Immigrant Ancestors
Post date: Oct 30, 2015 4:50:59 PM
Before I begin, I would like to be clear that this article is not intended to be a criticism of any political position. It is simply an exploration of the truth behind a genealogical claim that had been made in a very public forum.
If you are a public figure, it might be prudent to check your facts before you make any claim. This applies particularly to claims regarding your ancestry, because you can be certain that a genealogist somewhere is going to fact-check your story, and it may be more than a little embarrassing if it turns out that your claim is completely without foundation.
Apparently, this happened recently to author, and social and political commentator, Ann Coulter. Coulter recently appeared on ABC's The View to promote her latest book, "¡Adios America!". During that interview, when asked about her family's story, and if she is "Native American", her response was a resounding "Yes I am." She went on to say that she is "a settler", and that she is "descended from settlers, not from immigrants."
Given the context (see the YouTube video, below), it is clear that this was not a distinction between legal immigrants vs illegal immigrants, but rather a distinction between those who founded this nation, and those who came after its founding.
A recent piece by Megan Smolenyak took a look at the truth behind Coulter's statement. The piece appeared in the Huffington Post. Smolenyak points out that Coulter may not have been aware of her own paternal lineage, nor of the origin of her own surname (Coulter), and the fact that all eight (8) of her paternal great-grandparents had, in fact, been immigrants, and not settlers as Coulter may have believed.
I found Smolenyak's article to be interesting and insightful, but because I question one of the statistics mentioned in the article, I thought that I should do a little fact-checking myself. So, last night, I pulled together a quick (I didn't cite all of my source) paternal lineage for Ann Coulter (if you do not have an Ancestry.com subscription, you will not be able to access this tree, so I have including a "pedigree chart below) . I started with the obituaries that Coulter wrote for each of her parents, and worked from there.
As it turns out, Smolenyak was correct. 100% of Coulter's paternal lineage descend from six (6) Irish immigrants and two (2) German immigrants.
Regardless of your opinion of Ann Coulter, your position on the issue of immigration, or your feelings about differentiating between those descended purely from "settlers" vs those with immigrant ancestors, it would be difficult to argue that Coulter is either "Native American" or "a settler". She clearly descends from Irish and German immigrants.
