How Many Presidents? - Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

Thank you to Randy Seaver on Geneamusings for his weekly prompt. 

1)  Which U.S. Presidents have held the office in your lifetime?  Your parents lifetimes?  Your grandparents lifetimes?  How many generations do you need to cover all of them?

2)  A list of the U.S. Presidents is in http://www.presidentsusa.net/presvplist.html to help you out.

President Kennedy

In my lifetime: Pam Carter (1963-???) - Eleven so far
35. John F. Kennedy                                                              
36. Lyndon B. Johnson
37. Richard M. Nixon
38. Gerald R. Ford
39. James E. Carter

President F. D. Roosevelt

40. Ronald Reagan
41. George H. W. Bush
42. William J. Clinton
43. George W. Bush
44. Barack H. Obama
45. Donald J. Trump



My mother and father were both born in 1939 and are still living. - 14 so far
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt                                 
33. Harry S. Truman
34. Dwight D. Eisenhower

My maternal grandmother, Linona Alice Yates (1920-???) - 18 so far! 
28. T. Woodrow Wilson       

President T. Roosevelt

29. Warren G. Harding
30. Calvin Coolidge
31. Herbert Hoover

My maternal grandfather, Clayton Leonard Blake (1904-1979)
26. Theodore Roosevelt             
27. William H. Taft
28. T. Woodrow Wilson
29. Warren G. Harding
30. Calvin G. Coolidge
31. Herbert H. Hoover
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt
33.  Harry S. Truman
34.  Dwight D. Eisenhower
35.  John F. Kennedy
36. Lyndon B. Johnson
37. Richard M. Nixon
38. Gerald R. Ford
39. James E. Carter

President Coolidge 

My paternal grandmother, Fern Lyndell Cotton (1920-2002)
30. Calvin G. Coolidge
31. Herbert H. Hoover
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt                                              
33.  Harry S. Truman
34.  Dwight D. Eisenhower
35.  John F. Kennedy
36. Lyndon B. Johnson
37. Richard M. Nixon
38. Gerald R. Ford
39. James E. Carter
40. Ronald Reagan
41. George H. W. Bush
42. William J. Clinton
43. George W. Bush

President Wilson

My paternal grandfather, T. Richard Carter (1914-2005)

27. William H. Taft
28. T. Woodrow Wilson    
29. Warren G. Harding
30. Calvin G. Coolidge
31. Herbert H. Hoover
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt
33.  Harry S. Truman
34.  Dwight D. Eisenhower
35.  John F. Kennedy
36. Lyndon B. Johnson
37. Richard M. Nixon
38. Gerald R. Ford
39. James E. Carter
40. Ronald Reagan
41. George H. W. Bush
42. William J. Clinton

President Arthur

43. George W. Bush

I knew three of my great-grandparents, Estes & Eva (Hayes) Yates and Annie F. (Gibbs) Cotton. 
Estes Yates (1884-1977)
Eva Hayes (1897-1982)
Annie F. Gibbs (1892-1987)

This would take it back to the 21st president, Chester A. Arthur. 


I have to go back six generations to cover all the presidents. 

President Washington

Direct ancestors living when George Washington took the oath of office were: 
Paternal:
4th great-grandparents: Aaron Abbott Jr. & Sally Abbott
4th great-grandparents: Thomas Capen & Mary Abbott
4th great-grandparents: Dr. Timothy Carter & Frances Freeland
4th great-grandparents: John Williamson & Ann McClure (alive but not living in the United States)
4th great-grandparents: Enoch Spurr & Abigail Wight
5th great-grandparents: Dr. James Freeland & Mehitable Mellen
5th great-grandparents: Edward Abbott & Deborah Stevens
5th great-grandparents: John W. Ellingwood, Jr. & Zerviah Abbott
5th great-grandmother: Elizabeth "Betsey" Clark
5th great-grandmother: Hannah Keene
5th great-grandfather: Joseph Spurr
5th great-grandparents: David Philbrick & Ann "Nancy" Lyford
5th great-grandparents: Thomas Edgecomb & Hannah Prescott
5th great-grandmother: Margaret Flett Green
5th great-grandparents: Joseph Wight & Abigail Ware
6th great-grandfather: Snow Keene
6th great-grandparents: Gibbins Edgecomb & Rhoda Elwell
6th great-grandfather: Joshua Brooks
7th great-grandparents: Patten Simpson & Jane McClure

Maternal:
4th great-grandparents: William Yates & Martha Morgan
4th great-grandfather: Eliakim Emmons
4th great-grandparents: Micajah Blake & Nancy Ripley
4th great-grandparents: Rev. Edward Whittle & Elizabeth Higgins
5th great-grandparents: Josiah Churchill & Lydia Orr
5th great-grandparents: Joshua Ripley & Lydia Bartlett
5th great-grandparents: Samuel Morgan & Judith Dennen
6th great-grandparents: Samuel Dennen & Keziah Bray
6th great-grandmother: Alice (Briggs) Churchill
6th great-grandparents: Diman Perry & Susannah Lincoln
6th great-grandfather: Daniel Messer
6th great-grandfather: Thomas Shepard
6th great-grandparents: William Swan & Lucy Robbins
7th great-grandfather: Josiah Churchill
7th great-grandfather: Joshua Emerson

