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Curtis Bean Dall (24 October 1896 - 28 June 1991) was a stockbroker, banker, investor, vice-Presidential candidate, first husband of Anna E. Roosevelt, and author most remembered today for his work ''F.D.R.: My Exploited Father-in-Law'' which claims a hidden agenda for many of the policies put through under Roosevelt's presidency.
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This article writen and copyright 2008 by Will Johnson, Professional Genealogist.  This article has been locked, if you'd like to comment on it, you may email me at [mailto:wjhonson@aol.com wjhonson@aol.com]
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==Biography==

''The original 1967 edition of F.D.R. My Exploited Father-in-Law, with it's page-numbering will be used as reference.''

===Early Life===
Curtis Bean Dall was born 24 Oct 1896 in Manhattan<sup>[[#Footnotes 1|A]]</sup>, New York City, [[New York]], the son of Charles Austin Dall<sup>[[#Footnotes 2|D]]</sup> and his wife Mary Bean.  The family lived in 1900 in Montclair, Essex County, [[New Jersey]], but by 1910 they lived on a farm in Piscataway, Middlesex County, [[New Jersey]].<sup>[[#Footnotes 1|B]]</sup>  His uncle Cornelius "Neely" Agnew of the Farmer's Loan and Trust Company having been a member of Princeton's Class of 1891, influenced him to go there as well. (''F.D.R.'', p. 15)  He attended Princeton University<sup>[[#Footnotes 1|A]]</sup>, and later served in the Navy during World War I, in England and in France. (''F.D.R.'', p. 12)  He was stationed as an ensign at Guipavas, and was present as one of the many spectators in Dec 1918, when then-president Woodrow Wilson arrived in Brest for the Peace Conference. (''F.D.R.'', p. 13-14)  In 1926 he was working for the banking firm Lehman Brothers, organizing a department "...which involved the wholesaling of new stock and bond issues...." (''F.D.R.'', p. 13)

Curtis met his future first wife Anna "Sis" Roosevelt, nine years his junior, in Dec. 1925 at a dinner party, given by Mr. and Mrs. Walter Douglas in their home on Fifth Avenue, New York for their two daughters Elizabeth and "Kay".  Anna was the eldest child and only daughter of [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] and his wife [[Eleanor Roosevelt]], would several years later become the 32nd U.S. president and the first lady.  At the time however, F.D.R. was Vice-President of the Fidelity and Deposit Company of Baltimore.

<table><tr><td>Blanche Wiesen Cook in her biography ''Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume One 1884-1933'' states on page 330 : "Anne was eighteen, unhappy at Cornell, where she never wanted to be, and still more unhappy at home, with all its tensions and undercurrents, particularly between her mother and grandmother.  She wanted 'to get out,' and became engaged to Curtis Dall, a rather conventional and balding financier associated with Lehman Brothers.  Then thirty, he seemed appealing to Anna above all for his apparent stability; but Eleanor was not sure. 'I don't think she even thinks she's serious but he is and I'm not sure she didn't let herself get a bit further than she meant to be!' "

At Cornell University, Anna was taking a brief course in agriculture, and after "...their three-month engagement" (''F.D.R.'', p. 11) they were married, each for the first time, in Hyde Park, [[New York]], on 25 June 1926.  Kay Douglas was the maid-of-honor. One slight discrepancy here is that their engagement was announced on 23 Jan 1926.<sup>[[#Footnotes 2|D]]</sup>)</td><td>http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wjhonson/CurtisDall.jpg<br>The Curtis Dall's and the James Roosevelts</td></tr></table>

The couple took up residence in North Tarrytown, Westchester County, New York. "...I acquired some land on the northwestern bank of Lake Pocantico, and built a house overlooking the lake....Across the lake was the very large estate of John D. Rockefeller and his son John D., Jr."(''F.D.R.'', p. 26)  In addition, Sarah Roosevelt, Anna's grandmother, gave them an "...expensive cooperative apartment" about 1927 (Cook, p 330-1)

"In 1927, '28, and '29 there were many new offerings of bond and stock issues and I was very busy."(''F.D.R.'', p. 27) Dall was on the floor on Black Tuesday, the day of the 1929 Stock Market crash.  In reference to the Great Depression of the 1930s he states (in his 1967 book): "Actually it was the calculated ‘shearing’ of the public by the World Money-Powers, triggered by the planned sudden shortage of the supply of call money in the New York money market."

