Two men to occupy the White House are descendants of the Guilford Parmelees! Rutherford B. Hayes, left, and George W. Bush were declared victors after close votes and disputed ballots in Florida. Both were Republican governors who lost the popular vote but won in the Electoral College by slim margins.

Presidential Encounters

John Quincy Adams: The pages of his diary mention visits from Dr. Eleazer Parmly, the pioneering dentist.

- - - -

McKinley: Cleveland Mayor William and Martha Emily (Parmelee) Rose entertained the Ohio governor (and future president) and his wife, Ida.

Quest for the Presidency

Retired Navy master chief petty officer John Oscian Parmele [John Oscian, John Oscian, James McGinty, Joseph, Joseph, Joseph, Joseph, Isaac, John, John], has begun a 2012 independent presidential bid. Our Virginia Beach, Va., cousin has set up a Facebook page and is seeking volunteer campaign managers in all 50 states. For more info, email him. John has twice made independent bids to become a member of the Virginia House of Delegates.

- - - - -

Jay Parmley, the executive director of the North Carolina Democratic Party, says the Tar Heel State will once again be pivotal in the 2012 presidential race next year, and Bev Perdue could be the most targeted gubernatorial incumbent in the country. That was his message to a Cumberland County Democratic Men’s Club meeting.

He said that hundreds of paid staffers for President Obama’s re-election campaign will fan across North Carolina next year, and the fact that the national convention will be in Charlotte, further boosts the state’s prominence in the race.

"This is really ground zero for everything in 2012," Jay said.

The Electoral College Alum

Many voters believe they cast their ballot for a presidential candidate, but they actually are selecting a slate of electors prescribed by the Constitution who do the real voting. One member of the family was a member of the Electoral College.

Solomon [1798-1876; Sheldon, Thomas, Thomas, Job, John, John] of Lockport, N.Y., was selected by the Whig Party in 1848 to be the elector from the state's 34th Congressional District. And Zachary Taylor, the party's candidate, carried the state.

Taylor and Democrat Lewis Cass each carried 15 states; former President Martin Van Buren, running as the Free Soil candidate, failed to win any. Taylor polled 1.36 million votes, or 47.3% to Cass' 1.22 million, or 42.5%, to Van Buren's 292,000, or 10.1%.

Taylor defeated Cass in the Electoral College, 163-127. And Solomon was one of the 163.

The Dust-Up With T.R.

By 1896, New York City Police Board President Theodore Roosevelt's efforts to clear the Police Department of corruption and politics had come to a standstill, his efforts blocked by member Andrew D. Parker, an ally of the police chief's.

On May 5, things came to a head. Roosevelt arrived at City Hall for a meeting of the Board of Estimate in a new tweed suit whose checks, one newspaper said, were "audible at 20 paces." Across the table, with the mayor, sat City Comptroller Ashbel Parmelee Fitch, who had a habit of rejecting the Police Department's more questionable bills, such as payment for children reporting Sunday liquor law violations.

Fitch said quietly while Roosevelt requested $11,000 of surplus construction funds be transferred to pay for his second annual campaign against saloons. "I doubt that we can do it legally," Fitch said before launching into a speech about the "impropriety" of taxpayers' money being used to bribe stool-pigeons on a Sunday. Roosevelt explained that policemen could not arrest saloonkeepers for illegal sales without buying liquor themselves, and that they were entitled to be reimbursed. "The same old story," Fitch said. "We've heard it before."

"If we are brought to a standstill," Roosevelt said, "if we are to shut down our work, it will be your fault."

"Oh, stop scolding," Fitch said.

"You are the one to blame!" Roosevelt said.

"Tush, Tush. I won't discuss the matter with you in the fashion. You're always looking for a fight."

"I fight when I am attacked!"

"Oh, go on," Fitch said. "I don't want to fight with you."

"I know you won't fight. You'll run away."

"Well, I wouldn't run away from you, at all events."

"You dare not fight!"

"Oh, I don't, hey? Just name your weapons. What do you want -- pistols?"

"Pistols or anything else!" Roosevelt said.

Wrote the reporter for the New York World: "At this point two reporters who were in the line of fire dropped their notes and dodged under the table."

Mayor William L. Strong decided to intervene, slamming his fist on the table and raising his voice: "Gentlemen, gentlemen! I warn you right now that if this thing goes on, I shall call in the police and have you both arrested."

"Oh, this man Roosevelt is always getting into a row," Fitch said. "He had a row with Parker, now he wants a row with me."

The matter was referred to Corporation Counsel. Roosevelt assured the press that there would be no duel. But offers of seconds, and weapons, came in from as far as Philadelphia, and Fitch was reported to have collected a small arsenal of gifts.

--edited from "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt," by Edmund Morris

Over the years, I've been asked how Ashbel Parmelee Fitch (1848-1904) fits into the family. Well, the New York City lawyer who was four times elected to the House of Representatives was the son of Edward Fitch and his wife, Fanny Parmelee [Ashbel, Simeon, Hezekiah, Joel, John, John]. Ashbel was named for his grandfather, a minister who spent much of his life in Malone, N.Y.

Young Ashbel was born in Moores, N.Y., and studied at the Universities of Jena and Berlin, Germany, and the Columbia College Law School in New York City. After joining the bar in 1869, he set up practice in New York City.

He was elected to Congress as a Republican when he was seated in 1887, but he ran as a Democrat in his next three elections. He served as chairman on the House Committee on Private Land Claims (52nd Congress) and on the Committee on Election of President, Vice President, and Representatives (53rd Congress). He resigned in 1893 to accept Tammany Hall's nomination for New York City comptroller. (See the story above.)

He was elected and served until 1897, when the Democratic political machine refused to renominate him; Ashbel's name was placed in nomination at the Republican convention and he was defeated. He became the founding president of the Trust Company of America in 1899. Ashbel died in New York City in 1904 and was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery.