Cornelius Roosevelt

For the Cornelius Roosevelt born in 1915, see Cornelius V.S. Roosevelt.

Cornelius Roosevelt
Born	Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt January 30, 1794 New York City, U.S.
Died	July 17, 1871 (aged 77) Oyster Bay, New York
Education	Columbia College
Occupation	Businessman
Employer	Chemical Bank
Spouse(s)	Margaret Barnhill (m. 1821–1861; her death)
Children	6
Parent(s)	James Jacobus Roosevelt Maria Van Schaack
Relatives	Roosevelt family

Cornelius Van Schaack "C.V.S." Roosevelt (January 30, 1794 – July 17, 1871) was an American businessman from New York City who was a member of the prominent Roosevelt family and the paternal grandfather of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt.

Early life

Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1794 in New York City, to James Jacobus Roosevelt (1759–1840) and Maria Helen Van Schaack (1773–1845).^[1] He was the last full-blooded Dutch Roosevelt of his line.^[2] His paternal great-grandfather was Johannes Roosevelt (1689–1750), the founder of the Oyster Bay branch of the Roosevelt family. His grandfather, Cornelius Van Schaack Jr. (1734–1797), was the brother of Peter van Schaack (1747–1832) and their parents, Cornelius Van Schaack (1705–1776) and Lydia Van Dyck (1704–1785), were Cornelius' great-grandparents. Lydia was a descendant of the Schuyler family through her mother, Maria Schuyler (1666–1742), Cornelius' 2x great-grandmother.^[1] Maria was the daughter of Catharina Verplanck (1639–1690) and David Pieterse Schuyler (1636–1690), who died in 1690 as a result of the Schenectady massacre of 1690,^[3] and the niece of Philip Pieterse Schuyler (1628–1683), an early Dutch-American settler.^[4]

Cornelius's younger brother, James John Roosevelt (1795–1875), served as a United States Congressman from New York from 1841 until 1843.^[5] He attended Columbia College but academic life did not suit him, and he did not graduate.^[6]

Career

In 1818, after leaving college, he became his father's partner in importing hardware.^[6] "Economy is my doctrine at all times," he once said, "at all events till I become, if it is to be so, a man of fortune." At his insistence, the focus of the business changed from hardware to plate glass.^[7] After his father's death in 1840, he inherited a large fortune, and was one of the five richest men in New York City.^[8][9] He continued to work in the business until his retirement in 1865.^[6]

In the Panic of 1837, he bought many lots in Manhattan for building.^[7]

In 1844, when New York Chemical Manufacturing Company's original charter expired, the chemical company was liquidated and was reincorporated as a bank only, becoming the Chemical Bank of New York in 1844.^[10] Roosevelt was among the bank's first directors under its new charter along with John D. Wolfe, Isaac Platt and Bradish Johnson, as well as the bank's president John Q. Jones.^[11] The company sold all remaining inventories from the chemical division as well as real estate holdings by 1851 and later became the present day Chase Bank.^[8]

Personal life

On October 9, 1821,^[12] he married Margaret Barnhill (1799–1861), a daughter of Robert Craig Barnhill (1754–1814) and Elizabeth Potts (1758–1807).^[13] Margaret was a descendant of English and Irish Quakers^[7] as well as a descendant of Thomas Pott, of Wales. Together, Cornelius and Margaret had six sons:

• Silas Weir Roosevelt (1823–1870), who married Mary West (1822–1877)^[14]
• James Alfred Roosevelt (1825–1898), who married Elizabeth Norris Emlen (1825–1912)^[15] in 1847.^[16]
• Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt, Jr. (1827–1887), who married Laura H. Porter (1833-1900)^[17]
• Robert Barnhill Roosevelt (1829–1906), who married first Elizabeth Ellis (1829–1887) and after her death, Marion Theresa O'Shea.
• Theodore "Thee" Roosevelt, Sr. (1831–1878), who married Martha "Mittie" Bulloch (1835–1884)
• William Wallace Roosevelt (1834–1835)^[18]

When each of his sons married, he bequeathed them houses in New York.^[19]

On July 17, 1871, Cornelius died at his home in Oyster Bay, New York. The New York Times memorialized him as a "merchant of the old school".^[6] His estate was valued at between $3 million and $7 million.^[20]

Descendants

Roosevelt's grandchildren include John Ellis Roosevelt (1853–1939), president of the Elkhorn Valley Coal Land Company, William Emlen Roosevelt (1857–1930), a banker and president of Roosevelt & Son, Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), the future President of the United States from September 14, 1901 until March 4, 1909,^[21] and Granville Roland Fortescue (1875–1952), an author and soldier. One of his great-granddaughters was First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. One of his 2x great-grandson was Sir Humphrey Clarke, 5th Baronet (1906–1973).^[22]

References

Notes

Sources

• McCullough, David (2001). Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0671227114. 

External links

• Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt Family Tree
•  Isa Carrington Cabell (1900). "Roosevelt, Nicholas I.". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography.