PORTSMOUTH — Per approval of the city’s African Burying Ground Stewardship Committee, two sets of remains from the historic 1700s site will undergo genome sequencing and forensic genealogical analysis — an effort to learn more about the lives led by these individuals, with a remote possibility of finding living descendants today.
The City Council this week authorized the expenditure of up to $10,450 from the African Burying Ground Trust to conduct the DNA sequencing project, which is already underway in partnership with Othram, a Texas-based laboratory that applies cutting-edge genomics to forensics to deliver full genome insight from degraded and low-input DNA samples.
At a November meeting, the African Burying Ground Stewardship Committee authorized sending the pulverized bone and teeth fragments from two separate burials for analysis, a decision made as a result of several meetings featuring the input of University of New Hampshire anthropology professors, the Independent Archaeological Associates, state archaeologist and descendant community.
The stewardship committee was established last year as a city Blue Ribbon Committee, following the dismissal of an original committee appointed to best honor and upkeep the historic grounds between State and Court streets, where in October 2003, the buried remains of 13 people determined to be from the 1700s were uncovered during a city infrastructure project.
Eight burials were exhumed and all were determined to be of African ancestry. In 2015, the city debuted a memorial at the site.
Genetic analysis work was previously done at the African Burial Ground in New York City, the oldest and largest known excavated burial ground in North America for both free and enslaved Africans. The site is now a national park, and was also discovered during a construction project.
The testing of these samples comes as new technology has opened up a world of fascination with genealogy — where a person can mail saliva to a service, and within three to five weeks, be able to start making family connections online. These websites include well-known ancestry.com and 23andme.com.
In 2018, FamilySearch announced it had the largest collection of genealogical and historical records in the world — 5.8 billion of which are searchable online. Some say genealogy is now America’s second-most popular hobby.
The samples from the Portsmouth African Burying Ground must first be tested for viability, at a cost of $2,946. If determined viable, forensic genealogical efforts will be undertaken for $6,998.
One set of the remains, identified as #3, is the oldest individual of the 13 Africans buried at the site. While there is currently no gender confirmation, characteristics of teeth indicate likelihood of female with high potential of bearing offspring.
The second set of remains, identified as #12, is a middle-aged male with an accompanying child.
“This is big,” said Vernis Jackson, former chair of the original African Burying Ground Committee. “I want to find out whether there’s any kind of connection with anybody in this community, or in any community. Maybe some connection might be made here, and if it does happen, that would be one of my goals.”
Jackson said the results may help the local African American community find out more about “who is there.”
Valerie Cunningham, founder of the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail, said the DNA analysis is not a search for descendants.
“That seems the first response to any mention of DNA,” she said. “My concern is that we try to learn as much as possible about the people of African descent who were in this area during the time of activity at the African Burying Ground. That is an area that forensic archeology can help with. Of course, genealogical curiosity is important, too, but that will happen in due time without us.”
Former City Councilor Chris Dwyer, who serves on the stewardship committee and has been with the project since its inception, said the testing could determine diseases or trauma these individuals may have had as children, or the kind of diet they ate.
“It’s very important that we do this to contribute to the DNA database of African American ancestry, which is really smaller than some of the other databases,” Dwyer said.
Dwyer emphasized these remains were not disturbed, but rather preserved immediately after discovery in 2003 with the hope of future technological advancement in the forensic sphere. At the time, it was important to the descendant community, she said, to balance learning more about ancestry with not disturbing the sacred grounds.
The remains have since been kept in a laboratory setting, Dwyer said.
It’s also important to members of the committee, Dwyer said, that people keep their speculations to a minimum and instead let the process “be guided by science.” It’s human nature to want to fill in gaps, she noted, but the reality is, “there are things we don’t know.”
“What we learn now will be more than we knew 20 years ago, and 20 years from now we’ll know more than we do today,” Dwyer said.
JerriAnne Boggis, director of the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, is a non-voting member of the stewardship committee. She said the forensic testing could help “bring the people to life, especially people that we had written off, forgotten, buried over, simply because of their race.”
Boggis has particular interest in connecting any scientific findings with cultural history. This year’s Juneteenth celebration, which takes place annually at the burying ground, will be centered around “food for the body, food for the soul.” There’s the possibility the individuals’ teeth may reveal what food they ate, and that could be incorporated in the event, she said.
“I think the more we know about our early African citizens in New Hampshire, the better we can honor their stories,” Boggis said.
