Clarification: The Town of Greenwich is taking steps to acquire three abandoned cemeteries, including The Byram African-American Cemetery. My family and I have every reason to believe that the town will do right by the descendants of every single individual who is buried in this cemetery to make sure that this cemetery is maintained as a sacred historical site. Our issue is not with them. I should make that clear.
As descendants of Lyon slaves and slave owners, our position is that any change to The Byram African-American Cemetery was and is a desecration to the cemetery and to the memory of everyone buried there. The Lyon Family specifically created this cemetery as a finally resting place for their slaves as well as free blacks, who were most likely their former slaves, so it is also disrespectful to the memory and original intentions of the Lyon Family who are buried above the Byram African-American Cemetery. There should be no expectations of neutrality on this issue from the descendants of the Green/Merritt family. None whatsoever.
What Do You Say to Your Ancestors When You Find Out That Their Burial Ground Was Desecrated by Greed?
The Byram African-American Cemetery in 2016
It’s August 30th, 2016 at 3:20 am in the morning and I can’t sleep. I can’t sleep because my heart is heavy, my mind is unsettled, and I can hear my ancestors calling out for justice. Almost a year ago, I was able to break through an over decade genealogical brick wall on my maternal Green/Merritt line. I finally located my third and fourth great-grandparents and learned their names. I called their names out loud and clear —Peg, Anthony, Allen and Mary. I was so loud that I brought them all back to life, figuratively speaking, so that now they could officially be remembered. I went even further and took the time to learn all about them. This led me to blog about my proud Green and Merritt ancestors from Greenwich, CT. They were among my first slave ancestors, both Native – and African-American, who walked the path towards emancipation and onward to freedom—- heads, no doubt, held high.
The Byram African-American Cemetery in 2009
I am the daughter of Joyce Greene Vega, the granddaughter of Richard W. Greene, Jr., the great-granddaughter of Richard W. Green, Sr., the great-great granddaughter of George E. Green, the great-great-great granddaughter of Allen and Mary Green, and the great-great-great-great granddaughter of Anthony and Peg Green. Hear me now, the Greens ARE from Greenwich, CT and they were Native and African descent with some European thrown in the mix. Our family history in Greenwich spans over 250 years. Greenwich certainly can be called our hometown. My ancestors were a part of Greenwich before most of the people living there now ever called Greenwich their home. Historical facts matter and my ancestors’, and the other Native-African lives buried in the Byram African-American Cemetery, mattered …even in death.
Just because my earliest ancestors were born Lyon slaves does not mean their lives were not valid. Just because the cemetery that they were buried in had no tombstones or grave markers does not mean someone had the right to disturb their graves. That ground was hallowed ground. Did they even consider that there were people who were buried there? Did they not know that their descendants were still around waiting until God saw fit to reunite their family? Did they not know that all cemeteries are sacred spaces? Did they not know that to mess with the dead is to invite The Unwanted? Did they think we wouldn’t notice that our ancestor’s remains and other remains were disturbed? Did they think that a plaque on a tree honoring The Byram African-American Cemetery would make up for their wanton destruction of the cemetery? Or, was the value of prime waterfront real estate just too good to pass up that parts of the oldest Native- and African-American cemetery in Greenwich had to be destroyed and remains desecrated? My inquiring mind would like to know. My ancestors buried there would also like to know.
Waterfront Views
I can still hear my ancestors calling me at 4:30 am and I just answered them back. It was only appropriate that I did so as I was taught to respect my elders…even in death. I told them not to worry even though truthfully I don’t know how to comfort the restless dead. I can only pray for their spirits to find peace. But, I was able to tell them that, as long as their descendants are still living, we will have their backs. We will be their unified voice to articulate their pain, loud and clear, with our heads held high…just like they showed us when they walked towards freedom.
[Please note the updates to this blogpost found here.]
Reflections On When Yauco Came Calling: May the Circle Be Unbroken
Over a year ago, I wrote a blogpost about Juan Eusebio Bonilla Salcedo, my 2nd great grandfather. I dedicated that post to my father, Antonio Vega Noboa, and my cousin Madeline Castanon Quiles and her family, the extended Bonilla Quiles family. Little did I know, that almost 15 months later, I would have the unexpected opportunity to travel to Puerto Rico to film an AncestryDNA commercial to be shown only on TNT. Thanks to Nicka Smith, who gave me the name of a TNT contact of hers, I was able to travel to Yauco, Puerto Rico, on my dad’s birthday, meet my Bonilla Quiles cousins, and join with them in a circle, with all his descendants gathered in spirit, to pay homage to our ancestor, Juan Eusebio Bonilla Salcedo. On the evening of March 18th, we honored our bisabuelo/tatarabuelo, Juan Eusebio, the way he deserved to be. May the circle we made be unbroken, may HIS story be known and may we forever be connected to him ….
Me and MaddyYauco, Puerto Rico
Me in Puerto Rico
Bringing Darkness Into Light: Recovering Our Family History
Almost two years ago, I met my 3rd cousin Madeline Castanon Quiles. She was the AncestryDNA hint that led me to discovering our great great grandfather, Juan Eusebio Bonilla Salcedo. When I first spoke with Maddy over the phone, she told me about his assassination and, when I googled his name, there were only two references to him. One was an urban legend and one was a book reference. Maddy had grown up hearing family oral history about his death, but lacked any concrete account of his death. The day after speaking with Maddy, I went to the New York Public Library to read the book, Asesinato Politico. It was only a 50 page book that was written by the son of Juan Eusebio’s best friend, Venancio Gutierrez. Between the pages of this short book, I learned the reason why Juan Eusebio was beaten, shot in the head, lynched from a Guasima tree, gutted, his penis put in his mouth, his testicles in his pant pockets. He was then cut down from the tree, placed on the stairs leading to the cemetery behind the church, and set on fire. That is where the people of Yauco found his body smoking and wreaking of gas. Tears, tears, tears…. How many times can you kill a man?
Honoring Juan Eusebio Bonilla Salcedo
As the great great granddaughter of Juan Eusebio that was a lot to process to say the least. I grew up with my maternal great-grandmother so a great great grandfather seemed very close to me. I went from doing a happy dance because I found his maternal surname to utter despair. To learn that he was assassinated in such an “overkill” way just because he was a member of the Puerto Rican Autonomous Party, was of Taino descent, had chosen to speak out against the abuses of the Spanish Civil Guard, and had spoken up for the rights of the Boricua people, was an eye-opener for me. It was between the pages of this short book that I found out that I descended from a true Boricua hero. However, he had been left to languish in historical oblivion. That is when I decided that I had to pay homage to him by telling his story in a blogpost. I felt a real need to bring what happened to him back to life—even if it was after 125 years. There is no time limit on bearing witness to the atrocities that were committed against him. I just couldn’t have my great great grandfather be a backdrop to an urban legend or hidden behind the covers of a book. I truly believe that, as descendants of ordinary people who have done extraordinary things, we owe it to our ancestors to remember them as they were. If we don’t, who will? We are because they were. I am because he was.
The story of what happened to Juan Eusebio was never meant to be told. I know because Asesinato Politicotells us that the Spanish Civil Guard threatened the people of Yauco if they said anything about how he died and if they mentioned that the Civil Guard was involved. But, the book also tells us that the people of Yauco, at great personal costs, still testified as to what happened to Juan Eusebio nonetheless. They did this because they knew what a good man he was and that the spectacular way in which he was found was a message directed at them. Throughout this book, Juan Eusebio is described as un hijo del pueblo, valiant, humble, dignified, religious, honorable, had a character above reproach, was a true gentleman, etc. After his death, he was remembered in songs and in poems. We were lucky to have found the book Asesinato Politicoas it is the closest thing my family has to a first person account for it was told by the son of his best friend. It told me everything we needed to know about what happened to Juan Eusebio. My family is blessed to even have such a resource despite the subject matter. And thus darkness was thus brought to light.
Juan Pio Bonilla Avallanet, Son of Juan Eusebio Bonilla Salcedo
God’s Amazing Grace
As I was on the plane traveling to Puerto Rico, I realized that, although I am Antonio Vega Noboa’s daughter, I am just as equally Joyce Green’s daughter. I may not have been raised Catholic, but I was raised Christian—Baptist actually. I am still that girl who grew up going to Messiah Baptist Church, 80 Legion Parkway, Brockton, MA— the church of my mother, maternal grandparents, and maternal great grandfather. I never knew if my father had religion, but, rest assured, I know my mama and her family did. I grew up learning about what faith is. I grew up singing the old gospel songs “We’ve Come This Far By Faith, Leaning on the Lord”, “Going Up, Yonder,”and “Never Alone.” I will forever be Rice & Beans & Collard Greens.
One of the things that I learned from the book was just how religious Juan Eusebio was and what great faith he had. The God in him definitely spoke to me. The book tells us that Juan Eusebio was imprisoned for three years during the El Componte Era, an era when the Spanish colonial government rounded up members of the Puerto Rican Automomous Party, jailed, and tortured them. He was jailed from 1887-1890. Once he got out, he wrote to the man who tortured him and challenged him to a duel now that he was free— because he believed in an honor code among gentlemen. I am sure he relied on his faith to get him through those horrible three years and after.
The night before his assassination he was at church attending a baptism for one of the neighborhood children. That same night, his friends gathered and warned him not to go to the duel he had set up because they knew he might not return. Juan Eusebio had such an unshakable amount of faith that he left his best friend Venancio Guitierrez with an account of all the torture he had withstood in jail as well as the info about how his duel was set up. There is no doubt in my mind, and never will be, that my great great grandfather KNEW what may happen to him and was prepared to die. He clearly wanted his friend to bear witness so he left him with evidence just in case—evidence that was “lost” after being turned over to the powers that be when the investigation into his death was launched. He was prepared to die and was not afraid. Psalms 23 states, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me, thy rod and they staff they comfort me.” Juan Eusebio had no fear for he walked with God EVERY step of the way.
The devil’s minions wanted the people of Yauco to have the image of Juan Eusebio’s body lying down, smoking and wreaking of gas on the steps leading to the cemetery forever seared in their memories. It’s an alarming image to have indeed. But, I know that the only image that I will have is the image that wasn’t seen. It’s the image that God’s amazing grace provided. The image of the doors of Heaven opening up and the angels coming down to carry Juan Eusebio’s spirit home to meet the God he served so well. Amen! Amen! Amen!
The Making of a Libation Ceremony
I knew when I was going to Yauco that I wanted to remember Juan Eusebio with his other descendants, my Bonilla Quiles cousins, and that I wanted to have a libation ceremony in his honor. A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid in memory of a person. Prior to this, I had never done a libation ceremony. I reached out to my cousin Luis Sanakori Ramos, whom I lovingly refer to as my “cousin preacher Taino teacher.” Luis is a Taino shaman and educator. I thank God for his presence in my life because he is the resource I go for all things Taino. When I told him that I wanted to do a libation ceremony, part of which was to celebrate Juan Eusebio’s Taino ancestry, he told me what I needed to have with me. My cousin Theresa Delgado-Tossas, when she heard that I was going to do a libation ceremony, she said she wanted to take part in the ceremony. Unbeknownst to me, she had also contacted Luis, her cousin as well, and learned the Taino welcoming song, got the items that were to be used in the ceremony, and took it upon herself to make sure things were done correctly.
Theresa and her husband Ralph, will forever be known to me as the first Puerto Rican cousins that I met in Puerto Rico and who were also instrumental in making Juan Eusebio’s honoring ceremony happen. I will never forget the songs that Theresa sang during the ceremony. She has a voice of an angel for sure. My cousin Ralph also stepped up and translated when I was speaking and I am equally grateful to him as well.
Theresa, Me, and Ralph at the airport upon arrival
Me and Luis Sanakori Ramos
When I was off shooting scenes for the AncestryDNA commercial in Guanica, Theresa and Ralph went down to the ocean and gathered up the sacred water that was used in the ceremony. Guanica is a beautiful place. Since Luis has roots in Yauco and Guanica, we brought him gifts back from the ocean as well as the mountains of Yauco. He was with us in spirit guiding us along.
Guanica, PR
Libation water from GuanicaTheresa and I sent a photo to Luis letting him know that we obtained the sacred water from Guanica. Bottled water wouldn’t do!
On the second day of filming we went up to Susua Alta, Yauco, the place where my paternal grandfather’s family resided for centuries. My Vega, Bonilla, Rodriguez, Gonzalez, Toro/Del Toro Del Rosario/Rosario, and Bracero lines are all from Susua Alta and Yauco. I truly felt their spirit and I am proud to have roots that are jíbaro puro.
Susua Alta
Susua Alta
Susua Alta, Yauco
My first time in Susua Alta, Yauco
What a great feeling it was to walk where my Boricua ancestors lived for thousands of years. Yauco is the birthplace of the great Taino cacique, Agueybana. In between filming, I looked around and found some stones to bring back with me.
Agueybana, the great Taino chief
On Friday afternoon on March 18th, 2016, the descendants of Juan Eusebio, in person and in spirit, gathered together. I will forever remember the day I first met my Bonilla Quiles cousins. The TNT film crew had been filming me walking up to Tia Lucy’s home over and over again to get the perfect shot. With each take, the tears flowed. Here I was getting ready to meet my cousins FINALLY!
Theresa catching me in the moment
I will NEVER forget the moment when I walked into her home. My cousins — Tia Lucy and her husband Tio Pedro, Tio Becco and his wife Tia Nilsa, and my cousins Ivonne and her son Javier—were clapping and singing in Spanish, “Welcome to the family, Teresa” over and over again. We then gathered in a circle and got to know each other. Over lunch, I shared photos of my parents, my siblings, nieces and nephews. An extended family was reunited. And as God and the ancestors willed it, so it was.
Me and Tia Lucy
Me, Tia Nilsa, Tio Becco, and Tia Lucy
Me and Tia LucyTio Pedro, me, and Tia Lucy
Ivonne, Tio Pedro, and Me
Ivonne, Tio Pedro, Tia Lucy, and Me
Tia Nilsa, Tio Becco and Ivonne
Me and Tia Nilsa
Me and Tio Becco
Tia Lucy and MeTio Pedro and Tia Lucy
Me and Ivonne
Me and Javier
Family Portrait
Acknowledging Family Facts and Truths
A Sunset Gathering
Getting ready to honor our bisabuelo/tartarabuelo
At sunset, after filming was finished at La Guardarrayarestaurant, we gathered in a circle again, on the grass off to the side of a parking lot, to begin the ceremony. This was the highlight of my trip. I began by stating that we, as descendants of Juan Eusebio, needed to acknowledge certain facts as truths. Speaking from the center of the circle, I acknowledged the following and the others nodded in agreement:
That the blood Juan Eusebio shed in 1890 is the blood that we still have and it was this blood (via a DNA test) that reunited us here today.
That, while we stand here in person, we also represent all the descendants of Juan Eusebio who couldn’t be here today in spirit.
That the book Asesinato Politico must be included in our family history because this book is the closest thing we have to the truth for it was written by Juan Eusebio’s best friend’s son. It is between the pages of this book that we learn about who our bisabuelo/tatarabuelo was. That he was a humble man, valiant, dignified, religious, above reproach, etc.
That Juan Eusebio was a good Christian. That he had a remarkable faith in God. That it was his faith in God that caused him to fear no evil. Blessed be the name of the Lord. How great thou art!
That our Bonilla line is our Taino line.
That we are here in Yauco today honoring Juan Eusebio, un hijo del pueblo.
That Yauco is, and will always be, the birthplace of the great Taino cacique, Aguebana, and our ancestral homeland.
Our book of TRUTH
After I acknowledged all of the above, I returned to my spot in the circle of descendants. Ralph then played a song using a Peruvian pan flute and Tunisian tarbuka drum. After which, Theresa sang the Taino welcoming song for the Cemi, the Taino ancestral spirits. While she sang, I returned to the center of the circle and greeted the Cemi in all directions and offered up tobacco to them. This is the way Luis instructed us.
Theresa sang as Ralph played the Tarbuka drum
The video clip below is the full Taino welcoming song as sung by our cousin Luis Sanakori Ramos.
After Theresa finished welcoming our Taino ancestral spirits, I again stood in the center of the circle and gave thanks to Juan Eusebio in this manner.
Thank you, Juan Eusebio, for the blood you spilled in 1890 for it is the blood that still flows through our veins and the blood that was instrumental in reuniting your descendants today.
Thank you for showing us how to be a good Christian. By your example, you showed us how to walk with God and fear no evil. Your faith in God was remarkable and we know that you earned your wings to fly. Blessed are the pure at heart, for they shall see God. May you always enjoy being in the presence of God.
Thank you for speaking up for the social, political, and economic rights of the Boricua people despite paying the ultimate cost. We are forever indebted to you and other Puerto Rican freedom fighters for having the courage to speak truth to power.
Thank you, Juan Eusebio, for being our Puerto Rican patriot.
Thank you for leaving us with the blood of the Taino …blood that will never be exterminated as long as we are here. It was because of you that we are, that our children will be also.
Thank you for having been born in Yauco, the birthplace of the Taino and our ancestral homeland.
With that, I returned to the outer circle and we had a moment of silence in his honor.
We then began the libation ceremony. We only recorded part of it. I began by pouring water inside the circle we made. I also decided to pour water outside our circle to signify that, as we honor the memory of Juan Eusebio, that we also recognize how we, his descendants, have been reunited and are now bound to each other. We may not have grown up with each other, but we can now grow old with each other knowing who brought us together. Theresa then sang Amazing Grace as a tribute to his Catholic faith.
After Theresa sang Amazing Grace, she started the Taino ceremony in honor of Juan Eusebio. We first called out and acknowledged the Cemi Makatarie Guayaba, the Lord of the Underworld, to pay our respects. She then dug three holes in the ground and buried guava. Guava (guayaba) is the food fed to the departed. In this case, we buried guava in honor of Juan Eusebio. Theresa then placed tobacco over the holes and lit the tobacco on fire. The smoke from the tobacco is the vehicle that allows the message to be sent to the ancestors. As the tobacco was lit, we called his name. Juan Eusebio, Juan Eusebio, Juan Eusebio….
We then hug each other and said goodbye for now…..
But There Are No More True Goodbyes, Only Hellos….
Pedro, Me, and Kelly at the airport upon my departure
When I got back to Ponce later that night, I couldn’t stop crying tears of joy . Gratitude was all I felt. What was seemingly lost was found.
I took my first DNA test three years ago. I will always tell people that the greatest thing ever was finding my Puerto Rican side of the family. To go from knowing only my dad to having cousins in the thousands was beyond anything I ever imagined. To have lived in NYC for over 20 years thinking the I had no relatives here to now being able to hang out with my NYC cousin crew all the time is awesome. That some of my NYC cousins live only blocks from me makes it sweeter. Now, I have connected with my PR cousins in Puerto Rico— cousins who will welcome me back with open arms. My Boricua branches continue to expand each day.
When I left Puerto Rico, my cousins Pedro and Kelly sent me off. Meeting Pedro and Kelly completed my visit. We shared a quick visit and I showed them part of the libation ceremony as well as family photos. I also learned that Kelly may also be related to me twice— such is Puerto Rican endogamy. There will never be any goodbyes, only hellos until we meet next time. Because of all my cousins, I was able to come home….finally.
Kelly and Pedro watching the libation ceremony
May the circle be unbroken!
PS: Before I left, my cousin Emma told me that the Guasima tree was a healing tree, a medicinal plant. She said my visit would be a healing visit. Emma, you were right. My soul has been healed.
This blog post is dedicated to my M23 Malagasy ancestors who survived the Middle Passage and made it to New York and New Jersey. This is Part I of a two part series and is focused on my family’s Malagasy ancestry. My next blog post will discuss how my ancestors arrived in New York based on the actions of unscrupulous NY merchants and pirates.
Map of Indian Ocean Countries
About Madagascar and DNA
Over the past decade, there have been numerous studies done that describe the origins of the Malagasy, the people of Madagascar. For example, in 2005, Hurles et al.discussed the dual origins of the Malasy people as being Southeast Asian and East African. His study was followed by one done in 2009 by Sergio Tofanelli et al. In this article, they wrote:
“Our results confirm that admixture of Malagasy was due to the encounter of people surfing the extreme edges of two of the broadest historical waves of language expansion: the Austronesian and Bantu expansions. In fact, all Madagascan living groups show amixture of uni-parental lineages typical present in African and Southeast Asian populations with only a minor contribution of Y lineages with different origins. Two observations suggest that the the Y lineages with “another origin” entered the island in recent times: 1) they are particularly frequent in the Tanosy area (Fort Dauphin), and around Antananarivo, where commercial networks and the slave trade had a focus; 2) they matched with haplogroups typical of present Indo-European (Europeans) and Arabic speaking (Somali) people.”
In addition, a 2012 study by Cox, et al.noted that most Malagasy people can trace their mtDNA back to 30 Indonesian women who made up the founding population of Madagascar. Given the fact that Southeast Asian Y-DNA was also found among the Malagasy, it is assumed that there were also some Indonesian men among this group of women. These women went on to have children with the Indonesian men present as well as men from Africa. Later migrations from Africa also included Southeast African Bantu mtDNA haplogroups from north of the Zambezi River. In 2013, Melanie Capredon et al.also discussed the Arab-Islamic contribution to the Malagasy gene pool as a result of Indian Ocean slave trade.
Austronesian Expansion
Bantu Expansion
North of the Zambezi River is where SE Bantu mtDNA originates
In addition to the Indonesian and African genetic links found among the Malagasy, there are also linguistic and cultural links to these regions as well. 90% of Malagasy vocabulary come from Maanyan, a language spoken in the Baritone River region of southern Borneo. The other 10% comes from the vocabulary of the Bantu, Malay, South Sulawesian, Javanese, and Sanskrit. Tofanelli et al. also raised the possibility that Indonesians may have reached East Africa and were admixed before their arrival in Madagascar probably around 2,300 years ago This initial mainland contact could explain the occurrence of banana cultivation (Asian Musa spp. phytolits) in southern Cameroon and Uganda before 500 BCE; the introduction of Bos indicus, a cattle of Southeast Asian origin, into East Africa from Asia; and the excavation of chicken bones, originating in Southeast Asia, from Neolithic limestone cave site at Zanzibar. They write, “This Malagasy admixture could have had a history in East Africa before it crossed the Mozambique Channel, even though genetic signatures of these first mainland contacts are still missing (2009:21).”
Madagascar and the Slave Trade and After
Madagascar was part of both the global trade in slaves in both the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. The Indian Ocean slave trade existed before European colonization and even before the emergence of Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries. It saw Malagasy slaves taken to the Mascarene Islands, the Seychelles, Comoros Islands, East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Persian Gulf, and India. The European-driven Indo-Atlantic slave trade began in the 16th century. The Portuguese, Dutch , French, British and Americans brought Malagasy slaves to the shores of South Africa, St. Helena’s Island, Brazil and other South American countries, the Caribbean, especially Jamaica and Barbados, and North America. It should be noted that both slave trades were facilitated in part by different Malagasy ethnic groups who engaged in the selling of slaves to outsiders in exchange for arms and material goods. As a result of both slave trades— and later as free immigrants— Malagasy DNA spread around the globe.
On Finding Our Malagasy mtDNA
Over two years ago, my cousin Andrea and I decided to take the 23andme DNA test. We were desperate to find more information about our Thompson family history and felt that a DNA test would provide us with more clues. I knew beforehand that my mtDNA was European as my maternal 2nd great-grandmother was a first generation Irish-American. However, Andrea and I were excited to see what her mtDNA would be because she was a matrilineal descendant of our shared 2nd great-grandmother, Laura Thompson Green, while I was not. Well, imagine our surprise when her mtDNA came back M23, a haplogroup that is only found in Madagascar. We were shocked as this was totally unexpected. It seems that our Malagasy ancestors came to the New York City/New Jersey area between 1678-98 or 1716-21. The knowledge that our 2nd great-grandmother had matrilineal ancestry that traced back to Madagascar necessitated that we do further research. Several questions came to mind. Did our Malagasy ancestry still show up in our genes? When did our Malagasy ancestors arrive in the States, specifically NY/NJ? Why did slave traders go to Madagascar to procure slaves?
Our Malagasy Roots and DNA Admixture
We can trace our Malagasy ancestry back to our 5th great-grandmother, Jane Pickett, who was born a slave in NJ or NY around 1775. Her daughter was Tun, also a slave born around 1790 in Tappan, NY, according to a 1860 census record, though she may have also been born in NJ. Both Jane and Tun were born slaves and eventually worked as house servants in their later years. Tun had a daughter named Susan Pickett, our third great-grandmother, who was born in Morris County, NJ in 1809. Susan was born under The Gradual Emancipation Actand thus had to serve her master for 21 years. We don’t know who her father was, but Susan is listed as being “mulatto.” Once freed, Susan married our third great-grandfather, Cato Thompson. Susan and Cato had six children.
Our M23 2nd great-grandmother, Laura Thompson Green
Their children were Richard, Thomas, Jacob, Laura, Mary, and Catherine. My three maternal siblings, my aunt Helen, my first cousin, and I are the descendants of Laura’s son Richard. Andrea, her mother Mildred, uncle Robert, brother, and daughter are the descendants of Laura’s daughter Goldie. My cousin Yvonne and her grandson are the descendants of Laura’s son Stewart. My cousin Helen is a descendant of Laura’s sister Mary and my cousin Lillian is a descendant of Laura’s sister Catherine.
As of today, we have had 15 descendants of Susan Pickett DNA tested, of whom six have mtDNA M23. Having so many relatives DNA tested allows us to see how Malagasy ancestry is passed down generationally. According to 23andme, all of us have ethnic admixture, in varying amounts, from Southeast Asia, Central and South Africa, and/or East Africa, South Asia and Oceania. Those cousins who are matrilineal descendants of our shared M23 ancestors do show higher amounts in these admixture areas. While I don’t think any DNA test can tell you with 100% certainty what your admixture is, I do believe that they can provide clues about your ethnicity especially when combined with knowledge of local and family history.
Please note that I have previously blogged about my own admixture tests. In this blog post I will be mainly discussing my relatives’ admixture results.
Here are the 23andme Ancestry Composition results of my cousins Helen, Mildred, and Robert. You can clearly see the indicators of Malagasy ancestry.
Helen’s Ancestry Composition
Mildred’s Ancestry Composition
Robert’s Ancestry Composition
As a comparison, here are the Ancestry Compositions for my aunt Helen and cousin Lillian. As you can see, their admixture is from the same areas, but in lesser amounts.
My aunt Helen’s Ancestry Composition
Lillian’s Ancestry Composition
A look at the X chromosomes of Mildred, Robert, Lillian and Helen also show how our Southeast Asian ancestry (in yellow) has been passed down from our Malagasy ancestors. All four are the descendants of all three of Susan Pickett’s daughters—Laura (Mildred and Robert), Mary (Helen), and Catherine (Lillian).
X Chromosomes for Mildred, Robert, Helen and Lillian
In addition to testing at 23andme, my cousins Mildred and Andrea, aunt Helen, and sister Elisa also had a DNA Tribes SNP Analysis done in 2013. Again, the Malagasy indicators tend to be Southeast Asia, Central and South Africa, and/or East Africa, South Asia and Oceania. Please note that Bantu, Pedi, and Nguni are all Bantu-speaking groups that were part of the Bantu expansion.
Here are their Native Populations Admixture Analysis from DNA Tribes:
Mildred’s DNA Tribe SNP Analysis
Andrea’s DNA Tribes SNP Analysis
My aunt Helen’s DNA Tribes SNP Analysis
My sister Elisa’s DNA Tribes Analysis
In 2014, I had my DNA Tribes SNP Analysis done again after they instituted their regional clusters. Here are my results as a Malagasy non-matrilineal descendant:
My 2014 DNA Tribes SNP Analysis
On chromosome 20, you can see how our Malagasy DNA, represented by our Southeast Asian admixture in yellow, has been inherited by the same ancestor.
On Chromosome 20, we share the same ancestor who had Malagasy DNA
A Word About Our Malagasy vs. Native American Ancestry
My family’s Malagasy (M23) ancestry is separate from our Native American ancestry. I make note of this because there have been claims made that haplogroup M was found in North America, and thus was Native American, based on a 2007 articlethat has since been debunked. I have written two prior blog posts on M23 and other M subclade haplogroups that mention how I disagree with this assessment and provide comments from well-known genetic genealogists and mtDNA experts about the M haplogroup. In the chromosomal view below, you can see how the Southeast Asian admixture (in yellow) is separate from our Native American admixture (in orange).
Mildred’s AC Chromosome View
My sister Maria’s AC Chromosome View
Yvonne’s AC Chromosome View
My brother Michael’s AC Chromosome View
As it relates to my discussion of my family’s Malagasy ancestry in my next blog post, Esther J. Lee et al. note in their article “MtDNA Origins of an Enslaved Labor Force From the 18th century Schuyler Flatts Burial Ground in Colonial Albany, NY: Africans, Native Americans, and Malagasy?,” “individuals identified as haplogroup M7 and M resemble lineages found in Madagascar. Historical documents suggest several hundred people were imported from Madagascar through illegal trading to New York by the end of the 17th century. ” Though Lee had access to the now debunked 2007 article, she rightly acknowledges that the M7 haplogroup is found in East Asia, Southeast Asia and Madagascar. It is so important, as the Lee article shows, to look at local historical events to see how individuals with M haplogroups may have arrived in the Americas via the slave trade and who are NOT Native American.
I should also note that African-Americans, with the help of DNA tests, are now discovering their Malagasy ancestry. For example, my 98-year old cousin Helen has 5 DNA cousin matches with Malagasy ancestry from Madagascar, South Africa, and France on her 23andme DNA Relatives List and many of my family members have DNA cousins with known Malagasy haplogroups. Likewise, my friend Melvin Collier has written an excellent blog postonfinding and confirming his Malagasy ancestry via a Malagasy DNA cousin. As a result of these Malagasy ancestral discoveries, there is a now a Malagasy Roots Project at FTDNAthat seeks to connect African-Americans with their Malagasy DNA cousins.
Using Gedmatch Admixture Calculators to Detect Malagasy Ancestry
I have been asked repeatedly how one can tell if they have Malagasy ancestry in the absence of a known Malagasy mtDNA or Y-DNA. One of the ways is to take an autosomal DNA test from any of the three major testing companies — 23andme (highly recommended as you also get your haplogroups), AncestryDNA, or FTDNA Autosomal Family Finder— and then upload the results to Gedmatch, a free site, where you can run additional admixture calculators.
Based on my family’s known Malagasy ancestry, I feel confident enough to state that Malagasy indicators are Southeast Asia, Central and South Africa, and/or East Africa, South Asia and Oceania. It is crucial to realize that it is a combination of all these admixtures that may indicate Malagasy ancestry. Just having Southeast Asian, South African, East African ancestry or any one individual admixture is not enough to indicate Malagasy ancestry. I would also mention that one should research the local history/area where your ancestors resided. Slaves from Madagascar were known to have been imported into Boston, New York/NJ, and Virginia. However, there were many Malagasy slaves who may have arrived in the States via the Caribbean, Brazil, Europe, India, as well as a host of other countries. Many Malagasy also came to this country as free immigrants. In essence, you need to really do your research.
Some additional things to do would be to also have other relatives tested to confirm your Malagasy ancestry as well as to check your Gedmatch One-To-Many list to see if your DNA cousins have a Malagasy haplogroup.
Below are some of Gedmatch admixture calculators that I use to detect indicators of Malagasy ancestry. I am going to use my mother Joyce as an example because you can easily see her Malagasy admixture indicators. Plus, I think it is really cool to use a Gedmatch Lazarus recreated genome based on her four children, sister, niece and a host of 2nd and 3rd cousins. For the record, I use the following Gedmatch admixture calculators: MDLP-World 22, MDLP-K23b, Dodecad v3, Dodecad World9, Dodecad Africa9 (to detect South African and East African ancestry), Eurogenes K13, Eurogenes K36, and HarappaWorld. Most of these calculators detect Southeast, Oceanian, Austronesian, South Asian, Melanesian/Polynesian, Papuan, Malayan, South African, and East African admixture.
Disclaimer: Please note that the list below has some of the haplogroups found in Madagascar that come from several scientific studies (see references below). The nomenclature of these haplogroups may have changed since the articles were written. Also, if you have taken a 23andme test, their v4 chip may not give a definitive haplogroup assignment. For example, I am H1 on 23andme since I tested with their v3 chip, however, my siblings are just H since they tested with the v4 chip. Likewise, some folks who are B4a1a1b may show up as only B4a1a1 on 23andme. Note these haplogroups can be found in other places as well. There are only two haplogroups that I know for sure that are found only in Madagascar and they are M23 and B4a1a1a haplogroup subclades. I am by no means an expert on mtDNA or Y-DNA, but I think this list is valuable to those seeking more answers on their Malagasy ancestry.
Update on 1/12/2015: I am again responding to a new blog post written by Robert Estes on 1/5/2015. Her post Anzick Matching Update is her admission that she used an old Gedmatch kit number for her Clovis Anzick research protocol. In this post, she again reiterates her methodology as well as her justification for including the M haplogroup on her list all the while ignoring the facts. The facts are below. She has also failed to answer any of my questions so I have also listed them below.
1) It is unwise to compare mtDNA haplogroup assignments to autosomal DNA. The main reason is that we are talking about two different types of DNA. Extrapolating mtDNA info from living people who have multiple ethnic admixtures and then comparing to an ancient Native American sample is seriously flawed. One can, in fact, match an ancient Native American, like Clovis, and have a non-Native American DNA. Roberta somehow conveniently misses the fact that on the F999919 Clovis Gedmatch One-To-Many list, there were a lot of people who matched Clovis who did not have a Native American haplogroup. Why did she not include these matches on herNew Native American Haplogrouplist?Was it because they are well-known non-Native American haplogroups? Is her continued inclusion of the some of M haplogroup subclades her attempt to discover something new? Why does she assume that just because someone matches a Native American autosomally that this means that they automatically have a Native American mtDNA?
2) The 2007 article she references has been brought into question by several known genetic genealogists, who are also experts in mtDNA analysis, like Ann Turner, Ugo Pereto, James Lick, Claudio Bravi and others. The M sample was not fully sequenced and was more likely to be an X haplogroup upon further analysis. I may not be an expert in genetic genealogy, but I certainly reached out to some of the best before I even wrote my posts. How come Roberta has not commented on their responses which I have reported in my blog posts?
3) Her continued inclusion of M subclade haplogroups on her Native American Haplogroup list, all the while maintaining that M has not been proven to be Native American, is very misleading and disingenuous because it gives people the false impression that they are Native American haplogroups. Lay readers will just look at the headline and make that assumption without reading the small print. Why is Roberta ignoring the fact that her posts are misleading? Is it really enough to justify the inclusion of M haplogroup, without a shred of evidence, just because she can? Should one even publish “research notes” that are not based on current data/facts?
These are questions my inquiring mind would like to know. However, Roberta has failed to answer any of my legitimate questions for months so I don’t see her changing her modus operandi today. This is what has led me to write my posts in the first place.
Roberta Estes, 1/5/2015
Update on 12/24/2014: I felt the need to share this with my readers. I was just made aware of the fact that Roberta Estes admitted today that she ran her initial results using one of the older Clovis Anzick Gedmatch kits numbers. As a result, the methodology she used calls into question her whole research protocol. I am taking her admission below that what I wrote in this blog post is correct.
Roberta Estes admission that she did not use the correct Clovis Gedmatch number for her 12/7/14 blog update
A continuation of my previous blog post…
I did not address the other M subclades that were mentioned in Roberta Estes “New Native American Mitochondrial Haplogroup” list in my last blog post because it focused specifically on M23. This blog post, however, seeks to do just that because I really don’t want the public to be misled into thinking that these other M subclades are, in fact, Native American as well. Given the stature that Roberta Estes has in the genetic genealogy community, I would really like to see her to remove these M subclades from her working hypothesis. The facts just don’t add up to them being Native American at all.
From Roberta Estes “Native American Mitochondrial Haplogroup” blog post on Sept. 18th, 2014 and updated 12/7/2014
I tried to replicate how Roberta Estes did her research to come up with her inclusion of the M haplogroup subclades in her hypothesis. I went back and looked at all the Clovis matches to see what M haplogroup subclades showed up and if they matched the ones Roberta mentioned on her blog (M1a, M1a1e, M1b1, M23, M3, M30c, M51, M5b3e, M7b1’2, M9a3a/M9a1ac1a). In order to accomplish this, I repeated the steps Roberta used to make her hypothesis. This meant bringing up the One-to-Many matches of the last known Gedmatch kit number we have for Clovis Anzick (F999919)and looking at the mtDNAs of the Clovis matches. When I reduced the cM level to 1 cM, I was able to pull up 1500 matches. However, only one had a M subclade of M7b1’2. I did not find any indication of any of the others she mentioned.
Clovis Anzick M7b1’2 mtDNA Match
I can only assume that Roberta used a previous version of the Clovis DNA profile. I know there were several as I matched the first Clovis DNA profile on Gedmatch, sharing 20 cMs with 7 cM as the largest segment, but did not match later Clovis DNA profiles. If this is in fact the case, than I believe Roberta should have taken this new Clovis match info into account when she updated her list on 12/7/2014.
As I mentioned in my previous post, the macro-haplogroup M covers a wide geographical area.
M Haplogroup Geographical Distribution
I looked up the geographical locations of each M subclade Roberta mentioned and found that they were not Native American or were out of the timeframe to be relevant for any comparison to Clovis Anzick. For example, M9a1a1c1a (formerly M9a3a), though geographical close– if you consider Siberia– to being Native American is dated by Behar to be 4221.4 years +/- 3456 old and therefore is nowhere near the 13,000-15,000 age range of Clovis.
The M subclades Roberta mentioned on her blog cover the following geographical areas:
M1a, M1a1e, M1b1 -North Africa, East African, and the Middle East
M23 – Only Madagascar
M3- Southeast Asia
M30c- South Asia
M51- Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal, and Laos
M5b3e- I could not locate this subclade so it may be an error
M7b1’2- East Asia
M9a3a ( now known as M9a1a1c1a)- Japan, Siberia, Tibet, China, and Mongolia.
The M Haplgroup and Native Americans
I received some great feedback on my last blog post. One was from Ian Logan, another mtDNA expert, who likewise confirmed the Malagasy origins of the M23 haplogroup. Perhaps, one of the most telling comments that I received came from Dr. Ann Turner, a well-known genetic genealogy pioneer and mtDNA expert herself. I had included, in my blog post, the 2007 article titled “Mitochondrial Haplogroup M Discovered in Prehistoric Native Americans” by Ripan Malhi, et. al. This article is the one that Roberta cites in order to include M subclades as Native American in her hypothesis. Dr. Turner made the following comments:
Dr. Ann Turner’s comments
Dr. Ann Turner also consulted with Dr. Ugo Perego, another expert on Native American mtDNA, about the results of the 2007 M sample. Dr. Perego stated:
“Unfortunately, we might never know the true answer [because the remains have been reburied], but I am with you in thinking that it was probably a false positive for M and most likely an X, which would have been still quite interesting as ancient X’s are not that common.”
Both Dr. Turner and Dr. Perego believe that the M sample the article was based on most likely tested false positive for M when it was probably an X sample. Again, the M sample was never fully sequenced as Roberta herself acknowledges.
In conclusion, I have no idea how Roberta came up with her “New Native American Mitochondrial Haplogroups” list. Several people have asked her for an explanation of her methodology to no avail. I could not duplicate Roberta’s methodology as much as I tried. Because of this and the fact that the M sample she refers to was probably an X, I would like to see her remove the M subclades from her list of “New Native American Mitochondrial Haplogroups.” The evidence is simply not there to make that claim that they are “Native American Mitochondrial Haplogroups.”
We need to remember that individuals today have complex, multiple ancestries that may not be reflected in their mtDNA. I am one such person. I consider myself culturally African-American and Puerto Rican and my ethnic admixture is tri-racial (46% Sub-Saharan African, 46% European, and 8% Native American). But, when you look at my H1ag1 mtDNA, it is European. I am a perfect example of why it is so difficult to make vast, overarching conclusions about my mtDNA without knowing all the colors of my autosomal rainbow…The same holds true for all the other Clovis Anzick matches—who also had non-Native American haplgroups like E, L, H, T, U, J and K,—who did not make her list either.
Dr. Doug MacDonald’s Chromosomal Painting of Teresa Vega
[Update: On March 2, 2017, Roberta Estes updated her Native American Haplogroup blogpost and eliminated all references to M haplogroups—years after I informed of her mistake. I was glad to see that finally.]
This was not the first post that I wanted to write on Madagascar, the land of my ancestors, but I felt it necessary to do so. In the future, I will be writing about my Malagasy ancestors and how they ended up in colonial NY and NJ.
(Just a reminder, there are hyperlinks wherever you see RED highlighted text.)
In early October, I attended The Genealogy Event in NYC that featured a lot of well-known genetic genealogists, including CeCe Moore. In her talk about what goes on behind the scenes of PBS’s Finding Your Roots, she discussed Ben Jealous’s Malagasy mtDNAand how slave ships directly imported Malagasy slaves into VA. I immediately, and proudly, told her that I, too, was a descendant of Malagasy slaves directly imported into NYC/NJ in the late 1600s-early 1700s. Ever since my cousin Andrea, a direct matrilineal descendant of our shared 2nd great-grandmother, found out her mtDNA was M23, the two of us have researched everything Madagascar. Surely, we both felt the call of our ancestors. Basically, in finding our mtDNA M23 ancestors, we felt our ancestors calling out to us—-telling us to speak for them, urging us to tell the world about how they arrived in NYC as slaves, under what conditions they lived and labored in NY/NJ, etc. In all of my blog posts, I have tried to do my best to appease our ancestors. How can we not listen to them? So, when CeCe asked me to be the Co-Administrator of FTDNA’s new Malagasy Roots Project, I happily accepted. My mama didn’t raise no fool. Besides, I firmly believe that my ancestors would be a little annoyed with me if I hadn’t accepted the position. And we can’t let that happen. No, we can’t.
The Genealogy Event, NYC, October 2014: Teresa Vega, CeCe Mooore, Carmen Rios and Delia Rosa-Lewis
As a descendant of Madagascar slaves brought to this country, I am particularly disturbed to see M23, a haplogroup found only in Madagascar, be placed under the rubric of“New Native American Mitochondrial Haplogroups”by Roberta Estes, a person who is well-known in the field of genetic genealogy. In no way, shape, or form, do I want people to be misled into thinking that this haplogroup has anything to do with it being a Native American one. Her hypothesis goes against current literature on M23. As a result of several of her recent blog posts, I have included references to the Malagasy origins of M23 at the end of this blog post.
On September 18, 2014, Roberta posted “Native American Mitochondrial Haplogroups”on her blog, DNAeXplained-Genetic Genealogy. These known Native American founder haplogroups were A,B,C,D, and X. I had no problem with her designation of these haplogroups as being Native American ones, as there is enough literature to back up her claim and I was already aware of those Native American haplogroups. To be honest, I only read the beginning of her blog post back on Sept. 18th which didn’t mention haplogroup M.
From: “Native American Mitochondrial Haplogroups”, Roberta Estes, DNAeXplained-Genetic Genealogy, Sept. 18, 2014
Even the haplogroup diagram, at the beginning of her blog post, made no mention of haplogroup M.
Native American mtDNA Distribution Diagram from Roberts Estes’ “Native American Mitochondrial Haplogroups” on Sept. 18, 2014, DNAeXplained-Genetic Genealogy
It was only further down her blog post, when she listed all the Native American haplgroups alphabetically, that I now see mention of the M haplogroup.
Another one of Roberta’s blog post on September 24,2014 caught my eye with the title “New Native Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroups Extrapolated from Anzick Match Results.” The methodology she seems to have used was to take the autosomal matches of living people from Gedmatch’s One-to-Many list who matched the ancient DNA of Clovis Anzick, look at the mtDNA of those matches, and then automatically deem them Native American.
Roberta wrote:
“Given that, and given the autosomal ethnicity analysis of several individuals, and given that mitochondrial haplogroups A, B, C, and D are not known to be routinely found in the European population, I decided to extract all of the associated mitochondrial DNA haplogroups. Furthermore, parts of haplogroup X are known to be Native, and haplogroup M, which is quite rare, has long been suspected, but unproven.
In some cases, looking at the Anzick matches, we know that because of the very high level of Native heritage, the individual is either not admixed or only very slightly admixed. In other words, it makes perfect sense that their mitochondrial DNA is indeed Native as well as their Y haplogroup. At nearly 100% Native, both of those lines would have to be Native.”
In the same blog post, she continues:
We found repeated instances of many mitochondrial haplogroups not previously identified as Native. In fact, with the exception of a couple subgroups of the M and X haplogroups, all of the Native haplogroups were found repeatedly in these samples.
A big pause is needed here. A very BIG pause. I am at a complete loss as to WHY she went to great lengths to extrapolate so much from an ancient sample and compare it to living people. I am aware of the article “Mitochondrial Haplogroup M Discovery in Prehistoric North Americans”, but even the authors of that article state:
“The discovery of haplogroup M in the Americas is consistent with the hypothesis of a single colonization for the Americas since this haplogroup is found in Southern Siberia, the presumed homeland of the ancestors of North Americans (Bonatto and Salzano, 1997; Meriwether et. Al., 1995a). However, it also demonstrates the limitations of using genetic data solely from contemporary populations to infer the events and early population history of the Americas. Using genetic data from contemporary populations to infer early prehistoric demographic events is even less accurate when the population history has been variable over time….Therefore data based on living Northwestern North America might bias interpretations of population prehistory in the Americas (p. 646-647).”
Second, it doesn’t necessarily follow that because someone matches Clovis Anzick autosomally that their mtDNA is a Native American given. For example, I have mtDNA H1ag1 which is a European mtDNA, however, when the first Clovis Anzick matches came in, I matched Clovis Anzick at just over 7 cMs. Likewise, someone with mtDNA M23, like anyone of my 5 DNA tested M23 cousins, could have Native American ancestry from a completely different source other than their mtDNA. Her hypothesis just doesn’t add up. Besides, Roberta herself mentions over and over again that haplogroup M has not been proven to be Native American. In fact, there is also a great body of research about the East Asian to East African geographical distribution of haplogroup M.
The same day that Roberta published her blog post on “Native American Mitochondrial Haplogroups,” she also crossed posted it in the Facebook Group, Native American Ancestry Explorer:DNA, Genetics, Genealogy, and Anthropology. I immediately posted a comment indicated that I thought M23 was only found in Madagascar and I asked her if M23 was now associated with being Native American. I must admit I was a little taken back because her inclusion of M23 as a Native American haplogroup went against everything I have read about M23—-that M23 is only found in Madagascar.
Response to Roberta’s post on Sept. 24, 2014
Her response back to me was:
What I gleaned from her response was that she included haplogroup M on her list because M was found in a Native burial BEFORE Full Sequencing of that mtDNA. I still am not sure if she was referring to haplogroup M in general, or M23 in particular, but anyone who has taken a Full Sequence mtDNA test knows that this test is the most definitive test regarding a person’s mtDNA. Again, how can you include haplogroup M on a Native American Mitochondrial Haplogroup list if the one sample referred to has not been fully sequenced? What if the sample was a mistake or was related to a different subgroup? Roberta herself states that she spoke to a scientist who would have loved to have more full-sequencing and more advanced haplogroup designations. At the same time, she also states that haplogroup M is “waiting in the wings” for more confirmation that it is a Native American haplogroup????
Roberta then asked me if my mtDNA ancestors had Native American ancestry. As you can see, I clearly pointed out that my M23 ancestors were “mulatto”, a classification that also included Native Americans. However, I thought I was clear in differentiating between my M23 Madagascar ancestry and the fact that my family also has Native American ancestry that comes from a different source. As you can see, her response back to me was just a ” You know, it can never be easy, can it 🙂 Thanks.” I decided to let the matter rest a few months ago. I just discussed her position among friends and let it go. In retrospect, I should have been more adamant in questioning her. I just didn’t hear my ancestors calling out to me then. Not hearing them was a big mistake on my part!
Early this past Sunday, December 7th, when I logged onto FB and checked the Native American Ancestry group posts, I then noticed Roberta had updated her “Native American Mitochondrial Haplogroup”list and I immediately felt déjàvu. But, this time, I heard my ancestors calling out to me LOUD and CLEAR to set the record straight. So, I immediately responded back to her.
As you can see, I was more to the point and asked her directly if she was saying that M23 was not a Malagasy haplogroup, but was a Native American one. I even attached a well-known, accepted, and peer reviewed article indicating the Madagascar origins of M23. Up until that day, she only listed her own blog post as a reference for M23. My response was followed by TL Dixon asking her more pointed questions, as he had also done last September, not only about M23, but also about other haplogroup subclades also found in Madagascar, like B41a1a.
TL Dixon’s questions to Roberta
In addition, later on Sunday, I started reaching out to genetic genealogists like CeCe Moore and Claudio Bravi, who has been analyzing Native American haplogroups since 1993, as well as James Lick, asking them about the origins of M23. They all agreed that M23 was only found in Madagascar, a fact I already knew. Somehow, I wanted a confirmation from others before I wrote this blog post.
On Tuesday, December 9th, I again responded to Roberta’s post in the Native American Ancestry FB Group. This time I also cut and pasted my response to her blog. Roberta did respond to my post on her blog:
Roberta Estes response to me on December 9, 2014
After reading her response, I went back to her blog and re-read it. I also started reading the responses to her “Native American Mitochondrial Haplogroup” posting. I was happy to see that on Monday, December 8th, Angie Bush, a well-known molecular genealogist,also stated that M23 had a Madagascar origin and she also posted the link to the same article I had made reference to a day earlier in the Native American Ancestry Explorer FB Group.
Angie wrote:
Angie Bush’s M23 question to Roberta Estes on 12/8/2014
Her response to Angie was more detailed:
Roberta Estes’ Response to Angie Bush
Roberta finally linked the article on M23 having Madagascar origins after Angie referenced it to her. She now indicated M23 as being a “Madagascar Motif” when it is in fact the Madagascar haplogroup unquestionably. Angie also let Roberta know about the FTDNA Malagasy Roots Project as well. That being said, I still find it highly problematic that Roberta still links her “Anzick Provisional Extract”, along with the peer reviewed article that Angie and I both referenced to her, to the M23 haplogroup on her “Native American Mitochondrial Haplogroup” list.
From Roberta Estes “Native American Mitochondrial Haplogroups” blog post on 9/18/2014 and updated 12/7/2014
In conclusion, I am left with the following unanswered questions:
1) How does one arbitrarily decide to designate mtDNA haplogroups as Native American based on autosomal DNA comparisons to an ancient DNA sample—with some comparisons at very small segments?
2) How does one initially ignore a body of literature about the Madagascar origins of M23 and, after finally acknowledging its origins, still decide to link it to being a “potential” Native American haplogroup?
3) Why insist on repeatedly stating that haplgroup M isn’t proven to be a Native American haplogroup, but still link certain subclade M haplogroups to them being “possible” Native American haplogroups?
4) How does one attempt to publish a hypothesis on “New Native American Mitochondrial Haplogroups” without the hypothesis being analytically challenged and peer reviewed?
As a genealogy/DNA blogger and speaker and, as someone who is also tri-racial, my obligation is to correct the misinformation out there, pinpoint inaccurate statements automatically assumed to be facts, and elucidate the flawed analyses/methodologies that I come across as they relate to my own genealogy/family research. I want information out in the public realm that is reliable as it is true. I don’t know the answers to these questions. But, what I do know is that the M23 haplogroup is not a “Native American Mitochondrial Haplogroup.” My M23 mtDNA ancestors called me out and told me so. So, I am now telling the world.
If you have any of the Malagasy mtDNA or Y-DNA haplgroups below, please consider taking a FTDNA Full Sequence mtDNA test or a Y-37 DNA test and then join the Malagasy Roots Project. Please click on the title link below for more details.
I dedicate this post to all my Blanchard cousins..To those whom I have already met and to those whom I will hopefully meet in the future. I want to especially single out my 98 year old 2nd cousin 2XR, Helen Blanchard Hamilton, who is still shining brightly for all to see.
My Blanchard Ancestors/Relatives (From right to left: Essau and Daisy Blanchard Hamilton, Sarah Blanchard, Edward Blanchard, Mary Catherine Hicks Blanchard, Gladys Blanchard Hammond, and Helen Blanchard Hamilton)My Cousin Helen Blanchard Hamilton reading my blog.
My third great grandparents, Cato Thompson and Susan Pickett Thompson had three daughters (Laura, my 2nd great-grandmother, Catherine and Mary) and three sons (Richard, Thomas and Jacob). My family affiliation with the Blanchards is via their daughters, Catherine (1842-1891) and Mary (1849-?), who married two Blanchard brothers, George (1844-?) and William (1845-?). Catherine and George were the parents of 5 sons: Edward , George, William, James and Frederic. Mary and William were the parents of 11 children: William, Thomas George, Katie, Sarah Elizabeth, Susan, Daisy, Walter, Christina, Eugene, Carrie, and John Franklin. Some of the surnames linked to the Blanchards include Hamilton, Hammond, Remson, Baldwin, Hicks, Dorsey, Van Duyne, Roberts, Mickson, Smith, Lynn, DeGroat, Thompson, Green/e, among others
Over a year ago, I started to research the Blanchard line in earnest. I wanted to know where they came from and how two sisters ended up marrying two brothers. We know from census records that the Blanchard brothers were from Orange, NJ and worked as teamsters. What more could I find out? A lot more it turned out….a whole lot more.
George and William were two of 5 children— in addition to Charles, Jr., Elizabeth, and Louisa– born to Charles Blanchard, Sr. (about 1792-1872) and Sarah Berry (1794-1879). Charles was born a slave in NJ sometime around 1792 and it can be assumed that Sarah was born a slave as well.
Charles was born before NJ’s 1804 Gradual Emancipationlaw which meant he was a slave for life. If he had been born after 7/4/1804, he would have had to serve his master for a term of only 25 years as stipulated in this new law. I didn’t know how long he was a slave until I came across his manumission record at the Newark Public Library. He was manumitted on April 1, 1824. He spent 32 years a slave which qualifies as a lifetime for many. His last slave owner was a John Harrison, of Orange, NJ who was a descendant of the Harrison Family who founded the Oranges in New Jersey.
Manumission Record for Charles Blanchard
Three years after Charles was manumitted, he married Sarah Berry in the First Presbyterian Church in Orange, NJ and they went on to have five children and live their lives as free Blacks.
Marriage Record of Charles Blanchard to Sarah Berry, January 7th,1827
Charles became a paid laborer and worked in various stables in and around Orange, NJ. He was also a property owner. On Ancestry.com, Charles’s NJ Death Record occupation states that “He was Born a Slave”. But, we all know that he was so much more than the circumstances of his birth. Regarding Sarah, we have no idea when she became free or who her parents were.
