While we were in New York City for our son's graduation, we planned a morning trip to Oyster Bay on Long Island, site of Sagamore Hill, Theodore Roosevelt's home from 1885 until his death in 1919. Oyster Bay is about 35 miles northeast of Upper Manhattan. In spite of what the map below says, it took us a good hour and a half to get there from our hotel in Fort Lee, New Jersey:
Long Island is 118 miles long and 23 miles wide at its widest point. The largest island in the contiguous United States, Long Island has a population of almost 8 million people, or about 5,600 people per square mile. Once you get past Brooklyn and Queens, however, it maintains a chic, rural atmosphere. I'd love to go back and explore its small towns, like Hicksville, Hauppauge, and Stony Brook, or even go as far east as possible in Long Island's south fork to visit the famed (and very wealthy) Hamptons, also known as the East End and site of Southhampton, Sag Harbor, and Montauk:
But our trip to Sagamore Hill was more than enough for the morning we had free:
We had to wait a while for our tour of the house, so we spent some time walking around the extensive grounds--83 acres. It's a large estate for a larger-than-life figure. Roosevelt was elected to his first public office, the New York State Assembly, at age 24. He was named Assistant Secretary of the Navy by President William McKinley in 1897, elected governor of New York in 1899, and elected Vice President of the United States in 1901. Following the assassination of President McKinley later that year, he became President at age 42. He served out the rest of McKinley's term and was re-elected for a second term. According to Wikipedia, a Rasmussen poll in 2007 revealed that Theodore Roosevelt is the 4th most favorably ranked of all our Presidents--equally loved by both liberals and conservatives, and coming in behind Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson. Well, THAT'S a familiar quartet, isn't it?
But back to Sagamore Hill.
Teddy's father had established a summer home in Oyster Bay, and Teddy spent many vacations during the 1870s exploring the fields, forests, and beaches of the area, so it was natural that he would come back to the area to build a home for his own family. He named the estate Sagamore Hill after Sagamore Mohannis, chief of the Matinecock tribe, which had inhabited this area 350 years previously. Teddy and his wife Alice started construction of the home in 1884, but when Alice died after giving birth to their first child (also named Alice), Teddy temporarily halted construction on the house. Eventually he pushed forward, however, and a year after the home was finished, Teddy married his second wife, Edith Kermit Carow, and it was here that they raised their six children:
Teddy had a large full-time staff to maintain the house and farm. In 1910, he built a house for his married staff, which at the time comprised two couples. Single employees were housed in lesser digs.
Rye, alfalfa, and other livestock feed were among the crops grown at Sagamore Hill. In addition to the permanent on-site staff, local men were also employed to work the fields, and Teddy himself would pick up a pitchfork when he was able, even during his Presidential years.
Teddy died in 1919 and his widow lived at Sagamore Hill until her death in 1948. However, someone need to manage the estate, so in 1938 Theodore Jr. and his wife Eleanor (no, not that Eleanor Roosevelt) built a large home they called "Old Orchard" on four acres gifted to them by Edit within the estate. It was their private residence until they both died, and at that time it became a museum. Today it has exhibits and films about President Roosevelt's life:
Ted Jr. and Eleanor's family:
This oak and hickory tree forest was the Roosevelt children's playground:
It was hot and muggy the day we were there, but the trail was laced with shade and oh, so lovely!
At the far end of the trail before the loops starts back is a long boardwalk that crosses Eel Creek and leads to the Cold Spring Harbor inlet of Oyster Bay. The boardwalk was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and has since been rebuilt.
This was the beach where the Roosevelt family played, swam and camped.
Although it looks like a sandy California beach, thousands of tiny shells made barefoot walking uncomfortable:
There were plenty of discarded oyster shells as well:
We were the only people enjoying the long, well-groomed stretch of beach, but it wasn't hard to imagine a gaggle of loud children splashing and swimming and chasing each other. What fun it would have been to be Teddy's child!
Like Hansel and Gretel, we headed back into the dense forest:
. . . led along not by bread crumbs, but by a sprinkling of blossoms in a multitude of hues:
Once out of the woods and our way back to the main house, we passed the barn, built in 1907. In 1944 Edith had it converted into housing for the farm manager, and today the National Park Service still uses it for housing:
With ten minutes or so to wait until our tour of the house, we enjoyed some time browsing in the gift shop. I was impressed by the number of books about Theodore Roosevelt. I'm guessing he might be the second most-written about president (after Abraham Lincoln):
Sagamore Hill is quite the enterprise. It even has its own brand of animal cookies:
A reproduction of the original windmill Teddy had built to pump fresh water from a well and send it to storage tanks and a hot water heater in the home stands conveniently close to the house:
In spite of its rather remote location, the Sagamore Hill house had all the amenities found in city homes, including fresh water, kerosene lamps, gas lights, and later, after an addition was completed, electric lights.
It even had a walk-in refrigerator--of sorts. This round-roofed structure just off the kitchen was the ice house:
We approached the house, situated atop a hill, from the back:
. . . but in Teddy's day, visitors came up this driveway shaded by a huge copper beech tree planted by the family in about 1895
Although the Sagamore Hill home is large and imposing, it is nothing like the opulent New York mansions of the day. Rather, it reflected Teddy's love for nature, travel, adventure, and family.
There was this peaceful bower he created for Edith, close enough to the house so that she could keep tabs on the children's antics, but far enough away so that she could read or meditate in relative peace:
How could you not love a man who lived life with such exuberance?
It is well known, however, that Teddy's life was not without its sorrows. His first wife and his mother died on the same day in the same house in 1884, and his youngest son, Quentin, was killed in aerial combat over France in 1918. A large slab and a marker represent the burial site in Normandy where Quentin is buried next to his brother Theodore Jr., who died during the American invasion there in 1944:
On a lighter note, there is also a little graveyard for the Roosevelt pets. You can't see it in the photo, but the upper stone is engraved with the words "Faithful Friends, 1902, Susan and Jessie, Little Boz, 1903, Jack."
I've been hearing about Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough for decades and finally got around to buying the audible version after visiting Sagamore Hill. One of McCullough's earlier biographies and his second to win the National Book Award, Mornings tells the story of Teddy's family of origin and covers his childhood and coming of age. (The blurb at the bottom of the cover states, "The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt.") I learned a lot about Teddy's childhood and was particularly fascinated by McCullough's theory about the cause of Teddy's debilitating childhood asthma--basically that it was psychosomatic. The book covers Teddy's life through the beginning of his second marriage. While not my favorite of McCullough's fine biographies, it is the perfect book to read in conjunction with a visit to Oyster Bay.
Next to David McCullough, Candace Millard is my favorite biographer. The River of Doubt, published in 2006, was my introduction to her insightful, engaging writing style and is definitely on my Top Ten Nonfiction Books List.
After a humiliating loss in a four-way Presidential election in 1912 (Woodrow Wilson--the winner, Roosevelt, William H. Taft, and Eugene V. Debs), Roosevelt set out on journey down an uncharted tributary of the Amazon River, accompanied by his son Kermit, a Brazilian guide, and a group of porters and fellow explorers.
During the grueling trip, three men died and Roosevelt himself was on the brink of death, having contracted tropical fever through a flesh wound. He even tried to convince his son and the rest of the party to leave him behind to die so that they could save themselves.
Wrenching and inspiring, the book presents a much different image of Teddy Roosevelt than the indefatigable, invincible "Bull Moose."
But our trip to Sagamore Hill was more than enough for the morning we had free:
We had to wait a while for our tour of the house, so we spent some time walking around the extensive grounds--83 acres. It's a large estate for a larger-than-life figure. Roosevelt was elected to his first public office, the New York State Assembly, at age 24. He was named Assistant Secretary of the Navy by President William McKinley in 1897, elected governor of New York in 1899, and elected Vice President of the United States in 1901. Following the assassination of President McKinley later that year, he became President at age 42. He served out the rest of McKinley's term and was re-elected for a second term. According to Wikipedia, a Rasmussen poll in 2007 revealed that Theodore Roosevelt is the 4th most favorably ranked of all our Presidents--equally loved by both liberals and conservatives, and coming in behind Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson. Well, THAT'S a familiar quartet, isn't it?
Teddy's father had established a summer home in Oyster Bay, and Teddy spent many vacations during the 1870s exploring the fields, forests, and beaches of the area, so it was natural that he would come back to the area to build a home for his own family. He named the estate Sagamore Hill after Sagamore Mohannis, chief of the Matinecock tribe, which had inhabited this area 350 years previously. Teddy and his wife Alice started construction of the home in 1884, but when Alice died after giving birth to their first child (also named Alice), Teddy temporarily halted construction on the house. Eventually he pushed forward, however, and a year after the home was finished, Teddy married his second wife, Edith Kermit Carow, and it was here that they raised their six children:
 |
| Picture from Wikipedia |
Teddy had a large full-time staff to maintain the house and farm. In 1910, he built a house for his married staff, which at the time comprised two couples. Single employees were housed in lesser digs.
Rye, alfalfa, and other livestock feed were among the crops grown at Sagamore Hill. In addition to the permanent on-site staff, local men were also employed to work the fields, and Teddy himself would pick up a pitchfork when he was able, even during his Presidential years.
Ted Jr. and Eleanor's family:
My favorite place on the grounds was a 3/4-mile-long nature trail that led to the shores of Cold Spring Harbor, where there is a view of wildlife refuge, temporary home to thousands of migratory birds and permanent home to harbor seals, oysters and other shellfish, terrapins, and turtles.
