One of the particularly neat things about ancestry research is recognizing when you are related to someone significant, such as the president. President Barack Hussein Obama II is my 10th cousin once removed on my father’s side. Our common ancestor and an immigrant from England, Richard Singletary may have been married to a ‘Goodwife Singletary’ who died ca. 1638 and then to Susanna Cooke. These are President Obama’s 9th great-grandparents and my 10th. While President Obama descends from Richard’s oldest son Jonathan, I descend from daughter Eunice, likely the second of seven kids.
My 10th and President Obama’s 9th Great-Grandparents
Richard Singletary and Susanna Cooke
Eunice Singletary m. Thomas Eaton Jonathan Singletary Dunham m. Mary Bloomfield
Jonathan Eaton m. Sarah Saunders Benjamin Singletary Dunham m. Mary Rolph
James Eaton m. Rachel Kimball Jonathan Dunham m. Mary Smith
Enoch Eaton m. Ester Williams Samuel Dunham m. Hannah
Frazier Eaton m. Lucinda Blakeslee Jacob Dunham m. Catherine Goodnight
Jesse Eaton m. Elizabeth Locke Jacob Mackey Dunham m. Louise Eliza Stroup
Mortimer Eaton m. Sophia Weld Jacob William Dunham m. Mary Ann Kearney
Mable Eaton m. George Mutch Ralph W.E. Dunham Sr. m. Ruth Lucille Armour
Clarence Mutch m. Bliesner Stanley Armour Dunham m. Madelyn Lee Payne
Mutch m. Chapin Ann Stanley Dunham m. Barack Hussein Obama Jr.
Chapin m. Maddox Barack Hussein Obama II m. Michelle Robinson
Me
You may be wondering why Jonathan Singletary Dunham has the last name Dunham when his father’s name was Richard Singletary. I will share with you the various possibilities for that and you will probably still wonder. One claim is that Jonathan’s mother was ‘Goodwife Singletary,’ that her last name was Dunham and he took the name in tribute to her. However, there is no evidence of his mother being a Dunham. His mother might even be Susanna Cooke. Another legend is that Richard Singletary was an heir of the Dunham’s in England, and a nursemaid who had been instructed to kill him as a child had instead brought him to New York where she left him with a ship captain and called him Single-tarry because he was all alone in the New World. The nurse apparently confessed on her death bed. Still one more version of events is that Jonathan had angered puritan leaders in Massachusetts and ticked off some Quakers and when he moved with his wife’s family to Woodbridge, New Jersey, took Dunham as an alias. Based on numerous records it does appear that he generally went by Jonathan Dunham in New Jersey and Jonathan Singletary in Massachusetts. Perhaps the most interesting document is one in which Jonathan Singletary Dunham’s children give him power of attorney over land from Richard and Susanna and nearly the entire family signed their names, Dunham alias Singletary. Subsequent generations of Jonathan Singletary Dunham’s descendants went by Dunham.
The second way in which I am distant cousins with President Obama is less direct and more complicated. The connecting ancestor in this case is Robert Hinckley, through sons Thomas and Samuel. I descend from Thomas, through his daughter Elizabeth, while President Obama descends from Samuel, through his daughter Susannah.
When Thomas Hinckley died in 1635, his 16 to 17 year-old orphaned daughter Elizabeth sailed to Boston with her uncle Samuel Hinckley, his wife Sarah Soole, and three of her cousins. The family settled in Scituate Massachusetts and Elizabeth likely resided with her aunt, uncle and cousins until she married Edward Sturgis in 1640. One of Elizabeth’s cousins, Thomas Hinckley, perhaps named after his uncle and Elizabeth’s father, served as governor of Plymouth Colony from 1680 to 1692, and held other important community offices, such as commissioner, representative and magistrate.
My 13th and President Obama’s 11th Great-Grandparent
Robert Hinckley m. 1. Elizabeth 2. Katherine
Thomas Hinckley m. Anna (Katherine) Samuel Hinckley m. Sarah Soole
Elizabeth Hinckley m. Edward Sturgis Susannah Hinckley m. John Smith
Edward Sturgis m. Temperance Gorham Samuel Smith m. Esther Dunham*
Fear Sturgis m. Joshua Holmes Shubael Smith m. Prudence Fitzrandolph
**Mary Holmes m. John Randall Mary Smith m. Jonathan Dunham
John Randall m. Lucy Brown Samuel Dunham m. Hannah
Lucy Randall m. Amos Breed Sr. Jacob Dunham m. Catherine Goodnight
Amos Breed Jr. m. Eliphael Phally Weaver Jacob Mackey Dunham m. Louise Eliza Stroup
Amos Breed II m. Elisa Dye Jacob William Dunham m. Mary Ann Kearney
Abigail Jane Breed m. James B. Chapin Ralph W.E. Dunham Sr. m. Ruth Lucille Armour
George Chapin m. Flora Allen Stanley Armour Dunham m. Madelyn Lee Payne
Roy E. Chapin m. Madeline Wilson Ann Stanley Dunham m. Barack Hussein Obama
(Grandpa) Chapin m. Grandma (Mutch) Barack Hussein Obama II m. Michelle Robinson
(Dad) Chapin m. (Mom) Maddox
Me
*Esther Dunham was the daughter of Jonathan Dunham alias Singletary (see above), so President Obama descends from the Dunham’s alias Singletary’s twice.
**I also descend from Mary Holmes’ sister Abigail and Jedediah Brown.
