[3] His relatives frowned upon a mechanical occupation, but when he began to make money, his family was reassured.

He took out the first patent in the United States for an electric action for the pipe organ when he was 20, and built the first electric action organ in the United States[4] for the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition.

Though primarily interested in the technical aspects, he had a good deal of business acumen as well, establishing factories in New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore.

Roosevelt was also widely known among electricians for inventing several details of the telephone including the automatic switch-hook,[5] for which he received royalties for many years (even though Thomas A. Watson claimed to be the first[6][7]), and held an interest in the Bell Telephone Company.

He died at his home in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan at the age of 37 on December 30, 1886.