The infamous Willard Hotel in Washington, DC pops up from time to time in my reading. It’s become known as “The Residence of Presidents,” so it makes sense. I’ve wondered (in a largely disinterested and mildly bored way) if I’m related to the hoteliers. Recently I’ve uncovered an assortment serendipitous genealogical surprises. I joined The Willard Family Association. What’s more — I learned how to spell genealogy.

When the hotel made an appearance in America’s Founding Son: John Quincy Adams, from President to Political Maverick, by Bob Crawford (freaking fascinating!!) I had to dig in. I started with Henry A. Willard, tracing him back to see when/where (and if) we meet up.

I was not expecting this to unfurl into my most unhinged genealogical post to-date.

An Irish waiter at Willard’s Hotel was shot (and killed?) but a pro-slavery congressman from California.

You know what —

just go read this post from The White House Historical Association. Riveting. And with photos and sources and proper history. Unlike this post with sloppy doodles, unnecessary tangents, family trees too large to take in, and childish giggling.

Nosing around the Willard genealogy database, two things jumped out at me:

A Confederate spy. What?! Luckily, only by marriage. I mean, not a spy by marriage (obviously). I’m related to the spy by marriage.
Major Clapp, which me giggle. (Full name: Joseph Clapp Willard. Only the funny word combo caught my eye at first. We’ll get back to him in a sec.)

The Hoteliers

Henry Augustus Willard
1822 - 1909

Henry is the baby brother of the bunch.

Kinda stumbled on the opportunity to run the City Hotel in Washington DC while on a steamboat between New York City and Troy. At the time, he was just 24 years old. Eventually, he changed the name to Willard’s Hotel.

Edwin Willard
1818 - 1863

Eldest brother and Henry’s first partner. Not popular with the guests. Henry wrote to Joseph that Edwin was “so unpopular everyone complains… When once we get clear of him, we will make a new start … Should you leave California, you can at any time join me in the hotel. We could make a mighty strong team.”

Joseph C. Willard
1820 - 1897

This is the Major Clapp who made me giggle — Major Joseph C. Willard. Luxurious head of hair worth seeing for yourself.

The Confederate spy? His wife!! More on that down below…

Get this! Joseph’s entry in the Willard genealogy database just casually mentions the Roosevelts… and a Joseph Willard Roosevelt.

The quotes are from The White House Historical Association’s The Willard Hotel post.

Is someone messing with me?

Just last week I pulled together a massive Family Tree to End All Family Trees (not really) and on it was Theodore Roosevelt. Not in an I’m-Related-to-Him kind of way. In a I’m-Related-to-the-Livingstons-Apparently-and-Here’s-How-Eleanor-Roosevelt-Is-Too kind of way.

I added the hoteliers — on the far right.

It’s too much, right?

Here are a few things I want to point out:

We roll up to Major Samuel Willard

The Willard Hotel bros and I all roll up to Major Simon Willard, born in 1605.

They roll up to his first family, with Mary Sharpey.
I roll up to his second family, with wife Mary [unknown].

The purple highlights indicate other recent discoveries:

Dr. Elias Willard is how I’m tied to the Livingston family
Dr. Samuel Willard is (perhaps?) who Dr. Doctor Willard Bliss (the doctor doctor who “treated” President Garfield) was named after.

Joseph C. Willard … oh boy

Went to California to get rich; didn’t work
Became Henry Willard’s partner
During the Civil War, this hotel owner / Union Army officer commented in his diary about the conditions (“Slept this night under an oak tree, on the ground, hungry and tired.”)
Married to Caroline Moore
During the war, fell in love with …

Antonia J. Ford
(1838 - 1871)

Daughter of Edward Randolph Ford, Esq. and Julia Ford (holy crap RANDOLPH?! Put a pin in that. 📌)
Born at Fairfax Court House home (FUN FACT! “Fairfax Court House” is a village, not a court house. Hat tip to Jay for explaining that to me. Ford was not born in a court house.)
Reportedly a Confederate spy (!!!)
Union soldiers were billeted (assigned to sleep) at her home (same one she was born in); she gathered intelligence
Her father (a secessionist) opened their home for Union soldiers
Her youth and beauty were cited as helping her gather intelligence
Was said to have worked sometimes with Rose O’Neil Greenhow
Major Joseph Willard captured and arrested her
He then lobbied to get her released
After months in jail, she’s out
He left the army, got divorced, she swore allegiance to the United States, and they got married
Not not worth noting that she’s 18 years younger than Willard
They had three kids; only Joseph Edward Willard survived infancy
Died on Valentine’s Day days after their youngest baby was born… from an illness she contracted while in prison … just seven years after they got married (he outlived her by 27 years)

