Ancestry of
Helen Keller

Author and Activist

Alexander Spotswood

View famous kin of Alexander Spotswood

• • 3rd Great-grandfather of Helen Keller — 6th Generation
  • Ahnentafel No:
  • 42 
  • Father:
  • Robert Spottiswoode 
  • Mother:
  • Catherine Mercer   
  • Birth Date:
  • 1676 
  • Birth Location:
  • Tangier Garrison, Morocco 
  • Christening Date:
  •  
  • Christening Location:
  •  
  • Death Date:
  • 7 Jun 1740 
  • Death Location:
  • Annapolis, Maryland 
  • Burial Date:
  •  
  • Burial Location:
  •  
  • Spouse Name:
  • Anne Butler Brayne
  • Marriage Date:
  • 1724 
  • Marriage Location:
  • London, England 
  • Children:
  
  

  Anne Catherine Spotswood (Ahnentafel No:21 )

  Dorothea Spotswood

  • Notes: 

  • Alexander Spotswood was the Lieutenant Governor of Colonial Virginia from 1710 to 1722. He is known for the exploration of the territories beyond the western border and for seeing their economic potential. He founded the first colony of Germans at Virginia in 1714 by advertising in Germany for miners to operate his ironworks. He is also known for leading the successful effort to hunt down and kill the famous pirate known as Blackbeard.

• Sources for Alexander Spotswood

  • ¹ Genealogies of Virginia Families: From Tyler's Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Baltimore, Maryland: Reprinted for Clearfield Company by Genealogical Publishing Company (2007), Vol. 4, Walker-Yeardley, p. 454.
  • ² Browning, Charles H., ed., Americans Of Royal Descent, Philadelphia: Porter and Coates (1883), 247.
  • ³ Campbell, Charles, Genealogy of the Spotswood Family in Scotland and Virginia, Albany: Joel Munsell (1868), 12-19.
  • ⁴ Keller, Helen and Annie Sullivan, The Story of My Life, New York: Doubleday, Page and Company (1921), 4.
  • ⁵ Pecdquet du Bellet, Louise, Some Prominent Virginia Families. Volume II, Lynchburg, VA: J. P. Bell Company (1907), 704.
  • ⁶ Roberts, Gary Boyd, comp., Ancestors of American Presidents, 2009 Edition, Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society (2009), 411.
  • ⁷ Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, editor, Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography: Vol. II, New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company (1915), 294.
  • ⁸ Weis, Frederick Lewis, et. al., The Magna Charta Sureties, 1215: The Barons Named in the Magna Charta, 1215 and Some of their . . ., 5th edition, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. (Third Printing, 2006), 61.
  • ⁹ Wikipedia, "Alexander Spotswood", (accessed 03/04/2010).