Muhammad Ali
Birth Name: Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.
Date of Birth: January 17, 1942
Place of Birth: Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky, United States
Date of Death: June 3, 2016
Place of Death: Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.
Ethnicity: African-American, small amounts of English, Scottish, and Welsh, possibly some Malagasy
Muhammad Ali was a legendary American professional boxer, activist, and philanthropist. He is considered the greatest heavyweight fighter in the history of the sport. He was nicknamed “The Greatest.”
Muhammad was the son of African-American parents, Odessa Lee (Grady) and Cassius Marcellus Clay. His brother is boxer Rahman Ali. He was a descendant of pre-Civil War era American slaves in the South. He was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., and he and his father were named after abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay. He was given the name Muhammad Ali in the mid 1960s, when he was twenty two, by Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad.
Muhammad was married to Yolanda (“Lonnie”) Williams, until his death. He had at least nine children, including four with his former wife, actress and martial artist Khalilah Ali; a daughter with Aaisha Ali; two, including professional boxer and television personality Laila Ali, with his former wife, actress and model Veronica PorchĂ© Ali; and a son with Yolanda.
Muhammad’s maternal great-grandfather, Abe Grady, is often said to have been an Irish emigrant, from County Clare, who moved to Kentucky, but this is evidently incorrect. No Irish-born people named Abe or Abraham Grady appear on any Kentucky censuses. The Abe Grady who was Muhammad’s maternal great-grandfather was almost certainly an African-American man, born in Kentucky.
One of Muhammad’s maternal great-grandfathers, Thomas Morehead, was born a slave, to a slave mother, Dinah. His father was said to have been Dinah’s owner, Armstead S. Morehead, who was white, and had English, Scottish, and Welsh ancestry.
Muhammad’s paternal grandfather was Herman Heaton Clay (the son of John Henry Clay and Sarah “Sallie” Fry). Herman was born in Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky. Sallie was said to have been born in Madagascar.
Muhammad’s paternal grandmother was Edith E. Greathouse (the daughter of James Montgomery Greathouse and Betsy J. Alexander). Edith was born in Kentucky. James was the son of Flemming Fance/Lance. Betsy was the daughter of Wesley Alexander and Patsy Hopkins/Fry, who was born a slave. Wesley’s father, Muhammad’s great-great-great-grandfather Archer Alexander (c. 1806, Virginia – December 8, 1880, St. Louis, Missouri), was a slave who warned Union troops of Confederate sabotage attacks in 1863. He was the model for the slave in Freedom’s Monument, the Emancipation Memorial located in Lincoln Park, Washington, D.C. A biography of Archer, The Story of Archer Alexander: From Slavery to Freedom, March 30, 1863, was written by The Rev. William Greenleaf Eliot, Jr., 1885. He also appeared on a U.S. postage stamp released in 1940 as part of the Black American Commemorative series.
Muhammad’s maternal grandfather was named John Lewis Grady (the son of Abraham “Abe” Grady, and of a woman surnamed Walker). John was born in Allensville, Todd, Kentucky. Muhammad’s great-grandmother was the daughter of Lewis Walker and Amanda J. “Mandy.”
Muhammad’s maternal grandmother was Birdie Bell Morehead (the daughter of Thomas/Tom Morehead and Elizabeth “Lizzie” Bibb). Birdie was born in Logan County, Kentucky. Thomas was the son of Armstead S. Morehead and Dinah. Elizabeth was the daughter of Abram Bibb and Rachael Ferguson.
Sources: Genealogies of Muhammad Ali – http://www.wargs.com
https://www.geni.com
http://www.wikitree.com
http://famouskin.com
http://www.findagrave.com
New York Times article about Muhammad’s ancestry, 1980 – http://www.nytimes.com
Muhammad’s paternal great-grandparents, James Montgomery Greathouse and Betsy J. Alexander, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Muhammad’s mother on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Muhammad’s maternal grandfather, John Lewis Grady, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Muhammad died in Phoenix, Arizona, United States on June 3, 2016.
RIP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliaferro
@ follers
excuse me so Alì is related to ed helms and lacey chabert
throu’ Mr Taliaferro
http://ethnicelebs.com/ed-helms
http://ethnicelebs.com/lacey-chabert
Yes, and to many other famous people. Taliaferro is a very common American lineage.
who other?
Off the top of my head, there is Glenn Close (the daughter of William Taliaferro Close). As I recall, Glenn is descended from Taliaferro (at least) twice over.
I often group Taliaferro together with Nicholas Lanier and the Italian-born Lucretia Bassano, since they also moved to England in the 1500s, and a lot of people are descended from them, too (Will Ferrell and Keanu Reeves, for example).
how much are reliable these family trees? I find quite bizarre so many famous ppl are somewhat related between them
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanier_family_tree
Even Jimmy Carter is related to the Taliaferros
Some trees are more reliable than others.
However, there is nothing unusual about either the Lanier or the Taliaferro families having so many famous descendants. People who lived in the 1500s have millions and millions of descendants.
For example, every person of English descent is descended from English kings of the 1300s. It’s just the law of math. As you go further back in time, a person has more and more ancestors, but there were less and less people in the world.
Is Jimmy Carter a Taliaferro descendant as well?
Rashida Jones is another Bassano descendant (on her father’s side).
http://ethnicelebs.com/rashida-jones
yes, Carter/Taliaferro families seems to be related. You should investigate. Carter is related to Presley too
Dennis Hopper and Jodie Foster are Bartolomeo Taliaferro descendants too.
Ali was 1/4096 Italian.
With what he went through in his time, I’m sure like most African Americans of the time, he could care less bout his European ancestry
@MettaWorkPlease
Well that might be true for most AA’s.Although Ali did go to Ireland:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1210524/Muhammad-Ali-freeman-ancestral-home-Ireland.html
His Irish ancestry came though his great grandfather who was from Co. Clare. It was a love match and wasn’t from slavery. Muhammad Ali is revered around the world and the Irish were thrilled to find out about his ancestry. He was welcomed with open arms in Ennis where his Great Grandfather was from. The fact that he went there and was such a gentleman and went out to meet the people shows that he accepted his ancestry. He was made an Honorary Freeman of Ennis.
I think the main thing here is his Irish bloodline wasn’t through slavery.
@Alice
I guess they would treat Martin Luther King the same way
Yes he would be a hero. I’m sure you have heard of the anti-slave campaigner Frederick Douglass. He is highly thought of in Ireland.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Douglass
http://douglassoconnellmemorial.org/
Agreed. If everyone looks at you and thinks you’re Black, then in your mind, you are black. That’s how it goes. That’s why blacks usually side and own their “blackness” more than their white side if they’re mixed. If someone is German and Irish, they can celebrate and “be” whatever side they wish, but when someone is black and white, everyone usually just assumes they’re black, and accuses them of all of the stereotypes, so they grow to resent their white side, in most case. This is why black and white mating is not good for the children. They become confused and angry people.
You make it sound like they are animals.
Gross. No, people of mixed ancestry do not become confused and angry.
Looks only black to me!
How should he look? He’s only 1/8 white.
My commentar was not racistic. I like him.
My point was, “black” strong predominates by him,
if 1/8 or 1/6
Muhammad Ali has Irish heritage who would of taught.