The 400-year-old mystery surrounding the identities of four men buried at the site of the first permanent English settlement in America may finally be solved, revealing not only their identities but also their scandalous connections. Based on DNA analysis and archaeological research by a team of scientists, two of the unnamed spirits buried in the churchyard of Jamestown, Virginia in 1610 AD have been confirmed as Sir Ferdinando Wenman and Captain William West.

Both men were members of the family of Thomas West, the colony’s first governor; the prominent location of their graves on the site of the Jamestown church and the coffins in which their bodies were buried attest to this.

Ancient or “a” DNA, meticulously collected in the field of paleogenomics from the long-buried remains of our ancestors, has revealed much about our evolution as a species, but it has rarely been used as a forensic tool to uncover historical mysteries.

“This study is the first to successfully use aDNA as an identification tool at the colonial site of Jamestown, Virginia,” says anthropologist Karin Bruvelheide of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

The mystery begins with four flat graves found in the churchyard in 1608, which can deductively belong only to four high-ranking men: Wenman and West, and two men named the Reverend Robert Hunt and Captain Gabriel Archer.

A closer look at the workmanship of the two coffins strongly suggests that each contains the bodies of Wenman and West. Wenman’s mother is known to be Governor Thomas West’s aunt Jane. But William West’s family ties are a bit less clear, leading researchers to dig deeper into his genes to try to clarify their relationship.

Analysis of the poorly preserved DNA of the remains revealed that the mitochondrial haplogroup (a group of genes passed on to children only through their mothers) of the two buried men was a relatively rare group known as H10e.

Based on the rather vague genealogical records regarding William West’s origins, the results of the maternal lineage were surprising. Researchers searched historical records to uncover a contemporary lawsuit contesting the ownership of Captain William West’s estate.

Mary, the woman who raised West, was the beneficiary of his will and also sued to recover jewellery given to William and which went to other family members.

Interestingly, DNA analysis revealed that William’s real mother was Mary’s sister Elizabeth, even though records describe her as married and childless. Given how taboo it was to have children out of wedlock in the 17th century, it’s not surprising that this connection was mostly secret.

To complicate matters further, both women were sisters of Jane West, making Sir Ferdinando Wenman, Captain William West, and Governor Thomas West third cousins.

Aside from the family scandal, uncovering the names and identities of these two men after all these years is a testament to modern DNA analysis techniques and how they can be combined with archaeological techniques, chemical analysis of bones and historical documents from the past.

Perhaps it is now clearer why Captain William West set out for the New World: to seek a new destiny in a land far from home, where his lineage was less certain. He brings color and humanity to the bones that have been buried for centuries.

“The aDNA data obtained for these two men reveal a previously unrecorded aspect of the identity of one of them and change researchers’ initial ideas about his origins,” the researchers wrote in their published paper. “This study highlights the need for interdisciplinary approaches to better answer the question of not only who participated in colonization, but perhaps why.”

The research was published in the journal Antiquity.