John Coolidge

John Coolidge was born on September 7, 1906, in Northampton, Massachusetts. He was the first-born son of Calvin Coolidge, who served as the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929, and Grace Anna Goodhue Coolidge, the First Lady during her husband's presidency. Coolidge was the elder of two children; his younger brother, Calvin Jr., died on July 7, 1924, due to blood poisoning from a blister on his foot.

Educational background of John Coolidge includes attendance at Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1924. He subsequently enrolled at Amherst College, his father's alma mater.

Professionally, John Coolidge was involved as an executive with the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. He also served as president of the Connecticut Manifold Forms Company until 1960. Afterward, he reopened the Plymouth Cheese Corporation located in Plymouth, Vermont, within a historic village setting. In addition, he contributed to the establishment of the Coolidge Foundation and played a significant role in the creation of the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site through donations of buildings, land, and artifacts.

Throughout his later years, Coolidge was observed frequently visiting the historic site near his home, engaging with visitors and sharing insights about his family and his father. Reports describe him as an approachable individual who continued to answer questions and occasionally granted interviews related to his family's history.

John Coolidge married Florence Trumbull on September 23, 1929, in Plainville, Connecticut. Florence was born on November 30, 1904, in Plainville, Connecticut, and was the daughter of Connecticut governor John H. Trumbull and Maud Pierce Usher. The couple had two daughters: Cynthia Coolidge Jeter, born October 28, 1933, and Lydia Coolidge Sayles, born August 14, 1939.

Florence Coolidge died on February 15, 1998, at Plymouth Notch, Vermont. John Coolidge died on May 31, 2000, in Lebanon, Grafton County, New Hampshire. He was interred alongside his wife, parents, brother, and other ancestors at the Plymouth Notch Cemetery in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont.

His family lineage has deep roots in New England. An ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, England, around 1630, settling in Watertown, Massachusetts. Through multiple generations, the family lineage extends back to Edmund Rice, an early settler of Watertown arriving in 1638. On his maternal side, Coolidge was descended from Richard Warren, a passenger on the Mayflower who arrived at Plymouth Colony in November 1620 and was a signer of the Mayflower Compact.

John Coolidge's familial genealogy also traces back through notable Massachusetts families, including connections to several early American settlers and figures significant to Plymouth Colony history.

References for further information include Calvin Coolidge's autobiography titled "The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge" published in 1929, and Ruth Tenzer Feldman's "Calvin Coolidge Presidential Leaders," published in 2006. Official sites include the National Park Service's page on the Coolidge Homestead and the official website for the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site.