Nicholas Roosevelt (b. 1687), goldsmith Nicholas Roosevelt (b. 1715), first lieutenant of the Hearts of Oak militia in the American Revolutionary War Nicholas Roosevelt (1758–1838), member of the New York Assembly from Warren County Solomon Roosevelt (1778–1832) Solomon Roosevelt (1807–1900), shipbuilder, built many steamships under the firm Roosevelt & Joyce, including the USS Morse. See Allaire Iron Works. George Washington Roosevelt (1844–1907), Medal of Honor recipient for action at Bull Run, diplomat Johannes Roosevelt (1689–1750) Margreta Roosevelt (bap. 1709), m. William de Peyster, son of Mayor of New York City Johannes de Peyster Nicholas Roosevelt (b. 1717), merchant Nicholas Roosevelt (bap. 1740), New York City alderman Cornelius Roosevelt (b. 1731), chocolate maker, New York City alderman Cornelius C. Roosevelt (bap. 1755), merchant, New York City alderman, member of the New York State Assembly, m. Alida Fargie, granddaughter of Albany and New York City mayor Edward Holland Maria Roosevelt (1760–1821), m. John Duffie Matilda Duffie, m. Gerard De Peyster, New York City alderman Margaret De Peyster, m. Philip Milledoler Brett, President of Rutgers University Cornelius Roosevelt Duffie (1789–1827), Episcopal priest, founder and rector of Saint Thomas Church, m. Helena Bleecker, granddaughter of Anthony Lispenard Bleecker Cornelius Roosevelt Duffie (1821–1900), first chaplain of Columbia College, founder and first rector of the Church of St. John the Baptist Elbert Roosevelt (1767–1857), New York City merchant, early settler of Pelham Manor, New York, m. Jane Curtenius, daughter of merchant and politician Peter T. Curtenius Clinton Roosevelt (1804–1898), politician and inventor Jacobus Roosevelt (1724–1777) Johannes Roosevelt (bap. 1751), m. Mary Schuyler of the Schuyler, Van Rensselaer, and Van Cortlandt families. Mary Roosevelt (1789–1837), m. William Sheriff de Peyster, son of Pierre Guillaume de Peyster (himself a brother of Arent de Peyster) Nicholas Roosevelt (1767–1854), inventor, m. Lydia Latrobe, daughter of architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe Samuel Roosevelt (1813–1878) Nicholas Latrobe Roosevelt (1847–1892) Henry Latrobe Roosevelt (1879–1936), Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Navy, m. Eleanor Morrow, daughter of California judge and U.S. Representative William W. Morrow Eleanor Katherine Roosevelt (1915–1995), m. Reverdy Wadsworth, son of U.S. Senator and Representative James W. Wadsworth Jr. Samuel Montgomery Roosevelt (1858–1920), artist James Jacobus Roosevelt (1759–1840), m. Maria Van Schaack (a descendant of the Schuyler family). Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt Sr. (1794–1871), progenitor of the Oyster Bay Roosevelts (see below) James John Roosevelt (1795–1875), politician, businessman and jurist, m. Cornelia Van Ness, daughter of Vermont politician Cornelius P. Van Ness Marcia Ouseley Roosevelt (b. 1847), m. Edward Brooks Scovel, opera singer Frederick Roosevelt Scovel, m. Vivien May Sartoris (1879–1933), daughter of Nellie Grant and granddaughter of President Ulysses S. Grant Catherine Roosevelt (1803–1844), m. Michael Bourke Margaret Jones Bourke, m. Thomas Edward Kenny, Canadian merchant, banker, and politician Mary Louise Bourke (Marie-Louise) m. Henry Isaac Butterfield. Yorkshire Merchant and Business man William Henry Roosevelt (1806–1869), politician, land speculator (Illinois) James Jacobus