Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-09-28
SPIRIT OF ROOSEVELT.
By No Means Inherited Solely From
His Father.

His Father.
From the fathers side may have
come some Of the blood that gave Pres
ident Roosevelt his indomitable spirit,
but certain it is that the maternal
branch was rich in that quality that
marked the Bullochs, Of Georgia, for
their resolution, pertinacity and great
strength of will. No better exponent of
those traits could be found than Martha
Bulloch Roosevelt, the mother Of the
president.
Not long after the civil war Mrs.
Roosevelt was on a visit to Savannah,
where she had many friends. She was
a Georgia woman Of distinguished an
cestry, the Bulloch family being one of
the best in the state and its representa-
tives having served with distinction in
the highest positions. It was but nat
ural, therefore, that she should have
been we'll received upon her visit to this
city, and that there should have been
rare pleasure to her, an unreconstructed
"rebel," in her intercourse with her
own people, those who had fought and
bled upon the field of battle or fought
the greater fight of waiting and watch
ing.
Reunion with her Southern friends,
after the years of the war that she had
spent at her home in New York, was a
pleasure to Mrs. Roosevelt, and 1t was
with the keenest relish that she re-
counted stories Of the times and Of the
trials that she suffered in the city of
her adoption because Of her answering
loyalty to the cause Of the South-a
cause in which one brother, Irvine Bull
loch, fought as an officer aboard the
cruiser Alabama, and which another
brother represented at England's capt.
tai city. One Of these stories clearly re-
vealed the character Of the woman and
leaves little difficulty in determining
whence the president gets some of
those qualities that have tended to his
preferment.
It was at a dinner given in Mrs.
Roosevelt's honor, by Mrs. Henrietta
S. Cohen, that she told the story. Of
late years, because Of Theodore Roose-
velt's rapid advancement, it has been
recalled by his mothers old friends,
who feel pride in having known the
mother Of the president and gladly as
cribe to her some Of the traits that are
seen in the son.
1t was just when the spirit Of peace,
uncertain as to whether 1t should
alight was lowering over the land,
New York was afiame with passionate
patriotism, and anything smacking
Of the Confederacy was not tolerated.
Feeling ran high and woe was 1t for
any who braved the popular tide and
showed a leaning toward the cause Of
the South.
Theodore Roosevelt, the older, decid-
ed at about that time, to give some
great social function. The Roosevelt
mansion was accordingly bravely deck
ed in bunting and with American flags.
From every window, save one, flew the
Stars and Stripes. That one was OF
Mrs. Roosevelts boudoir. Her husband
had not designed to omit it from the
decorative scheme, but she would have
none of it. Instead, she hit upon plan
that would clearly reveal her senti-
ments.
Stopping not to consider the peril In
which it might place her and her hus-
band but determined to show that
all in that house were not Of the cause
of the North, she drew from among her
most cherished treasures the Stars and
Bars, the emblem of the South. Going
to the window she firmly fixed its staff
and allowed it's folds to flutter from the
breeze.
On the instant, almost, the hostile en-
sign was noted. A passer-by in the
street below deserted it. In hot indig-
nation, he pointed 1t out to another. AS
mobs will, so one began to grow, and
soon the street was checked with angry
people, who shook threatening fists at
the Confederate flag and inveighed
most bitterly.
Alarmed ny the gathering that was
swelled every moment and that directed
its wrath against his home. Theodore
Roosevelt sought the cause that had
stirred the people to anger. He was
not long in finding it. Fierce acclaim
directed his gaze. which rested upon
the fluttering emblem Of the South.
The Roosevelt nature had never quailed
before a crowd. Theodore, the elder.
saw that imminent danger could proba-
bly, be averted only through his per-
suading his wife toremove the objection
able flag. With a word to the crowd, he
left, entering the house and finding his