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

Donn M. Roberts, my great-grandfather, was mayor of Terre Haute, Indiana, 1913 - 1915

Answer 2

I have a few in my tree - my 11x Great Grandfather was Sir Henry Vane (the Elder) who was Treasurer of Charles I household, MP for various places, a Privy Councillor, Commissioner of the Admiralty and finally Secretary of State for Charles I before losing his positions and joining the Parliamentary cause. His son (my 11x Great Uncle) Henry Vane (the Younger) was the 6th Governor of Massachusetts before returning to England where he became a senior member of the Council of State during the Interregnum. He served as Treasurer of the Navy and was a close ally of John Pym and Cromwell (until they fell out). He was executed by Charles II after the Restoration. My 10x Great Uncle was Richard Tew who settled in Middletown, Rhode Island in the early 1600's and served on the General Assembly. His son, Henry became the colony's Deputy Governor.

Answer 3

My grandfather, Walter B. Mellen, was a State Senator from Massachusetts in 1902 representing the  Brookfield, Massachusetts area.    He was also in town politics at Brookfield.

Answer 4

I do. I just checked the articles from this week. One of my distant relatives in Minnesota was reelected into the State House of Representatives.

Answer 5

David Russell Lange, Order of New Zealand (Lange-1237) is my 2nd cousin once removed. David was the 32nd Prime Minister of New Zealand 1984 to 1989.  Our shared ancestor is William Walker b. c1832 in Nottingham, England.

Answer 6

My paternal grandfather, Clyde Thomas Fuller, served in local elected positions for about thirty years: justice of the peace, magistrate and active in the Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE) where he served many positions including president and Illinois state chaplain. Clyde was often called "Judge Fuller".

Answer 7

Many!

Governors, state supreme court justices, federal treasury secretaries and members of presidential cabinet members. List also contains the father of the personal income tax in the United States, Beardsley Ruml (a distant cousin, please throw money, not eggs ).

Answer 8

My grandfather John A Wilson was an orchardist in Peshastin, Chelan County, Washington. He was appointed to serve the rest of a vacant term on the Chelan County Board of Commissioners in the late 1920's, and was re-elected to another term in the early 30's.

Answer 9

Estes Kefauver, U.S. Senator is my 4th cousin 4 times removed.

Answer 10

My maternal 2nd great grandfather (George Walton White, Sr.) served in the Texas Legislature from 1/8/1889 to 1/13/1891 (House, 21st Legislature) and 1/13/1891 to 1/10/1893 (House, 22nd Legislature).

Comments

I have many politicians in my tree. However, I thought this weeks politician next to be roasted is probably Rudy Giuliani . I felt he should be mentioned because unfortunately, he had hair die dripping down his face during the press conference . Poor guy!!! I’m sure Rudy will be roasted pretty bad in next weeks “Saturday Night Live.”

Answer 11

My husband’s grandfather was the mayor of Augusta, Kansas, a small town in Kansas near Wichita.

Answer 12

I am related to the Bush's .

Answer 13

I am a politician myself, but only local , in our community ! since 1988,

Answer 14

Not that I am aware of in my direct family. However my great aunt Dulcie May Paltridge (nee Exton) had a rather scandalous affair with a politician in the 1950's. Her husband John Norman Paltridge had been killed in WW2. The politician must have been married as they kept things low key, but I think they got caught out having an intimate dinner somewhere in Wellington. I was very fond of aunt Dulcie and asked her several times to tell me more details. She never did, and kept those secrets to her grave.

Answer 15

[[Becker-3048|Philip Becker (1830-1898)]] is my first cousin, 4 times removed.  He was Buffalo, New York's first German mayor.