Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. [Father of President Theodore Roosevelt]
9/22/1831 - 2/9/1878

Married Martha Bulloch of Roswell, Georgia on 12/22/1853.

President Roosevelt's father was remembered by his community as a philanthropist, a man who for his day and social position was extremely and often directly involved in charitable works including the Newsboys' Lodging home, Miss Slattery's Night School for Italian Children and various hospitals.

In his book Theodore Roosevelt, A Life, Nathan Miller writes,

"The elder Roosevelt was either founder or early supporter of almost every humanitarian endeavor in the city. In extending a hand to those less fortunate than himself, he acted from a disciplined sense of obligation as a Christian and a gentleman. Good fortune, he believed, must be balanced with productive work and service. He was a founder of the New York Orthopedic Hospital, of the Children's Aid Society, and was a guiding force in the YMCA. The founding meeting of the board of the American Museum of Natural History was held [in his home] in the front parlor on Twentieth Street, and he was a founder of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Every Sunday, he taught a mission class at Madison Square Presbyterian Church.

When Thee Roosevelt realized the streets of New York were filled with homeless and abandoned children, he helped found the Newsboys' Lodging House....He not only provided financial support and persuaded wealthy friends to contibute...but gave his time to counseling the boys and listening to their problems. He found foster homes for some and dug into his own pocket to provide railroad fares home for runaways or for others to get a fresh start in the West."[1]

He was a "active father" very much involved with his children, taking them on frequent outings. TR's father, known to his family as "Thee" also took his family on several extended trips, traveling through Europe, the middle east, and hiring a river barge for a lengthy trip along the Nile River. The children, largely schooled at home, were constantly under his influence.

TR suffered greatly from asthma and his father spent many nights with him, holding him or taking him for a carriage ride with the hope that the night air and a fast horse would "force air into his lungs". His father became the architect and advocate for TR to build his body and had a gym constructed for him in the house.

In 1878, while TR was a Sophomore at Harvard, his father died of stomach cancer. TR declared that "My father. . .was the best man I ever knew."

[1] Miller, Theodore Roosevelt, A Life, p. 31-32.