84 Teedie “decidedly better”: ibid.
85 “A course of travel of this sort”: Forbes, 12-13.
85 “a token of some future potency”: Edel, 296.
86 “lovely times when . . . not obliged to think of sculpture or painting”: Robinson, 49.
86 Long-distance hikes: The figures quoted, from TR’s diaries, are substantiated by other references. Aug. 16, 1869, TR Sr. writes to Anna Gracie, “Teedie and Ellie have walked today thirteen miles each and are very proud of their performance, although Teedie has been farther several times.” (Quoted in Putnam, 63.)
87 Details on the Rigi-Kulm: Baedeker, Switzerland (1869).
87 “Rose immediately”: MBR diary, Sept. 4, 1869.
88 “He takes a great deal of interest now”: MBR to Anna Gracie, June 11, 1869.
91 “Now, darling, this is one of the greatest works of art”: Robinson, 48.
91 “We are going to commence vigorously”: MBR to Anna Gracie, [n.d.] 1869.
4. A DISEASE OF THE DIREST SUFFERING
In addition to material from the Roosevelt papers this chapter is based on extensive interviews with asthmatics, the parents of asthmatics, and physicians specializing in the treatment of asthma. Those technical writings that have been most helpful include Kemp, Understanding Bronchitis and Asthma; Travis, Chronic Illness in Children; Knapp, “The Asthmatic Child and the Psychosomatic Problem of Asthma”; Knapp, “The Asthmatic and His Environment”; and Knapp, Mathé, and Vachon, “Psychosomatic Aspects of Bronchial Asthma.”
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93 Asthma as a family affliction: see essay by Miriam Pachacki in Travis, 189-94; Liebman, Minuchin, and Baker, “The Use of Structural Family Therapy in the Treatment of Intractable Asthma.”
94 “genetic predisposition” already noted: Rosenblatt, “History of Bronchial Asthma,” in Weiss and Segal, 11.
95 “neurotic character of the complaint”: Thorowgood, 35.
95 Work by Laënnec: Rosenblatt, in Weiss and Segal, 9.
95 Findings of Joshua Bicknell Chapin: Chapin, 13-14.
96 Findings of Henry Hyde Salter: Salter, 33-34.
96 “Organs are made for action”: ibid., 102.
97 Ways to avert an attack: Chapin, 16; Rosenblatt, in Weiss and Segal, 10.
97 Salter on the use of tobacco: Salter, 120-21.
97 Agony of an asthmatic attack: interviews with Cort Sutton and Edward T. Hall. Of published accounts of the anxieties experienced, the finest by far is still that written by Salter more than a century ago, On Asthma, 61.
98 “If I were drowning”: interview with Edward T. Hall.
98 “wretched,” “suffered much”: TR to Edward Sanford Martin, Nov. 26, 1900, Letters, II, 1443; Autobiography, 15.
98 “nobody seemed to think I would live”: TR quoted in N.Y. World, Nov. 16, 1902.
98 Smokes a cigar: this treatment also described in MBR’s Oct. 3,1869, letter to Anna Gracie.
98 “Poor little Teedie is sick again”: quoted in Putnam, 64.
99 Bronchial tubes in spasm: see Weiss, Bronchial Asthma.
99 “everything under . . . turned to lead”: interview with Mrs. John Curtiss.
101 Interplay of emotions and the asthmatic “habit”: see especially Pachacki, in Travis, 189-94; Kemp, 28.
101 “It isn’t that the emotions . . . are different”: Kemp, 33.
102 Experiment with house dust: Knapp, Mathé, and Vachon, in Weiss and Segal.
102 “We tend to use what is available”: Pachacki, in Travis, 190.
103 “suppressed cry for the mother”: Travis, 168-71; Knapp, in Schneer, 245.
