Question of the Week: Do you have any politicians in your family tree? [closed]

Question

Do you have any ancestors who were politicians, or others in your family who went into politics? Please answer below or share the question image on social media.

Comments

A timely question.

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William Bibb..uncle 1st governor of Alabama

Thomas Bibb 4th great grandfather 2nd governor of Alabama.

Ex Supreme Court Justice  cousin

Have relatives still in politics small town mayors and other offices.

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My first cousin thrice removed is Gordon Thomas Sandison.  he was a Democrat Senator and also distinguished himself in the Second World War.

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Barack Obama is my 8th cousin through his maternal grandmother.

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William Bradford Govenor of Plymouth is my 9th great grandfather.  Martin Monroe Flint 1782 to 1855 was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives is my 3rd great grand father.

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JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN IS MY 8th COUSIN 7th VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES UNDER ANDREW JACKSON FROM 1825 TO 1832. HE WAS APPOINTED SECRETARY OF STATE BY PRESIDENT JOHN TYLER ON MARCH 6, 1844 AND SERVED UNTIL MARCH 10, 1845.

HE WAS BORN IN SOUTH CAROLINA  MARCH 18, 1782 AND PASSED MARCH 31, 1850 .HIS MOTHER MARTHA CALDWELL CALHOUN WAS THE SISTER OF MY GGG GRANDFATHER JOHN CALDWELL.

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There are numerous political figures in my family tree, but the closest to me is my paternal grandfather, William Brown, a member of the Indiana House of Representatives 1939-1940.

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Gov Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan is my sixth cousin once removed. Her great-grandfather and my grandmother were in same same class at Elkhart Institute (Elkhart IN).

Former Rep Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) is my fifth cousin once removed.

Former Rep Kevin Yoder (R-KS) is my sixth cousin twice removed.

My mother was a Hoover; Pres Herbert Hoover was her her tenth cousin once removed, my tenth cousin twice removed; however, President Hoover is my eighth cousin on my dad's side.

Pres Dwight Eisenhower is my eighth cousin thrice removed.

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Morgan Foster Larson (Larson-1879) was the 53rd governor of New Jersey.  He and I share a common ancestor: Neils Jeppesen Knudsen (1803-1849) (Knudsen-999).

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Yes, New Zealand Prime Minster- Jacinda Kate Laurell Arden, b. 1980

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Wilson Aylesbury Roberts, a cousin of my great, great, great grandfather, was MP for Bewdley in Worcestershire, England between 1818 and 1832.

He doesn't appear to have had a particularly distinguished career and as far I can make out he seems to have largely been canon fodder for the most reactionary elements of the notorious Tory administration of Lord Liverpool, including voting against a motion by George Tierney which censured the Peterloo Massacre of 1819.

Wilson Aylesbury Roberts's cousins - my great great great grandfather, Gregory Roberts and his older brother Rev James Roberts - gave evidence on opposite sides in the House of Lords enquiry on the Leigh Peerage case in the 1820s.  This was a scandalous case relating to whether evidence had been destroyed in the church where James had been curate that supported a claim on a Peerage held by a close friend of Jane Austen's (as well as slightly suspect allegations of murder).  I believe that Gregory's evidence, supporting the losing side in the case and effectively suggesting that his brother was guilty of perjury, may have been the reason for what appears to have been his financial ruin by the time of the 1841 census.

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Wilson Aylesbury Roberts, a cousin of my great, great, great grandfather, was MP for Bewdley in Worcestershire, England between 1818 and 1832.

He doesn't appear to have had a particularly distinguished career and as far I can make out he seems to have largely been canon fodder for the most reactionary elements of the notorious Tory administration of Lord Liverpool, including voting against a motion by George Tierney which censured the Peterloo Massacre of 1819.

