I noticed that my conference name tag reads, "Christopher Coolidge." Someone inadvertently left off my last name, which is Jeter. Occasionally people assume that since I am related to the President, my last name is Coolidge. This sometimes leads me to feel like I have two identities. I'll say more about this later.

Like some of the prior speakers, I also will issue the disclaimer that I am not a historian. Many people have spent more time than I researching and studying the Coolidge family. Most of my knowledge has come from more informal methods, such as conversations across the dinner table.

I would like to start by first reviewing who the Coolidges are. Let me walk you through my family tree starting with Calvin Coolidge the President. There are a number of Calvins and Johns in the family so it can get a bit confusing. Calvin Coolidge, who's name was initially John Calvin Coolidge, he dropped the John as he got older, had two sons, first John and then Calvin.

As you have heard, Calvin Jr. passed away when he was 16 years old. The older son John, who is my grandfather, is still living. In September he will celebrate his 92d birthday. He married Florence Trumbull in 1929. Florence Trumbull was the daughter of then Connecticut Governor John Trumbull. You can imagine what their wedding must have been like; the President's son marrying a governor's daughter. I have heard there were people who climbed into nearby trees to try to catch a glimpse of the newlyweds. In fact the wedding was held on a Monday, in an attempt to limit some of the crowds. I don't think that attempt was very successful.

John and Florence Coolidge had two daughters, first Cynthia and then Lydia. Note that since they did not have any sons, John Coolidge is the last person in the family to have the Coolidge surname. You heard Lydia speak earlier. She has two children, a daughter Jennifer, and a younger son named John. Jennifer was just married earlier this year. John and Florence's older daughter, Cynthia, married Edward Jeter, and I am their only child. My mother Cynthia, passed away in 1989 after a brief battle with cancer. I have a son, Kyle Coolidge Jeter, who is the beginning of a fourth generation of Coolidges since the President.

Throughout the generations there are a number of common dates that I thought would be of interest to point out. January and July are significant months. Grace Coolidge and I both share the same birthday of January 3d. My son Kyle was born just two hours shy of the 4th. of July, which of course was Calvin Coolidge's birthday. Calvin Jr. died in July. Lydia's two children were born in the month of July. Also, Calvin Coolidge was born in July and died in January, while Grace Coolidge was just the opposite, born in January and passing away in July.

Since I am related to both the Coolidge family and to the Jeter family, I sometimes feel as if I have a dual personality. When in Vermont the emphasis is on Coolidge, while in Connecticut, where I live, the emphasis tends to be on Jeter. People will ask me, " Are you related to...." Often times I start to formulate an answer before they complete the sentence and am sometimes surprised when they do complete the sentence, who they are relating me to. They might be asking if I am related to Calvin Coolidge the President, Ed Jeter my father, or nowadays, Derek Jeter who plays baseball for the Yankees.

I do not call attention to my family connection to President Coolidge. As an example, before I was married, my roommates of two years did not know of my relation to Coolidge until wedding invitations were sent stating my middle name. This is not because I don't want to be associated with Calvin Coolidge, but rather because I want to be known for my own abilities. I think of my grandfather, and what a challenge that must have been for him, to grow up as the son of a President of the United States.

Calvin Jr. also had the same desire to be known for his own abilities. Shortly after his father had become President he received a letter congratulating him on being the first boy in the land. Calvin replied that he had done nothing, and so did not merit the title, which should go to "some boy who had distinguished himself through his own actions."

Let me share with you some of the quirks and similarities that have somehow carried on through the generations, The first of which is that Coolidge's tend to like their privacy. Often in Plymouth the family comes in contact with people who do not realize they are speaking with a Coolidge. Such as when my grandfather was mowing the lawn in front of the Homestead, or when Lydia was working at the Wilder House, a historic house now turned into a restaurant, or when I assisted the tourist guide at the Homestead.

All of us occasionally get asked questions by tourists about the Coolidges and rarely let on to the fact that they are actually speaking to one. My favorite story about this happened years ago, when my grandfather and I were trimming the grass at the cemetery before a July 4th. celebration of President Coolidge's birth. Every year a wreath is sent from The White House in commemoration of his birthday, and there is a brief ceremony at the grave site. A person arrived and looked over the headstones and then started to ask a few questions. Once he was finished, he commented that it must be quite an honor to be the caretakers of a Presidential grave site, to which both my grandfather and I just nodded our heads. At the time I was not sure if my grandfather would let the cat out of the bag. He did not.

Coolidges tend to be conservative when it comes to finances. Like my forefathers, I much prefer to save, rather than spend money. I would like to read a piece from Calvin Coolidge's autobiography where he speaks of his views on waste--comments most likely triggered by the excesses of the roaring twenties:

My fundamental idea of both private and public business came first from my father. He had the strong New England trait of great repugnance at seeing anything wasted. He was a generous and charitable man, but he regarded waste as a moral wrong, Wealth comes from industry, and from the hard experience of human toil. To dissipate it in waste and extravagance is disloyalty to humanity. This is by no means a doctrine of parsimony. Both men and nations should live in accordance with their means and devote their substance not only to productive industry, but to the creation of the various forms of beauty and the pursuit of culture which give adornments to the art of life.

Here are few more similarities between myself and my forefathers. Calvin Coolidge lost his mother when he was 12. 1 lost my mother when I was 22. Calvin Jr. died from blood poisoning at the age of 16. When I was 15, 1 also became ill from blood poisoning. Fortunately for me, penicillin had been discovered. I like Calvin Jr., spent a summer working in the tobacco fields. My parents said it would build character. Let me quote Calvin Jr. on working in the tobacco field after it was announced that his father had become President. When one of his fellow workers stated, "If my father was President I would not work in a tobacco field," young Calvin replied, "If your father were my father, you would."

In closing, I would like to say the things I cherish most from "Growing up a Coolidge" are the strong personality characteristics my forefathers have set for me such as: integrity, honesty, and a solid work ethic. Another benefit of being a Coolidge is the opportunity to spend time in Plymouth, Vermont, a place where natural beauty and tranquillity reign supreme, and where one is surrounded by a deep sense of history and continuity. I hope that many of you will be able to visit Plymouth and see it firsthand.