103 TR Sr.’s absence during the Civil War: “the syndrome of the absent father” is described by Pachacki, in Travis, 191.
104 Hurried departure from Berlin: Robinson, 45.
105 Grandmamma’s description of the departure for Saratoga and the first known mention of the word “asthma” in the Roosevelt papers are contained in her letter to Susan West, June 22, 1863.
105 “periodicity”: Salter, 35.
105 Sunday a day “we children did not enjoy”: TR, Autobiography, 8.
105 The story of TR and the “zeal” is from Hagedorn, Boys’ Life, 19-21, and was written in cooperation with TR. Yet, curiously, in one of his own essays, “The Bible and the People” (Works, XIII, 647-48), TR tells the story as though it had happened to another little boy.
109 “let them that are most afraid”: Bunyan, 294.
109 Asthma lends a kind of power: see Liebman, Minuchin, and Baker, “The Use of Structural Family Therapy in the Treatment of Intractable Asthma.”
109 “A hanging—how long does that take?”: interview with Cort Sutton.
110 Life as a battle: Travis, 174-75.
110 “We enjoy fine music”: quoted in Miller, Nostalgia, 189.
110 Proust’s case: see especially Knapp, “The Asthmatic and His Environment.”
111 Salter on the asthmatics future life: Salter, 18.
111 Making the child “a participant, not a spectator”: Travis, 183.
111 Horseback riding as therapy: Thorowgood, 64.
5. METAMORPHOSIS
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112 Red Cloud on Fifth Avenue, eight-hour day, East River Bridge: N.Y. Times for June 1870.
113 “without imminent danger of losing caste”: Nevins and Thomas, 246.
113 Heat wave: N.Y. Times, July 1870. Thirty-five people died of heat prostration in the city in one day (July 19).
113 French troops singing: Longworth, 20.
113 CVS anxious about Bamie’s safety: TR Sr. to B, [n.d.] 1870.
113 TR “peculiarly well”: TR Sr. to B, July 20, 1870.
114 “I am away with Teedie again”: TR Sr. to B, undated.
114 “Do not let them spoil you”: TR Sr. to B, Aug. 15, 1870.
114 “Your mother came back”: TR Sr. to B, Sept. 1, 1870.
114 “The spasm yielded”: MBR to B, Sept. 5, 1870.
114 “bad news from your mother”: TR Sr. to B, Sept. 6, 1870.
115 “You must make your body”: Robinson, 50.
115 Sessions at Woods gymnasium: interview with John Wood, N.Y. World, Jan. 24, 1904.
115 “widening his chest”: Robinson, 50.
115 Impact of “The Flight of the Duchess”: Hagedorn, Boys’ Life, 39-40.
116 Humiliated by boys in Maine: TR, Autobiography, 30-31.
116 “he did not think a sugar diet was good for me”: TR to Quentin Roosevelt, Nov. 4, 1914, Letters, VIII, 829.
116 Bamie’s Saturdays with TR Sr.: B reminiscences.
117 “Menu as usual”: July 11, 1872.
117 Fox the face of God: Robinson, 23.
118 Incident of the dead seal: TR, Autobiography, 16.
118 Favorite reading: ibid., 17-19.
118 “Unroll the world’s map”: Reid, Scalp Hunters, 7.
119 “What with the wild gallops”: ibid., 19.
119 “chain of destruction”: Reid, Boy Hunters, 105.
119 “About noon”: ibid., 333.
119 Uncle Hilborne introduces TR to Darwin: Hagedorn, Boys’ Life, 38.
119 At the Academy “every spare moment”: TR to TR Sr., Sept. 18, 1872, Letters, I, 6.
119 Hilborne “talked science”: quoted in Putnam, 78-79.
120 Studying English, French, German, and Latin: TR to Anna Gracie, July 7, 1872, Letters, I, 6.
120 Summers “the special delight”: Robinson, 51.
120 Teedie lives “a life apart”: ibid., 36.
120 Newborn squirrels and tree frog: TR, “Notes on Natural History,” Aug. 1872 (TRC).
120 “the loss to science”: Thayer, Roosevelt, 8.
