James Alfred Roosevelt was an American

United States

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

 merchant, 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...

, and an uncle of United States President 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 became a member of his father Cornelius Roosevelt

Cornelius Roosevelt

Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt was an American businessman from New York City and a member of the Roosevelt family.-Biography:...

's mercantile firm at the age of twenty, and eventually succeeded him as its head. In 1878, he established the banking house of Roosevelt & Son

Roosevelt & Son

Roosevelt & Son was an investment banking firm connected with the Roosevelt Family for nearly two centuries. The firm was among the oldest banking houses on Wall Street.Many of the male members of the Roosevelt family worked for the firm in some capacity....

, which marked the full abandonment of the Roosevelts' traditional plate-glass business. He was connected with many other institutions, including as vice president of the Chemical Bank of New York; president of the Broadway Improvement Company; vice president of the Bank of Savings; member of the board of managers of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company; director of the New York Life Insurance Trust, among others; member of the Board of Park Commissioners; and trustee to the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children. He was a president of Roosevelt Hospital, founded by his distant cousin James H. Roosevelt

James H. Roosevelt

James Henry Roosevelt was an American philanthropist who, by bequest, founded Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. He was born in New York to Catherine and James Christopher Roosevelt, a grandson of Jacobus Roosevelt, the founder of the Hyde Park branch of the Roosevelt family. James H...

. He married Elizabeth Norris Emlen on December 22, 1847 and had four children, including W. Emlen Roosevelt

Emlen Roosevelt

William Emlen Roosevelt was a prominent New York City banker who held a wide range of positions in numerous organizations and was a cousin of United States President Theodore Roosevelt. He was president of Roosevelt & Son, the banking firm founded by his father James Alfred Roosevelt...

. He died near Mineola NY while riding a train on his way home to Oyster Bay.

One of his grand-daughters, the daughter of his son Alfred Roosevelt, Elfrida Roosevelt, married Sir Orme Bigland Clarke, 4th Baronet

Sir Orme Bigland Clarke, 4th Baronet

Sir Orme Bigland Clarke, 4th Baronet CBE He married Elfrida Roosevelt, daughter of Alfred Roosevelt, on 19 June 1905....

.

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