Charles Blanchard’s Death Record
Going further back, we find out that Charles’s father was Robert Blanchard (1765-1865?). In the 1860 census , we see Robert, age 95, living with his son Charles, age 68, and his family. None of the prior census records indicate who Charles’ mother was.
Regarding lost names due to slavery, if I find out the names of our unknown ancestors, I will call their names out loud and clear. You can bet they will be nameless no more. We owe it to our ancestors to remember there names whenever possible.
I was able to find a lot of information about our Robert Blanchard. For the most part, what I learned about Robert and his wife Dinah was due to the fact that their slave owners were from quite prominent families in both NJ and in NYC. At the NY Historical Society Library, I was able to find five critical documents that mentioned Robert and Dinah. These documents provide us with a view of slavery as it affected The Blanchard family.
The first document is a bill of sale for Dinah when she was 13 years old. She was sold for 20 pounds and 10 shillings. Her slave owner was Robert Whiting whose family was one of the founding families of Hartford, CT. Whiting sold her to John Ramage (1748-1802), an Irish Loyalist, who become the first artist to paint a portrait of President George Washington in 1786.
Dinah’s bill of sale to John Ramage on July 26, 1792
In 1793, Dinah was sold again at the age of 15 years old for 30 pounds. Ramage sold her to Catherine Bradford (1742-1822).
Dinah’s bill of sale to Catherine Bradford on November 23, 1793
Catherine was the widow of Cornelius Bradford (1729-1787). The Bradfords were the proprietors of the Merchant Coffee House, a very interesting, intriguing place to say the least. In addition to serving coffee, the Merchant Coffee House was the meeting place for merchants, shipbuilders, captains of vessels as well as various organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, Bank of New York, Free and Accepted Masons, Knights of Corsica, Whig Society, Society for Promoting the Manumission of Slaves, Society of New York Hospital , etc. On the eve of the Revolutionary War, it was a gathering place for Patriot sympathizers in NYC and during the British occupation of the city, the British auctioned off captured American vessels. The coffee house was the place to be until 1804 when it was destroyed by a fire.
The Merchant Coffee House
In 1794, Catherine Bradford retired from the Merchant Coffee House and moved to Cortland, NY. We are not certain what happened exactly, but Dinah ended up back with Catherine Ramage as her slave. Was Dinah’s sale to Catherine Bradford a conditional one with a set term? We have no idea.
In 1801, there is a document that mentions Robert Blanchard being the slave of John Blanchard of Morris County, NJ. John Blanchard was writing to Catherine Ramage giving permission for his “boy” Robert to marry Dinah. By the way, his “boy” Robert was 36 years old and Dinah was 22 years old.
John Blanchard’s permission for Robert and Dinah to marry in 1801
This would be the first “legal” marriage for Robert. However, we do know he had other children, like Charles, prior to his marriage to Dinah. In addition, we now know that Robert and Dinah re-wed in 1819 as their marriage was officially recorded in the Essex County, NJ Marriage Records.
The years between 1801-1814 are somewhat of a mystery regarding Robert. At some point, he became free. His slave owner, John Blanchard died in 1811 in Chatham, NJ, however, Robert is not listed as being freed in John Blanchard’s will.
John Blanchard’s Will
All we know is that, by 1814, Robert is already paying taxes in Orange, NJ as a free Black. We don’t know how he became free, but he he did and he made enough money to be able to pay taxes.
Sometime during this period, Robert also became a stagecoach man. He was a contemporary of my own 4th great-grandfather, Thomas Thompson, another Black stagecoach man. It is more than likely this is how The Blanchards met The Thompsons and ultimately how their grandchildren ended up marrying each other. The world of free Blacks in NJ was a very small one indeed.
The 4th document that was found pertained to the conditional sale of Dinah and Robert’s son, Robert, Jr. In 1813, Robert, Jr. was sold to an Ephraim Sayre by Catherine Ramage for a term of up to 18 years. In the bill of sale, she indicates that one quarter of Robert, Jr.’s day be spent on his education as well as him learning a trade.
Robert Blanchard, Jr.’s Conditional Bill of Sale to Ephraim Sayre in 1813
This document doesn’t mention how old Robert, Jr. was, but if he was born after 7/4/1804, he had to serve 25 years as a slave before being granted his freedom. While Robert was free, it is clear that Dinah was still a slave, as were their children. We don’t know what ever happened to Robert, Jr.
Reading these four documents made my heart heavy. Sometimes when I do family research, I can’t help but to put myself in the shoes of my ancestors so to speak. What was it like being sold as a human being, to see your children taken from you, to have no control of your body, to have no control over your personal freedom, etc. Sometimes I wonder how they got over… Just when my heart was at it’s heaviest, I read the 5th document.
SAY AMEN SOMEBODY!!!
The 5th document was another bill of sale dated 1815 written by Catherine Ramage to ROBERT BLANCHARD! Robert ended up purchasing his wife Dinah’s freedom along with their three youngest children Cyrus, Jep and Hannah for $125 dollars (i.e., $31.25/person)!
Robert Blanchard’s purchase of his wife Dinah and their three youngest children in 1815
You cannot imagine the sheer joy I felt when I read this document. I can’t lie. I was doing my happy dance all over the NY Historical Society Library. Many tears of JOY were released just knowing that, in spite of the degradation of slavery, Robert Blanchard found a way to buy his family out of slavery. Not only that, but years later he was able to reunite with his other children who had either been gradually emancipated or manumitted at some point. Robert did what he had to do to keep his family together to survive slavery, freedom and beyond.
About the Blanchard Surname
Robert Blanchard’s last slave owner was Captain John Blanchard (1730-1811) who was born in Elizabethtown, NJ in 1730 and died in Chatham, NJ in 1811. Captain John Blanchard was an American Patriot during the Revolutionary War. He was married to Joanna Hatfield (1735-1786). His father was Jean “John” Blanchard, a lawyer, who was born in New York in 1699 and died in Elizabethtown, NJ in 1747. The first John Blanchard was Jean “John” Blanchart/Blanchard who was born 1655 in St. Michel, Rouen, Normandy, France and died in Elizabethtown, NJ in 1730. It is this French immigrant from which the Blanchard surname originates.
UPDATE: On May 22,2017, I found out that I had a 100% West African DNA cousin match on AncestryDNA. My new DNA cousin’s name is George Graves-Sampson and we are related on my paternal Puerto Rican side. His family is from the Sekondi region in south-western Ghana. They are part of the Fante tribe of the Akan ethnic group, which also includes the Ashanti. His father was from Elmina, home of the infamous Elmina Castle, and his mother was from Otuam. Now, I know part of where my Afro-Boricua ancestors originated for certain. Little by little, DNA testing is leading us back to our ancestral homelands. Feeling blessed to finally connect to a place, a people, and a cousin. Thank you, cousin George, for being the vehicle that made this blessing possible.
For more info on Afro-Boricua admixture, please read my friend Fonte Felipe’s blogpost:
Some of my Afro-Boricua ancestors were of the Akan ethnic group
April 20, 2014
This post is in memory of my cousin, Serafin Rios Santiago, who recently joined the pantheon of ancestors. It is also dedicated to his daughter, my cousin Carmen, who will carry on his legacy with love. He is our newly-appointed ancestor angel watching over us. Amen!
Serafin Rios Santiago (1940-2014)
I have always wanted to know more about my Afro-Boricua roots. I knew I had African ancestry on my PR side. But where did my African ancestors come from? Would I ever be able to find out what country/countries they came from or would I be at a loss as to their origins as I am with my African ancestors on my maternal side? Hmmm. Well, thanks to my PR cousins and the wonderful world of genetic genealogy, I have begun to put some pieces together. My family history is slowly unveiling itself to me —not completely, but just enough to put a smile on my face and let me know I am on the right track.
Carmen & Me
I met Carmen last year when she reached out to me after receiving her FTDNA results. We immediately connected with each other and began the task of trying to find out our common ancestor. We exchanged photos of our relatives as well as the locations of our ancestors. Carmen and I are predicted 3rd cousins so we share a set of 2nd great-grandparents in common.
Carmen and Me
I found out that Carmen’s mother was born in the same town, Anasco, Puerto Rico, as my paternal grandmother. Her maternal family was from Greater Aguada in Northwest Puerto Rico which was where my paternal grandmother’s ancestors resided. As an FYI, Carmen lost her mom, Rosa Peres Ponce, when she was very young so she was excited to meet a relative on her mom’s side. I have to say that I was taken back when I saw her mom’s photo as she very strongly resembled my youngest sister Joanna. Even Joanna had to admit that Carmen’s mom looked more like her than her own mother. Clearly, our genes had a story to tell.
Carmen”s mom Rosa and Joanna
Whenever someone with the surname Rios popped up on my 23andme DNA Relative list, I would call Carmen to see if that person was also on her list. Imagine my surprise when I asked her if a Serafin Rios Santiago was on her list. “Oh, that’s my dad”, she said. I was shocked that I was related to her dad. I thought I was related to her via her mom. Well, it turns out that I am related to BOTH her mom and her dad.
Looking at our shared segments in Family Inheritance Advanced, I am sharing a lot more DNA with Carmen than with her father. I am also sharing DNA on completely different chromosomes which indicate that I have a different ancestor in common with each of them. Carmen and I share a Spanish ancestor on her mom’s side.
DNA shared with Carmen and Serafin
Once I knew that Serafin was related to me, I knew I had to meet him. Carmen explained that, although he was not in the best of health, I was more than welcome to come over and see him.
On the morning that I was heading to Brooklyn to see my cousins, I received my AncestryDNA results. I had taken this DNA test to see if I shared DNA with Lee and Carter descendants as my 3rd great-grandmother, Crittie Anna Lee, was said to be the daughter of Charles Carter Lee, Gen. Robert E. Lee’s older brother, and a Black/Native American slave. As my Carter and Lee DNA matches popped up, I couldn’t help to be envious at how easy it was for my Euro DNA cousins to trace their ancestry. Those of us with African ancestry have a much more difficult time doing just that. Well, I certainly hopped on the train to Brooklyn hoping to forget my envy.
Carmen, Serafin, and MeMe and SerafinA kiss for Serafin
My first impression of Serafin was that he had such a sweet soul and a gentle spirit. Because of his ill health, we didn’t chat for long. However, he did mention his upbringing and then he dropped a bomb— a beautiful bomb. LOL He told me that his grandfather, Federico Cabrera, was a slave until 1873, when slavery in Puerti Ricowas abolished, and that he had been born in SENEGAL. Just like that, my earlier envy flew out the door. Envy who? Envy what? I think the ancestors were sending me a sign that day that all was not lost. Their stories were determined to be told even if it took time.
Serafin and I share African DNA on Chromosome 14
1872 Puerto Rican Registro Central de Esclavos mentioning Federico
Record in Ancestry.com for Federico Cabrera
Federico Cabrera’s Death Certificate
From what Carmen and Serafin told me, Federico was purchased in Senegal by a Portuguese man and then sold to a Spaniard, Lorenzo Cayol, and shipped to Puerto Rico. Cayol, an immigrant from Spain, was one of the original inhabitants of Barceloneta (Little Barcelona), a town in Northern Puerto Rico. He was also the owner of Hacienda Plazuela, a sugarcane plantation. Federico was one of the many slaves who labored on this plantation.
Lorenzo Cayol’s immigration record
Not only did Cayol purchase slaves directly from Africa, but he also purchased them from other countries in Latin American and the Caribbean. Below, you can see that he purchased slaves from Venezuela and St. Thomas. I have other cousins whose ancestors came from Martinique and Guadeloupe. Puerto Rico was definitely part of the active Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Slaves of Lorenzo Cayol
Both Carmen and I have another cousin in common, Dr. Ana Oquendo Pabon, who is my predicted 3rd cousin and possible 2nd cousin to Carmen. Ana was so kind as to provide more info about Federico to us. In an email, she wrote:
“According to that death record we all have for Federico, he died on the 05 of April 1905 which would have made him born about 1795 not 1820. María Salgado Nieves [Federico’s wife] died at 100 years of age on the 26 of June 1907 and her birth as 1807. At the same time, María’s sister Dorotea Salgado Nieves married Zoilo Cabrera who was also born África. I have always suspected he was Federico’s brother. Dorotea died at the age of 65 of yellow fever on the 15 April 1907 (two months before María) and it mentions their parents (Sabás Salgado Cruz and María de la Cruz Nieves).”
So, it is quite possible that Federico had a brother named Zoilo who was also bought in Africa and sold into slavery in Puerto Rico.
When I look at my DNA matches on 23andme, FTDNA, and AncestryDNA, I see the surnames Cabrera, Salgado, Nieves, Cruz and others that may link me to Serafin via his African ancestor. When I see that 1% of my DNA admixture is from Senegal, I now know that this is real. I also remind Carmen that she is only 2 generations from slavery. In the grand scheme of things, that isn’t that long ago. Serafin has now passed the torch to her as keeper of their family history.
[I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the great contribution of Ana and her brother, Padre Jose Antonio Oquendo Pabon. They were the founders of the geographical Proyecto ADN de Apellidos Puertorriqueños (Puerto Rican DNA Project at FTDNA). Ana has been the sole Administrator for the project for over 11 years, recruiting, educating and promoting genetic genealogy. Thanks to their pioneer work, FTDNA finally conceded to adding the Taíno to their Native American ancestral groups for matching and reporting. Their website is Muertito Heaven. ]
The Rodriguez Family of Yauco
I have another distant cousin, Alex, whom I am related to on his paternal Rodriguez line. My sister Elisa and I match him, his father, his paternal aunt as well as a couple of his cousins who share the same 2nd great-grandmother, Domitila Rodriguez (1843-1914). Alex’s paternal family was from Yauco which is where my paternal grandfather’s family resided. Yauco encompassed a much larger area in the 18th and 19th centuries. Guayanilla, where Alex’s family was from, was part of Yauco back then. I can trace my Rodriguez line back to the late 1700s-early 1800s to my 4th great-grandfather, Isidoro Rodriguez who was born in Yauco. All of my Rodriguez ancestors are from Susua Alta and Susua Baja, Yauco.
Yauco County from www.salonhogar.com
Alex told me that we are definitely related on his Rodriguez line though we haven’t found our common ancestor. What he did tell me was that his 2nd great-grandmother Domitila was born a slave. She had twin boys, Marcial and Marcelino, with Alexandre Sallaberry, a Frenchman, who were also born into slavery.
1872 Archivo General de Puerto Rico Slave Record for Domitila
1872 Archivo General de Puerto Rico Slave Record for Domitila
Alex mentioned that all his Rodriguez ancestors were owned by a Spanish Catholic priest, Padre Andres Avelino Rodriguez y Pacheco, a member of one of the founding Spanish families of Yauco. They labored on his plantation. Domitila’s mother, Rita Pacheco, was a slave of Andre’s mother, Maria Monserrate Pacheco y Rodriguez. Rita’s mother, Eusebia Rodriguez, and grandmother Maria were also slaves. We don’t know where in Africa the Rodriguez ancestors came from, however, it is this Rodriguez line that is related to my ancestors.
I should also mention that Yauco County was the capital of Boriken, the Taino name for Puerto Rico, when the Spanish arrived on the island. Yauco was governed by Agüeybana, the most powerful Taíno “cacique” (chief) and he controlled all the other caciques on the island. On my Rodriguez side, I also have Taino ancestry. When I look at photos of my great-uncle, Enrique Vega Bonilla, whose grandmother was a Rodriguez, I also see my Taino ancestors looking back at me. One day, I hope I will be able to trace my Taino ancestry as well.
Enrique Vega Bonilla, my great-uncle
My Pellot Primos
On AncestryDNA, I have 3 4th cousin Pellot matches and another 7 5th to distant cousin Pellot matches. I also have 2 5th to distant Pellot cousins on FTDNA. All of these DNA cousins can trace their ancestors back to Moca and many have the same ancestors. This tells me that somewhere on my paternal grandmother’s line there is an ancestor that I have in common who was a Pellot.
My 4th cousins, Ernie and Frances, have told me that the Pellots were slaves on the Hacienda Irurena plantation near Aceitunas, Moca in Northwest Puerto Rico. This plantation was built by three Pellot (Peugeot in a French) brothers in the early to mid-1800s after the Spanish Crown signed the Royal Decree of Graces. They were from the Basque region of Spain and, in fact, Irurena means “three siblings” in the Basque language. The Pellots purchased roughly 1,300 acres and built a coffee plantation though they raised other crops. Of course, slaves were imported to work on the plantation.
Hacienda Irurena /Labadie
The Pellots sold the hacienda to another Frenchman, Juan Labadie, who had been the caretaker of the plantation under them. Labadie was married to the daughter of Juan Pellot and a freed slave, Cornelia Pellot y Pellot.
After Labadie passed away in 1893, Cornelia began making plans to build a mansion which was actually built in 1905. By that time, it had become a sugar plantation. After decades of disrepair, the municipality of Moca bought the plantation in 1993. Today it is known as Palacete Los Moreau and was named after Enrique LaGuerre’s novel, La Llamarada. LaGuerre had spent time at Hacienda Irurena and based his characters on a family that lived at the fictionalized Hacienda Irurena.
All of the African ancestors of my Pellot DNA cousins came from the Guinea Coast. In fact, prior to the emancipation of Puerto Rican slaves, there was an area on the grounds of Hacienda Irurena that was called “Petit Guinee.” Below are the Ancestry.com records for my cousin Frances’s ancestors Julian and Ana Pellot that indicate that they were from Guinea, Africa.
Julian Pellot’s Ancestry.com RecordAna Pellot’s Ancestry.com Slave Record
When I look at the surnames on my Pellot DNA cousins family trees, I do see surnames found on my grandmother’s side like, Roman, Soto, Mercado, and Nieves. It is just a matter of time before I find my link to the Pellots.
So, my search for my Afro-Boricua roots will continue….
“Black founders” is a fancy term to describe the charter generation of free blacks in early national America. Born in the eighteenth century, some free (like James Forten of Philadelphia)) but many enslaved (like Richard Allen, Prince Hall, and Venture Smith, all of whom struggled mightily for their freedom), black founders came of age just as the American nation took shape….For they were of a generation that first battled bondage in an organized fashion, the generation that created vibrant free black institutions throughout the nation, and that innovated protest tactics—from establishing print as a key form of black activism to aiding fugitive slaves and distressed free blacks to forming the first national conventions dedicated to racial justice and independence—which still held sway on the eve of the Civil War.”
Given Newman’s definition of “Black Founders”, I maintain that the King Family was one of Newark’s Black founding families. I have chosen to focus on Rev. John A. King simply because there is more in the public record on him than his brothers. But, make no mistake about it, the lives of the other King brothers, especially Jacob and Abraham, are also noteworthy.
Over the past few years, my cousin Andreaand I have pieced together the King brothers’ early lives. Based on the 1830 census, John was born about 1790 in Morris County, NJ making him the oldest of Lucy King’s sons. Abraham was born around 1795. Their mother was originally a slave on Abraham Ogden’s estate in Morristown, NJ. Their father was Dublin King, a man born in British Guiana. John and Abraham were also tradesmen which tells us that they occupied a more privileged status over enslaved people. We don’t know when they became free or how they learned their trade, but Abraham Ogden’s estate was settled in 1802 and we assume Lucy was freed thereafter. He children inherited their father’s estate.
Sometime prior to 1820, the King brothers met Rev. Christopher Rush, another Black founder. Together with Rev. Rush, they founded the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (now known as the Clinton Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church) in Newark in 1822. This church was the first black church founded in Newark and was also considered to be a sister church to the Mother Zion Church in Lower Manhattan that was founded in 1796. Rev. Rush would go on to become the Bishop of the A.M.E. Zion Church in 1828. As stated in a previous post, before he left to become a bishop, he sold his land to Jacob D. Kingwho built an Underground Railroad House in 1830.
I should add that around 1820, John married Phebe Beard who was from Delaware. They ended up having 6 children: John Jr., Mary Rebecca, Cornelia, Robert, Edward, and Christopher Rush King. That John named one of his children after Rev. Rush indicates how close a colleague and friend he considered Rev. Rush to be. Abraham married Mary McIntosh in Morristown, NJ in 1824 and they had 2 sons, Abraham Ogden King, Jr. and William.
The A.M.E. Zion Church in Newark was active in both the Underground Railroad and in the education of all Blacks. By 1826, the Church was teaching Blacks, both young and old, how to read and write. According to the Township of Newark records, On April 14, 1828, Abraham and John walked into the town meeting with a petition asking for funding for a colored school. Please note that this school had already been in existence for years. They were only asking for formal funding from the town. They received limited funding initially and were able to have a formal budget for the school from 1836 onward.
In the early years, the Colored School, as it came to be known, was located first in the A.M.E. Zion Church and then in the Plane Street Colored Presbyterian Church. It wasn’t until 1864, when James Baxter became the principal, that the Colored School had their own building. The Colored School lasted until 1909. I should also mention that two of Jacob’s daughters, Marcia and Harriet King, were teachers in the Colored School.
Plaque on James Baxter mentioning the King Brothers
At the same time that the King brothers were educating Blacks, building churches, and harboring fugitive slaves, between the mid-1820’s and early-1830’s, they were also holding down full-time jobs in the carpentry trade. Abraham was a carpenter and Jacob was a cooper. However, John was one of the four Black planemakers in the United States prior to the Civil War. The others were Cesar Chelor of Wrentham, MA, John Teasman, Jr., a fellow Newarker whose father became the principal of the New York African Free School in Manhattan in 1797, and George Ball of New York City.
You may ask yourself what exactly was a planemaker. Well, in the 18th and 19th centuries, woodworking was a specialized activity. Carpenters, cabinetmakers, and joiners used a variety of tools in their trade. A “plane” was one such tool that shaved down a piece of wood to a particular thickness. The plane held an iron chisel in a fixed position so the wood could evenly be removed from the surface. There were different types of wooden planes used to create different surfaces. For example, you had utilitarian planes and planes that created moldings and edges. Hence, planemakers made planes and they were considered to be toolmakers. Wooden planes were used up until the Industrial Revolution.
John A. King Wooden Plane in NJ Toolmakers:A Heritage of Quality by Alexander Farnham
After researching John’s career as a planemaker, I have come across a couple of inaccuracies in the public record on him. There have been several websites and articles that list John’s years as a planemaker as only being between 1835-1837. One of the most notable is a website on African-American woodworkers in the 18th and 19th centuries. However, the Newark City directory has him clearly listed as being a planemaker from 1836-1846. Since the directory was only published in 1836, he may have even worked earlier than that. In addition, there was an article written by Ronald Pearson called “Hand Tools: A Significant Find” in The Chronicle of the Early American Industries (Vol.37:49-50) . In the article, Pearson writes about how he acquired an old tool box that had 38 wooden planes, 13 of which were made by John A. King. He hypothesizes that John was only a “jobber” working for two white planemakers, the Andruss brothers. There is no basis in fact for his hypothesis as John was an independent planemaker with his own business. In his later years, he was known to have only worked with James Searing, another Newark planemaker. By not doing the primary research that would have indicated John’s long career as a planemaker and insinuating that John couldn’t possibly work for himself, these researchers have done a disservice to his memory. Today, they stand corrected.
In the early 1830’s, John become very active in the abolitionist movement and he also became an ordained minister in the A.M.E. Zion Church in Newark at this time. He participated in local, state, and national anti-slavery societies as well as national Negro conventions. Through these activities, he met some of the most well-known white abolitionists of the day like the Tappan brothers and William Lloyd Garrison. In addition, healso started writing for The Liberator.
In his newspaper articles, John addressed the concerns of the day. These included the issue of colonization. In 1816, the American Colonization Society was founded. The Presbyterian Church was a main proponent of the colonization of free Blacks to Africa and later to the Caribbean after 1834. Many free Blacks in Newark, including John, were vocal anti-colonizationists. Having grown up in the shadow of the Revolutionary War, these people believed that they, too, sang America. It was the US that they called home and they saw all attempts to remove them from the US as nothing more than an extension of slavery’s hand.
The colonization movement hit close to home. In 1839, one of the first ministers of the Plane Street Colored Presbyterian Church, Rev. T. P. Hunt emigrated to Trinidad with his family and some members of the congregation. In 1841, Rev. Hunt returned to Newark and met with his old congregation and told them what he encountered. Very little was positive for they had been deceived into emigrating in the first place. John then wrote the article below in the Colored American. Please note the resolutions made.
Anti-Colonization article by John A. King
Another topic John was concerned about was the restoration of Black citizen’s voting rights. From 1790-1807, free Blacks and women had the right to vote in New Jersey. In 1807, the state of NJ, disenfranchised over 3,000 free Blacks and untold number of women. John took note of this Black disenfranchisement in an article for the Colored American.
John A. King advocating for Black voting rights
From the mid-1830’s to the mid-1840’s, John, in addition to continuing to preach at the Newark A.M.E. Zion Church, was also a minister at the Mother Zion Church in NYC as well as the Mount Zion A.M.E. Church in Eatontown, NJ which was part of Shewsbury Township back then. In Carter G. Woodson’s book, The History of the Negro Church, he mentions John A. King as being one of the leaders in A.M.E. Zion Church between 1830 and 1840.
John A. King mentioned in Woodson’s History of Negro Churchpapers.
John is also listed in all history books pertaining to the founding of the A.M.E. Zion Church. Moreover, John, Abraham, and Jacob are also listed in the Black Abolitionist Papers which is a testament itself to their abolitionist activities during their lifetimes. I consider this to be an honor.
In 1848, the Newark Daily Advertiser reported a fire at John’s house on 20 Academy Street in Newark.
Newark Daily Advertiser, 3/16/1848
Most of the inside of the house was destroyed. We don’t really know if he was ever able to rebuild his house.
Over a year ago, I also found two articles written in 1849 in the Newark Daily Advertiser that broke my heart. The tears flowed uncontrollably. In January 1849, John’s wife Phebe died which, together with the fire, quite possible made him depressed. It was on April 6th and 7th, 1849, that the Newark Daily Advertiser announced his suicide below.
Newark Daily Advertiser, 4/7/1849
Newark Daily Advertiser, 4/6/1849
After his death on 04/05/1849, John’s brother William was left to settle his affairs. It wasn’t until 1852 that his estate was settled.
Estate sale of John A. King’s properties
Estate sale of John A. King
In the 1850 census, John’s 2 youngest children, Edward and Christopher, are living with William.
After reading that article, I wondered how often do we consider the needs of those who lead our flock. Do we really know how well are shepards are doing? John was a preacher who comforted and led others. Was he being comforted? I shed tears for a man who did so much for others, but couldn’t do enough for himself. Tears, tears, and more tears.
I would be remiss if I ended my blog post on this note. Those who know me also know I just won’t do that. I truly believe it is up to those of us alive to give voice to our ancestors, to allow them to speak in a voice that is their own, and to correct the inaccuracies about them. Likewise, I believe it is up to us descendants to remember our role model ancestor, our radiant roots, in a positive light. If we don’t, then who will? So, 165 years after the death of my ancestor, Rev. John A. King, I offer a prayer of remembrance to him.
Dear Uncle John,
I want to THANK YOU for the wonderful life you left behind. It has truly been an honor to retrace your footsteps. You have made us proud to call you an esteemed ancestor. We claim all aspects of your life and the lives of your brothers, as our own now. We exalt you for making Newark, NJ a better place for all African-Americans at a time when we were not considered to be full citizens. That you never gave up the call for equal rights is laudable. Your quest for equality showed us just how much a true American you were and how much you believed in the ideals of the American Revolution—freedom, liberty, and equal rights for all.
I want you to know that you were loved, not only by your immediate family and by us, your descendants, but also, by God. God never failed you–not even in your greatest moment of despair. I pray that you have continued to find comfort in His arms. You served an awesome God — a God that we continue to serve.
God bless you, John, and the legacy you left behind. Continue to rest in peace as we continue to spread your good name and the good deeds you did during your lifetime. You are still loved and remembered.
We call your name, John, we… call… your… name…
Amen!
PostScript:
If I could speak to John, I would tell him that his extended family is still hanging strong in Newark on Academy St. Our family has never left Newark.
One of the most prominent features of DNA testing is the ethnic admixture results you get with each test. Now, there has been some debate about the reliability of admixture tests. It is true that no one test will tell you every ethnic group that left it’s mark on your genome. For starters, ethnic groups have changed over time and so have the geo-political boundaries that encompassed these groups. Furthermore, each DNA testing company has it’s own ethnic reference samples with which they compare your genome with and this also influences their results.
That being said, I do find admixture results to be somewhat informative if one’s family history includes the ancestries and geographical locations indicated. As a child of the African Diaspora, I also believe that admixture tests do point to geographical areas where my ancestors may have come from during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. For African-Americans, this is a key reason as to why we take DNA test in the first place. We want to find that missing piece of our ancestral self that was denied to us.
So, Who Did I Think I Was?
Whoever I thought I was pre-DNA test was only a partial portrait of me. I already knew all my usual suspect ancestries by name (i.e., West African, British, Irish, Dutch, German, Eastern European/Jewish, Spanish,and Native American) prior to taking the test so I expected them to show up in my results. And they did. However, it was the UNUSUAL SUSPECT ancestries that caught my attention big time. My post-DNA test results now included Central-South Africa, East Africa, South/Southeast Asia, North Africa, Italy, France, and Scandinavia. Hmmm… Now, I wondered where and when did these ancestries enter my genome. I mean I thought I knew where my African and European ancestors came from.Well, I guess NOT! LOL Now, I needed to further investigate mynew roots.
My 23andme Admixture Results
My AncestryDNA Admixture Results
My DNA Tribes Admixture Results, Pt. 1
My DNA Tribes Admixture Results, Pt. 2
Unusual Suspect #1: Central-South Africa, East Africa, and South/Southeast Asia
One of the biggest surprises that my family encountered with DNA testing was my cousin Andrea’s family’s mtDNA results. Though my own mtDNA is H1 because my maternal matrilineal line traces back to Ireland, Andrea’s mtDNA, which comes from our shared 2nd great-grandmother, is M23. This haplogroup is found only in MADASGASCAR!
My M23 Cousins
The people who made up the original settlers came from East (Indonesia, Oceania, and Melanesia, ) and Africa (East African and South Africa). According to a paper written by Cox, Nelson, et. al.,
“The settlement of Madagascar is one of the most unusual, and least understood, episodes in human prehistory. Madagascar was one of the last landmasses to be reached by people, and despite the island’s location just off the east coast of Africa, evidence from genetics, language and culture all attests that it was settled jointly by Africans, and more surprisingly, Indonesians. Nevertheless, extremely little is known about the settlement process itself… Maximum-likelihood estimates favour a scenario in which Madagascar was settled approximately 1200 years ago by a very small group of women (approx. 30), most of Indonesian descent (approx. 93%). This highly restricted founding population raises the possibility that Madagascar was settled not as a large-scale planned colonization event from Indonesia, but rather through a small, perhaps even unintended, transoceanic crossing.”
When I saw all of my admixture results, I knew that my Central-South African, East African, and South/Southeast Asian ancestry could be traced back to my maternal Madagascar ancestors. Out of all the admixture tests, DNA Tribes has the best admixture breakdown. All of my relatives, who have taken the DNA Tribes SNP Analysis, have ancestry from South Africa (Bantu, Pedi, and/or Nguni), East Africa (Somali or Ethiopian), South Asia(India), Southeast Asia (Borneo, Malay, Indo-Chinese), and Oceania (Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and Guam).
Here is my 2nd cousin 1XR Mildred’s DNA Tribes Native Population Analysis. Mildred is a direct matrilineal descendant of my 2nd great-grandmother and DNA Tribes has her as being 4.5% Southeast Asian. Her Madagascar ancestry is much clearer— at least I think so.
My cousin Mildred’s DNA Tribes Results
In addition, my maternal family has colonial roots in both New Jersey and New York. Slaves from Madagascar were directly imported into New York City between 1678-1698 and then from 1716-1721. They were also directly imported into Perth Amboy, NJ. In his book, Black Crescent: The Experience and Legacy of African Muslims in America, Michael A.Gomez writes:
Madagascar Slaves in New York
My 3rd great-grandmother, Susan Pickett, was born in Morris County, NJ in 1809. Her mother, a slave named Tun, was born in the late 1700s in either NY or NJ. It is quite possible that Tun’s maternal Madagascar ancestors arrived during one of those two periods. I am now searching for Tun in her slave owner’s records. Apparently she was owned by someone who then rented her out to another master.
Unusual Suspect #2: North Africa
Prior to my DNA tests, I only had knowledge of my Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry on my mother’s side. Post-DNA test, I now know that I am also a descendant of Sephardic Jews from Spain. My North African ancestry is from my paternal side. Following their 1492 expulsion from Spain, Jews settled mainly in the Ottoman Empire, Morocco and Algeria, southern France, Italy, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and Mexico, Spanish South America, Brazil, Netherlands and her territories (Curaçao, Suriname, Aruba and New Amsterdam) England (as well as English colonies such as Barbados and Jamaica), Germany, Denmark, Poland, Austria and Hungary. So, some of my North African ancestry comes from my Sephardic roots. But, I also have Puerto Rican ancestors via the Canary Islands which includes the Guanches who are of Berber descent from North Africa.
My DNA Tribes SNP Analysis also includes Fulani ancestry. The Fulani were known to be nomadic and migrated from West Africa to North Africa. This ancestry may come from either one of my parents.
Unusual Suspect #3: France, Corsica, and Italy
French and Italian ancestry is very common in Puerto Ricans. This is due to the Spanish Crown issuing the 1815Royal Decree of Graces. This decree lasted until 1898 when the US took over Puerto Rico.
Royal Decree of Graces of 1815
King Ferdinand decided that one of the ways to end the pro-independence movement in Puerto Rico and Cuba was to allow non-Spanish Catholic Europeans (e.g., the French, Corsican, Irish, and Italians), who swore loyalty to the Spanish Crown, to settle on both islands. These new immigrants were given land grants and papers indicated that they were loyal to both the Spanish Crown and the Catholic Church. After 5 years, they could become Spanish subjects. It was these immigrants who became the sugarcane, tobacco, and coffee planter class with Africans being the slave labor class.
Part of my French ancestry is due to French immigration to Puerto Rico at this time. (By the way, I have some Puerto Rican cousins with the surnames LeGrand, Betancourt, Poupart, and Ruitort among others.) However, some of my French ancestry is also due to Corsican immigration to the island. In the early 1800s, Yauco was Ground Zero for Corsican Immigration. Corsica was originally an Italian territory that was lost to France in 1768 as such a lot of Corsican surnames are Italian in origin.
My paternal grandfather, Antonio Vega Bonilla, was born in Susua Alta, Yauco, Puerto Rico as were his ancestors. On some of my paternal family’s birth and marriage certificates, people with Corsican surnames like Cardi, Bernadini, Filiberti, and Oliveri are listed as relatives who were witnesses to those events. I believe my paternal grandfather’s ancestors intermarried with, or had children by, these Corsican immigrants.
As I communicate with some of Euro DNA cousins, I am also finding that I have French ancestry on my maternal side as well. Some of this French ancestry is from French Huguenots who arrived in the US during colonial times from England. I also have a lot of French Canadian/Arcadian ancestry. I have no idea where this ancestry comes from and I am still investigating.
Unusual Suspect #4: Scandinavia
When I first received my 23andme results, they only listed Finland as a Scandinavian country that apparently left a mark on my DNA. Say what? On their new Ancestry Composition, this changed to the more general Scandinavian category. When I look at my DNA relatives and Ancestry Finder lists, I see DNA cousins with Finnish, Swedish, and Norwegian ancestry. I had no knowledge on either side of my family of Scandinavian ancestry. I found this to be interesting. How did I get Finnish DNA???
Well, it turns out that there was a New Swedencolony that extended from Delaware, Pennsylvania, and up to New Jersey between the years of 1638-1655. Finland was part of Sweden at this time. As a result, a lot of Finnish and Swedish people immigrated to this colony. By 1690, the Swedes and Finns had settled in Cape May, Salem, and Gloucester counties in New Jersey. When I look at my DNA 5th-8th cousins’ family trees on Ancestry.com, I see a lot of surnames from Salem and Gloucester counties in NJ, but I don’t recognize the names. It may be that I inherited Scandinavian DNA from a slave owner sometime in the colonial NJ era. As this time, the best I can do is to be on the lookout for any Scandinavian names that pop up in my research on my NJ ancestors.
So where does all of this new admixture analyses leave me?
My admixture results do not change what I consider myself to be. I will always be half African-American and Puerto Rican. The culture(s) you were raised in do(es) count for something after all. You are not just the sum of your DNA. I think of admixture results as clues to telling me more about my ancestors. By looking at who they may have been and how they ended up in the locations where I found them, I learn more about my family history. But, admixture results still lead me to look for the paper trail –no matter how elusive it seems– on my ancestors.
When I first took my 23andme DNA Test a year ago, I knew that I would find some of my father’s relatives. This was always a dream of mine. To my surprise, I learned that Puerto Ricans have taken DNA tests at a much higher rate than others—at least it seems that way to me. I was told that years ago there was a study done to see if living Puerto Ricans still had Taino ancestry and this led to more Puerto Ricans taking DNA tests in general. Out of the 1200 total DNA cousins on 23andme, I would easily say almost 900 are Boricuas.
My 23andme DNA Results
My AncestryDNA test shows that, out of 1800 matches, 900 are my Puerto Rican DNA cousins. On FamilyTree DNA, out of 152 matches, 145 are Puerto Rican. Yes, I think I found my dad’s side alright.
In January 2013, I only knew the names of my dad and his parents. I went on Ancestry.com and quickly found the names of my great-grandparents. But, it was my young DNA cousinLuis Riverawho helped me immensely. Luis waded through the un-indexed Puerto Rican Civil Registration Recordson www.familysearch.org and found birth, marriage, and death certificates that took my paternal family tree back 3-4 generations. I am so grateful to him for not only finding documentation on my ancestors, but also teaching me how to search for them. I once asked him how I could repay him for helping a newbie like me and he said that he was paying it forward as someone had done the same for him. So, too, will I pay it forward then. Each one, teach one is a great motto to live by.
I sent out invitations to share genomes with all 1200 DNA relatives — oh, yes I did–and I am sharing with 400+. With the help of those 400+ DNA cousins, I have been able to start learning about his family history. Thanks to Gedmatch I can see who is related to me on my paternal grandmother’s side vs. my paternal grandfather’s side. Since I know where my grandmother’s relatives were born and what towns they lived in, I can also narrow down the connection even further. Even though doing Puerto Rican genealogy research does has it’s own problems –for instance, same family surnames on each side, high intermarriage rate among cousins, lost records, etc.–I have been able to make several discoveries with help from my Boricua cousins such as finding out:
Some of my ancestors on my abuela’s side were originally landowners from Spain in NW Puerto Rico
Her side also had French, Portuguese, Italian and Senegalese ancestry
Some of my abuelo’s ancestors were slaves on a Spanish Catholic priest’s plantation in the early 1800s in Yauco
I have ancestors who were Spaniards from the Canary Islands as well as the original inhabitants of the Canary Islands, the Guanches.
Every name on my dad’s side had Sephardic Jewish origins, even my own surname Vega.
I think finding out that my ancestors had Sephardic ancestry was the biggest surprise of all. I knew I had Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry because a maternal great-grandfather was half Cuban/half Eastern European Jew, but I had no clue as to my dad’s ancestral origins. Thanks to my cousins Rosa, Frank, Rudy, Carmen and others, I am learning about this ancestry now. I really don’t worry about the DNA cousins who never respond to my invitations because I am too focused on the ones who do. The funny thing is that when I compare my Boricua cousins to each other, we all share a lot of the same cousins.
2013 has been the best year ever for me. This was the first year that I have met in person some of my NY Puerto Rican cousins and I have spoken to many more. I joke with my cousin Raul that he will always be remembered as my first “live” Puerto Rican cousin. LOL On our first meeting, he took me to a Mormon Family History Center in Queens to show me where I could find Puerto Rican microfilms. He is just as crazy about genealogy as I am and he is one of many cousins who shares my passion in genealogy.
Raul and me on our first meet-up
I have truly been blessed in ways that I never dreamed of growing up. I can’t help to think of how happy my dad would have been to know that I am in touch with his side of the family. Though I only knew my dad for ten years, I find comfort in knowing that I will get to know my cousins for much longer. And I do have some pretty cool new cousins. Like branches on a tree, I will grow with them. Yes,God has been so good to me.
Raul, Carmen, Me, and Roberto
From Left to Right: Rosa, Lita, Frank and family, Rudy, Sam, Doni and family, Michael and his mom, and Jennifer
From ages 3 to 23, my father, Antonio Vega Noboa, was absent from my life and from age 23 to 34, he was present. As someone who is half Puerto Rican, growing up not fully knowing who you were was sometimes confusing. I always felt half of me was missing. If someone asked me what I was, though I always said African-American and Puerto Rican, I never felt Puerto Rican because my dad disappeard when I was 3 years old. It was kind of awkward explaining why I didn’t speak Spanish with a name like Teresa Antonia Vega. As a child, I wondered about my dad and how different I would have grown up. I was three when he left and had no memory of him. However, my 2nd oldest sister, Elisa Vega-Burns (whom I have always called Lisa) remembered speaking Spanish. So, at least, I knew I would have grown up bilingual.
