Evening star., 1939-06-18
The Johnsons Come
After the Smiths
By Frederic J. HaSkin.

The census, WnlCn must keep Its data
secret, the Social Security Board has
more information concerning Americans
than any other Federal agency. 1t has
the names, addresses, occupations and
kindred information concerning nearly
44,000000 persons. From this material
the board has compiled list of what it
calls the First Fifty Families of the
Nation" BY this 1t does not mean first
in distinction, but first in numbers
leadership in numbers of members Of
the name clans.
1t is the first time such list has been
compiled and some ideas are upset. 1t
has been the guess of the average
American that the Smiths and the Jones
vie for first place. The guess is right
about the Smiths-they are away out in
front-but the Joneses lag and fan into
sixth place. They are outnumbered by
the Johnsons who come second, Browns
third, Williamses fourth and Millers
fifth.
AS the United States has been pre-
sumed to be a representative form of
government it has been deemed of inter-
Wv ~ 'iSSoFNi JLot llO" Wei Tie Ou I1ISL
families have been represented in the
Congress. The Smiths are so far in the
lead as to be almost out OF sight of the
followers with 81 members in the two
houses of Congress since the beginning
OF the Republic. AS the representation
In Congress does not follow the numeri-
cal strength of the various families it
OprhaDS host n L>,,
alphabetical listing. One must be left
out. The Cohens, who rank 4lst among
the families, being the only Jews included
at all, have never had q representative
in Congress.
The Adams family has had 19 repre-
sentatives and two of them became Pres
ldents OF the United States. The Allen
family has had 33 members over the
century and half of Congress. The
Andersons who rank eighth in the list
have had Is members.
The Baileys have had 13 representa-
tives and the Bakers II. There have
been 16 Bell family representatives and
IL Bennetts. The Blacks count Ii. the
Brooks 8 and the Browns, the third
ranking family, IS. The Burkes have
had' 9. incidentally, nearly everv one
OF the first families is of English, Scotch
or Welsh descent if one may go by char
acterlstic names. The Burke and Moore
families are the only out and out Irish
clans in the entire list of so names The
Buffers have had 20 representatives in
the Congress
The Davis family, which ranks seventh.
has had Al representatives. the most
distinguished one being jefferson Davis.
who became President of the Confeder-
ate States of America.
The Edwards family has had 10 repre-
sentatives, the Elliots 8, the Ellises 8 and
the Evanses 20.
There have been representatives of
the Fisher family and 20 of the Fosters
The Greens have had 1S members Of
either House or Senate, the Halls IL
and the Harris family "a.
Although the Jackson family rank,
we'll up the list Of 50-in 10Th place. i
has had but 25 members of Congress
but one especially distinguished. Andrew
jackson, President of the United States
The James family has had but 8 repre-
sentatiVes and the Jenkins family but 6.
The Johnson family has second place IN
the list OF so and has had 46 representa-
tlVes, including Andrew johnson. Presi-
dent OF the United States. The John
ston family has had 13 representatives
Ihe Jones family has been repre-
sented by IS members of the name. manv
OF them outstanding figures in their
time. One of the figures interesting to
the present generation was Senator
Wesley Jones, who was author of what
was known as the Jones Five and Ten
Act one of the measures to strengthen.
the enforcement of prohibition. The Jor-
dan family, which stands 44th in the list,
Is the only one which has had but a
single representative in either house of
Congress. That was Isaac Jordan of
Ohio, who served in the lower house
back in 1885.
The King family has had q repre-
sentatlves. the most distinguished hav-
Ing been Rufus King, a member of the
Continental Congress- a Senator, twice
Minister to the Court of ST James and
holder of many other important Offices.
The Lewis family has had 20 repre-
sentatives in the two houses Senator
James Hamilton Lewis of Illinois only
recently died after a long service in
both houses.
The Martin family has had % repre-
sentatives and the Miller family. al
though ranking fifth ON the list has had
but "a members, small in proportion.
There have been 81 members of the
Moore family.
The Nelson family has had IA mem
bers, including Thomas Nelson. who was
member of the Continental Congress
and whose descendants have taken an
important part in American history.
Only s members of the Nichols family
have sat in the Congress and only 3
members of the Owens family. There
have been 9 Phillipses.
Although the Roberts family ranks -
half way up the list of 5O-in 9th place
only 9 members have been elected to
Congress. The Robinson family has had
20 representatives. Fourteen members of
the Rogers family have sat
The Smiths have been represented by
81 and the Taylors by 80 members.
There have been % members of the
Thomas family in the Congress and the
Thompsons have had % there, although
there are fewer persons of the name of
Thomson IN, tho ~o,fr,frv thai