Jay Nixon

Nixon in 2008, photo by KCBearcat/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: Jeremiah Wilson Nixon

Place of Birth: De Soto, Missouri, U.S.

Date of Birth: February 13, 1956

Ethnicity: English, as well as one eighth Jewish [Sephardi, Ashkenazi], small amount of German

Jay Nixon is an American politician. A Democrat, he served as Governor of Missouri, from January 12, 2009 to January 9, 2017. He was previously the 40th Attorney General of Missouri, from January 11, 1993 to January 12, 2009.

Jay is the son of Betty Lea and Jeremiah Nixon, who was Mayor of De Soto.

Jay is largely of English ancestry. One of his paternal great-grandmothers was Jewish (of Sephardi and Ashkenazi descent), and descended from one of the early prominent Jewish families in the U.S. Jay also has a small amount of German roots. He is married to Georganne Wheeler, with whom he has two children.

Jay’s religion is Methodist.

Jay’s paternal grandfather was Clark Nixon (the son of James Oscar Nixon and Louise Jonas). Clark was born in Louisiana. James was the son of James Oscar Nixon and Martha Morse Inskeep, and the brother of politician John T. Nixon. James’s great-grandfather, Jay’s great-great-great-great-grandfather John Inskeep, was Mayor of Philadelphia (from 1800 to 1801 and from 1805 to 1806). Jay’s great-grandmother Louise was the daughter of Charles Henry Jonas and Sarah de Pass Block.

Jay’s paternal grandmother was Frances Margaret Simcock (the daughter of James Hamilton Simcock and Mary Hulda Huffaker). Frances was born in Kansas. James was the son of Thomas Simcock and Narcissa Underwood. Mary Hulda was the daughter of Thomas Sears Huffaker and Eliza Ann Baker.

Jay’s maternal grandfather was Charles Elmer Willson (the son of John Asbury Willson and Amanda Emmeline Reed). Charles was born in Missouri. John was the son of The Rev. Benjamin Franklin Willson and Sarah Jane Jernagin/Jarnagin. Amanda was the daughter of William Reed and of a woman surnamed Wilkerson, or of Margaret McFarland.

Jay’s maternal grandmother was Ethel Lenore Jones (the daughter of William Jones and Elizabeth Francelia Houtz). Ethel was born in Missouri. William was the son of Charles Henry Thomas Jones, who was born in Middlesex County, England, and of Sarah Ann Clark. Elizabeth was the daughter of William P. Houtz and Almina “Mina” Chapman.

Jay’s paternal great-grandmother Louise Jonas was Jewish, the daughter of Charles Henry Jonas and Sarah de Pass Block. Louise’s uncle, Jay’s great-great-great-uncle, Benjamin F. Jonas, was a U.S. Senator from Louisiana (from 1879 to 1885), and was the first Jew in the U.S. Senate. Louise’s grandfather, Abraham Jonas, born in Exeter, England, was the first permanent Jewish resident in Quincy, Illinois, and was a friend of President Abraham Lincoln. Louise’s great-great-great-uncle, Gershom Mendes Seixas, was the first native-born Jewish minister (rabbi) in the U.S., and was leader of Congregation Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of New York. Jay’s Jewish ancestors lived in Bohemia, England, Poland, Portugal, Germany, Jamaica, Spain, and Morocco.

Jay is a second cousin, four times removed, of abolitionist Robert Purvis, and a third cousin, four times removed, of poet Emma Lazarus and Supreme Court Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo. Jay’s five times great-grandparents, Hillel Judah and Abigail Seixas, were also Robert’s maternal great-grandparents. Jay’s six times great-grandparents, Isaac Mendes Seixas and Rachel Franks Levy, were also Emma and Justice Cardozo’s great-great-grandparents.

Sources: Genealogies of Jay Nixon – http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com
https://www.geni.com

Genealogy of Jay’s paternal grandfather, Clark Nixon (focusing on his own mother’s side) – http://www.neilpiwovar.com