Friday, January 15, 2016

My Relationships to U.S. Presidents - Post 8: Presidents 1-5

I can't seem to stay away from Geni.com and their search capability to find relationships with living persons.  I spent more time today working backwards in time looking for my connections to the U.S. Presidents.  Previously, I have posted:

*  My Relationships to United States Presidents - Post 1: 39 to 44 (posted 2 October 2014), 
*  My Relationships to U.S. Presidents - Post 2: Presidents 34-38 (posted 13 November 2014), 
*  My Relationships to U.S. Presidents - Post 3: Presidents 28-33 (posted 16 January 2015), 
*  My Relationships to U.S. Presidents - Post 4: Presidents 22-27 (posted 16 March 2015).
*  My Relationships to U.S. Presidents - Post 5: Presidents 16-21 (posted 26 June 2015)

*  My Relationships to U.S. Presidents - Post 6: Presidents 11-15 (posted 7 August 2015)
*  My Relationships to U.S. Presidents - Post 7: Presidents 6-10 (posted 16 October 2015)

Here are the next five going back in time:


1)  James Monroe (5th President of the United States) is my 11th cousin 6 times removed, according to Geni.com:


 The common ancestor is John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (1340-1399), father of Joan Beufort and John Beaufort (but perhaps not by the same mother).

My line back goes through John Pers (1588-1661) of Watertown, Massachusetts according to Geni.com.  I don't know if the parentage of John Pers is correct in Geni.com or not.  I have not found any authoritative work that says his father is Richard Percy.  However, I do have a line back to John of Gaunt, but through Thomas Dudley (1576-1653) of Massachusetts.  John of Gaunt is my 18th great-grandfather.  I can't comment about the line from John of Gaunt to President James Monroe.  My judgment is that I may be related to James Monroe, but not through the Pers/Percy line.

2)  James Madison (4th President of the United States) is my 5th cousin 6 times removed according to Geni.com:

 The common ancestor according to Geni.com is William Horton, of Gumley, whose son was Thomas Horton (1596-1649), one of the signers of the warrant to execute King Charles I.  I have found no authoritative record that defines my Thomas Horton (1638-1715) of Rehoboth, Massachusetts as the son of this Thomas Horton, "the Regicide."  My judgment is that my relationship to James Madison is doubtful, at least through the Horton line.

3)  Thomas Jefferson (3rd President of the United States) is my 7th cousin 6 times removed, according to Geni.com:

 The common ancestor is Thomas Roberts (1494-1562) of Cranbrook, Kent.  My line is through his daughter, Mary Roberts which leads to my ancestor Abigail (Thurston) White (1700-????), whose mother's surname I do not know.  Geni says it is Sarah Guile (1657-1724).  It may be, and it may not be.  I consider this relationship for me to Thomas Jefferson to be doubtful at best.

4)  John Adams (2nd President of the United States is my 5th cousin 7 times removed:

 The common ancestor, according to Geni.com, is the father of William White (1590-1621), a Mayflower passenger (my line) and Richard White (????-????), husband of Rebecca Bushwell, and farther of John White (1620-1691) of Brookline, Mass., noted on Geni.com as "John White of the 2nd Mayflower".  I sincerely doubt that John and William were brothers, and that John came on the "second Mayflower" with his wife and settled in Watertown, Mass.  It is evident to me that John Adams is descended from this John White, however.

However, I do have a common ancestor with John Adams - that being Henry Adams (1583-1646), my 10th great-grandfather through his son Peter Adams (1622-1690).  President John Adams is Henry Adams 2nd great-grandson through his son Joseph Adams (1626-1694), so I guess that makes President John Adams my 3rd cousin 8 times removed.  Perhaps my line is incomplete in Geni.com?  I will have to remedy that!

5)  George Washington (1st President of the United States) is my 7th cousin 8 times removed:


The common ancestor, according to Geni.com, is John C. Cooke (1473-1516) of London, England.  My line from him goes through 4 Cooke names, then Robert Williams (1607-1693) of Roxbury, Mass., whose daughter Elizabeth Williams (1620-1663) may have married Richard Cutter (1621-1693), my 8th great-grandfather.  However, the birth years don't add up for the Williams father and daughter.  Therefore, I doubt that I am related to George Washington through this line.

6)  I did not check the records for each relationship shown in the charts above from Geni.com.  I am confident that my lines back to the immigrant ancestors from England are correct, but I have no idea how accurate the lines are from the immigrants back to some of the common ancestors to the Presidents.  Some are well researched, and have entries in the book by Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents (1989).  



Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

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1 comment:

Debby's Family Genealogy Blog said...

Pretty amazing, Randy, to find a connection to so many presidents, I can claim a linkage to Presidents John and John Quincy Adams as we are all descended from John and Priscilla Alden of the Mayflower.