In 1924, F.D.R. had "...made a dramatic appearance at the Democratic convention to nominate Alfred E. Smith, governor of New York for president"<sup>[[#Footnotes 2|E]]</sup>.  Smith urged Roosevelt to run for governor of New York in 1928.  Roosevelt telegraphed his daughter and son-in-law Dall:"Some people here want me to run for Governor of New York this fall.  What do you think about it?  Please wire.  Love, FDR".  To which the reply was: "Received your most interesting wire.  Think it is a great idea.  Believe you will win.  Will do everything possible to help you and the cause."(''F.D.R.'' p. 31)

The story is repeated in ''The Lethbridge Herald'' with the additional information that Mr and Mrs Dall upon receiving the telegram, and before sending their reply, consulted with their neighbor the banker Paul Warburg.<sup>[[#Footnotes 3|G]]</sup>

http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wjhonson/RooseveltFamily.JPG

Seated, left to right: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt holding their granddaughter Anna Dall; Mrs Curtis Dall with her son Curtis Dall Jr; Sarah Roosevelt his mother.  Standing, left to right : Franklin Roosevelt Jr, James Roosevelt, John Roosevelt, and Curtis Dall.

===Middle Life===
<table><tr><td>http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wjhonson/CurtisDall2.jpg</td><td>Curtis and Anna had "two tow-headed children": Anna Eleanor "Sistie" Dall on 25 March 1927, and Curtis Roosevelt "Buzzie" Dall on 19 April 1930.<sup>[[#Footnotes 2|F]]</sup>  Anna worked during the marriage, mostly in promoting her father's run for governor of New York, and later for U.S. President.  An article in the ''Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune'' dated 25 Feb 1933 states that she is, just then, the associate editor of "Babies &mdash; Just Babies" (perhaps a magazine). Curtis and Anna were apparently at this time, splitting their time between their Tarrytown estate and "...the Roosevelt town house on East Sixty-fifth street, New York"<sup>[[#Footnotes 3|H]]</sup> Anna casting about for some employment, took up her mother's mantle and decided to do some radio talks, for which she was paid perhaps as much as $3,000 each.<sup>[[#Footnotes 3|I]]</sup>

Curtis had resigned his position on the New York stock exchange at the end of 1932, but a few months later joined the Cotton Exchange, and then the Chicago Board of Trade dealing in stocks and grain.</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><td>Blanche Wiesen Cook relates that during a trip with the members of the family, one of the reporters who came along was the ''Chicago Tribune's'' John Boettiger, with whom Anna had fallen in love.  "Mrs. Dall was divorced from her first husband, Curtis B. Dall, July 30, at Minden, [[Nevada|Nev]]." (Syracuse Herald, Jan 18, 1935, p 11) Six months after her divorce, on January 18, 1935, she married journalist John Boettiger, who had also just divorced his wife.  After his death on 31 October 1950, she married thirdly on 11 November 1952 at Malibu, [[California]], as his second wife, to James Addison Halsted.</td><td>http://lts.brandeis.edu/research/archives-speccoll/findingguides/special/vechten/images/folder4/annarooseveltboettiger4-9-19354-25.jpg Anna (Roosevelt) Dall</td></tr></table>

Meanwhile, Curtis married secondly to Katharine Miller Leas in 1938, they had four surviving children: Katharine, Mary, Stephen and James.  Dall was elected Governor of the Associates of Stock Exchange Firm in 1932.  In the 1930's "...he helped to organize what later became the Tennessee Gas and Transmission Company of Houston, one of the largest corporations in the country.  But he sold his interest before the company's real growth began."<sup>[[#Footnotes 1|A]]</sup>  He served in the army Air Force from 1940 until the close of World War II.  In the 1940's, he became active in politics, campaigning "...for Strom Thurmond, who was the Presidential nominee of the conservative States' Rights Party".<sup>[[#Footnotes 1|A]]</sup>

===Later Life===
Dall became involved with the "...racist Right's ill-fated efforts at forming a third party..."<sup>[[#Footnotes 4|M]]</sup>. In 1960 the Texas-based Constitution Party put-up retired Marine Corps Brigadier General Merritt B. Curtis for president, and campaign manager Curtis B. Dall for vice-president.  In the 1960s Curtis, an ardent conservative, was a member of the Christian Crusade National Advisory Board, and a member of the Executive Board of "We The People".  In 1966/7 he wrote the book for which he is most cited today, ''[[F.D.R. My Exploited Father-In-Law]]'', in which he speaks of his ex-father-in-law, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Franklin's relationship with, as Curtis saw them, the corrupt power of the banking elite of the time.  In 1968, his name was filed for the Presidential primaries in New Hampshire. In 1971, he was Chairman of the Liberty Lobby<sup>[[#Footnotes 4|N]]</sup>  He retired as chairman in 1982.

He died at the Hospice of Northern Virginia in Arlington, [[Virginia]] on 28 Jun 1991, aged 95.  His obituary states that he lived in Alexandria,<sup>[[#Footnotes 1|A]]</sup> but the Social Security Death Index states that he had last been a resident of Beaufort, Beaufort County, [[South Carolina]] <sup>[[#Footnotes 1|C]]</sup> which is where one of his daughters, Katherine lived.  He left to survive him, his second wife Katharine; Eleanor Seagraves of Washington and Curtis Roosevelt Dall of Majorca, Spain, both from his first marriage; and from his second marriage, Katharine Bolton of Beaufort, S.C., Mary Dunham of Newport, R.I., Stephen of Devon, Pa., and James of Portland, Ore.  in addition to 10 grandchildren and one great-grandson.

==Works==
*Dall, Curtis B. (1983, reprint of 1970 rev. ed.). My Exploited Father-in-Law. Torrance, California: Legion for the Survival of Freedom, Incorpora. ISBN 0-939484-03-X.  (Original edition "F.D.R. My Exploited Father-In-Law", 1967 by Christian Crusade Publications, Tulsa, Oklahoma.)
*Dall, Curtis B. (1972). Amerikas Kriegspolitik - Roosevelt und seine Hintermänner. Tübingen, Germany: Grabert-Verlag. ISBN 3-87847-026-6.

==Further reading==
*The Franklin D Roosevelt Library at NARA has recently "...received correspondence between Curtis B. Dall, Anna Roosevelt's first husband, and the Roosevelt family, donated by his daughter Mary Dall Twichell...."<sup>[[#Footnotes 4|O]]</sup>
*The New York State Archives has 34 linear feet of the Anna Roosevelt papers.<sup>[[#Footnotes 4|P]]</sup>

==Footnotes==
===Footnotes 1===
* A &mdash; [http://scplweb.santacruzpl.org:2249/pqdweb?index=264&did=112922799&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1193206954&clientId=54310 Obituary, "Curtis B. Dall, Wed to F.D.R. Daughter In 20's Is Dead at 95"] in the ''The New York Times'', 2 Jul 1991, pg D18