Roosevelt (1692–1776), m. Catharina Hardenbroek Helena Roosevelt (1719–1772), m. Andrew Barclay, namesake of Barclay Street in Manhattan Charlotte Amelia Barclay (1760–1778), m. Richard Bayley, first professor of anatomy at Columbia College Guy Carlton Bayley, m. Grace Roosevelt (see below) James Roosevelt Bayley (1814–1877), Bishop of Newark and Archbishop of Baltimore Christopher Roosevelt (b. 1739) James Christopher Roosevelt (1770) James Henry Roosevelt (1800–1863), founder of the Roosevelt Hospital Isaac Roosevelt (1726–1794), merchant, co-founder of the Bank of New York, Federalist politician, served in the New York State Assembly and the New York Constitutional Convention, m. Cornelia Hoffman Jacobus Roosevelt (1760–1847), m. Maria Walton, a descendant of Wilhelmus Beekman Grace Roosevelt, m. Guy Carlton Bayley (see above) Isaac Daniel Roosevelt (1790–1863), progenitor of the Hyde Park Roosevelts (see below) Maria Roosevelt (b. 1763), m. Richard Varick, Mayor of New York City
Oyster Bay Roosevelts
Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt Sr. (1794–1871), co-founder of Chemical Bank Silas Weir Roosevelt (1823–1870) Cornelius Roosevelt (1847–1902), m. Anais Julia Carmencita Piorkque (1848–1941), m. Anastacia Anderpoll (1879–1962) André Roosevelt (1879–1962), Olympic gold medalist and film director, m. Adelheid Lange (1879–1962), sculptor Hilda Roosevelt (1881–1965), Parisian opera singer Hilborne Roosevelt, (1849–1886), pioneering organ builder, m. Katherine Shippen James West Roosevelt, (1858–1896), physician Nicholas Roosevelt (1893–1982), American diplomat and journalist James Alfred Roosevelt (1825–1898), banker (James) Alfred Roosevelt (1856–1891), banker, m. Katherine Lowell, daughter of Massachusetts businessman and industrialist Augustus Lowell Elfrida Roosevelt, m. Sir Orme Bigland Clarke, 4th Baronet, military officer Sir Humphrey Clarke, 5th Baronet (1906–1973) Sir Toby Clarke, 6th Baronet (1939–2019), British businessman Theodora Roosevelt Clarke (1985–), United Kingdom parliamentarian Sir Lawrence Clarke, 7th Baronet (1990–), Olympic hurdler and investment banker William Emlen Roosevelt (1857–1930), banker and telegraph executive, m. 1883, Christine Griffin Kean, daughter of Col. John Kean and sister of John and Hamilton Fish Kean George Emlen Roosevelt (1887–1963), banker and philanthropist Julian Roosevelt (1924–1986), Olympic gold medalist and IOC member Philip James Roosevelt Sr. (1892–1941), U.S. Army captain during World War I and banker, m. his second cousin Jean S. Roosevelt (see below) Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt Jr. Robert Barnwell Roosevelt (1829–1906), conservationist, m. 1st Elizabeth Ellis, m. 2nd Minnie O'Shea John Ellis Roosevelt (1853–1939), m. Nannie Vance, daughter of New York City politician Samuel B. H. Vance Jean Schermerhorn Roosevelt, m. her second cousin Philip James Roosevelt Sr. (see above) Granville Roland Fortescue (1875–1952), soldier and war correspondent, m. Grace Hubbard Bell, niece of Alexander Graham Bell Thalia Massie (1911–1963), whose rape was the subject of the 1932 Massie Trial Helene Whitney (1914–1990) (born Kenyon Fortescue), 1930s and 1940s film actress, m. Julian Louis Reynolds, son of Richard S. Reynolds Sr. and heir to the Reynolds tobacco and aluminum fortunes Theodore Roosevelt Sr. (1831–1878), m. Martha "Mittie" Bulloch Anna "Bamie/Bye" Roosevelt (1855–1931), m. William Sheffield Cowles Sr.