Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. (September 22, 1831 – February 9, 1878) was the father of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and the paternal grandfather of American first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. He was the son of Cornelius Van Schaak Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill. He was a fourth-generation Dutch New Yorker and participant in the Roosevelt family business of plate-glass importing, Roosevelt and Son.
Roosevelt Sr. was a noted New York City philanthropist. He helped found the New York City Children's Aid Society, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, and the New York Children's Orthopaedic Hospital. A participant in the dazzling New York society life, he was described by one historian as a man of both "good works and good times." In December 1877 he was nominated to be Collector of the Port of New York but was rejected by the U.S. Senate.
Read more about Theodore Roosevelt, Sr.: Marriage To Martha Bulloch in 1853, Children, Orthopedic Hospital, Other Philanthropic Interests, His Son's Recollections, Support For The Union During The Civil War, Seeming Contradiction of His Avoidance of Military Service, His Death, and Its Impact On His Eldest Son