Martin Luther King Jr Family Tree

Martin Luther King Jr.’s family history extends across generations of slavery, Christian ministry, civil rights activism, education, and politics. Matt Baker examines lesser-known relatives rather than concentrating on King’s familiar leadership of the American Civil Rights Movement and his assassination.

Nathan King is the earliest identified ancestor in Martin Luther King Jr.’s direct paternal line. Nathan was King’s great-grandfather, married to a woman named Melinda. Their children included James King, who became Martin Luther King Jr.’s paternal grandfather.

Historical census records give contradictory accounts of Nathan King’s birthplace. The 1880 census identifies Nathan and his children as born in Georgia. The 1900 census lists his son James as born in Ohio and James’s father, Nathan, as born in Pennsylvania. The 1910 census instead identifies James’s father as having been born in Ireland.

The 1870 census provides evidence that Nathan King previously used the surname Branham. The 1880 census records Nathan and Melinda King with children Elizabeth, James, and Sarah, aged 18, 15, and 12. Ten years earlier, a Nathan and Melinda Branham appear in the same Georgia county with children Lizzie, James, and Sarah, aged 8, 5, and 3. The matching family details make it highly likely they were the same people.

The 1870 census is particularly important because it was the first federal census to identify formerly enslaved people by name. Before emancipation, enslaved individuals were generally not individually named in federal population records, making reconstruction of African American family histories substantially more difficult.

Nathan King was probably formerly enslaved by the Branham family. The presenter identifies a 65-year-old Jacob Branham in the relevant historical records and suggests he may have been Nathan’s former enslaver. The Branhams were a prominent Georgia family with origins in Ireland.

Jacob Branham may also have been Nathan King’s biological father, although this remains unproven. The presenter notes that enslavers sometimes fathered children with enslaved women and then held those children in slavery. Such a relationship could explain the family's later references to Ireland as its paternal place of origin.

A Y-chromosome DNA test involving one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s sons found Irish ancestry in the family's direct male line. Because this genetic line passes from father to son, the result supports an Irish paternal connection consistent with the Branham hypothesis. It does not independently establish that Jacob Branham was Nathan’s father.

The family's transition from the Branham surname to King remains unexplained. Georgia also had a prominent slaveholding family named King, and formerly enslaved people sometimes adopted surnames associated with former enslavers. The presenter suggests Nathan may have chosen King because Black relatives already used that surname, but this is a possibility rather than a documented explanation.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s maternal ancestry contains a long tradition of Christian ministry. His maternal great-great-grandfather, Willis Williams, was born into slavery but worked as a preacher while enslaved. He continued preaching after obtaining his freedom.

Willis Williams’s son, Adam Daniel Williams, continued the family's religious tradition. He received an education at the institution later known as Morehouse College and became pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta in 1894.

Ebenezer Baptist Church became associated with the National Baptist Convention during Adam Daniel Williams’s leadership. The convention emerged around that period and became the largest historically Black Christian denomination in the United States, according to the presenter.

Adam Daniel Williams transformed Ebenezer Baptist Church into a substantial congregation. Under his leadership, membership increased from a handful of people to nearly 1,000. The church building identified in the presentation was also constructed during his tenure.

Adam Daniel Williams married Jennie Parks, and their only surviving child was Alberta Williams. The presenter notes that he knows of no family connection between Jennie Parks and the civil rights activist Rosa Parks.

Alberta Williams married Michael King, linking the Williams and King ministerial families. Michael was one of ten children born to James King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s paternal grandfather. Michael also attended Morehouse College.

Martin Luther King Jr. and his father were both originally named Michael King. The famous civil rights leader did not receive the name Martin Luther King at birth; his father subsequently changed both their names.

Adam Daniel Williams died in 1931, and his son-in-law Michael King succeeded him as Ebenezer Baptist Church’s pastor. This succession established continuity between the Williams and King generations in the leadership of the Atlanta congregation.

Michael King changed his name after visiting sites associated with Martin Luther in Germany. Several years after becoming pastor, he traveled to Germany and visited places connected to the Protestant Reformer. Inspired by Luther, he adopted the name Martin Luther King and changed his son's name as well.

Martin Luther King Sr. was an important civil rights activist before his son became nationally famous. He opposed Jim Crow segregation laws and worked to end legally enforced racial separation between Black and white Americans.

Martin Luther King Sr. led the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP. His position in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People connected his ministerial leadership with organized efforts to secure civil rights.

Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King had three children. Their children were Christine King, Martin Luther King Jr., and Alfred Daniel King, commonly known as A.D. King.

Christine King pursued an extensive academic career rather than the public activism associated with her brothers. She earned two master's degrees from Columbia University during the 1950s and initially worked as an elementary school teacher.

Christine King subsequently taught at Spelman College for more than 50 years. Spelman is a historically Black women's college in Atlanta. Her long academic career represented another form of public contribution within the King family.

Christine King was identified as the family's oldest living member at the time of the presentation. The presenter reported that she was 95 years old. This age and living-status information reflects the recording rather than an independently established current status.

Christine King's daughter, Dr. Angela Farris Watkins, continued the family's connection to Spelman College. She became a professor at the same institution where her mother had spent much of her career.

A.D. King was an important participant in the Civil Rights Movement despite receiving less attention than his older brother. He generally remained outside the national spotlight but participated in major civil rights campaigns during the 1960s.

A.D. King promoted nonviolent resistance during the Birmingham campaign. His activities helped advance the movement's strategy of confronting racial segregation through organized, peaceful protest.

A.D. King participated in the Selma civil rights movement and was present on Bloody Sunday. He witnessed the events surrounding the violent attack on peaceful Black demonstrators attempting to cross a bridge in Selma, Alabama.

A.D. King survived the bombing of his home during the civil rights struggle. The attack placed his life in danger and demonstrated that political violence threatened other members of the King family, not only Martin Luther King Jr.

A.D. King was present on the day his brother Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. The brothers' shared activism meant A.D. experienced the movement's violence both as a participant and as a member of the immediate family.

A.D. King also became a preacher and graduated from Morehouse College. He followed the educational and religious paths established by his father, his maternal grandfather, and his older brother.

A.D. King succeeded Martin Luther King Jr. as co-pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church following the assassination. The appointment continued the family's multigenerational leadership of the congregation.

Ebenezer Baptist Church eventually became affiliated with the Progressive National Baptist Convention. This denomination separated from the older National Baptist Convention because its founders wanted a stronger emphasis on social justice. The change reflected the growing connection between Black church leadership and civil rights activism.

A.D. King died in 1969, approximately one year after his older brother. He was discovered dead in his swimming pool. Authorities ruled the death accidental, although the presenter notes that some people have continued to question the circumstances.

A.D. King and his wife Naomi had five children. The presenter reported that Naomi was still living and was 91 years old at the time of the recording.

Three of A.D. King's five children died relatively young from heart-related problems. The presenter raises the possibility that they inherited a cardiovascular condition from their father, although no medical evidence establishing that connection is provided.

Dr. Alveda King, a daughter of A.D. King, became one of his most publicly prominent descendants. Her political career differed significantly from the generally progressive political associations of other well-known King family members.

Alveda King served in the Georgia House of Representatives as a Democrat during the 1980s. She subsequently joined the Republican Party and became a vocal supporter of Donald Trump.

Alveda King wrote a book titled The Arab Heart, featuring a Black prince who travels to America to find a wife. The presenter identifies the work as the basis of a later dispute involving the film industry.

Alveda King alleged that her manuscript contributed to the film Coming to America. She claimed she had given the manuscript to Eddie Murphy, who then passed it to Paramount Pictures, where the story was adapted into the film. She pursued legal action but lost the case; her account is presented as an allegation, not an established account of the film's creation.

Coretta Scott King was born in Alabama to Reverend Obadiah Scott and Bernice McMurray. Her family, like her husband's, included an established tradition of religious leadership.

Coretta Scott King's maternal grandfather had Irish, African, and Native American ancestry. According to the presenter, he was half Irish, one-quarter Black, and one-quarter Native American. Despite this ancestry, he was socially classified as Black under the racial conventions of his time.

Coretta Scott King was a talented musician who received a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Her musical education created the circumstances in which she met her future husband.

Coretta met Martin Luther King Jr. in Boston while he was studying at Boston University. Their relationship developed while both were pursuing advanced educational opportunities in the city.

Coretta sacrificed a potential professional music career to marry Martin Luther King Jr. and join his work. Rather than pursuing music as her principal occupation, she became involved in his ministry and the Civil Rights Movement.

Coretta Scott King continued her husband's civil rights work after his assassination. She became a leading public representative of his ideals and helped carry forward his political and moral legacy.

Coretta expanded her advocacy beyond the issues most closely associated with Martin Luther King Jr. She supported women's rights and gay rights alongside the broader struggle for racial equality.

Coretta founded and led the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change. The institution was established to preserve her husband's legacy and advance the principles of nonviolence and social justice associated with his work.

Coretta campaigned successfully for Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday to become a federal holiday. The holiday was first officially observed nationwide in 1986, creating a lasting national commemoration of his life and achievements.

Coretta Scott King also challenged the official account of her husband's assassination. She sought further investigation into responsibility for his death and supported efforts to establish whether additional people or institutions were involved.

