Much has been made of President Barack Obama’s distant kinship to other American leaders. That kinship includes a relationship to Nathaniel FitzRandolph, 1703­–1780, who gave the land on which Nassau Hall sits. His remains lie buried beneath the Holder Hall arch, and the University’s entrance gate is named in his honor.

Their common Puritan ancestor, Edward FitzRandolph, fled persecution in England, came to Massachusetts in 1630 with the Winthrop fleet, and later moved to New Jersey.   According to Ancestor.com, Edward had two sons. The eldest was President Obama’s 9th great-grandfather. The youngest was the father of Princeton’s Nathaniel FitzRandolph.  

That makes the president Nathaniel’s first cousin 10 times removed. Unfortunately for the Obamas, the legend that FitzRandolph’s relatives are entitled to free admission to the University never has been substantiated.

Luther Munford ’71