The genetic legacy of African Americans from Catoctin Furnace.

Science (New York, N.Y.)
Authors
Abstract

Few African Americans have been able to trace family lineages back to ancestors who died before the 1870 United States Census, the first in which all Black people were listed by name. We analyzed 27 individuals from Maryland's Catoctin Furnace African American Cemetery (1774-1850), identifying 41,799 genetic relatives among consenting research participants in 23andMe, Inc.'s genetic database. One of the highest concentrations of close relatives is in Maryland, suggesting that descendants of the Catoctin individuals remain in the area. We find that many of the Catoctin individuals derived African ancestry from the Wolof or Kongo groups and European ancestry from Great Britain and Ireland. This study demonstrates the power of joint analysis of historical DNA and large datasets generated through direct-to-consumer ancestry testing.

Year of Publication
2023
Journal
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Volume
381
Issue
6657
Pages
eade4995
Date Published
08/2023
ISSN
1095-9203
DOI
10.1126/science.ade4995
PubMed ID
37535739
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