Master Surname Index



Harry Chapin

Ancestry of
Harry Chapin

Singer and Songwriter


Who was Harry Chapin?

Harry Chapin was a singer and songwriter who is probably best remembered for his hit song Cat’s in the Cradle which hit number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1975, and it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2011.

Harry Chapin died tragically in 1981 when he had a heart attack while driving on the Long Island Expressway. Harry Chapin was very dedicated to fighting world hunger and helped in the creation of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger for which he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Famous Kin

Harry Chapin is a direct descendant of Mayflower passengers John Howland and John Tilley. He also has kinship to a number of signers of both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. These include, but are not limited to, Robert Treat Paine, Nathaniel Gorham and Josiah Bartlett. Other historical figures in Harry Chapin’s family tree include Boston Tea Party participant Edmund Sears, cotton gin inventor Eli Whitney, stained glass artist Louis Comfort Tiffany, cowboy hat inventor John Batterson Stetson, American Red Cross founder Clara Barton, aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, abolitionist John Brown, and Revolutionary War heroes Ethan Allen and Nathan Hale.

Harry Chapin has a number of Presidential kin including Grover Cleveland, Franklin Pierce, Franklin D. Roosevelt, William H. Taft, Calvin Coolidge, Richard Nixon, and both Presidents Bush. Royal kin include King Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth II, and Princess Diana. Fellow celebrities in Harry Chapin’s family tree include Bill Nye “The Science Guy,” actor John Lithgow, actor Humphrey Bogart, actor Christopher Lloyd, TV personality Kim Kardashian, actress Lucille Ball, actor Kevin Bacon and many others.


Some of the most recently added connections of famous kin for Harry Chapin

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Ben Jealous

President and CEO of NAACP

10th cousin 1 time removed
via Anthony Morse

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Ben Jealous

President and CEO of NAACP

10th cousin 2 times removed
via John Howland

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Ben Jealous

President and CEO of NAACP

8th cousin 1 time removed
via Thomas Rice

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Anderson Cooper

Television Journalist

10th cousin 2 times removed
via Richard Upham

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Gloria Vanderbilt

Fashion Designer

10th cousin 1 time removed
via Richard Upham

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John Dewey

Philosopher and Education Reformer

7th cousin 2 times removed
via Benjamin Child

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Susan Dey

TV and Movie Actress

18th cousin 2 times removed
via William le Boteler

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Maria Mitchell

Astronomer

5th cousin 6 times removed
via Tristam Coffin

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Maria Mitchell

Astronomer

6th cousin 4 times removed
via Shattuck

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Austin Blair

13th Governor of Michigan

8th cousin 2 times removed
via Edward Frost

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Austin Blair

13th Governor of Michigan

8th cousin 2 times removed
via Rice

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Kinsley S. Bingham

11th Governor of Michigan

8th cousin 2 times removed
via Edward Frost

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Tony Dow

TV Actor

12th cousin
via Rev. Edward Bulkeley

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Tony Dow

TV Actor

10th cousin 1 time removed
via George Jones of Dinder, Somerset

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Tony Dow

TV Actor

8th cousin
via Thomas Rice

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Susan Dey

TV and Movie Actress

9th cousin 2 times removed
via John Gorham

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Jeffrey Dahmer

Serial Killer

10th cousin 1 time removed
via William Hatch

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Ava Michelle

Model and Actress

11th cousin 2 times removed
via Wolston Child

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Aaron Paul

TV and Movie Actor

10th cousin 2 times removed
via Rose

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Alice (Lee) Roosevelt

First Wife of President Theodore Roosevelt

7th cousin 4 times removed
via Tristam Coffin

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Ava Michelle

Model and Actress

10th cousin 3 times removed
via John Sutton

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Ava Michelle

Model and Actress

10th cousin 1 time removed
via Simon Willard

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Henry Howard Sessions

Railroad Car Inventor

18th cousin 1 time removed
via Alice Plumpton

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Henry Howard Sessions

Railroad Car Inventor

10th cousin 1 time removed
via William Heath

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Henry Howard Sessions

Railroad Car Inventor

9th cousin 3 times removed
via John Warner

View entire list of famous kin for Harry Chapin

Please note: The ancestor reports on this website have been compiled from thousands of different sources, many over 100 years old. These sources are attached to each ancestor so that you can personally judge their reliability. As with any good genealogical research, if you discover a link to your own family tree, consider it a starting point for further research. It is always preferable to locate primary records where possible. FamousKin.com cannot and does not guarantee the accuracy and reliability of these sources.


Harry Chapin photo by Larry D. Moore (CC BY-SA 3.0)