Historical DNA Links Colonial Graves to 1.3 Million Living Relatives and May Have Identified the Colony’s Second Governor
Beneath a windswept field at Maryland’s first colonial settlement, archaeologists have spent years trying to piece together who was buried there. Now, researchers say DNA from the site has helped connect several colonial-era individuals to more than 1.3 million living people and may have identified Maryland’s second governor in the process.
The study, published in Current Biology, analyzed DNA from 49 colonists buried at the former settlement. By comparing those genetic traces with living people in the 23andMe database, researchers pieced together family relationships spanning generations and even put names to some of the previously unidentified people buried there.
The DNA evidence also showed where many of them originally came from and where some of their descendants later moved across the U.S, including a documented migration of Maryland Catholics into Kentucky after the American Revolution.
“This work highlights the power of ancient DNA analyses to fill in gaps in the historical record,” said co-senior author David Reich, in a press release. “While written records are extraordinarily rich, genetic data can still address gaps in that record and yield surprises.”
DNA Reveals Family Ties at Maryland’s First Colonial Settlement
Forensic reconstruction of Anne Wolseley Calvert onto her skeletal remains from the 17th century.
(Image Credit: Chip Clark, Smithsonian Institution)
St. Mary’s City was founded in 1634 after English settlers arrived aboard two ships, The Ark and The Dove. The settlement later became Maryland’s first colonial capital and was originally envisioned as a refuge for English Catholics facing persecution in England.
Researchers focused on 49 people buried between 1634 and 1730 in a cemetery known as Chapel Field. DNA extracted from the remains revealed many unexpected family connections within the burial ground itself.
Analysis revealed that one infant buried alongside colonial leader Philip Calvert and his first wife was actually the son of Calvert and his second wife, Jane Sewell.
Researchers also identified several members of the influential Calvert family and uncovered multigenerational family groups.
“Because mortality was so high in the early days of the colony, finding a multigenerational family was a surprise,” said co-author Douglas Owsley in the press release. “It’s a discovery that simply wouldn’t have been possible without genetic study.”
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Tracing Colonial Families Across Early America
The genetic analysis also helped researchers trace the origins of many of the settlers before they arrived in Maryland.
By comparing shared DNA patterns among modern Americans, they found strong ancestral ties to western England, Wales, and parts of Ireland.
The DNA also reflected a later migration historians had already documented: the movement of Maryland Catholics into Kentucky after the American Revolution. Economic hardship and anti-Catholic hostility pushed many families westward between the late 1700s and early 1800s.
“Detecting such a clear genetic signal of this documented historical migration to Kentucky highlights the power of our approach,” said first author Éadaoin Harney in the press release.
Identifying Maryland’s Second Governor
One of the study’s biggest discoveries centered on three related individuals buried in the cemetery whose identities had remained unknown.
To investigate, researchers focused on living people who shared unusually strong genetic links with the remains and invited them to share family history information. After comparing overlapping family trees with historical and archaeological evidence, the team concluded that the most likely identities were Thomas Greene, his wife Anne, and their son Leonard.
Greene served as Maryland’s second colonial governor during the mid-1600s.
“We didn’t go into this study searching for Thomas Greene, but when the genetics team brought this name to me, it was remarkable how well the historical and archaeological records supported this potential identification,” said co-author Henry Miller in the press release.
The team notes that the identification will need additional study to confirm. That being said, the work may represent one of the first times ancient DNA has been used to identify historical figures without researchers already knowing who they were searching for.
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