Bulloch Hall is a

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

Roswell, Georgia Roswell is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States. At the official 2020 census, the city had a population of 92,883, making Roswell the state's ninth largest city. A suburb of Atlanta, Roswell has an affluent National Registe ...

, built in 1839. It is one of several historically significant buildings in the city and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. This is where

Martha Bulloch Roosevelt Martha Stewart "Mittie" Roosevelt ( Bulloch; July 8, 1835 – February 14, 1884) was an American socialite. She was the mother of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and the paternal grandmother of Eleanor Roosevelt. She was a great-granddaughter o ...

("Mittie"), mother of

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

, 26th U.S. president, lived as a child. It is also where she married Theodore Roosevelt's father,

Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. Theodore Roosevelt Sr. (September 22, 1831 – February 9, 1878) was an American businessman and philanthropist from the Roosevelt family. Roosevelt was also the father of President Theodore Roosevelt and the paternal grandfather of First Lady E ...

The descendants of Theodore Roosevelt and his three siblings -

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

, Elliott, and Corinne are therefore descendants of

Archibald Bulloch Archibald Stobo Bulloch (January 1, 1730 – February 22, 1777) was an American lawyer, military officer and politician who served as the seventh governor of Georgia from 1776 to 1777. Born in the Province of South Carolina, Bulloch fought in t ...

, the first Governor of Georgia (17301777). The

antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern US ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum architectu ...

was built by Mittie's father, Major

James Stephens Bulloch James Stephens Bulloch (1793 – February 18, 1849) was an early Georgia settler and planter. Bulloch was a grandson of Georgia governor Archibald Bulloch and a nephew of Senator William Bellinger Bulloch. He was also the maternal grandfather of ...

. He was a prominent planter from the Georgia coast, who was invited to the new settlement by his friend

Roswell King Roswell King (May 3, 1765 – February 15, 1844) was an American businessman, planter, slave owner, and industrialist. Together with his son, Barrington King, he founded Roswell Manufacturing Company in the Georgia Piedmont, establishing a cotton ...

. After the death of his first wife Hester Amarintha "Hettie" Elliott - mother of his son

James D. Bulloch James Dunwoody Bulloch (June 25, 1823 – January 7, 1901) was the Confederate States of America, Confederacy's chief foreign agent in Great Britain during the American Civil War. Based in Liverpool, he operated Blockade runners of the American ...

- Bulloch married the widow of his first wife's father, Martha "Patsy" Stewart Elliot, and had four more children: * Anna Bulloch *

Martha Bulloch Martha Stewart "Mittie" Roosevelt ( Bulloch; July 8, 1835 – February 14, 1884) was an American socialite. She was the mother of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and the paternal grandmother of Eleanor Roosevelt. She was a great-granddaughter o ...

* Charles Bulloch (who died young) *

Irvine Bulloch Irvine Stephens Bulloch (June 25, 1842 – July 14, 1898) was an officer in the Confederate Navy and the youngest officer on the famed warship CSS ''Alabama''. He fired its last shot before it was sunk off the coast of France at the end of the ...

. Major Bulloch selected a ten-acre plot of land and engaged a skilled builder,

Willis Ball Willis may refer to: Places United States * Willis, Florida, an unincorporated community * Willis, Kansas, a city * Willis, Michigan, an unincorporated community * Willis, Nebraska, an unincorporated community * Willis, Oklahoma, an unincorpor ...

, to design and construct an elegant Greek Revival home. The Bulloch family lived in an abandoned Cherokee farmhouse while slaves and trained laborers built the house. In 1839, Major Bulloch and his family moved into the completed house. Soon Bulloch also owned land for cotton production and held enslaved African-Americans to work his fields. According to the 1850 Slave Schedule

Martha Stewart Elliott Bulloch, by then widowed a second time, owned 31 enslaved African-Americans. They mostly labored on cotton and crop production; but some would have worked in the home, on cooking and domestic tasks to support the family. Some of the known slaves who worked in the house were "Maum" Rose (cook), "Maum" Charlotte (housekeeper), "Maum" Grace (nursemaid), "Daddy" William, "Daddy" Luke, and Henry.

Birth and marriage of Martha Bulloch

In 1835 while living in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, James' wife gave birth to a daughter, also named

Martha Martha (Aramaic language, Aramaic: מָרְתָא‎) is a Bible, biblical figure described in the Gospels of Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of John, John. Together with her siblings Lazarus of Bethany, Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is descr ...

