Your TR Source
Andrew Carnegie asks William Loeb to read the enclosed to President Roosevelt when he has a spare minute and needs a laugh, followed by “serious thot [sic] at intervals hereafter.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-12
A postcard featuring a child wearing overalls and a straw hat, riding on a black donkey. The words “A ROUGH RIDER” are printed under the illustration.
1907-1914
A postcard featuring a color illustration of a child riding on a white donkey. The words printed under the illustration say “A ROUGH RIDER.” There is a handwritten message to Mary Jamison, possibly from Louise, which says the writer is having a “fine time,” and the child in the illustration might look like one of Jamison’s babies. The back of the postcard contains Jamison’s address and two postmarks, one for September 12, 1904, in Monessen, Pennsylvania, and one for September 16, 1904, in Grand Canyon, Arizona.
1904-09-12
A postcard featuring a color illustration of a child writing a rocking horse, with the caption “A ROUGH RIDER.” The message on the back, from Mrs. J. N. Faucett to Mrs. W. C. Ellis says only “Congratulations.”
1910-05-27
In this vignette cartoon various presidential candidates are depicted with their trappings. David B. Hill as “The Political Suburban Resident” is overloaded with packages labeled “Low Political Jobs, Petty Schemes, Unsuccessful Intrigues, Tricks, [and] Peanut Politics.” William McKinley is “The National Political Brooklynite” pushing a stroller containing papers labeled “High Protection.” Thomas Collier Platt is “The Obstreperous Cook” with William L. Strong and Levi P. Morton standing in the background. Thomas B. Reed is “The Political Lady with the Big Hat” which is labeled “Presidential Boom” and obscures the view of Benjamin Harrison, John Sherman, and William B. Allison. William A. Peffer is “The Amusing Political Hayseed” of “very ordinary” intellect, but long on whiskers, and George F. Hoar is “The Voluble Political Mother-in-Law” who clears the “U.S. Senate” when he stands to speak.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1895-01-30
Taylor, Charles Jay, 1855-1929; Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937
President Roosevelt discusses a letter written by Frederick William Holls, which was read by Secretary of State John Hay and Assistant Secretary of State Francis B. Loomis. Roosevelt found the letter too amusing to be annoyed by it, noting that Hay remarked that he was about as likely to do what Holls feared in Roosevelt’s absence as he was to make Mormonism the state church.
1903-05-23
Governor Roosevelt apologizes for forgetting to send Frederick William Holls the money that Holls lent him over a month ago. Roosevelt enjoyed seeing Holls and Andrew Dickson White yesterday. He is not sure what course of action to take since Senator Thomas Collier Platt will not entertain the name of Judge Charles Andrews, noting that his position as a vice-presidential candidate may restrict his actions.
1900-08-10
Joseph Bucklin Bishop sends amusing items to President Roosevelt and forwards a copy of these items to John Hay.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-11-10
Secretary of State Hay encloses a speech by Joseph H. Choate for President Roosevelt’s amusement.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-12-11
Finley Peter Dunne cannot accept President Roosevelt’s invitation as he is getting married tomorrow and “thenceforth will not be accountable for my own actions.” He is coming to Washington in the near future and hopes that he can call upon Roosevelt at that time.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-12-08
Francis Lee Higginson sends President Roosevelt a salmon, thinking he may have an appetite for fish after “eating up a few politicians.” Higginson encourages Roosevelt to share some with his wife, Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt, and with his daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, who “invades” Higginson’s home in the early mornings.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-06-07
President Roosevelt wants to replace Eugene F. Ware with Drexel, and Root agrees that Ware should resign. Root asks Roosevelt whether George B. Cortelyou will acquire the resignation or if he should send an artillery company.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-05-12
In what appears to be a friendly, joking letter William Sturgis Bigelow mentions Jove, the Queen of Spain, President Roosevelt’s back problems, and suggests that the spring would be “favorable for a short and decisive war with Canada.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-05-04
Richard Harding Davis has been traveling in Latin America and met with President Cipriano Castro of Venezuela. Castro said he is going to send President Roosevelt’s son Ted two Venezuelan ponies, and he gave Davis the Grand Cross of the Order of Bolivia. Davis jokes about how he helped run the Venezuelan government but is not respected by the United States. Davis plans to take a trip to Madrid for the Spanish coronation and plans to write about his experiences for Scribner’s or Colliers.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-04-27
Frank P. McLennan is assisting with advertisements in Emporia, Kansas, while William Allen White is away. He writes to George B. Cortelyou asking if President Roosevelt still finds matters humorous under the weight of his job. If so, he has sent something humorous for Roosevelt. If not, McLennan instructs Cortelyou to throw it in the wastebasket.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-04-24
Eugene F. Ware is pleased that newspapers are printing few fabricated interviews with him regarding his appointment as Commissioner of Pensions. One story related an exchange of communication with Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna which never happened, but on the whole, few false stories have been printed. He is receiving a great deal of communication from “old soldiers” and he is answering each letter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-04-19
Curtis Guild relates the events of the Tavern Club’s annual Christmas festival and sends the words of a singing “gag” related to the Miles and Schley incidents. All “decent Democrats” and most of the newspapers in Boston have praised President Roosevelt and Secretary of War Root regarding the incidents. Guild wishes that Winthrop Murray Crane could have accepted the position as Secretary of the Treasury.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-12-24