Cornelius Van Schaack "C.V.S." Roosevelt (January 30, 1794 – July 17, 1871) was an American businessman from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. He was a member of the prominent Roosevelt family and the paternal grandfather of U.S. President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

Early life

Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1794, in

, to James Jacobus Roosevelt and Maria Helen Van Schaack. He was the last full-blooded Dutch Roosevelt of his line. His great-grandfather was Johannes Roosevelt, the founder of the Oyster Bay branch of the Roosevelt family. Through his grandfather Cornelius Van Schaack Jr., he was a grandnephew of

Peter van Schaack Peter Van Schaack (March 1747 – 17 September 1832) was an American lawyer, born in Kinderhook, New York. He studied law at King's College (later Columbia University); was a successful and well-respected colonial lawyer; collected, revised, and ...

and great-great-grandson of Maria Schuyler from the Schuyler family. Through Maria, he was a great-great-great-grandnephew of Dutch-American settler

Philip Pieterse Schuyler Colonel Philip Pieterse Schuyler or Philip Pieterse (1628 – 9 May 1683) was a Dutch-born colonist landowner who was the progenitor of the American Schuyler family. Early life Philip Pieterse Schuyler was born in Amsterdam, Holland in the Repub ...

Jonathan Pearson, Chap. 9, "Burning of Schenectady"
''History of the Schenectady Patent in the Dutch and English Times'', 1883, pp. 244-270 and a great-great-great-grandson of David Pieterse Schuyler. Cornelius's younger brother, James John Roosevelt, served as a United States Congressman from New York from 1841 until 1843. He attended Columbia College but academic life did not suit him, and he did not graduate.

Career

In 1818, after leaving college, Roosevelt became his father's partner in importing hardware. "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. After his father's death in 1840, he inherited a large fortune and was one of the five richest men in New York City. He continued to work in the business until his retirement in 1865. In the Panic of 1837, he bought many lots in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

for building. 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.Chemical National Bank of New York to Pay Interest on Deposits
Bankers Magazine, Volume 94, 1917 Roosevelt was among its first directors under its new charter, along with John D. Wolfe, Isaac Platt and

Bradish Johnson Bradish Johnson (April 22, 1811 – November 3, 1892) was an American industrialist. He owned plantations and sugar refineries in Louisiana and a large distillery in New York City. In 1858 his distillery was at the heart of a scandal when an exp ...

, and the bank's president John Q. Jones.History of the Chemical Bank 1823–1913
Privately Published by The Chemical National Bank, 1913 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 JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase Bank or often as Chase, is an American national bank headquartered in New York City, that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and fin ...

Personal life

On October 9, 1821, Roosevelt married Margaret Barnhill (1799–1861), a daughter of Robert Craig Barnhill and Elizabeth Potts. She was a descendant of English and Irish QuakersMcCullough 2001, p. 24. and of Thomas Pott of Wales. They had six sons: Silas Weir Roosevelt, James Alfred Roosevelt, Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt Jr., Robert Barnhill Roosevelt, Theodore "Thee" Roosevelt Sr., and William Wallace Roosevelt. When each of his sons married, he gifted them houses in New York.McCullough 2001, p. 20. On July 17, 1871, Roosevelt died at his home in

Oyster Bay, New York The Town of Oyster Bay is the easternmost of the three towns which make up Nassau County, New York, United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is the only town in Nassau County to extend from the North Shore to the South Shore ...

. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' memorialized him as a "merchant of the old school". His estate was valued at between $3 million and $7 million.McCullough 2001, p. 126.

Descendants

Roosevelt's grandchildren include

John Ellis Roosevelt John Ellis Roosevelt (February 25, 1853 – March 9, 1939) was a lawyer with the Wall Street firm of Roosevelt & Kobbe, the president of the Elkhorn Valley Coal Land Company and secretary of the Broadway Improvement Company. He owned the John ...

(1853–1939), president of the Elkhorn Valley Coal Land Company; William Emlen Roosevelt (1857–1930), a banker and president of Roosevelt & Son;

(1858–1919), the future

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

from September 14, 1901 until March 4, 1909; and

Granville Roland Fortescue Granville Roland Fortescue (October 12, 1875 – April 21, 1952) was an American soldier, a Rough Rider serving with his cousin, Colonel Theodore Roosevelt in Cuba, a presidential aide in the first Roosevelt administration and later, a journalist ...

(1875–1952), an author and soldier. One of his great-granddaughters was First Lady

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

. One of his 2x great-grandsons was

Sir Humphrey Clarke, 5th Baronet Sir Humphrey Orme Clarke, 5th Baronet (6 July 1906, in London, United Kingdom – 22 January 1973, in Bibury, Gloucestershire), was the son of Sir Orme Bigland Clarke, 4th Baronet and Elfrida Roosevelt. He was educated at Eton College and Christ ...

(1906–1973).

References

Notes Sources *

External links

Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt Family Tree
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roosevelt, Cornelius 1794 births 1871 deaths Cornelius Schuyler family American people of Dutch descent American businesspeople 19th-century American politicians Columbia College (New York) alumni