My Brother, Theodore RooseveltRobinson, Corinne Roosevelt
History
My Brother, Theodore Roosevelt
Robinson, Corinne Roosevelt
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
That same autumn of 1914 he came to our old home in Herkimer County
once more, but this time he was the guest of my son Theodore Douglas
Robinson, and stayed at his house, which adjoins the old home. From
there Mrs. Parsons and he and I joined the candidate for governor on
the Progressive ticket, State Senator Frederick A. Davenport, and
former State Senator Newcomb, for a short speaking tour to uphold the
candidacy of Senator Davenport. We knew there was very little hope of
success, but my brother had recuperated apparently from the Brazilian
trip, and we spent two merry days dashing through Herkimer and Otsego
counties. In spite of anxiety and a deep sense of distress about Old
World conditions, for a brief moment we threw off all care, and in the
glorious autumn sunshine, followed by cheering crowds, we enjoyed one
of the triumphal processions which were almost always a _sine qua non_
wherever he appeared. One specially merry afternoon and evening was
spent at the home of James Fenimore Cooper. My brother was to speak
at Cooperstown in the afternoon, and Mr. Cooper invited us to dinner,
but I told him that the party must reach Oneonta for dinner, so that
we could only take afternoon tea at his house. I had not confided this
refusal to Theodore, simply taking it for granted that it would be
impossible for us to accept the Cooper invitation and reach Oneonta in
time for his evening speech. The Cooper home, full of treasures that
had descended from Mr. Cooper’s grandfather, the author of “The Last
of the Mohicans,” etc., and equally full of charming people, gave us
so warm a welcome, and we had such an agreeable time there, that my
brother was very loath to leave, but at 6.30 I insisted that we must
start for Oneonta. We were already in the motors when Mr. Cooper,
leaning over to say good-by, assured Colonel Roosevelt of his regret
that he could not stay to dinner. “Dinner?” said my brother. “I didn’t
know I was asked to dinner.” “Yes, you were, of course,” said Mr.
Cooper; “but your sister, Mrs. Robinson, refused to let you stay for
dinner, saying that you would have to reach Oneonta at 8 o’clock.” “May
I ask,” said my brother in a high falsetto, “what business my sister,
Mrs. Robinson, had to refuse a dinner invitation for me?” And, with a
bound, he leaped from the automobile, shaking, laughingly, his fist at
me, and said, “Dinner with the Coopers! Well, of course, I am going to
stay to dinner,” and returned rapidly to the house, followed meekly
by his party. The hospitable and resourceful Coopers, who naturally,
after my refusal, had not expected seven extra people to dinner, turned
in, assisted by Theodore himself, and proceeded to scramble eggs and
broil bacon, much to the amusement and delight of the cook, who had
never had an ex-President in her kitchen before, and of all the merry
dinner-parties that I have ever attended, that one, forced upon the
delightful Fenimore Coopers, was about the merriest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account