Ancestry of J. Edgar Hoover

compiled by William Addams Reitwiesner


The following material on the immediate ancestry of J. Edgar Hoover should not be considered exhaustive or authoritative, but rather as a first draft.

Much more information on his paternal ancestors and relatives can be found in the "jdamewood" database at http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com.

William Addams Reitwiesner

wargs@wargs.com


Ancestry of J. Edgar Hoover
1 J(ohn) Edgar Hoover, b. Washington, D. C., 1 Jan 1895, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1924, d. Washington, D. C., 2 May 1972, bur. Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D. C. [NCAB F:50-51; SSDI 577-60-1114]
PARENTS
2 Dickerson Naylor Hoover, Sr., b. Washington, D. C., 21 Nov. 1856, d. [of "melancholia"] Washington, D. C., 30 March 1921, bur. Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D. C.
m. Washington, D. C., 17 Sept. 1879
3 Anna Marie Scheitlin, b. Washington, D. C., 12 Sept 1860, d. Washington, D. C., 22 Feb. 1938, bur. Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D. C.
GRANDPARENTS
4 John Thomas Hoover, b. Washington, D. C., 5 Nov. 1834, d. Washington, D. C., 25 May 1878, bur. Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D. C.
m. Washington, D. C., 19 Dec. 1855 [by Rev. Andrew G. Carothers]
5 Cecilia Jane Naylor, b. Washington, D. C., 30 Jan. 1837, d. Washington, D. C., 14 Oct. 1909, bur. Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D. C.
6 Jacob Scheitlin, machinist, b. St. Gallen, Switzerland, 7 Apr. 1823, d. ... 3 May 1880
m. Concordia Lutheran Evangelical Church, Washington, D. C., 19 May 1853
7 Margaret Hitz, b. ... , Va., 24 March 1833, d. Washington, D. C., 26 Jan. 1894
GREAT-GRANDPARENTS
8 William Hoover, b. ... , Md., ... June 1804, d. Washington, D. C., 23 Feb. 1884, bur. Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D. C.
m. Washington, D. C., 6 Oct. 1832
9 Elizabeth Huff (or Hough), b. Waterford, Loudoun Co., Va., 3 Apr. 1814, d. Washington, D. C., 3 Apr. 1881, bur. Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D. C.
10 Dickerson Naylor, b. ... , Va., ... 1807, d. Washington, D. C., 8 Nov. 1883, bur. Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D. C.
m. Washington, D. C., 4 July 1833
11 Ellen Frank, b. ... , Md., ... 1812, d. Washington, D. C., 25 March 1871, bur. Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D. C.
12 Johann Joachim Scheitlin
m.
13 Juditha Holzer
14 Hans (Johannes) Hitz, b. Klosters, Graubunden, 10 July 1797, Schichtmeister in Silberbergwerk, emigrated to US 1831, Swiss General Consul in the U.S. 1853-1864, d. Washington, D. C., 27 Jan 1864
m. Klosters, Graubunden, 3 Dec. 1820
15 Anna Kohler, b. Selfranga bei Klosters, Graubunden, 5 Dec 1796, d. Washington, D. C., 5 March 1883
GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS
16 William Hoover, b. ... , Pa., ...
m.
17 ---- , b. ... , Pa., ...
18 ---- Huff (or Hough), b. ... , Md., ...
m.
19 ---- , b. ... , Md., ...
20 ---- Naylor
m.
21 ----
22 ---- Frank
m.
23 ----
28 Hans Hitz, b. Klosters, Graubunden, 26 Sept. 1772, d. Washington, D. C., 2 Sept. 1840
m. Klosters, Graubunden, 11 May 1796
29 Christina Brosi, b. Conters, Graubunden, 5 Sept. 1774, d. Washington, D. C., 9 Sept. 1838
30 Abraham Kohler
m.
31 Anna Margadant
GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS
56 Hans Hitz, b. Klosters, Graubunden, 23 Aug. 1750
m.
57 Margareth Thoni
58 Rudolf Brosi, b. Conters, Graubunden, ... 1705, d. ... 11 May 1781
m.
59 Elsa Burga, b. Conters, Graubunden, 2 Jan. 1745, d. ... 3 Oct. 1775
GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS
112 Hans Hitz, b. ... 1720
m.
113 Luzia Tuffli
GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS
224 Georg Hitz
m.
225 ----
GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS
7/GREAT-GRANDPARENTS




EXTRACTS from the U.S. FEDERAL DECENNIAL CENSUS



1930 Maryland, Prince George's Co., Bowie, ED 30, sheet 21A, line 47


Hoover Dickerson N     H  49  M  W    DC   DC   DC    Government Official   US Government
       Theodora        W  42  M  W    Ill  Ill  Ill
       Dickerson N Jr  S  18  S  W    DC   DC   Ill
       Anna N          D  15  S  W    DC   DC   Ill
 
The elder Dickerson was the older brother of J. Edgar Hoover.

