and settled down eventually at Oyster Bay, Long Island, in a house that he had contracted for in March 1884 with the firm of Joseph Wood & Sons of Lawrence, Long Island.
Originally, Theodore intended to name the house at Oyster Bay “Leeholm” in honor of Alice’s family. He changed it to Sagamore Hill in memory of Sagamore Mohannis, the Indian chief who used the hill as a meeting place and signed his people’s rights to the land over to the settlers in the 1660s.
Construction of the house was completed in 1885. Ironically, he had built the house for Alice, but her death precluded any life together for them at Oyster Bay. Nevertheless, Bamie had insisted that he build the house, because young Alice needed a home. Bamie’s persistence was sagacious as events turned out.
Edith and TR established a pattern in their home that would persist through their years of marriage. Edith managed the house and the budget well, particularly in light of TR’s reduced income due to the loss of his cattle. She did it so well that she managed to buy a house for him without his knowledge once they moved to Washington, D.C., and he became president.
Edith the Money Manager
Many people considered Edith to be a better judge than TR of men and of money. They needed that balance, because of his lack of money management skills and his overall joy of life, which tended to cost him a few dollars here and there. Her money management and social skills served them in good stead as the number of Roosevelts increased at Sagamore Hill and beyond.
The experience Edith gained dealing with limited financial resources came into play after they were married. She and TR had both learned a valuable lesson based on her family’s setbacks and the losses he had incurred after the Badlands disaster. They kept tighter reins on their own finances once the honeymoon ended.
Edith was no stranger to dwindling resources. Her own family, although affluent prior to the Civil War, suffered severe financial setbacks afterwards due to inflation and her father’s alcoholism. Their fortunes were reversed badly enough by 1867 that the Carows could not afford their own home. They lived with relatives, but their social standing remained intact.
The Family Grows
The couple did not waste any time starting a family. They already had one child. Alice came to live with them shortly after they began their married life. Again, Bamie’s steady influence played a role in the decision, as it did so often in TR’s life. She helped them resolve their dilemma over what to do about Alice. Bamie turned young Alice over to Edith and TR in May of 1887, although it broke her heart to do so.
Their own first child, Theodore Jr., was born on September 13, 1887, at Sagamore Hill. Kermit followed two years later, on October 10, 1889, also at Sagamore Hill. Their third and final child delivered at the Long Island homestead, Ethel Carow, arrived on August 13, 1891.
In a June 11, 1906, letter to Ethel, TR revealed his feelings for Sagamore Hill: “I am glad that what changes have been made in the house are good, and I look forward … to seeing them … Fond as I am of the White House … there isn’t any place in the world like home—like Sagamore Hill, where things are our own, with our own associations, and where it is real country.”
As TR accepted new responsibilities and assignments, the family moved to fit their circumstances. Archibald Bulloch was born in Washington, D.C., on April 9, 1894. Quentin followed him on November 19, 1897. He was the couple’s final child. They all made TR happy, although they were not without problems.
Edith had several miscarriages between children. But he and Edith bore up well under the strains of managing a career and raising children, as he averred time and time again in the book, Theodore Roosevelt’s Letters to His Children . One letter in particular, written on December 26, 1903, to his sister Corinne (Mrs. Douglas Robinson), displayed how
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