{"id":87829,"date":"2022-11-15T12:59:02","date_gmt":"2022-11-15T17:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=87829"},"modified":"2022-11-15T14:40:39","modified_gmt":"2022-11-15T19:40:39","slug":"winston-churchills-american-revolution-bloodlines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/winston-churchills-american-revolution-bloodlines.html","title":{"rendered":"Winston Churchill\u2019s American Revolution Bloodlines"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry writes about the American lineage of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Melissa is a genealogist who has a blog, AnceStory Archives<\/a>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Today I look at the lineage of British stateman, soldier, and author Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965), born to English nobleman Lord Randolph Spencer Churchill and his American heiress wife Jennie Jerome \u2013 noted to be the first of the \u201cDollar Princesses\u201d from America to marry into the British aristocracy. (See links to my two related stories at the end of this article.)<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, \u201cThe Roaring Lion,\u201d by Yousuf Karsh, 30 December 1941. Credit: Library and Archives Canada; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Churchill\u2019s British Bloodlines<\/strong><\/p>\n

Churchill, aka \u201cThe Roaring Lion,\u201d descends from a long line of noble blood which includes Charlemagne, Hugh le Bigod, King Edward I, and Alfred the Great.<\/p>\n

His namesake came from his 9th<\/sup> great grandfather Winston Churchill, aka \u201cCavalier Colonel,\u201d father of Sir John Churchill, the 1st<\/sup> Duke of Marlborough.<\/p>\n

Churchill\u2019s 12th<\/sup> great grandmother was Lady Mary Boleyn, sister to Queen Anne Boleyn (wife of Henry VIII), who married Sir William Carey.<\/p>\n

Their daughter Lady Catherine Carey married Sir Francis Knollys, and their daughter Lettice Knollys married Sir Walter Devereux, 1st<\/sup> Earl of Essex. Read more on the family at English Royalty, Boleyn Lineage, and Jamestown Connections<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Their daughter Lady Dorothy Devereaux married Henry Percy, 9th<\/sup> Earl of Northumberland.<\/p>\n

Their daughter Lady Dorothy Percy married Sir Robert Sydney, and their daughter Lady Dorothy “Sacharissa” Sydney<\/a> married Sir Henry Spencer.<\/p>\n

Their son Charles Spencer, 1st<\/sup> Duke of Sutherland, married Lady Anne Churchill, the daughter of John Churchill, 1st<\/sup> Duke of Marlborough, and his wife Sarah Jennings.<\/p>\n

Churchill\u2019s American Bloodlines<\/strong><\/p>\n

With all that said, Churchill also has very impressive American bloodlines which include brave patriots of the Revolution. He was admired and beloved by many Americans who were proud to cite his connection. (See my related article about Churchill\u2019s American Lineage<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

In 1945 Joseph Harvey Schaefer, secretary for the Syracuse Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution<\/a> (SAR) in New York, reported to the Schenectady Gazette<\/em> that he sent a birthday greeting to Churchill, who was turning 70.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Daily Gazette (Schenectady, New York), 9 February 1945, page 13<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In his letter, Shaefer informed Churchill about his American lineage:<\/p>\n

\u201cAmong the early settlers of Onondaga County in central New York were at least three of your illustrious ancestors (Major Lebbeus Ball, Lt. Reuben Murray, and Sgt. Samuel Jerome) who chose to give service on the side of the colonists in their struggle for freedom and democracy during the war of the American Revolution.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Schaefer further wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe realization of these facts arouses in the minds of our membership a profound feeling, bordering on kinship and compatriotism toward you and yours. This feeling prompts the charter to greet you as a brother-in-arms, to extend to you its congratulations on this, the 70th anniversary of your natal day (Nov. 30), and to add to them its best wishes for the continuance of health as well as strength and fortitude to enable you to carry on, as in the past, with your contemporaries, to final and complete victory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Churchill openly acknowledged his gratitude to Schaefer and his SAR chapter with a warm reply:<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you so much for your kind remembrance of my birthday.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 1947 the Evening Star<\/em> announced that Churchill accepted an invitation to become a member of the Society of Cincinnati<\/a> (America\u2019s oldest patriotic organization, founded in 1783 by officers of the Continental Army who served together in the American Revolution).<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 5 July 1947, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article reported:<\/p>\n

Winston Churchill, Britain\u2019s wartime Prime Minister, today became the first Englishman to be voted a membership in the Connecticut Chapter, Society of the Cincinnati. The organization is composed of descendants of officers in the American Army which fought England in the Revolutionary War.<\/p>\n

Mr. Churchill, who was elected during the society\u2019s annual meeting here yesterday, said in a letter read at the meeting that he would be happy to accept membership.<\/p>\n

Mr. Churchill\u2019s great-great-grandfather on his mother\u2019s side was Lt. Reuben Murray of Guilford, who fought in Col. Charles Burrall\u2019s Connecticut Continental Regiment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 1952 Churchill was honored in a ceremony in which he was officially inducted into the Society of Cincinnati. The Evening Star<\/em> newspaper reported Winston\u2019s admission, which took place in Washington, D. C., and wrote about his genealogy.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 17 January 1952, page 21<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article reported:<\/p>\n

Membership in the [Society of Cincinnati] is limited to one male descendant of an officer who served three years in the Continental Line during the Revolutionary War. Not much is known about Lt. Reuben Murray, whom genealogists found on Churchill\u2019s American family tree \u2013 the discovery that qualified the Prime Minister for membership. The lieutenant was 33 in 1776 and started his service in Col. William Bradford Whiting\u2019s regiment, the 17th<\/sup> Connecticut.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There is more on Lt. Murray in the records. He is listed on the payroll for serving in: Lt. Herman Swift\u2019s Company; the 7th<\/sup> Regiment of the Albany County Militia commanded by Col. Abraham J. Van Alstine; and Capt. Daniel Herrick’s Company.<\/p>\n

According to the History of Columbia County, New York. With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers<\/em>, Lt. Murray was elected Justice of the Peace (1786 to 1792) and appointed on a committee to prevent election fraud in 1792.<\/p>\n

Here is a photo from Churchill\u2019s induction ceremony into the society.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Oregonian (Portland, Ohio), 17 January 1952, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The photo caption read:<\/p>\n

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill Wednesday [16 January 1952] received the emblem of the Society of Cincinnati from Maj. Gen. Edgar Hume, president-general of the organization, at an initiation ceremony in Washington. The society is made up of male descendants of American Revolutionary War officers. Churchill qualifies through his maternal ancestors.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Another of Churchill\u2019s ancestors, Major Lebbeus Ball, also made the Prime Minister a candidate for membership in the society. Ball appeared at Concord, Massachusetts, on 19 April 1775 with a company of 60 men, and afterward served as captain of a company in Col. Sheppard\u2019s regiment, and later in Jamison\u2019s regiment. He was severely wounded, captured, and re-captured, and on recovery was promoted to major. (William Martin Beauchamp, Revolutionary Soldiers Resident or Dying in Onondaga County, N. Y.: With Supplementary List of Possible Veterans, Based on a Pension List of Franklin H. Chase, Syracuse, N. Y.<\/em>, p. 166.) Churchill\u2019s great grandson Duncan Sandys is a member of the society under Maj. Ball.<\/p>\n

To be continued\u2026<\/p>\n

Explore over 330 years of newspapers and historical records in GenealogyBank. Discover your family story! Start a 7-Day Free Trial. <\/a><\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Maj. Gen. Edgar Hume posed for this photograph after the formal induction ceremony for Churchill into the Society of Cincinnati on 16 January 1952. Credit: The Society of the Cincinnati Archives.<\/p>\n

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