Little Sister Corinne
The iconic Theodore Roosevelt was one of four siblings. The oldest of the four remarkable Roosevelts was Anna (1855-1931), called “Bamie” by her siblings, and “Auntie Bye” by the next generation. Despite an early childhood illness which left her with some spinal deformity, she was a dynamo, both in intelligence and energy. She assumed much of the household management by the time she was sixteen, and never relinquished her “leadership” in the family.
Theodore came next, about three years later, followed closely by Elliott. Always considered the best looking and most convivial/likeable among the four, Elliott began a downward trajectory by the time he was twenty. With a substantial inheritance and little motivation or inclination toward a vocation, he became a “sportsman,” with a definite inclination to alcohol. A riding accident with serious injuries added to his problems: a laudanum addiction.
Not long after Elliott’s birth came Corinne (1861-1933), the baby of the remarkable Roosevelt family.
Practically from birth, she developed a close friendship with Edith Carow, a child of a neighboring family. Some have said that their nannies were close friends and wheeled the baby carriages together.
But while Bamie stood apart as a semi-adult, and both the boys were educated according to their exceptional abilities, Corinne’s education was more circumspect. Just as intelligent as her siblings, she was “a girl,” and her educational needs were adjusted accordingly. Finishing School. Even when the family traveled to Europe, an adolescent (and desperately lonely and homesick) Corinne was “boarded” separately from Theodore and Elliott.
She was always well read and artistically inclined, and at not-quite thirteen, was a founding member of their Dresden Literary American Club, secretly nicknamed W.A.N.A., which even more secretly stood for “We Are No Asses.” It was then that she began writing poetry.
Nevertheless a college education was never on the table. A career of any kind was out of the question. She was expected to marry and raise a family.
What was never unquestioned, however, was her complete devotion to her family, and especially to brother Theodore.
Douglas Robinson
It was Corinne’s brother Elliott who introduced his little sister to Douglas Robinson. She was eighteen, having made her social “debut;” he was six years her senior. Robinson was half-American (a great-great nephew of James Monroe), but born and raised in Scotland, educated at Oxford, and now returned to his American ties.
He was wealthy, well educated, a financial wizard at property management, and a superb sportsman – which drew him into Elliott’s circle – and he fell in love with Corinne. The Roosevelt family liked Robinson, and encouraged the match. In fact, Corinne Roosevelt was nice looking, athletic, well-read, and indeed marriageable. All the Roosevelts encouraged young marriages, ostensibly to protect them against youthful temptation, it is said.
Alas, the family failed to consult Corinne. She liked Douglas Robinson pleasantly enough, but was hardly in love with him, nor particularly attracted. To her, he was loud, bullying and bad-tempered. Perhaps most importantly, she did not want to get married – at least not then. She had just begun to enjoy her own autonomy, had several suitors, and was not inclined to give up her freedom.
She hemmed and hawed, and delayed for two years, accompanied by many tears. Robinson was patient enough, but the Roosevelts, including her mother, Mittie Bulloch Roosevelt, pressed somewhat awkwardly, saying that she could “learn to put up with him.” When they finally married, Corinne was just shy of her 21st birthday, and was said to have spent most of her wedding morning sobbing.
Mrs. Robinson
Corinne and Douglas Robinson had four children and were married for 36 years before Douglas’ death in 1918. It could hardly be termed a happy marriage. Nor could it be termed an unhappy marriage. It was likely stuck in neutral.
On the positive side, Robinson was an astute businessman with considerable wealth. He was a constant friend to Elliott, who died at 34 of severe alcoholism. He was always a strong supporter of Theodore’s political ambitions. He denied Corinne nothing that money could buy. In fact, his preoccupation with business and making money may have been Corinne’s greatest blessing: he let her do pretty much what she wanted. That included her interest in politics, especially once Theodore rose in prominence.
On the negative side, Corinne may have learned to “put up with him,” but there was never any romance or real love, despite common-for-the-time effusive letters. Plenty of money helped.
Once her children were grown, she began to find her own calling. She had always written poetry.
Corinne: On Her Own
All the Roosevelts (including subsequent generations) were fine writers. And they all loved poetry. Corinne wrote poems as a child. In 1911; when she was fifty, she finally published her first poem in Scribner’s Magazine. The death of Stuart, her youngest son, via a freak accident at Harvard when he was only twenty, had plunged her into an understandable depression, and poetry was her solace.
In 1912 a full volume of her poetry was published by Scribner’s. Additional volumes were published in 1914, 1919, 1924 and 1930. She also wrote and published a memoir, My Brother Theodore Roosevelt, which Scribner’s published in 1924.
Meanwhile, once women had received suffrage, in 1920 Corinne Roosevelt Robinson became the first woman to address the Republican national convention, seconding family friend General Leonard Wood’s nomination in 1920. She was surprisingly good and invitations for public speaking engagements followed, earning a substantial reputation of her own.
Corinne Roosevelt Robinson was the sole survivor of the remarkable Roosevelt siblings. Her health became iffy, complicated by a chronic eye infection that required several surgeries.
In 1933. she died at 71, only weeks before her distant cousin (and husband of Elliott’s daughter Eleanor) took the oath of office that had once been held by Theodore.
Sources:
Caroli, Betty Boyd – The Roosevelt Women
Dalton, Kathleen – Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life
https://www.nps.gov/thrb/learn/historyculture/corinneroosevelt.htm
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