Your TR Source
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt is glad Commissioner Frank Moss was elected president of the Board of Police Commissioners. However, Roosevelt does not like that Moss left Commissioner Andrews or the lack of action regarding Commissioner Frederick Dent Grant. He asks Andrews to contact him and give him an update.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-05-06
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt heartily congratulates Frank Moss on his election as president of the New York City Police Board.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-05-06
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt thanks Mary Elizabeth Blampey Trautmann and the Ladies Health Protective Association for the letter. He enjoyed working with the New York Police Department and for the opportunity to work with associations such as Trautmann’s.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-04-30
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt sends Henry John Elwes copies of Science with his article on scientific terminology. He will look for the extra copy of the game report during his next visit to Sagamore Hill. Roosevelt feels he did all he could at the New York Police Department, especially since “the law under which we worked was utterly absurd in character.” He believes strongly in the American and British Navies and is glad to do such “thoroughly congenial” work. On a recent trip to his ranch, Roosevelt shot several antelope with his new Winchester rifle.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-05-01
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt is still interested in the New York police force. However, he explains to D. J. Osgood that Commissioners Andrew D. Parker and Frederick Dent Grant blocked everything. They persistently threw obstacles in the way of William S. Devery’s trial to delay it and refused to vote in Martins’s trial. Regarding Adam A. Cross’s case, Dennett was convinced he was improperly accused.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-05-06
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt commends Police Commissioner Moss for his work in his new position. He warns Moss that Andrew D. Parker will try to trick him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-04-28
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt was concerned to hear of Hermann Speck von Sternburg’s illness and wishes he would come to the United States. He sent a report by Sergeant Petty on pistol practice with the new police revolver, although it is possible Sternburg did not receive it. Roosevelt wants to talk with Sternburg about many matters, especially Germany’s new battleships.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-04-28
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt informs Frank Rathgeber that he wrote to Frank Moss, his successor as Police Commissioner, about him and Minnie Gertrude Kelly. He thanks Rathgeber for taking care of the boxes. While he misses Rathgeber and Kelly, Roosevelt enjoys his new position.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-04-23
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt thinks Mayor Strong has solved the problem by appointing Frank Moss as Police Commissioner. He asks Strong to keep Richard J. Lewis and Peter Barlow in mind for the positions of police magistrates.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-04-23
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt wishes he could be a third police commissioner with Frank Moss and Avery De Lano Andrews. He warns Moss not to let Parker or Frederick Dent Grant trick him. Roosevelt hopes Moss finds Kelly and Rathgeber satisfactory and testifies of their good work and character. Moss knows the New York Police Department better than most.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-04-24
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt writes to Avery De Lano Andrews that he spoke to Mayor William Lafayette Strong and put in a “vigorous” word for Henry L. Sprague. Roosevelt is still embroiled in conflict with Police Commissioners Frederick Dent Grant and Andrew D. Parker.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-04-20
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt enjoyed hearing from Collector of Customs W. A. Fitch. He is pleased with Fitch’s commentary on his work as Police Commissioner of the New York Police Department and wants him to know that he did not let politics sway him from his purpose. Roosevelt cannot speak on the tariff and other matters, and hopes the civil service law will be observed.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-04-20
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt thanks Frank Rathgeber for the letter and directs him to do as suggested regarding Nasts’s picture (possibly cartoonist Thomas Nast). When Roosevelt’s successor at the New York Police Department is appointed, he will write him concerning Rathgeber and Minnie Gertrude Kelly.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-04-20
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt thanks Edward J. Rush for his letter. Even though he wishes he could have accomplished more, such letters make him feel satisfied with his work in New York (likely in reference to his time as Police Commissioner of New York).
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-04-20
William T. Hornaday is disturbed by events at home and abroad. The American Defense Society is fighting against pacifism and working hard to prevent “disloyal meetings” from taking place in New York. Hornaday is alarmed by a bill drawn up Congressman Sulzer and the Department of Agriculture, and supported by Charles Sheldon and Edward William Nelson, allowing the sale of Alaskan big game all year round.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1918-03-02
John A. Chamberlain has read that as New York City Police Commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt “endeavored to enforce all laws according to their clearly expressed intent and purpose.” He asks if this is accurate and assures that he will not quote him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-12-09
Aloysius G. Brown appeals to Theodore Roosevelt to aid him in securing a position with the U.S. Secret Service. Brown details his attributes, work ethic and history, his physical appearance, and past work experience. In showing his good character, Brown details how he has a wife, two children, and another child on the way. Moreover, Brown details how he served in the Spanish-American War and in various capacities linked to the U.S. government since then.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-06-19
Ernest L. Van Wagner inquires if Theodore Roosevelt would be willing to once again sign the certificate given to Van Wagner when he was appointed as a patrolman for the Police Department of the City of New York, as the ink has faded to illegibility.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-05-29
Henry L. Hawkins lays out his qualifications and requests an interview with Theodore Roosevelt concerning a position as a guard for the National City Bank of New York.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-04-20
George Haven Putnam asks President Roosevelt for his assistance in combating possible libel charges brought by Deputy Commissioner of Police Thomas F. McAvoy. McAvoy has “taken the first steps in a libel suit” seeking damages of fifty thousand dollars for “utterances” Putnam made in a recent political campaign. Putnam reminds Roosevelt of the “serious charges” brought against McAvoy “some years back” for accepting bribes prior to Roosevelt’s tenure as Commissioner of Police in New York City, and asks Roosevelt if he could provide information about the matter to be used in the “strictest possible confidence.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-01