Wilson Aylesbury Roberts's cousins - my great great great grandfather, Gregory Roberts and his older brother Rev James Roberts - gave evidence on opposite sides in the House of Lords enquiry on the Leigh Peerage case in the 1820s.  This was a scandalous case relating to whether evidence had been destroyed in the church where James had been curate that supported a claim on a Peerage held by a close friend of Jane Austen's (as well as slightly suspect allegations of murder).  I believe that Gregory's evidence, supporting the losing side in the case and effectively suggesting that his brother was guilty of perjury, may have been the reason for what appears to have been his financial ruin by the time of the 1841 census.

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John Wayne Olsen former Libral and Premier.

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This is very interesting and sad but we will get this from time to time with family trees.  I just love to come upon stories of our ancestors because in general there is so little.  If only we could go back in time and ask our grandfather and grandmother all those questions that now puzzle us.  So little pictures too in family trees.  I have been adding some.  I have lots more i could add about uncles and ants from their obituary, but not sure what to do.

Answer 1

United States Senator William Bliss Pine is my second cousin three time removed. He was nine years older than my grandmother.  His family and my paternal grandmother's family were well acquainted in Illinois. He moved to Oklahoma the same time as my grandmother, and they lived only five miles from each other. She often talked very highly about Senator William Pine.

Comments

Alexis what a good looking man thank you for sharing

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Susan thank you for your nice comment. I remember my grandmother talking about him, but I actually did not know much about him and my relationship until I started doing genealogy.

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Alexis,

You've had the most impressive pictures over the years.    Yet another one!

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Thank you Peggy for your lovely comment. Your father flying a helicopter in Vietnam has always made me remember you. My husband also flew a helicopter there.

Answer 2

I'm distantly related to Barry Goldwater [[Goldwater-17|Barry Goldwater]].  Third cousin 3x removed, on my father's side. That's the only one I know about.

Comments

And, not blood related, but my name twin (Lynn Hettrick) was a state senator in Nevada.  I get his emails sometimes.  He has a Ford truck that is scheduled for service.

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It's all in the family! Thanks for the laugh!

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That’s funny!

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Brilliant!

Answer 3

Not famous ones, but my dad was a state legislator for eight years and I was elected to the school board in my city for ten years.

Answer 4

My 5x great uncle Nedom Angier was mayor of Atlanta, Georgia from 1877 to 1879.

While not a politician herself, my 5x great aunt Dolly Tuttle Davis was married to Vermont governor Hiland Hall.

Some of my ancestors have also been involved in more local politics.

Answer 5

Nobody famous, but 2G Uncle David McIntosh did serve as Mayor of Quincy, MA from 1952 - 1953.

Answer 6

Rumors say that the unknown father of my mother was a well-known politician in North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin.
Since nobody knows the name, I unfortunately have to pass on this question.

Otherwise there were only some local politicians in my family as mayors in smaller villages.

Answer 7

My great-great grandfather Michel Auger was a member of the House of Commons, but I just used him to answer the "bearded" question. Fortunately I have more than one great-great grandfather. Francis Kittell was Surveyor of Highways for Hancock, Massachusetts, at least in 1842. I don't imagine there were very many highways to survey, but an ancestor is an ancestor.

Answer 8

My wife and I both do. Her grandfather, Wm. H. Ireland, was the Mayor of Trenton, Ontario from 1917 to 1919, and an Ontario MPP (Member of Provincial Parliament) from 1919 to 1934. And my great-grandfather, Robt. H. Cameron, served five one-year terms as Controller on Toronto's Board of Control between 1916 and 1924. (He also made a couple of unsuccessful bids for the mayoralty.)

Answer 9

I have a great uncle who was an MP in the Scottish parliament. I have learned nothing of his politics to date... maybe for the best!

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cowan-3417

Comments

MP in the UK parliament I reckon, representing a constituency in Edinburgh.  The devolved Scottish Parliament did not come back into being until 1999, currently with the SNP in power with an agenda for independence again.

Answer 10

President James Garfield and Kitty Cooper-1 Smith are 6th cousins five times removed.  I lived in an apartment attached to his house in Mentor, Ohio during my grade school years because my dad was the museum curator.

