Your TR Source
President Roosevelt thanks Nelson W. Evans for describing the first steamboat on the Ohio River, which his grand-uncle Nicholas J. Roosevelt helped construct.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-08
G. P. Coleman sends Theodore Roosevelt a letter from his ancestor, Nicholas Roosevelt to Thomas Jefferson. Coleman hopes Roosevelt will appreciate the letter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-24
In his recent reading, J. H. Woodard found a book describing who the first charter for a steamboat navigation company was awarded to, which included Nicholas J. Roosevelt. Woodard suspects that this is President Roosevelt’s grandfather, and offers to send him the book if it is of interest to Roosevelt. He recently spent time at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri, and asked a number of people about their opinion of Roosevelt, and reports that almost universally the response was positive.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-31
Theodore Roosevelt declines William A. Magee’s invitation to attend a celebration parade on behalf of himself, Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt, and Ethel Roosevelt. Roosevelt is sorry not to be able to attend the parade in which a replica of the first steamboat built will appear, “as it was one of my name [Nicholas J. Roosevelt] who built the first steamboat.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-07-28
Theodore Roosevelt apologizes, but informs H. Dora Stecker that he does not know anything about Nicholas Roosevelt beyond believing him to be a brother of his great-grandfather. He is sorry he cannot be of assistance.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-06-08
President Roosevelt thanks R. T. Stevenson for the letter. The Nicholas Roosevelt mentioned by Stevenson is the brother of President Roosevelt’s great grandfather.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-06-18
President Roosevelt thanks William Edward Dodd for the letter and responds that Nicholas J. Roosevelt was a distant kinsman.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-03-19
Norman Freireich informs Theodore Roosevelt that he found a letter dated October of 1825 that mentions his ancestor, inventor Nicholas J. Roosevelt. Freireich thought Roosevelt might find it interesting to know that his family has been “an aid to the Nation almost as far back as a century,” and Freireich hopes they will remain so forever.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1918-09-26
W. H. Molton learned that Theodore Roosevelt’s relative, Nicholas J. Roosevelt, commanded the New Orleans, the first steamboat to navigate the Mississippi River. He asks for a picture of the vessel.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-11-01
G. P. Coleman notifies Theodore Roosevelt of a letter Coleman found written by Nicholas J. Roosevelt to Thomas Jefferson. Coleman realized Nicholas Roosevelt is an ancestor of Theodore Roosevelt and offers to send the letter to Theodore Roosevelt, if he would like to have it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-06
Now that there is a definite plan for an anniversary celebration of the centennial of steamboat travel on western rivers, Mayor William A. Magee issues a formal invitation to Theodore Roosevelt and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt to attend the festivities to be held in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Roosevelt’s ancestor, Nicholas J. Roosevelt, built the first steamboat to travel from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, and traveled on its inaugural voyage. Magee also hopes that Roosevelt’s daughter, Ethel Roosevelt, may be able to attend the festivities and christen a boat. He also invites Roosevelt to give an address during the proceedings.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-07-26
Mayor William A. Magee, on behalf of the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania and the city of Pittsburgh, invites Ethel Roosevelt to attend an event celebrating the centennial of steamboat navigation of Western rivers. Magee also hopes that Roosevelt will be able to christen a boat during the proceedings. One of Roosevelt’s ancestors built the first steamboat to sail on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. The committee has also invited Theodore Roosevelt and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-07-26
H. Dora Stecker is engaged in historical research regarding the early period of the steamboat transportation industry, and asks Theodore Roosevelt if he could provide any information on the relationship between his ancestor Nicholas J. Roosevelt and his relations with the Fulton-Livingston Company.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-06-06
Louise Woodbridge Dippold inquires if Theodore Roosevelt has any papers related to a steamboat trip taken by his great-uncle, Nicholas J. Roosevelt, down the Ohio river in 1811. Dippold recounts what she has learned so far about the voyage taken by the New Orleans, as the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania will celebrate the centennial of the trip and she is anxious to know all the particulars by their next meeting.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-06-01
Variety marks this edition of the “News and Notes” section, beginning with the celebration of the 90th anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt’s inauguration at the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in Buffalo, New York, and the establishment of a Theodore Roosevelt Police Award for western New York. “News and Notes” also details the rededication of a monument to Roosevelt in Montana by Edith Roosevelt Derby Williams and provides a lengthy obituary for Cornelius V.S. Roosevelt, son of Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt. A Roosevelt family reunion, bringing together the Oyster Bay and Hyde Park, New York, branches is also covered along with an appeal from Stephen V. Walker for music composed in honor of Theodore Roosevelt’s children.
“News and Notes” also features a text box “About the Theodore Roosevelt Association” that highlights the purpose, work, and history of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA). A photograph of the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, an illustration of both sides of the TRA medallion, and Howard Chandler Christy’s painting of the Battle of Las Guasimas in Cuba illustrate the section.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1991
Five book reviews on six different books comprise this edition of the “Book Notes” column. In his review, Richard H. Collins focuses on Kathleen Dalton’s contribution to Robert J. Brugger’s Our Selves/Our Past, Psychological Approaches to American History. Dalton embraces a psychohistory approach to understanding Theodore Roosevelt, emphasizing his commitment to overcoming his childhood asthma and living the strenuous life. Collins argues that this approach is misguided and ignores Roosevelt’s class and his formidable intellect. Patrick C. Gable commends John Morton Blum for his appraisal of Roosevelt in The Progressive Presidents, but he faults him for blaming Roosevelt for the misdeeds and excesses of his Democratic successors.
Peter R. Fischer finds Charles C. Goetsch’s Essays on Simeon E. Baldwin “a worthwhile collection,” but he thinks the confrontation between Roosevelt and Baldwin over a federal labor law may not merit the importance that Goetsch assigns it. Elizabeth E. Roosevelt praises Mary Helen Dohan’s Mr. Roosevelt’s Steamboat for its depictions of life along the Mississippi River and for not overlooking the contributions of Lydia Latrobe Roosevelt to her husband’s success. Dennis Wood reviews Paul Schullery’s The Grand Canyon and Old Yellowstone Days. Theodore Roosevelt has an essay in each of these collections of writings about iconic American landscapes.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1982
John A. Gable reviews Nathan Miller’s The Roosevelt Chronicles, a history of the Roosevelt family in America. He acknowledges that Miller covers the lives of the well known Roosevelts: Theodore, Franklin, Eleanor, and Alice Longworth, but he believes that the real value of the book comes from its examination of lesser known members of the famous family. Gable looks at four of these figures: Nicholas Roosevelt, a pioneer in steamboats; James Roosevelt Bayley, an important figure in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church; Robert B. Roosevelt, Theodore’s uncle, who was a conservationist; and Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., Theodore’s son, who would earn the Medal of Honor for his actions on D-Day, 1944.
Frederick W. Marks describes the research he undertook for his book Velvet on Iron, and surveys the historiography of Theodore Roosevelt beginning in the 1920s. He argues that there persists a divide between his record as a restrained diplomat and the perception “of him as bellicose and impulsive.
A photograph of Marks accompanies his article.
Albert Hamilton Ellett asks if President Roosevelt is related to the man who built the first steamboat on the Mississippi River. According to Mississippi historical records, that boat was built by “Roosevelt of N. Y. in 1871.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-11-26
The New York State Infantry 45th Brigade commissions Samuel Heath as a Sergeant in the 5th Company, under the command of Nicholas Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1825-10-05