Jacobus "James" Roosevelt III (January 10, 1760 – February 6, 1847) was an American businessman and politician from New York City. A member of the Roosevelt family, he was the son of Isaac Roosevelt and great-grandfather of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Early life

Jacobus Roosevelt III was born on January 10, 1760, in New York City to Isaac Roosevelt (1726–1794) and Cornelia Hoffman. Isaac was the great-grandson Claes Maartenszen Van Rosenvelt, the first Roosevelt in America. He was baptized on January 23, 1760, and graduated from Princeton University in 1780.

Career

Roosevelt, like his father, was a sugar-refiner. A banker in post-revolutionary New York, he amassed a large fortune in addition to his inheritance. He worked out of 333 Pearl Street under the firm of C. J. & H. Roosevelt. He was an active Federalist; he served in the New York State Assembly in 1796 and 1797 and was an alderman in the New York City Council for the Fourth Ward in 1809. His interest in politics was less than previous Roosevelts, including his father; he was the last of his branch of the family to engage in politics until his great-grandson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He engaged in some philanthropy with the large fortune he acquired through business. He was also involved in the Bank of New York like his father, but was never its president. At one point, he owned stony farmland at Harlem, now occupied by 120 city blocks between 110th and 125th streets and Fifth Avenue and the East River. He sold it for $25,000, partly to John Jacob Astor. In 1819, Roosevelt removed to Poughkeepsie and bought a large tract of land on the Hudson River called Mount Hope.

Personal life

Roosevelt married three times and, in total, had 13 children, several of whom died young. His first marriage took place on November 15, 1786 Newburgh, New York, to Maria Eliza Walton (1769–1810), the daughter of Admiral Gerard Walton (died 1821) and a descendant of Wilhelmus Beekman, who was the treasurer of the Dutch West India Company, mayor of New York City, governor of Delaware from 1653 to 1664, and governor of Pennsylvania from 1658 to 1663. Their children who survived infancy were: After Walton's death in 1810, he married on September 2, 1812, for the second time to Catharine Elizabeth Barclay (c. 1783–1816) in New York City. Before her death in 1816, they had: After Barclay's death in 1816, he married for the third and final time on January 29, 1821, to Harriet Howland (1784–1856), a descendant of John Howland, a signor of the Mayflower Compact. Roosevelt died on February 6, 1847. Descendants Through his son, Isaac Roosevelt, James was the grandfather of James Roosevelt, Sr. (1828–1900), and the great-grandfather of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945). Through his daughter, Grace Roosevelt Bayley, he was the grandfather of James Roosevelt Bayley (1814–1877), the first Bishop of Newark (1853–72) and the eighth Archbishop of Baltimore (1872–77).