January 1-7, 1919

The diary that this blog has been based on was kept faithfully through the years 1912 and into 1919 by Kate Shippen Roosevelt. As I began reading through her writings for the first week of January, 1919 it was apparent that things were coming to an end for her diary as well as for a well-loved relative. How fitting to end my weekly blog, The Dowager’s Diary with one of the many historic events that through the eyes of Kate Roosevelt, I have shared with my readers. Some were happy events; many world-changing and much too often they were sad. On January 6, 1919 she wrote, “Jack Roosevelt called me at eight a.m. to tell me that Theodore had died at four-fifteen this morning at Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay. He has been sick longer than the world at large realized.” John (Jack) Ellis Roosevelt was the son of Uncle Robert Barnhill Roosevelt and Aunt Elizabeth Ellis Roosevelt.

Theodore Roosevelt feeling “Bully”

When Jack broke the news to Kate he added, “Edith said that she had checked on Theodore at around two in the morning and he seemed fine. He had been having trouble breathing so his old family servant, James Amos was sleeping in an adjoining room to keep watch over him.” It was reported that, “Earlier in the evening Teddy said to Amos, “Put out the light.” Kate noted in her diary, “This was the last utterance before he fell asleep and never woke up again in this world. Edith had left the room thinking he was already asleep, when he opened his eyes and spoke for the last time.”

Sagamore Hill

The world lost a former president and Kate Roosevelt had lost a relative whom she had come to rely on since the death of her husband in 1886. Theodore was first-cousin to her late-husband Hilborne Roosevelt, whom Kate married in 1883. Two days later, Kate and her daughter, Dorothy Roosevelt Geer were on their way to Oyster Bay. “Dorothy and I to Oyster Bay. Very simple. Quantities of notables were there including ex-President Taft.” His doctors reported he had died from a blood clot, but family members surmised that he never got over the death of his youngest son, Quentin who was killed five months before during an air battle during World War One.

Theodore Roosevelt’s Resting Place at Young’s Cemetery, Oyster Bay is watched over

Kate was correct, it was not an elaborate ceremony, even though the dignitaries in attendance would have made it seem so. Christ Episcopal Church was where the funeral service was held. Theodore Roosevelt was buried in an un-assuming plot in Young’s Cemetery in Oyster Bay where airplanes from a nearby air field flew over and dropped laurel leaves.

And so in the beginning of 1919, an extremely interesting era had ended as now does the weekly episodes of the Dowager’s Diary, but not the story behind the life and times of Kate Shippen Roosevelt. The book called Dowager’s Diary: The Social Years: 1912-1913, Volume One of Kate Shippen Roosevelt’s Story will share the real-life events that made Mrs. Roosevelt and her stories so fascinating.  To be published Spring, 2019.

Photo One:
Funeral Service Christ Episcopal Church
Library of congress

Photo Two:
Theodore Roosevelt feeling “Bully”
Library of Congress

Photo Three:
Sagamore Hill
postcard

Photo Four:
Theodore Roosevelt’s Resting Place at Young’s Cemetery, Oyster Bay is watched over
Library of Congress