Sarah Palin's Family Tree

On GretaWire today, Greta van Susteren asked for reactions to an article about the low profile Sarah Palin has kept since she announced her resignation as governor and the mystery surrounding her future plans. One of the Palin detractors replied by saying that you can tell a Republican by the lack of branches in their family tree. So I responded to that person by posting an excerpt from the following article by Rosemary E. Bachelor:

Sarah Palin's Ancestry: Solid New England: Vice Presidential Candidate Has Multiple Mayflower Lineages

Ms. Bachelor prefaces her article with this statement:

Sarah Palin is upper echelon when it comes to descent from the nation's
colonial era founding families in New England.

According to Ms. Bachelor, who obviously did some thorough genealogy research on the subject, Sarah Palin's family tree includes several ancestors who came over on the Mayflower, one of whom she shares with Senator John McCain:

Palin’s Mayflower ancestors include William Brewster, John Howland, Stephen
Hopkins, Joan (Hurst) Rogers, John and Elizabeth Tilley, and Richard Warren. She
also descends from Thomas Prence, an early governor of Plymouth Colony, and her
pedigree is laden with numerous pre-1650 immigrants from England.

President Bush, Barack Obama and Sarah Palin all descend from Samuel and
Sarah (Soule) Hinckley. Their son, Thomas Hinckley (1618-1706), held several
governmental posts in the Plymouth Colony and served as its last governor from
1681 to 1692. Palin is also a 12th cousin of John McCain and descends from Simon
Newcomb of Edgarton, MA and Lebanon, CT, as do both Bush presidents.

Two of Governor Palin's ancestors were kings, and the emperor Charlemagne was possibly one of her ancestors as well:

Palin, Obama and McCain all claim William 1, King of Scots, as an ancestor. Her
descent in this Carolingian line is via ancestor Edmond Hawes (1612-1693) of
Yarmouth, MA, who held many local offices. She also descends from Henry III of
England by way of ancestor Edward Raynsford, who died in 1680 in Boston. He is
alleged to be a Plantagenet descendant of Charlemagne.

Governor Palin shares one of her Plymouth Colony ancestors with four former United States presidents, a famous poet, one infamous figure, and several other well-known figures, including - believe it or not - Mitt Romney:

Sarah Palin shares ancestor John Lathrop with presidents Ulysses S. Grant,
Franklin D. Roosevelt and both Bush presidents. Lathrop descendants have earned
fame in many ways. In addition to Revolutionary War traitor Benedict Arnold, the
list includes Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon religion, poet Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow, Dr. Benjamin Spock, financier John Pierpoint Morgan and the original
fuller brush man, Alfred Fuller.

Tumbling out of the list of politicians
who descend from Lathrop are Adlai Stevenson, John Foster Dulles, Thomas Dewey
and presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

This article is well worth the read and may surprise some of Governor Palin's detractors who equate her down-to-earthness and affability to being not up to the job of President. (I won't repeat some of the terms I have seen them use to describe her.) It seems that ever since the election, it has been open season on this remarkable woman because of her adherence to conservative ideals and values.

What a pedigree for someone so unpretentious and gracious but strong and tough as nails when it comes to getting the job done and doing what is right for her state and her country! Governor Palin, we salute you for a job well done and for a decision made in what you deemed to be the best interest of the state that you have governed with a servant's heart. Whatever path you take next will bring outstanding results. Naturally, we hope it will lead you to the White House eventually. Like Ronald Reagan, you are truly a gift from God to our country at such a time as this. In the meantime, God bless you and your family, Governor Palin, and God bless America!

Hat Tip:

On his The Book of Sarah blog, Josh Painter has two additional articles about Sarah Palin's ancestry. In fact, I followed a link from one of them to this fascinating article.