History of Sorts

Pickaway, Ohio, is a town filled with things named after Hitler: Hitler Road, Hitler-Ludwig Road, Hitler-Ludwig Cemetery, Hitler Park, among others. In most states this would be considered scandalous, but since we’re talking about Ohio it merely rises to a local curiosity of moderate interest. The Circleville Herald reports that this is simply because a prominent local family of Hitlers has deep local roots.

The first Circleville Hitler was George Hitler. Born in 1763 — more than a century before Adolf — George married Susannah Gay in Pennsylvania, and together they had four children.

One of them was George Washington Hitler.

And — just as you thought it couldn’t get better — George Washington Hitler had a son named Gay Hitler.

In 1922, Gay became the local dentist.

Dr. Gay Hitler. That was a real person’s real name.

The only thing funnier than this family tree is the complete nonchalance with…