Clinton Roosevelt (November 3, 1804 – August 8, 1898) was an American politician, lawyer, and inventor from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He was a member of the prominent

Roosevelt family The Roosevelt family is an American political family from New York whose members have included two United States presidents, a First Lady, and various merchants, bankers, politicians, inventors, clergymen, artists, and socialites. The progeny ...

Early life

Roosevelt was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on November 3, 1804 and raised in

Pelham, New York Pelham is a suburban town in Westchester County, approximately 10 miles northeast of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 13,078, an increase from the 2010 census. Historically, Pelham was composed of five villages ...

, where he attended common school.Staff writer (August 18, 1898)
"Clinton Roosevelt"
(

obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

). ''New-York Observer''
vol. 76
no. 33
p. 211.
/ref> He was a son of Elbert Roosevelt (1767–1857) and Jane (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Curtenius) Roosevelt (1770–1846). He had seven siblings, five of which were brothers: Peter Curtenius (1795-1891), Elbert Jones (1797-1885), Henry (1800-1848), the Rev. Washington (1802-), and Isaac (1812-1856). His sisters were Jane Eliza (1807-1892) and Mary (1810-1822). The site of the house he was born in was later occupied by the

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...

building in New York. He later attended law school in New York and became prominent at the bar.

Family

A member of the

, he was a great-grandson of Johannes Roosevelt, making him a distant cousin of U.S. Presidents

Theodore Theodore may refer to: Places * Theodore, Alabama, United States * Theodore, Australian Capital Territory * Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia * Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada * Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Sask ...

and

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

.Whittelsey, Charles B. (1902). ''The Roosevelt Genealogy, 1649–1902''. Hartford, CN: J.B. Burr & Company. pp. 41-42. . His grandfather, Peter Roosevelt, was a Major in the

Revolutionary Army In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

. He is also related to Presidents

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States S ...

and

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (Uni ...

. Sutton, Antony C. (1975). "Prelude to the New Deal: Assemblyman Clinton Roosevelt's NRA—1981" (Chapter 6)
''Wall Street and FDR''.
New Rochelle, NY:

Arlington House Arlington House may refer to: *Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial *Arlington House (London) a hostel for the homeless in London, England, and one of the Rowton Houses *Arlington House, Margate, an eighteen-storey residential apartment bloc ...

. p. 85. . Through his maternal grandmother, Catharine Goelet Curtenius, wife of New York State Auditor Peter Theobaldus Curtenius, he was additionally a member of the

Goelet family The Goelet family is an influential family from New York, of Huguenot origins, that owned significant real estate in New York City. History The Goelets are descended from a family of Protestant Huguenots from La Rochelle in France, who escaped per ...

. His grandfather was partners in business with his grandmother's brother

Peter Goelet Peter Goelet (January 5, 1727 – October 11, 1811) was a merchant and real estate entrepreneur of New York City. Early life Peter Goelet was born on January 5, 1727, in New York City. He was the fifth of thirteen children born to Jan "John" Goe ...

Career

Politics

Roosevelt was a founding member of the

Locofocos The Locofocos (also Loco Focos or Loco-focos) were a faction of the Democratic Party in American politics that existed from 1835 until the mid-1840s. History The faction, originally named the Equal Rights Party, was created in New York City as a ...

, or Equal Rights Party, a radical faction of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

.Byrdsall, Fitzwilliam (1842). ''The History of the Loco-foco, or Equal Rights Party''. New York: Clement & Packard. . In 1836, he was elected to the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

60th New York State Legislature The 60th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3 to May 16, 1837, during the fifth year of William L. Marcy's governorship, in Albany. Background Under the provis ...

, and served from 1837 to 1840. Roosevelt was an opponent of the monopoly banking system and cited bank paper currency as the cause of economic problems. After the

Panic of 1837 The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that touched off a major depression, which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages went down, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment went up, and pessimism abound ...

