By connecting your family tree to the giant family tree on Family Search . com you can see how you’re related to all sorts of famous people from history. Some of the connections are iffy, but I found several that seem likely, including more than 2 dozen US presidents: Twenty one are via the Starr side, the rest are via the Carroll side. The connections to JFK and Martin Van Buren are via a Susan Stanley, and a connection to William Harrison via a Sarah Scott lack evidence so far. That still leaves quite a few though.
To understand the denoted relationships here’s a little refresher on the terminology of cousin: Abe Lincoln is my 6th cousin, 6 times removed. That means:
A 6th cousin 6x removed means we share a common ancestor 7 generations back (6 “greats” + 1), but we are separated by six generations in my own lineage from that ancestor’s generation, so he’s my great-great-great-great-great-grandparent’s 6th cousin. The first number (6th) identifies the degree of cousinship based on generations to the shared ancestor, while the “removed” number (6x) shows the difference in generations between you and that cousin.
So a more recent president, say Lyndon B Johnson, is my 7th cousin only once removed because he is just one generation back from me (he died in 73 when I was 5). So the removed part is much less. But the cousin bit is further apart; the distance between our common ancestor is one more step away.
Although Presidents Lyndon and Andrew Johnson aren’t generally considered related, my family tree connects to both via the same set of grandparents, Ambrose Holt and Barbara Estes. Lyndon was related via Barbara Estes, Andrew via Ambrose Holt. Ambrose was born in 1725 in Henry, Virginia and married Barbara Estes in 1750 there. His father was Plunkett Harraway Holt from Rappahannock, Virginia. In 1685 Plunkett Holt sold 620 acres of land in Virginia for 1600 pounds of tobacco. Plunkett Holt was named for his mother’s family. His mother was Margaret Plunkett, daughter of Sir Thomas Alexander Plunkett of Rathmore. The Lord of Rathmore was born in 1610 in Rathmore, Meath, Ireland and died in Barbados in 1684 just 3 days after arriving in the Americas. Thomas’s father was Alexander Plunkett, also Lord of Rathmore and his mother was Anne Dillon, daughter of Lady Jane Bathe and Sir Lucas Dillon, Chief Baron of the Exchequer of Ireland. Sir Lucas was a barrister and Judge of the Elizabethean era who was also the Attorney General and was knighted by Sir Henry Sidney, the Lord Deputy of Ireland. They are my 12x great grandparents and the common ancestors we share with President Andrew Johnson. Their daughter, Genet Dillon, married Sir Christopher Plunkett and they are the 7x great grandparents of President Andrew Johnson.
My closest presidential cousin is James Madison, my 3rd cousin 8x removed. We’re related on my mother’s side. My Mom’s maternal grandfather was Elmer Radcliff, but Elmer’s biological father was John Phillips. Following his line up to the Killians, the Sales, the Miller to the Gaines we have a common ancestor named Daniel Gaines. Daniel and his wife Margaret Bernard had daughters Margaret and Mary. Margaret is my 9x great grandmother while Mary is James Madison’s great grandmother, making him a 3rd cousin to my line, 8 generations back from me.
John Adams is also my 3rd cousin, but 10x removed. We’re related on my father’s side via my paternal great grandmother Ina Holden’s maternal side, the Websters. You follow the Websters to the Babcock’s to Anne Crane to Ruth Waldo who is the daughter of Rebeckah Adams. Rebeckah was the daughter of Captain Sam Adams who was the son of Henry Adams and Edith Squire. Sam’s brother Joseph Adams is President John Adams’s great grandfather.
Obviously if I’m related to John Adams I’m also related to his son John Quincy Adams, but I’m also related to John Quincy Adams through his mother via my mother. He’s my 4th cousin no matter which way you figure it. Via my maternal grandfather’s mother’s family- the Taylors– you follow that up the Finch’s to Mary Rundle who is the daughter of John Randoll and Ann Goldstone. Ann’s first husband was Henry Bright and they had a daughter named Beriah Bright. Beriah, my 9x great grandfather William Randoll’s half sister is the grandmother of Reverand William Smith who is the father of John Adam’s wife Abigail, mother of President John Quincy Adams.
