Nicholas was born in New York on October 27, 1767 and served during the Revolutionary War in the 1st Regiment of Albany County, New York, Militia.

He became a well known builder of steam engines and was married to Lydia Sellon Latrobe (born in England March 23, 1791) when he was 41 and she was 17.

Lydia was the daughter of Nicholas’ best friend and business partner, Benjamin Henry Latrobe*, who did not approve of a man only three years his junior paying court to his 13 year old daughter. He finally consented to the engagement on Lydia’s 14th birthday. The wedding was scheduled for her 15th birthday, but was delayed, and finally took place on November 15, 1808 at the Latrobe home in Washington, D.C.

In 1809 Nicholas entered into a partnership with Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston in the Mississippi Steamboat Navigation Company. He and Lydia (who was pregnant with their daughter (Rosetta Mark) took a flatboat on a six month scouting expedition down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. (Rosetta (Rose) was born two weeks after their return to New York.)

Nicholas’ greatest venture was the building and maiden voyage of the steamboat New Orleans, which he captained on its maiden voyage from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to New Orleans, Louisiana From October 1811 to January 1812. It was the first steam ship on the Ohio or Mississippi rivers, and was quite a sensation. He was again accompanied by Lydia (who was again pregnant) and their daughter, Rose, when they set out on October 20, 1811. They put in at Louisville, Kentucky on October 29, and on October 30 Henry Latrobe Roosevelt was born. They were on the river just above New Madrid, Missouri, when the great New Madrid earthquake hit beginning at 2:00 a.m. on December 16, 1811. They arrived at New Orleans on January 10, 1812.

Nicholas died in 1854. Lydia died in 1878.

His father Jacobus was the great-great grandfather of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt.
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Jacobus was also the third great-grandfather of Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt.1605
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Nicholas Roosevelt (inventor)

Nicholas Isaac Roosevelt (December 27, 1767 [sic], New York City - July 30, 1854, Skaneateles, New York) was an American inventor, a major investor in Upstate New York land, and a member of the Roosevelt family. He and his brother John sold a large tract of land in Oswego County, New York to George Scriba in 1793 which is now the Town of Scriba.

Nicholas Roosevelt is remembered more as an inventor and for participation with Robert Fulton in their steamboat ventures; in 1811, he built and sailed the New Orleans, the first steamboat on the western rivers, which sailed from Pittsburgh to New Orleans.

Nicholas Roosevelt married Lydia Latrobe, daughter of his best friend and business partner, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the distinguished American architect. Lydia was thirteen years old when Nicholas began courting her. They married when she was seventeen, he forty-one years old.

Nicholas Roosevelt died at Skaneateles, New York, where he had a home, built in 1831 and extant at 101 East Genesee Street. He was survived by Lydia Latrobe Roosevelt, who died in 1878. Nicholas Roosevelt was a great-grand uncle of President Theodore Roosevelt. Other members of the Roosevelt family resided in the village of Skaneateles, including Frederick Roosevelt, cousin of the president.1603
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Nicholas Roosevelt held the original patent "for a new and useful improvement in propelling boats by steam," dated December 1, 1814. While not disposed to take away any credit Mr. Fulton may be entitled to, it would appear that Nicholas Roosevelt was, in fact, the inventor of a device which made the use of steamboats at that time practical.

Nicholas Roosevelt had built a steamboat in Pittsburg in 1811. Mr. Latrobe [John H. B. 1803-1891] writes in 1871 his recollection of the trip of this boat, which was the first boat that appeared upon the Western waters. He says that his recollections are deepened by the fact that his father removed their family to Pittsburg in 1813 where he was superintending the building of the "Buffalo," the fourth of the steamboats launched at Pittsburg, and that his playmates were boys who had seen the "New Orleans" leave the town for the Mississippi, "New Orleans" being the name of the boat built by Nicholas Roosevelt two years before. Roosevelt had superintended the building of the boat.1606



Henry Latrobe Roosevelt (October 5, 1879 - February 22, 1936) was an Assistant Secretary of the United States Navy. He was born in Morristown, New Jersey, to Nicholas Latrobe Roosevelt, who had a naval career of distinction and was a grandson of Nicholas Roosevelt, an inventor and land-owner. Roosevelt entered the United States Naval Academy in 1896 but did not graduate.

He became a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps, in which he served during the Spanish-American War. He was at times stationed in Philadelphia, Panama, Cuba and Haiti. After retiring in 1920, he served as the European manager for the Radio Corpporation of America [R.C.A.] from 1923 to 1928 and oversaw the building of large radio stations at Ankara, Turkey and Warsaw, Poland.

He returned to the United States in 1933 to head the Radio Real Estate Corporation, but was soon selected by Naval Secretary Claude A. Swanson for the post of Assistant Secretary of the Navy. He became the fourth Roosevelt and fifth member of the Roosevelt family to occupy that office, after Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt (the current president at the time), and Theodore Douglas Robinson. Due to Swanson's poor health, Roosevelt was at times Acting Secretary. He made many tours of inspection and speeches, calling for the strengthening of the navy as a deterrent to war.

In 1902, he married Eleanor Morrow, daughter of California Circuit Judge W. W. Morrow. He had three children, William Morrow, Henry Latrobe, and Eleanor Katherine, who married Reverdy Wadsworth, son of U.S. Represenative James W. Wadsworth, Jr. He died at Bethesda Naval Hospital of a heart attack following intestinal influenza.1607

[How is Henry Latrobe Roosevelt related to Nicholas as a Grandson?]


*Benjamin Henry Latrobe was a renowned architect and “The father of American Architecture."  He achieved eminence as the first professional architect working in the United States and was involved in the design of the United States Capitol building and the White House in Washington, D. C.  In addition Latrobe designed numerous other prominent public buildings including the Baltimore Basilica and private residences, including the home of the American hero Naval Officer Stephen Decatur.3