Barack Obama Is My Cousin

Love and civility amid fundamental disagreements.

Ann Dunham and her son, Barack Obama, age 2 (1963)

The title of this substack isn’t clickbait.

GEDMatch DNA results confirm that the former President and I are cousins.

The Family Connection

Barak’s mother, Ann Dunham (1942-1995), and my mother are direct descendants of Jonathan Singletary Dunham (1640-1724) of Woodbridge, New Jersey. Barak Obama and I share Jonathan Singletary Dunham as an ancestral maternal grandfather.

Jonathan Dunham had a daughter named Esther Dunham (1659-1690), who married Rev. Samuel Smith (1644-1719).

A long line of Episcopal and Episcopal Methodist preachers come from this merging of the Smith and Dunham families in New Jersey through Rev. Samuel and Esther Smith.

Rev. Samuel Smith (1644-1719) is my maternal grandfather (7x) as well as Barak Obama’s maternal grandfather (7x)

The author on his 1st birthday with his mother Mary Cherry (1962)

Rev. Samuel Smith’s wife, Esther Dunham (1659-1690), died at age 29, but not before she gave birth to Samuel Smith, Jr. (1685-1748). Samuel followed in his father’s footsteps to become a minister. Rev. Samuel Smith, Jr.’s granddaughter (2x) is my grandmother (2x) Katherine “Kate” Elizabeth Smith (1851-1923). Kate was orphaned when young. She married Dr. FTD Cherry (1841-1913) while living in Missouri with her aunt and uncle. The Oklahoma Cherry family and my mother, Mary Cherry (Burleson), come from Kate Smith’s marriage to Dr. FTD Cherry.

Katherine “Kate” Elizabeth (Smith) Cherry (1841-1913), the author’s grandmother 2x

Going back to the 18th century in New Jersey, after my ancestor grandmother Esther Dunham (1659-1690) died at age 29, her husband Rev. Samuel Smith (1644-1719) married Elizabeth Peirce, who gave birth to their son Shubael Smith (1692-1769).

President Barak Obama descends from Shubael Smith.

Shubael is the half-brother of my grandfather (7x), Rev. Samuel Smith, Jr. (1685-1748). Shubael’s daughter, Mary Elizabeth Smith (1717-1784), married Rev. Jonathan Singletary Dunham, Sr. (1709-1748), continuing the intermingling of the Smith and Dunham lines as well as extending the long line of Episcopal and Methodist preachers in the Smith and Dunham families.

The mother of Barack Obama, Ann Dunham (1942-1995), descends from this union of Rev. Jonathan Singletary Dunham, Sr, with Mary Elizabeth Smith.

Barack Obama’s Birth Certificate

When Barack Obama ran for the 2008 Presidential Election, the issue of Barack Obama’s birth certificate became a hot topic.