CHAPTER II. BIRTH, LINEAGE AND BOYHOOD. DELICATE IN DESCENDED FROM GOOD OLD HOLLAND STOCK, HIS ANCESTORS nue, Over east of Broadway, east of Fourth aveand extending from Tenth as far north as Twenty-third street, was formerly the aristocratic portion of New York city. Men of fortune lived there, and built for themselves homes of a certain old-fashioned and substantial style which is a comfort to look upon even yet. In that quarter little of the change that the rest of the city knows has intruded. The fashionable families, and those of the rich, have moved farther up town; but the good old houses remain, and they are still tenanted, for the most part, with a population as respectable, if less modest, than the original inhabitants of the quarter. It was the region which old Peter Stuyvesant's descendants chose for their homes; and their church and their park still remain unmolested by the modern tyranny of change. In that substantial and presentable part of the city Theodore Roosevelt was born. His father's home was No. 28 East Twentieth street, a mansion inherited from an earlier generation. There the lad spent his boyhood, and there was his little world till the larger activities of adult life gave a broader field for his powers. So far as racial origin is concerned, Theodore Roosevelt is one-quarter of pure Holland blood. The Scotch, Irish and French Huguenot strains, with fully three hundred years of American residence, complete the heritage that birth has bestowed upon him. His far ancestor, Nicholas Roosevelt, a greatgreat-great-great-grandfather, was an alderman of the city in the years 1700 and 1701. The son of that founder of the house in America was John Roosevelt, a merchant; and he served as a member of the city government through the long years from 1748 to 1767, when the city had ceased to be New Amsterdam, and was become an English provincial city, named in honor of the Duke of York. He was prosperous, and laid the foundation of those fortunes which have never been dissipated, though they have never risen to the magnitude offensive in American eyes. The wealth and opportunity seem always to have been used with moderation, and a sense of fellowship with those allied members of the community from which it was drawn. Cornelius C. Roosevelt, son of John, was also a merchant, and was honored by election to the city legislature from that district which had always been regarded as the domain of the notables. He succeeded to office in the troubled times following the Revolution, and bore his full share in restoring the shattered fortunes of the city. He served as an alderman in those days when good government was the ruling motive; and he occupied the office from 1785 to 1801. A rather curious incident in the life of the family was that father and son occupied chairs in the selfsame chamber for two years; for James Roosevelt, also a merchant, and the grandfather of Theodore, had established a home just across the ward line, and became a member of the council in 1797. He held that place for two years, and was again elected in 1809. The family had advanced in importance in those years, for James J. Roosevelt, son of the |