120 Expedition to Paul Smiths: TR, diary, Aug. 1871 (TRC).
121 TR’s contributions to the museum: Third and Fourth Annual Reports of the American Museum of Natural History.
121 “stuffer” John G. Bell: Herrick, 253; Adams, Audubon, 461; TR, “My Life as a Naturalist,” Works, V, 385-86.
121 First gun: TR, Autobiography, 20-21.
121 Spectacles open “an entirely new world”: ibid.
122 Sees birds on the Nile: TR, diary, Dec. 3, 1872; Jan. 8, 1873 (TRC).
122 Kills first bird, Dec. 13: TR, diary (TRC).
123 TR Sr. rescues yellow jacket: MBR, diary, Aug. 27, 1869 (TRC).
123 “Father and I” shoot eighteen birds: TR, diary, Dec. 31, 1872 (TRC).
123 “eyes sparkling with delight”: MBR to Anna Gracie, Feb. 3, 1873.
123 The look of the Great Prairies: TR, diary, Dec. 3, 1872 (TRC).
123 “serious work” the “chief zest”: TR, Autobiography, 22.
123 Comic figure on a donkey: Robinson, 57; B reminiscences.
124 TR Sr. has trouble keeping up: Robinson, 57.
124 “The sporting is injurious to my trousers”: Robinson, 60.
124 Skinning procedure was the same then as now. See Labrie, Amateur Taxidermist.
125 “traveler is a perfect king”: quoted in Bull and Lorimer, 44.
125 TR Sr. reads Egyptian history: Robinson, 58.
125 “back to old Bible times”: quoted in Putnam, 91.
125 Circassian lady and TR Sr.: TR, diary, Dec. 7, 1872 (TRC).
126 Mittie relishes weather and privacy: MBR to Anna Gracie, Jan. 12,1873.
126 “In such a climate”: MBR to Anna Gracie, Feb. 3, 1873.
126 Henry Adams on the Nile: Ford, Letters of Henry Adams.
126 “The children have gone to bed”: MBR to Anna Gracie, Jan. 12, 1873
126 Aboard the Aboul Irdan: copy of the original contract between TR Sr. and Antonio Sapienza, dragoman, Dec. 10, 1872 (WSCC).
126 “nicest, coziest, pleasantest little place”: TR, diary, Dec. 12, 1872 (TRC).
126 Harvard men and Clift family: B reminiscences.
126 “Sometimes we sail head foremost”: Robinson, 57.
127 “as we go for the entirely different life”: quoted in Putnam, 82.
127 “Our life on board”: E to Archibald Gracie, Dec. 15,1872 (FDRL).
127 Moonlight expedition to Philae: TR, diary, Jan. 18, 1873 (TRC).
127 Bamie and Mittie: B reminiscences; interview with W. Sheffield Cowles, Jr.
128 There was an old fellow named Teedie”: E to Archibald Gracie, Sept. 5, 1873 (FDRL).
128 Visit with Emerson: Robinson, 63.
128 Ellen Emerson’s impression: quoted in Rusk, Emerson, 470.
128 New Year’s party: ibid., 59; also C to Edith Carow, Feb. 1, 1873.
129 Flying the Stars and Stripes: E to Archibald Gracie, Dec. 15, 1872 (FDRL).
129 CVS Roosevelt estate as high as $7 million: W. Sheffield Cowles, Jr., and Corinne Robinson Alsop to Hermann Hagedorn, Dec. 1954 (TRB); as low as $3 million: P. James Roosevelt to the author.
130 Cost of Nile winter: original contract previously cited (WSCC).
130 Union Square house demolished: Nevins and Thomas, 422.
130 “If one allowed himself to dwell”: quoted in Putnam, 91.
131 Total birds killed: TR to Anna Gracie, Feb. 9, 1873.
PART TWO
6. UPTOWN
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135 Fighting loneliness: TR Sr. to B, Sept. 24, 1873.