----------

1930 Maryland, Prince George's Co., Lanham, ED 54, sheet 6A, line 35

Robinette Fred        H  47  M 25   Pa  Md  NY    Mech Supt   Coast & Geo Surv
          Lillian H   W  46  M 24   DC  DC  DC
          Dorothy H   D  19  S      DC  Pa  DC
          Marjory A   D  16  S      DC  Pa  DC
          Fred Jr     S  10  S      DC  Pa  DC

Lillian was a sister of J. Edgar Hoover.

----------

1920 District of Columbia, vol. 6, ED 100, sheet 11, line 33


Hoover Dickerson N     H  39      Wd  W   DC   DC   DC     Inspector   Department of Commerce
       Theodora L      W  33      S   W   Ill  Ill  Ill
       Theodora M      D  11      S   W   DC   Ill  Ill
       Dickerson N Jr  S   8      S   W   DC   Ill  Ill
       Anna N          D   4 6/12 S   W   DC   Ill  Ill
 
The residence was at 411 Seward Square, S.E.
Dickerson (the elder) was the older brother of J. Edgar Hoover.

----------

1920 District of Columbia, vol. 6, ED 100, sheet 11, line 38

Hoover Dickerson N   H     63  M  W   DC    DC            DC
       Anna M        W     58  M  W   DC    Switzerland   Va 
       John E        S     25  S  W   DC    DC            DC
Plympton Roy A      none   29  S  W   Mass  Mass          Mass

John was a secretary at a law office.
Roy was a secretary at the Post Office.
Dickerson had no employment.
The residence was at 413 Seward Square, S.E.
This is the 1920 census entry for J. Edgar Hoover and his parents.

----------

1910 District of Columbia, ED 98, sheet 7B, line 60

Hoover Dickerson Jr   H  W M 29 M 3       DC  DC          DC     Lawyer         US Govt
       Theodora L     W  F W 23 M 3 1 1   Ill Ill         Ill
       Margaret T     D  F W  1 S         DC  DC          DC
Hoover Dickerson N    H  M W 53 M 31      DC  DC          DC     Plate Pinter   Court Sarry
       Annie M        W  F W 44 M 31 4 3  DC  Switzerland Va
       John E         S  M W 15 S         DC  DC          DC

These adjacent entries, at 411 and 413 Seward Square SE, are the 1910
census entries for J. Edgar Hoover's older brother, and then 
J. Edgar Hoover's parents and himself.

----------

1900 District of Columbia, vol. 11, ED 127, sheet 8, line 55

Hoover Dickerson     H   W   Nov 56  M 20       DC   DC   DC
       Anna M        W   W   Sep 61  M 20 4 3   DC   DC   DC
       Dick N        S   W   Sep 80  S          DC   DC   DC
       Lillian       D   W   Nov 82  S          DC   DC   DC
       John E        S   W   Jan 95  S          DC   DC   DC

Dickerson was a Government Clerk.
Dick was a Stenographer.
Lillian was At School.
The residence was at 413 C Street, S.E.
This is the 1900 census entry for J. Edgar Hoover and his parents.

----------

1900 District of Columbia, vol. 6, ED 68, sheet 11, line 43

Hoover Ceclia        H   W   Jan 36  Wd 3 3   DC  Va  Md 
       Haulsted      S   W   May 70  S        DC  DC  DC

Haulsted was a School Teacher.
The residence was at 1232 6th Street, N.W.
This is the 1900 census entry for J. Edgar Hoover's grandmother.

----------

1880 - District of Columbia, ED 44, page 14, line 1

Hoover Dickerson N   W M 23        Plate Printer     D of C  D of C       D of C
       Annie M       W F 20   W    Keeping House     D of C  Switzerland  Va

This is the 1880 census entry for J. Edgar Hoover's parents.

----------

1880 - District of Columbia, ED 28, page 17, line 25

Hoover Cecelia J    W F 44     Wid     Keeping House    DC VA MD
       William B    W M 18  S          Undertaker       DC DC DC
       Halstead P   W M 10  S          At School        DC DC DC

This is the 1880 census entry for J. Edgar Hoover's grandmother.

