Cornelius Roosevelt

Cornelius Van Schaack "C.V.S." Roosevelt (January 30, 1794 – July 17, 1871) was an American businessman from New York City. He was a member of the prominent Roosevelt family and the paternal grandfather of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt.

Early life Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1794, in New York City, to James Jacobus Roosevelt and Maria Helen Van Schaack. His great-grandfather was Johannes Roosevelt, the founder of the Oyster Bay branch of the Roosevelt family. Through his grandfather Cornelius Van Schaack Jr., he was a grandnephew of Peter van Schaack and great-great-grandson of Maria Schuyler from the Schuyler family. Through Maria, he was a great-great-great-grandnephew of Dutch-American settler Philip Pieterse Schuyler and a great-great-great-grandson of David Pieterse Schuyler.

Cornelius's younger brother, James John Roosevelt, served as a United States Congressman from New York from 1841 until 1843. He attended Columbia College but academic life did not suit him, and he did not graduate.

Career In 1818, after leaving college, Roosevelt became his father's partner in importing hardware. He continued to work in the business until his retirement in 1865. Roosevelt was among its first directors under its new charter, along with John D. Wolfe, Isaac Platt and Bradish Johnson, and the bank's president John Q. Jones. The company sold all remaining inventories from the chemical division as well as real estate holdings by 1851 and later became the present day Chase Bank. Roosevelt married Margaret Barnhill (1799–1861), a daughter of Robert Craig Barnhill and Elizabeth Potts. She was a descendant of English and Irish Quakers and of Thomas Pott of Wales. They had six sons: Silas Weir Roosevelt James Alfred Roosevelt, Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt Jr. Robert Barnhill Roosevelt Theodore "Thee" Roosevelt Sr. William Wallace Roosevelt. When each of his sons married, he gifted them houses in New York.

On July 17, 1871, Roosevelt died at his home in Oyster Bay, New York. The New York Times memorialized him as a "merchant of the old school". His estate was valued at between $3 million and $7 million.

Descendants Roosevelt's grandchildren include John Ellis Roosevelt (1853–1939), president of the Elkhorn Valley Coal Land Company, William Emlen Roosevelt (1857–1930), a banker and president of Roosevelt & Son, Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), the President of the United States from September 14, 1901, until March 4, 1909, and Granville Roland Fortescue (1875–1952), an author and soldier. One of Roosevelt's great-granddaughters was First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. A great-great-grandson was Sir Humphrey Clarke, 5th Baronet (1906–1973).