Founder’s Musings   •   December 4, 2024

Copyright, 2024, Allison Peacock

Sometimes in life, way out beyond our personal control, several things converge at once to inspire us that life can be a beautiful tapestry, and if we’re attentive to the details, we can see that we’re literally a part of the warp and the weft of creation. In fact, my venture into my life’s work in investigative genealogy was much the same. Solving three different decades long mysteries in the span of a few weeks while hearing my loved ones urge me to do this work finally delivered the unmistakable message that it was time.

Right now, this history buff is learning the stories of a whole new hometown, finishing up a project for a private genealogy patron, trying to adjust to the realities of where our country might be headed after January 20, and suddenly, preparing my team for a groundbreaking new forensic project. As the past few weeks unfolded, I couldn’t help but realize all of these things have converged around the story of the American Revolution and the ideals of democracy and liberty. While many of the wars of man are fought for religion, property or profits, the American Revolution was unique in our history. We literally fought for our freedom. This conflict leaves me pondering the ultimate sacrifice of brave men for something greater than themselves.

I wholeheartedly believe in the idea that gave birth to America, yet I’ve also never had the heart for the colonization and racism on which this country was founded. It was a radical idea – to create a society based on the principles of liberty, equality, democracy, and self-determination. It sought to break away from centuries of kings and tyrants, and unjust limitations on “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” At least for some of us. It is profoundly disappointing that our founding fathers were so blind to those same rights for the people who lived here for millennia before we arrived, as well as the rights of those who were forced here in bondage from their homes in Africa.

A new perspective

I want to begin my musings about how this country came to be, and the incredible opportunity in my work centered on that beginning, with a note about my home and the place from which I now draw my newly enriched perspective. In spite of my previous five and a half decades spent as a Texan, I am now living on the traditional lands of the Kanien’keháka (Mohawk Haudenosaunee) and Muh-he-con-neok (Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans) of Upstate New York, who were stewards of this land for generations before the arrival of European colonists.

Since childhood, I have always sought to educate myself about the past in order to help create a better, more equitable future. There is a difficult and traumatic history between those who colonized these lands and the original inhabitants. This does not diminish the gratitude I feel for those who made my life and my freedom here possible, even if I often grieve for those whose cultures and ways of life were destroyed for me to have it.

As a new Upstater I’m literally surrounded by the reminders of some of the longest running documented history in the country. Texas doesn’t have anything to compare with the history one encounters on a daily basis in New York. For a history nerd, this is heaven. There are at least 25 historical markers within a 5 miles radius of my home in a mountainous rural area outside the state capitol in Albany. It is also one of the earliest sites of European encroachment onto this land.

Genealogist Allison Peacock’s 10th great grandfather Joannes Nevius’ signature can be found on many of the earliest records of New York City.

Among the first Europeans that encroached upon the Kanien’keháka and Muh-he-con-neok people in New York was my 10th great grandfather, Joannes Nevius (1627-1672), the third secretary of New York City, when it was known as New Amsterdam under New Netherland rule. He also served as the first secretary when it received its current name under the English. In addition to his political service, my ancestor ran the East River ferry and a tavern in the ferry house. He was also involved in the building of the original 17th century defensive wall around New Amsterdam, which became Wall Street.

If you’d told me as a young history-obsessed girl living in East Texas that this was the case, I’d probably not have believed you. My frame of reference was limited to the knowledge that both of my parents’ families lived in Arkansas for 150 years, including Joannes Nevius’ 5th great granddaughter, my 3rd great grandmother, Mary Jane Neafus Lampton. I also never in my wildest dreams saw myself living in Upstate New York. I was born, and thought I’d forever be, a Southerner.

Yet, here I am.

Nearly one third of all of the battles of the American Revolution were fought in New York State. The capture of Fort Ticonderoga, the Battles of Oriskany, Newtown and Saratoga are just a few of the major events that took place on New York soil.

The American Revolution wasn’t even the only revolution that happened in New York. In 1839, just a little over 50 years after the war for our independence, came the Helderberg War. Named for the mountains upon which my feet currently touch the earth, this was a violent grassroots anti-rent revolt which began one mile down the road from our home. It signaled the end of the leasehold tenure of wealthy land owners in upstate New York. The area’s patroon, one of the country’s first one percenters, had pushed the thousands of inhabitants of his land too far.

When rallying for their cause, they issued their own declaration of independence, promising: “We will take up the ball of the Revolution where our fathers stopped it and roll it to the final consummation of freedom and independence of the masses.” They were eventually successful and ended with the passage of laws that made feudal tenures illegal and outlawed abusive leases.

So why am I waxing on about the rich history of my new home? Another site not far from me is that of the Battle of Saratoga – just 50 miles away. And I’ve had Saratoga on the brain these days. Not only is it nearby, this is where my latest genealogy publishing client’s 4th great grandfather, Richmond Dedman and his fellow Morgan’s Riflemen helped ensure the American defeat of the British Army during our fight to become an independent nation. So I was writing about it just last month. Team FHD accepts these private genealogy and publishing commissions to help generate needed funding for unidentified remains cases.

Just as I put the finishing touches on this book for the printer, the paperwork arrived for a project to identify casualties from the Battle of Camden. It’s a project we’ve dreamed about for almost 2 years. And not only does Saratoga relate to my own location and this client’s family tree, it was also a key factor in the disaster at Camden. How it is all woven together at one moment in my life is the stuff of confidence that my life is just as it should be.

Military historian David Smith, author of Camden 1780: The Annihilation of Gates’ Grand Army believes that one third of all American battlefield casualties during the American Revolution’s Southern Campaign occurred in this single encounter with the British on August 16, 1780. General Gates, fresh from his glory at Saratoga, arrived in North Carolina on July 25, 1780 to take command of the troops there. Two days later, the ‘Hero of Saratoga’ ordered his army to take the direct road to Camden, South Carolina against the advice of his officers. It proved to be a devastating decision.

High on his earlier victory, Gates erred in assuming General Charles Cornwallis shared the inexperience of his former British adversary, Burgoyne. Cornwallis was actually a gifted strategist and Camden was an unmitigated disaster for the American forces. This misjudgment, a severe lack of rations, and illness doomed our soldiers before they began. Hundreds of men – literally the entire Continental force – lost their lives or were wounded or captured.

Many have called it a slaughter.

The casualties at the Battle of Camden were buried hastily and poorly where they fell by the victors in control of the area. The Continentals had all been killed or captured, with a handful escaping. Most of these field burials were incredibly shallow. During the 1990s, relic hunters came upon one such grave while scouring the area for military ephemera. Archaeologist James Legg with the University of South Carolina’s Institute of Archaeology & Anthropology (SCIAA) began surveying the battlefield in 2001 in hopes of enacting some form of preservation for the remains. He spent the next 20 years interviewing people who had been to the site, carrying out his own extensive explorations, some with colleague Steve Smith, and eventually employing ground penetrating radar studies.

Archaeologists with the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology (SCIAA) at USC have studied the Camden Battlefield for decades, but their most recent finding is the discovery of a lifetime. While excavating endangered shallow field burials, archaeologists uncovered this pewter button from a soldier’s uniform, top, and a flattened musket ball, bottom. Some of the items recovered helped identify likely regiments for the remains recently unearthed during the groundbreaking preservation project.

The South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust (SCBPT), in partnership with and on behalf of the Historic Camden Foundation, contracted with SCIAA in 2022 to excavate at least five firmly located battlefield burials. The project quickly expanded to 14 individuals in seven different grave features.

Our clients at the Richland County Coroner’s Office (RCCO) in nearby Columbia, South Carolina were called in to handle the remains and asked us to help plan an investigation to see if identifications could be made for these patriots. In theory, the DNA science is basically the same whether you’re identifying someone who died a week ago, or many years ago, or so you’d hope. What is different is the type of research required to prove such distant genetic connections.

We toured the battlefield and examined the remains on a trip to South Carolina in March of 2023.

Why do it?

I mentioned my own personal philosophy and values about learning from the past. By the same token, I think learning from the past as a country is essential to creating a better future. The lessons we learn from history offer valuable insights into how we can make improvements. Without exception, every unknown subject identification I’ve been involved with over the past 5 years has had a great impact on all parties involved, from survivors and relatives to the forensic experts we collaborated with. I’m even told by survivors that it literally changed their lives.

This investigation has even broader implications for a greater number of people. We can never know what we’ll learn until we get there. To a case, there have unforeseen impacts of this work. I am constantly humbled by it.

