James I. Roosevelt

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_I._Roosevelt

James John Roosevelt, known as James I. (December 14, 1795 – April 5, 1875) was an American politician, jurist, businessman, and member of the Roosevelt family. His brother Cornelius Roosevelt was the father of James A. Roosevelt, Robert Roosevelt, and Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. as well as paternal grandfather of President Theodore Roosevelt.

Early life

James I – the Roman numeral was used to distinguish him from others of the same name – was born on December 14, 1795 in New York City to James Jacobus Roosevelt and Maria Van Schaak and baptized at the Dutch Reformed Church. He was a great-grandson of Johannes Roosevelt, the founder of the Oyster Bay branch of the Roosevelt family. Roosevelt graduated from Columbia College in 1815 and was admitted to the bar in 1818, becoming a partner of Peter Jay (son of John Jay), with a practice in New York City.

Career

An active Democrat, he campaigned for Andrew Jackson for president in 1828. He was elected alderman in 1828 and 1830, was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1835 and 1840, and served in the United States Congress from 1841 to 1843, but declined to seek reelection.

Roosevelt became a justice of the New York Supreme Court in 1851, and during one term was ex officio judge of the State Court of Appeals. From 1860 to 1861, he was United States District Attorney for Southern New York. He studied foreign law in the courts of England, the Netherlands, and France.

In business, Roosevelt followed in the tradition of his father as a hardware merchant. He engaged in farming after retiring. He was the first president of Roosevelt Hospital, which was founded by his cousin James H. Roosevelt.

Death and burial

Roosevelt died on April 5, 1875 at his home, 836-838 Broadway in New York City, following complications sustained after he broke his thigh bone in a fall. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

Family

On May 30, 1831 Roosevelt married Cornelia Van Ness in Paris. She was the daughter of Cornelius P. Van Ness and Rhoda Savage, and the niece of William P. Van Ness and John Peter Van Ness. The Marquis de Lafayette was among the guests.

James and Cornelia Roosevelt had eleven children, all but three of whom died in childhood or early adulthood. Their son Charles Yates Roosevelt had a daughter Cornelia, who married Baron von Zedlitz of Austria; she was drowned in a collision with the German emperor's yacht in 1901.

Cornelia Roosevelt died in Paris on February 14, 1876.