Khepri

Our Research

A combined genetic and archival approach to solving genealogical brick walls.

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DNA Framework

A roadmap for researchers built on one anchor genome and over one thousand chromosomal matches.

1,000+

Chromosomal Matches

75%

Genome Coverage

1

Anchor Participant

The DNA matrix of Thomas Watkins Jr. (a Gedmatch member) serves as a roadmap for researchers who have hit traditional genealogical 'brick walls.' When paper records go silent, the mapped chromosomes show exactly where to look and who to connect with to fill in the missing pieces.

Research Approach

Four steps that turn individual matches into collective breakthroughs.

1. Pool Genetic Data

Members contribute Gedmatch data and known family names to build a shared chromosomal matrix.

2. Map Naming Patterns

Track recurring names that survived the Middle Passage and domestic slave trade as living genetic markers.

3. Triangulate with Archives

Cross-reference DNA evidence with plantation records, census data, Indian Agent files, and oral histories.

4. Reconnect Branches

Use the combined matrix to identify unknown fathers, missing siblings, and dispersed descendants.

Naming Clusters

Recurring names that form interconnected kinship clusters across DNA matches and archival records.

Jefferson

President Thomas Jefferson's enslaved community and descendants.

Carter

The Corotoman Estate records of John Carter and related Virginia networks.

Randolph

Thomas Mann Randolph slave estate records and the extended Jefferson-Randolph plantation network.

Spencer

The Spencer line connected to Tom Randol, Jenny Great Spencer, and Thomas Spencer Watkins Jr.

Parthenia

An African matriarch of the Hemings line whose name recurs in DNA matches.

Jupiter

A recurring name in the Jefferson enslaved community and across Virginia plantations.

Colbert

The Colbert Freedmen of the Creek Nation and the Colbert Brown line.

Green

A recurring surname appearing in DNA matches and archival records.

Mingo

A name cluster indicating deep shared ancestry across multiple families.

Ambrose

A recurring name forming part of the interconnected kinship clusters.

Research Resources

Primary and secondary sources that document enslaved individuals and their families.

  • Corotoman Slave Histories

    Detailed analysis and searchable database of over 4,000 references to enslaved people at Corotoman, with special attention to the 1814 flight of 69 slaves to the British.

  • Corotoman Servant Database

    Comprehensive online database documenting over 1,200 enslaved persons on the Corotoman estate from 1653 to 1862.

  • Monticello Enslaved Community Database

    Searchable repository of data on all known enslaved individuals at Thomas Jefferson's plantations.

  • Getting Word

    A Monticello oral history project established in 1993 that records and preserves the family histories of more than 610 people enslaved by Jefferson.

  • U.S. Federal Census Records (1870 and 1880)

    The first federal censuses to record formerly enslaved individuals by name.

  • Paul Heinegg's Free African Americans of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina

    A landmark genealogical work reconstructing the history of free African American communities.

  • Thomas Jefferson's Farm Book

    Jefferson's personal plantation records documenting enslaved individuals, births, deaths, and transactions.

  • U.S. Indian Agent Records

    Including records related to David Brydie Mitchell and the Creek Nation smuggling case.

  • Enslaved.org

    A digital platform aggregating datasets on enslaved and free people of color across the Americas.

  • Alan Taylor's The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832

    Pulitzer Prize-winning narrative documenting the War of 1812 escapes.

  • Slave Narratives (Federal Writers' Project)

    Firsthand accounts of formerly enslaved individuals.

  • Ancestry.com and FamilySearch

    Digital repositories of census, vital, and probate records.

Contribute Your DNA or Archives

Every match and every record helps the cooperative map kinship networks across generations.

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