Bamie Roosevelt
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Anna Roosevelt Cowles (January 18, 1855 – August 25, 1931) was the older sister of United States President Theodore Roosevelt and the aunt of Eleanor Roosevelt. Her childhood nickname was Bamie, a derivative of bambina, but as an adult, her family began calling her "Bye" because of her tremendous on-the-go energy - (Hi Bamie, bye Bamie). Throughout the life of her brother, Theodore, she remained a constant source of emotional support and practical advice. On the death of her brother Theodore's young wife Alice, Bamie took on substitute parental responsibilities when, for a number of years, TR entrusted her with the custody of his first daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt.
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[edit] Early life
Afflicted by a spinal ailment that led to her being partially crippled and confined by corrective steel braces as a child, Anna was born in a brownstone home at 28 East 20th Street in New York City on January 18, 1855. Her parents were Martha and Theodore Roosevelt. Her other siblings were Elliott Roosevelt and Corinne Roosevelt.
TR's daughter, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, once remarked that had Bamie, with her incredible intelligence and energy, been born a 19th Century man, without the social restrictions that the era placed on women, she would have been president instead of her brother. Bamie's niece, Eleanor Roosevelt, stated in her autobiography that Bamie had "an able man's mind." Although she was not the stunningly gorgeous woman that her mother, Mittie or her first sister-in-law, TR's first wife, Alice was, her natural intelligence and energy drew both men and women to her like a magnet. She remained an emotional pillar of strength for all the Roosevelts.
[edit] Family responsibilities from a young age
Because Bamie's mother, Mittie, was often distracted by illness or her grand social life, Bamie increasingly took a center role in running her the Roosevelt household, especially after the premature death of her father, Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. In fact, TR's first daughter remarked that Bamie almost seemed to be born into middle age, so significant were adult-like responsibilities put into her hands from childhood; and unlike many children in a similar situation, Bamie had the natural maturity, judgement and wisdom to "hold the family together," in the language of TR's first daughter, Alice, in speaking of her Aunt Bye.
When TR's first wife, Alice, died suddenly, most probably of kidney failure, Bamie took custody of her child of a few days, Alice, quickly known as Baby Lee for her mother's family, the Lees of Boston. Alice would say of Bamie that she was the most influential person in her entire life. When the young and vivacious Alice became more than her stepmother Edith Roosevelt or her father could handle, they would send her up to Auntie Bye for a dose of discipline and to give her the structure that the Roosevelts in the White House were not in the position to do.
On the death of her sister-in-law, Anna Roosevelt, Elliott's wife, wished for Bamie to seek custody of her children Eleanor, Elliott Jr. and Hall. This was not immediately possible however, considering that Elliott was still alive and could not be bypassed in the event of litigation. Bamie considered a custody suit but realized that Mary Hall, Eleanor's grandmother would not be willing to turn the children over to Bamie's care. She did open her home to Eleanor who was a welcome visitor and made extended stays. Bamie was successful though in getting Eleanor out of the home by demanding that she be sent to Allenswood school for girls in England where Eleanor developed socially and emotionally. During Eleanor and Alice's childhood, Bamie kept the other informed of the other's activities thus helping to maintain a relationship between the two. She was close to both girls and attributed greatly to their development.
[edit] TR's lifelong confidante
Throughout his life, Bamie's brother Theodore often turned to her for counsel in letters and personal conversations. In fact, it was said by their niece Eleanor that TR made few important significant political decisions and even fewer personal decisions without getting the input of his sister. She remained a trusted confidante for his entire career. As president, he would walk down to her residence at 18th and I in Washington so often that Bamie's house was sometimes called the "other White House." As she became more infirm, TR turned more and more to his daughter, Alice, for advice and to act as a go-between in delicate political situations.
[edit] Marriage
In 1895 at age 40, Anna Roosevelt married US Navy Lt. Commander (later Rear Admiral) William Sheffield Cowles (1846—1923), a divorcé who was 49. They had one child, William Sheffield Cowles, Jr. (1898 - 1986), who married Margaret Alwyn Krech (1900 - 1982) in 1920.
[edit] Later life
When her niece Eleanor Roosevelt campaigned against Eleanor's first cousin and Bamie's nephew Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., she publicly broke with her niece after the ordeal. In a letter to her son, Bamie wrote of Eleanor:
- "I just hate to see Eleanor let herself look as she does. Though never handsome, she always had to me a charming effect. Alas and alack, ever since politics have become her choiciest interest, all her charm has disappeared!"
Bamie's niece and TR's daughter, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, also broke with Eleanor over this highly distasteful (to Theodore's family) political activity that included Eleanor riding up to Ted, Jr's speaking engagements with a teapot on her car to remind voters of Ted's supposed (but later disproved) connections to the Teapot Dome Scandal. Eleanor dismissed Bamie's criticisms by referring to her as an "aged woman." Despite all these intra-family discords, long after Bamie's death, Alice and Eleanor would later reconcile after Eleanor wrote Alice a comforting letter upon the tragic death of Alice's daughter, Paulina Longworth.
[edit] Eleanor Roosevelt on her Aunt Bamie
Bamie and her niece, Eleanor Roosevelt, eventually reconciled, and in an article in the Ladies Home Journal, "How to Take Criticism," Eleanor referred to her aunt Bamie, saying, "I can honestly say that I hate no one, and perhaps the best advice I can give to anyone who suffers from criticism and yet must be in the public eye, would be contained in the words of my aunt, Mrs. William Sheffield Cowles. She was President Theodore Roosevelt's sister and the aunt to whom many of the young people in the family went for advice. I had asked her whether I should do something which at that time would have caused a great deal of criticism, and her answer was: "Do not be bothered by what people say as long as you are sure that you are doing what seems right to you, but be sure that you face yourself honestly." [1]
[edit] Bamie's death in 1931
Alice and Eleanor's warmest link to their fathers' generation died on the night of August 25, 1931, aged 76. Her last words, "Never mind, it's all right," were reportedly spoken to her friend Sara Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's mother, before Bamie slipped into a coma and died.
[edit] Notes
[edit] Sources
[edit] Primary sources
- Roosevelt, Theodore. An Autobiography. (1913)
- Caroli, Betty Boyd. The Roosevelt Women, Basic Books (1998)
[edit] Secondary sources
- Beale Howard K. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of America to World Power (1956).
- Brands, H.W. Theodore Roosevelt (2001)
- Dalton, Kathleen. Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life. (2002)
- Harbaugh, William Henry. The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt. (1963)
- McCullouch, David. Mornings on Horseback, The Story of an Extraordinary Family. a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt (2001)
- Morris, Edmund The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (1979)
- Morris, Edmund Theodore Rex. (2001)
- Mowry, George. The era of Theodore Roosevelt and the birth of modern America, 1900-1912. (1954)
