Your TR Source
John Campbell Greenway sends his deepest sympathies to Ethel Roosevelt. Referring to the recent assassination attempt, Greenway states that Theodore Roosevelt’s conduct was splendid.
1912-10-15
A “picture letter” with illustrations of Ethel Roosevelt disciplining Archie and Quentin Roosevelt, Ethel giving a horse a bottle of medicine, President Roosevelt playing tennis with Mr. Cooley, a dog chasing a squirrel, and a policeman feeding bread to a squirrel.
1904-06-22
Theodore Roosevelt and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt have comfortable rooms on the USS Vandyck, and Edith is getting a lot of rest. They have had good weather, and Roosevelt summarizes their average day aboard ship. Margaret Roosevelt has been a good traveling companion for Edith, and Roosevelt is comfortable with them traveling the west coast of Chile together. He is looking forward to seeing Kermit Roosevelt and is delighted with Father Zahm and the rest of the expedition members.
1913-10-08
“The Most Wise Bavian,” meaning Kermit Roosevelt, is hunting along the coast by himself. Theodore Roosevelt is very proud of Kermit and is anxious to hear how Ted Roosevelt is doing. He has been busy in Nairobi with lunch and dinners every day, foreshadowing what his time in Europe will be like. He looks forward to returning to safari and is pleased that it is the last stage of the trip.
1909-12-16
Ethel Roosevelt Derby was right to cable Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt. Theodore Roosevelt already misses Edith and is appreciative of Ethel and Richard Derby’s attention towards Edith’s sister Ethel Tyler Carow. He is anxious to hear that both operations are over. There are several visitors at Sagamore Hill and Roosevelt is busy trying to get things ready for the trip to Arizona with Archie and Quentin Roosevelt.
1913-06-19
Theodore Roosevelt is glad to hear that Richard Derby will be having the operation on his nose. He hopes Aunt Emily Tyler Carow’s trouble is not serious and is pleased that Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt will be visiting Ethel Roosevelt Derby. He would like Edith and Ethel to take a short trip to Russia after Richard’s operation. Roosevelt will be a “conscientious, even if not wholly efficient, vice-mother” to Archie and Quentin Roosevelt in Edith’s absence.
1913-06-10
The libel suit is over and Theodore Roosevelt won. The trial was in Marquette, Michigan, and Roosevelt stayed with George Shiras. Roosevelt’s witnesses were “good fellows” and he was touched by their devotional zeal. The trial lasted six days and the evidence was so overwhelming that George A. Newett retracted his charge and Roosevelt requested no damages. Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt has been visiting Archie and Quentin Roosevelt at Groton. Kermit Roosevelt has joined a “big contracting company in South Brazil.” In a postscript, Roosevelt has arrived home and received Ethel Roosevelt Derby’s telegram. He knows that Richard Derby will fit in with the family.
1913-06-01
Ethel Roosevelt Derby’s letter from Rome, Italy, has arrived and her parents read it to each other. Theodore Roosevelt understands her desire to avoid invitations and have some quiet time on a honeymoon. He envies Ethel’s trip to Italy and agrees that her social settlement work will be helpful to Richard Derby’s career. Roosevelt’s libel suit begins soon and he is prepared to lose. The area around Sagamore Hill is changing rapidly and the Roosevelts have had many days to themselves.
1913-05-22
Theodore Roosevelt loves Ethel Roosevelt Derby’s letters and is confident that she will be just as happy with Richard Derby as her parents have been together. He encloses a picture letter as requested but is worried that it will make Richard think he “has married an outpatient of bedlam’s daughter.” Roosevelt agrees that Richard can be reminiscent of Kermit Roosevelt. They are planning a trip to visit Kermit next winter.
1913-05-01
After a trip to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Theodore Roosevelt will have five days off and then a “deluge of travel and dust and howling and irritated fatigue until after the election.” Aunt Emily Tyler Carow has returned and is well. Alice Roosevelt Longworth is having a difficult time due to the political situation. She would feel better if her husband, Representative Longworth, were “strong for Taft.” Roosevelt provides brief updates on Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt and Ethel Roosevelt’s brothers.
