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Do you have any famous relatives?
There are those who know they have famous relatives, and those who hope they have
famous relatives. I always fell into the latter category. I think, at one time or another,
though, we've all hoped to find we are related to someone famous, and wondered
who that famous person might be.

My great-grandmother was Nancy Ann Davis Ridgdill. So, being very proud of my
Confederate heritage, I've always hoped to find out that I'm related to Confederate
President Jefferson Davis. But, so far I've been unable to find a connection.
Hopefully, one day I will be able to. During my years of research, however, I have
discovered I am related to a few famous people.

Are you related to someone famous? If so, send me your story. It may be included
on the website. Here are some of mine. Thanks.

President Jimmy Carter.
My grandmother was Lois Inez Bishop Ridgdill. Working backwards, her
grandmother was Susan Hall Bishop, whose grandmother was Sarah Braswell Hall,
whose grandmother was Sarah Kindred Braswell, whose father was Samuel
Kindred, son of John Kindred, Jr. Now, Samuel had a sister named Jane Kindred
Carter. Jane's great-great-great-great-great-grandson is James Earl Carter, Jr., a
peanut farmer from rural Plains, Georgia, whom we've all come to know as the 39th
President of the United States, President Jimmy Carter. Or, as I like to call him,
"Cousin" Jimmy! I know all this sounds complicated, but Jimmy Carter is actually my
seventh cousin twice removed, or fourteenth cousin. We're very close! Well, maybe
not that close. Okay, I don't even know the man. But, the same blood runs through
both our veins, so I guess that's good enough.

Lt. General Ambrose Powell Hill.
You think fourteenth cousins is distant, how about this one? Working backwards
again from my grandmother, another of her grandmother's was Emily Eugenia Hill
Forehand, whose ninth great-grandfather was Hugh Hill, born in 1457, in England.
Hugh was the fifth great-grandfather of Robert Hill who was one of the first settlers to
arrive in Jamestown Colony, Virginia. Hugh Hill was also the fourteenth great-
grandfather of Ambrose Powell Hill. Ambrose married Kitty Morgan McClung, who
was the sister of Confederate cavalry general John Hunt Morgan.

During the American Civil War, or as we Southerners call it, "The War of Northern
Aggression" (sorry Northern cousins), he gained early fame as the commander of
"Hill's Light Division," becoming one of Stonewall Jackson's ablest subordinates.
After Jackson's death, Hill was promoted to lieutenant general by Robert E. Lee, and
placed in command of the newly created Third Corps of Lee's army, which he led in
the Gettysburg Campaign.

Hill once said he had no desire to live to see the collapse of the Confederacy, and on
April 2, 1865 (just seven days before Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House),
he was killed by a Union soldier as he rode to the front of the Petersburg lines,
accompanied only by a lone staff officer. He is buried in the A.P. Hill Monument, in
Richmond, Virginia. Ambrose and Kitty had four daughters, but only two survived to
adulthood.

It's a great privilege to be the blood relative of this great man, no matter how distant.
According to the relationship calculator of my genealogy program, we are fourteenth
cousins once removed. I think that means we're about 28th cousins. I know that's
very distant, but there's still that blood thing going on.

Robert E. Lee, General-in-Chief.
Now, let me tell you about another famous relative, Confederate Major General
Robert Edward Lee; or, as his men fondly called him, "Marse Robert." This one may
be a little hard to follow, so bear with me. Before I start, though, it's also of note that
Jimmy Carter is a distant blood relative of Robert E. Lee, which also makes him a
distant blood relative of Revolutionary War hero Maj. General Henry "Lighthorse
Harry" Lee. Jimmy is also related, by the marriage of Robert E. Lee to Mary Anna
Randolph Custis, to Martha Dandridge Custis, better known for her marriage to her
second husband, and the Father of Our Country, President George Edward
Washington.

Now, let me see if I can explain this properly. Working backwards again from my
grandmother to her grandmother Susan Hall Bishop, whose grandmother was
Sarah Braswell Hall, whose grandmother was Sarah Kindred Braswell, whose father
was Samuel Kindred, son of John Kindred, Jr. You'll recall, I mentioned above that
Samuel had a sister named Jane Kindred Carter who was the 5th great-grandmother
of Jimmy Carter, and my 7th great-grandaunt, making Jimmy and I distant cousins.

Jane Kindred, my 7th great-grandaunt, married Moore Carter whose great grand-
father was William Carter, son of John Carter, Sr., who was the great- great- great-
grandfather of Ann Hill Carter, who was the mother of Robert E. Lee. Robert married
Mary Anna Randolph Custis, the great-granddaughter of Martha Dandridge Custis
Washington.

So, what does this all mean? It means that my 7th great-grandaunt, Jane Kindred,
married Moore Carter, the third cousin twice removed of Robert E. Lee. Okay, okay.
I know that means that I am not related by blood to Robert E. Lee, despite my best
efforts, so far. But, it's wonderful to know that my blood relative married a blood
relative of Robert E. Lee, and that means my family is related, even if only by
marriage, to one of the greatest men in history, and will be forever connected to two
of the greatest families in history, those of Lee and Washington.

Confederate President Jefferson Finis Davis.
Remember at the top of this page I said I'd always hoped to find I'm related to
Jefferson Davis? Well, I still haven't found out I'm a blood relative, "BUT" I have found
a connection. Bear with me, now, and I'll try to explain.

