Home » History » Colonial United States » Hail to the Chief

Hail to the Chief

© Jeannine Dugan

In the spirit of the recent inauguration of our new President, I decided to take a look at presidential roots. Just when did the ancestors of our recent presidents arrive in the U.S? Have they been here for 100 years? 200 years? Surprisingly, the ancestors of every president since Nixon, with the exception of Ronald Reagan, have been traced back to colonial America, many of them before 1700. Several presidents are related to Mayflower descendents and even to other presidents.

Richard Nixon:

Although born in California, Richard Milhouse Nixon's ancestors settled primarily in the Mid-Atlantic states (NJ, NY, PA and MD). During the 1800s, several branches moved to Ohio. Nixon is of Irish, Welsh, English and German descent. He is related both to some Mayflower passengers and to royalty (King Edward III). Jeremy West, the novelist, is Nixon's second cousin and he is related to ten other presidents (including Fillmore, Hayes, Taft, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, FDR, Ford, Carter and Bush).

Surnames (with earliest recorded date and place of birth/residence) include: Armstrong (1757, NJ); Baldwin (1721, PA); Brown (1771, Ireland to OH); Burdg (1783, NJ); Cattell (1743, NJ); Clayton (1777); Clemson (1660, England to PA); Griffith (1688, Wales to PA and DE); Hartley (1747, MD); Hemingway (1730, MA); Hussey (1634, PA?); Lytle (1751, MD); Malmsbury (1779, NJ); Matthews (1755, MD); McComas (1695, MD); McElwain (1760, PA); Mendanhall (1727, PA); Milhouse (1688, Ireland to PA); Miller (1701, Ireland to PA); Moore (Bef. 1759 Ireland to PA); Nixon (1752, PA); Price (1761, MD); Scothorn (1730, PA); Smith (1622, NY); Trimmer (1724, NJ); Vickers (1720, PA); Wadsworth (1745, MD); Wiley (1706, MD); Willets (1652, NY); Wilson (1764, DE)

Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr.:

Gerald Ford was born Leslie Lynch King, Jr. in Nebraska. Little is known about his paternal lineage, but his maternal line has been traced back to the 1600s in New England. His maternal lineage is primarily of English descent and it is said that his paternal lineage was of Irish descent. Up until the mid 1800s Ford's ancestors remained in New England and New York, gradually moving to Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio and Nebraska. Ford is descended from royalty (Edward I, Henry I of France) and from Mayflower passengers. He is also related to 14 other presidents (including Fillmore, Lincoln, Grant, Hays, Garfield, Cleveland, B. Harrison, Taft, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, FDR, Nixon and Bush).

Surnames (with earliest recorded date and place of birth/residence) include: Adams (1676, MA); Ayer (1686, MA); Chase (1690, MA); Collins (1679, MA); Comstock (1676, RI); Dagget (1697 ME); Davis (1674, MA); Dudley (1674, CT); Ely (1674, Plymouth England); Gifford (1686, MA); Goodspeed (1701, CT); Gove (1696, NH); Gridley (1650, CT); Head (1682, RI); Holmes (1639, CT); Jewett (1710, MA); Kelly (1678, MA); Little (1692, MA); Manney (1698, NY); Miller (1692, NY); Monroe (1665, CT); Noyes (1707, MA); Pinney (1663, CT); Roberts (1723, NY); Selden (1652, CT); Sheldon (1697, RI); Stickney (1677, MA); Vanderburgh (1685, NY); Wells, (1696, CT); White (1690, MA); Wilbur (1670, RI).

The copyright of the article Hail to the Chief in Colonial United States is owned by . Permission to republish Hail to the Chief in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.