Francis A. Nixon
| Francis A. Nixon | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Francis Anthony Nixon December 3, 1878 Elk Township, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died |
September 4, 1956 (aged 77) La Habra, California, U.S.[1] |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Father of U.S. President Richard Nixon |
| Religion | Quaker (originally Methodist) |
| Spouse(s) | Hannah Milhous Nixon (m. 1908–56, his death) |
| Children |
Harold Nixon Richard Nixon Donald Nixon Arthur Nixon Edward Nixon |
| Parent(s) |
Sarah Ann Wadsworth Nixon Samuel Brady Nixon |
| Relatives |
Julie Nixon Eisenhower (granddaughter) Tricia Nixon Cox (granddaughter) Christopher Nixon Cox (great-grandson) Jennie Eisenhower (great-granddaughter) Pat Nixon (daughter-in-law) Edward F. Cox (grandson-in-law) David Eisenhower (grandson-in-law) Christopher Nixon Cox (great-grandson) Andrea Catsimatidis (great-granddaughter-in-law) Alexander Richard Eisenhower (great-grandson) Melanie Catherine Eisenhower (great-granddaughter) |
Francis Anthony Nixon (December 3, 1878 – September 4, 1956) was an American businessman and the father of U.S. President Richard Nixon.
Early life
Nixon was born in Elk Township, Vinton County, Ohio, the son of Sarah Ann (née Wadsworth), a native of Hocking Township, Fairfield County, Ohio, and Samuel Brady Nixon, who was from Smith Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.[2] Nixon's family ancestry included colonial Pennsylvania Quakers. He was raised Methodist, however, but converted to Quakerism when he married Hannah Milhous.
Career
Nixon moved to California at the turn of the century after having been frostbitten working as a motorman in an open streetcar in Columbus, Ohio. After working as a farmhand and oil roustabout, he attempted to cultivate lemons outside Los Angeles.
After his son Richard was born, Nixon abandoned the lemon grove, and the family moved to the Quaker community of Whittier, California. Nixon focused on the family business, a store that sold groceries and Atlantic Richfield gasoline, but the family remained impoverished. Nixon's life was marked by the deaths of his two sons, Arthur and Harold, from tuberculosis. He has been described as a "restless, frustrated, and angry man, a mean-spirited person who psychologically abused his five sons and sometimes beat them."[3]
However, Richard always spoke highly of his parents. He often spoke lovingly of his mother as a "Quaker saint," and began his memoirs with the words "I was born in a house my father built." Writer Jessamyn West, a cousin of the Nixons, was in Frank's Sunday school class for some time. She later described him as "a fiery persuasive teacher," and wrote that Frank Nixon's version of the social gospel inclined her politically toward socialism.[3]
Personal life
On June 25, 1908, he married Hannah Milhous. Together, they had five sons:
- Harold Samuel Nixon (June 1, 1909 – March 7, 1933)
- Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994)
- Francis Donald Nixon (November 23, 1914 – June 27, 1987)
- Arthur Burdg Nixon (May 26, 1918 – August 19, 1925)
- Edward Calvert Nixon (born May 3, 1930)
Nixon died on September 4, 1956 in La Habra, California, U.S.[1]
In popular culture
He was played by Tom Bower in Oliver Stone's Nixon.
References
- 1 2 "The Nixon Family". Nixon Library and Museum. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
- ↑ http://www.genealogy.com/famousfolks/richardn/index.html
- 1 2 West, Jessamyn. Double Discovery: A Journey New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980; p. 125.
External links
- Nixon Fun Facts via Nixon Foundation
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