Jacobus "James" Roosevelt III (January 10, 1760 – February 6, 1847) was an American businessman and politician from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and a member of the

Roosevelt family The Roosevelt family is an American political family from New York whose members have included two United States presidents, a First Lady of the United States, First Lady, and various merchants, bankers, politicians, inventors, clergymen, arti ...

Early life

Jacobus "James" Roosevelt was born on January 10, 1760, and baptized on January 23 that same year, in

, He was the son of Isaac Roosevelt (1726–1794) and Cornelia Hoffman, and the great-great-grandson of the first Roosevelt in America, Claes Maartenszen Van Rosenvelt. He graduated from Princeton in 1780.

Career

James was a sugar-refiner, his father's trade, and banker in post-revolutionary New York, and amassed a large fortune in addition to his inheritance. He worked out of 333 Pearl Street under the firm of C. J. & H. Roosevelt. He was an active

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

, he served in the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

in 1796 and 1797 and was an alderman in the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government model, the performance of ...

for the Fourth Ward in 1809. However, his interest in politics was less than previous Roosevelts, especially his father, and he was the last of his branch of the family to engage in politics until Franklin D. Roosevelt. He engaged in some philanthropy with the large fortune he acquired through business. He was also involved in the

Bank of New York The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY Mellon, is an American investment banking services holding company headquartered in New York City. BNY Mellon was formed from the merger of The Bank of New York and the Mellon Finan ...

like his father, but was never its president. At one point he owned stony farmland at

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

, now occupied by 120 city blocks between 110th and 125th streets and Fifth Avenue and the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Quee ...

. He sold it for $25,000, partly to John Jacob Astor. In 1819, late in life, Roosevelt removed to

Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie ...

and bought a large tract of land on the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

, called Mount Hope.

Personal life

Roosevelt married three times and in total, had 13 children, several of whom died young. His first marriage took place on November 15, 1786

Newburgh, New York Newburgh is a city in the U.S. state of New York, within Orange County. With a population of 28,856 as of the 2020 census, it is a principal city of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown metropolitan area. Located north of New York City, a ...

to Maria Eliza Walton (1769-1810), the daughter of Admiral Gerard Walton (d. 1821) and a descendant of

Wilhelmus Beekman Wilhelmus Hendricksen Beekman (April 28, 1623 – September 21, 1707) — also known as William Beekman and Willem Beekman (or Beeckman) — was a Dutch immigrant to America who came to New Amsterdam (now New York City) from the Netherlands in the ...

, who was the treasurer of the

Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx ...

, Mayor of

, Governor of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent ...

from 1653 to 1664, and Governor of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

from 1658 to 1663. Their children who survived infancy were: * Isaac Roosevelt (1790–1863), who married Mary Rebecca Aspinwall (1809-1886). *Grace Roosevelt (1792-1828), who married Guy Carlton Bayley (1786-1859), the son of Richard Bayley. *James Roosevelt (1794-1823) *Walton Roosevelt (1796-1836) *Edward Roosevelt (1799-1832) *Richard Varick Roosevelt (1801-1835), who married Anna Maria Lyle on April 23, 1823. *Hamilton Roosevelt (1805-1827), who died at sea on a trip from Mexico *Henry Walton Roosevelt (1809-1827) After Walton's death in 1810, he married on September 2, 1812, for the second time to Catharine Elizabeth Barclay (c. 1783-1816) in New York City. Before her death in 1816, they had: *Susan Barclay Roosevelt (1813-1867), died without issue *James Barclay Roosevelt (b. 1815), died without issue After Barclay's death in 1816, he married for the third and final time on January 29, 1821, to Harriet Howland (1784-1856), a descendant of John Howland, a signor of the ''

Mayflower Compact The Mayflower Compact, originally titled Agreement Between the Settlers of New Plymouth, was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the men aboard the ''Mayflower,'' consisting of separatist Puritans, adventurers, a ...

''. Roosevelt died on February 6, 1847.

Descendants

Through his son, Isaac Roosevelt, James was the grandfather of James Roosevelt, Sr. (1828–1900), and the great-grandfather of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945). Through his daughter, Grace Roosevelt Bayley, he was the grandfather of

James Roosevelt Bayley James Roosevelt Bayley (August 23, 1814 – October 3, 1877) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the first Bishop of Newark (1853–1872) and the eighth Archbishop of Baltimore (1872–1877). Early life and educa ...

(1814-1877), the first Bishop of Newark (1853–72) and the eighth

Archbishop of Baltimore The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore ( la, link=no, Archidiœcesis Baltimorensis) is the premier (or first) see of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the United States. The archdiocese comprises the City of Baltimore and nine of M ...

(1872–77).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roosevelt, James (1760-1847) James Roosevelt (1760-1847) 1760 births 1847 deaths American people of Dutch descent 18th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American businesspeople New York (state) Federalists Princeton University alumni Howland family