Around The Table
Family life at Sagamore Hill become an endearing part of the Roosevelt Family Legacy. At a time in America when it was said children should seen not heard, TR included his kids in almost everything.
One time when the Governors Mansion was under imaginary attack by invisible renegades TR helped the kids escape by lowering them down on a rope from a second story window.
TR held court in the dining room. He’d tell storis about his hunting trips and the adventures behind each of the trophies displayed throughout the house.
He’d talk poetry. Dickinson, Longfellow and the work of John Ingalls's a favorite of his and Abraham Lincoln. He’d discuss the illustrations in John Milton’s Paradise Lost and those in the Nibelungen.
History was a favorite topic. He’d talk about Washington crossing the Delaware, Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address, Plymouth Rock, Yorktown. Appomattox, the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Cavalry Campaigns of Phillip Sheridan and the birth of the Republican Party.
In this Library of Congress photograph from this 1904 you can see the original dinning room table that replaced the one now on display that was purchased on Edith and TR's honeymoon when they were in Florence, Italy.
It was at Sagamore Hill where TR taught and set the family standards and responsibilities. Work hard at something worth doing. “Fear God and Take Your Own Part. ”
When it came to food his favorite was fried chicken. TR's Best Man Cecil Springs Rice said, “TR ate chicken like a wild animal.” Breakfast generally consisted of coffee, scrambled or two hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, rolls and sometimes breakfast meats.
Lunch was frequently milk, bread and an occasional plate of fried pigeon known as squad chicken.
In the summer days when the house served as the seat of government the cooks often prepared two and three lunches to feed the staff and visitors. In many homes lunch was the major meal of the day. For some the first time they experienced three meals in a day was when they enlisted in the military.
Dinner was servings of oysters, fried chicken, steak or lamb. TR always kept caffeine within striking distance. He also liked tea and both had to be light and loaded with sugar.
Going around the table Alice began life as a Tomboy, but by the time she turned into a tall blonde teenager her interests had moved to fashion. It was a hobby bankrolled by her mother’s wealthy banking family the Lees of Brookline, Massachusetts.
Ted Jr. was his dad’s shadow. TR called him a warm hearted gallant little fellow. They'd climb trees in the orchard and then race to Cooper’s Bluff. On the way home it often turned into a piggy-back ride as they returned to Sagamore Hill. He wore big glasses and carried a tin sword to fend off dragoons. In 1896 at the age of nine he was the first in the family to receive public education when he was enrolled in Cove Neck School. (Located at 145 Cove Road).
If Ted Jr. was his father’s shadow, Kermit was his mother’s shadow. Unlike his older brother, he was introspective. He'd like to gaze out the window and stare at the moon. His hair was nearly as light as Alice’s. He was limber. He could scratch his nose with his toes. His favorite toy was a dust pan he’d use to help the staff clean the house.
Ethel liked to play with friends rather than toys. She was strong and sturdy and looked the part. TR gave her the nickname “Elephant Johnny.” When she got into trouble she’d drop to the floor and have a temper tantrum.
Edith though Archie was the most handsome of the bunch. TR said he had lots of character, all of it bad. One day Archie ran into Edith’s drawing room interrupting his parents and their guests with news about one of their Guinea Pugs. He barged in shouting shouting, “Bishop Doan had twins.” That was the day the Roosevelt’s discovered Bishop Doan was mother Doan.
Quentin was born November 9th 1897 just prior to TR heading to Cuba. Edith spent the next 4 months recovering from an abdominal abscess that ultimately had to be treated with surgery.
