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THEODORE ROOSEVELT
1919

CHAPTER 19

 THEODORE ROOSEVELT'S SONS

WITH the precept and example of such a father and mother it would naturally be expected that Sagamore Hill would give an ideal family to the nation. So deeply did the great patriotic spirit of Theodore Roosevelt sink into the souls of the children, that all four of his sons, one of his sons-in-law and one of his daughters-in-law volunteered in the service of their country in the world war, and the other son-in-law served his country as a member of Congress. The four sons—all that he had —went to the front at the earliest possible moment. All are Harvard men—kindly in spirit, game sports, good riders and sure shots, with splendid characters, intelligent Christian gentlemen; and fighters from way back. There would have been no rope strong enough to have kept those boys, raised on Sagamore Hill, out of the army. In each one was a love for his country stronger than his life.
LIEUT.-COL. THEODORE ROOSEVELT, JR.

Theodore, Jr., not only carries his father's name, but presents many of his father's characteristics. He is not as large as his father was toward the last, and wears no mustache, but in his facial expression, his movements, his warm hand-shake, his polite demeanor and mental virility he reminds one very much of his father. He was born in 1887. He went to Grotou Preparatory School and graduated at Harvard in 1909. He is fond of sport, and accompanied his father on a number of hunting trips in the United States and in Canada.

He married Miss Eleanor Alexander in June, 1910. They have three children—Grace Green, Theodore, Jr., and Cornelius Schaack.

Like many of his New York City ancestors, Theodore, Jr., selected a business life. He first entered the mills of the Hartford Carpet Company; did successful work there and went out to San Francisco to represent the same company. In 1912 he returned to New York, to join the firm of Bernard, Griscom & Company; after two years with them he became a partner of Montgomery, Clothier & Tyler.

Lieut.-Col. Theodore Roosevelt went to France as a Major, in command of the First Battalion, Twenty-sixth Infantry, with the first expeditionary forces in the summer of 1917. Later he was placed in command of the regiment with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was dangerously gassed, but fortunately was brought back to life. He was with his famous regiment in every battle until the last days 01 the war, when he was wounded by a machine-gun bullet in the leg in the fierce fight in the Argonne Forest. He refused to be taken from the field, however, until his boys had cleaned out the enemy's machine-gun nest that was doing such murderous work.

Then he was taken to the hospital, and at the earliest moment of convalescence he insisted upon going back to the front with his regiment and remained with it until the signing of the armistice.

He returned with his regiment from France early in March. He gave this unstinted praise to the New York and all the American troops: "No young man can go through the military work that all the drafted men have gone through and not be benefited by it. I have watched these New York men as I brought my own battalion up, and I have seen their baptism of shells and bullets on July 18 at Soissons, when they went in with the French, at the time of Foch's first big offensive. I am delighted with the record the American troops have made and trust that in future we shall bear in mind, as a nation, that much could have been saved had we realized in time the necessity of proper preparedness.''

Young Col. Theodore Roosevelt, with the name, ability and heroism of his father, attracted the attention of the nation, which saw in him a possible leader and servant of the people. In answer to an almost universal call on the part of his father's friends, he resolved to give up his business career and devote himself to the service of the State.

At a reception to him and his wife, who also served in France, at the Republican Club in New York City, Col. Roosevelt provoked a laugh and hearty cheer when he opened his remarks by saying, "It's bully to be home." He said it was the first time he had spoken in public since he returned from France, and he was proud to speak before a body representing the party around which all the traditions of his family had been woven. He declared he was "delighted" to see so many ladies present.

He told many amusing and serious incidents of the soldiers of his division in and out of the trenches. "While we experienced hard fighting in the Argonne," he said, "most of our time was spent in the small villages back of the lines. Here the men slept in the barns on the hay lofts, with the pigs, cows and rabbits on the first floor. As the commander of the men I was supposed to get the best accommodation, but I slept in a room with a kindly-faced old cow tied to the thin partition between my billet and the adjoining apartment When the cow slept, I slept, and when she was wakeful, I was wakeful, too. The old French woman at whose house we were quartered complained that the men in the barn made so much noise at night that the pigs and rabbits could not sleep." "Rabbits are good to eat, and they would disappear," he said; "but I know it was impossible for the men to have eaten as many rabbits as the old lady said."

