08/08/2016 – Taylor Lautner – 2016 Summer TCA Tour – Fox Press Tour – Arrivals – The Beverly Hilton Hotel, 9876 Wilshire Boulevard – Los Angeles, CA, USA -Photo Credit: PRPhotos.com
Birth Name: Taylor Daniel Lautner
Place of Birth: Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
Date of Birth: February 11, 1992
Ethnicity: Swiss-German, German, English, Dutch, Scottish, distant French, Irish, and Welsh, likely 1/128th African-American
Taylor Lautner is an American actor, model, and martial artist. He is known for his starring role in the Twilight films, playing Jacob Black, a Native American werewolf of the Quileute tribe. On the show Scream Queens, he played the son of a black father and a white mother. He has also featured in the films The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, Valentine’s Day, Abduction, Grown Ups 2, Tracers, The Ridiculous 6, Run the Tide, and Home Team, and the show Cuckoo.
Taylor’s documented ancestry includes English, Swiss-German, German, including Sudeten German; Dutch, Scottish, distant French, Irish, and Welsh, and likely 1/128th African-American, the latter through his maternal great-great-great-great-grandfather James Siscoe/Sisco, who appears to have been black/mixed-race black. He has Canadian-born ancestors. A picture of Taylor with his parents and sister can be seen here. Taylor was raised in Hudsonville, near Grand Rapids, and later Santa Clarita, California.
On June 24, 2005, Taylor stated of his ancestry:
I am only French, Dutch and German. I get my skin color from the French side of my family.
Then, in an interview published on May 20, 2008, he stated:
…actually, I am part Native American. We learned that through [preparing to play a Native American in the Twilight films]. I’m French, Dutch and German, and on my mother’s side, she has some Potawatomi and Ottawa Indian in her.
Later that year, in July 2008, in reply to a question about him having Native American ancestry, Taylor stated:
I have some Native American in my distant background.
It is not clear if this Native American ancestry has been verified/documented. All of Taylor’s maternal grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents are listed as “White” on United States Censuses. No Native American ancestry appears in publicly available family trees of Taylor’s mother.
Taylor is a half-second cousin, three times removed, of prominent architect John Lautner. He is married to Taylor (Dome). Taylor (Dome) Lautner is a nurse, who is of half Ashkenazi Jewish and half Greek descent.
Taylor’s paternal grandfather is Loren Joseph Lautner (the son of LaVern Francis Lautner and Maxine Wave Draper). Loren has Sudeten German, English, German, and Swiss-German ancestry. LaVern was the son of Joseph S. Lautner and Florence Ethel Courtade. Maxine was the daughter of Lorn James Draper and Maryetta Mosher. The surname Lautner originates with Taylor’s great-great-great-grandfather, Edward M. Lautner, who was born, c. 1848, in Austria, the son of Wenzel Lautner and Helen Quiezer/Queiser. The Lautner line originates with ethnic Germans from the town of Engelsberg, now Andělská Hora, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. Taylor’s great-great-grandmother Florence also had German ancestry, from Altenstadt, Wissembourg, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, now France.
Taylor’s paternal grandmother is Sandra J. Pickard (the daughter of Howard John Pickard and Bernetta J. “Betty” Akers). Howard was the son of Sherman Issac Pickard and Viola Madilene Duell. Bernetta was the daughter of John Guil Akers and Ruth French.
Lautner in 2011
Taylor’s maternal grandfather is Andrew David Bos (the son of Andrew John Bos and Helen Elizabeth Soules). Taylor’s great-grandfather Andrew was the son of John Arend Bos, who was born in Michigan, to Dutch parents, and of Barbara Antje Bess/Bessie Dykenhouse, who was Dutch. Helen was the daughter of Cleon/Leon Benjamin Soules and Emily Jane Himebaugh.
