Edith's 1893 Money Crunch
During the Panic of 1893. Between May and July nearly 300 banks failed. There were bread lines. TR worried and became depressed over his finances and investments and began to believe they were headed to the poor house.
He started to think the unthinkable. He was considering selling Sagamore Hill. He also considered closing their home in Washington and move the family back to Sagamore Hill. He’d rent a room in the Capital when he had to serve as a Civil Service Commissioner.
To make matters worse his accountants made a mistake that left the family $2,500 short in December. Edith wrote TR's older sister Bamie that she didn’t know what to do and confided that her way of managing has been an evident failure.
In 1894 TR temporarily solved the money issue by selling the property behind the old barn to James Roosevelt.
