Johnny Cash
Cash in the White House in 1972, photo by Richard Nixon’s official photographer, Ollie Atkins
Birth Name: J. R. Cash
Date of Birth: February 26, 1932
Place of Birth: Kingsland, Arkansas, U.S.
Date of Death: September 12, 2003
Place of Death: Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee, U.S.
Ethnicity: English, smaller amounts of Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Scottish, Irish, and German
Johnny Cash was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He was a member of country music supergroup The Highwaymen, with Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson; which was a major force in independent, outlaw country. He was also known as “Man in Black” and John R. Cash.
He was the son of Carrie Cloveree (Rivers) and Raymond/Ray Cash. His parents were from Cleveland County, Arkansas, his father was Toledo and his mother from Rison. His brother was musician Tommy Cash. Johnny was married to country singer, songwriter, actress, author, dancer, and comedian June Carter Cash, until her death. June was a member of the Carter Family folk music group. He had four children, including singer and songwriter Rosanne Cash, with his former wife Vivian Liberto; and a son, country singer, songwriter, musician, and author John Carter Cash, with June.
Johnny’s paternal grandfather was The Rev. William Henry Cash (the son of Moses/John Reuben/Ruben Cash and Pheletia/Philisia/Phelitia White “Jane” Taylor). The Rev. William was born in Elbert County, Georgia, and was a Baptist minister. Reuben was born in Elbert County, the son of Moses Cash and Nancy Hudson. Johnny’s great-grandmother Pheletia was born in Elbert County, the daughter of John Taylor and Elizabeth White.
Johnny’s paternal grandmother was Rebecca Sara/Sarah Jane Overton (the daughter of The Rev. John Hubbard Woodson Overton and Susan Wilkinson Wharton/Whorton). Rebecca was born in Cleveland County, Arkansas. The Rev. John was born in Henry County, Georgia, and was a Baptist minister. He was the son of James Overton and Rebecca Hagler. Johnny’s great-grandmother Susan was born in Lawrence District, South Carolina, the daughter of James Campbell Wharton/Whorton and Sarah A. Fuller.
Johnny’s maternal grandfather was John Lewis Rivers (the son of William Jasper/James Rivers and Lydia Jane “Liddy” Massey). Johnny’s grandfather John was born in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. William was born in South Carolina, the son of Frederick C. William Rivers and Sarah Ann “Sallie” Hurst. Johnny’s great-grandmother Lydia was born in South Carolina, the daughter of William Laurence/Lawrence Massey and Huldah/Hulda Meadows.
Johnny’s maternal grandmother was Rosanna Lee Hurst (the daughter of Philip/Phillip James Hurst and Mary Ann Gainey). Rosanna was born in South Carolina. Philip was born in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, the son of Isaac Hurst and Henrietta “Ritta” Rivers.
While Johnny once believed that he had Cherokee Native American roots, he later discovered that he had no documented Native American ancestry.
A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2021) stated that Johnny’s daughter Rosanne’s genetic ancestry is:
*92.3% European
*3.8% Western Asian
*3.3% Sub-Saharan African
*0.6% Unassigned
During their marriage, Johnny and his wife, Rosanne’s mother Vivian, were often the subject of racist attacks by people who believed that Vivian was a black woman. Genealogical researchers for the show discovered that Vivian was of approximately 1/32 African descent, unbeknownst to the family, with DNA research indicating that Johnny likely had a similar percentage of African ancestry.
Johnny was a fourth cousin, once removed, of actor and musician Gaelan Connell. Johnny’s paternal great-great-great-grandparents, John Cash and Lucy Nancy Campbell, were also Gaelan’s maternal great-great-great-great-grandparents.
Sourcess: Genealogies of Johnny Cash – http://www.geni.com
http://www.wikitree.com
https://www.findagrave.com
His 4th great-grandmother on “Overton” line was a “full blooded Creek American Indian” according to wikitree and:
https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/harjo/10/
Or this: https://gw.geneanet.org/ainbowulz?n=harjo&oc=&p=marie+mary
He had a great affinity with Ireland to such a degree he also believed he was of strong Irish ancestry, even though as shown above he was largely of English ancestry and others. He visited Ireland many times and even wrote a song for Ireland.
He had a stronger affinity with Scotland.
At first, Cash heard of Cherokee or “Mohawk” ancestry, but within a short time he admitted to be false. However, he has relatives being American Indian but not by direct lineage (the ancestral step-mothers of Ward Churchill known to fabricated “Cherokee”, “Creek” or “Metis” ancestry, and Elizabeth Warren’s Bilberry family, but not her Boraker relatives). They said his genetic matches with Roma people could be a clue the presence of Romani (pejoratively called Gypsies) in US history.
I spotted some who have documented African ancestry:
https://ethnicelebs.com/michael-mckean
https://ethnicelebs.com/carey-hart
@jackson/bearboy
A lot of White southerners probably have Black down the line but will they ever admit it? Hell no.., unless of course your ancestors came from the outside recently.
A lot of white southerners are probably unaware of distant African ancestry but I doubt many would deny or be ashamed of it if they were to find this out.