Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
TR and Youngs Memorial Cemetery

Several years before Theodore Roosevelt's death, he and his wife Edith selected the Youngs family cemetery as their final resting-place . The Youngs family settled Long Island in the late 1600's and at one time owned most of Cove Neck. The homestead that stands across the street from the family burial ground was home to nine generations of Youngs and a place that George Washington stayed during a presidential tour of Long Island.

Neighbor and attorney William Jones Youngs was Roosevelt's secretary during TR's term as Governor of New York. This may be why Roosevelt signed a pioneering bill in corporate law that Youngs drafted chartering the cemetery in 1900.

Roosevelt's first wife, Alice Lee and his family were laid to rest in a family plot in Brooklyn's Greenwood Cemetery. With Youngs so close to Sagamore Hill, Edith likely helped her husband make his decision  to be buried on a hillside that afforded a view of Oyster Bay harbor. Roosevelt was also familiar with this place. Long known as Youngs Woods, TR was impressed by the variety of bird life that was found there.

Roosevelt was buried on a cold, snowy day in January 8, 1919. At the burial, a teary-eyed friend, one time political adversary and former president, William Howard Taft, was one of the last to leave the cemetery.

Over the next few months, other prominent individuals, such as Chief Boy Scoutmaster, Dan Beard, the King of Belgium and Duke of Windsor visited the grave to pay their respects. As a young boy, the Duke recalled Theodore Roosevelt’s 1910 visit to Buckingham Palace, and the fascinating stories TR told about hunting African lions.

In 1923, Emlen Roosevelt, Theodore's cousin and neighbor, purchased 12 acres surrounding the cemetery. A portion of that acreage was added to the burial ground as a Roosevelt family plot. The remainder was presented as a gift to the Audubon Society which established Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary.

After her death In 1948, Edith Roosevelt was buried along side her husband. In time, two of the Roosevelt children were also buried there. Ethel Roosevelt Derby whose legacy was the preservation of Sagamore Hill, died in 1977 and was buried along side her husband, Dr. Richard Derby. Archie Roosevelt, saw military service and wounded in two world wars, at age 88 outlived his three brothers when he died in 1979. He was buried along side his wife, Grace.

In the sense of an old saying, the family took on the notion of "leave the mighty fallen oak where it lies," so Theodore Roosevelt's remaining children rest in distant places.

Lt. Quentin Roosevelt, the youngest son, a World War I Army Air Corps pilot died in combat in 1918 and was buried where his plane was shot down German occupied France outside the rural  village of Chamery, near Reims. In 1955, at the request of the Roosevelt family, Quentin was reinterred next to his brother, Ted Jr., in the American National Battlefield Monument Cemetery in St. Laurent-sur-mer, France, Plot D, Row 28, Grave 46

General Ted Roosevelt, Jr. died of heart attack a six weeks after leading the 1944 D-Day landing on Utah Beach in World War II.

Major Kermit Roosevelt died while in military service in 1943 and was buried where he was stationed.at the Fort Richardson National Cemetery near Anchorage, Alaska.

Oldest daughter Alice Roosevelt Longworth died at the age of 96 in 1980 and was buried next to her daughter, Paulina Sturm, at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington D.C.

Ted Jr.’s wife, Eleanor and Kermit’s wife Belle along with several of Theodore Roosevelt’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren are also memorialized at Youngs Cemetery.  

Visiting Youngs Cemetery The cemetery is 1.5 miles from Sagamore Hill and Oyster Bay Village at the intersection of Cove Neck Road and Cove Road.

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Last Updated:Wednesday, 22-Dec-2004 10:05:06 Eastern Standard Time
http://www.nps.gov/sahi/archive/sahi/youngs.htm
Editor: Michael Shaver