President Obama Related To Country’s First Enslaved Man

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obama1A study from Ancestry.com has determined that President Obama is related to John Punch, the first black African enslaved for life in America–which would make Punch the 11th great-grandfather of Obama.

The connection is made through Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunhan. The website’s records say she had ancestors who were white landowners in Colonial Virginia who descended from an African man, Punch.

According to the site’s press release, Punch tried to escape indentured servitude in colonial Virginia in 1640 and was punished by becoming enslaved for life. The records show that Punch had children with a white woman, and her status as free was passed on to her offspring. Punch’s descendents became successful landowners in the slave-owning state of Virginia.

This would mean that the first documented slave and the first African American president have a shared lineage, claim researchers. Said Ancestry.com’s genealogist Joseph Shumway, “John 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.”

Genealogists seem to be fascinated with the current president’s family tree: The site has also traced anIrish branch of Obama’s family. And researchers at the New England Historic Genealogical Society claim he is the distant cousin of six past presidents, including George W. Bush.

Source: THE LOOKOUT

{Matzav.com Newscenter}


5 COMMENTS

  1. Genealogy is a fascinating field. Researching Pres. Obama’s lineage is obviously of interest to some people. I spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars on researching my ancestry, especially on my father’s side back to 1796 in 2001/2002. It was a remarkable investigative journey that was completely and utterly private and personal. More people should take an interest in their family history.

    P.S. As all good Jewish genealogists know, Moshiach must be descended patrilineally from King David via Solomon. (Aryeh Kaplan explains.) This prophecy may seem esoteric and unbelievable but there is a reason for it. There are men alive today who can trace such lineage, (DNA tests and historical records help) but there is a combination of factors which will validate the true Moshiach. The chronology is crucial.

  2. As a math teacher once explained, you have 2 grandparents, 4 great grandparents, and so on exponentially. Assuming there are about 20 generations in 500 years, that means that 500 years ago a million people had to be alive then for you be alive now. Obviously there’s lots of overlap.

    Point is, this is moving and symbolic, no doubt. (And much as I’m not enamored of the president’s policies I think his election made a powerful positive impact in some communities.)
    But this isn’t surprising.

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