In the closing words of this address he spoke of the two years of clean living upon the part of the boys, and of their return to this country with characters unspoiled. He urged upon the people at home the necessities of aiding in every way the permanent employment of the men, and called upon all good citizens to throw around our former soldiers every moral safeguard to help them to lives of usefulness, happiness and honor.

How like the father the young Colonel was, at the close of his address, drawing a practical moral lesson for the living. Scarcely a letter, magazine article or chapter in a book or message can be found in which his father did not either wind up with a splendid moral lesson for the living or carry it straight through from beginning to end.

Col. Roosevelt's wife had the honor of being the first American woman sent out to war service by the Young Men's Christian Association. She began her work in the canteen in Paris and then was placed in charge of the leave-areas at Aix-le-Bain for our soldier boys.

Speaking of the work among the American soldiers on leave in France, Mrs. Roosevelt said, "The first thing the workers did was to induce some of the hotel proprietors to open their hotels in the winter, four months ahead of time. They rented the Casino, one of the finest in Europe. We had to take the employees, too," she said, "and among them was a gambling director, perhaps the only employee of that character which the Y. M. C. A. ever had. I cannot say enough for the behavior of our men on leave. Their conduct was extremely good. A more decent, self-respecting body of men cannot be imagined.''

Some may have thought that Colonel Roosevelt was too young for any great responsibility, but it must be remembered that he entered public life three years older than his father was when he ran for the mayoralty of New York, and one year older than his father when he took the great task of the Civil Service Commissionership. His heroism and sufferings for the flag, his executive ability in the organization of the American Legion, composed of our soldiers of the world war, and his magnificent spirit in declining the presidency of the organization, which the members insisted upon forcing on him, saying that he would rather stay and be a booster than be the head of it, would have marked him as a natural leader of men if his name had been other than Roosevelt. Democrats as well as Republican s recognized his evident leadership, and he was received in New York as one to be admitted to the councils of the nation and worthy of any office he should himself be willing to accept.
CAPT.   ARCHIBALD   BULLOCK   ROOSEVELT 
Capt. Archie Roosevelt is taller and slimmer than the other boys.   He has many of his father's endowments and peculiarities, a bright eye, a strong grip and a kindly spirit. He was born in 1894, had his preliminary education at Groton and Andover and graduated at Harvard in 1917. Previous to his graduation he had gone into the factory of the Hartford Carpet Company, the one in which his older brother had been employed.

In 1917 he was married to Miss Grace Lockwood of Boston. They have one son, Archibald, Jr. Captain Archie attended the Plattsburg Training School, was commissioned Second Lieutenant of Infantry, sailed for France in June, 1917, was commissioned in the Twenty-sixth Infantry, the one in which his brother, Theodore, was the Lieutenant-Colonel, was promoted to Captaincy and was severely wounded in the arm and knee in the Cantigny fighting.

Captain Archie Roosevelt in a foreword to an article in Everybody's Magazine for May, 1918, had this to say of his brothers and himself in the war:'' All my brothers were in the thickest of the fighting, yet two will safely come back. And while one sleeps in Prance, he met a soldier's death in battle and died fighting for the principles in which we believe—that is all we can ask. For my own part, I went in as Second Lieutenant of Infantry, was promoted to Captain while in France, had the great good fortune of being cited and decorated, and still have a useful right arm and leg and a fairly useful left arm and leg. All of which is more good luck than I deserve."

Capt. Archie Roosevelt has followed his father's example in his early devotion to literary work. His articles have some of the characteristics of his father. There is that directness of expression which Harvard teaches her sons, there is a clearness of thought which is unmistakable, and there is a vigorous rebuking of what he counts errors and evils and absolute fearlessness in doing so, which his father manifested from the beginning to the end of his life. A man who has served and suffered as the Captain has done will make a mighty good citizen.