Here’s where it gets a little weird. My husband Chris and I have a common ancestor, yes we’re technically cousins, 10th cousins. Our common ancestor is Isaac Finch. And since I’m related to John Quincy Adams via Isaac Finch, so is Chris and so our son, CJ is related to John Quincy via both of us. Interestingly, the Isaac Finch line also leads up to connections with King Edward IV Plantagenet, the House of York and King Henri of Capet.
Richard Nixon also connects to my tree via the Finch’s. James Finch, my 6x great grandfather married Sarah Jane Records in 1761 probably in Delaware. Sarah Jane’s parents were John Records Sr and Ann Callaway of Somerset, Maryland. They are my 7x great grandparents and the common ancestors we share with President Richard Nixon. Their daughter Margaret Records Hussey was President Nixon’s 5x great grandmother.
My connection to George Washington comes through the Radcliff line, which is my maternal great grandfather’s step father, Lloyd Radcliff. Lloyd raised Elmer and Elmer took his name and Lloyd was the only father Elmer knew. Lloyd’s father Jerome came to McLean County Illinois from what is now West Virginia about 1858. His mother was a Copeland/ Coplin. The spelling of the last name was changed by Benjamin Copeland when he went west into what is now West Virginia. This line of Coplin’s were confederates during the civil war. Prior to that the Copelands lived in Isle of Wight County off the James River not far from where I lived in Newport News, Virginia. Joseph Copeland married Mary Woodley who was born in Saint Thomas, Barbados, her grandfather Nicholas Goddard had come to the island from Somerset England with his brothers. He was a slave owner, his will listing “38 negroes”. Andrew Reade Jr also came to Barbados from England in 1600. His father, Sir Andrew Reade of Linkenholt, Hampshire England is the common ancestor of President George Washington. While Andrew went to Barbados, his brother Robert stayed in England while his son, George ventured to America and founded Yorktown.
My connection to Andrew Jackson is also a step-father connection, My paternal grandmother’s mother- Grandma Hounihan’s maternal grandfather was Edwin Hoots. His mother, Clarissa Wishon divorced Henry Hoots in 1867 and married William Jackson in 1868. You have to follow his family line of Jackson men all the way back 9 generations to Sir Anthony Todd Jackson, a knight who was born in Killingsgrave, Yorkshire, England in 1535 to find the common ancestor between his line and that of President Andrew Jackson.
This same Jackson line is how we get to Zachary Taylor, so that is also a step-father relation. Through this line we get all the way back to Isaac Allerton, a passenger on the Mayflower who turned out to be a rather shady businessman who was banished from the Plymouth Colony and ended up in New Amsterdam (current day Manhattan) and New Haven.
We get to Millard Fillmore via my 5x great grandfather Justus Billings‘ line. Justus was born in Somers Connecticut and moved to West Leydon, NY where we visited his grave this past summer. His son Amos moved from NY to Kirkwood, Illinois in 1864. Justus’s mother was a Bingham. Thomas Bingham came to Connecticut from Sheffield, England in 1659. There he married Mary Rudd who was born in Saybrook, Connecticut. Her father, Jonathan Rudd came to the Saybrook Colony after it was established in 1635 at the mouth of the Connecticut River. Mary’s brother, Nathaniel, is Millard Fillmore’s 3x great grandfather.
One step back and Thomas Bingham and Mary Rudd are the common ancestors we share with President Ronald Reagan. Abel Bingham’s brother Nathaniel is President Ronald Reagan’s 6x great grandfather.
Another presidential cousin found by way of the Billings line is FDR. Justus Billings’ wife was Sarah Allis, daughter of Esther Dwight, also from Somers Connecticut. Esther’s father, Seth, descends from Timothy Dwight who came to Northampton from Dedham England in 1634. Seth’s mother Mary Lyman was born in Northhampton in 1696, daughter of John Lyman, an inn-keeper for 53 years at Southhampton who was the son of Lieut. John Lyman and Dorcas Plumbe, my 10x great grandparents and the common ancestors of FDR and my tree. John Jr.’s brother, Benjamin Lyman, is FDR’s 4x great grandfather. The Lyman family were from High Ongar, Essex, England. They sailed from Bristol in 1631 on the ship “Lion”, landing in Boston. They first settled in Charleston and, after becoming a freeman in 1635, moved to Hartford.
