# Direct decendants of Presidents or famous Americans?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 15, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101 "2003-12-15T12:33:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/41 "2003-12-17T17:51:59Z")

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“My girlfriend’s daughter is a direct descendent of Lincoln, so there was someone doing someone somewhere.”

Not according to this: [http://www.angelfire.com/my/abrahamlincoln/Descendants.html](http://www.angelfire.com/my/abrahamlincoln/Descendants.html)

or several other sites.

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**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/42 "2003-12-17T18:19:04Z")

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When Robert Lincoln Beckwith died in 1985 the Richmond paper carried an article about him (Saluda isn’t very far from here). There is some question as to whether a child born by his wife was actually his or not (the courts ruled otherwise). This cite sheds a little light on the issue:

[http://pages.ripco.net/~barbarian/archive\_04OCT00.html](http://pages.ripco.net/~barbarian/archive_04OCT00.html)

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**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/43 "2003-12-17T21:26:05Z")

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Well, paint me blue and call me a smurf. I don’t see my friend anymore, but I’ll bet it would break her heart. Her ex-husband was a big blow hard, so maybe this was just part of his script.

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**Author:** ![Zardoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a8b319/32.png) [@Zardoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zardoz)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/44 "2003-12-17T21:49:04Z")

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A childhood friend of mine was a great-great-great grandson of President Benjamin Harrison.

/i got nuthin’

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**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/45 "2003-12-17T21:55:43Z")

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Both [Johnny Mercer](http://www.mercerhouse.com/Mercer%20House.html) and [George S. Patton](http://www.pattonhq.com/unknown/chap01.html) were descendants of [General Hugh Mercer](http://www.simplyfredericksburg.com/visit/monuments/monuments.shtml), who was killed at the battle of Princeton in 1777.

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**Author:** ![Nichol\_storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Nichol\_storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nichol_storm)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/46 "2003-12-17T23:02:19Z")

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**E.T. Bass** : You’ve ignored a very important word in my post – DESCENDED. As in, direct descendant of such-and-such person. William can be related to William II, Edward VIII, etc. without being DESCENDED from them.

**2sense** : Oh, _whatever_. They ruled in England, they were English dynasties. Stop splitting hairs (or heirs…)

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