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• Famous Ancestor: Samuel Adams

  3/25/2013 12:48:00 PM

  Bostonian, revolutionary, inciter of the Boston Tea Party, and signer of the Declaration of Independence-by many accounts, Samuel Adams was the man of the American Revolution. He served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Boston Town Meeting for many years and spearheaded nearly every revolutionary effort taken in Massachusetts.

  One of Adams' most enduring contributions was the Massachusetts Circular Letter. In 1767, the British Parliament passed the Townshend Revenue Act, imposing new duties on lead, glass, paper, paint, and tea. The revenue generated by these new taxes would be used to pay the salaries of royal governors and officers in the colonies, making them no longer dependent upon-and therefore no longer answerable to-colonial legislatures. In protest of the Townshend Revenue Act, the Massachusetts House of Representatives issued the circular letter in 1768, drafted by Samuel Adams. The letter was sent to the lower houses of all the other colonies, calling on them to protest against the Townshend duties by boycotting British goods.

  When the First Continental Congress was called in 1775, Adams was one of the five Massachusetts delegates chosen to attend. The following year, he attended the Second Continental Congress. Later he would serve as the governor of Massachusetts from 1789 to 1797, but his greatest contribution was as an American revolutionary, and that is how he is remembered by Americans today.

  To view Samuel Adams' Family Tree, login to OneGreatFamily, launch Genealogy Browser, and enter OGFN#512686524. You can also see whether or not you are related to Samuel Adams by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

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• Famous Ancestor: James Madison

  3/18/2013 12:34:00 PM

  February 24th marked exactly 210 years since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the landmark case Marbury v. Madison. Madison had been serving as Secretary of State under Thomas Jefferson. During his lifetime, Madison also served as a representative in the First U.S. Congress, served as president for two terms, and was instrumental in drafting and ratifying the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights.

  In his political theory, James Madison emphasized the importance of having checks and balances, and his three-branch system became the foundation of the Constitution. Once it was drafted, he teamed up with John Jay and Alexander Hamilton to write the Federalist Papers, published in 1787 and 1788 to rally public support for the new government system.

  Initially Madison was not in support of a bill of rights; he did not feel that it was necessary to include in the Constitution. But when it became clear that many states would not ratify the document without a bill of rights, Madison changed his mind. He proposed twelve amendments to the Constitution, ten of which were approved and became the Bill of Rights. He is sometimes called the "Father of the Constitution" for his role in drafting and ratifying it. He served as U.S. president for two terms, from 1809 to 1817.

  You can also see whether or not you are related to James Madison by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

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• Famous Ancestor: Alexander Hamilton

  3/11/2013 12:41:00 PM

  Alexander Hamilton was born and raised in the Caribbean and came to New York in 1772, when he was about 13. He attended King's College, now Columbia University, and served in the Revolutionary War as an aide to General George Washington.

  After the Constitution was drafted in 1787, he teamed up with James Madison and John Jay to write the Federalist Papers to rally support for the new government. Eighty-five editions of the Papers were published anonymously in 1787 and 1788, fifty-one of which were written by Hamilton.

  After the Constitution was ratified, Hamilton became Secretary of the Treasury to President George Washington. As secretary, he argued for the creation of a national bank, justifiable through the "implied powers" in the Constitution. Throughout his political career, Hamilton advocated a stronger federal government and government intervention in the economy. Hamilton and his followers became the Federalist Party. Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and others believed that a strong central government was a threat to the agricultural and republican ideals of the new nation; they became the Democratic-Republican Party.

  Hamilton was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr in 1804.

  To view Alexander Hamilton's Family Tree, login to OneGreatFamily, launch Genealogy Browser, and enter OGFN# 596209767. You can also see whether or not you are related to Alexander Hamilton by going to the Relationship Calculator on the Family Dashboard Page when you login to OneGreatFamily.

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