There is another presidential cousin via the Billings line: William Howard Taft. Sarah Billing’s father was John Allis, a farmer in Somer, Connecticut who was a soldier in the French and Indian War, son of Reverend Samuel Billings and his wife Hannah (Sheldon) Billings. Rev Sam Allis graduated Harvard 1724 with honors and was then a schoolmaster at Northhampton Mass until becoming a minister of East Enfield (Somers CT) in 1727. He retired to a farm there, dying at age 91. His wife Hannah’s mother was also called Hannah, Hannah Chapin, wife of John Shedon and daughter of Japhat Chapin. Japhat lived in Milford Connecticut and fought in a battle with indigenous Americans at Turners Falls in 1676. He was a deacon in Springfield, son of Deacon Samuel Chapin of Springfield, our common ancestor with William Howard Taft. There is a statue of Deacon Chapin in Springfield Massachusetts. He immigrated from Paignton, Devon, England in 1635 to escape religious persecution, first settling in Roxbury MA before helping to found a site in 1642 they called Agawam which is modern day Springfield, MA. The statue of him is called “The Puritan”. There is also a book about him called “Life of Deacon Samuel Chapin of Springfield”. So my 10x great grandfather, Samuel Chapin, is President Taft’s 6x great grandfather.
The path to Rutherford B Hayes goes through the Holden line, my paternal great grandmother Ina Holden Starr’s family. In fact many of the presidential links start here. You can read the history of that line going back to my 3x great grandfather Charles Conde Holden here. Charles’ father Lorenzo was born in Vermont in 1798 and died in Schenectady County, NY in 1832 after being caught in a blast while building the Harlem railway. Lorenzo’s father was Philemon Holden Jr, who moved to Vermont from Shirley, Massachusetts. His mother, Lucy Walker is the great granddaughter of Thomas Chandler, the common ancestor we share with Rutherford B Hayes. Thomas Chandler came to America about 1637 with his father and siblings. He was a blacksmith in Andover, Massachusetts. He served in the militia and in 1692 testified against Samuel Wardwell in the Salem witch trials, after which Wardwell was hung. Thomas is President Rutherford B. Hayes’ 4x great grandfather.
Benjamin Harrison connects to the Holden line via Thomas Chandler’s father, William Chandler and his wife Ann Bayford. Thomas’s sister Sarah Chandler is President Harrison’s 5x great grandmother. Which means my 10x great grandfather, William Chandler is the direct line great grandfather of 2 different United States Presidents.
President Franklin Pierce connects to our family through Philemon Holden also. Philemon’s wife Hudah Davis’s father was Sgt John Davis. Davis served both in the Revolutionary War and the French War, after which he moved from Shirley, Massachusetts to Reading, Vermont. John’s maternal family had been in Middlesex County since her grandfather Joseph Parker immigrated from Great Burstead, Essex, England around 1653. It’s Joseph’s father, John Parker that is the common ancestor we share with President Pierce. He’s my 10th great grandfather. His son Jacob is Franklin Pierce’s 3x great grandfather.
Thomas Jefferson’s link to our family also originates in the Holden line. Like Franklin Pierce we go through Sgt John Davis, but this time we stay in the male line and follow it all the way back to Dolor Davis who was born in 1599 in East Farleigh, Kent, England. He came to Massachusetts Bay in 1634, first settling in Cambridge and ended up in Barnstable. He was a house carpenter. He married Margary Willard back in England. She was the daughter of Margary Humphrey Willard, daughter of Thomas Raynold Humphrey of Sulgrave, Northamptonshire, England, my 12x great grandfather. Thomas was married twice, having my 11x great grandmother Margary Humphrey with Elizabeth Waterman and then having Margaret Mary Humphrey with Katherine Buckhurst. Margaret Mary is President Thomas Jefferson’s 4x great grandmother.
Calvin Coolidge also connect to our family via the Holden line. Philemon Holden Sr.’s father and grandfather were both called Stephen Holden and lived in Groton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The Elder Stephen married Hannah Lawrence in Groton about 1690. Hannah was the daughter of Nathaniel Lawrence, a native of Watertown who moved to Groton as an adult, worked as a farmer and later a deacon. Groton was repeatedly attacked by the indigenous tribes so for a time they moved to garrisons, but eventually returned.This Nathaniel Lawrence is my 9x great grandfather. Nathaniel’s son Nathaniel Jr is Calvin Coolidge’s 3x great grandfather.
