Gaskell Romney

Gaskell Romney (September 22, 1871 – March 7, 1955) is regarded as a patriarch of the Romney family,^[1] a U.S. political family. Romney was born in St. George, in what was then the Utah Territory, the son of Miles Park Romney^[2][3][4][5] and Hannah Hood Hill.

Gaskell Romney
Romney in 1917
Born	(1871-09-22)September 22, 1871 Saint George, Utah Territory, U.S.
Died	March 7, 1955(1955-03-07) (aged 83) Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Occupation	Builder
Known for	Patriarch of the Romney family
Spouse	Anna Amelia Pratt
Children	7, including George
Father	Miles Park Romney

Wedding photo, 1895

Gaskell Romney moved to Mexico when his father helped to found the Mormon colony in Colonia Dublán, Galeana, Chihuahua, Mexico, in 1885. The Romney families lost their holdings in Chihuahua during the Mexican Revolution and in 1912 Romney moved back to the United States.^[6] Eventually he was reimbursed by the Mexican government for some of his losses.^[7] He married in 1895 to Anna Amelia Pratt. Romney was the father of six sons and one daughter: Maurice, Douglas, Miles, George W. Romney, Lawrence, Charles and Meryl. Gaskell himself was a candidate for County Commissioner 1931 as a Republican. He died in Salt Lake City, Utah, on March 7, 1955, and is buried in Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park in the city.^[8]

Extended families

Main articles: Romney family and Pratt family

A number of Romney's descendants have become prominent in U.S. politics. His son, George W. Romney, was a two-term governor of Michigan and a presidential cabinet member; his grandson, Mitt Romney, ran in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, and served one term as governor of Massachusetts and is currently serving as the junior U.S. senator from Utah; and his great-granddaughter Ronna Romney McDaniel was the chair of the Republican National Committee until February 2024.

Through Romney's wife,^[9] there is an ancestral link with renowned early Mormon leader Parley Parker Pratt.^[10][11][12] The Romney clan is also linked by marriage to the Smith family, the Matheson family, and the Huntsman family.^[13][14] The Pratt family dates back to the 17th century in Connecticut, originating with William Pratt who served as a representative to the colonial legislature of the state for 23 terms. Miles Romney, patriarch of the Romney family, immigrated to the United States from Dalton-in-Furness, England, in the 1840s.^[15] Aside from politics and government, their legacy extends into other professions.

Anna Amelia Pratt Romney (1876–1926)

References

1. BURNETT, John (January 22, 2012), Mexican Cousins Keep Romney's Family Tree Rooted, NPR
2. Kranish, Michael; Helman, Scott (2012), The Real Romney, HarperCollins, ISBN 9780062123299
3. Romney, Thomas Cottam (1938). Mormon Colonies in Mexico. University of Utah Press. ISBN 9780874808384. (Reprinted in 2005, ISBN 978-0-87480-838-4). publisher's page on the book
4. Romney, Catharine Cottam (1992), Hansen, Jennifer Moulton (ed.), Letters of Catharine Cottam Romney, plural wife, University of Illinois Press, ISBN 9780252018688
5. Romney, Mitt (2004), Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games, Regnery Publishing, ISBN 978-0-89526-084-0
6. "Mitt Romney, campaigning for Latino vote in Florida, seldom mentions Mexican roots". Associated Press. January 26, 2012. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013.
7. Gaskell Romney, Boston Globe, retrieved January 30, 2012
8. "Polygamy Prominent in GOP Presidential Hopeful Mitt Romney's Family Tree". Fox News. December 6, 2011. Archived from the original on November 30, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
9. Harris, T. George (1968), Romney's Way: A Man and an Idea, Prentice-Hall, p. 15, ...young Gaskell Romney married a Pratt girl, Anna Amelia. ... Anna Pratt Romney, George's mother, belonged to the bluestockings of the Mormon establishment."
10. Bowman, Matthew (2012), The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith, Random House, p. xix, ISBN 9780679644903, One hundred and fifty years after the death of his ancestor, Parley Pratt's great-great-grandson Mitt Romney announced his bid for the Republican Party's nomination. ... He had served as governor of Massachusetts, and his father, George, as governor of Michigan.
11. Denton, Sally (January 29, 2012), Mitt and the White Horse Prophesy, Salon magazine, archived from the original on January 31, 2012, ...the youngest son of the most prominent Mormon in American politics — a seventh-generation direct descendant of one of the faith's founding 12 apostles—Mitt Romney....
12. Rich, Frank (January 29, 2012), Who in God's Name Is Mitt Romney?, New York Magazine, Romney is...the scion of a family dynasty integral to the progress of an American-born faith....
13. Barbaro, Michael; Parker, Ashley (January 4, 2012), "On Stage, an Awkward Reminder of Personal Rifts in G.O.P.", New York Times, The Romney and Huntsman families — two intertwined clans that go back to the early days of Mormonism....
14. Krasny, Ros; Nichols, Michelle (January 2, 2012), Huntsman tries to turn up heat on Romney in N. Hampshire, Reuters, "Both Romney and Huntsman descend from Parley P. Pratt, one of the most storied early Mormon leaders," said Joanna Brooks, a Mormon scholar.... "Both have family and personal connections to the institutional hierarchy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And both enjoy an unusual degree of access to high-ranking church leaders," she said.
15. The Making of Mitt Romney, Boston Globe, June 18, 2007, p. 2, retrieved January 30, 2012

External links

Media related to Gaskell Romney at Wikimedia Commons