James Roosevelt Roosevelt, known as "Rosey", (March 27, 1854[1] – 1927) was the older half-brother of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was the eldest son of James Roosevelt and his first wife, Rebecca Howland (January 15, 1831–August 21, 1876)[2], who was James Sr.'s second cousin. Roosevelt's mother died in 1876. When his father died in 1900, the estate was split between both James and his younger brother, Franklin.
Roosevelt served as Secretary of the United States Legation in Vienna and as Secretary of the Embassy in London.
He married Helen Schermerhorn Astor (1855–1893), a great-granddaughter of John Jacob Astor, on November 18, 1878, and fathered two children: James Roosevelt Roosevelt, Jr., known as "Tadd" (1879–1958) and Helen Roosevelt Robinson (1881–1962). In 1914, he married Elizabeth Riley.