More Notables: Ancestors in the Military and Politics

This is a follow up to my last post about notable relatives in my family tree. It was written for my children, since they seem to be primarily interested in famous ancestors. I read the post to my kids, and they deemed it fairly interesting, but too long. In my daughter's words, it was a "seven out of ten, and it would have been an eight if it was shorter." Note taken.

In this post, I'll highlight a few politicians and American military notables in my children's family tree.

Commodore Robert F. Stockton

Robert Field Stockton, 4th cousin 7x removed

"Robert Field Stockton (August 20, 1795 – October 7, 1866) was a United States Navy commodore, notable in the capture of California during the Mexican–American War. He was a naval innovator and an early advocate for a propeller-driven, steam-powered navy. Stockton was from a notable political family and also served as a U.S. senator from New Jersey." (Wikipedia) 

Robert was the grandson of Richard Stockton, signer of the Declaration of Independence. The cities of Stockton (California), Fort Stockton (Texas), and Stockton (Missouri) are all named after Robert Stockton. Robert's son, John P. Stockton, also became a U.S. Senator representing New Jersey. Robert was offered the role of U.S. Secretary of the Navy by President John Tyler in 1841, but he turned down the appointment in order to manage construction of an advanced steam warship, the USS Princeton, which he later captained with great success during the Mexican-American War. He was a delegate to the Peace Conference of 1861 that unsuccessfully attempted to prevent the Civil War. When that war began, he commanded a Union militia in New Jersey.

Robert's 3x great-grandparents, Richard and Abigail Stockton, are my tenth great-grandparents. I descend from their son John Stockton (b. 1674). The Stocktons married into our Bellangee line in the early 1800s.

Portrait of Matthew Clarkson by Gilbert Stuart (ca. 1794)

Major General Matthew Clarkson, husband of 1st cousin 7x removed

Matthew Clarkson "entered the Army to serve in the Revolutionary War, first on Long Island, subsequently under Benedict Arnold. He was at Saratoga and, later, on the staff of General Benjamin Lincoln, was present at the surrender of Burgoyne, at Savannah (1779) and at the defense of Charleston (1780). He was also present at the surrender of Cornwallis. After the war, Clarkson was commissioned brigadier general of militia of Kings and Queens Counties in June 1786 and Major General of the Southern District of New York in March 1798. For a time, he was engaged in merchant business with John Vanderbilt under the company Vanderbilt & Clarkson." (Wikipedia) 

When the war ended, Clarkson became the assistant to General Benjamin Lincoln, who had been named the Secretary of War. He served as a Federalist member of the 13th New York State Legislature in the New York State Assembly, where he introduced a bill for the abolition of slavery in the state. He was presented at the court of the French King Louis XVI, served as State Senator representing both the 17th and 18th districts in the New York State Legislature, and as president of the New York City hospital. He ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate but was defeated by DeWitt Clinton. "Clarkson was married to Mary Rutherfurd (1761–1786), the daughter of Walter Rutherfurd and Catherine (née Alexander) Rutherfurd and the sister of U.S. Senator John Rutherfurd. Through her mother, she was the niece of William Alexander, Lord Stirling, and the granddaughter of James Alexander and Mary Alexander Provoost." (Wikipedia)

Clarkson's wife, Mary Rutherfurd, is my 1st cousin, 7x removed. Her grandparents, John Rutherfurd and Elizabeth Cairncross of Edgerston, Scotland, are my 7th great-grandparents, on the adoptive line belonging to my great-grandfather, George Roscoe Oliver Rutherfurd. 

The Honorable Ogden Livingston Mills

Ogden Livingston Mills, husband of 5th cousin 3x removed

"Ogden Livingston Mills (August 23, 1884 – October 11, 1937) was an American lawyer, businessman and politician. He served as United States Secretary of the Treasury in President Herbert Hoover's cabinet, during which time Mills pushed for tax increases, spending cuts and other austerity measures that would deepen the economic crisis. A member of the Republican Party, Mills also represented New York in the United States House of Representatives, served as Undersecretary of the Treasury during the administration of President Calvin Coolidge, and was the Republican nominee in the 1926 New York gubernatorial election." (Wikipedia) 

Mills was highly critical of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, and campaigned for President Hoover when Roosevelt ran against him for President. Ironically, Mills and Roosevelt were college friends and neighbors, so their differences appear to have been largely political. Mills was also the owner of Wheatley Stable, which raised race horses. His stable produced the champion Seabiscuit, as well as Bold Ruler, the father of Secretariat. Mills married his first wife, Margaret Stuyvesant Rutherfurd in 1911. She is such a fascinating character that she receives her own paragraph below, despite not being a politician herself. 

