Are You Related to a U.S. President?

A cousin of mine recently asked if our family was related to any U.S. Presidents. Great question – right? In this month’s Fortitude post, I share what I discovered when diving deeper into that question and how you can unearth your family connections to former presidents.

The 2024 population of United States is over 337 million.¹ According to Gary B. Roberts, author of Ancestors of American Presidents, 100 million living Americans (1/3 of the population) may have significant colonial-era New England ancestral roots. Furthermore, 100 million others may have colonial mid-Atlantic ancestors. Roberts then asserts that if you have one of these ancestral connections, you may likely be related to one or more U.S. Presidents.²

Most former U.S. presidents have Great Britain ancestors with many of their forefathers arriving during the colonial period of America. Two exceptions include Presidents Trump and Kennedy whose Great Britain ancestors arrived in the post-colonial era. Exceptions of non-Great Britain ancestral roots include: President Eisenhower (German/Swiss), President Van Buren (Dutch) and President Obama (Kenyan-Luo).³

So, are you related to a U.S. President? Don’t be too quick to answer “no” to this question. Do some research – you may be surprised what you find.

When my cousin asked me that question, I immediately knew of one family connection to a former U.S. president and was curious to see if there were more. And YES, there were more! After doing some digging and sorting out the connections, I discovered I’m related to three U.S. Presidents. Here are the stories:  

President Rutherford B. Hayes

Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822-1893), a republican from Ohio, was the 19th President of the United States serving from 1877-1881. President Hayes oversaw completion of the Reconstruction period following the Civil War.

My ancestral relation to President Rutherford B. Hayes is through the Chandler name on my maternal side. The common ancestors I have with President Hayes are Thomas Chandler (1628-1703) and his wife Hannah Brewer Chandler (1630-1717). Thomas immigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England with his parents and siblings during the Great Puritan Migration about 1637.⁴ Thomas Chandler testified in the Salem Witchcraft trial of Samuel Wardwell, who was executed eight days later on September 22, 1692.⁵ Thomas and Hannah Chandler are my 8th great-grandparents and Rutherford B. Hayes’ 4th great-grandparents. 

President Calvin Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), a republican from Massachusetts, was the 30th President of the United States serving from 1923-1929. President Coolidge oversaw a period of expansive economic growth known as the “Roaring Twenties”.

My ancestral relation to President Calvin Coolidge is through the Parker name on my maternal side. The common ancestors I have with President Coolidge are Deacon Thomas Parker (1605-1683) and his wife Amy Aylesworth Parker (1609-1690). Thomas immigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England during the Great Puritan Migration aboard the wooden sail ship, Susan & Ellen, about 1635.⁶ Thomas and Amy Parker are my 9th great-grandparents and Calvin Coolidge’s 7th great-grandparents. 

President Franklin D. Roosevelt 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945), a democrat from New York, was the 32nd President of the United States. He was the longest serving U.S. president and the only one to have served more than two terms (1933-1945). President Roosevelt built a powerful wartime coalition with our allies ultimately leading to victory in Word War II.

Like with President Rutherford B. Hayes, my ancestral relation to President Franklin D. Roosevelt is through the Chandler name. The common ancestors I have with FDR are William Chandler (1595-1642) and his wife Annis Bayford Chandler (1603-1683). William immigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England during the Great Puritan Migration about 1637.⁷ William and Annis Chandler are my 9th great-grandparents and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 7th great-grandparents. 

Tips for Finding Your Presidential Connections 

If you’d like to determine if you’re related to a U.S. president, check out the Presidential Family Trees on the Famous Kin site HERE. In addition to your paternal surname, don’t forget to include your maternal line family names as well in your search. 

Another great step-by-step guide to aid your search is provided in an article from the Family Tree Magazine titled: Do You Have Presidential Ancestors? 4 Steps to Finding Out. You can access this article HERE.

Note of Caution: Be sure to verify your paternal or maternal line relationship to the U.S. president. For example, just because President Franklin D. Roosevelt and I both have a “Chandler” as an ancestor, doesn’t necessarily mean I was related to him. I had to first ensure we shared a common ancestor in order to verify I was indeed related to FDR. 

Now, being related to a U.S. president is one thing, but being a descendant of a U.S. president is taking it up a notch!

If you discover you are a descendant of a former U.S. president, you may want to consider joining the Society of Presidential Descendants. Learn more about this organization HERE. 

What Did You Find?

Hope your U.S. president ancestral relations search was fruitful. In the comment section of this post, please let us know what you discovered. It will be interesting to see how many of us are related to U.S. presidents!

CHALLENGE: Take the next month and dive into this topic and set a goal to find if you’re related to a U.S. president by this year’s Presidents Day (February 17, 2025). And don’t forget to LIKE this post and then share your discoveries in the comment section below!

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NOTES

1. U.S. Census. 2024. U.S. and World Population Clock. Accessed from https://www.census.gov/popclock/ on October 28, 2024. 
2. Gormley, M. Tracing Lineage of American Presidents. Los Angeles Times. July 6, 1989. Accessed from https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-07-06-vw-3871-story.html#  on October 22, 2024. 
3. Wikipedia. Ancestral Background of Presidents of the United States. Accessed from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancestral_background_of_presidents_of_the_United_States  on October 28, 2024.
4. WikiTree. Thomas Chandler Sr. Accessed from https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Chandler-156 on October 31, 2024. 
5. University of Virginia. Salem Witch Trials Testimony Testimony of Thomas Chandler v. Samuel Wardwell. Accessed from https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/n133.html#n133.6 on October 31, 2024.
6. Savage, J. 1843. Gleanings for New England History. Boston, Massachusetts. p. 17
7. Famous Kin. Family Relationship of William Chandler. Accessed from https://famouskin.com/famous-kin-chart.php?name=8715+william+chandler&kin=8952+franklin+d+roosevelt on October 28, 2024. 
8. Featured Image: Library of Congress. 1901. Our Presidents. Accessed from https://www.loc.gov/item/2018697494/ on October 28, 2024. 
9. File: President Rutherford Hayes 1870 – 1880 Restored (cropped)(2).jpg. Rutherford B. Hayes. Accessed from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutherford_B._Hayes#/media/File:President_Rutherford_Hayes_1870_-_1880_Restored_(cropped)(2).jpg  on October 29, 2024. Public Domain. 
10. File: Calvin Coolidge cph.3g10777 (cropped).jpg. Calvin Coolidge. Accessed from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_Coolidge#/media/File:Calvin_Coolidge_cph.3g10777_(cropped).jpg  on October 29, 2024. Public Domain.  
11. File: Franklin-D-Roosevelt-1937.jpg. Franklin D. Roosevelt. Accessed from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Franklin-D-Roosevelt on October 29, 2024. Encyclopedia Britannica.