, when New York's economy worsened and the working population suffered, he changed his views, calling for a communist economic system with greater government involvement.Greenberg, Joshua R. (October 12, 2007)
''The Panic of 1837 as an Opportunity for Radical Economic Ideas''.

Bridgewater State College Bridgewater State University is a public university with its main campus in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. It is the largest of nine state universities in Massachusetts. Including its off-campus sites in New Bedford, Attleboro, and Cape Cod, BSU h ...

. Archived fro
the original.
/ref> At one point he served as Commissioner of Pensions. On October 1, 1845, he delivered a speech to the World's Convention at Clinton Hall in New York, organized by

Robert Owen Robert Owen (; 14 May 1771 – 17 November 1858) was a Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist and social reformer, and a founder of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement. He strove to improve factory working conditions, promoted e ...

.Pease, Erasmus Darwin, and Viola Cooke (January 23, 1909). "Recollections of Poe." '' New York Times Saturday Review of Books''. p. BR49. "The only other speaker of much account was Clinton Roosevelt, a well-known reformer and philanthropist though not a Rough Rider like his distant relative who now occupies the White House." Roosevelt was in Russia at the outbreak of the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

(1853 to 1856) and was employed as a "diplomatic agent of the governments concerned," acting as the "herald who carried the official dispatches between St. Petersburg, Paris, Vienna, and Berlin." In 1884, Roosevelt gave a "rambling talk" at the People's Hall about "bulls and bears, the Stock Exchange, national banks, over-speculation, specie and paper currency, and financial depression."Staff writer (April 26, 1884)
"It Was Not That Roosevelt."
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. Retrieved September 4, 2019. He gave his last political speeches in the Tilden campaign. In his middle age, Roosevelt retired from public life and devoted his efforts to the study of

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

, and other sciences. He later went on to write several books of his own.

Law

In 1885, Roosevelt filed a petition to the state legislature for the dissolution of the Trinity Church corporation on the grounds that its charter has been violated. He based his petition on the apparent fact that the property was no longer used for church purposes, that the Trinity pastors no longer preach orthodox

Episcopalianism Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

, and that the organization has become a "political society."

Invention

Roosevelt was also an inventor and an advocate of

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

reform. In the 1850s, he invented a warship design. He envisioned the building of a vessel sharp at both ends, "plating them with polished iron armor, with high bulwarks, and a sharp roof plated in like manner, with the design of glancing the balls. The means of defence are a torpedo, made to lower on nearing an enemy, and driven by a mortar into the enemy's side under water, where, by a fusee, it will explode." Morris, Charles (1898)
''Our Nation's Navy: Our Ships and Their Achievements''.
Philadelphia:

J. B. Lippincott Company J. B. Lippincott & Co. was an American publishing house founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1836 by Joshua Ballinger Lippincott. It was incorporated in 1885 as J. B. Lippincott Company. History 1836–1977 Joshua Ballinger Lippincott (Marc ...

. p. 125. Neither the United States nor Russia were interested. Charles Morris described the design as "a useless waste of labor," and "absurd," although admits "the torpedo idea, suggested by Roosevelt, has won its way remarkably since that date." Roosevelt later proposed trade unions to increase the profits of inventors.Staff writer (March 31, 1893)
"To Secure Inventors' Rights; Mr. Clinton Roosevelt Calls for a Conference."
''

''. In 1872 he was granted a patent for an "Improvement of Splice Pieces for Railway Rails."

Publishing

Roosevelt is the author and publisher of a wide variety of written works. He served as editor of the Locofoco paper, ''Democrat'', when it began to appear in 1836.Degler, Carl N. (August 3, 1956). "The Locofocos: Urban 'Agrarians.'" ''

Journal of Economic History ''The Journal of Economic History'' is an academic journal of economic history which has been published since 1941. Many of its articles are quantitative, often following the formal approaches that have been called cliometrics or the new economi ...

