Thoughts on presidential administrations as family history markers

From the 1850s onward, a timeline of ancestral origins

Jan 13, 2025

Who was president of the United States when you were born?

My daughter Fredrika, now a business professor and marketing expert, was born during the presidency of the late Jimmy Carter, who actually visited her hometown, Fayetteville, NC, the month she was born—to attend a family wedding in Fayetteville, where his sister, Ruth Carter Stapleton, then lived. I was a retail businessman at the time, and knew Mrs. Stapleton, who traded at my family’s office supply firm on Bragg Boulevard before her untimely death.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter (1924-2024). Photo courtesy www.whitehouse.gov

I recalled that recently, when the nation’s oldest former president passed on, having reached the remarkable age of 100, and as the nation pauses to pay its respects to the most highly-regarded former U.S. president since Theodore Roosevelt, arguably. Both shared a singular distinction, having won the Nobel Peace Prize—Carter for his herculean post-presidential efforts to bring peace, human rights, and better health to the rest of the world, Roosevelt for helping negotiate an end to the Russo-Japanese war while he was in office.

Roosevelt, who died only a decade after leaving office, was far younger in death—just 60—but is often best remembered as the only bespectacled face on Mount Rushmore, and for helping defeat his successor (William Howard Taft) by running for a third term as a third-party candidate in 1912.

Former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), second face from right on Mount Rushmore. Courtesy cnn.com

I remember Carter far better than my daughter does, certainly; I was a newspaper journalist in the 1970s, and acutely mindful of his role as the first Southerner elected in his own right in decades. I remember well his stinging defeat in the 1980 election by Ronald Reagan, the first U.S. president I worked for after joining the U.S. Foreign Service in 1983.

But President Carter’s death started me thinking about the settings of other births within my daughter’s extended family over the past two centuries—and the former presidents who were in office at the time, from Millard Fillmore to Harry S. Truman.

Her parents—my first wife and I—were born a year apart during the second term of President Harry S. Truman, one of my childhood heroes for his peppery language and often-unpopular but principled public actions. “Give ‘em hell Harry” won reelection in a last-minute thriller in 1948, just before I was born in 1949. He died in 1972, just after I became a newspaper reporter. While in graduate school, I later came to know his daughter Margaret, a former journalist and popular author.

Former President Harry S. Truman (1884-1972). Photo courtesy www.whitehouse.gov

Our parents—my daughter’s four grandparents—were born a century ago, during a 10-year period covering the terms of three presidents. Helen’s father, William T. Pridgen, was the oldest, born in Wilson County, North Carolina in 1912, at the end of William Howard Taft’s administration; he died in 1998. Her mother, Doris McKenzie Pridgen (1916-1974), was also born in North Carolina, during Woodrow Wilson’s first term, and taught for a time in Elm City. (Fun fact: Doris once told me they used to bowl with Ava Gardner, then a student at Wilson’s Atlantic Christian College—now Barton College—before she became a movie star!)

Former President William H. Taft (1857-1930). Photo courtesy www.whitehouse.gov

Former President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924). Photo courtesy www.whitehouse.gov

My father, Wayne Quay Justesen, was born in Utah in January 1921, just two months before Woodrow Wilson’s second term ended; Daddy died in 1986. My mother, Elizabeth Massengill Justesen (1922-2019), was born in North Carolina during the briefer administration of President Warren G. Harding. (Fun fact: They met at a St. Patrick’s Day dance at Fort Bragg in March 1943, during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s third term.)

Former President Warren G. Harding (1865-1923). Photo courtesy www.whitehouse.gov

Fredrika’s eight great-grandparents—that is, Helen’s and my grandparents—were born between 1868 and 1901, ranging from the administration of President Andrew Johnson to that of President William McKinley.

On Helen’s side, her maternal grandparents, all born in North Carolina, were Joseph T. McKenzie (1868-1956), born during the administration of Andrew Johnson, and his second wife, Meda Highsmith McKenzie (1883-1951), born during the administration of President Chester A. Arthur. Her paternal grandparents were Walter R. Pridgen, born in 1873, who died in 1948, and Dora J. Davis Pridgen (1875-1962); both were born during the second term of President Ulysses S. Grant.

Former President Andrew Johnson (1808-1875). Photo courtesy www.whitehouse.gov

Former President Chester A. Arthur (1829-1886). Photo courtesy www.whitehouse.gov

Former President Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885). Photo courtesy www.whitehouse.gov

My grandparents—Fredrika’s other four great-grandparents—were born between 1882 and 1901. My paternal grandfather, Benjamin R. Justesen, for whom I am named, was born in Utah Territory in 1882, during the Arthur administration; he died in 1967. My grandmother, Blanche Maxfield Justesen (1895-1985), was also born in Utah Territory during the second administration of Grover Cleveland.

My mother’s parents were both born in North Carolina. Her father, Vernon H. Massengill (1895-1929), was also born during the Cleveland administration, while her mother, Wildmere Cooke Massengill (1901-1980), was born during the second term of President William McKinley.

Former President Grover Cleveland (1837-1908). Photo courtesy www.whitehouse.gov

Former President William McKinley (1843-1901). Photo courtesy www.whitehouse.gov

At this point, I will stop this long look back. Tallying 16 great-great-grandparents requires more space and time than I think practical for one blog entry—and can quickly become confusing, since many of mine were born abroad. One day I may try to complete the list.

For now, I will mention only that my great-grandfather, Rasmus Justesen (1841-1917), emigrated to the United States from Denmark at age 12, during the waning administration of President Millard Fillmore, and my great-grandmother, Sarah Shepherd Justesen (1842-1933), likely emigrated to the United States from England in the 1850s, before their 1860 marriage in Utah—during the administration of President James Buchanan.

A page back in time ...

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