Your TR Source
Robert Bridges is pleased to hear that Theodore Roosevelt has finished the first draft of the biography of Oliver Cromwell and attempts to assist Roosevelt with the meaning of a particular Greek word.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-05
Charles Noble Gregory is a Theodore Roosevelt supporter and discusses why he believes Roosevelt is a viable candidate compared to President McKinley and William Jennings Bryan. He asks that Roosevelt not make any decisions to jeopardize his candidacy should McKinley not run for reelection or not be selected to run.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-05
Charles J. Schnabel is sending some editorials from the Portland Daily Oregonian to Governor Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-05
Bradley T. Johnson has received Governor Roosevelt’s book The Rough Riders and calls it a “graphic story of a gallant feat” and compares the experience with his own charge at “The Rail Road Cut,” during the Civil War. Johnson discusses hunting, Roosevelt’s re-election campaign, and sends his love to the Roosevelt family. Johnson also mentions that he will speak with Senator Lodge around Christmas about getting Roosevelt a medal of honor.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-07
Benjamin B. Odell, Chairman of the New York Republican State Committee, informs Governor Roosevelt that he has just returned from six weeks abroad, saying that travel makes one a better Republican. Odell will be in Manhattan soon, and he invites Roosevelt to join him and a senator for dinner.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-08
Herman Henry Kohlsaat advises Governor Roosevelt not to accept an invitation from two clubs because his acceptance could be construed as a bid for the presidency in 1904.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-09
Benjamin B. Odell would like to set up a meeting with Governor Roosevelt before Roosevelt begins an upcoming trip.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-09
Luther S. Kelly has just returned from the Harriman Expedition to Alaska. The expedition went well. The expedition discovered a new inlet on Prince William Sound and killed one of the famous Kodiak bears. Kelly is also sorry to hear that in his absence all of the volunteer appointments to the Army have been filled leaving him unable to reenter the service.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-10
Senator Lodge tells Governor Roosevelt that Roosevelt overrates Lodge’s actions. If the positions were reversed, Lodge is certain that Roosevelt would do even more for him. He is also sure that when Roosevelt is president one day he will return the favor by helping Lodge. Lodge comments on aspects of New York politics, and addresses a recent change in the War Department to which Roosevelt contributed, with the previous Secretary of War R. A. Alger being replaced by Elihu Root. The situation in Cuba makes Lodge unhappy, and he wishes that President McKinley would replace General Brooke. Additionally, while McKinley may be correct about General Otis, the general impression is that he is a failure. Lodge wishes that General Wood was in charge in Cuba. He also predicts that Frederick Funston will be a good ally in the future.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-10
James Harrison Wilson, who is serving in Cuba, is upset about recent Army appointments and believes the McKinley administration is giving preference to non-West Point graduates. Wilson appreciates Governor Roosevelt’s efforts on his behalf, but does not want Roosevelt to risk losing influence with President McKinley over this issue.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-10
Thomas Collier Platt objects to the postponement of the resignation of State Tax Commissioner Martin Heermance. The Commissioner’s successor ought to have time before the new Franchise Tax Law goes into effect on October 1, to prepare to enforce the law.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-11
Benjamin B. Odell asks Theodore Roosevelt to look into the case of a boy at the Matteawan Asylum.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-12
Herman Henry Kohlsaat advises Governor Roosevelt to stay close to the McKinley administration and not to do anything to make it appear that he is “chasing the Presidency.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-14
A semi-annual account of the royalties to be given to Theodore Roosevelt from the publisher G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-14
After a hurricane made landfall in Puerto Rico, Elihu Root requests that Governor Roosevelt “ask the people of your state to contribute generously to the relief of the people of Puerto Rico.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-14
William E. Chandler invites Theodore Roosevelt to Concord, New Hampshire, for “Old Home Week,” a New England tradition where former residents visit their home town or parental household.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-15
Dan T. Moore, a cousin of Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt, appeals for Governor Roosevelt’s assistance in getting transferred from volunteer to regular military service, preferably the cavalry. Colonel J. L. Rodgers has approved such a transfer and done what he can to effect it, but it seems that “political pull does it all.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-16
Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan explains to Governor Roosevelt that a line of poetry recalled by Bucky O’Neill was from “The Battle of the Lake Regillus.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-17
Leonard Wood writes from Cuba where he is serving as military governor. He believes that there are too many American soldiers in Cuba and that half as many men would be sufficient to train the Cubans, many of whom are eager to enlist and become soldiers. There are almost no difficulties with the people of Cuba.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-18
Jessie Benton Frémont writes to Governor Roosevelt regarding a discussion she had had the previous evening about a letter which Judge Charles Silent had written to Roosevelt regarding the raising of an arch for Admiral George Dewey. Frémont describes Judge Silent in order to introduce him to Roosevelt. She also writes that she is glad whenever her son interacts with Roosevelt and says that her son had written to her regarding a dinner that he had had with Roosevelt at Oyster Bay. Frémont closes by calling Roosevelt an inspiration and says that he is her typical American.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-21