135 Business from Chicago: Cobb, 51.
135 Weekend activities: TR Sr. to B, July 17 and Aug. 9, 1873.
136 “Fritz goes beautifully”: TR Sr. to B, Oct. 9, 1873.
136 Tears down plaster beams: TR Sr. to MBR, July 20,1873.
136 “can see all who pass”: TR Sr. to B, June 29, 1873.
136 Windows and showcases: Hellman, 27.
136 “I think without egotism”: TR Sr. to MBR, July 20, 1873.
136 Annual contributions: Fifth and Sixth Annual Reports of the American Museum of Natural History.
137 Letter misdated: TR Sr. to B, July 17, ’63 [1873].
137 “so anxious to see you home”: TR Sr. to MBR, June 6, 1873.
137 Pleased with “self-denial”: TR Sr. to MBR, June 16, 1873.
137 Return of asthma: TR, diary, Feb. 22, 1873 (TRC).
137 TR Sr. pressed into service at Vienna: newspaper clippings, Robert B. Roosevelt Papers, New York Historical Society.
137 TR in the doldrums: Putnam, 101.
137 “hand tremble awfully”: TR to TR Sr., June 29, 1873, Letters, I, 11.
138 Switzerland works wonders: MBR to TR Sr., Aug. 17, 1873.
138 Panic of 1873: Nevins, Emergence of Modern America, 290-304.
138 “poor Mr. Clews”: TR Sr. to B, Sept. 24, 1873.
138 Mittie “anxious”: MBR to TR Sr., Sept. 21, 1873.
138 Mittie on shopping spree: B reminiscences.
138 New furnace going: TR Sr. to MBR, Sept. 21, 1873.
138 Carpet in port: TR Sr. to B, Sept. 24, 1873.
139 Billiard room: ibid.
139 Trouble with staircase: B reminiscences.
139 Return on Russia: N.Y. Times, Nov. 6, 1873.
139 Mittie and the family fortune: B reminiscences.
139 Interiors at 57th Street: photographs (TRB).
140 Top-floor gymnasium: Hagedorn, Boys’ Life, 50.
140 “boxing lessons”: E to Archibald Gracie, Nov. 16, 1873 (FDRL).
140 Teedie’s Nile specimens: Several of these, with their original cards, are at the American Museum of Natural History.
141 “All that gives me most pleasure”: TR Sr. to TR, Oct. 6, 1874.
141 The “power of being . . . focused”: Robinson, 3.
141 Schuyler on “power of concentration”: Theodore Roosevelt (Sr.). Memorial Meeting, 10-11.
142 Work with Bureau of Charities, remarks to reporters: miscellaneous clippings, scrapbook (TRC).
142 Incident of the silver trowel: Hellman, 23-24.
142 “no ascetic”: Theodore Roosevelt (Sr.). Memorial Meeting, 11.
142 “I can see him now”: ibid.
143 Crippled children on the dining-room table: Robinson, 5.
143 “neither spoiled by good fortune”: Theodore Roosevelt (Sr.). Memorial Meeting, 52.
143 Interested in “every good thing”: ibid., 10.
143 “control the strongest affections”: ibid., 33.
143 “wish you were not so good”: MBR to TR Sr., June 2, 1873.
143 “love you and wish to please”: MBR to TR Sr., Oct. 15, 1873.
143 “mingled feelings”: B reminiscences.
144 Dancing class for forty: MBR to B, Nov. 11, 1874.
144 Sara Delano friendship: letters to B, 1876, 1877 (FDRL).
144 Mittie’s portrait: it now hangs at TRB.
144 Mittie in her finery: B reminiscences.
144 Chemical Bank weathers the panic: According to History of the Chemical Bank, the old institution remained “a veritable beacon light of returning confidence” in 1873 when it declared a dividend of 100 percent.
