[A little long but really good article...] Speaking of his blood. Henry Louis Gates Jr. will likely be watching the last at-bat. The eminent Harvard professor recently oversaw a chemical analysis of Jeters DNA, plus an extensive pruning of the Jeter family tree, as part of a segment on the PBS show Finding Your Roots. Gates says Jeter identifies as an African-American, but when they first met for the show Jeter knew very little of his racial makeup or family history. Like most Jeter fans, Jeter wanted to know more. Gates obliged. He discovered that Jeter, on his fathers side, descends from Green Jeter, an Alabama slave, born May 1844. Upon being set free after the Civil War, Gates says, Green thrived, became a minister, founded his own church. We wanted to find out who owned him, Gates says, and the most incredible thing, we found the will of an Alabama slave owner, James W. Jeter, a white man who died in 1861. The will mentioned Green by name, and also his mother, Charity. Its very rare to find a former slave mentioned in an owners will, Gates says. Then another telling clue popped up: The 1870 census lists Green as mulatto. So if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck ... Gates says. In the end, Jeters DNA analysis removed all doubt. James W. Jeter was Greens father, Gates says. Thus Jeter descends not just from slaves but slave owners, a revelation that kicked open the door to other discoveries, including the identity of a distant Jeter who fought in the Revolutionary War. Further, a grandfather on Jeters mothers side immigrated to America from Germany in the 1860s and opened a tavern where the Holland Tunnel now stands. In other words, for at least 150 years, New Yorkers have enjoyed guzzling beer while watching a Jeter kin. espn.go/espn/feature/story/_/id/11583279/derek-jeter-plays-last-game-yankee-stadium
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 19:54:54 +0000
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