Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States of America, had been in poor health since a severe throat infection had spread to both middle ears and had literally crippled him in February, 1918. He was admitted to Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, where he was diagnosed with bilateral acute otitis media, inflammatory rheumatism and an abscess on the thigh.
The pain in both ears got worse and with a fever climbing, it was necessary to pierce both eardrums to release the pus that had formed behind them. After 10 days, the right ear was drying up, but the left ear continued to discharge pus. X-ray photos showed that the suppurative process had infiltrated the cavity of the mastoid bone behind the ear.
In 1918, the accepted treatment of mastoiditis with pus formation was surgical opening of the bone for better drainage. In Roosevelt's case, the physician in charge did not perform this operation, destroying his left middle ear. The physician no doubt suspected that the rheumatic ailment of the patient was not rheumatic arthritis, but a recurrent rheumatic fever with involvement with the heart. Any surgery would have been too risky for Roosevelt. Thus, at the age of 60, Roosevelt was deaf in his left ear, as well as blind in his left eye.
As Roosevelt's health improved, so did his old tendency toward the strenuous life reawaken again. He began to travel again, but the motion and friction of travel irritated his chronically infected thigh and he suffered a severe infection of erysipelas, a type of streptococcus that spreads throughout the subcutaneous tissues, producing a rose-colored swelling and blistering of the skin. Roosevelt recovered but the greatest blow in his life was just ready to hit.
Roosevelt received the crushing news that his youngest son, Quentin, serving in World War I in the Air Corps in France, had been shot down by German fighters in aerial combat and killed on July 14, 1918. Roosevelt, who worshipped his youngest son, was devastated and his zest for life was gone.
Roosevelt's grief aggravated the pain in his muscles and joints so badly that he was soon back in the hospital. His physician, Dr. G.W. Faller, saw Roosevelt twice a day.
There was no question that the loss of his beloved son, Quentin, weighed on the ex-president tremendously and that the mental strain affected his physical condition significantly.
This current attack caused him more pain than ever before, particularly in his lower back and legs. After awhile, his condition improved and he was discharged from Roosevelt Hospital in time to celebrate Christmas with his family at Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay, New York.
Roosevelt always acted as if he took his ailments lightly, although well aware they might prove serious. For 10 days, from Christmas to Jan. 5, 1919, he felt better and some of his old energy and cheerfulness returned.
Sunday, Jan. 5, 1919
Roosevelt wrote an editorial for a newspaper and spent a comfortable day at Oyster Bay. At 11 p.m., his physician was summoned to Sagamore Hill because Roosevelt's nurse said that the ex-president was having a spell of shortness of breath. Roosevelt complained that he felt as if his heart was going to stop beating and that he could not get a long breath of air. The physician asked if he thought he was going to die to which Roosevelt answered that he did not.
Roosevelt's last words were to his valet, James Amos, when he said, Please put out the light.
At 4 a.m., Jan. 6, 1919, Amos, who was sitting by Roosevelt's bed, noticed that his breathing had changed. He immediately went to call the nurse, but when he returned, Roosevelt was dead. He died in his sleep at 4:15 a.m. Roosevelt had lived 60 years and 71 days.
No postmortem was performed. The official cause of death was listed as an embolism in the lung. The three physicians who had attended him, G.W. Faller, John H. Richards, and John A. Hartwell issued this statement to the papers:
Colonel Roosevelt had been suffering from an attack of inflammatory rheumatism for about two months. His progress had been entirely satisfactory and his condition had not given cause for concern. On Friday, he was in good spirits and spent the evening with his family dictating letters. He retired at eleven o'clock and about four in the morning, his man, who occupied an adjoining room, noticed that while sleeping quietly, Col. Roosevelt's breathing was growing very shallow. He died almost immediately without awakening from what seemed to be a natural sleep. The cause of death was an embolism.
At 5 a.m., the family requested that Wilbur F. Johnson, who was an undertaker and furniture dealer in East Norwich, N.Y., come to Sagamore Hill to prepare Roosevelt's body and take charge of the funeral arrangements.
In the early morning hours of Jan. 6, 1919, Johnson embalmed Roosevelt's body in his own bedroom and placed the body back in bed when he was finished.
Monday, January 6, 1919
The day saw few visitors to Sagamore Hill and the townsfolk of Oyster Bay were respectful of the wishes of Mrs. Roosevelt and the family to be left alone in their sorrow. To protect them from any inconsiderate strangers, policeman Jake Wagner, the biggest man on the Oyster Bay force, was stationed at the entrance to the estate. His mere presence was enough to keep all but those who knew the family or who had real business on the hilltop from seeking to pass through the gate.
Cables and telegrams came from across the world. President Woodrow Wilson's was sent while the president was en route to Paris for the Peace Talks. Wilson's personal message read:
Pray accept my heartfelt sympathy on the death of your distinguished husband, the news of which has shocked me very much.
Woodrow Wilson
The funeral plans were executed on Tuesday. There would be no military display and the services would be of the utmost simplicity. No eulogy and no music. The funeral would be taken care of by the Oyster Bay townsfolk just as Roosevelt had requested. A residential funeral would be held at Sagamore Hill, followed by a church service at the Christ Episcopal Church. The Rev. Dr. George Talmage would officiate. The burial would take place atop Young's Memorial Cemetery in a plot that Roosevelt himself had picked out.
One reporter, upon hearing of Roosevelt's death, commented that death had to catch him asleep, or there would have been a fight.
Of the hundreds of messages that came to Sagamore Hill, the one that gave the entire family the most pleasure was from Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt Jr. of the 26th Infantry, indicating that he and Captain Kermit Roosevelt and other members of the family serving in the war were safely together in Europe.
In the early afternoon, Archibald Roosevelt, on behalf of his mother and the family issued the following statement:
On behalf of all the family of Col. Roosevelt, I wish to explain how greatly we appreciate the efforts to do honor to the ex-president and to show sympathy for his family. It had been Mr. Roosevelt's wish and his wish coincided with that of the family, that he be buried with as simple a ceremony as possible in Oyster Bay Ñ the place where he had so long and happily lived. It was wished that the services at the church he attended be only his intimate friends and relatives.
Mid-afternoon on Monday, a death mask was made by Charles E. Fraser of 3 Macdougal Street in Manhattan. Mr. Fraser was a sculptor and had known Roosevelt for many years.
Throughout the day, three airplanes from Roosevelt Field near Mineola circled above Sagamore Hill, flying so low at times that the breath of their propellers fanned the tree tops. The aviators dropped wreaths and flowers over the grounds of Sagamore Hill.
In Ottawa, Sir Robert Laird Borden, the Prime Minister of Canada sent this telegram:
His vigor of expression, wide vision and high idealism won for him a great place, not only in his own country, but in the wider theater of world affairs. The remarkable reception accorded him on his last visit to Canada testifies to the affection and esteem in which he was held by the people of Canada.
I last saw him more than a year ago in a New York hospital, where he was recovering from a severe illness, and I shall always gratefully remember the intense appreciation he then expressed of Canada's effort in the year and the heroic spirit of her people.
All day Monday, a small black terrier oscillated between the edge of the lawn, where the slope of Sagamore Hill begins, and the porch of the Roosevelt home. Below at the entrance to the cove, a whistling buoy was moaning at intervals as it swung to and fro. Whenever the buoy spoke, the little dog raised his muzzle and echoed its voice with his own. Between times he scampered back to the porch and kept a vigil at the front door. The little dog was Shady, Mrs. Roosevelt's pet.
Shady had disappeared three weeks earlier and had been reported in the New York papers. Mrs. Roosevelt advertised offering a reward for Shady's return. It was thought the dog must have been stolen, as the animal was too devoted to Mrs. Roosevelt and her husband to go off voluntarily. But early Monday morning, Shady found his way back to Sagamore Hill. The family could only surmise that whoever carried Shady away couldn't bear to keep him after learning of the president's death.