'', vol. 16, no. 3. pp. 322–333. . Published by

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

on behalf of the

Economic History Association The Economic History Association (EHA) was founded in 1940 to "encourage and promote teaching, research, and publication on every phase of economic history and to help preserve and administer materials for research in economic history". It publi ...

. Of his writings, Roosevelt is most well known for his 1841 book, ''The Science of Government, Founded on Natural Law''. Only two copies of the original printing of this text are known to survive: one in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

, Washington D.C. and another in the

Harvard University Library Harvard Library is the umbrella organization for Harvard University's libraries and services. It is the oldest library system in the United States and both the largest academic library and largest private library in the world. Its collection ...

. Sutton, Antony C. (1995). "Roosevelt's Socialist Manifesto" (Chapter 4)
''The Federal Reserve Conspiracy''.
Boring, OR: CPA Book Publisher. pp. 25-32. . Joshua Greenberg describes the reception of the book as "less than enthusiastic."Greenberg, Joshua R. (2003)
''Advocating 'the Man': Masculinity, Organized Labor, and the Market Revolution in New York, 1800–1840''.
Washington, D.C.:

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

. p. 251. .

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

wrote a severely critical review of the work for ''Graham's Magazine'', objecting in particular to what he described as Roosevelt's "pompous" tone and writing. Poe, Edgar Allan (August 1841)
"Review of New Books." Review of ''The Science of Government Founded on Natural Law'' by Clinton Roosevelt.
'

Graham's Magazine ''Graham's Magazine'' was a nineteenth-century periodical based in Philadelphia established by George Rex Graham and published from 1840 to 1858. It was alternatively referred to as ''Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine'' (1841–1842, and J ...

''
p. 93.
Archived fro

"Ah! — we begin to breathe freely once more. We had thought that the world and all in it (this hot weather) were going to the dogs, — 'proceeding to the canines,' as Bilberry has it — but here is Mr. Roosevelt, and we feel more assured. We entrench ourselves in security behind his little book." William T. Still described the book as being "the Luciferian doctrine in its purest form."Still, William T. (1990). ''New World Order: The Ancient Plan of Secret Societies''. Lafayette, LA: Huntington House Publishers. pp. 92-93. . "True to the teachings of Weishaupt, Clinton Roosevelt wrote a book entitled ''Science of Government, Founded on Natural Law'', wherein he explained his philosophy: 'There is no God of justice to order things aright on earth; if there be a God, he is a malicious and revengeful being who created us for misery." This is the Luciferian doctrine in its purest form."

Controversy

Roosevelt has long been the center of speculation and

conspiracy theory A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

. Salem Kirban is often cited as the source for the claim that Clinton was a member of the "Colombian Lodge of the Order of the Illuminati," described as having been "established in New York City" in 1795.Kirban, Salem (1980)
''Satan's Angels Exposed''.
Huntington Valley, PA: Salem Kirban, Inc. p. 151. . Kirban provides no source or substantiation.

Personal life

Roosevelt had an office in

at 52 Exchange Place and lived at 411 West 23rd Street until his death. He was a member of the Geographical Society, the New York Biographical Society, and the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. Roosevelt never married. He died on August 8, 1898, at his summer home on

Fisher's Island, New York Fishers Island (Pequot: ''Munnawtawkit'') is an island that is part of Southold, New York, United States at the eastern end of Long Island Sound, off the southeastern coast of Connecticut across Fishers Island Sound. About long and wide, it ...

.Staff writer (August 10, 1898)
"Death List of a Day"
(

).''

''
p. 7.
Retrieved September 4, 2019. His funeral was held at Christ Church in

Pelham Manor, New York Pelham Manor is an affluent village located in Westchester County, New York. As of the 2020 census, the village had a total population of 5,752. It is located in the town of Pelham. History The Bolton Priory, Edgewood House, and Pelhamdale are ...

