Isaac Roosevelt was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 merchant

Merchant

A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...

 and Federalist

Federalist Party (United States)

The Federalist Party was the first American political party, from the early 1790s to 1816, the era of the First Party System, with remnants lasting into the 1820s. The Federalists controlled the federal government until 1801...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

. He served in the New York State Assembly and the state Constitutional Convention and achieved the most political success of any Roosevelt before Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...

. He was the great-great-grandfather of U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Roosevelt was born in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and baptized in the Reformed Dutch Church of New York. A member of the Roosevelt family

Roosevelt family

In heraldry, canting arms are a visual or pictorial play on a surname, and were and still are a popular practice. It would be common to find roses, then, in arms of many Roosevelt families, even unrelated ones...

, he was the son of Jacobus Roosevelt, grandson of Nicholas Roosevelt

Nicholas Roosevelt (1658-1742)

Nicholas Roosevelt was an early member of the Roosevelt family and a prominent Dutch-American citizen of New Amsterdam...

, and great-grandson of the immigrant Claes Martenzsen Van Rosenvelt. He was one of the first large-scale sugar refiners in New York City. He built one of the first sugar refineries in the city and originally had his store on Wall Street

Wall Street

Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...

, later removing to St. George's Square.

"Isaac Roosevelt is removed from his house in Wall Street to the house of his late brother, Jacobus Roosevelt, Jr, deceased, near the Sugar house, and opposite to Mr. William Waltons, being on the northwest side of Queen Street, where his customers may be supplied as usual with double, middling and single refined loaf sugars, clarified, muscovado and other molasses, & etc." - April 25, 1772

Active in the community, he was one of the first members of the New York City Chamber of Commerce, organized in 1768, and he was one of the original incorporators of the first public hospital in New York in 1770. He was a cofounder of the Bank of New York

Bank of New York

The Bank of New York was a global financial services company established in 1784 by the American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. It existed until its merger with the Mellon Financial Corporation on July 2, 2007...

 in 1784, and became its second president, a post he held from 1786 to 1791.

A noted Whig

Patriot (American Revolution)

Patriots is a name often used to describe the colonists of the British Thirteen United Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution. It was their leading figures who, in July 1776, declared the United States of America an independent nation...

, he was elected to the New York Provincial Congress

New York Provincial Congress

The New York Provincial Congress was an organization formed by rebels in 1775, during the American Revolution, as a pro-rebellion alternative to the more conservative Province of New York Assembly, and as a replacement for the Committee of One Hundred.A Provincial Convention assembled in New York...

 on April 22, 1775. He was one of the Committee of One Hundred

Committee of Sixty

The Committee of Sixty was an extra-legal group formed in New York City, in 1775, by rebels to enforce the Continental Association, a boycott of British goods enacted by the First Continental Congress...

 that took control of the state government in May of 1775. Though he felt no allegiance to England, he was initially a moderate, hoping to prevent conflict. However, he withdrew from New York when the British occupied the city, and spent the period of occupation at his wife's home in Dutchess County, serving with the Sixth Regiment of the Dutchess County Militia. After the war, as one of ten representatives from New York City (among John Jay

John Jay

John Jay was an American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, a Founding Father of the United States, and the first Chief Justice of the United States ....

, Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...

, and Robert R. Livingston), he took part in the New York State Convention at Poughkeepsie

Poughkeepsie (city), New York

Poughkeepsie is a city in the state of New York, United States, which serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is located in the Hudson River Valley midway between New York City and Albany...

 on June 18, 1788 that deliberated on the adoption of the United States Constitution

United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...

. He was a member of the New York State Senate

New York State Senate

The New York State Senate is one of two houses in the New York State Legislature and has members each elected to two-year terms. There are no limits on the number of terms one may serve...

 (Southern D.) from 1777 to 1786, and from 1789 to 1792.

He married Cornelia Hoffman, the daughter of a prominent Dutchess County landowner, on September 22, 1752. They had ten children, including Jacobus (James)

James Roosevelt (1760-1847)

Jacobus Roosevelt, known as James, was an American businessman and politician from New York City and a member of the Roosevelt family....

, great-grandfather of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He died in October 1794.

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