Tuesday, January 7, 1919
In the morning, Wilbur F. Johnson arrived at Sagamore Hill to dress and casket Roosevelt's body. Roosevelt was laid to rest in a solid quartered oak casket with three silver handles on each side. On the top of the casket was a silver nameplate with the following inscription:
Theodore Roosevelt
October 27, 1858 - January 6, 1919
There were no active or honorary pallbearers at Roosevelt's funeral. The casket was carried exclusively by Johnson's undertaking assistants. Also, there were no horse-drawn carriages in the funeral procession. All the vehicles in the cortege were automobiles.
On Tuesday, the funeral invitations were completed and made available. The church had a seating capacity of 500 and attendance was strictly by invitation only. The issuance of these cards came from the funeral director, the family, and from the staff at Roosevelt's office at 847 Madison Avenue, New York City.
Friends who had not heard of the request of the Roosevelt family to please omit flowers, sent great quantities of flowers to Sagamore Hill. All the flowers would be moved by the funeral home to the church. One of the tokens, a bouquet of pink and white carnations, came from the Little Cove School where Roosevelt had played Santa Claus for years and where his own children started their education. When the schoolchildren ordered the flowers, they put their nickels and dimes together and told the florist to do his best with the money.
Later Tuesday afternoon, newspapers across the country ran President Wilson's formal Presidential Proclamation announcing the death of Theodore Roosevelt:
A PROCLAMATION TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES:
It becomes my sad duty to announce officially the death of Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States from September 14, 1901, to March 4, 1909, which occurred at his home at Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, N.Y., at 4:15 o'clock in the morning of January 6, 1919. In his death the United States has lost one of its most distinguished and patriotic citizens, who had endeared himself to the people by his strenuous devotion to their interest and the public interests of his country.
As president of the police board of his native city, as member of the Legislature and Governor of his State, as Civil Service Commissioner, as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, as Vice President, and as President of the United States, he displayed administrative powers of a signal order and conducted the affairs of these various offices with a concentration of effort and a watchful care which permitted no divergence from the line of duty he had definitely set for himself.
In the war with Spain, he displayed singular initiative and energy and distinguished himself among the commanders of the army in the field. As president he awoke the nation to the dangers of private control which lurked in our financial and industrial systems. It was by thus arresting the attention and stimulating the purpose of the country that he opened the way for subsequent necessary and beneficent reforms.
His private life was characterized by a simplicity, a virtue and an affection worthy of all admiration and emulation by the people of America.
In testimony of the respect in which his memory is held by the Government and people of the United States I do hereby direct that the flags of the White House and the several departmental buildings be displayed at half staff for a period of thirty days, and that suitable military and naval honors under orders of the Secretaries of War and of the Navy be rendered on the day of the funeral.
Done this seventh day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and nineteen and of the independence of the United States of America the one hundred and forty-third.
WOODROW WILSON, By the President: FRANK L. POLK, Acting Secretary of State
Wednesday, January 8, 1919
A little before noon a private funeral was held in the trophy room at Sagamore Hill. About 75 people were present.
The casket was closed and draped with the American flag. The Rev. Talmage read the 91st Psalm and several collects of the church. When the brief service was completed the casket was carried from the residence by the undertaker's assistants while Mrs. Roosevelt retired to her private bedroom. She would not accompany the family to the church.
Meanwhile, under the brown rafters of the church, the invited guests were gathering people in uniform and civilian clothes, people supreme in the fields of endeavor, and people from the common rank and file.
The funeral party from Sagamore Hill arrived at the church seven minutes before 1 p.m. Presently, the Rev. Talmage, in surplice and stole entered from the vestry. He was followed by Bishop Frederick Burgess.
Outside, Johnson's hearse rolled slowly up to the church. The mounted police under the command of Capt. Edward J. Bourke wheeled to one side and raised their night sticks in salute. Twenty-five New York City police were also there to direct traffic and crowds.
In the church, all was still. The Rev. Talmage walked slowly down the aisle reciting the Order of Burial for the Episcopal Church. The casket was carried by six men and on the casket was the American flag and upon that a wreath and two banners, one the regimental standard of the Rough Riders and the other the national standard of the Rough Riders.
Behind the casket came the Roosevelt family. Extra pews had been installed to hold 50 and the funeral home had set up an additional 60 folding chairs. There was no public address system in the church so not everyone was able to hear the service.