Hail To The Chief

Many presidents have connections to New England colonists and if your tree includes New England colonial families, it is not unusual to find that you are distantly related to those presidents. The following information about the lineage of Presidents Grant and Coolidge comes from NEHGS Nexus Volume 14, page 29. Happy Presidents' Day

"Ulysses Grant 1870-1880"
by Brady-Handy Photograph Collection
(Library of Congress)
Licensed under Public Domain 

"Calvin Coolidge cph.3g10777"
by Notman Studio, Boston. Restoration by User:Adam Cuerden
 Licensed under Public Domain via Commons 

Oliver & Thomasine Purchase are my 11th great-grandparents. Bernard & Joan (Purchase) Capen are my 10th great-grandparents. John & Mary (Bass) Capen are my 9th great-grandparents. Ulysses S. Grant is my 7th cousin, 4 times removed. He is a descendant of Bernard & Joan Capen's daughter, Susanna. Susanna Capen married William Rockwell. Calvin Coolidge is my 8th cousin, twice removed. He is a descendant of John & Mary (Bass) Capen's son, Joseph. Joseph Capen married Priscilla Appleton.

           My Line -
           Oliver & Thomasine Purchase
           Bernard & Joan (Purchase) Capen
           John & Mary (Bass) Capen
           James & Hannah (Lawrence) Capen
           James & Elizabeth (Call) Capen
           James & Sarah (Pinson) Capen
           Thomas & Mary (Wyman) Capen
           Thomas & Mary (Abbott) Capen
           Timothy & Sarah (Abbott) Capen
           Edward & Mary Jane (Abbott) Capen
           Edward & Fanny (Capen) Carter
          T. Richard Carter - my grandfather

Surname Saturday - Bernard Capen

Bernard (or Barnard) Capen was a shoemaker who came to America in 1633 from Dorchester, Dorsetshire, England. He took the oath of a freeman on May 25, 1636. In some old records his names is written as Barnard and his surname is recorded as "Gapin." His stated age at his death on November 8, 1638 was 76 which would put his birth about 1562. He married Joan Purchase on May 31, 1596. She was the daughter of Oliver Purchase and one of four Purchase siblings who emigrated to the American colonies.

Photo courtesy of Don Blauvelt - posted at Findagrave

There is an article about the Barnard Capen house on the Dorchester Atheneaum site. It tells the history of the house which was restored in 1909 and seems to have been dismantled and moved twice. I couldn't find anything about the current status of that house. However, the parsonage house of Rev. Joseph Capen, son of John and grandson of Bernard, is located in Topsfield, Massachusetts and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Rev. Joseph was my 8th great-uncle.

Parson Capen House - photo from Wikipedia

Two of Bernard Capen's descendants are President Calvin Coolidge and President Ulysses S. Grant.

President Calvin Coolidge - photo from Wikipedia
He is my 8th cousin, twice removed

President Ulysses S. Grant
He is my 7th cousin, 4 times removed

Children:

1. James was born about 1598 and is called a "scrivener" in his will. 
2. Ruth was born on August 7, 1600 and there is no further record of her.
3. Susanna was born on April 11, 1602 and married twice. On April 14, 1624, she married William Rockwell and on May 29, 1645 she became the second wife of Matthew Grant. 
4. Dorothy was born about 1608 and she married Nicholas Upsall on January 17, 1630 at the Holy Trinity Church in Dorchester, Dorsetshire, England. 
5. Elizabeth was born about 1610 and she married Thomas Swift on October 18, 1630 in the same church as Dorothy. 
6. John was born January 12, 1612. He married twice. On October 20, 1637, he married Redegon Clap and on September 20, 1647, he married Mary Bass. In 1680, John served on the jury for the witchcraft trial of Elizabeth Morse of Newbury. She was found guilty but given a reprieve and released to her husband. She was not allowed to travel more than a few yards from her house unless accompanied by a minister. 
7. Honor was born about 1616 and she married William Hannum. 

Line of Descent

John Capen m. Mary Bass
James Capen 1654-1718 m. Hannah Lawrence
James Capen born 1683 m. Elizabeth Call
James Capen 1709/10-1763 m. Sarah Pinson
Thomas Capen born 1739 m. Mary Wyman
Thomas Capen 1762-1808 m. Mary Abbott
Timothy Capen born 1793 m. Sarah K. Abbott
Edward Abbott Capen 1839-1930 m. Mary Jane Abbott - First cousins, once removed - See below
Fannie May Capen born 1878 m. Edward Mellen Carter
Thomas Richard Carter - my grandfather

Sister of Timothy Capen - Deborah Capen born 1796 m. William Ackley
Sarah Ackley born 1820 m. John Abbott
Mary Jane Abbott - same as above

Sources:
The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (Online database: American Ancestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), (Originally Published as: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995).
Findagrave
Dorchester Atheneum
Wikipedia