My father, Antonio Vega Noboa, and me in 1991
Reconnecting with my father was bittersweet. My mom passed away at 47 years old in December 1990. Growing up, she always told us he would be back— which said more about her faith in God than in him. I remember coming home from graduate school in February 1991 and getting a call from my sister Lisa who immediately told me to sit down. Of course, I was anticipating her telling me about another death in the family. I never expected her to tell me that Daddy Tony, which was what we used to call him as children, had sent her a letter. Apparently after the death of our mom, my brother Michael and Lisa had sent a letter to Social Security asking them to inform my dad that our mother had died and it listed all of our addresses and phone numbers. He responded to their letter immediately, but prior letters from my mom always resulted in static noise.
Within a couple of days, I received HIS call. After decades of wondering what my dad sounded like, I got my answer. BROOKLYN IN DA HOUSE! I never saw that one coming. LOL. On that day, we decided to move forward and leave the past behind. Given my mother’s death, I was happy to have another parent again. Sometimes, I think God made things happen this way.
My dad slowly unveiled his life to me. It was then he told me about being born in Carolina, PR and immigrating with his mom in the early 1940s first to East New York and then to Harlem. He told me that he left the States in 1976 and moved first to Sevilla, Spain and then to Cordoba. My father had 7 children by four different wives. With his first wife Kathleen, he had Elisa. My mom was his 2nd wife and he had four children with my mom— Lisa, Maria, me, and Michael. Rita was his 3rd wife and they had my brother Jason. He then married Maria Josefa and had my baby sister Joanna, the only child of his to be born in Spain. Thus began my 10 year journey of getting to know not only my dad, but also the additional 3 children he brought with him.
After his first visit to NY in late 1991, I took a little over 2 years off from graduate school and moved to Cordoba to get to know him. It was a choice that took some of my relatives by surprise, but it was one that I have never regretted. Not once. The way I saw it, my mom always said he would be back and he did come back. She never spoke bad about him to us, and she really could have, but never did. My mother had an incredible faith in God. It was only because of her that I chose to walk out on faith and got to know him. I know she would be happy that all four of us finally got to reconnect with him. I like to think that the best parts of me I got from her. She was a forgiving person. Though she passed away in 1990, she has been my Guardian Angel Ancestor ever since.
My mother Joyce Greene Vega
From 1991 to 2001, I got to know Daddy Tony and I found the missing pieces of me. I learned so much just by being with him, talking with him, and visiting him in Spain. I learned that he was an only child on his mom’s side and that his parents divorced when he was a kid. His father, Antonio Vega Bonilla, later remarried and had additional children, but he didn’t know them. He also told me that his mom was born in Anasco, PR and grew up in Aguada and Aguadilla that and his dad was born in Susua Alta, Yauco PR. He told me all about growing up Puerto Rican in New York in the 1950s and 1960s. He was proud to be Boricua. Even after spending so much time in Spain, he always had the Puerto Rican flag hanging somewhere in his home.
My father died in Cordoba in April 2001. I got a call from Julia, his last wife, telling me that he he had a stroke and was brain dead. I immediately flew to Cordoba and met my sister Joanna there. We were with him for a couple of days before he passed away. At his funeral, I made a point of making sure there were floral arrangements from all 7 of his children, his grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. I wanted him to know that he was loved by his family to the very end.
After 10 years with him, I would never again feel as if one side of my ancestry took precedence over the other. I am Teresa Antonia Vega, child of Joyce Green Vega and Antonio Vega Noboa. I am African-American and I am Boricua! Or, as I sometimes say, I am Rice & Beans & Collard Greens. LOL But, most of all, I am me.
My grandmother Maria (Mae) Noboa Noboa and her 2nd husband, Alex Band
When I think about my 2nd great-grandmother, Julia Linnehan Mitchell, and her disownment by her family, I am reminded of the stupidity of the concept of race. What we call race is nothing more than a social construct. The idea of separate “races” was one that involved people, who had power, who then created ways to differentiate themselves from others so they could subjegate them. Race, as we know it today, is nothing more than a political-economic entity that has been ascribed to people who look different from others. There is but one race and that is the human race.
My third Irish great-grandparents disowned Julia for marrying outside of her “race.” When her relatives came to my 2nd great-grandfather’s farm after her death, they had but one goal in mind which was to rescue her white-looking children by taking them away from their “colored” father. I often wonder why they felt the need to rescue her children. James D. Mitchell, my 2nd great-grandfather, owned a farm and a store and was quite well-off compared to others around him. He was a proud husband and father. Because of James and Julia’s forethought and preparation, all 6 children remained with James which was also Julia’s wish.
When I first found my third cousin M. Dawn Terrell, I have to admit, I thought she was 100% Irish-American. I was so excited to have found a link to my Irish ancestry so I just made that assumption. I also knew my Nana Fischer was smiling down on me knowing that I was able to find that which she lost. It took a couple of emails for Dawn to tell me that she was also multi-racial. LOL Initially, I felt bad telling her about Julia’s disownment especially when she was raised knowing her Irish-American side. I’ve gotten over feeling bad becauseI truly believe that we found each other because our ancestors deemed it to be. And so it was!
In all honesty, I have come to accept that our Irish ancestors were simply products of their times. As recent immigrants to the United States, they just followed the “white” social mores of the times. I don’t feel any animosity towards them. I only feel that they were the ones who lost more—not just Julia, but also all of her descendants.
Dawn and I have exchanged photos of our ancestors. When I look at her great-grandmother, Annie Linnehan (my 2nd great-aunt), I see the features of my grandmother. When I look at her grandfather, Louis Hirshson, I see a resemblance to my great-uncles, Frank and Charles, right down to the dimple in all their chins. I find it also quite interesting that two first cousins, Louis and James, were both Episocpal ministers in Boston at the same time.
We are family. We may have lost each other due to historical circumstances, but we are back together. As my hometown preacher says, “Amen, belongs right there!”
This post is dedicated to my Irish-American 2nd great-grandmother, Julia Linnehan Mitchell.
Julia was born in Boston around 1875 to Irish immigrants, William Linnehan and Ellen Shaughnessy, who were from Buttevant, County Cork, Ireland. Sometime around 1894, Julia met my 2nd great-grandfather, James D. Mitchell. At the time, James owned a fish market in Boston. James had moved from Petersburg, VA to Boston after the Civil War. Both of his parents were tri-racial (Black/Native American and White parents). Somehow, Julia met James and fell in love. According to my great-grandmother, James traveled back to Petersburg and found a light-skinned Black women to marry in Julia’s name. It was a proxy marriage as interracial marriage was illegal at the time. With their 1895 marriage certificate in hand, he went back to Boston.
Julia’s marriage to James led to her being disowned by her entire family. I can’t imagine how this must have felt. Not being able to see or communicate with your parents or siblings must have hurt her immensely. To be rendered invisible by your own flesh and blood must have felt like being exiled. I know Julia wished that her whole family could be reunited at some point.
For an interracial couple, living together in Boston was very difficult. To stop from being harassed, James made the choice to move his family from Boston to Stoughton,MA, about a half-hour south of Boston. He purchased a farm and built a store on his property. The people in town used to refer to him as the “Old Indian” which is the only physical description we have of him. Life was good for a time. But, then Julia contracted tuberculosis.
My great-grandmother, Helen Mitchell Fischer, and me in 1967
Julia passed away on April 2, 1905 leaving a grieving husband and 6 small children. My aunt said she still possess the receipts from her funeral which included a horse drawn carriage. None of her own family attended her funeral, but two male family members —one was her brother— went to James’ farm after her death and wanted to take the white looking children, including my great-grandmother who was 6 years old. Of course, James told them where they could go. In the 1910 census, we see that he hired a caretaker to look after the kids while he was working.
Over a year ago, my cousin Andrea found a 2nd marriage certificate for James and Julia that documented their official marriage in Boston on February 28, 1905. I get emotional thinking that, as Julia lay on her deathbed, she was trying to guarantee that the lives of her children would be protected and they would remain with their father. James and Julia also switched their religion from being Catholic to being Episcopalian. Apparently, the Catholic Church would not allow a widower to keep his children with him. I admire the length to which my 2nd great-grandparents went to keep keep their family together. This was true love.
Fast Forward to 1978:
I was 11years old when I asked my grandmother, Why do we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? We always ate a boiled dinner on that day and I remember thinking that I wasn’t Irish, not with this brown skin (LOL), and I wondered why we were eating Irish food. My Nana’s response was, “Just look at your great-grandmother. ” Now, I knew what my Nana Fischer looked like, but, up until that time, she was just Nana Fischer. I never looked at her through a racial lens until that day. It was then that I learned about Julia. My great-grandmother never talked about her mother much as she died when she was very young. But, my Nana Fischer must have remembered her St. Patrick’s Day celebrations with her mom because that was what got passed down to us. And I am very thankful for that.
Fast Forward to January 2013:
I just just received my 23amdme.com DNA test results. I had been anticipating finding some of my Irish-American DNA cousins. I had also been debating how to bring up the disowning issue. When I got my results, the first surname I looked up was Linnehan/Lennihan. There was only one DNA cousin that had that surname and it was M. Dawn Terrell. I decide to reach our to her.
Dawn and Me
I sent Dawn an email that described my descent from the Linnehans. I also mentioned how Julia was disowned by her family and how my Nana Fischer clung to what little Irish culture she remembered. I also expressed how happy I was to have made contact with my Irish-American cousins.
Here was part of Dawn’s reply verbatim:
"It sounds as if Julia and James had a really strong bond, as they went to a lot of trouble to be together despite the discrimination against them as an interracial couple. Interesting that the Linnehans were so against their union, and yet here are two of their descendants, both interracial, connecting all these many generations later! And it sounds like the one thing that was passed down in both our families was a respect for the Linnehan's Irish heritage."
It turns out that Dawn and I are 3rd cousins 1X removed. Her great-grandmother Annie (my 2nd great aunt) and Julia were sisters. Dawn is the only DNA cousin whom I have found that I have a paper trail for too. She is also one of my highest matches on 23andme, FTDNA, AncestryDNA and Gedmatch. Every time I see her name, I smile knowing that she is the link to my Irish-American ancestry.
So, three generations later, the descendants of Julia and Annie are back together again. I truly believe that Julia is smiling down on us knowing that her wish has been granted.
Fast Forward to November 2013:
I found out through AncestryDNA that I am 13% Irish. Julia will always be with me.
I was raised by my maternal grandparents, Richard and Mildred Greene, who never stopped talking about their families. One of the stories my grandmother loved to share was how my Grandad’s father, Grandpa Green, ruined a bunch of tintypes. I used to love listening to her go over all the details. Decades after the fact, she was still “stewing” as my Grandad would say.
Grandpa Green and a friend
The story was told to me this way. When Grandpa Green was in his 80s in the mid-1960s, he used to live with my grandparents. At the time, my grandfather was a funeral director/embalmer who owned his own funeral home in Brockton, MA and my grandmother was always by his side to help him. One day, while they were overseeing a funeral, Grandpa Green decided that he wanted to label all the tintypes that he had in his possession. There were about 30 tintypes that had been taken in the late 1800s and early 1900s in New Jersey. They included photos of his family and friends. My grandmother remembered coming upstairs after the funeral only to discover that Grandpa Green had labeled the tintypes by putting the names of the people on the FRONT side of the tintypes. It always irked my grandmother that he didn’t think to put the names on the back of the tintypes. She always believed that he ruined them.
While I could certainly see her perspective on this, I always believed that Grandpa Green felt an urgent need to document the names of my ancestors and their friends before he passed away. It seemed to me that he wanted the names on the front for a reason— almost as if to say, there once was a person named…I believe Grandpa Green was leaving us a gift. Who knew that decades later, his gift would be welcomed with open arms and that he would leave clues for me and Andrea to follow in our family history search?
I remember seeing the tintype of my 2nd great-grandmother and realizing my own mother was a “throwback.” My mom didn’t look like her parents, but she looked a whole lot like her great-grandmother Laura Thompson Green.
My 2 great-grandmother, Laura Thompson Green and Grandpa Green
When I first met Andrea, she only knew her great-grandmother’s name, Goldie, but had never seen a photo of her. My aunt, who has the tintypes in her possession, gave Andrea the tintype of Goldie. What a gift that was. Thanks Grandpa Green!
I’ve had an Ancestry.com account since 2001. But, most of the time, I only signed up for a couple of months, did a little research, and then logged off for months, even years. Back in March of 2011, one of my older cousins mentioned that one of our Washington ancestor may have been a descendant of slaves owned by Martha Washington. I was intrigued by this info and decided to do some research on Ancestry.com. I was on Ancestry for a couple of days before I realized that someone had emailed me. That someone was my 3rd cousin Andrea.
My 3rd cousin Andrea
Andrea had sent me 5 messages over the course of a year! Each email stated the same thing. She wrote, “I think we are related. My great-grandmother was Goldie Green.” I have to say, I was thrilled that Andrea kept contacting me. My great-grandfather and Goldie were siblings so we share the same 2nd great-grandparents. I immediately wrote her back and told her to call me ASAP. We chatted for a long time and I was able to email her photos of our 2nd great grandparents as well as Goldie and her siblings. If there is one thing I knew from jump street, it was Andrea is tenacious and I love that about her.
From our first phone call, we have been joined at the hip when it comes to researching our maternal family history. We tend to compliment each other when it comes to doing research. For example, looking through wills and probate records is not exactly my cup of tea, but Andrea is a wizard at finding this info and I love looking through historical newspapers and going to the NJ Historical Society to do primary research. It is so good to have someone close to me who has also been bitten by the genealogy bug as much as I have. We probably have a reputation in the family now as the Crazy Genealogy Cousins, but we are cool with that. LOL
When I first met Andrea in person a couple of years ago, the first thing I said was how much she looked like a Green girl. When I look at her, I see my great Aunt Lizzie, one of my grandfather’s sisters. What do you think?
