Comments on: Eminent Women: Ann Fairfax Washington Lee and Susanna Rogers Sangiovanni Pickett Keate, Part 1

By: Amy T

Amy T — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:40:30 +0000

Wow. Thanks for commenting, Jan. That's fascinating. I'm not a technical person, so I don't know all the details of maternal vs. paternal DNA tests and what the test you took would show. If it does show your ancestral line back to Anne Fairfax's grandmother, it could mean that the reports of African ancestry were yet another way that she became a pawn in a political game. I wonder if anyone reading this blog is an expert on what DNA tests do and do not show and could help interpret the test. I think one institution that would be interested in the question of Anne's ancestry would be the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, and there are probably university researchers who would be interested in the question as well.

By: Jan T

Jan T — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 23:11:30 +0000

Thank you for this informative article. Anne Fairfax is my 5th great grandmother on my mom’s side via her father. Recently I took a DNA test through ancestry.com. Knowing the story of Anne’s African heritage it surprised me that my results had no indication of any African ethnicity. Perhaps it’s too far back to show up. I am wondering how we can nail this down. Her story is so compelling.

By: Amy T

Amy T — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 01:14:36 +0000

Thanks again, everyone! I’m having an enjoyable time with this project and meeting lots of wonderful and helpful people in the process.

By: Bruce Crow

Bruce Crow — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:37:44 +0000

Remarkable! and very well done. Thank you.

By: charlene

charlene — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 22:19:22 +0000

What an amazing story. Thank you for your research. I’m currently reading Michener’s “Chesapeake” and the overlapping time and characters made this entry doubly interesting.

By: The Other Clark

The Other Clark — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:28:54 +0000

Any woman with six names deserves her own post.

By: Amy T

Amy T — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:21:26 +0000

Thanks, all. One of the parts of the story I thought interesting was the identification of Ann being part African. The historian who figured that out made a decent case, and although some of his work is controversial, it does illustrate the point that history is often more diverse than we’d expect.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/famous/washington.html

By: Anne (UK)

Anne (UK) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:33:31 +0000

I just can’t help but think how harrowing this all would have been for poor Ann; it’s difficult enough in today’s society for abuse victims to confront their abusers, but how much more delicate then.

Fascinating post Amy, thank you.

By: kevinf

kevinf — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:25:12 +0000

Truly a fascinating short biography, and what a fortuitous accident that brought more of this story to life. A somewhat sad and tragic tale, but one that deserves the telling. Thank you for sharing this.

By: Carol

Carol — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:45:02 +0000

Amy, thanks for all that research and writing. I love stuff like this.