DNA of enslaved iron workers illuminates African American history
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[August 04, 2023]
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Not far from Camp David, the U.S. presidential
retreat in Catoctin Mountain Park in Maryland, lies the remnants of an
iron forge called Catoctin Furnace founded in the late 18th century, an
important site for understanding the dawn of the Industrial Revolution
in early U.S. history.
The site now also is providing unique insight into African American
history thanks to research involving DNA obtained from the remains of 27
individuals buried in a cemetery for enslaved people at Catoctin
Furnace. The study reveals the ancestry of some of the enslaved people
who toiled there in the decades after the nation's founding and
identified thousands of living relatives, many still in Maryland.
The cemetery was used from 1774-1850. The remains, held at the
Smithsonian Institution since being excavated in the 1970s due to
highway construction, were of 16 males and 11 females, ranging from
infants to adults over age 60.
They were found to have descended from just a few African populations,
in particular West Africa's Wolof and Mandinka peoples and Central
Africa's Kongo people, and have strong genetic connections to
present-day populations in Senegal, Gambia, Angola and the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Aug/04/images/ads/current/remington_sda_FAIR_2023.png)
Millions of people were transported from Africa to the Americas from the
16th to 19th century in the transatlantic slave trade, a brutal chapter
in human history. A lack of documentation regarding these people has
left descendants with scant information about their own familial
backgrounds.
"This knowledge was severed by slavery - a truth that has implications
for African Americans far beyond the community of Catoctin Furnace,"
said anthropologist Kari Bruwelheide of the Smithsonian's National
Museum of Natural History in Washington, a co-author of the study
published on Wednesday in the journal Science.
"This study demonstrates the power of genomics to reconstruct some of
what has been destroyed. For African American and United States history,
revealing these stories and family legacies is important to
understanding and acknowledging who we are, where we came from and how
we are connected to each other today," Bruwelheide added.
Enslaved people of African descent were forced to work in agricultural,
industrial and domestic settings in parts of the United States. Slavery
ended with the 1861-1865 U.S. Civil War.
The furnace is a few miles from Camp David in Cunningham Falls State
Park. It grew into a village complex, with industrial buildings and
housing. Workers mined iron ore, kept the furnace burning and made
various goods - stoves, pots, utensils and even cannon balls. Enslaved
people dominated its labor force until hiring European immigrants became
cheaper by the mid-19th century.
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![](../images/080423PIX/news_m23.jpg)
A view of the site of the Catoctin
Furnace, an iron forge where enslaved people of African descent once
worked, in Cunningham Falls State Park in Maryland, U.S., in this
undated photograph. Aneta Kaluzna/Handout via REUTERS
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Aug/04/images/ads/current/graue_lda_GREYTRUCKpreowned_070323.jpg)
In a first-of-its-kind analysis, the researchers examined historical
DNA alongside genetic testing company 23andMe's personal ancestry
database to identify 41,799 Americans related to the 27 individuals,
including 2,975 close relatives.
"Enslaved African Americans are largely excluded from the historical
record, and in documents where they are mentioned, they are often
treated as property, not as people," said 23andMe population
geneticist and study lead author Éadaoin Harney. "I hope that this
study can help to restore some of the information about the lives of
the Catoctin individuals that has otherwise been lost to time."
The people identified in the study as relatives of the 27
individuals have not yet been notified of those findings, according
to the researchers and 23andMe.
"We are considering a way to thoughtfully and ethically return
results to those in the 23andMe database who would like to know if
they are connected to the Catoctin Furnace individuals," 23andMe
spokesperson Andy Kill said.
The study found some European ancestry in a majority of the 27,
aligning with the history of sexual exploitation of enslaved people
by enslavers and others. It found that some of the 27 carried risk
factors for sickle cell anemia and G6PD deficiency, genetic
conditions involving red blood cell abnormalities still common among
African Americans.
"The experiences of African Americans within the early industrial
complex of the United States are not completely understood and their
labors in this system have not been thoroughly explored or
acknowledged," Smithsonian anthropologist and study co-author
Kathryn Barca said.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Aug/04/images/ads/current/wellsfirearms_sda_FAIR_2023.png)
"We hope this paper gives voice to these 27 individuals while it
acknowledges their origins and centers their histories within the
broader context of the United States," Barca added. "In this way, it
can help to begin to restore their identity stripped by
enslavement."
(Reporting by Will Dunham, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
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