This oak and hickory tree forest was the Roosevelt children's playground:
It was hot and muggy the day we were there, but the trail was laced with shade and oh, so lovely!
At the far end of the trail before the loops starts back is a long boardwalk that crosses Eel Creek and leads to the Cold Spring Harbor inlet of Oyster Bay. The boardwalk was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and has since been rebuilt.
This was the beach where the Roosevelt family played, swam and camped.
Although it looks like a sandy California beach, thousands of tiny shells made barefoot walking uncomfortable:
There were plenty of discarded oyster shells as well:
We were the only people enjoying the long, well-groomed stretch of beach, but it wasn't hard to imagine a gaggle of loud children splashing and swimming and chasing each other. What fun it would have been to be Teddy's child!
Like Hansel and Gretel, we headed back into the dense forest:
. . . led along not by bread crumbs, but by a sprinkling of blossoms in a multitude of hues:
With ten minutes or so to wait until our tour of the house, we enjoyed some time browsing in the gift shop. I was impressed by the number of books about Theodore Roosevelt. I'm guessing he might be the second most-written about president (after Abraham Lincoln):
Sagamore Hill is quite the enterprise. It even has its own brand of animal cookies:
There is a classic Teddy Roosevelt story to go with the windmill:
It even had a walk-in refrigerator--of sorts. This round-roofed structure just off the kitchen was the ice house:
Teddy, who liked to see his guests approaching long before they arrived, used this front room for his office. From the bay window he could see much of the long road that meandered through the estate and led to the house:
A few additions over the years accommodated the growing family and Teddy's entertaining needs:
There was this peaceful bower he created for Edith, close enough to the house so that she could keep tabs on the children's antics, but far enough away so that she could read or meditate in relative peace:
A wrap-around veranda connected the house to the outdoors:
. . . and the leaded glass in the transom over the front door shines with what looks like wild berries:
For our tour of the house (no photos allowed inside), we had a superb guide from the National Forest Service. He really knew his stuff, and he obviously really liked our 26th President:
The Roosevelt family motto is inscribed above one of the doors:
It can be translated as "The one who planted it will take care of it." Kind of a strange family motto if you ask me. It reminds me of one of our family rules, which was that the family member who owned a pet was the one to take care of that pet, which is why the kids bought me a cockatiel for Mother's Day one year.
But I digress.
The inside was just what I had expected from Teddy: rich woods and carpets, thousands of books (a speed reader, he could read up to three books in a single day), and lots and lots and LOTS of hunting trophies:
 |
| Picture pilfered from here |
 |
| Picture respectfully borrowed from the same site as the picture above |
It is well known, however, that Teddy's life was not without its sorrows. His first wife and his mother died on the same day in the same house in 1884, and his youngest son, Quentin, was killed in aerial combat over France in 1918. A large slab and a marker represent the burial site in Normandy where Quentin is buried next to his brother Theodore Jr., who died during the American invasion there in 1944:
There was a great story in the "pet cemetery" about Edith re-interring the favorite family dog from the White House to Sagamore Hill. It sounds like Edith was a good match for her eccentric husband.
READING
I've been hearing about Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough for decades and finally got around to buying the audible version after visiting Sagamore Hill. One of McCullough's earlier biographies and his second to win the National Book Award, Mornings tells the story of Teddy's family of origin and covers his childhood and coming of age. (The blurb at the bottom of the cover states, "The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt.") I learned a lot about Teddy's childhood and was particularly fascinated by McCullough's theory about the cause of Teddy's debilitating childhood asthma--basically that it was psychosomatic. The book covers Teddy's life through the beginning of his second marriage. While not my favorite of McCullough's fine biographies, it is the perfect book to read in conjunction with a visit to Oyster Bay.
Next to David McCullough, Candace Millard is my favorite biographer. The River of Doubt, published in 2006, was my introduction to her insightful, engaging writing style and is definitely on my Top Ten Nonfiction Books List.
After a humiliating loss in a four-way Presidential election in 1912 (Woodrow Wilson--the winner, Roosevelt, William H. Taft, and Eugene V. Debs), Roosevelt set out on journey down an uncharted tributary of the Amazon River, accompanied by his son Kermit, a Brazilian guide, and a group of porters and fellow explorers.
During the grueling trip, three men died and Roosevelt himself was on the brink of death, having contracted tropical fever through a flesh wound. He even tried to convince his son and the rest of the party to leave him behind to die so that they could save themselves.
Wrenching and inspiring, the book presents a much different image of Teddy Roosevelt than the indefatigable, invincible "Bull Moose."
Nicely put together. I loved Sagamore Hill and I loved the inside of the house. Bully.
ReplyDelete