Last updated: December 16, 2020
Person
Anna Hall Roosevelt
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Significance:
American Socialite
Place of Birth:
New York City
Date of Birth:
March 17, 1863
Place of Death:
New York
Date of Death:
December 7, 1892
Place of Burial:
Tivoli, NY
Cemetery Name:
St. Paul's Episcopal Church Cemetery
Anna Rebecca Hall (1863 – 1892) was the eldest child of Mary Livingston Ludlow and Valentine Gill Hall. She was Eleanor Roosevelt's mother.
Anna could trace her heritage back to colonial New York and the American Revolution—one relative signed the Declaration of Independence and another administered the oath of office to George Washington. The eldest of six children, Anna was raised in a household that demanded discipline and viewed playfulness as an affront to God. Although her education was limited to etiquette and religion, at seventeen she had to take control of the family and help manage the finances after her father died suddenly without leaving a will. Respectable, charming, and a striking beauty, Anna became the leading debutante of the 1881 season, attracting the attention of Elliott Roosevelt, brother of Theodore Roosevelt who would one day become President of the United States.
Anna married Elliott Roosevelt on December 1, 1883 and had three children—Anna Eleanor (1884), Elliott Bulloch (1889), and Gracie Hall (1891). Elliott and Anna separated shortly after the youngest child was born and Anna entered the hospital in 1892 for an operation. She died of diphtheria on December 7, 1892 at the age of 29. Due to her husband’s struggles with alcoholism, Anna left her three children in the care of her mother.