Eric Schmidt

Birth Name: Eric Emerson Schmidt

Place of Birth: Falls Church, Virginia, U.S.

Date of Birth: April 27, 1955

Ethnicity: Cornish, English, German, Irish, Scottish, Swiss-German, Welsh

Eric Schmidt is an American businessperson and software engineer. He was the CEO of Google, from 2001 to 2011, the executive chairman of Google, from 2011 to 2015, and the executive chairman of Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, from 2015 to 2017, and then technical advisor at Alphabet, from 2017 to 2020. He has been chairman of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Advisory Board.

Eric is the son of Eleanor and Wilson Schmidt. His father was a professor of international economics at Virginia Tech and at Johns Hopkins University, and worked at the U.S. Treasury Department. Eric is married to businessperson and philanthropist Wendy (Boyle) Schmidt, with whom he has had two children.

Eric’s patrilineal ancestry can be traced back to his third great-grandfather, Justus Schmidt.

Eric’s paternal grandfather was Emerson Peter Schmidt (the son of John D. Schmidt and Barbara Wilhelm). Emerson was born in Tavistock (present-day East Zorra-Tavistock), Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. John was the son of German emigrants, Heinrich “Henry” Schmidt, of Hesse, and Maria Diebel, of Niederaula, Hesse. Barbara was the daughter of German parents, Johann Peter Wilhelm and Anna Barbara Wittig.

Eric’s paternal grandmother was Gertrude Grace Willson (the daughter of John Wesley Wilson and Weltha Josephine Wilson). Gertrude was born in Michigan. John was born in Drumbo, Blandford-Blenheim, Ontario, the son of Obediah “Obed” Wilson and Rachel Elizabeth Lawreson. Weltha was born in Waterford, Ontario, the daughter of David Lloyd Wilson and Weltha Gertrude Rounds.

Eric’s maternal grandfather was James Fletcher Parker, Jr. (the son of James Fletcher Parker, Sr. and Elizabeth Eleanor Cromartie). Eric’s great-grandfather James was the son of William James Parker and Amanda Jane Cromartie. Elizabeth was the daughter of Patrick Lafayette Cromartie and Eleanor Juliette Faison.

Eric’s maternal grandmother was Hartley Adelia Butt (the daughter of Virgil Roscoe Butt and Dollie Electra Brown). Virgil was the son of John Butt and Sarah Hartley Gordon. Dollie was the daughter of John Seawell Brown and Rebecca Burnett.

Eric’s matrilineal ancestry can be traced back to his sixth great-grandmother, Mary Ann.

Sources: Eric’s father on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Birth record of Eric’s paternal grandfather, Emerson Peter Schmidt – https://familysearch.org

Marriage record of Eric’s paternal great-grandparents, John D. Schmidt and Barbara Wilhelm – https://familysearch.org

Marriage record of Eric’s paternal great-grandparents, John Wesley Willson and Weltha Josephine Wilson – https://familysearch.org

Death record of Eric’s maternal great-grandfather, James Fletcher Parker, Sr. – https://familysearch.org

Genealogies of Eric’s maternal great-grandparents, Virgil Roscoe Butt and Dollie Electra Brown – http://www.genealogy.com