The White House portrait of James Earl ("Jimmy") Carter, Jr., 39th President of the United States
Thanks to an overnight message from our cousin Lois Odatay, the Editor is reminded of the fact that all American Ongs are cousins to the 39th U.S. President, Jimmy Carter. One of President Carter's 5-great grandmothers was Esther Ong Duckworth (1719/20-1769), the daughter of Jacob (1672-1743) and Elizabeth Ong from the Quaker community of Little Egg Harbor, Burlington County, New Jersey (now Tuckerton in Ocean County), making Jimmy Carter officially 1/128th Ong! As far as we know all the Ongs in America are descended from Esther's older brother Jacob (1702-1729) and his son Jeremiah Ong (1724-1767?). Sometime after Esther Ong and Joseph Duckworth were married in Burlington County (on 1 June 1737), they moved to a Quaker settlement in North Carolina, and the next generation of Duckworths moved to Wrightsborough, Georgia on the eve of the Revolution where a daughter married a Carter. The rest is history....The descent of President Carter from the Ongs is as follows:
Jacob (1672-1743) & Elizabeth Ong's 9th (of 11) child Esther (1719/20-1769) marries Joseph Duckworth in New Jersey in 1737.
Their 4th (of 6) child Jeremiah Duckworth (1740-1809) marries Christiana Ramsey in North Carolina in 1760.
Their 14th (of 19!) child Eleanor ("Nellie") Duckworth (1780-1820) marries James Carter in Georgia in 1798
Their 1st (of 10) child Wiley Carter (1832-1873) marries Ann Ansley in 1821
Their 5th (of 11) child Littleberry Walker Carter (1832-1873) marries Mary Ann Seals in 1851
Their 3rd (of 4) child William Archibald Carter (1832-1873) marries Nina Pratt in 1885
Their 4th (of 5) child James Earl Carter (1894-1953) marries Bessie Lillian ("Miss Lillian") Gordy in 1923
Their 1st (of 4) child is James Earl ("Jimmy") Carter, b 1924, 39th President of the United States
President Carter's son Jeff Carter has written a very nice account of his family's ancestry, "The Ancestors of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter" (McFarland & Co., 2012) which includes a narrative history of many of the various families from whom the Carters are descended, although Esther Ong's origins are not covered, unlike the Duckworths.
President Carter receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway in 2002. In the audience was his 6th cousin, 2x removed, John Doyle Ong, US Ambassdor to Norway, 2002-2006
