Some people grew up with some rather unusual family stories, and that’s because they’re related to famous presidents and other important historical figures.
A Jefferson family story with two sides
President Thomas Jefferson had a rather complicated family history. Shannon LaNier is part of it. He’s a ninth-generation descendant of Jefferson and Sally Hemings, who was one of Jefferson’s slaves. Sally had six children with Jefferson.
LaNier grew up to become a journalist and helped co-write the book Jefferson’s Children: The Story of One American Family, which detailed how his family traced their history back to Jefferson. LaNier made the connection to Jefferson even clearer in 2020, as he recreated a famous portrait of Jefferson for a photography project. He didn’t wear a wig, though.
Another Roosevelt in American history
Tweed Roosevelt also knows what it’s like to be related to a president. No prizes for guessing which one he’s descended from. Yes, he’s the great-grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, America’s 26th president. Tweed has spent many years giving lectures about his ancestor.
He was also the president of the Theodore Roosevelt Association because, well, there’s nobody better suited for the job. Tweed taught at Harvard as well, and retraced some of his great-grandfather’s journeys through the American West, Africa, and the Amazon.
Keeping Dickens on the stage
Since 1993, Gerald Dickens has been working harder than most stage performers. He has been performing in a one-man version of A Christmas Carol that has involved him playing 26 different characters. It makes sense, really. He’s the great-great-grandson of writer Charles Dickens.
Gerald has performed in theaters and festivals around the world, but not only as part of A Christmas Carol. He also performs adaptations of Great Expectations and Nicholas Nickleby. Charles used to perform dramatic readings of A Christmas Carol, starting in 1853, and more than 170 years later, there’s still a Dickens performing it.
The Ford family is still in charge
Ford cars have been around for over a century. The founding family hasn’t gone anywhere. William Clay Ford Jr. is the great-grandson of Henry Ford, the company’s founder, and William is still the company’s executive chairman. He joined the board in 1988.
In 1999, he became chairman, and then spent five years as CEO, from 2001 to 2006. But William hasn’t restricted himself to cars. No, he’s also been involved with the Detroit Lions and restoring Michigan Central Station, which eventually reopened in 2024. He’s just as much of an achiever as Henry was.
A presidential name that lives on
It would’ve been pretty hard for Ulysses Grant Dietz to escape questions about his heritage. He’s the great-great-grandson of America’s 18th president, Ulysses S. Grant, who helped command Union forces during the Civil War. However, Dietz chose a different career from his ancestor.
He spent 37 years working at New Jersey’s Newark Museum, and he eventually became the museum’s chief curator. He organized 114 exhibitions. But it’s not like he’s forgotten his presidential connection, as he gives speeches at Grant’s Tomb in New York City on his ancestor’s birthday.
Six generations of women’s history
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the leading figures of the women’s rights movement in America. In 1848, she helped organize the Seneca Falls Convention, where the topic was front and center. That legacy has continued with her great-great-great-granddaughter, Elizabeth Jenkins-Sahlin.
Jenkins-Sahlin is part of the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Trust, and her mother, Coline Jenkins, is the president of it. Stanton’s daughter, Harriot Stanton Blatch, organized a women’s suffrage parade in New York City in 1910. It seems like the whole family is pretty keen on women’s rights.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
12 historical figures whose descendants looked just like them
Just because some famous people have passed away doesn’t mean their faces have, as some of their descendants have such a family resemblance that it’s kind of creepy.
12 historical figures whose descendants looked just like them
