Johannes Roosevelt


Johannes Roosevelt, known as John Roosevelt, was a New York City businessman and politician and the progenitor of the Oyster Bay Roosevelts, including Theodore and Eleanor Roosevelt. Johannes was a linseed oil manufacturer.

Early life and career

Johannes Roosevelt was baptized on February 27, 1689 in Esopus, Province of New York while his father Nicholas Roosevelt and mother, Heyltje Jans Kunst, were living there. Nicholas, born in New Amsterdam, was the son of the Roosevelt immigrant ancestor, Claes Maartenszen van Rosenvelt. He moved his family back to New York City, where he was born, by 1690.
In 1730, Johannes became a freeman. He was assistant alderman from 1717 to 1727 and alderman from 1730 to 1733.
According to one history, "he was successful in farming and business ventures, and took what seemed to his friends a strange and extravagant delight in works of art. He is said to have been one of the first to import paintings, fine furniture, and artistic metal ware from the Netherlands. He did it on so generous a scale that his home was viewed as a wonderland by his less enterprising fellow-citizens."

Slavery

Johannes Roosevelt's slave, Quack, was one of the accused conspirators in the alleged slave rebellion that terrified New York City in 1741. He was convicted of setting fire to Fort George and executed by being burned at the stake.

Personal life

Johannes married Heyltje Sjoerts on September 25, 1708 at the Reformed Dutch Church of New York. She was the daughter of Olvert Sjoerts , who was born in The Netherlands and emigrated to New Netherlands. Johannes and Heyltje had eleven children:
Johannes was an ancestor of the Oyster Bay branch of the Roosevelt family. He was the grandfather of James Jacobus Roosevelt and the great-grandfather of Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt, 3x great-grandfather of United States President Theodore Roosevelt and the 4x great-grandfather of Eleanor Roosevelt.