In the last section, I explained how my blood relative married a blood relative of
Robert E. Lee. Now, let's start from Robert E. Lee, and work back through his father
Gen. Henry Lee, who was the son of Henry Lee II, who was the son of Henry Lee, the
son of Richard Lee II, to Robert's great-great-great-grandfather Richard Lee. With
me so far? Okay.

In addition to Richard Lee II, Richard Lee also had another son named Hancock Lee.
Now, let's work forward. Hancock Lee had a daughter named Elizabeth Lee who
was married to Zachary Taylor. Alright, don't get ahead of me. This Zachary Taylor
had a son named Richard Lee Taylor. Richard was the father of Zachary Taylor, the
12th President of the United States. Yes, another connection to a great man. Hold
on, though, I'm not through, yet.

President Zachary Taylor had a daughter named Sarah Knox Taylor. And, FINALLY,
Sarah was the first wife of the only man to have the distinction of serving as president
of the glorious Confederacy, Confederate President Jefferson Finis Davis. I know, I
know, this is kind of stretching it a little. But, you know what they say about us true
Southerners; give us a little time, and we'll find a way to claim kin to just about
anybody! So, if I never find a blood connection, at least I can say that my family is
connected, albeit in an obscure way, to another of the greatest men in history,
President Jefferson Finis Davis.

Brig. General Lewis Addison Armistead.
My wife's fourth great-grandfather on her mother's side was Matthew Curl, a Revolu-
tionary Soldier, who was the son of Wilson Curl. Wilson married Mourning
Armistead, daughter of Robert Armistead. Robert was the grandson of Anthony
Armistead, who was the son of William Armistead. William also had a son named
John Armistead, who was the third great-grandfather of Lewis Addison Armistead.

Lewis was the son of Gen. Walker Keith Armistead who, along with his five brothers,
served in the War of 1812. Walker's brother, Col. George Armistead, was the
commander of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. It was the Battle of Fort
McHenry which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the "Star Spangled Banner,"
which actually began as a poem titled "Defense of Fort McHenry." Set to music, and
renamed "The Star Spangled Banner," it became a well-known American patriotic
song, but didn't officially become the national anthem of the United States until a
Congressional resolution on March 3, 1931, some 119 years after it was written.

Lewis Armistead became a lieutenant in the U.S. Infantry, and distinguished himself
during the Mexican War. He was wounded at Chapultepec, Mexico, and was
breveted twice for bravery. Lewis was a close friend of Winfield Scott Hancock, and
served with him before the War Between the States, or as we Southerners often call
it, "The War for Southern Independence" (sorry, again, Northern cousins). Hancock
would later become a Brig. General in the Union Army. At a farewell party before
leaving to join the Confederate Army, Armistead told Hancock that if he should ever
lift a hand against Hancock in battle, "May God strike me dead!"

At the Battle of Gettysburg, while leading his troops towards the center of the Union
line during Pickett's Charge, Lewis Armistead was mortally wounded. Waving his
hat from the tip of his sword, Armistead advanced his troops farther in the charge
than any other, an event which is known as the High Water Mark of the Confederacy.
His brigade advanced all the way to the stone wall at the "Angle." Armistead was
shot three times just as he crossed the wall. He was informed by Union Cpt. Henry H.
Bingham that his old friend, Hancock, had been commanding this part of the
defensive line, and that he, too, had just been wounded. Hancock would live, but
Armistead would die two days later in a Union field hospital.

My wife, Nancy, is the fifth cousin five times removed of Brig. Gen. Lewis Addison
Armistead, a great Confederate hero. Since several of his uncles and other relatives
married into the families of Carter and Lee, she is also related by marriage to Gen.
Robert E. Lee, Gen. Henry Lee, Martha Washington, and Confederate President
Jefferson Finis Davis. I knew there was a reason I married this girl!

President John Tyler.
Going back through my Coleman line, I have discovered a connection to John Tyler,
the tenth President of the United States. My 4th gr-grandfather was Rev. Elisha
Coleman, the son of Revolutionary War soldier Jonathan Coleman, and Millicent
"Milly" Pittman. Elisha's second wife was Mary Lucretia Scott, daughter of Elizabeth
Ann "Eliza" Coleman.

Elizabeth married Gen. John Baytop Scott, whose grandson, Dr. John Baytop Scott,
married Grace Roe Tyler, daughter of Robert Tyler who served as the Registrar of the
Treasury of the Confederate States of America. Robert also served as Secretary to
the 10th President of the United States, and his father, President John Tyler.

President Tyler was actually John Tyler IV. John Tyler served as a captain during the
War of 1812. He was a member of the Virginia state house of delegates from 1811-
16, 1823-25, and 1839-40. He was a U.S. Representative from Virginia from 1817-
21, and served as Virginia's 23rd Governor from 1825-27. He then served as a U.S.
Senator from Virginia from 1827-36. He was a delegate to the Virginia state consti-
tutional convention during 1829-30.

In 1841, he became the 10th Vice-President of the United States. Then, upon the
death of President William Henry Harrison after only a month in office, became the
10th President of the United States. John's first wife, Letitia Christian Tyler, died in
1842. In 1844, at the first presidential wedding to be conducted in the White House,
he married Julia Gardiner. The two marriages produced fourteen children. John
served only one term as President, and was the first President to not seek re-election.

In February 1861, the ex-president chaired a conference in Washington in a last-ditch
effort to avert civil war. When the War Between the States began, he was elected to
Virginia's secessionist convention, and then to the provisional Congress of the Con-
federacy. He won a seat in the Confederate Congress' House of Representatives,
but his death on January 18, 1862, came before he could begin his service. John
Tyler was the great uncle of another U.S. President, Harry S. Truman.