. She was known affectionately as Mittie. Mittie was raised at Bulloch Hall. Though the date of their initial meeting is unclear, we do know that when

was 19, he came to Roswell, Georgia with his friend Hilborne West, who was to marry Mittie's oldest half sister, Susan Elliott. Mittie was 15 at the time. "Thee," as he was called, met Mittie again when she went to Philadelphia in January 1853 to stay with her sister Susan. They fell in love and began planning their wedding through letters between Mittie in Roswell and Thee in New York. They were married in the dining room of Bulloch Hall on December 22, 1853. The marriage was a gala affair with people coming for many miles and staying for a week. Mittie's friend and bridesmaid, Mrs. William Baker, left a recollection of the wedding in an interview by Margaret "Peggy" Mitchell of ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...

'' fame, in the ''Atlanta Journal'', June 10, 1923. After the marriage, the couple moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The couple lived with Thee's parents while a house, a wedding gift from them, was constructed at 28 E 20th Street. In 1856, Martha, Anna, and Irvine moved to Philadelphia to live with Martha's daughter Susan West. Anna and Martha later moved in with Mittie and Thee in New York. The Roosevelt couple became the parents of

;

, the 26th

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. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

; Elliott, and Corinne. Later Elliott married Anna Rebecca Hall, and his daughter was

First Lady of the United States First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is a title typically held by the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never been Code of law, codified or offici ...

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

President Roosevelt's visit in 1905

, who had begun his presidency on reasonably good terms for a half-northerner president, had infuriated the South by inviting

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite#United S ...

to dine in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

. Consequently, he waited a few years until the episode blew over and finally visited Bulloch Hall for the first time while touring the South in 1905. He was thought to be the first sitting President of the United States to visit the South since the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, however this is incorrect as

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

had visited the South earlier while celebrating the victory of the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

. President Roosevelt and his wife

Edith Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English word , meaning ''wealth'' or ''prosperity'', in combination with the Old English , meaning ''wiktionary:strife, strife'', and is in common usage in this form in English language, Englis ...

arrived in Roswell, Georgia on October 20, 1905. At Bulloch Hall, he spoke as follows:

visited Roswell and Bulloch Hall several times. Her husband

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

visited the house, but did not leave his car.

Other

It was listed on the

individually and also as a contributing building in the Roswell Historic District.

Bulloch Hall mentioned in fiction

* Summer, Edward. ''The Legend of Teddy Bear Bob'' aka ''Bear Bob's Story'' * In 1974, director

Monte Hellman Monte Hellman (; born Monte Jay Himmelbaum; July 12, 1929 – April 20, 2021) was an American film director, producer, writer, and editor. Hellman began his career as an editor's apprentice at ABC TV, and made his directorial debut with the ho ...

used Bulloch Hall to film several scenes from the movie ''

Cockfighter ''Cockfighter'' (also known as ''Born to Kill'', ''Gamblin' Man'' and ''Wild Drifter'') is a 1974 drama film by director Monte Hellman, starring Warren Oates, Harry Dean Stanton and featuring Laurie Bird and Ed Begley, Jr. The screenplay is bas ...

'', starring

Warren Oates Warren Mercer Oates (July 5, 1928 – April 3, 1982) was an American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah, including '' The Wild Bunch'' (1969) and ''Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia'' (1974). ...

. * Bulloch Hall served as the model for the cover illustration of

William Harben William Nathaniel Harben (5 July 1858 – 7 August 1919) was an American writer active in the early 20th century. He specialized in stories about the people of the mountains of Northern Georgia. He was sometimes credited as Will N. Harben or ...

's novel ''Mam' Linda.''

Notes

{{Reflist

References

* Roosevelt, Theodore. ''An Autobiography.'' (1913) * Harbaugh, William Henry. ''The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt.'' (1963) * Huddleston, Connie M. and Gwendolyn I. Koehler. "Mittie & Thee: An 1853 Roosevelt Romance." (nonfiction) (2015) * Koehler, Gwendolyn I. and Connie M. Huddleston. "Between the Wedding & the War: The Bulloch/Roosevelt Letters 1854-1860) (2016) * Morris, Edmund ''The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt'' (1979) * Morris, Edmund ''Theodore Rex''. (2001) * Mowry, George. ''The era of Theodore Roosevelt and the birth of modern America, 1900-1912.'' (1954) * McCullough, David. '' Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt'' (2001)
National Register Information System

External links

Bulloch Hall
historical marker Antebellum architecture Houses completed in 1840 Roswell Historic District (Roswell, Georgia) Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state) Plantation houses in Georgia (U.S. state) Historic house museums in Georgia (U.S. state) Museums in Fulton County, Georgia Tourist attractions in Roswell, Georgia National Register of Historic Places in Roswell, Georgia Houses in Fulton County, Georgia Greek Revival houses in Georgia (U.S. state) 1840 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Georgia (U.S. state)