Herbert Hoover can also be found on the Holden family line via Stephen Holden’s wife Hannah Sawtell. Hannah’s father was Obadiah Sawtell from Watertown, Massachusetts, a selectman in 1694 at Groton. Obadiah is the son of Richard and Elizabeth Sawtell who arrived in Massachusetts in 1636 from Somerset, England. They are my 9x great grandparents and a common ancestor of President Herbert Hoover and our tree. Obadiah’s sister Hannah Sawtell Winn is Herbert Hoover’s 6x great grandmother.
There is yet another presidential cousin via the Holden line, President James Garfield connects to my tree via Lorenzo Holden’s wife Tamar Towne. Tamar’s mother, Elizabeth, was born a Sibley in Sutton, Massachusetts in 1777. Her great grandfather, Joseph Sibley Jr. was born and died in Sutton as did Joseph Sibley the 3rd and 4th. Joseph Jr married Elizabeth Boutwell in 1707 in Lynn, Massachusetts. Elizabeth is the daughter of Capt John Irving Boutwell, son of James Boutell and Alice Lyng, my 10x great grandparents and the common ancestor of James Garfield and our tree. James arrived in Massachusetts by 1632. John’s sister Sarah Boutwell Thompson is President Garfield’s 4x great grandmother.
The last presidential cousin on the Holden line is James Buchanan. For this you have to go waaay back, beyond the Holdens and the Chandlers to William Chandler’s wife Annis Bayford’s Great grandfather Reverend Thomas George Alcock, my 13x great grandfather, born in 1500 Warwickshire, England. He and his wife, Lady Mary Ann Jarvis Alcock’s son Rev. George Alcock is President James Buchanan’s 7x great grandfather.
President John Tyler connect to Grandma Ina (Holden) Starr, but not through the Holden’s but through her mother, Grace Webster. Grace’s mother was Susan Longwell, daughter of James Longwell a farmer from Urbana, Steuben County, New York. James’ mother was Sarah Maria Carver, the 10th of Timothy and Phoebe Carver’s 15 children, all raised in Putnam County New York. Timothy Jr had come to New York from Massachusetts with his parents, Timothy Sr and Rebecka Washburn as a child in 1757 from Bridgewater, Plymouth County Massachusetts. Rebecka was born in New Milford, Connecticut, a place we visited last summer because it’s also an inspiration for the television program, The Gilmore Girls. The town is also the home of another line of our ancestors, the Griswold’s. Rebecka’s mother was Mary Patience Miles who married blacksmith Ebenezer Washborn in 1721 in New Milford. Mary’s parents were Stephen Miles and Patience Wheeler of New Haven, Connecticut. Stephen’s mother was Hannah Wilmot, born in 1645 in New Haven to Benjamin (Jr) and Elizabeth (Tenney) Wilmot. Benjamin Wilmot Sr and his wife Ann Ladd are my 12x great grandparents our common ancestors with President John Tyler. Benjamin “Old Goodman” Wilmot immigrated from England around 1641-45. He’s first mentioned in New Haven records in 1646 as “old Goodman Wilmott”. They weren’t wealthy, as they are on record asking their son be released from his training to help provide for him and his wife when they were too old to work. Their daughter Ann is President Tyler’s 4x great grandparents.
Theodore Roosevelt also connects via Susan Longwell, but this time via her mother, Mary Catherine Woodruff. Mary was the daughter of Benjamin Woodruff, who came to Stueben County New York from Union, New Jersey around 1815 and Julia Rowley. They farmed there until Benjamin died in 1869. Julia’s parents were William Penn Rowley and Martha Thrall from Hartford, Connecticut- farmers also who moved to Broome, NY shortly after the turn of the century. William had fought in the Revolutionary War as did his father, Nathan. Nathan’s mother, parents were Simeon Rowley and Christiana Howard of Connecticut whose will was written up by Martin Van Buren Esquire. Simeon Rowley was a petitioner to the first state legislature in NY City in February 1784, complaining about how the state had taken their land that they had purchased from indigenous tribesmen. Christiana Howard was the daughter of John Howard and Hannah Smith from Hartford County, Connecticut. Hannah was born in 1708 in East Haddam, Middlesex, Connecticut to John Smith and Elizabeth Kinerd. John Smith was the son of John Dickszen Smith and Catalina Clopper. John Dickszen Smith and his wife were both born in New Amsterdam, what is now New York City to Dutch parents who immigrated from the Netherlands around 1650. Cornelius Jansen Clopper was living in New York as early as 1652, he set up his blacksmith shop on the corner of what is now Maiden Lane and Pearl Street where people from Long Island entered the city. He built a very successful business there. Cornelius and his wife, Heijltje Pietersz, are my 12x great grandparents and the mutual ancestors of my tree and Theodore Roosevelt. Their daughter Margarita was Teddy Roosevelt’s 4x great grandmother.
