Claes Maartenszen van Rosenvelt
Claes Maartenszen van Rosenvelt was a Dutch-American businessman and landowner in New Amsterdam and was the ancestor of both the Oyster Bay and Hyde Park Roosevelt Families and the 5th great-grandfather of Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Claes Maartenszen van Rosenvelt was the only child of Maerten Corneliuszen Gelderman Van Rosenvelt and Cornelia Johanna Lodewijk in the Dutch Republic. Between 1638 and 1649, Claes immigrated to New Amsterdam. On August 6, 1650, he married Jannetje Samuels Thomas and the couple had 5 children from 1650 to 1662: Nicholas Roosevelt (1658-1742), Christiaen Roosevelt, Elsje Roosevelt, Anna Margariet Roosevelt, Anna Roosevelt.
Later years and death
In 1652, he bought a farm from Lambert van Valckenburgh, comprising 24 morgens in what is now Midtown Manhattan, including the present site of the Empire State Building. The property included approximately what is now the area between Lexington Avenue and Fifth Avenue bounded by 29th St. and 35th St. Claes died on December 4, 1679 at the age of 56. His son Nicholas changed their family name from Van Rosenvelt to Roosevelt.