Barack Obama is about as American as one can get, if one looks at his ancestry from colonial Virginia and the Kentucky frontier.

Obama’s 7^th great grandfather is Col. James Lewis Hickman. Born March 3, 1724 in Culepeper County, Virginia. He served in the military during the War of the American Revolution. America gave Obama’s 7^th great grandfather a grant of land grant in Kentucky for his service. He settled in Paris, in Kentucky’s Clark County.

Col. Hickman married Hannah Lewis of Virginia on March 14, 1744. Hannah was the daughter of an 8^th great grandfather of Obama, Maj. Davis Lewis 1695-1779, of St. Peter’s Parish, New Kent County, Virginia, who also served in the War of the American Revolution.

Hannah Lewis & Col. Hickman had a number of distinguished children, who are great grand uncles of Barack Obama. Capt. Davis Lewis Hickman served in the Revolutionary War, as did his brothers, Capt. Joel Hickman 1761-1852, and Capt. James Lewis Hickman Jr. 1759-1828.

Another brother Gen. Richard Hickman 1757-1832 who served the Revolution entered Kentucky with his parents. After serving in the Revolution, Gen. Hickman was a member of Kentucky’s Second Constitutional Convention at Frankfort in 1799. He served in the Lower House for five years, and then sixteen years in the State Senate. Elected in 1812, Richard Hickman was the 4^th Lt. Governor of Kentucky under Gov. Isaac Shelby, and acted as Governor when Shelby went to war in the War of 1812.

Obama’s 8^th great grandfather, who sired this distinguished family of American patriots, is Edwin Hickman. Edwin Hickman was Lord High Sheriff of Spotsylvania County in 1729, and Lord High Sheriff in Thomas Jefferson’s Albemarle County in 1740. In 1744 Edwin Hickman became Chief Justice for the Virginia Colony, that stretched from the Atlantic seaboard to the Mississippi River.

While many Americans can trace their ancestry to participation in the American Revolutionary War, few who are African-American can claim such privilege. Barack Obama is unique, in that he can. It should not be surprising that he has devoted himself to public service for his country.

Here’s the Obama pedigree to his 8^th great grandfather, Chief Justice Edwin Hickman.

Barack Hussein Obama

Parents: Barack Hussein Obama Sr. & Stanley Ann Dunham

Grandparents: Stanley Armour Dunham & Madelyn Lee Payne

Great Grandparents: Ralph Waldo Emerson Dunham & Ruth Lucille Armour

2^nd Great Grandparents: Harry Ellington Armour & Gabriella Clark

3^rd Great Grandparents: Christopher Columbus Clark & Susan C. Overall

4^th Great Grandparents: George Washington Overall & Louisiana Duvall

5^th Great Grandparents: Robert Overall & Annie Browning

6^th Great Grandparents: Col. James Browning & Susannah Hickman

7^th Great Grandparents: Col. James Lewis Hickman & Hannah Lewis

8^th Great Grandparents: Maj. David Lewis Sr. & Betty Ann Terrell

Chief Justice Edwin Hickman & Elender Webber