* B &mdash; U.S. Federal Census Entries:
**[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=1900usfedcen%2c&rank=0&tips=0&gsfn=Curtis&gsln=Dall&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&sbor=&ufr=0&wp=4%3b_80000002%3b_80000003&srchb=r&prox=1&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&o_iid=21416&o_lid=21416&fh=0&recid=40228365&recoff=1+3 1900 of Montclair, Essex County, New Jersey] showing : "Charles A Dall 36 MD telephone [something]; Mary B 29 AZ; Curtis B 3 NY; Mary A 1 NJ; Mary MURPHY 44 servant Ireland; May MOORE 41 servant Scotland; Louise MOORE 14 servant NY"
**[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=1910USCenIndex%2c&rank=0&tips=0&gsfn=Curtis&gsln=Dall&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&sbor=&ufr=0&wp=4%3b_80000002%3b_80000003&srchb=r&prox=1&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&o_iid=21416&o_lid=21416&fh=0&recid=47928205&recoff=1+3 1910 Census of Piscataway, Middlesex County, New Jersey] showing : "Charles A Dall 42, Head, MD/MA/KY; Mary B Dall 36, Wife, AZ/ME/TN; Curtis B 14; Mary A 12; Clarence B BREECE 24, NJ, Help; Winthrop H MANGE 60, NJ, Help; Ellen KUZMA 16, Austria, Help"
*C &mdash; [http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&rank=0&gsfn=Curtis&gsln=Dall&sx=&f9=&f8=&f10=&f6=&f5=&f7=&f1=&f15=&f14=&f13=&f12=&f20=&f0=&prox=1&db=ssdi&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&fh=0&recid=15984999&recoff=1+2 Social Security Death Index] showing : "Curtis B Dall, born 24 Oct 1896, died 28 Jun 1991, SSN issued by New York, last resident Beaufort, Beaufort [County], South Carolina"

===Footnotes 2===
*D &mdash; [http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=22931380&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=8 ''The Post Standard'' (Syracuse, New York) 24 Jan 1926] : "Daughter of F.D. Roosevelt To Wed Banker" : "New York, Jan 23 (AP) &mdash; Franklin D. Roosevelt, former Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and Mrs. Roosevelt, tonight announced the engagement of their daughter, Anna Eleanor, to Curtis Bean Dall of this city.  The wedding is planned to take place at the Roosevelt home at Hyde Park, N.Y., on June 5.  Miss Roosevelt is now completing the short course in agriculture at Cornell University.  She made her debut in society last winter.  Mr. Dall, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Austin Dall, was a member of the 1920 class at Princeton University and is now with a banking firm in this city."
*E &mdash; [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/509263/Franklin-D-Roosevelt "Franklin Delano Roosevelt"] on Britannica Online Encyclopedia
*F &mdash; [http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=112404127&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=25 ''Kerrville Mountain Sun'', 15 Jan 1931], photograph of F.D.R. with his two grandchildren Anna and Curtis

===Footnotes 3===
*G &mdash; [http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=68688346&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=26 ''The Lethbridge Herald'', 14 Mar 1931], "Another Roosevelt, Possible President Of U.S."
*H &mdash; [http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=3579889&currentResult=3&src=search&firstvisit=true ''Oshkosh Daily Northwestern'' (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) 25 Feb 1933], page 7
*I &mdash; [http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=20712922&currentResult=2&src=search&firstvisit=true ''The Bee'' (Danville, Virginia), 11 Mar 1933], page 10

===Footnotes 4===
*M &mdash; Diamond, Sara. Roads to Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States, p 87 
*N &mdash; [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0595236995&id=584-3unXLocC&pg=PA217&lpg=PA217&dq=%22Curtis+B+Dall%22&sig=T7_KKgbIZvW9mZ8zlJdyeEoeoHA Richardson, Darcy G., A Nation Divided: The 1968 Presidential Campaign, p. 217] 
*O &mdash; [http://www.archives.gov/research/accessions/2006-quarter-3.html NARA Accessions, 3rd Quarter 2006]
*P &mdash; http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/research/res_topics_health_mh_recguide_hrrny_doc.shtml

