James Roosevelt, Sr.

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James Roosevelt (July 16, 1828 – December 8, 1900) was a businessman and father of the President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was born in Hyde Park, New York to Isaac Roosevelt (1790–1863) and his wife Mary Rebecca Aspinwall (1809–1886).

Roosevelt's father Isaac was a fourth-generation descendant of Nicholas Roosevelt (1658–1742) who was also a sixth-generation ancestor of Theodore Roosevelt. Mary Rebecca was a sixth-generation descendant of Rebecca Stoughton, sister of William Stoughton who was judge and prosecutor during the Salem Witch Trials.

Roosevelt's business interests were primarily in coal and transportation. He was vice president of the Delaware and Hudson Railway, and president of the Southern Railway Security Company.

James was a tall, slender and wealthy man with considerable society connections, an eligible bachelor by any standard. In 1853, he married his second cousin Rebecca Howland (1831–1876). They had a son, James "Rosy" Roosevelt, Jr (1854–1927). James became a widower in 1876.

Four years later, at a party celebrating graduation of his cousin Theodore Roosevelt from Harvard University, he met a distant relative Sara Delano, they were married on October 7, 1880 and became parents of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. James was reportedly a good father to Franklin, however his recurring heart problems eventually turned him into an invalid. Franklin reacted by becoming fiercely protective of his father. James died twenty years after he married Sara. His estate was given to his son.