Elliott Roosevelt (socialite)
Elliott Roosevelt | |
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St Paul's School | |
Known for | Brother of Theodore and father of Eleanor Roosevelt |
Spouse | |
Children |
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Parent(s) | Theodore Roosevelt Sr. Martha Stewart Bulloch |
Family | See Roosevelt family |
Elliott Roosevelt
Youth
Elliott Roosevelt was the third of the four children of Theodore Roosevelt Sr. (1831–1878) and Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch (1835–1884). In addition to elder brother Theodore Jr., he had a younger sister named Corinne (1861–1933) and an elder sister named Anna (1855–1931), who was known as "Bamie". Mittie's brothers Irvine (1842–1898) and James (1823–1901) were Civil War Confederate veterans who accompanied Elliott when he left Europe in 1892 to admit himself into an asylum in Virginia.[3] Elliott had a competitive relationship with his older brother.
As an Oyster Bay Roosevelt, and through his ancestor Cornelius Van Schaack Jr., Elliott was a descendant of the Schuyler family.[4][self-published source][5]
At a young age, Elliott was academically more successful than Theodore; however, he eventually was surpassed by his older brother. This competition continued into the next generation with their own daughters. Elliott enrolled at
Hunting trips to Texas
In 1876 and 1877, young Roosevelt made two hunting trips into
On January 2, 1877, the group of eight men left Dallas. By mid-January, they were at a location just west of
On February 3, Roosevelt entered into his diary: "[We] made our permanent camp at the bottom of a huge canyon by a fine water hole." They were probably at the time in southern Crosby County, Texas, some 40 miles east of Lubbock, Texas. After 300 miles of travel, the party soon found hunting bison to be most hazardous. Elliott and John at one point faced a herd of bison stampeding toward them. They waited until the bison were in close range before they fired their weapons. A near-fatal incident took place when Elliott was charged by a huge bull, which he had wounded. He barely could reload his rifle in time to fire a shot that struck one of the front legs of a bison. The animal crashed to the ground directly in front of Elliott.[7]
When raiders, either other buffalo hunters or the
Personal life
On his father's death in 1878, Roosevelt inherited a fortune and lived the lifestyle of the idle rich by, among other pursuits, hunting tigers in India.[7]
On October 27, 1880, Elliott served as best man at Theodore's first marriage to
- Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962), called Eleanor
- Elliott Roosevelt Jr. (September 29, 1889 – May 25, 1893), who died from scarlet fever
- Gracie Hall Roosevelt (June 28, 1891 – September 25, 1941), called Hall
After this point, Elliott Sr. developed a "casual drinking" problem, which soon became alcoholism, an affliction to which his son Hall later succumbed.[10]
Because of his drinking problem, Elliott was exiled to Abingdon, Virginia, where he constantly wrote letters, mostly to Eleanor. Eleanor later recalled that on his many horseback riding expeditions with the young children in Virginia, he became attached to "one girl in particular of whom I was jealous." On occasion, he would, to the jubilation of Eleanor, return home for a few days. Theodore Roosevelt became the conservator for his spendthrift brother. [citation needed]
Elliott fathered a son with a young servant girl named Katy Mann employed by Anna. His brother sent a detective who specialized in likenesses to look at the child and subsequently the Roosevelts settled out of court for $10,000. The sum was placed in a trust, but according to the Manns, the child never received a dime as the money apparently was looted by Katy's lawyers. There was some correspondence between Eleanor Roosevelt and her half-brother Elliott Roosevelt Mann (1891–1976).[11][12]
Death
On August 13, 1894, the 34-year-old Roosevelt attempted suicide by jumping out a window; he survived the initial fall, but the following day he suffered a seizure and died that evening of heart failure. At the time of his death, his alcoholism had escalated such that he was consuming numerous bottles of champagne and brandy each day.[13][14]
See also
References
- ^ Child, Christopher C. (March 14, 2022). "Roosevelts without middle names". Vita Brevis. Retrieved March 14, 2022. Elliott Roosevelt did not have a middle name, despite numerous claims online.
- ^ Beasley, Maurine Hoffman (2001). The Eleanor Roosevelt Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group.
- ^ Wilson, Walter E. and Gary L. McKay (2012) "James D. Bulloch; Secret Agent and Mastermind of the Confederate Navy" Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, p. 264
- ^ Taylor, Robert Lewis. Along The Way: Two Paths from One Ancestry Xlibris Corporation, 2014
- ^ Brogan, Hugh and Mosley, Charles American Presidential Families October 1993, page 568
- ^ Miller, Nathan (1992). Theodore Roosevelt, A Life. William Morrow and Company Inc.
- ^ a b c d e f Bruce Cammack (June 29, 2019). "The Texas Adventures of Elliott Roosevelt, Part 2". The Caprock Chronicle in Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
- ^ Spinzia, Raymond E. "Elliott Roosevelt, Sr. – A Spiral Into Darkness: the Influences" (PDF). The Freeholder. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
- ^ "First Lady Biography: Eleanor Roosevelt". National First Ladies' Library. The National First Ladies' Library. Archived from the original on April 29, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
- ^ National Park Service. "Elliott Roosevelt". ups.gov. U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- H.W. Brands, T.R. The Last Romantic
- ^ Jean Edward Smith, FDR (2007), New York: Random House, 2007, p. 42: "Whatever happened to the funds, there is no doubt that Elliott Roosevelt Mann was Eleanor's half brother."
- ^ Burns, Ken, The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, Public Broadcasting Service, Episode 1 (2015)
- ^ Child, Christopher C. (May 6, 2022). "An update on Elliott Roosevelt". Vita Brevis. Retrieved May 25, 2022. While Elliott Roosevelt had a "convulsive attack" earlier in the day on August 14, 1894, he died of heart failure later in the evening.
External links
- Works by Elliott Roosevelt at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Spinzia, Raymond E.; Spinzia, Judith A. (2010). Long Island's Prominent Families in the Hempstead: Their Estates and Their Country Homes. College Station, Texas: VirtualBookworm.