Recently, DNA analysis of two skeletons from unmarked graves in a Jamestown church revealed that both people were related to West. That connection led researchers to documents proving that one of the men — Captain William West — was illegitimate, born to Thomas West’s spinster aunt, Elizabeth. An X-ray scan (left) of the spangled military sash fringed in silver (right) found in the grave of Captain William West. Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation (Preservation Virginia)Unmarked burials in colonial JamestownResearchers found four unmarked graves at Jamestown in 2014, in an Anglican church that the colonists used from about 1608 to 1616. MPI/Archive Photos/Getty ImagesWhile there wasn’t enough DNA to show immediate family ties, Wenman and Captain West both shared the haplogroup H10e.

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Persons: Thomas West, Captain William West —, Thomas West’s, Elizabeth, Captain West, James Fort, ”, Christine Lee, Lee, Captain William West, Sir Ferdinando Wenman, —, Kari Bruwelheid, ” Bruwelheid, Éadaoin Harney, William West’s, ’, Ferdinando Wenman’s, ” Harney, West’s, Mary Blount, West “, West, Governor Thomas West, Ferdinando Wenman, Michael Lavin, ” Lavin, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Jamestown Rediscovery, Preservation, University of Mississippi, spangled, Jamestown, Smithsonian National Museum of, Harvard University, MPI, Governor, Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation, Scientific Locations: Jamestown , Virginia, Jamestown, England, Preservation Virginia, Wenman, West, Washington ,, North America