Captain Roosevelt's misfortune gave him the sad sweet privilege of being with his father and comforting and being comforted by him during the last days of his life, the delicacy of that relation was too sacred for description. A double sorrow fell upon the Captain in the death of his wife's father, whose funeral he had gone to Boston to attend when advised of the death of his own father. The brave boy beat back the sorrow that broke his heart, and lovingly acted as an usher at his father's funeral. The precious memories which he will have of the last services he was permitted to render to his father for himself and the other brave boys that were in the field will be a precious memory to him as long as he shall live.
CAPT. KERMIT ROOSEVELT 
Capt. Kermit Roosevelt looks so much like his father did when I first met him twenty-four years ago, that when I saw him, after his return from Prance, the resemblance was so striking as to soften my heart, and to fill it with holy memories and precious sentiments. As I remember it he is somewhat smaller than his father was then, but the shape of his face, and color of his mustache, worn like his father's, his quick firm step, his keenness to apprehend propositions, to interpret thoughts of others and his swift conclusions, took me back to the man I knew a quarter of a century before.
He was born in 1889.   He prepared for college at Groton and graduated at Harvard. In June, 1914, he married Miss Belle "Wyatt Wiltrip, and the son had an opportunity amidst all the dangers and sufferings and sickness of the trip to support that strong man, who had held up a nation in his mighty arm. It would be surprising if these years of companionship, of heroism and mutual helpfulness, as well as filial and paternal devotion, had not cemented the hearts of father and son in an unusual manner. The last night of his life as he sat in front of the open fire with Mrs. Roosevelt by his side, after having corrected the proofs of his last editorial, he put a set of proofs in an envelope and adressed them to his son, Captain Kermit, who was in the army abroad. Capt. Kermit Roosevelt may become a naturalist of note, a politician of sagacity, but he will be a patriotic citizen with an equipment for any responsibility or honor the people may have in store for him.
LIEUT. QUENTIN ROOSEVELT 
Lieut. Quentin Roosevelt, the youngest of the children, was born in 1897. He was prepared for college at Groton, and had the war not intervened he would have graduated at Harvard in the class of 1919. Those who knew him best say that he was very much like his father in action and endowment; that he possessed evidences of the highest genius. Charley Lee, the family chauffeur, told me that he never knew a brighter lad. He said that, when a mere boy, Quentin could see through an automobile almost as well as he could himself; that he understood its parts and their workings. He also told me of a physical and mental feat which he performed at Groton in managing two printing presses at the same time—an act which had never been performed by any other one in the history of the school. He was as rugged in his bravery as he was strong in his mental faculties.
He was only a sophomore in college when the war broke out, but he determined to leave college and enlist, and he could talk or think of nothing else. Sagamore Hill was not far from Mineola, the Government aviation camp, and the bird-men were flying every day in practice over their home. His soul, which had great wings, longed to soar into the air, and to fight for his flag in the most dangerous department of war service.

His father, before giving his consent to his entering this branch of the service, went down to the camp at Mineola, took a place in an aeroplane to make a trip with the pilot and flew over Long Island Sound and its shores for about three-quarters of an hour. He then talked the matter over with Quentin, who was bo anxious to go; and he and Mrs. Roosevelt gave their consent. They gave him up to be a bird-man, to fight for his country, knowing that danger would stare him in the face every moment of his active service. Loving him better than they did their own lives, like thousands of other American mothers and fathers, they loved their country still better and gave him up. The supreme sacrifice was theirs as well as his. He went to Mineola for training as an aviator.

Mr. Will H. Hays in an address at Indianapolis said:

"The president of a college the other day told me that he had met Quentin Roosevelt in France a short time before Quentin was killed, that he talked with him about the fact that the four sons of Theodore Roosevelt were all fighting in Prance, and said, "You have done about your part, Quentin." "Well," this young Roosevelt replied, "we boys thought that it was up to us to practice what father preached."

