This is an overdue correction and addition to a post I made in January about babies born to Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the United States, and their partners, while in office.

In particular, I erred by restricting my coverage to babies born to the spouses of Presidents and Vice-Presidents. I therefore omitted those babies born to women who were not married to the presidential or vice-presidential father of the child.

There are probably several such cases that we don’t know about, but there is one that we definitely do know about. Thomas Jefferson, who was Vice-President from 1797-1801 and then President 1801-1809, was almost certainly the father of the six children born to Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman on his Monticello estate, between 1795 and 1808. Given the DNA evidence and documentary records, it’s basically proved beyond reasonable doubt. Sally Hemings incidentally was probably the much younger half-sister of Jefferson’s wife, Martha Wayles, who had died in 1782.

So the full list of Vice-Presidential and Presidential babies is as follows:

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826, Vice-President 1797-1801) and Sally Hemings (1773-1835)

(William) Beverley Hemings (born 1798 – after 1873)
Thenia Hemings (born in 1799 and died in infancy)

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826, President 1801-1809) and Sally Hemings (1773-1835)

Harriet Hemings (born 1801, lived to adulthood, date of death unknown)
(James) Madison Hemings (1805-1877)
(Thomas) Eston Hemings (1808-1856)

All were born on the Monticello estate in Virginia. Madison and Eston Hemings moved to Chilicothe, Ohio, and are known to have living descendants. The later lives of Beverley and Harriet are not known. (Harriet was in fact the second child of that name; Sally Hemings’ first child, who loved only from 1795 to 1797, was also Harriet.)

John C. Calhoun (1782-1850, Vice-President 1825-1832) and Floride Calhoun (1792-1866) – NB Floride’s maiden name was also Calhoun; she and John were cousins.

James Edward Calhoun (1826-1861)
William Lowndes Calhoun (1829-1858)

Both were born in North Carolina, the ninth and tenth of the Calhouns’ ten children. James moved to California and is not known to have had children. William stayed in North Carolina, married twice and has living descendants. Both died comparatively young (James at 36 and William at 29).

Hannibal Hamlin (1809-1891, Vice-President 1861-1865) and Ellen Hamlin née Emery (1835-1925)

Frank Hamlin (1862-1922)

Born in Maine, Frank was the sixth and last of Hannibal’s children, and the second and last of Ellen’s. (Hannibal’s first wife Sarah, who died in 1855, was her half-sister.) I have not found any record that he had children.

Schuyler Colfax (1823-1885, Vice-President 1869-1873) and his second wife Ellen née Wade (1836-1911).

Schuyler Colfax III (1870-1925)

The only Vice-Presidential baby born in Washington, DC, Schuyler Colfax III started off in politics, becoming mayor of South Bend, Indiana at only 28, but ended up working for Kodak for most of his career. He has living descendants.

Grover Cleveland (1837-1908, President 1885-89 & 1893-97) and Frances Folsom (1864-1947)

Esther Cleveland (1893-1980)
Marion Cleveland (1895-1977)

They were the second and third of the Clevelands’ five children (Grover already had a child by a previous relationship). Esther, the only Presidential baby to be born in Washington D.C., was actually born in the White House. One of her daughters was the philosopher Philippa Foot, the co-inventor of the Trolley Problem. Marion was born in the Clevelands’ holiday home on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Her second husband was John Harlan Amen, the chief interrogator at the Nuremberg tribunal. Both have living descendants.

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963, President 1961-63) and his wife Jacqueline née Bouvier (1929-1994)

Patrick Bouvier Kennedy (1963-63), born prematurely at the Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod, Massachusetts and died two days later.

All being well, the Vances will add to this tally in a couple of months.

My thanks to Tim Roll-Pickering for putting me right.

See an update to this post.

The news that J.D. Vance and his wife Usha are expecting a baby in July spurred me to research previous cases of babies born to incumbent Vice-Presidents (four boys, to three Veeps) and Presidents (three, two girls and a boy, to two POTUSes).

It has been inaccurately stated in some sources that Floride Calhoun (1792-1866) was the only previous Second Lady to have a baby during the Vice-Presidential term of her husband, in this case John C. Calhoun (1782-1850, Veep 1825-1832). She was the first but not the last.

The Calhouns’ ninth and tenth children (of ten) were born during his term, James Edward Calhoun (1826-1861) and William Lowndes Calhoun (1829-1858). Both were born in South Carolina. James became a lawyer and went to California. He died aged 36 and is not known to have had children.

William stayed in South Carolina, married twice and had three sons with his second wife (incidentally she was the widow of one of their older brothers) before dying aged 29. I think he has living descendants.

Floride Calhoun outlived all but one of her ten children, including John and William.

Frank Hamlin (1862-1922), son of Hannibal Hamlin (1809-1891, Veep 1861-1865) and his second wife Ellen Hamlin née Emery (1835-1925), was the longest lived (so far) of the Vice-Presidential babies. He was born in Maine, became a lawyer and moved to Chicago. I don’t know that he had any children.

The most recent Veep baby was Schuyler Colfax III (1870-1925), only child of Schuyler Colfax (1823-1885) and his second wife Ellen née Wade (1836-1911). He became Mayor of South Bend, Indiana at 28, and then worked for Kodak. Two of his three children died young but the third has living descendants.

The three Presidential babies were all born more recently. Grover Cleveland (1837-1908, POTUS 1885-89 & 1893-97) married Frances Folsom (1864-1947) in 1886 during his first term and they had two of their five children during his second term.

Esther Cleveland (1893-1980) was the second of her parents’ five kids. She married a British army officer and had two daughters, one of whom was the philosopher Philippa Foot, the co-inventor of the Trolley Problem. (Her photo illustrates this post)

Marion Cleveland (1895-1977) married twice and had four children. Her second husband was John Harlan Amen, the chief interrogator at the Nuremberg tribunal.

Both Cleveland sisters have living descendants – indeed four of their six children lived into this century.

Last and saddest, the fourth child of John F. Kennedy (1917-1963, POTUS 1961-63) and his wife Jacqueline née Bouvier 1929-1994) was Patrick Bouvier Kennedy (1963-63), who was born prematurely and lived for only two days.

Coincidentally Marion Cleveland and Patrick Kennedy were born quite close to each other geographically (if 68 years apart), she in Buzzards Bay at the base of Cape Cod and he in the nearby Otis Air Force Base.

Of the seven babies on my list, only two were born in Washington DC were Schuyler Colfax in 1870, and Esther Cleveland in 1893. Perhaps the Vances will add a third.