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J. William T. "Bill" Youngs, Eleanor Roosevelt: A Personal and Public Life, Chapter Two
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"Young Eleanor Roosevelt" courtesy of the Wiki Commons
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The Christian life and spirit of the parents, which are in and by the Spirit of Gods, shall flow into the mind of the child.
- Horace Bushnell, Christian Nurture
- Horace Bushnell, Christian Nurture
Chapter 2: The Legacy
"Elliot and Anna Hall Roosevelt" courtesy of the Wiki Commons
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SummaryThe troubled childhood of Eleanor Roosevelt was marked by a series of deaths, first her Mother Anna, her Brother Elliot Jr, and then finally her father. Eleanor learns to live with death by confronting it head-on. The events of a few short years would shape her character in the decades to come. The sad events of these years are what make up the second chapter.
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Author reads from the Text
An Abingdon newspaper summarized local feeling for Elliot by saying, "His name was a byword among the needy." Florance Sherman wrote his sister, lamenting his loss. "He was so strong," she said, "and had such a gay, sweet nature." Even the boatman, who had met Elliot only once when he had taken him with Mrs. Sherman for a sail, had been drawn to him. When Florence Sherman said he was dead, the boatman replied simply, "That's wrong."
It was wrong for Elliot to have died, Mrs. Sherman thought. Elliot had been exiled for reasons that made sense to Victorian moralists, but she viewed the situation differently, seeing Elliot as a tender man who missed his family. He loved his children, "and ought to have been with them," she said. Elliot was dead, but something in him deserved to live. "See to it that he does not lose the place he deserves in his children's lives," she urged. A year later she wrote again. "I have been sadly wondering about his children," she said, "if they are well and strong and inherit anything of his charm."
Eleanor had begun to adjust to her father's death. She was accustomed to change, having lost her mother, father, and brother in less than two years. Only recently everything the world could offer had been hers: loving parents, houses in the city and country, pets and toys. One by one the pillars of that world had fallen. She adjusted, making do with less while dreaming of more. On learning of her father's death she pressed her regret into one pathetic sentence. "I did want," she said, "to see my father once more."
It was wrong for Elliot to have died, Mrs. Sherman thought. Elliot had been exiled for reasons that made sense to Victorian moralists, but she viewed the situation differently, seeing Elliot as a tender man who missed his family. He loved his children, "and ought to have been with them," she said. Elliot was dead, but something in him deserved to live. "See to it that he does not lose the place he deserves in his children's lives," she urged. A year later she wrote again. "I have been sadly wondering about his children," she said, "if they are well and strong and inherit anything of his charm."
Eleanor had begun to adjust to her father's death. She was accustomed to change, having lost her mother, father, and brother in less than two years. Only recently everything the world could offer had been hers: loving parents, houses in the city and country, pets and toys. One by one the pillars of that world had fallen. She adjusted, making do with less while dreaming of more. On learning of her father's death she pressed her regret into one pathetic sentence. "I did want," she said, "to see my father once more."