1912-08-21
Theodore Roosevelt is amazed that Ethel Roosevelt is now nineteen years old. Things have been quiet at Sagamore Hill and Roosevelt has been kept busy with work. Willard Dickerman Straight has been trying to visit but Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt has avoided him. Edith rode Pineknot, the horse, one day and found his gait distressing so that she could hardly move for two days afterward.
1910-08-14
Theodore Roosevelt and Kermit Roosevelt are approaching the end of their trip and are content with their efforts. They are anxious to see their family again. The camp was almost burned a few nights ago, but the fire was fought off and the naturalists proved admirable in an emergency. They both remain healthy but must get sick soon to “make Africa justify its reputation.”
1910-01-17
Theodore Roosevelt is excited that he will see Ethel Roosevelt in two and a half months. Roosevelt and Kermit Roosevelt have done well and are in excellent health. Kermit has turned into a grownup and is growing a mustache that you must be attentive to see. He is proud of Kermit’s “prowess and hardihood.” Roosevelt wrote to Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt about killing a charging elephant and is not sure if she will want him to keep the tusks. The last ten days have been spent traveling from Lake Victoria and Roosevelt has been greeted by the African leaders like a king.
1910-01-02
Theodore Roosevelt and Kermit Roosevelt are on the last leg of the safari and Roosevelt is looking forward to the end. He was comforted by being able to write to Ethel Roosevelt. The Kampala and Nyanza lake area is beautiful and interesting. A local leader reminds Kermit of Umslopogaas, H. Rider Haggard’s Zulu hero. Roosevelt doubts he will be able to write again until reaching Cairo, Egypt.
1909-12-23
Theodore Roosevelt is concerned about Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt’s “fright” and would come home if he were not on a scientific expedition pledged to work for the Smithsonian Institution. He has moved up his arrival in Khartoum as early as is feasible. Roosevelt is puzzled by the information he is receiving regarding American political affairs. It seems like he will be in a “scrape” as soon as he lands. He loved Ethel Roosevelt’s last letter and wishes they were together at Sagamore Hill.
1909-12-12
Kermit Roosevelt has been a great comfort on the trip but Theodore Roosevelt wishes Kermit had immediately married Belle Wyatt Willard instead of joining the expedition. He is pleased that Kermit will be married and already loves Belle devotedly. Roosevelt enjoyed having Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt along for so much of the trip. He is not enjoying the continuous speech making and banquets. However, they have entered the natural history and exploration part of the expedition and Roosevelt is feeling more comfortable and rested.
1913-12-10
Theodore Roosevelt is proud that Ethel Roosevelt Derby and Richard Derby will be doing their part in “this great world tragedy.” He is also anxious and wants Ethel to return as soon as her duty will allow. Richard Derby, Jr., is the “dearest baby,” and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt is doing well. Roosevelt met with the “Belgian peace people” who were pleased with his writings about the war.
1914-10-05
Theodore Roosevelt knows that Ethel Roosevelt Derby and Richard Derby are having a difficult time, but he thinks of them often and is proud of their efforts. Roosevelt is sick of the Wilson administration’s neutrality and has said so in an article. Richard Derby Jr. has been a great comfort and they call him “Littlejohn Bottlejohn.” As Roosevelt expected, the Progressive Party went down in an “utter and hopeless defeat.” He does not believe that the Progressives can remain a party for much longer, and he will be relieved when the party disbands. They are concerned about Kermit and Belle Roosevelt and hope the newlyweds boarded the earliest possible ship.
1914-11-04
Theodore Roosevelt is overjoyed that Ethel Roosevelt Derby and Richard Derby will be returning to the United States and hopes they can stay for Christmas. Roosevelt has “succumbed” to Richard Derby Jr., and will miss him when his parents take him back. Baby Richard likes to try and take Roosevelt’s glasses and put his pocket watch in his mouth. Archibald Roosevelt visited after the football game and Roosevelt enjoys the “odd angle at which ideas sometimes strike him.”
1914-11-26
Theodore Roosevelt was pleased to receive Ethel Roosevelt Derby’s letters and wants Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt to rest at Sagamore Hill for at least ten days before traveling to Syracuse, New York. Roosevelt is unsure of the outcome of the libel suit. The judge is very legalistic and Roosevelt finds his technical rulings incomprehensible. However, he believes that his case has been made “pretty clear.” The Wilkinsons are great hosts and admire the Derbys.
1915-05-01