----------

1880 - District of Columbia, ED 28, page 12, line 36

Hoover William       W M 76        Retired Butcher    MD PA PA
       Elizabeth A   W F 66   W    Keeping House      VA MD MD
       Frances E     W F 30   D    At Home            DC MD VA
       Lara A        W F 21   D    At Home            DC MD VA

This is the 1880 census entry for J. Edgar Hoover's great-grandparents.

----------

1880 District of Columbia, ED 27, page 32, line 27

Naylor Dickerson    W M 74             Wid   Retired Man     VA VA VA
Kuhn Rachel         W F 51    Cousin   Wid   At Home         MD MD MD
Naylor Lulu         W F 21    Dau            At Home         DC DC DC

This is the 1880 census entry for J. Edgar Hoover's great-grandfather.

----------

1880 - District of Columbia, ED 74, page 8, line 25

Hitz Anna            W F 88       Wid                    Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland
Scheitlin Margaret   W F 47   D   Wid    Keeping House   VA          Switzerland Switzerland
          Rudolph    W M 19   GS         Sailor          DC          Switzerland Va
          John       W M 13   GD         At School       DC          Switzerland Va

This is the 1880 census entry for J. Edgar Hoover's grandmother and great-grandmother.

----------

1870 District of Columbia, page 164, line 40, continued on page 165

                                                 Real   Personal
                  Age  Race  Occupation         Propty   Propty       Birthplace
Hoover John T      35    W   Clk Coast Survey    8000     1000          D C
       Cecelia     33    W   Keeping House                              D C
       Dickinson   13    W   At Sch                                     D C
       William B    7    W                                              D C
       Halsted P  2/12   W                                              D C
Cyphas Mary E      25    B   Domestic Servant                           D C

This is the 1870 census entry for J. Edgar Hoover's grandparents.

----------

1870 District of Columbia, page ..., line 18

                                                 Real   Personal
                  Age  Race  Occupation         Propty   Propty       Birthplace
Hoover William     66    W   Butcher             4800     1000          Md 
       Elizabeth   55    W   Keeping House                              Va 
       Fannie      27    W   School Teacher                             D C
       Clayton     17    W   Clk Coast Survey                           D C
       William     15    W   Clk in Store                               D C
       Lula A      13    W   At School                                  D C
Ruse Eva A         35    W   At Home                                  Hamburg

This is the 1870 census entry for J. Edgar Hoover's great-grandparents.

----------

1870 District of Columbia, page 244, line 23

Naylor Dickerson   63 M W   Grocer          25,000    2,000    VA
       Elenor H    58 F W   Keeping House                      MD
       Mary        28 F W   At Home                            DC    Deaf & Dumb
       John H      26 M W   Bricklayer                         DC
Kuhn Rachael       40 F W   Domes Servt                        MD
     Lula          12 F W   At School                          DC
Tayler Judson      13 M B   Domes Servt                        VA

This is the 1870 census entry for J. Edgar Hoover's great-grandparents.

----------

1870 District of Columbia, page 144 line 1
    
Scheitlin Jacob      46 M W   Draughtsman     2800   300     Switzerland
          Margaret   37 F W   Keeping House                  Virginia
          Annie      10 F W   At School                      Washington
          Rudolph     9 M W        Do                           Do
          John        3 M W   At Home                           Do
Hitz Anna            73 F W        Do                        Switzerland
Marshall Annie       18 F B   House Servant                  Virginia

This is the 1870 census entry for J. Edgar Hoover's mother, grandparents, and great-grandmother.

----------

1860 District of Columbia, Ward 3, mechanically numbered p. 825, line 12

                                                Real   Personal
                  Age Sex    Occupation         Propty   Propty       Birthplace
Hoover John T      25  M     Clerk Coast S Ofr   3000     1000         Wash City
       Cecelia     23  F                                               Wash City
       Dickerson    4  M                                               Wash City
Lord Ebenezer      29  M     Merchant                      900         Wash City

Line 16

Hoover William     56  M     Mess P O Depot      2000      300          Md 
       Elizabeth   46  F                                                Va 
       Fannie      22  F     School                                    Wash City
       Indiana     20  F                                               Wash City
       Milton      15  M     Clerk Book Store                          Wash City
       Pedyton A    7  M                                               Wash City
       William E    5  M                                               Wash City
       Lulie        3  F                                               Wash City
Rusie Evanna       35  F                                               Germany 

These adjacent 1860 census entries are,
   (1) J. Edgar Hoover's grandparents
   (2) J. Edgar Hoover's great-grandparents

Eva does not appear to have aged between 1860 and 1870  :)

See discussion below.

----------

1860 District of Columbia, page 146, line 18

Naylor Dickerson    54  M   Gro Store     7000   3000   Virginia
       Ellanor      48  F                               Maryland
       William      25  M   Coach Maker   4000          Wash City
       Harriet      19  F                               Wash City
       Mary         16  F                               Wash City    Mute from Scarlet Fever 2 years old
       John         15  M                               Wash City
       Margaret     12  F                               Wash City
Kuhn Eachael        30  F                               Maryland

This is the 1860 census entry for J. Edgar Hoover's great-grandparents.

See discussion below.

----------

1860 District of Columbia Slave Schedules, page 4, line 37, column 1

Owner             Number    Age    Sex   Color
Dickerson Naylor    2       40      M      B
                            40      F      B

This is the 1860 census entry for the slaves owned by J. Edgar Hoover's great-grandfsther.

----------

1860 District of Columbia, page 72, line 7

John Hitz            64 M     Swiss Consul   40,000    13,000    Switzerland
Ann  do              64 F                                            Do
Margaret Shietlan    27 F                                        Virginia
Rodolph Hitz         19 M                                        Maryland
John Schietlan        2 M                                        Washington
Ann    do             1 F                                            do
Ann Dipper           30 F     House Servant                      Germany
Barbary Hungler      20 F     Cook                               Switzerland

The enumerator made no marks in the "Color, White, Black or Mulatto" column for these entries.

These are the 1860 census entries for J. Edgar Hoover's mother, grandmother, and great-grandparents.

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1850 District of Columbia, mechanically numbered page 195

D       Nailor    40  M   Merchant             Va
Elizabeth  "      38  F                        Md
William    "      16  M                        DC
Catharine  "      15  F                        Ditto
Hariate    "      11  F                        Ditto
Mary       "       6  F                        Ditto       Deaf & dumb
James      "       6  M                        Ditto
Martha     "       3  F                        Ditto
R        Quinn    20  F                        Md

The enumerator made no marks in the "Color, White, Black or Mulatto" column for these entries.

These are the 1850 census entries for J. Edgar Hoover's great-grandparents.

----------

1850 District of Columbia, mechanically numbered page 26

J Hitze       53  M   Mining Engineer     Switzerland
C Hitze       54  F                       Switzerland
M Hitze       17  F                       Va
Geo W Hitze   15  M                       DC
R Hitze        7  M                       Md
A E Hakenoth  33  F                       Germany

The enumerator made no marks in the "Color, White, Black or Mulatto" column for these entries.

These are the 1850 census entries for J. Edgar Hoover's grandmother and great-grandparents.

----------



NOTES










8 & 9 -- The 1860 Census schedule has a column labeled "Color, White, black, or mulatto". The enumerator who enumerated the ED of the District of Columbia which included J. Edgar Hoover's father, grandparents, and great-grandparents did not use the expected abbreviations ("W", "B", and "M"), but instead used checkmarks. For each person he enumerated, he either checked that column or left it blank.

In the entries for William and Elizabeth Hoover (J. Edgar Hoover's great-grandparents), that column is checked. In the entries for the rest of the Hoovers that column is not checked.

What this means is not entirely clear, but several webpages, including http://www.sfbayview.com/backissue/05-24-00.htm and http://members.tripod.com/~american_almanac/hoover.htm, claim that this is evidence of J. Edgar Hoover's Black ancestry.

In the 1860 Slave Schedules of the District of Columbia, on page 5, a John Hoover is shown as owning 7 slaves:
      Age    Sex    Color
      42      M      M
      50      F      B
      21      M      M
      18      M      B
      15      M      B
      19      F      B
       3      M      M
Because no correlation was made between the names of the slave owners in the Slave Schedules, and the entries for the slave owners in the Free Schedules, there is no way to be certain which of the four John Hoovers in the 1860 DC Census owned these slaves.



10 & 11 -- Similarly, the 1860 Census entries for the household of Dickerson and Ellanor Naylor, also great-grandparents of J. Edgar Hoover, also has inexplicable checkmarks in the "Color" column, with checkmarks for Dickerson and Ellanor and Rachael Kuhn, and no checkmarks for the other household members.



10 -- It is not known how, or if, this Dickerson Naylor, born in Virginia in 1807, is related to Dixon Naler, born in Virginia in about 1765, who married a Mary Carpenter in Wilkes Co., N. C., on 28 June 1785, and who was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Murray Co., Ga., after 1850.







SOURCES CONSULTED AND CITED


See above.



William Addams Reitwiesner

wargs@wargs.com