==Other Primary documents==
*[http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=5787520&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=2 ''Charleston Daily Mail'', 27 Jun 1919] : "...The members of the party were joined today by Mr. Curtis Dall, a Princeton University man who recently returned from overseas after a year's service with the aviation corps overseas."
*[http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=35608542&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=21 ''Olean Evening Herald'', 24 Sep 1930] : "O'Brian, Potter in Alliance with New York Company" "...Curtis B Dall, New York Stock Exchange member, will become a general partner and represent Goodbody and Company on the floor of the Exchange."
*[http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=51486236&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=22 ''Syracuse Herald'', 5 Nov 1930], "Budget Takes Roosevelt's Time Again" "Governor Turns to Work After 'Slight Interruption' by Campaign" : "...About him were members of his family &mdash; his mother, Mrs. James Delano Roosevelt; his daughter Mrs. Curtis Dall and her husband...."
*[http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=6023172&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=19 ''Chronicle Telegram'', 2 Jul 1932], pg 7 "Democratic President Nominee and His Family" showing "Elliott Roosevelt and his wife, James Roosevelt and his wife, Mr and Mrs Curtis Dall, Mrs Franklin D Roosevelt, Mrs Sarah Delano Roosevelt, and Governor Roosevelt"
*[http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=11919233&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=3 ''The Mansfield News'' (Mansfield, Ohio), 27 Dec 1932], "Curtis Dall Plans to Resign Position: Son-in-law of Roosevelt to Quit Exchange Firm" : "New York, Dec 27 (AP) &mdash; Curtis B. Dall, son-in-law of President-elect Roosevelt, plans to retire as a partner in the New York stock exchange firm of Goodbody and company, Jan. 1, it has been learned in Wall street.  Mr Dall would not comment on his proposed withdrawal and declined to say anything concerning his future plans or whether he would continue as a member of the stock exchange.  He acquired his seat in February, 1930, shortly after his retirement from the former stock exchange firm of O'Brien, Potter and Stafford.  The latter, a Buffalo investment house, retired from the stock exchange and closed its New York office in 1930."
*[http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=5610848&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=29 ''Charleston Daily Mail'', 7 Feb 1933], "Curtis Dall, son-in-law of the President-elect, seeks membership on the New York cotton exchange. He has a stock exchange seat."
*[http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=5614578&currentResult=28&src=search&firstvisit=true ''Charleston Daily Mail'', 14 Feb 1933], "Cotton speculators get a psychological boost out of the fact that Curtis Dall &mdash; Roosevelt's son-in-law &mdash; has joined the cotton exchange.  They figure he must know something."
*[http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=70674714&currentResult=7&src=search&firstvisit=true ''San Antonio Express', 26 Feb 1933], "The Roosevelts &mdash; Just an Informal Family &mdash; 'Blue Bloods' But They Ban Snobbishness and the White House Latchstring Will Be Kept Out", by [[Lorena Hickok|Lorena A Hickok]], Associated Press Staff Writer
*[http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=1783324&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=16 ''Nevada State Journal'', 29 Mar 1933], "Curtis Dall Member of Chicago Board" "Chicago, March 28 (UP) &mdash; Curtis B Dall, President Roosevelt's son-in-law, became a member of the Chicago Board of Trade today.  The new trader was welcomed by Peter B Carey, president of the mart."
*Syracuse Herald, Jul 6, 1936. Picture of Curtis B Dall with his two children 
*Syracuse Herald Journal, Feb 2, 1968. Picture. Name filed for New Hampshire Presidential primary

==Secondary Sources==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_Bean_Dall "Curtis Bean Dall"] on Wikipedia
*[http://www.nps.gov/archive/elro/glossary/halstead-anna.htm "Anna Eleanor Roosevelt"], Biography on National Park Service website
*[http://trees.ancestry.com/owt/person.aspx?pid=15807542 "Curtis Bean Dall"] on OneWorldTree at Ancestry.com
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt "Franklin Delano Roosevelt"] on Wikipedia


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