Joseph Edward Willard
1865 - 1924

Took over the Willard after his dad died
Aide to General Fitzhugh Lee (General Robert E. Lee’s nephew) in the Spanish-American War
President Wilson’s Ambassador to Spain
Etc. etc., but this post is already out of control
His son-in-law was Kermit Roosevelt, Sr.!!

WHAT?!

While researching whether I was related to Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar (I’m not), I cited Kermit / the Roosevelt family as an example of maybe why Hoar’s middle name was Rockwood. (Kermit has been in the Roosevelt family for generations, but it started out as a tribute to Edith Kermit Roosevelt’s dad’s partner. And that’s basically the same with the Hoar family — Ebenezer Rockwood was Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar’s dad’s law partner and died before Hoar was born.

To discover that Kermit is actually married into the Willard family was truly 🤯🤯🤯.

The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt: The Women Who Created a President, by Edward F. O’Keefe

Kermit Roosevelt, Sr. and Belle Wyatt Willard

Kermit and Belle got engaged, but Kermit’s mom Edith was worried about Theodore Roosevelt’s mission to explore the Amazon River.
She asked Kermit to go, too.
He postponed his wedding.
In fact, without Kermit there TR may have died by suicide in the Amazon. (TR brought morphine with him as “I have always made it a practice on such trips because one never knows what is going to happen.” He was so ill during the trip, he told them to go on without him. They refused.)

The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey, by Candice Millard

When he returned, he and Belle got married (here’s picture of them!)
A decade or so later, he went to China to find the mythical panda

The Beast in the Clouds: The Roosevelt Brothers’ Deadly Quest to Find the Mythical Giant Panda, by Nathalia Holt; here are some doodles.

He and Belle had three children, including Kermit Roosevelt, Jr. (who I’ve doodled about many times and is relevant in a current-events kind of way that I’m not going to get into here) and Joseph Willard Roosevelt (who is how I discovered this connection to begin with)
Three decades after saving his father from suicide, Kermit died by suicide in Alaska

A couple of observations

Joseph C. Willard was a Union officer who fell for a Confederate spy.
Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. was pro-Union (and paid a sub to avoid fighting against family) and his wife was a staunch Confederate who was “entirely unreconstructed to the day of her death” according to TR.
Theodore Roosevelt’s first wife Alice died on Valentine’s Day after giving birth to their baby Alice a couple of days earlier.
Joseph C. Willard’s second wife Antonia died on Valentine’s Day after giving birth to their baby Archie a few days earlier.

📌

The Randolphs

I recently reflected on how bonkers it is that I keep finding random family connections to people I’m researching. I mentally noted that I was researching people in Massachusetts so that makes sense because that’s where my family was / is. It’s not like I’m finding these connections while researching Thomas Jefferson!

Here’s a slide from my Thomas Jefferson presentation earlier this month:

Note that it is lousy with Randolphs. The only non-Randolphs (or Randolphs by marriage only) were Thomas Mann Randolph, Sr.’s two wives (though I’m not sure about that because one was a first cousin) and Thomas Jefferson’s dad.

Look how neatly it fits right into this new family tree!

OK, maybe not neatly. But now you can see how the Randolphs were married into my family via the Confederate spy. And you can see how those Randolphs are related to Founding Father Gouverneur Morris’ wife Nancy Randolph. (Feel free to read her horrific story here.)

Aaaaand you may also notice how another Founding Father — Thomas Jefferson!! — made an unexpected appearance.

Also…

Apparently at The Willard:

Earlier the same day he assassinated President Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth stared at Julia Dent Grant.
Daniel Sickles’ wife (!!) was seen having an intimate convo with her lover in the ballroom. The lover (ew, hate that word!) that Daniel Sickles killed in broad daylight!