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 tell us in an answer below. You can also answer on Facebook or share the question image on social media.

Answer 1

I have done advocacy work and lobbying on the state level in Massachusetts and served on city commissions as appointed by the mayors.

My brother was elected to school committee and board of selectmen.

My 4th great grandfather Noah Read-7325 was elected to board of selectmen and to represent Windham at the state assembly when Maine chose to separate from Massachusetts.

My 5th great grandfather Samuel Whittemore-313 was councilman and moderator in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was elected to represent Cambridge through the Committee of Correspondence.

My 10th great grandfather Thomas Dudley-129 was Governor of Massachusetts.

My 10 th great grandfather Nicholas Easton-171  was Governor of Rhode Island.

Many others among my ancestors were elected as town officials.

I am 3rd cousin 6x removed to Abigail Quincy Smith Adams.

I am 5th cousin 4x removed to Susan B Anthony.

I am 6th cousin 4x removed to Lucretia Coffin Mott.

I am some degree of cousin to at least 35 U.S. Presidents.

I am descended from a few men who signed the Mayflower Compact.

I am descended from some Magna Carta sureties.

Comments

Very cool connections to so many others, A!

Answer 2

Woodrow wilson

Answer 3

My second cousin three times removed is Wiliam Bliss Pine, who was a United States Senator from Oklahoma. He is related to me through my father's family. The thing I found interesting is that his court reporter was Cecil McIntosh Glismann, who is my first cousin three times removed through my mother's family, and the two of them have no blood relationship.

Comments

A double connection! Cool!

Answer 4

My third great grandfather, Jón Sigurðsson (Sigurðsson-245), was a member of Alþingi, the Icelandic parliament. He was very well liked and is known to be one of the founders of the Icelandic Cooperation.

At 42 he got his 25 year old maid pregnant. She was the granddaughter of his older half sister. At first he denied the fatherhood, but did admit to it later.

Comments

What a fascinating story, Dagmar!

Answer 5

My 4th great grand father, Charles (Tottenham-40) Loftus, who brought Ireland into confederation with Great Britain in 1801 and my 2C4R, Charles Stanley Monck-27 (married to his 1st cousin Elizabeth Monck), who was Governor of the Province of Canada, when he brought the colonies into the Confederation of Canada in 1867 and thus became the 1st Governor General of the Dominion of Canada.

Comments

Pretty cool, John! Uniting people must be in your genes. 

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Thanks, Pip, it's enjoyable to meet our relatives and connections here and following the trails often produces recent additions....many surprises at times!   A further comment....the Tottenham/Loftus family married the Maude/Monck family producing Cornwallis Tottenham, my 2nd great grandfather, who was employed by the East India Company and participated in the governance of Bengal, India.   The way I see it, by the ancestors 'uniting', a great amount of pedigree collapse occurred.  

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Are your Moncks related to the English Civil War general George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, who was a descendant of Arthur II Plantagenet, the surviving son of Edward IV?

WikiTree reckons that their most recent common ancestor was John Talbot KG (c.1387-1453), the English commander who lost the Hundred Years' War by being killed in Gascony.  (That cannot be right, can it?)

Answer 6

My dad, Mike Vaskie-2, was the mayor of McNabb, IL, population 350. Salute! 

Comments

I love this!

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Thanks Pip! 

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Thanks so much, Mags!

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Cousin Steve, mayor of Greeley Kansas-pop239 in 2020 census

Answer 7

I don’t know that I would describe either of us as politicians, but my dad and I both held elective office.  My dad served four terms in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, and I served five terms on my city’s School Board.

Comments

Kathy, your dad has an interesting bio. (So do you!)

Answer 8

My paternal grandfather was a commission of Hill County, Montana for six years.  He was pressured into running for a second term, but declined to campaign as the job was "too political," but even with that lost by just over 100 votes.  One of my great grandfathers was referred to as "Senator" by his local newspaper apparently because he was nominated to run for senator as a Progressive, which probably meant the Teddy Roosevelt Bull Moose Party.  One gg grandfather was twice elected as Clerk of the Court in Madison County, Illinois.

Comments

David, my wife's grandfather was a local magistrate and they called him, "Judge." Actually, that's even on his gravestone.

Answer 9

My great-great-grandfather was from a family involved in Virginia secession politics.  They left us a messy legacy with all that.

Comments

For all that, still a part of history, E.

Answer 10

My 3rd great grandfather, Moses Gregory was a state representive for Gallia, Lawrence, and Scioto counties in Ohio 1841-1843 , he was also a State Senator 1843-1845 , he is on my Paternal side

On my maternal side , Abraham Denton III he was involved in the forming of the short lived State of Franklin which was part of Eastern Tennessee, 

Comments

With your mention of the State of Franklin, I did a check, Janine, thinking I might find a connection there, but we're really far out, relationally. 13th cousins.

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yes , even thou alot of mother's ancestors had lived in East TN by mid 1800's they were in Van Buren and White county, TN by then , most of Abraham Denton III children did end up in White county, few in surrounding counties of White county, some of his Descendants ended up in Texas,  as well , our common ancestor is thru my great grandmother, Pamelia Evelyn Galloway Denton , thru her mother , Mary Ann Walker Galloway, her mother , Lucinda "Cynthia" Shockley Walker , it is thru her ,

Answer 11

My great-great-aunt Nina Handy Merryman was one of the first two women to run for town council in Bladensburg, Maryland.

My 4th great-uncle, William H. Bright, was a member of the Wyoming territorial legislature and president of the territorial council (he introduced Wyoming's women's suffrage bill, the first to pass in the nation, in 1869).

My 1st cousin 5x removed, James H. Baker, was an early member of the Republican party, and was elected Secretary of State of Ohio in 1855, and Secretary of State of Minnesota in 1860.

My 6th great-grandfather Charles King was a member of the South Carolina Provincial Congress in 1776.

More distantly, I'm related to several presidents (Obama, 10th cousin; Truman, 6C3R; Clinton, 7C1R; Nixon, 8C2R), and I am apparently also related to 17 of Maryland's 62 governors through common ancestors in the colonial era.

Comments

These are great connections, C.

Answer 12

The only one I know of is my Uncle https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Moore-35812 He was on the city counsel in the little town of Trenton, Ohio. (Named after Trenton, New Jersey).

Comments

Your uncle did double duty like my dad. Dad was in the Navy during WW II and also in the Army during the Korean War. Nice photo of him on the profile, Dallas!

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Thanks Pip.

Dallace

Answer 13

Answered by Quote Retweet on Twitter :)
https://twitter.com/azurerobinson/status/1523797927302504449

Though, the closest connection would be my uncle's papa, Henry Neff Anderson (1897 - 1988) :

Comments

Love that photo of the cousins on Henry's profile, all lined up by height!

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Isn't it sweet! So adorable.

Answer 14

I have more than I want to admit, but I'll call out Daniel Haden Linebaugh (1878-1940) - https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Linebaugh-146.

After being admitted to the bar, he worked for the Dawes Commission before practicing law in Coalgate, Oklahoma and, for most of his career, Muskogee, Oklahoma.  He was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in 1908, and 1920, served as Chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Convention in 1912, and ran three times for Congress.  He served as United States District Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma (Muskogee) from 1913 to 1917, and as Special Assistant U.S. Attorney General from 1917 to 1920.  He was mentioned as a gubernatorial candidate in 1921.

He was a friend of William H. "Alfalfa Bill" Murray, a somewhat colorful Governor of Oklahoma, who would visit him to plot political strategy.  My grandmother told me stories about being at her Aunt Del's house in Muskogee (where she stayed every summer), which was immaculate and covered in lace.  Alfalfa Bill would chew tobacco in the parlor and spit the juice at the fireplace.  His aim left something to be desired and the lace would be stained horribly by the end of the evening.  Apparently, if Aunt Del had her way, Alfalfa Bill would not have lived to be governor.

Comments

Roger, you know I drive by where he is buried almost every day. I’ll get a good photo of his headstone.

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This is a great story, Roger. 

Answer 15

My 5x Great-Grandfather was a man named Talbot Powers. He served in the NY State Assembly in 1855, representing Cayuga County's 3rd district. He's listed in the Political Graveyard as 'Tolbert Powers'

Comments

Talbot... Tolbert... pretty close, for genealogical purposes, Robert. See it all the time. I'm betting it was the Political Graveyard's mistake!

Answer 16

I have many

Winston Churchill  cousin

William Wallace cousin

 Magna Carta Surety Barons grandfathers and uncles and cousins

 Billy Powell aka Osceola cousin

Diego Gomez Toledo is my 19th great grandfather my cousin has been search him for 3  years . She forward the information to me a month ago .

Comments

Lots of great people there, Mary!

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Thank you

Answer 17

G Uncle David McIntosh  launched his political career in 1916 when he was elected as a state representative in MA. Two years later he was elected state senator representing Quincy and other South Shore towns. While in the General Court, he led a movement for a 48-hour work week maximum for women and children which he described as, "the forerunner of a lot of social legislation to come." In 1920 he ran for mayor of Quincy, MA, but was defeated by William Bradford. In 1934 he was chosen in a special election to fill an unexpired term in the City Council of Quincy and was elected the next year to serve a two-year term. He was council president in 1937. In 1951 he ran for councilman at large and was elected. He served on the City Council until 1965. Under the Plan E form of government, he was elected Mayor of Quincy in 1952 by the City Council. He was a member of the Order of Scottish Clans and earned a 60-year award in in 1963. He was also a member of Rural Masonic Lodge and a former member of the Quincy Civic Association. David died on 15 Dec 1970 and is buried in Mount Wollaston Cemetery, Quincy, with many of his family members.

Comments

48 hours for women and children! I wonder how long they were having to work before David helped to get that legislation passed. Good for him, Dorothy!

Answer 18

My great grandfather R.H. Cameron and my 2nd great grand uncle George Ramsden were both involved in Toronto city politics, first as aldermen, then as members of the city's Board of Control, between 1903 and 1936. They served together as controllers in 1920. (They both also made failed bids for the mayoralty.) Coincidentally, they were both born in 1867, and died within a year of each other (1948-49).

My wife's grandfather, Wm. H. Ireland, sat as an Ontario MPP (Member of Provincial Parliament) from 1919-34 after having served as mayor of the town of Trenton (1916-19). And another coincidence: George Ramsden's son (my 1st cousin 3xR), John Carman Ramsden, was also elected to the Ontario Legislature as an MPP in 1919.

Comments

Great to see such dedicated people in your family, Richard.

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And, if I'm not mistaken, Walter King, who received one of the original Pennsylvania land grants from William Penn, and was a 1682/3 member of the Pennsylvania Assembly, was my 9th great grandfather!

Answer 19

Aside from county commissioners and such, not really except maybe some distant relatives. I'm not a politician, but I could have been. I know how to work a crowd! Sociable with the gift of gab. 

Comments

You get my vote, Pip.....happy to be one of your constituents!  

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 Thanks, John. It’s always great to hear from you each week.

Answer 20

Un nieto y dos bisnietos de mi tras-tatarabuelo fueron figuras políticas relevantes en mi país Argentina. Se llamaba Giovanni Battista Giusto, apellido que se castellanizó como Justo. De ese apellido (el de mi tatarabuela Catalina, además) tuvimos un Gobernador de la Provincia de Corrientes (1871/72) y su hijo sería luego Presidente de la República Argentina: Ing. Agustín Pedro Justo (1932/38) Un primo suyo sería médico y fundador del Partido Socialista Argentino: Dr. Juan Bautista Justo (en honor a su bisabuelo, nótese que tienen el mismo nombre y apellido: uno en italiano y otro en español); su esposa fue una de las primeras mujeres luchadoras por los derechos femeninos la médica Dra. Alicia Moreau de Justo. Mi bisabuelo Juan Pedro Cesario Justo, fue Procurador de la Nación. Su padre Andrés J. Cesario (mi tatarabuelo) fue Maestro de armas del entonces gobernador de Buenos Aires: Juan M. Rosas y años después Maestro de esgrima de la primera Escuela Militar de la Nación.