James Monroe (New York politician)

James Monroe was born in Albemarle County, Virginia on September 10, 1799. He was born to Ann (née Bell) Monroe and Andrew Augustine Monroe (ca. 1764-1826). Andrew Monroe was a younger brother of President James Monroe (1758–1831). Monroe's paternal grandfather, Spence Monroe (1727–1774), was a moderately prosperous planter who also practiced carpentry. His grandmother Elizabeth Jones (1730–1774) Monroe married Spence Monroe in 1752, and they had five surviving children, Elizabeth, James Monroe, Spence, Andrew, and Joseph. His paternal 2x-great grandfather, Patrick Andrew Monroe, emigrated to America from Scotland in the mid-17th century. In 1650, he patented a large tract of land in Washington Parish, Westmoreland County, Virginia. Among James Monroe's ancestors were French Huguenot immigrants, who came to Virginia in 1700. ==Career==

Monroe graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1815, and was commissioned in the Artillery Corps. Shortly after graduating, he was sent to fight in the war with Algiers, and was wounded while serving as a gunnery officer on board the USS Guerriere. From 1817 to 1822, he served as aide-de-camp to General Winfield Scott, Political career Monroe served as assistant alderman of New York City in 1832, alderman 1833–1835, and president of the board of aldermen in 1834. He was elected as a Whig to the 26th United States Congress, holding office from March 4, 1839, to March 3, 1841. He was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co.) in 1850 and 1852. ==Personal life==

He married Elizabeth "Eliza" Mary Douglas (1799–1852), daughter of George Douglas (1741–1799) and Margaret Corne (1767–1827). Together, they were the parents of: • George Monroe, who entered the seminary. He is interred at Trinity Church Cemetery in Manhattan. Descendants Monroe's grandson, Douglas Robinson Jr. (1855–1918), married Corinne Roosevelt (1861–1933), the younger sister of President Theodore Roosevelt and an aunt of First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. Their children, and Monroe's great-grandchildren include Connecticut Representative Corinne Douglas Robinson (1886–1971) and New York State Senator Theodore Douglas Robinson (1883–1934), who married his distant cousin Helen Rebecca Roosevelt, daughter of James Roosevelt (1854—1927), the brother of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Helen Schermerhorn Astor (1855—1893) of the Astor family. ==References==