[muawiyah]

FDR was married to Theodore Roosevelt's cousin, not his own. There are a lot of Roosevelts (and Hoods, too, the other name this much married, much interbred family travels under).

[Mercat]

Theadore's firthe great grandparents openned the first tavern on Manhattan Island. The Grandmother, Maria, was quite a character. Her father is my direct ancestor but she is only my half cousin multiple times removed because I'm descended from her half brother.

Maria Truax (du Trieux) was the eldest daughter of Philippe du Trieux (de Truy) and his first wife Jacquemyne Noirett. She was baptized in Leyden, Holland, on 5 April 1617, and emigrated with her family to New Amsterdam in 1624. She married firstly Cornelis Volckertsen Viele, possibly before 1640, and definitely by January 1642, when an adoption paper mentions her husband. This paper constitutes an acknowledgment of the paternity of her daughter Aeltjem, by Pieter Wolphersen van Couwenhoven.

Maria Truax was a 'tapper' or tavern keeper, as were both her husbands. The fact that she was the one in charge is indicated by the marking of 'The Tavern of Marie du Trieux' on the 1644 map*. Her second husband, Jan Peek, was also an early settler of New Amsterdam, and the town of Peekskill, NY takes its name from him.

Maria was constantly in trouble with the authorities, and was finally banished from New Amsterdam in 1664, for shady business dealings and keeping a disorderly tavern. Some of the charges specifically mention her tapping after hours and during prayers, selling spirits without a license, and selling liqour to the Indians. She and her husband were eventually allowed back into New Amsterdam, but at some point she moved to Schenectady where her brother lived. She died there some time before 1684.

I also read somewhere that she "mooned" the stevedores on the dock one day when they were harrassing her. Quite a lady. ... gives me hope for my daughter and her progeny.