Kerry's strictly a self promoter....it's always all about him & his ambitions.
Hard to believe, but Bush/Kerry share common ancestors:
Candidates share family tree
By LLOYD BOCKSTRUCK / Special contributor to The Dallas Morning News
With the presidential election in full swing, genealogists have been digging into the roots of John Kerry and George Bush.
Both men have ancestry in New England. Some people might assume that Kerry is an Irish name, as he hails from Massachusetts. But Sen. Kerry's grandfather, Frederick Kerry, came to America from his native home, Bennisch, Austria. He had the family name changed from Kohn in 1901. The elder Kerry's nativity is recorded in the Roman Catholic Church birth register in 1873. The entry reveals the family was Jewish, so Sen. Kerry is potentially the first person with immediate Jewish ancestry to be his party's candidate for president.
Sen. Kerry's Colonial American ancestry is from his mother's family. She is a descendant of the most notable Puritan, Gov. John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He is also a Cabot descendant.
If you trace the maternal ancestry of Sen. Kerry and compare it to that of President Bush, you might be surprised to learn what else they have in common. They are cousins – not once but five times – ranging from 12th cousins twice removed to 10th cousins once removed. Both men are descended from Thomas Richards of Weymouth, John Dwight of Dedham, Henry Herrick of Salem, and the Rev. Peter Bulkeley of Concord; all arrived in Massachusetts in the 17th century.
If you can place a sizable part of your ancestry in the Colonial America period, you are probably related to Mr. Bush and Mr. Kerry. American politics is a family affair. President Bush is related to 14 presidents. His New England ancestors include Edward Gilman, also an ancestor of Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Bush also descends from Elisha Hutchinson, an ancestor of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Lloyd Bockstruck is the supervisor of the genealogy section of the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library. Address questions to Family Tree, Texas Living section, The Dallas Morning News, P.O. Box 655237, Dallas, TX 75265. |
