McIlhenny, John Avery, 1867-1942

President Roosevelt sends his son Kermit Roosevelt a copy of his book and discusses Kermit’s grades, which he would like to be a little higher. He also discusses his trip through the South, and in particular highlights a boat accident he was in off the coast of New Orleans. Alice Roosevelt Longworth returned home from her trip to Japan with fencing armor for Archibald B. Roosevelt and Quentin Roosevelt; Roosevelt describes their antics.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-11-01

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt was glad to have his son Ted unexpectedly visit with a friend and tells him that he is welcome to bring whoever he wants to the White House at any time. Roosevelt is in the middle of a speechmaking trip through the South, where he was greeted most enthusiastically by the public, noting that they had “nothing sufficiently bitter to say of me” just a year prior. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-10-22

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt tells his son Kermit about how his trip through the southern states has gone thus far. Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt and a cousin, John S. Elliott, accompanied Roosevelt as far as Atlanta, and had a lovely time. They also visited the childhood home of Roosevelt’s mother, Martha Bulloch Roosevelt. Roosevelt, now accompanied by John Campbell Greenway and John Avery McIlhenny, believes that the next part of the trip will be hard work going forward.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-10-22

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt sends his love to Robert Harry Munro Ferguson’s wife Isabella. He will take up the case of Rough Rider Albert Powers as soon as he can. In a handwritten postscript, Roosevelt says that the presence of John Avery McIlhenny and John Campbell Greenway greatly adds to his enjoyment of his trip.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-10-22

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt tells his son Kermit about a surprise weekend visit from Ted Roosevelt. Ted, who brought a friend, is enjoying Harvard even though he will not make the freshman football team. Roosevelt leaves tomorrow for his southern trip, and looks forward to it being over, when he will be done with “tours of speech-making.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-10-17

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt wishes he could go to Hot Springs, but he is not able to do so. He asks if John Campbell Greenway could come down to New Orleans, Louisiana, and go with Roosevelt to Little Rock, Arkansas. The president is trying to get John Avery McIlhenny to join him as well. Then the three of them can have a “Rough Rider picnic” for several days.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-06-12

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt hopes that he can see Mrs. John Avery McIlhenny at Avery’s Island if he makes a Southern trip, and that John Avery McIlhenny will come with him to the reunion of the Rough Riders.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-06

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt appreciates Silas McBee’s “earnest and sincere effort” to support him editorially in McBee’s newspaper, The Churchman. Roosevelt defends his appointments in the southern United States, especially the appointment of African Americans. The African American men he has appointed are “of a high grade of excellence” and came with the recommendation of Booker T. Washington. Roosevelt recommends as well several prominent southern men who can speak to the nature of his appointments.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-02-03

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt’s injured leg is still bothering him but he is looking forward to the bear hunt. Roosevelt is also interested in visiting Tuskegee, but only if it does not interfere with the bear hunt. He asks Fish to keep the intended hunt a secret, because if the press learns of it, he might have to cancel his plans.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-10-21

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-30

Creator(s)

Bishop, Joseph Bucklin, 1847-1928

Recipient

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Publication Date

2025-07-31

Former Rough Rider Rollie L. Little has a friend who is also a Spanish-American War Veteran who would like to enter the government service as a locomotive boiler inspector, and asks Theodore Roosevelt to use his influence to help him secure this position.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-28

Creator(s)

Little, Rollie L., 1872-1948

H. W. Dubois reminds Theodore Roosevelt that they were previously introduced through their mutual friend John Avery McIlhenny. Dubois is writing to inform Roosevelt of the discovery of a petrified forest in Adamana, Arizona, which Roosevelt may wish to see.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-01

Creator(s)

Dubois, H. W.

W. Sloan Simpson messaged Theodore Roosevelt about his engagement to Eleanora Meyer. Cardinal James Gibbons will perform the ceremony and was excited to hear Simpson was a Rough Rider, sharing that he and Roosevelt are great friends. He urged Simpson to contact Roosevelt about attending the wedding, which Simpson sincerely hopes is possible.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1910-12-30

Creator(s)

Simpson, W. Sloan (William Sloan), 1876-1946

United States Civil Service Commissioners John Charles Black, John Avery McIlhenny, and Henry F. Greene oppose President Roosevelt’s order to allow Indians non-competitive consideration for messenger positions in the Office of Indian Affairs. Their main objection is that the order goes against both the commission’s conduct of orderly affairs and Roosevelt’s own prior instructions. The commission provides documentation showing that no rules provide for the noncompetitive consideration of Indians and expresses concern about taking race or color into consideration in the classification of service.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-02-01

Creator(s)

United States Civil Service Commission

John Charles Black, President of the Civil Service Commission, informs President Roosevelt that Secretary of the Navy Victor Howard Metcalf has received instructions to create a certificate of transfer for Carl H. Shaifer to the Navy Department immediately following any receipt of request.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-12-12

Creator(s)

Black, John Charles, 1839-1915

John Campbell Greenway wishes President Roosevelt prosperity and long life on his birthday. Greenway says he is eagerly watching the development of Great Lakes-Gulf waterways, which he thinks will help free up railroad traffic along the Mississippi. Greenway goes on to praise Roosevelt’s business policies and says he is looking forward to a visit from Roosevelt’s son, Ted. Greenway is planning to visit Washington soon and hopes to see Roosevelt for John Avery McIlhenny’s wedding.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-26

Creator(s)

Greenway, John Campbell, 1872-1926

Attorney General Bonaparte updates President Roosevelt on the progress of the Idaho land fraud cases. He forwards Roosevelt his telegram to Assistant Attorney General Marsden C. Burch demanding that N. M. Ruick take no part in the case. Bonaparte updates Roosevelt on other matters and suggests the two schedule a meeting.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-28

Creator(s)

Bonaparte, Charles J. (Charles Joseph), 1851-1921

Alexander Lambert asks President Roosevelt if Lambert can help with the “annual little boy picnic.” Lambert will be unable to travel west because his father-in-law, Knight D. Cheney, is not doing well. Lambert and his family will take a small vacation to the woods, and he hopes to travel with Roosevelt down the Mississippi River, if Roosevelt still plans to go. Lambert notes that John Avery McIlhenny is visiting with his fiancee, Anita Stauffer, who is about to sail for Europe.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-10

Creator(s)

Lambert, Alexander, 1861-1939

John Milliken Parker has just returned from a country trip, and he spoke with Brutus Jackson, who has spent several months locating game for Parker’s hunt in the fall. Parker can guarantee President Roosevelt several kills and while the area is easily accessible by train, it is also very private. Parker and Collier hope to get some old dogs from some “Eastern packs,” so they will be able to alternate days. Parker hopes Roosevelt will be able to take some time off in November or December to join them for the hunt and some “much needed rest.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-15

Creator(s)

Parker, John Milliken, 1863-1939

Stephen E. Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley tell the story of the most famous bear hunt in American history: Theodore Roosevelt’s unsuccessful hunt for black bear in Mississippi that gave birth to the teddy bear toy. Ambrose and Brinkley provide political context for the trip to Mississippi, list the members of the hunting party, and describe the hunt of November 15, 1902. The article also describes Clifford Berryman’s cartoon depiction of the hunt which led to the creation of the teddy bear. 

A photograph of Brinkley and his wife, and three photographs of members of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) distributing teddy bears at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, accompany the article. A text box with the vision statement of the TRA appears at the end of the article. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal