Sara Delano was quite a catch for James Roosevelt when he wound up his whirlwind courtship and married her in 1880. She was a handsome, hazel-eyed girl of 26, just half James Roosevelt's age. Her father was a tea merchant in the China trade. He was the son of a long line of sea captains descended from Philippe de La Noye, who came to Plymouth in 1621.
When Warren Delano lost his fortune in the panic of 1857, he left his home near Newburgh, N.Y., went back to China to recoup his wealth. Five...
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