, and he was subsequently buried in Beechwoods Cemetery in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

.Staff writer (August 11, 1898)
"Died"
(

). ''

''
p. 7.
/ref> At his death, the ''New York Times'' described him as "the oldest member of the Pelham Manor branch of the family," and the ''New-York Observer'' recognized him as "the last of the older generation of the family of that name."

Publications

Books

''The Mode of Protecting Domestic Industry, Consistently with the Desires Both of the North and the South, by Operating on the Currency''.
New York: McElrath and Bangs (1833); New York: B.H. Tyrrel (1889). 48 p. . * ''The Science of Government, Founded on Natural Law''. New York: Dean & Trevett (1841). 113 p. . ** Reprinted with commentary in 1955 by Emmanuel M. Josephson a
''Roosevelt's Communist Manifesto''.
New York: Cheney Press. 128 p. .

Articles

* "To the Inventors of the United States." ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...

'', vol. 2, no. 15 (January 2, 1847), p. 119. . . * "To the Inventors of the United States." ''

'', vol. 2, no. 16 (January 9, 1847), p. 123. . . * "Declaration of the Principles of the Reformed Association of Inventors." ''Scientific Mechanic: Inventors' Advocate, Patent Office Reporter, and Expositor of Arts and Trades'' (February 5, 1848), p. 3. * "Inventors Convention." ''

'', vol. 4, no. 32 (April 28, 1849), p. 250. . . * "On the Paradox of Political Economy in the Coexistence of Excessive Production and Excessive Population." '' Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science'', 13th Meeting, August 1859 (Cambridge, 1860), pp. 344–352. .
"Principia of Social Science."
. ** Republished i
''The Mode of Protecting Domestic Industries / The Science of Government Founded on Natural Law / Paradox of Political Economy''
(New York: B.H. Tyrrel, 1889), pp. 1–6.

Pamphlets

* ''Proposition of a New System of Political Economy, and a Party to Prevent the Threatened Civil War Between the North and South'' (New York: O. Halsted, 1832). 8 p. . * ''The Political and Legal History of the Trinity Church Monopoly''. No. 1. (New York: J.T. Crowell, 1848). 23 p. . * ''Charges and Argument Against Thomas Ewbank'' (1851) * ''Introduction to the Universal Science'' (New York: C. Roosevelt, 1858). 24 p. . * iarchive:opinionsonrights00roos, ''Opinions on the Rights of Conscience and of Property in Trinity Church to the King's Farm and Garden, and the Dominie Bogardus Bowery; and also, on the like rights in the Collegiate Reformed Dutch Church, to the trust estates of Steenwick and Harpending.'' (New York: C. Roosevelt, 1885). 40 p. .
''An open letter from the counsel of the late Rev. David Groesbeck to the general convention of the Protestant Episcopal church in the United States and British North America; by Clinton Roosevelt, of counsel in the case of Groesbeck vs. Dix and Dunscomb, as reported in the N.Y. 'Daily Transcript,' February 18, 1871''.
(New York: Evening Post Job Printing Office, 1889). 23 p. .

Collected works

''The Mode of Protecting Domestic Industries / The Science of Government Founded on Natural Law / Paradox of Political Economy''.
New York: Benjamin H. Tyrrel (1889). .

Patents

"Improvement in Splice-Pieces for Railway Rails," Patent No. 124,856.
US124856A.

U.S. Patent Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexa ...

(March 19, 1872)

References

External links

Letter from Clinton Roosevelt to Andrew Jackson
(July 8, 1839) {{DEFAULTSORT:Roosevelt, Clinton 1804 births 1898 deaths American people of Dutch descent Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly 19th-century American inventors

Clinton Roosevelt Clinton Roosevelt (November 3, 1804 – August 8, 1898) was an American politician, lawyer, and inventor from New York (state), New York. He was a member of the prominent Roosevelt family. Early life Roosevelt was born in New York City on Novemb ...

19th-century American politicians