Ulysses S. Grant is a presidential cousin via my 2nd great grandmother Almeda Florence Noakes Starr. Almeda’s mother was Minerva Wilcox, daughter of Henry Wilcox. Henry was born in Stonington, New London, Connecticut. We went past Stonington when we went to the Mystic Seaport Museum this last summer. Henry came west to Kirkwood Illinois via Posey Indiana around 1833. His mother was Sabra Palmer, also from Stonington CT. Her father, Jonathon Wyatt Palmer had received from his father, William Palmer Jr, 50 acres of land in Stonington for 5 pounds in 1773. William Sr. had received 325 acres from his father Gershom in 1718. William Sr. married Grace Miner in 1701. Grace was the daughter of Ephraim Miner and Hannah Avery of Stonington. Ephraim was baptized in Hingham, Plymouth Massachusetts in 1642. He served in King Philip’s War and married the daughter of Captain James Avery in 1666 in New London Connecticut. He was one of the nine that began the First Church of Stonington. His father, Thomas was baptised in 1608 in Chew Magna, Somersetshire, England. He immigrated in 1632, admitted to the church in Charlestown in Nov of 1632, moving to Hingham in 1636. He and his wife, Grace Frances Palmer, are my 10x great grandparents the common ancestor of my tree and President Ulysses S. Grant. Their son, John, is President Grant’s 4x great grandparents. President Grant’s grandfather was the first in that line to venture west to Kentucky and President Grant was born in what is now Ohio in 1822.
James Monroe also connects via the Wilcox family. Henry Wilcox’s grandmother was Hannah Elizabeth Wilbore/ Wilbur. Hannah married Daniel Wilcox in Richmond Rhode Island in 1761. Her father and grandfather Samuel and William Wilbur Jr were born and died in Newport County Rhode Island. William Wilbore Sr was born in Braintree, Essex, England in 1630 and worked as a weaver. He married there in England and after coming to America around 1653 served in the colonial legislature in 1672 and 1678 even though he was illiterate. William’s father was Samuel Wilbore also immigrated to America. He came in 1633 and died in 1656 in Boston. Samuel’s mother was Elizabeth Thickines from Black Notley, Essex, England, the daughter of the poet Sir John Alexander Harrington, Lord of Kelston and Isabella Awdrey Ethelreda Markham. Isabella was a courtier, a gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber of Queen Elizabeth I of England. She was a muse to her husband and Thomas Palfreyman dedicated his Divine Meditations to her in 1572. Sir John the poet’s father was Sir John Alexander Harrington, 1st Earl of Rutland, an Knight and Minister of Parliament. He and his wife Elizabeth Morton were my 13x great grandparents and the common ancestors we share with President James Monroe. Their son James Harrington also was the Earl of Rutland and and a minister of Parliament and the 6x great grandfather of President Monroe.
We find our way to Dwight D Eisenhower via my maternal grandmother’s grandmother, Grandma Hendricks born in Estill Kentucky. Nancy Hatton Hendrick’s Grandmother was Sally Barnes, daughter of Edward Barnes. Edward moved to Estille Kentucky from Wilkes North Carolina about the turn of the century. His mother was Lydia Isabella Teague, born in 1750 in Frederick County, Colonial Virginia to Reverend Edward Teague and Lurannah Van Sweringten. Reverend Teague founded the first Baptist Church in Alexander County North Carolina. His mother was Isabella Loftin, daughter of William Abel Loftin/Laughton of Baltimore, Maryland. William was born in Lehigh County Pennsylvania where his parents immigrated to from Kent, England in 1637. Leonard’s mother was Mary Wyfold Lambert Gates of London, England. Mary’s mother was the common ancestor we share with President Eisenhower, Mary Josselyn Gates. Mary first married John Wyfold who fathered Mary, and then she married Peter Gates who fathered Eustace Gates, the 8x great grandfather of Dwight D. Eisenhower.
These presidential cousins can’t be validated:
