I noticed that there are some related to 37-38 US Presidents and am wondering if there is a highly elucidating reason?

+9 votes
269 views
[I did read all the related questions above - thank you for that information!]

I noticed that there are some (perhaps several) related to 37-38 US Presidents and am wondering if there is a highly elucidating reason?

Those consistently excluded from these connections are John Adams (linked only by marriage), Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William McKinley, Dwight Eisenhower, and Donald Trump.

But there are a few who claim connection to some of these excluded (will check into their links).

I've also 'heard' that all the US Presidents are related to each other.

What I'm specifically wondering is - if there is some kind of 'privacy' or other block which keeps us from connecting with these 4-5 US Pres?

Please elucidate. Regards,

 

Kemp-4435 (Camp-1065 7th g-gf)
in The Tree House by Luke Lord Kemp-St. Margaret G2G Crew (990 points)
retagged by Robin Lee

Hi Scott, nice to meet you.

I added Sources to some of your profiles.  These identify where information that is posted on the profile comes from and support the facts.

I'll probably add a few more later today and try to help get you started off right.

If you have any questions or need help just drop me a line :)

Cheers!

Dear Scott,

     Speaking for my own heritage, I found that a USA New England heritage connects to many Presidents.   I attached to Van Buren through a Dutch New York line, which happened to be my other parent from the New England line.

   I do not attach to A. Jackson, W. McKinley, D. Eisenhower, or (T.) W. Wilson last I checked. Haven't checked Trump yet.  It is fun to keep looking, as our tree keeps growing!  -NGP
This happened in my own tree.  Most of my maternal lines go through colonial, MA, RI, CN, NY.  I have 12 president cousins where the common ancestor is an immigrant to the colonies (in one of those the common ancestor is the son of the immigrant.)

Keep digging.  If you are related to a lot of early New England families, you are might also be directly descended from some or all of the Magna Carta Barons.

The reason is really just probability.

15 generations back you have 32K ancestors

20 generations back you have over a million.  So that's a million chances to have a common ancestor.  Now put that in play with a fixed, relatively small collection of families that all heavily intermarry....

Cheers, Rich

3 Answers

+5 votes
In the "Western" world there are two kinds of ancestry - Charlemagne and dead-end.

Most Presidents, being rich, were descended from Charlemagne, through the English aristocracy and gentry.

All descendants of Charlemagne are cousins of each other.

Those with only dead-end ancestry are harder to relate to.

Putting it another way, if you're descended from a Mayflower passenger, your cousins will include all the other descendants of that passenger, but if you're descended from a Gateway immigrant, your cousins will include all the descendants of all the other Gateways.
by Living Horace G2G6 Pilot (620k points)
edited by Living Horace
+4 votes
Take a look at a previous discussion on this subject   https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/351885/you-know-other-families-that-are-cousin-all-45-us-presidents

The US Presidents Project works hard to stay on top of the latest information on "presidential lineages".   If you go into the relationships menu under your Wikitree ID  https://www.wikitree.com/treewidget/Kemp-4435/102   You have a set of links to see your relationships not only to US Presidents, but to Magna Carta Barons and others.
by Robin Lee G2G6 Pilot (846k points)
+3 votes
Personally, I'm related to 40 of the 44 individuals that have been president. It excludes, Van Buren, Jackson, McKinley, and Trump. Yes, most of the presidents are related to each other, some closer than others, including Obama; usually, through his mother's side. My closest relations are to Fillmore and to John and John Quincy Adams.
In my situation, I am the 11x Great-granddaughter of Richard Warren, Mayflower passenger, who had all of his children survive. I find, that because of this, I am related to more people than I'm probably not related to within the United States. As for the presidents, many are related to British royalty and George Washington, so you could kind of say they are the American royal family.
by

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