145 Roosevelt venture in Montana mining: an undated clipping from a publication called Copper (TRC).
145 TR Sr. and Alexander Graham Bell: Mrs. TR, Jr., Day Before Yesterday, 37-38.
145 TR Sr.’s various activities: TR Sr. to B, June 6, 1875.
145 “What business I shall enter”: TR to Anna Fisher (Dresden, Germany), Feb. 5, 1876, Letters, I, 14.
146 “I had a very delightful visit”: quoted in Martin, Choate, 329.
146 Times of “every special delight”: Robinson, 89.
146 Mornings on horseback, Father in the lead: ibid., 8.
147 “But, Uncle”: Parsons, 32.
147 Fanny Smith’s recollections: ibid., 18-26.
147 “How I will enjoy”: TR Sr. to B, June 6, 1875.
147 “He will be with us now”: TR to B, July 25, 1876, Letters, I, 15.
148 Ellie at times “very ill”: TR to Anna Fisher, Feb. 5, 1876, Letters, I, 14.
148 Illness thought to be epilepsy: ARL, interview with Hermann Hagedorn (TRB).
148 “congestion of the brain”: TR Sr. to MBR, Nov. 9, 1874.
148 “What will I
become”: E to TR Sr., Sept. 19, 1873 (FDRL).
149 “The attack . . . decidedly the worst”: TR Sr. to MBR, Nov. 9, 1874.
149 “fear . . . alone at night”: TR Sr. to MBR, Nov. 14, 1874.
149 “pleasure to receive your letters”: TR Sr. to TR, Nov. 23, 1874.
150 “It is so funny, my illness”: E to TR, Nov. 22, 1874.
150 “scarce know how”: TR Sr. to MBR, Nov. 27, 1874.
150 “not had a respectable suit”: quoted in E. Roosevelt, Hunting Big Game, 6.
150 “Dear Old Governor”: E to TR Sr., Mar. 6, 1875 (FDRL); also quoted in Lash, 31-32.
151 “Yesterday, during my Latin lesson”: E to TR Sr., Oct. 1,1875 (FDRL); also quoted in E. Roosevelt, Hunting Big Game, 6.
151 “Poor Ellie Roosevelt”: quoted in Lash, 33.
152 “just a sell my being down here”: Jan. 14,1876, quoted in E. Roosevelt, Hunting Big Game, 26.
152 “have not taken a drink”: ibid.
152 Enjoying Texas; dog for a pillow: E to TR Sr., Jan. 9 and 12, 1876 (FDRL); latter also quoted in Lash, 33-34.
7. THE MORAL EFFECT
None of the Roosevelt children, for all they wrote about their father, mentioned a thing about his political activities. Nor have any of TR’s biographers touched on this side of the family story; rather, the impression given is of a wholly apolitical patriarch. Only Jacob Riis, in his Theodore Roosevelt the Citizen, even mentions, in a sentence, the fact that TR Sr. attended the Cincinnati convention. So it has been primarily from contemporary newspapers and TR Sr.’s own correspondence that this account has been drawn.
For material on Roscoe Conkling, the author has relied on David M. Jordan’s Roscoe Conkling of New York, Donald Barr Chidsey’s The Gentleman from New York, and Gentleman Boss, the superb biography of Chester A. Arthur by Thomas C. Reeves.
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154 Robert Roosevelt’s activities: miscellaneous clippings, letters, notebooks in the Robert B. Roosevelt Papers, New York Historical Society; also DAB.
155 “Let us try some plan”: N.Y. Tribune, Aug. 28, 1877.
155 “Absolutely the only protection”: ibid.
156 TR Sr.’s fondness for The Potiphar Papers: letter to MBR, May 31,1853.
156 “While good men sit at home”: Norton, Orations, 269.
156 “the image and figure”: Theodore Roosevelt (Sr.). Memorial Meeting, 51-53.
156 Grant scandals: White, Republican Era, 365-74.
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