     At a social function, given at Sagamore Hill, where about one thousand guests were gathered, a daring aviator flew around and around the house and Colonel Roosevelt watched the skillful manner in which the airship was navigated, but never knew, until several days after, that the birdman was his son, Quentin, who, out of love for his father, was recognizing the function. He left for Europe in July, 1917, with the first American flying unit. In a desperate air battle he was killed on the 14th of July, 1918, his plane and body falling over the enemy's lines near the little village of Chambry. The Germans buried him with honor and marked his resting-place

The death of Quentin, the bitterest blow of his life, did not come to his father without warning, for in a dispatch the correspondent of a New York publication advised his office to watch Oyster Bay "for news of__-------.”The censor cut the dispatch at that point.

This was submitted to Mr. Roosevelt, and by a process of elimination Quentin was decided to have been at least injured. "It can't be Ted, and it can't be Archie," said he, "for both are recovering from wounds; it's not Kermit, for he is not in the danger-zone at just this moment. So it must be Quentin. However, we must say nothing of this to his mother to-night."

Early the next morning a newspaper reporter of Oyster Bay went out to Sagamore Hill to carry the sad news of Quentin's death. He rang the bell; the Colonel himself came to the door, and, going out on the porch together the awful news was broken. The Colonel walked the porch in silence for a while and then said to the visitor, "But—Mrs. Roosevelt? How am I going to break it to her?" He then turned about and started into the house to perform one of the bravest acts of his life—to tell Mrs. Roosevelt that Quentin had been killed. And she, with a soul as brave as that of her husband, received the news with supreme heroism. They sent out this joint letter to the world which will be read centuries from now as a specimen of the highest heroism:
Quentin's mother anl I are very glad that he got to the front and had a chance to render some service to his country and to show the stuff that was in him before his fate befell him.
In accordance with a plan of the War Department to bring back to their relatives at the close of the war the dead bodies of those who died over the sea, General Pershing cabled Colonel Roosevelt that, if they desired the body of Quentin, it would be removed to America. France meanwhile had paid the fullest honors to the dead aviator. In a letter to General March, Chief of Staff at Washington, Colonel Roosevelt wrote:
Mrs. Roosevelt and I wish to enter a. most respectful but most emphatic protest against the proposed course as far as our son Quentin is concerned. We have always believed that
"Where the tree falls, There let it lie."
We know that many good persons feel entirely different, but to us it is painful and harrowing long after death to move the poor body from which the soul has fled. We greatly prefer that Quentin shall continue to lie on the spot where he fell in battle and where the foeman buried him.

After the war is over Mrs. Roosevelt and I intend to visit the grave and then to have a small stone put up by us, but not disturbing what has already been erected to his memory by his friends and American comrades-in-arms.

With apologies for troubling you,
Very faithfully yours,
Theodore Roosevelt.
And early in the spring Mrs. Roosevelt carried out the plan which her husband and she had laid, that of visiting Quentin's grave, and receiving every courtesy T)f the American officers and the French Government, she performed that sacred service in the most quiet and modest manner; and there marked the grave for the attention and inspiration of generations to come. The mother, when she put the flowers on the grave knew that it was not her boy who rested there, but the material body which he wore. Quentin Roosevelt did not come down with his aeroplane, it was only his raiment that he dropped. He continued to fly. He flew like an eagle, fought like an eagle, conquered like an eagle and then flew away above the clouds and to the mountain top beyond the river.

MRS, ETHEL CAROW ROOSEVELT DERBY

Ethel Carow Roosevelt was born in 1891. She received a thorough education in the city of Washington. In one corner of the barn at Sagamore Hill, I saw a trap which was cherished as a precious relic. In it Miss Ethel, when in Washington, drove to and from one of the most important girl's schools in the country. She possessed the attractive qualities of both sides of the house and the training which such a home furnishes, and was the apple of her father's eye, his companion as a romping girl and his help as a mature woman.

