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Part 1: Document Description
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Citation |
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Title: |
The Genetic Legacy of the 17th-Century American Colony of St. Mary’s City, Maryland |
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Identification Number: |
doi:10.7910/DVN/6IHEYQ |
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Distributor: |
Harvard Dataverse |
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Date of Distribution: |
2026-03-31 |
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Version: |
1 |
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Bibliographic Citation: |
Harney, Eadaoin, 2026, "The Genetic Legacy of the 17th-Century American Colony of St. Mary’s City, Maryland", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/6IHEYQ, Harvard Dataverse, V1 |
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Citation |
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Title: |
The Genetic Legacy of the 17th-Century American Colony of St. Mary’s City, Maryland |
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Identification Number: |
doi:10.7910/DVN/6IHEYQ |
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Authoring Entity: |
Harney, Eadaoin (23andMe) |
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Distributor: |
Harvard Dataverse |
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Access Authority: |
Harney, Eadaoin |
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Depositor: |
Harney, Eadaoin |
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Date of Deposit: |
2026-03-26 |
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Holdings Information: |
https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/6IHEYQ |
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Study Scope |
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Keywords: |
Medicine, Health and Life Sciences, Human Genetics, Population History, Ancient DNA |
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Abstract: |
We analyzed the genomes of 48 individuals from 17th-century St. Mary’s City, Maryland’s founding English settlement, to trace their ancestry, examine the enduring legacy of this colonial American founder population, and demonstrate the efficacy of using an identical-by-descent (IBD) approach to link historical individuals to the present. In our analysis, we identified over 1.3 million genetic relatives of the St. Mary’s individuals among consenting research participants in the 23andMe Research Institute’s database. We found high rates of genetic sharing with participants from western England and Wales, suggesting a likely place of origin for many of the colonial city’s earliest inhabitants. Additionally, we observed strong genetic connections with participants from Kentucky, mirroring a recorded post-Revolutionary War migration of Maryland Catholics to that region. By further integrating genealogical information from present-day research participants who share the closest genetic connections to the St. Mary’s individuals, we propose possible identities for three sequenced historical St. Mary’s City residents, including Thomas Greene, the second governor of the colony of Maryland. This unique case study highlights the power of genetics to restore lost identities to the historical record and reconstruct ancestral relationships by tracing localized signals of biogeographical ancestry. |
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Methodology and Processing |
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Sources Statement |
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Data Access |
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Notes: |
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0">CC0 1.0</a> |
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Other Study Description Materials |
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Related Publications |
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Citation |
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Title: |
Harney et al (2026) "The Genetic Legacy of the 17th-Century American Colony of St. Mary’s City, Maryland" |
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Bibliographic Citation: |
Harney et al (2026) "The Genetic Legacy of the 17th-Century American Colony of St. Mary’s City, Maryland" |
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Label: |
Harney_etal_2026_StMarys.tar.gz |
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Text: |
This dataset includes (1) pseudohaploid and (2) imputed and phased DNA data from 48 individuals described in Harney et al. (2026). Additionally, you may find sequence data for these individuals in the European Nucleotide Archive (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/) under the following accession numbers: - Philip Calvert and his infant son: PRJEB16735 - 46 other St. Mary's individuals: PRJEB110565 |
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Notes: |
application/x-gzip |