Can men who died more than 200 years ago be identified using genetic genealogy? Although, there is no record that it’s been done before in the U.S., we gain inspiration from the identifications of England’s King Richard III (died 1485) and Anna Catharina Bischoff aka The Lady of the Barfüsser Church in Switzerland, who died in 1787. Both cases relied on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) – that which is passed down from mother to child and most often survives in ancient DNA if all else fails. It is this type of DNA that has been extracted from leather in Beethoven’s grand piano and in mummies and famous historical figures who died centuries ago.

It’s not an easy task. In the Barfüsser Church case, genealogists were required to trace back seven generations before Anna to find a female ancestor from the 16th century who had daughters whose descendants were alive today. Those living descendants were 15 generations away from the common ancestor due to the fact that Anna and her husband, pastor Lucas Gernler only had one daughter who had children. That daughter had only sons. Sons inherit mtDNA from their mothers, thankfully for our investigation, but they do not pass it on. This is the puzzle we face.

In fact, due to the time elapsed since death, three different kinds of DNA profiling and genealogical research will be employed to learn more about these heroes who laid silently in the earth in a long leaf pine forest for 244 years. Individuals like Patriot 9B, a 16 -18 year old Maryland boy who was discovered in a burial with four other soldiers. Along with mtDNA, we hope to gain clues to guide our genealogy research from the paternal line. Leveraging the large number of surname projects featuring Revolutionary era ancestors using YDNA passed down directly from father to son will yield another kind of clue. Lastly, we will trace autosomal DNA (atDNA), like that found in a typical consumer DNA test. Initial data analysis of the atDNA matches is promising.

The greatest concern is simply whether you’ll find viable DNA after so long, and whether usable raw data can be generated for upload and comparison to modern DNA consumers. This informed our choice to recommend the paleogeneticists at Astrea Forensics, one of the top ancient DNA labs in the world. They’ve consistently come through for us with exceptionally difficult samples, including those of a young African man who was submerged in a South Carolina marsh for at least 100 years before a hurricane disturbed his remains. We are closer than ever on this identification, recently discovering a likely 2nd cousin match after a year of community DNA testing.

So far, we have workable DNA profiles for two of our Camden patriots. And Team FHD includes a haplogroup expert who has been working with both YDNA and mtDNA research for 20 years. We will be able to learn a tremendous amount about these men and their families. If the planets align, perhaps even a name.

Dr. Bill Stevens and Deputy Coroner Dr. Madeline Atwell of the Richland County Coroner’s Office (RCCO) take great care during the archaeological recovery of a Battle of Camden casualty whose battlefield grave in South Carolina was being exposed by the elements. Photo by Sarah Nell Blackwell, courtesy of South Carolina Battlefield Preservation Trust (SCBPT).

Patriot 9B’s human remains, along with those of 13 other men, some discovered less than six inches below the surface in seven separate locations across the battlefield, were carefully excavated, and removed over an eight-week period in the fall of 2022. RCCO anthropologists Dr. Bill Stevens, Dr. Madeline ‘Mattie’ Atwell and Rachel Baker assisted in the final stages of removal, transport to the coroner’s office, and forensic study of the remains.

Without a British veteran on hand, Richland County Deputy Coroner Dr. Bill Stevens – who was actually born in Aberdeen, Scotland – volunteered to carry the flag draped remains of a Scottish Highlander from the battlefield excavation site to his facility before reinterment. Photo courtesy of SCBPT.

When the historical archaeologists at SCIAA approached the anthropology team at RCCO to help on the project, Atwell recalls SCIAA’s sensitivity in framing their request. “How do we get these people safely and kindly and ethically out of the ground?” Knowing the aim of the project was to apply reverence and honor to the soldiers made it an easy decision for them to join the effort.

This same level of respect and integrity inspired my personal confidence in the project, and made it easy to decide that FHD Forensics and I would join the collaboration.

The RCCO team of Stevens, Atwell, and Baker took custody of the remains for bioanthropological analysis. This provided an estimated  biological profile from the skeleton – this included biological sex, age, ancestry, stature, and signs of battlefield trauma.

Like everything done with these heroes, the process was somber and respectful from beginning to end. Each individual’s box was draped in a flag before being carried back to the coroner’s office. In fact, U.S. veterans were called upon to carry the remains of the Continentals.

No stone was left unturned throughout the process of excavating, analyzing, and planning for the ceremony to honor and rebury the soldiers last year. A custom woodworker and blacksmith ensured accuracy of their caskets, down to the hand forged nails.

