Stafford family's genealogical research leads to presidential connections.

Date published: 1/18/2003

ROBERT HEIN of Ferry Farm subdivision in Stafford County believes his wife, Margaret, is related to George Washington.

And to John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe.

And also to Lincoln, the Roosevelts--both Teddy and Franklin--plus Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan.

And so on, all the way to George W. Bush.

That's right. Hein's research of collateral relationships dating back from his wife's grandparents links her family with ancestors of all 43 U.S. presidents.

"I know how that sounds," said Hein. "People say, 'hey, that means all the presidents are related to each other. And that can't be right.'

"But that's what the research shows."

A collateral relationship means that people are descended from the same ancestors, but in a different line. For example, a cousin is a collateral relative.

Through his research on the Internet and with the aid of several genealogical books, Hein climbed through the branches of his wife's family tree--in some cases back into the 700s--at which point he would swing to another branch that would link up with Ulysses S. Grant, Harry Truman or Bill Clinton.

Hein said that for the past two years, he has spent two or three hours several nights each week working on family history. He did most of his research using data bases available at RootsWeb.com.

"You put in all the family information you can, and sometimes you go from one data base to another," he said. "There was a lot of pointing and clicking. But after a while, you figure out where you're going."

Hein admits that he was surprised by the results, which not only link his wife's family to all the presidents, but also to several royal families in Europe and to many prominent figures in America's past.

"It's not like an Adam-and-Eve thing at all," he said. "We're all so wealthy in familymost of us just don't bother to look."

Hein, who is 58 and has a background in electrical engineering, was curious to hear what experts had to say about his family research.

Paul Wiggins is the current president of the Fredericksburg Regional Genealogical Society and he also knows Hein. Both work at the Joint Warfare Analysis Center at Dahlgren.

"I know he is very analytical," said Wiggins of Hein. "He takes things step by step until it's correct."

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Date published: 1/18/2003