Matching DNA samples, scientists and historians have been working to trace the ancestry of first lady Michelle Obama, which they have currently traced back to Northern Georgia. According to the New York Times, her ancestors were both slaves and the slave masters because of interracial couplings through the years. Her white relatives have been sent this information, it’s a lot to take in.
The Root has given details of First Lady Michelle Obama’s ancestral findings:
“The bloodlines of Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Tribble extend back to a 200-acre farm that was not far from here. One of their common ancestors was Henry Wells Shields, Mrs. Tribble’s great-great-grandfather. He was a farmer and a family man who grew cotton, Indian corn and sweet potatoes. He owned Mrs. Obama’s maternal great-great-great-grandmother, Melvinia Shields, who was about 8 years old when she arrived on his farm sometime around 1852.
The DNA tests and research indicate that one of his sons, Charles Marion Shields, is the likely father of Melvinia’s son Dolphus, who was born around 1860. Dolphus T. Shields was the first lady’s maternal great-great-grandfather. His identity and that of his mother, Melvinia, were first reported in an article in The New York Times in 2009, which also indicated that he must have had a white father.”
Look for more information on The Root
