Mayflower Presidents

After the election, Gary Boyd Roberts and Christopher C. Child will be publishing a second edition to Ancestors of American Presidents or AAP as many of us fondly call it.  I don't want to jinx things, but I'm fairly certain the senator from Illinois will be included (as will George W. Bush for the first time).

That will make 44 presidents, but only 43 men to hold that office (Cleveland is counted twice).  How many are Mayflower descendants?  There were only 102 people on the Mayflower, half of which died the first winter.  There are 26 family groupings from which one can descend.  Despite the long odds on being a Mayflower descendant, nine presidents have been thus far (that's 20% if you're keeping score).  They are both Adamses, Taylor, Grant, Garfield, FDR, both Bushes, and Chris Child's latest discovery, Coolidge.  Three first ladies have Mayflower descents too: Mrs. Garfield, the second Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, and Mrs. Barbara Bush.  So twice, the first couple were both Mayflower descendants: the Garfields and the George H.W. Bushes.  That's pretty insular when you think about it.  One out of five presidents are Mayflower descendants.  

A more insular group are the 17 Salem "witches and wizards" who were hanged in 1692.  Two presidents descend from these victims: Arthur and Taft.  Two more descend from siblings of the victims: Coolidge and Ford.  But that's only 4 out of 43.  

Comments

[Martin W. Beerman]

Nixon is also a Mayflower Descendant, through Cooke and Warren.

[Martin]

Sorry no. If you have the line, email me and I'll point out where it breaks.

[Martin W. Beerman]

Just going from "Ancestors of American Presidents" by Gary Boyd Roberts, 1995. Has a correction been published?

[Martin]

That's the book I use. I'm confused because I don't see that in the book. Mayflower Descents are on pp. 333-340.

[Chris Child]

Hi Martin -

There are also two more additional First Lady descents to be included in this edition:

1) Mamie Eisenhower to William Brewster (Brewster to Holmes to Sheldon to Doud)
2) Frances Folsom Cleveland to William Brewster and George Soule
(Soule to West to Perry to Champlin to Rogers to Harmon to Folsom; Brewster to Christophers to Raymond to Hazard to Perry)

Yes and I too don't see any Nixon descent in the 1995 edition, his ancestor Eleazer Doane (#500) is of Plymouth ancestry but no Mayflower.

Now if we can only find just one kinship of Chester Arthur to any other presidents - all New Englanders would be in the charts!!

Chris