Teddy Roosevelt was good friends with Florence Bayard Lockwood LaFarge and her husband, the noted architect Christopher Grand LaFarge. She was the daughter of Benoni Lockwood IV and Florence Bayard.

She and Roosevelt shared a decades-long correspondence, inspired by their shared reading interests. He also visited the LaFarges in Rhode Island.

from the library's website:

"While she may have entertained the President, she also was wrapped up in the life of the village and was constantly working to help those around her. She was a true environmentalist and her garden was of tremendous importance to her. Boxwood hedges, holly trees, yews, and a brick walk are still in evidence today. An indication of her interest in the year-round community was her strong support of the library. In her comments on finding people and funds to help the organization one gets a sense of ‘the power behind the throne.’ Other evidence is in her espousal of a Boy Scout troop for the youth of the village and her serving on a group to handle the beach which the Misses Carpenter had given for the use of the residents."