Finally laid to rest.

Of the fourteen soldiers’ remains recovered at the Camden Battlefield site, there were twelve Continentals, one British Loyalist, and one Scottish Highlander with the 71st Regiment of Foot (British). Thirteen were honored on April 20-22, 2023 and laid to rest shortly thereafter.

Several details about the Loyalist’s recovery alerted anthropologists immediately to the probability that he was Native American. The Camden Burials team is working closely with native elders to ensure proper handling of those remains. That individual will be honored on a later date in a private ceremony. He was not a part of the larger public ceremony or the DNA sampling.

Thousands of Native Americans fought with the British forces, likely due to fear that an independent United States would mean further loss of their land. Given how I began this narrative, although not one of our subjects, the Loyalist has a unique place in my heart.

In a remarkable effort to ensure each of the other 13 soldiers received the highest of military honors and support, there was a British presence in attendance on behalf of the Highlander. A large contingency of U.S. military served the Continentals as pall bearers and honor guard. The U.S. Air Force 79th Fighter Squadron pilots, 20th Fighter Wing from Shaw Air Force Base performed a flyover. If you’ve got Kleenexes handy, you can watch that here.

Historian Rick Wise, now CEO of SCBPT after the death of Doug Bostick, architect of the 3 day funeral event, set the tone in some final words delivered to the international crowd that day:

And today we gather to acknowledge their service and sacrifice that fate denied them over two-hundred and forty-two years ago. Fate brought all these soldiers here far from home. And fate determined that they remained here in this hallowed ground of this pine forest in shallow unmarked graves to face eternity. Before us, the soldiers in these coffins are just some of the casualties from the Battle of Camden . . . These thirteen soldiers are not statistics, they lie before not as an excerpt of history. But they are tangible and real. They represent the other four hundred plus soldiers spread across this hallowed ground hidden and unknown to us under a few inches of Earth in unmarked graves.

In a recent conversation with Rick, a veteran himself, he admitted that this has been an incredibly emotional undertaking for him, like I know it has been for many on the multi-agency team. While working with Bostick on the Camden Burials funeral event, he lost many a night’s sleep waking up in the middle of the night and thinking of the men they were honoring. It inspired him to write down his thoughts, like those above, and he soon found himself on the agenda for the event where he closed out the ceremony reading them.

From left, archaeologist and director of SCIAA, Dr. Steve Smith, investigative genealogist Allison Peacock of FHD Forensics, and archaeologist, Mr. James Legg at the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology (SCIAA) after a 2023 tour of the historic Camden battlefield.

Since some of my team and I had just visited Camden in March, we did not return for the one of a kind military funeral. Thankfully, Mark Miklos, a designer of games based on Battles of the American Revolution, attended the Camden Burials and wrote a comprehensive travel blog in which he chronicled his experience. Fellow history nerds might enjoy a read.

I don’t know how long it will take me to gain insights into what all this convergence means. That process takes patience and mindfulness. It comes when it comes. I do know that I’m grateful for being given the opportunity of a lifetime to study something very few people in the world have had occasion to study. As a lifelong student it’s nirvana.

What can we learn now, from Camden?

I agree with historian and author, Harry Schenawolf of the Revolutionary War Journal that the most notable characteristic of Camden was not that it was a humiliating defeat, but for the men who remained on the battlefield that day, their proudest moment. When the militias making up two-thirds of the American army threw down their weapons and ran from the battlefield, a few men of great heart remained.

In his article on the Battle of Camden, Schenawolf praised the proud Delaware and Maryland patriots who honored their nation that day. To a man they died, were wounded, or were captured. In addition to these Continentals, Lt. Col. Henry “Hal” Dixon’s North Carolina militia stood firm until the end.

That is the legacy of Camden. Not the cowardice of men faced with the ultimate choice, including the commanding American general, but those who understood what it took to fully honor a cause, to grasp it firmly, and be prepared to stand by it, no matter what. The Battle of Camden has gone down in history as a devastating defeat for the American Army, but not so for the Continental soldiers who gave their all that day.

How many of us today are given an opportunity to stand strong in the face of certain disaster and remain committed, no matter what? I know few people who have been given the occasion to exemplify this kind of conviction.

What I can do, generations later, is my own small part to ensure that the ones who did are given as much respect and appreciation as possible.