In New York City, Wall Street closed at 1 p.m. The New York City school system suspended in the afternoon as did the courts, and the post office held a one minute silence at 2:15 p.m. The bells at historic Trinity Church tolled in mourning.
The church was decorated with laurel, which had been left since Christmas. The chancel was covered with flowers. One of these was a wreath of pink and white carnations sent in accordance with cable directions from President Wilson in France. A large wreath in the foreground bore a wide ribbon marked ÒUnited States SenateÓ in gold letters.
A bunch of pink and white carnations was sent by the officers of the Battleship Indiana.
Ex-president William Howard Taft, who had reconciled with Roosevelt, was there but had taken a seat in the back of the church. When Archie Roosevelt saw this, he went and got Roosevelt's old friend and took him to the front by the family.
The sounds of the congregation rising swept through the church as Talmage walked down the aisle. As they placed the body before the chancel, the sun came out full and strong. Faint shadows of scarlet and blue and gold from the stained glass covered the interior of the church.
On the rear wall of the church were two sheets of foolscap, under glass, on which were written with pen and ink, the names of 98 members of the parish who had entered the national service, four of the names being Roosevelt. One of the 98 names was distinguished by a gold star, Quentin Roosevelt.
There was no music, only the ritual of the church read to the accompaniment of the drip of snow melting from the roof. The collect for grace was inserted and instead of music the Rev. Talmage recited Roosevelt's favorite hymn, How Firm a Foundation.
Some 500 people were in the church, Americans and foreigners. Some were devoted and cried openly. Others were there because of political or business relationships only. Men from all corners of the land came to say farewell. In the little church the crowd of mourners was small, outside the crowd of mourners was worldwide.
Toward the close of the service the Rev. Talmage recited Cardinal Newsman's prayer:
ÒOh, Lord, support us all the day long of this troublous life until the shadows lengthen and until evening comes and busy world is hushed, our fevered life is over and our work is done. Then, of Thy great mercy grant us a safe lodging and a holy rest and peace at the last through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
At the end of the funeral the undertaker's assistants carried the body from the church and placed it in Johnson's hearse, which started on the two-mile trip to the Young's Memorial Cemetery. The hearse was escorted by blue-coated police horsemen as outriders.
Above, the bell at Christ Church tolled, as did the bell at the Presbyterian Church in response. Those inside the church moved slowly outside into a clear area about the church which had been secured by the New York traffic policemen.
Up and down the streets in Oyster Bay, about 4,000 people lined up to watch the funeral procession.
The first automobile in the funeral procession was Roosevelt's own and was driven by his personal chauffeur, Charles Lee, who took the family to the cemetery.
At the cemetery all the cars stopped at the entrance, but the hearse proceeded to within 50 or 60 feet of the grave. The grave was surrounded with banks of flowers.
Up the steep hill to the grave the people went. The grave mound was covered by flowers. On one side of the grave stood 50 solemn children, pupils from the Cove School. On the other, statesmen, soldiers, and sailors arranged themselves to complete the circle. The wreaths and banners had been removed from the casket but the great American Flag remained.
Young's Cemetery was originally part of the old Young's farm. Roosevelt particularly liked the birdlife that made its home in the cemetery and for this reason selected the site for his burial.
Slowly, the casket sank down into the grave whose sides had been lined with laurel, as the Rev. Talmage read the committal service. The president's honor salute of 21 guns was fired at Camp Upton, Long Island, at 3 p.m., by two platoons of infantrymen of the 42nd Regiment.
A picture of grief, William Howard Taft stood near the grave with his head bent forward and tears in his eyes. Roosevelt's two daughters were overcome with grief also.
That evening and for the next week, men in uniform watched the grave as an honor guard. From 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. a detail of four mounted guards watched over the grave as a mark of the respect they bore for the great, late Theodore Roosevelt.
Beyond the grave of Roosevelt the steel blue waters of the Long Island Sound stretched away and to the right and left. Above his resting place rose the beloved hills. Thus, on a quiet hillside of a small cemetery, Theodore Roosevelt slumbers.
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