Abraham Lincoln and Tom Hanks | Source: Getty Images
How Tom Hanks Is Related to Abraham Lincoln
Few presidents have shaped American history like Abraham Lincoln. For one Hollywood actor, that history also happens to be part of his own family story.
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Over the years, Tom Hanks has portrayed real-life figures in American history and helped bring major historical moments to the screen. He also narrated National Geographic’s "Killing Lincoln," a project that explored the assassination of the 16th president — and one that carried a personal connection not many people may know about.
Tom Hanks reads a historical text at the 'We Are One" concert during one of the events of US president-elect Barack Obama's inauguration celebrations, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on January 18, 2009 | Source: Getty Images
For Hanks, Abraham Lincoln has never been just another historical figure. In fact, he has acknowledged his personal link to the former president. Hanks once said, “the members of my branch of the family are either cousins or in-laws or poor relations. So, when I was at school, guess which president I was always doing essays on.”
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A portrait of former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln | Source: Getty Images
The connection traces back to Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks.
Genealogical research shows that Hanks is related to Abraham Lincoln through the latter's mother, making him a distant relative of the president.
Nancy Hanks had a difficult early life. Orphaned at age nine, she lived with relatives and later with the Richard Berry family in Kentucky. She married Thomas Lincoln on June 12, 1806. Their second child, Abraham, was born on February 12, 1809.
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The Francis Berry House or Berry House in the Lincoln Homestead State Park in Springfield, Kentucky, circa 1960, where Nancy Hanks and Thomas Lincoln, the parents of President Abraham Lincoln, were thought to have carried out their courtship. | Source: Getty Images
Her life was cut short at age 34, possibly due to milk sickness, a disease caused by drinking contaminated milk. Lincoln was just nine years old when she died. According to historical accounts cited by Ancestry, he helped his father build her coffin, a moment later captured in Carl Sandburg’s literary biography.
Lincoln went on to marry Mary Todd nearly 25 years later. Of their four children, only one survived to adulthood. Lincoln’s last direct descendant died in 1985. While his direct bloodline eventually ended, extended family branches continued — including the line that connects to Hanks.
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A portrait of President Lincoln and his family, from left: Robert, William, and Abraham Lincoln, Mary Todd, and Thomas Lincoln, engraved by J.L. Giles, published by Lyon & Co., 1867 | Source: Getty Images
In recent years, Tom Hanks has continued to engage with Lincoln’s story. He is set to portray the president in "Lincoln in the Bardo", a live-action and stop-motion animation hybrid film based on George Saunders’ novel. Hanks will also produce the project through his Playtone label with partner Gary Goetzman.
For Hanks, the role represents more than another historical portrayal. It ties his professional work to a family connection that dates back more than two centuries. (Ancestry, Deadline).
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