Margaret Stuyvesant Rutherfurd

Margaret Stuyvesant Rutherfurd, 5th cousin 3x removed

"Margaret Stuyvesant Rutherfurd Murat (November 11, 1891 – February 10, 1976) was an eccentric American heiress, dancer and sometime actress. Margaret was born on November 11, 1891 in Manhattan. She was the second daughter of Lewis Morris Rutherfurd Jr. (1859–1901) and Anne (née Harriman) Sands Rutherfurd (1861–1940). After her father's death in 1901, her mother remarried to William Kissam Vanderbilt, the first husband of Alva Erskine Smith. From her mother's marriage to Vanderbilt, she was a stepsister of Consuelo Vanderbilt (wife of Charles Spencer-Churchill, the 9th Duke of Marlborough), William Kissam Vanderbilt II (husband of Virginia Fair Vanderbilt), and Harold Stirling Vanderbilt (wife of Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt). Her paternal grandparents were astronomer Lewis Morris Rutherfurd and Margaret Chanler (née Stuyvesant) Rutherfurd, the niece and adopted daughter of Peter Gerard Stuyvesant. Her paternal uncle was Winthrop Rutherfurd. Her maternal grandparents were Oliver Harriman and Laura (née Low) Harriman." (Wikipedia)

Margaret's exploits are so numerous that it's difficult to condense them into a short paragraph. She was married six times to four different men. One of the men she married twice was Prince Charles Michel Joachim Napoléon, a direct descendant of the former King of Naples, who was also the brother of Napoléon. She was a devotee of Oom the Omnipotent. She danced on stages in New York, London, Paris, and Monte Carlo. She lived in Morocco. She dyed her hair pink.

Margaret is not to be confused with her aunt, Margaret Stuyvesant Rutherfurd (b. 1854), who married American diplomat Henry White, settled with him in London, and was a popular socialite there. She was a favorite of Queen Victoria and was immortalized in a portrait by John Singer Sargent.

The common ancestors in this line are, again, John Rutherfurd and Elizabeth Cairncross of Edgerston, Scotland, my 10th great-grandparents.

Margaret Stuyvesant Rutherfurd White, in a portrait by John Singer Sargent, which hangs in the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

I am not doing a good job of making this post shorter than the last. Apologies, kids! The mention of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt above made me think that I should include another relative here, who was not a politician, but had a huge impact on the life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt.

Lucy Page Mercer Rutherfurd

Lucy Page Mercer, wife of 4th cousin 4x removed

Lucy Page Mercer (1891-1948) is known primarily for being the longtime mistress of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She was born in Washington, D.C. and in 1914 became Eleanor Roosevelt's social secretary. Her affair with Franklin Roosevelt likely began in 1917, and continued for the rest of his life. She was with him at his death in 1945. Much has been written about the toll this took on the Roosevelt marriage, and how it may have propelled Eleanor into the social and political work for which she is revered. Lucy married Winthrop Chanler Rutherfurd, who is best known for being the true love of Consuelo Vanderbilt, who was forced into an unhappy marriage to the ninth Duke of Marlborough and became the grandmother of Winston Churchill. Winthrop is my 4th cousin 4x removed, on the same Rutherfurd line descending from John Rutherfurd and Elizabeth Cairncross of Edgerston, Scotland.

Last but not least, kids, let's turn to your father's line. While the trees we saw at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City predicted many presidential connections on my side of the family, the only one I'm somewhat close to proving is our relationship to John Adams, second President of the United States. On your father's side, you have a proven Presidential connection.

President Calvin Coolidge

John Calvin Coolidge, Jr., my husband's 3rd Cousin 5x removed

Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; July 4, 1872 – January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. A Republican lawyer from New England, born in Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of Massachusetts. His response to the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight and gave him a reputation as a man of decisive action. The next year, he was elected the 29th vice president of the United States, and he succeeded to the presidency upon the sudden death of Warren G. Harding in 1923. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative and also as a man who said very little and had a dry sense of humor, receiving the nickname "Silent Cal". He chose not to run again in the 1928 election, remarking that ten years as president was (at the time) "longer than any other man has had it—too long!" (Wikipedia) 

Coolidge was opposed to Prohibition and in favor of giving women the right to vote. He was pro-business and a fiscal conservative. "He signed into law the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, which granted US citizenship to the indigenous peoples of the United States, and oversaw a period of rapid and expansive economic growth in the country, known as the "Roaring Twenties", leaving office with considerable popularity." (Wikipedia). However, it is quite possible that Coolidge's conservative policies set in motion the stock market collapse of 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression, one of the most challenging periods in the history of America.

Calvin Coolidge's mother, Sarah Almeda Brewer, was the great-granddaughter of Jonathan Brewer (1689-1752) and Arabella Goulding (1693-1774) of Framingham, Massachusetts. They are my husband's 7th great-grandparents. He descends from their son Moses Brewer. Sarah Almeda Brewer was the daughter of Moses' brother, Eliab Brewer.

My children are not going to be happy about the length of this post, but I hope they'll find the stories interesting. There are more to come!