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PDFFrom Politico:
According to a new study, President Obama is likely related to John Punch, the first enslaved African in the American colonies — by way of his white mother.
“Two of the most historically significant African Americans in the history of our country are amazingly directly related,” said Ancestry.com genealogist Joseph Shumway in a release. “Punch was more than likely the genesis of legalized slavery in America. But after centuries of suffering, the Civil War, and decades of civil rights efforts, his 11th great-grandson became the leader of the free world and the ultimate realization of the American Dream.”
According to Ancestry.com researchers, Punch was an indentured servant in colonial Virginia in 1640, when he tried to escape his servitude. His punishment for his attempt to escape was lifetime enslavement.
Using colonial Virginia records and a DNA analysis, the researchers conclude that Obama definitely has African ties on his maternal side — and that Punch is the logical candidate. Obama’s mother Stanley Ann Dunham is the descendent of landowners in colonial Virginia — ancestors who apparently have an African background.
Existing colonial records suggest that Punch had children with a white woman — and those children were born free of slavery thanks to their mother’s race and status.
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