Here is a great book about this wonderful President, "Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President"  by Candice Millard. (https://www.amazon.com/Destiny-Republic-Madness-Medicine-President/dp/0767929713/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=President+Garfield&qid=1604372981&sr=8-2)

Answer 11

My 2nd great-aunt Nina Handy Merryman was one of the first two women to run for town council in Bladensburg, Maryland, in 1932; my 4th great-uncle William H. Bright was a member of the Wyoming territorial legislature (and introduced Wyoming's women's suffrage bill, which was the first to pass in the United States).

Answer 12

My direct English family forebears were practically all Politicians starting from   Thomas Harley (abt. 1548 - 1631) https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Harley-23 ;  Robert Harley MP (bef. 1579 - bef. 1656) https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Harley-22;  Edward Harley KB MP (bef. 1624 - 1700) https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Harley-21;   Robert Harley KG MP (1661-1724)  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Harley-20;  Edward Harley MP (bef. 1689 - 1741) https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Harley-359;  

Edward Harley's daughter, Margaret Cavendish Harley  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Harley-358 married William Bentinck.  Their son William Henry Cavendish (Bentinck) Cavendish-Bentinck (1738 - 1809)  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bentinck-24 

 was the 14th Prime Minister of England. 

As a bibliophile, I am more interested in the fact that the Harleys created the Harleian Library which is a wonderful source of all things genealogical.   

Linda

Answer 13

William Jones, 8th governor of Rhode Island, is my 5th-great-granduncle.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Jones-699

Answer 14

Thomas Greene colonial govenor of Maryland is an ancestor, 9th great grandfather in my mother's line.

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Greene-398

Judge Edmund Pendleton, his likeness hangs in the courthouse in Williamsburg, was a great great etc. Uncle on both sides of my family. (Oops. It happens.) He was speaker at one time in the continental congress in Philadelphia. His vote was considered essential to the cause of independence.

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Pendleton-666

John Motley Morehead is (?) a first cousin five times removed. He was the son of Obedience Motley, daughter of Joseph and Martha Ellington Motley, ancestors of Emily France Motley Blair, my great grandmother on my mother's side. The 29th governor of North Carolina, he voted against secession, and later served in the confederate congress.

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Morehead-324

Answer 15

It is "way back when".

My 16th great grandmother, Constance of the "naughty lyf" (Stokes-3673) was married 4 times. 3 of her 4 husbands were Members of Parliament in the late 14th century:

* Henry de Percy Percy-755

* Philip FitzWarin FitzWarin-73

* Henry de la Riviere Riviere-108

Her grandaughter's husband was an MP for several Parliaments in the early 15th century:

*John Battiscombe Battiscombe-13

My 13th great grandfather,John Brooke Brooke-2406, was serjeant-at-law to Henry VIII, and Justice of Assize for the western part of England.

His son, David Brooke Broke-22 , was recorder (senior judge) of Bristol from 1541 to 1549, and Member of Parliament from 1542 to 1544. In 1547 he was made serjeant-at-law, and in 1551 he was appointed king's serjeant. In 1553 he became lord chief baron of the exchequer.

Answer 16

I have 2 relatives I would like to share. 

According to the obituary of my 4x Great Grandfather, George F. Powers. His father Talbot Powers was a member of the NYS Assembly.

I also have a 1st Cousin 7x removed named Daniel Hugunin Jr.. He was a member of the House of Representatives from New York's 20th Congressional District. He served in the House from 1825 to 1827 as a National Republican, or "Anti-Jacksonian". He was also a POW during the War of 1812.

He would later be appointed as the US Marshal of the Wisconsin territory by President William Henry Harrison on March 15th, 1841.

Answer 17

I have only one - my 2nd cousin 5x removed President Lincoln.  However, I have a number of ancestors whose names were on voter rolls in the late 18th century (haha).

Answer 18

Two of my maternal great-great grandfathers were Aldermen on a Municipal Council (one was Mayor thrice) and both were Magistrates.

