Gaskell Romney
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{short description|American patriarch of the Romney family (1871–1955)}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Gaskell Romney.jpg
| alt = Romney looking towards a camera
| caption = Romney in 1917
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1871|09|22}}
| birth_place = Saint George, Utah Territory, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1955|03|07|1871|09|22}}
| death_place = Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
| relatives = Romney family
| spouse = Anna Amelia Pratt
| children = 7, including George
| father = Miles Park Romney
| occupation = Builder
}}
File:Wedding photo of Gaskell Romney and Anna Pratt.jpg
Gaskell Romney (September 22, 1871 – March 7, 1955) was an American builder. He is regarded as a patriarch of the Romney family,{{citation|publisher = NPR|url = https://www.npr.org/2012/01/22/145574014/mexican-cousins-keep-romneys-family-tree-rooted|title = Mexican Cousins Keep Romney's Family Tree Rooted|first = John|last = BURNETT|date = January 22, 2012}} a U.S. political family. Romney was born in St. George, in what was then the Utah Territory, to Miles Park Romney{{citation|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZP3-rXn0H8sC&pg=PT52|first1 = Michael|last1 = Kranish|first2 = Scott|last2 = Helman|publisher = HarperCollins|year = 2012|title = The Real Romney|isbn = 9780062123299}}{{Cite book|last= Romney |first= Thomas Cottam |title= Mormon Colonies in Mexico |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HWGtzTMvp4AC|publisher= University of Utah Press |year= 1938|isbn= 9780874808384 }} (Reprinted in 2005, {{ISBN|978-0-87480-838-4}}). [http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/upcat&CISOPTR=1443 publisher's page on the book]{{citation |last1=Romney |first1=Catharine Cottam |title=Letters of Catharine Cottam Romney, plural wife |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cWww69owr1kC |year=1992 |editor-last=Hansen |editor-first=Jennifer Moulton |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=9780252018688 |authorlink1=Catharine Cottam Romney}}{{citation|title = Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games|authorlink = Mitt Romney|first = Mitt|last = Romney|publisher = Regnery Publishing|year = 2004|isbn = 978-0-89526-084-0}} and Hannah Hood Hill.
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.{{cite news|agency = Associated Press|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/americas/mitt-romney-campaigning-for-latino-vote-in-florida-seldom-mentions-mexican-roots/2012/01/26/gIQA3OQTTQ_story_1.html|archive-url = https://archive.today/20130209015928/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/americas/mitt-romney-campaigning-for-latino-vote-in-florida-seldom-mentions-mexican-roots/2012/01/26/gIQA3OQTTQ_story_1.html|url-status = dead|archive-date = February 9, 2013|title = Mitt Romney, campaigning for Latino vote in Florida, seldom mentions Mexican roots|date = January 26, 2012}} Eventually he was reimbursed by the Mexican government for some of his losses.{{citation|access-date = January 30, 2012|publisher = Boston Globe|url = http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/specials/romney/graphics/GaskellRomney/|title = Gaskell Romney}} 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.{{cite news | url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/polygamy-prominent-in-gop-presidential-hopeful-mitt-romneys-family-tree | work=Fox News | title=Polygamy Prominent in GOP Presidential Hopeful Mitt Romney's Family Tree | date=December 6, 2011 | access-date=January 30, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111130045734/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,254362,00.html | archive-date=November 30, 2011 | url-status=live | df=mdy-all }}
Extended families
{{main|Romney family|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,{{citation|quote = ...young Gaskell Romney married a Pratt girl, Anna Amelia. ... Anna Pratt Romney, George's mother, belonged to the bluestockings of the Mormon establishment."|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Gxl3AAAAMAAJ&q=romney+pratt|title = Romney's Way: A Man and an Idea|year = 1968|page = 15|publisher = Prentice-Hall|first = T. George|last = Harris}} there is an ancestral link with renowned early Mormon leader Parley Parker Pratt.{{citation|first = Matthew|last = Bowman|publisher = Random House|year = 2012|quote = 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.|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=E9DCyPEO1wcC&pg=PR19|page = xix|title = The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith|isbn = 9780679644903}}{{citation|first=Sally |last=Denton |date=January 29, 2012 |quote=...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.... |url=http://www.salon.com/2012/01/29/mitt_and_the_white_horse_prophecy/singleton/ |title=Mitt and the White Horse Prophesy |publisher=Salon magazine |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131005540/http://www.salon.com/2012/01/29/mitt_and_the_white_horse_prophecy/singleton/ |archive-date=January 31, 2012 }}{{citation|authorlink = Frank Rich|first = Frank|last = Rich|date = January 29, 2012|quote = Romney is...the scion of a family dynasty integral to the progress of an American-born faith....|url = https://nymag.com/news/frank-rich/mitt-romney-2012-2/index2.html|title = Who in God's Name Is Mitt Romney?|publisher = New York Magazine}} The Romney clan is also linked by marriage to the Smith family, the Matheson family, and the Huntsman family.{{citation|work = New York Times|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/us/politics/on-stage-an-awkward-reminder-of-personal-rifts-in-gop.html?_r=1|quote = The Romney and Huntsman families — two intertwined clans that go back to the early days of Mormonism....|title = On Stage, an Awkward Reminder of Personal Rifts in G.O.P.|first1 = Michael|last1 = Barbaro|first2 = Ashley|last2 = Parker|date = January 4, 2012}}{{citation|publisher = Reuters|url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-campaign-huntsman-idUSTRE80201520120103|quote = "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.|date = January 2, 2012|title = Huntsman tries to turn up heat on Romney in N. Hampshire|first1 = Ros|last1 = Krasny|first2 = Michelle|last2 = Nichols}} 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.{{citation|access-date = January 30, 2012|publisher = Boston Globe|title = The Making of Mitt Romney|url = http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/specials/romney/gallery/romney_mexico?pg=2|page = 2|date=June 18, 2007}} Aside from politics and government, their legacy extends into other professions.
File:Anna Pratt Romney (crop).jpg (1876–1926)]]
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
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{{Mitt Romney}}
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