Lincoln & Lee Genetics & Genealogy in American Ancestor

Question

There is an interesting article in this season's American Ancestors using genetics and genealogy to determine if Lincoln and Lee were, indeed, related. The article describes Lee's DNA from current Lee male lines and Lincoln's DNA from descendants from Charles Lee's line.

The full citation is:

Hall, Richard. Testing a Theory: Were Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee Related? Boston, MA: American Ancestors, Vol. 21, No. 4., Winter 2021. Pages 44-47.

The article was written to support or refute a story by William E. Barton published in the January 1929 Good Housekeeping magazine titled 'Abraham Lincoln Was a Lee.'

SPOILER ALERT: The haplogroup for Abraham Lincoln's William Lee descendants is R1b. The haplogroup for Gen. Robert E. Lee's Col. Richard Lee descendants is I1a.

Answer 1

Thanks for posting this.   This is probably one of the lineages that has been the toughest to keep "correct" on WikiTree.

And my Lee lineage is a third group.   The Lee DNA project at FTDNA has struggled with the discovery of multiple Lee lineages for a while now.   I am glad to see a formal article published.

Answer 2

Hi Robin, I was wildly pleased to see two articles about two Presidents in this issue of American Ancestors. I can certainly understand President Biden's tree being closed given that he is a living president. I figured there might be President Project members who might be interested, though.

As to the Lincoln/Lee DNA article, we had our Pima County GS DNA SIG meeting this morning and the group was very interested in the article. I sent a message to our 'leaders' to post on our genealogical society website (not just for the DNA SIG members).

I was told by one of the members that some of the Family History Centers will be opening (limited days and hours) beginning in April as vaccinations and pandemic reduction permits. They get copies of the American Ancestors magazine and the articles can be copied there for 10 cents/page. I don't know if you have access to the Center, or if you receive the magazine. It is worth the read, even if folks aren't DNA wonks. It also cleared up a bit of information about Nancy (Hanks) Lincoln's ancestry.

And I agree that this is a touch lineage to keep correct! Lee is almost as common as 'Smith'. I hope you have the opportunity to read the Lincoln/Lee article!

Comments

Interesting! I'm 5th Cousin to Abraham Lincoln and 4th Cousin to Robert E. Lee.

But on different lines.