One of my great-great-great grandfathers, Stephen Scholey, was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (1872-1878) for the colony of New South Wales. (He died in service.) He was also President of the District Council where he last lived.

My paternal grandmother's eldest brother, Ernest Edward Judd (1883-1959) was a notorious socialist and publisher who stood for Parliament several times.

I have several more ancient ancestors who were Members of Parliament at Westminster and also in Scotland.

Answer 19

My 2nd GGUncle Maj Gen Henry Fetter 1794-1863 of Perry Co PA became a PA State Senator:

1856-09-04 American Volunteer p 2:
Gen Henry Fetter of Landisburg, Perry Co, received the unanimous nomination at the Democratic Convention of Perry Co for the office of state senator.
Delegates of Cumberland Co conceded to the candidate from Perry Co, so he is the District candidate.
We have known Gen Fetter for many years and a more honorable and worthy man cannot be found in the district.  He has always been distinguished for his sterling integrity of character, intelligence, and sound democracy.
That he will be elected triumphantly, we entertain no doubt whatever, and that he will make a most worthy and intelligent member of the Senate, no one can doubt who knows him.

1856-09-04 American Volunteer p 2:
Gen Henry Fetter on the democratic county ticket for Senator from Perry Co
along with James Buchanan for President of US & John C Breckenridge for VP of US

1856-10-16 American Volunteer p 2:
Our Senatorial District
The vote for Senator in Perry Co is close, but the majority we give Gen Fetter in this county, secures the election by from 150 to 200 majority.  We sincerely rejoice at this glorious result, as Gen F is a worthy & deserving man.

1856-10-22 Carlisle Herald p 2:
The aggregate for each candidate:
State Senate:
 Kirk Haines (Union)              2942
Henry Fetter (Democratic)     3259
    ____
MAJORITY FOR FETTER       317

1856-10-23 American Volunteer p 2:
Official vote returns by city & District
Henry Fetter Senator

Nov 1856 - -- Fetter elected State Senator of Perry Co (HIST OF PERRY CO, Silas Wright, 1873, p. 224).

1857 - Henry Fetter listed as State Senator.   He was elected this year for one term.   (Obituary & HIST OF PERRY CO, H. H. Hain, 1922, p. 450).

1857-08-27 American Volunteer p 3 (in more news issues):
State Senate Votes on PA Constitution Amendments
Showing Sen Henry Fetter's Yea votes which approved two amendments
27 Mar 1857

1857-59 - Henry Fetter represented Cumberland & Perry Counties in PA Senate (HOPPER).

1856-1858 - Henry Fetter, State Senator
(HIST OF CUMBERLAND AND ADAMS CO, 1886, Part II  p. 187; History of Cumberland Co PA, Conway P.  Wing, 1879,  p. 123, referenced in American Genealogical-Biographical Index)

1858 - Lists Henry Fetter as a State Senator and on the State Committees of Finance, Militia, New Counties and County Seats, and another committee.   (A MANUAL FOR THE GOVT OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REP OF COMMONWEALTH OF PA, J. Ziegler, 1858, p . 298 & 300).

1858-01-14 American Volunteer p 3:
PA State Senate votes for a Speaker
Sen Henry Fetter voted for Sen Wm H Welch who won

1858-01-21 American Volunteer p 2:
State Senate Committee Members:
Sen Fetter on Finance, Militia, New Counties & County Seats

1858-04-21 Carlisle Herald p 2:
Our thanks are due to Gen Fetter of the Senate and to M. Stuart of the House for copies of the "Legislative Record."

1859-61 - PA State Senator (HIST OF CUMB CO, Beers & Co, 1886, p. 137).
Henry Fetter, State Senator; James L. Diven, Prothonotary; Zachariah Rice, Commissioner (A HIST OF JUNIATA VALLEY, Nat Hist Assn, 1936, v. I, p. 134).

Answer 20

John F.X. Davoren, secretary of state of Massachusetts and state representative for many years.  i have a beautiful photo of him walking down the Main Street of my home town of Milford, MA with JFK!  He was my first cousin 2 X’s removed.