Taylor’s maternal grandmother is Patricia Anne Nichols (the daughter of Keith Francis Nichols and Wanda Juanita Yount). Keith was the son of Francis James “Frank” Nichols and Olive Florence Allen. Wanda was the daughter of Charles Carl Yount and Pina Sally Ford Oatley/Oatly/Vatley.
Taylor’s matrilineal line can be traced to Emeline/Emma Eliza Clark, who was born, c. 1846, in Somerset, England.
Through Taylor’s maternal grandfather, Taylor is a descendant of William Brewster (c. 1566-1644), a Mayflower passenger and noted Pilgrim. Among many of William’s other descendants are actors Jordana Brewster, Paget Brewster, Austin Butler, Chevy Chase, Seth MacFarlane, and Elisabeth Shue, actors and models Noah Mills and Brandon Routh, singer Buffy Sainte-Marie, soccer player Clint Dempsey, Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, U.S. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, and Governor of Arkansas Winthrop Rockefeller.
Sources: Genealogy of Taylor Lautner (focusing on his father’s side) –
Genealogy of Taylor’s paternal great-grandfather, LaVern Francis Lautner –
Death record of Taylor’s paternal great-great-grandmother, Maryetta (Mosher) Draper –
Taylor’s paternal great-grandfather, Howard John Pickard, on the 1930 U.S. Census –
Genealogy of Taylor’s paternal great-great-great-grandfather, Isaac Ladd Pickard –
Genealogy of Taylor’s paternal great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, William Henry Pickard –
Genealogy of Taylor’s paternal great-great-great-grandmother, Nellie Elnora Swaney –
Obituary of Taylor’s paternal great-grandmother, Bernetta J. “Betty” (Akers) Pickard –
Taylor’s paternal great-great-grandfather, John Guil Akers, on the 1910 U.S. Census –
Genealogy of Taylor’s paternal great-great-grandmother, Ruth French (focusing on her father’s side) –
Marriage record of Taylor’s maternal great-grandparents, Andrew John Bos and Helen Elizabeth Soules –
Taylor’s maternal great-grandfather, Andrew John Bos, on the 1920 U.S. Census –
Andrew John Bos on the 1930 U.S. Census –
Obituary of Taylor’s maternal great-grandfather, Andrew John Bos –
Taylor’s maternal great-grandmother, Helen Elizabeth Soules, on the 1930 U.S. Census –
Genealogy of Taylor’s maternal great-great-grandfather, Cleon/Leon Benjamin Soules –
Genealogies of Taylor’s maternal great-great-great-great-grandfather, Howard Soule –
Genealogy of Taylor’s maternal great-great-grandmother, Emily Jane Himebaugh –
Genealogies of Taylor’s maternal great-grandparents, Keith Francis Nichols and Wanda Juanita Yount –
Taylor’s maternal great-grandfather, Keith Francis Nichols, on the 1930 U.S. Census –
Marriage record of Taylor’s maternal great-great-grandparents, Francis James “Frank” Nichols and Olive Florence Allen –
Genealogy of Taylor’s maternal great-great-grandfather, Francis James “Frank” Nichols (focusing on his own mother’s side) –
Taylor’s maternal great-great-great-grandparents, Wayland Albert/H. Nichols and Fannie/Fanny Blanche/Blanch Sisco, on the 1930 U.S. Census –
Taylor’s maternal great-great-great-grandmother, Fannie/Fanny Blanche/Blanch Sisco, on the 1880 U.S. Census –
Likely Taylor’s maternal great-great-great-great-grandfather, James Siscoe/Sisco, on the 1860 U.S. Census –
Genealogy of Taylor’s maternal great-grandmother, Wanda Juanita Yount –
Taylor’s maternal great-grandmother, Wanda Juanita Yount, on the 1930 U.S. Census –
Wanda Juanita Yount on the 1940 U.S. Census –
Marriage record of Taylor’s maternal great-great-grandparents, Charles Carl Yount and Pina Sally Ford Oatley/Oatly/Vatley –