James Earl Ray was convicted of Martin Luther King Jr.'s murder following a guilty plea. The conviction formed the basis of the official criminal case, but members of the King family rejected the conclusion that Ray alone was responsible.

The King family believed the assassination involved a broader conspiracy. According to the presenter, relatives considered it possible that Ray had not even been the person who fired the fatal shot.

In 1999, the King family brought a civil case against Lloyd Jowers. Jowers owned a restaurant near the hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and had claimed involvement in a conspiracy surrounding the assassination.

Lloyd Jowers alleged that the assassination conspiracy involved government officials, local police, and organized crime. His account implicated the federal government, local law enforcement, and the Mafia. These claims were central to the alternative explanation pursued by the King family.

The King family won the civil case against Jowers. The verdict supported their civil claim, but it did not establish the alleged conspiracy through a criminal prosecution or overturn James Earl Ray's conviction.

The civil verdict left James Earl Ray's criminal conviction unchanged. Civil proceedings and criminal convictions operate under different legal standards and procedures. Ray had already died in prison in 1998, the year before the civil case.

The presenter interprets the civil verdict as support for government involvement in the assassination. He describes the case as putting forward the idea that the government was involved. However, the verdict does not itself conclusively establish federal responsibility, and the presenter acknowledges that the government continues to deny the allegations.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King had four children. At the time of their father's assassination, the children were approximately 12, 10, 7, and 5 years old, leaving Coretta to raise them while continuing her public work.

Their eldest child, Yolanda King, pursued an acting career. Her professional interests distinguished her from siblings who became more directly involved in civil rights organizations and the administration of their father's legacy.

Yolanda King was a close friend of Attallah Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X. Their friendship connected the next generations of two prominent families associated with different strands of the American struggle for racial equality.

Coretta Scott King died in 2006, and Yolanda King died the following year. Yolanda was 51 years old at her death, approximately one year after losing her mother.

The other three children of Martin and Coretta King are Martin Luther King III, Dexter King, and Bernice King. All three became involved in the administration of the King Center following their mother's death.

Bernice King became president of the King Center. The presenter identifies her as holding that position at the time of the recording, continuing the family's leadership of the institution founded by Coretta Scott King.

Martin Luther King III and Bernice King have participated in the leadership of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The SCLC is the major civil rights organization co-founded by Martin Luther King Jr., providing an institutional connection between his activism and that of his children.

Martin Luther King Jr. had only one grandchild at the time of the presentation. She is the daughter of Martin Luther King III and his wife, Andrea King. The presenter does not identify additional grandchildren.

Christian ministry remained prominent throughout Coretta Scott King's extended family. Her father, Obadiah Scott Sr., was a reverend, and her brother, Obadiah Scott Jr., also entered the ministry.

Coretta's sister Edith married a reverend. This marriage extended the family's connections with Christian ministry beyond those relatives who personally became preachers.

Reverend Vernon King, a son of A.D. King, continued the King family's clerical tradition. His ministry represented another generation following the religious careers of his grandfather, great-grandfather, and other relatives.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s cousin Reverend Toussaint King Hill Sr. was another minister in the extended family. The presenter also identifies his son, King Hill Jr., among the family's religious figures.

Another cousin, Reverend Joel King Jr., was living in Ohio at the time of the presentation. His inclusion illustrates the geographical spread of the family's ministerial connections beyond Atlanta.

Morehouse College was a recurring educational institution across the King and Williams generations. Adam Daniel Williams, Martin Luther King Sr., and A.D. King all attended or graduated from the institution, which helped connect successive generations of family leadership with historically Black higher education.

Ebenezer Baptist Church served as a central institution for three generations of the family. Adam Daniel Williams became pastor in 1894, his son-in-law Martin Luther King Sr. succeeded him in 1931, and Martin Luther King Jr. later served as co-pastor. A.D. King subsequently assumed his brother's co-pastoral position following the 1968 assassination.

The family's civil rights involvement preceded Martin Luther King Jr. and continued after his death. Martin Luther King Sr. challenged segregation through church leadership and the NAACP; Martin Luther King Jr. and A.D. King participated in the movement's major campaigns; Coretta Scott King and their children continued related advocacy through institutions including the King Center and SCLC.

The King family's political outlook was not uniform across generations. Although the family is closely associated with progressive civil rights activism, Alveda King's movement from Democratic officeholding to Republican politics and support for Donald Trump demonstrates a notable ideological divergence within the extended family.

The family's history contains several unresolved questions that the presenter distinguishes from established genealogy. These include Nathan King's precise paternal ancestry, the reason for the Branham-to-King surname change, the circumstances surrounding A.D. King's drowning, and the extent of any conspiracy behind Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. Census evidence, genetic testing, official rulings, family beliefs, and civil litigation provide different kinds of evidence and do not resolve all these questions conclusively.