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CHICAGO — A family history website claims it has linked President Barack Obama to the first documented African slave in the American colonies.
Research by Ancestry.com from early Virginia records and DNA analysis shows Obama is the 11th great-grandson of John Punch, an indentured servant in Colonial Virginia who became enslaved for life after trying to escape in 1640, according to the website.
The findings were released about 100 days out from the presidential election. Obama's campaign headquarters are based in Chicago.
"Remarkably, the connection was made through President Obama's Caucasian mother's side of the family," the site said in a statement.