Historic Pelham

There is a handful of ancient families who have had important influences on the history of the Town of Pelham. Among them is the Roosevelt family, a line related (as one might expect) to the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, and to the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

One member of the Roosevelt family of Pelham Manor was Jane Eliza Roosevelt. She was a daughter of Elbert Cornelius Roosevelt, an early 19th century owner of lands near Long Island Sound in today's Pelham Manor. She was born October 13, 1807 in New York City in the family mansion on South Street.

Elbert Cornelius Roosevelt was born October 9, 1767 in New York City. He was a son of Cornelius and Margaret [Haering] Roosevelt. On December 29, 1794 he married Jane Curtenius, a daughter of Peter Theobaldus Curtenius and Catharine [Goelet] Curtenius. Peter Theobaldus Curtenius served as Commissary General and rose to the rank of Colonel in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

According to one source, the couple had at least eight children including Jane Eliza Roosevelt, the subject of today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog:

"The children of Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt were:

400 PETER CURTENIUS, b. Sept. 30, 1795; d. unmarried, Dec. 29, 1891.
401 ELBERT JONES, b. Sept. 12, 1797; d. unmarried, June 7, 1885.
402 HENRY, b. Aug. 18, 1800; m. July 29, 1828, Eliza Louisa Champlin. No. 622. No issue; daughter of W. O. and Elizabeth S. (De Peyster) Champlin. No. 311; d. Nov. 6, 1848.
403+WASHINGTON, b. Nov. 14, 1802; m. 1st, Mary A. Swift; 2d, Jane M. Young.
404 CLINTON, b. Nov. 3, 1804; d. unmarried, Aug. 1, 1898.
405 JANE ELIZA, b. Oct. 13, 1807; d. unmarried, Dec. 4, 1892.
406 MARY, b. July 10, 1810; d. June 13, 1822.
407 ISAAC, b. Nov. 27, 1812; d. Sept. 30, 1856."

Source: Whittelsey, Charles Barney, The Roosevelt Genealogy, 1649-1902, pp. 41-42 (Hartford, CT: C. B. Whittelsey 1902) (126 pp. with "Addenda," six leaves inserted at end).

I have written about Elbert Cornelius Roosevelt and other members of the Roosevelt family in Pelham Manor before. For examples, see:

Fri., Oct. 16, 2015: An Obituary of Charles Henry Roosevelt of Pelham Manor.

Thu., Aug. 21, 2014: Biographical Sketches of Two Members of the 1887-88 Westchester County Board of Supervisors With Pelham Connections.

Tue., May 13, 2014: Elbert Roosevelt, An Early Settler of the Manor of Pelham, and Other Members of His Family.

Mon., Apr. 05, 2010: Obituary of Noted Pelham Manor Resident C. H. Roosevelt Published in 1901.

Thu., Jan. 01, 2009: A Brief History of Pelham Bridge.

Wed., Jan. 29, 2008: Brief Obituary of Rev. Washington Roosevelt of Pelham Published February 13, 1884.

Mon., Nov. 19, 2007: 1901 Obituary of Charles Henry Roosevelt, Grandson of Elbert Roosevelt, One of the Early Settlers of Pelham Manor.

Mon., Dec. 18, 2006: What May Be The Earliest Patent Awarded to a Resident of Pelham: Patent Issued to Elbert J. Roosevelt on May 29, 1866.

Wed., Dec. 13, 2006: More About Isaac Roosevelt of Pelham Who Carved His Name on a Glacial Boulder in 1833.

Mon., Nov. 13, 2006: The Isaac Roosevelt Stone Carved in 1833.

Wed., Sep. 20, 2006: Brief Biographical Data About Elbert Roosevelt of the Manor of Pelham.

Fri., Jan. 06, 2006: Pelham Loses its Right To Use the Town Dock in the Early 1900s.

Jane Eliza Roosevelt was a daughter of Elbert Cornelius Roosevelt and Margaret Haering Roosevelt. Born in New York City in 1807, as noted above, she never married.

She moved with her family to Pelham Manor as a young girl. She was active in the community throughout her life. She was, for many years, an active member of the American Tract Society, an evangelical organization founded on May 11, 1825 in New York City to publish and disseminate Christian literature. At one point Roosevelt served as Treasurer of the New Rochelle branch of the American Tract Society.

Jane Eliza Roosevelt died in her home in Pelham on December 14, 1892 at the age of 85. Her obituary appeared the next day in The Sun, published in New York City. That obituary is transcribed below, followed by a citation and link to its source.

"OBITUARY.
-----

Jane Eliza Roosevelt, daughter of the late Elbert Roosevelt, died yesterday at her house in Pelham, after an illness of more than a year. She was 85 years old and a spinster. Miss Roosevelt was born Oct. 13, 1807, in the old Roosevelt mansion on South street, which stood at that time in an orchard of peach trees that stretched almost to the East River. Her youth was passed between this city and Pelham, where her father owned the land on which the present town [sic] of Pelham Manor is built. For some years she had lived entirely in Pelham. Her mother was a member of the old Curtenius family, and her grandfather, Peter Theobaldus Curtenius, was a Commisary in the Revolutionary army under Washington. During the hardships of the winter of 1783, spent by Washington and the troops at Newburgh, Curtenius sold his residence at the corner of Broadway and Liberty street to aid the army. He was afterward repaid in Continental money, which is still in the possession of the family. Miss Roosevelt came of a family which enjoys unusual longevity. Her father lived to the age of ninety-one years. One of her brothers, Peter Curtenius Roosevelt, died in December, 1891, aged ninety-eight, and another, Elbert J., died in his eighty-ninth year. Both were bachelors. One brother, eighty-eight years old, survives her, and is unmarried. Miss Roosevelt was endeared throughout the region where she lived by her charities and gentleness of character. The funeral will take place on Saturday morning, in the Presbyterian Church at New Rochelle. The body will be interred in Beachwood [sic] Cemetery."

Source: OBITUARY -- Jane Eliza Roosevelt, The Sun [NY, NY], Dec. 15, 1892, p. 7, col. 4.