James Roosevelt I (1828-1900) was the father of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945). He was born on July 16, 1828, to Isaac Daniel Roosevelt (1790-1863) and Mary Rebecca Aspinall (1809-1886). The couple had a home in New York City, but also in Rosedale in Hyde Park. James would later buy the home that would become Springwood becoming known to those in the community as “Squire James or Mr. James.”
Roosevelt was educated locally at the Poughkeepsie Collegiate School. When a young teen, James was sent to school located in Lee, Massachusetts run by Mr. Alexander Hyde. After graduating, in 1843, James attended college in New York City. A year later he transferred to Union College where he earned his degree. Still later, he attended Harvard obtained a law degree. As was customary, after graduating he spent over a year traveling in Europe and the Middle East.
When he returned halfway through 1850, he entered Harvard Law School obtaining a Lee degree. After practicing law for a short time, he began working in the emerging railroad industry. He became Vice President of the D&H Railroad and President of the Champlain Transportation Company. In addition to holding positions in other companies.
A successful person, with enormous wealth, James courted and married Rebecca Brien Howland (1831-1876). They would have one child named James “Rosy” Roosevelt (1854-1927). It has been asserted that James Sr., did not like the term junior, so he named his first son James Roosevelt Roosevelt or Rosy for short.
The couple would live at Mount Hope was located on what is today the new ShopRite Complex on Route 9, and prior to that the Hudson River State Hospital. This land had been owned by James’s grandfather. Unfortunately, the home burned in 1865 while Rebecca and Rosy were in Europe. James sold the property, and purchased the home that he would name Springwood. James purchased the property from Josiah Wheeler in 1867. The home did not look as it does today. Instead it was in the Italianate style.
According to the National Park Service, in 1868, “James Roosevelt purchased the adjoining Boreel Place including the house and farm, and three years later, in 1871, purchased the Bellefield farm on the east side of the Post Road from Timothy Bracken.”
During the 1870s, Rebecca started to suffer from heart issues. She was advised to not exert herself. James installed an elevator in the home so she would not have to climb the stairs. Tragedy struck when Rebecca suffered a massive heart attack in August 1876 while aboard her husband’s yacht bound for Long Island Sound.
Rebecca was buried in the St. James Episcopal Church a short distance down the road from Springwood. The couple was married for about twenty-five years.
According to Time Magazine’s profile of Sara Roosevelt in 1941, “she met James Roosevelt at a dinner party given by his cousin, Theodore Roosevelt. A retired lawyer and sportsman, James Roosevelt was a widower with a son her age. A few months later they were married, and Sara Delano Roosevelt went to live with James at Hyde Park, across the river.”
Her family lived at Algonac about 25 miles away in Newburgh in a mansion overlooking the Hudson River. According to Doris Kearns Goodwin in her book No Ordinary Time, the courtship was about 10 weeks. They would be married on October 7, 1880. James and Sara honeymooned in Europe for almost a year. Shortly after returning to Hyde Park, on January 30, 1882, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born. Four years later James built the horse barn known as the stables. A local architect Frederick Clarke Withers (1828-1901) of Newburgh, designed the Queen Anne-style building.
While living at Springwood, James pursued the life of a gentleman farmer. He raised cattle, crops, fruit and horses. The home was situated on 500 acres that would only increase. James known to the community as Mr. James or Squire James, developed heart issues. He had a heart attack in 1890, and was advised by his doctors to take it easy. Although he recovered from the heart attack, it essentially left him an invalid. Frequently, he would book trips to Germany to take cures in the mineral spring located in Germany. It was believed that it would help restore his vitality. It helped him relax which gave him hope that he was regaining his health.
Squire James died in New York City on December 8, 1900. According to The New York Times on December 9, James died from endocarditis while staying at the Hotel Renaissance. The same newspaper reported that Sara, Franklin, Rosy, and Dr. Albert H. Ely were with him. James had come to New York City a week ago.
A special train left New York City at 1:05pm on Sunday December 9, for a Tuesday funeral in Hyde Park. He would buried next to his first wife Rebecca in the St. James Episcopal Churchyard.
James Roosevelt (1828-1900) hanging in Roosevelt home in Hyde Park, New York
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