She was married in 1913 to Dr. Richard Derby of New York City Two children have been given to them, Richard, Jr., and Edith Carow. When the Colonel came home from the hospital on his last Christmas Day, little Edith ran out to meet him and said, "Oh, grandpa, come in the house and see what Santa Claua has brought!"
Among many of the pictures of the Colonel none seemed more beautiful or eloquent than those in which he appears with his grandchildren. His greatness seems to reach its climax in the tenderness of his expression, as he holds them in his lap or looks into their faces. None is more beautiful than the one in which he holds Archie's baby in his lap, Richard Derby, Jr., and Edith Carow standing by him with the proud mothers in the group. The supreme joy, which he and Mrs. Roosevelt had in their children, was continued in their grandchildren, which they counted as their own.

Lieut.-Col. Richard Derby was one of the most able and successful physicians and surgeons in New York City. He entered the Medical Corps of the army, was commissioned as major, fought throughout the war in the Second Division in France and was promoted to a lieutenant-coloneley.

One of the most beautiful of romances is the love, courtship and marriage of Miss Ethel Roosevelt to Dr. Derby. I have the story from a gentleman who knew the facts. He told me that there was a very poor mother at Oyster Bay, who had a son with a deformed foot and that in thinking over some plan of relief for the boy he felt sure that if the matter were brought to Colonel Roosevelt's attention, he would see that the boy had some .surgical help. He said that the Colonel and Mrs. Roosevelt performed scores, even hundreds of acts of charity about which the public knew nothing, and that such a case would appeal to them at once. He met Colonel Roosevelt one day and told him about this boy. He immediately sent his daughter Ethel down to the house to see the child and talk the matter over with the mother. Miss Ethel reported the facts to her father, who told her to take the child down to the Roosevelt Hospital in New York, to have the foot operated upon, saying he would pay the bill. She did so and it so chanced that one of the surgeons attending the child was Dr. Richard Derby, up to that time unknown to Miss Ethel. The rest of the story speaks for itself, in a fortunate marriage and happy family. The boy was cured and went out into life without a handicap.
ALICE LEE ROOSEVELT 
Alice Lee Roosevelt was born in 1885. Her father was very devoted to her and she idolized him. She was brought up with the other Roosevelt children at the home on Sagamore Hill, and was sister to them all. Mrs. Roosevelt treated her with the same affection and care that she. did the rest of the children. She had every educational, moral and social equipment for a life of usefulness, happiness and honor. She was married in the White House on February 17, 1906, to Nicholas Longworth, of Cincinnati.

Nicholas Longworth was a graduate of Harvard, and the Harvard Law School, a lawyer in Cincinnati. With the exception of two years he had been in 1919 a member of Congress from Cincinnati for sixteen years, and had been known through the nation not only as Colonel Roosevelt's son-in-law, but also as a competent, conscientious and patriotic servant of the people.

Colonel Roosevelt said to me one day,'' They would not let me go to war, but I sent four of my sons to the front, each one of whom I love better than my own life, and also the husband of my daughter who seems like my own. There is much more of me in the war, now, than though I were there myself, for these boys are my heart of hearts, they are the life of my life. "I never saw him look so serious and it was the first time he ever looked to me as though he wanted to cry; his words were spoken with such deep emotion. "Colonel," I said to him, "we know that the boys will do brave fighting and we will hope and pray that God will send them back to you." "It is my constant prayer to God," he answered, "that, in His mercy, He will spare them, use them in the battle and then let them come home to us again." He paused a moment and said, "It is not likely that all will come back from such a deadly war, but we will have to leave them in the hands of a good God, Who doeth all things well," he continued, "I am mighty proud of .my boys," and pausing a moment he said, "I am just as proud of my splendid girls."

The one who for over seven years presided over the White House with such dignity, grace and genuine hospitality, who was the sunshine of Sagamore Hill, was the mother of Colonel Roosevelt's sons; and they were her jewels.