Chad Wolf
Birth Name: Chad Fredrick Wolf
Place of Birth: Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
Date of Birth: June 21, 1976
Ethnicity: German, English, Scottish, some French, possibly other
Chad Wolf is an American government employee. A Republican, he has been Executive Director of the America First Policy Institute, since February 13, 2025. He was previously Chief of Staff to the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, from July 31, 2017 to February 8, 2019, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Strategy, Plans, Analysis, and Risk, from February 8, 2018 to November 13, 2019, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Strategy, Policy, and Plans, from February 8, 2019 and January 20, 2021 (initially in an acting capacity); and (de facto) U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, from November 13, 2019 to January 11, 2021.
Chad is the son of Cinda Thompson of Magee, Mississippi, and James Wolf. He was raised in Plano, Texas. He is married to Hope, with whom he has two children.
Chad’s paternal grandfather was Joseph Bernard Wolf, Jr. (the son of Joseph Bernard Wolf and Mary Gerdes Grant). Chad’s grandfather Joseph was born in Louisiana. Chad’s great-grandfather Joseph was born in Amite, Louisiana, the son of Moses Wolf/Wolfe, who was born in Spire, Rheinlandpfalz, Germany; and of Ophelia Couvillion/Couvillon. Mary was the daughter of R. Henry Grant and Kate Boyd.
Chad’s paternal grandmother was Helene Elizabeth Ball (the daughter of James Fish Ball and Sarah Elizabeth Hoffman). Helene was born in Louisiana. James was the son of Chittenden Edwin/Edward Ball and Tillizelle Pauline Tally. Sarah was the daughter of Wyatt Marshall Hoffman and Anna Walker.
Chad’s maternal grandfather was Pat Hinds Thompson (the son of William David Thompson and Helen Annie Bishop). Pat was born in Mississippi. William was the son of Albert Sidney Thompson and Lula Alma Henderson. Helen was the daughter of David Hinds Bishop and Daisy Belmont Bufkin.
Chad’s maternal grandmother was named Lucy Ann Edwards (the daughter of Jesse Edwards and Myrtie). Lucy was born in Mississippi.
Sources: https://mageenews.com
https://timesofsandiego.com
Chad’s paternal grandfather, Joseph Bernard Wolf, Jr., on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Chad’s paternal great-grandfather, Joseph Bernard Wolf, on the 1880 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Obituary of Chad’s paternal great-grandfather, Joseph Bernard Wolf – https://www.newspapers.com
Genealogy of Chad’s paternal great-great-grandmother, Ophelia Couvillion/Couvillon – https://www.geni.com
Obituary of Chad’s paternal great-grandmother, Mary Gerdes (Grant) Wolf – https://www.newspapers.com
Obituary of Chad’s paternal grandmother, Helene Elizabeth (Ball) Wolf – http://freepages.rootsweb.com
Genealogy of Chad’s maternal grandfather, Pat Hinds Thompson – https://www.findagrave.com
Curious about Moses Wolf. It says he’s from Spire/Speyer, which was basically the capital of Jewish culture in Germany up until the Holocaust. How common would it have been for someone with the name “Moses Wolf” to have been Christian/Catholic back then?
Moses Wolf is confusing me. Here is the Joseph Wolf born in 1822 in Germany who dies in Chicago in 1896:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVGK-CJ4V
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/126060085
This Moses Wolf’s birthplace is given as Hechingen, Zollernalbkreis, Baden-Württemberg. There is a passport application for him the year before in 1895 where he lands in Chicago. His name is given as Moses A. Wolf. This Moses Wolf says he got her in 1846 was naturalized in 1854, but in Mississippi.
I really don’t know what to make of this. Either there were two Moses Wolfs in the general region, or the records are all mixed up. But I’m unable to tie the Moses Wolf who dies in Chicago in 1896 to this family. This Moses is also born in Bavaria, but maybe Speyer was apart of Bavaria around the 1820’s?
Again, where is the Lucy Ann Edwards coming from for his maternal grandmother? Also, there seems to be some dispute concerning Joseph B. Wolf’s parents, because there appears to be two Joseph B. Wolfs. Moses and Ophelia Couvillion appear to be connected to some children who moved to the North. I’m not sure they are Josseph B. Wolf’s parents, and it’s not entirely clear that the B. for this is Bernard.
Pat and Lucy married in 1949, Pat and Mary married in 1964.
Bless delete these three posts as they are repeats. I see now that posts with links seem to go through some verification process or something that delays them.
Looks like his mother’s full name is Patsy Lucinda Wolf (nee Thompson) and she goes by Cinda Wolf. I think this is her and he ex’s divorce record:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VYVL-RZB
Looks like they got divorced in 1996, and his Jame Wolf’s middle initial is B. He then appears to have been remarried in 1997. But beyond that, I can’t find anything much more on him, which is weird. He was born in either 1947 or 1948. I think it’s James Ball Wolf and one of his previous locations was Brandon, MS, which would make sense since that’s where Patsy Lucinda is from.
Can anyone untangle this?
Okay, the father definitely seems to be James Ball Wolf, who goes by Jim and whose last name is sometimes spelled Wolfe. He was born Jun 10, 1947 and has lived in Brandon, Mississippi and all over Texas, but currently in Beaumont, Texas. I can’t find where he was born, though. It appears he and his wife divorced when Chad would have been 20 or so.
Anyway, Wolf/Wolfe can be a German surname and it can also be Jewish. Chad’s wife’s maiden name is Solomon.
Okay, so my Jewish theory is shot down, unless they are converts. Chad’s father, James Ball Wolf, is the son of Joseph B. Wolf and Helene Ball Wolf. It appears that they are Catholic. So we can add Chad’s paternal grandparents.
His paternal grandfather was Joseph Bernard Wolf, born in Alexandria, Rapides Parish, Louisiana. He was the son of Joseph B. Wolf and Mary G. Wolf, both born in Louisiana. Joseph Sr’s father was born in Germany. So we know that the direct Wolf line comes from Germany pre-1870’s.
His paternal grandmother was Helen Elizabeth Ball, born in Pollack, Rapides Parish, Louisiana. Helene was the daughter of James Fish Ball and Sarah Elizabeth Hoffman, both born in Rapids Parish, Louisiana. The Balls look to trace back to colonial Virginia and the Hoffmans (originally Huffmans) trace back to Pennsylvania; I imagine they were of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry.
Long story short…
Father: English, German
Mother: English, Scottish
To what degrees he has of each of these, someone else would have to go through the tree I’ve linked to. But he’s predominantly of English heritage it appears with some (significant) German and Scottish ancestry.
Sources:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPYT-1GV
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/70978942 (Chad’s paternal uncle obituary).
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~goneb4us/genealogy/heballobit.html (Chad’s paternal grandmother’s obituary)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1T-5YRV (Chad’s paternal grandparent’s marriage record)
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LLSV-N8X (Chad’s paternal grandmother’s records)
**BTW, correction, his maternal grandmother seems to be Mary B. McLendon. Where is Lucy Ann Edwards coming from?**
I meant to put his ethnicity as:
Mother: English, Scottish
Father: Unknown
I’ve not been able to find even a passing mention of his father.