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Henry Wells Shields

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Henry Wells Shields

Birth
Death
2 Jun 1895 (aged 83)
Burial
Rex, Clayton County, Georgia, USA Add to Map
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Contributed by another findagrave member:

"Paraphrased from The New York Times article, "Meet Your Cousin, The First Lady: A Family Story, Long Hidden," June 16, 2012:

Henry Wells Shields was a farmer who grew cotton, Indian corn and sweet potatoes. He owned Mrs. Obama's maternal great-great-great-grandmother, Melvinia Shields, who was about 8 years old when she arrived on his farm sometime around 1852.

The DNA tests and research indicate that one of his sons, Charles Marion Shields, is the likely father of Melvinia's first-born son Dolphus, who was born around 1860. Dolphus T. Shields was the first lady's maternal great-great-grandfather. His identity and that of his mother, Melvinia, were first reported in an article in The New York Times in 2009, which also indicated that he must have had a white father."
Contributed by another findagrave member:

"Paraphrased from The New York Times article, "Meet Your Cousin, The First Lady: A Family Story, Long Hidden," June 16, 2012:

Henry Wells Shields was a farmer who grew cotton, Indian corn and sweet potatoes. He owned Mrs. Obama's maternal great-great-great-grandmother, Melvinia Shields, who was about 8 years old when she arrived on his farm sometime around 1852.

The DNA tests and research indicate that one of his sons, Charles Marion Shields, is the likely father of Melvinia's first-born son Dolphus, who was born around 1860. Dolphus T. Shields was the first lady's maternal great-great-grandfather. His identity and that of his mother, Melvinia, were first reported in an article in The New York Times in 2009, which also indicated that he must have had a white father."

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