Page 16 - IAV Digital Magazine #506

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Warren Harding: Grandson of Former US President Asks To Exhume His Remains
The grandson of former US President Warren G Harding has launched a legal bid to have the Republican's remains exhumed to confirm they are related.
James Blaesing told a court he wants to establish his ancestry with "scientific certain- ty".
But other mem- bers of Harding's family have opposed the request, filed in May.
They say they have accepted DNA evidence that Mr Blaesing's mother, Elizabeth Ann Blaesing, was the daughter of Harding and Nan Britton.
Harding, the 29th president of the US, had an extra- marital affair with Britton before and during his presi- dency, between 1921 and 1923.
The affair only came to light after Harding died of a
heart attack while still in office in 1923.
Britton revealed their relationship in a 1927 book, The President's Daughter, but never sought DNA evidence confirming Harding's paterni- ty of the child. Harding had no other children.
Then in 2015, genetic testing confirmed a match between Mr Blaesing's DNA and that of two Harding descendants. Mr
Blaesing's biologi- cal link to Harding was officially declared by AncestryDNA, a division of Ancestry.com.
Despite this, grievances have surfaced ahead of the 100-year anniversary of Harding's 1920 election as presi- dent.
Harding's bene- factors are preparing to mark the occasion with site upgrades and a new presiden- tial centre in Marion, the Ohio
city near which he was born in 1865.
But Mr Blaesing said he and his mother have not received the recognition they deserve in the new museum.
"I did the test and we brought it to the public in 2015. It's now 2020 and no one has asked me one thing," he said.
Mr Blaesing said he deserves to "have his story, his mother's story
and his grand- mother's story included within the hallowed halls and museums in this town".
He said he hoped to change that by providing further DNA evidence of his biological link to Harding.
Mr Blaesing's lawsuit to exhume Harding's remains from his presiden- tial memorial in Marion has been challenged by another branch of the family.
"Sadly, wide-
spread, public recognition and acceptance by the descendants, historians and biographers (and Mr Blaesing him- self) that Mr Blaesing is President Harding's grand- son is not enough for him," relatives said in a court fil- ing.
Ohio History Connection, which manages the Harding home and memorial, told the Associated Press news agency that it takes no posi- tion on the family dispute.
It did, however, tell the court to consider a host of issues before dis- rupting the Harding Memorial's sealed sarcophagus.
The non-profit organisation said it accepted the 2015 DNA results "as fact" and was planning to include a section of the new muse- um on Britton and her daughter.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine