BALTIMORE, Maryland, Jun. 18, 2026 — His name was John Pumphrey.

At a small gathering of his relatives in Baltimore today, in the shadow of his boyhood home, FHD Forensics revealed the story of a young fallen Revolutionary War soldier. More than 240 years after the Maryland teen died on a bloody South Carolina battlefield, a tiny piece of his skull was used to extract his DNA and uncover his identity.

“It is actually beyond my comprehension that such a thing could be done,” exclaimed Steven D. Smith, principal investigator with the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology (SCIAA). “To the relatives: here is your cousin and uncle, after 246 years, home from the war.”

“We were aware that unmarked graves were present on the site,” added James B. Legg.“but we had no notion that there was any prospect of identifying anyone.” Along with Smith, project archaeologist Legg has been involved with the preservation and interpretation of the Camden Battlefield for almost three decades. “The DNA combined with a remarkably sophisticated genealogical process has now given us Private John Pumphrey,” he said.

After uploading his genetic profile to databases that allow this kind of matching, the FHD team quickly identified his ancestors – all from prominent founding families of Anne Arundel County. Genealogists asked themselves why a young boy from a prosperous family would have chosen to go to war. Eventually a picture emerged: Army pay, new clothes, and meals would have been life changing for an orphaned middle son.

According to biological anthropologists, Drs. Madeline Atwell and William Stevens of the Richland County Coroner’s office, John Pumphrey was just 13 to 15 years old when he enlisted in Maryland’s 7th Regiment in Baltimore in 1777. He would have been one of the youngest members of George Washington’s revered “Old Line.”

“Our success at uncovering the story of this young American hero couldn’t have come at a better time as we’re celebrating our 250th anniversary as a country,” said genetic genealogist Allison Peacock, president of FHD Forensics. “It’s the ultimate gift to every American to get to know this boy who literally gave his life for the concept of freedom from tyranny.”

Pumphrey’s remains were unearthed in 2022, along with those of 13 others when SCIAA archaeologists from the University of South Carolina rescued shallow battlefield burials from erosion and relic hunting. After a lavish military funeral, they were reburied in 2024.

Astrea Forensics in Santa Cruz, California extracted and sequenced the DNA that empowered FHD’s analysis. Three different types of DNA matching were required to make the identification that many believed impossible.

“There are so many interesting chapters of history that can now be known more fully. Especially in the fog of war, where the sacrifices that were made couldn’t always be documented,” said Richard E. Green, PhD, Astrea’s co-founder describing the advances in ancient DNA technology that made telling John Pumphrey’s story possible.

“When we started this journey in 2023, we had no idea if it would even be possible to identify someone whose living genetic relatives would be so many generations distant,” explained FHD senior genetic genealogist Valerie Kemp. Kemp uncovered the critical X Chromosome connections to John Pumphrey’s mother that made the whole picture come together.

Like many worthwhile public endeavors, Peacock says it truly took a village to pull off the groundbreaking case, thought to be one of the oldest John Doe genetic genealogy identifications ever.

“It’s incredibly expensive work and it was the ultimate group effort to make the dream we were chasing a reality,” she remarked. “And at times everyone on the team worked pro bono. We don’t give up on identification cases.”

SCIAA’s lengthy dedication to the Camden Battlefield laid the groundwork for the endeavor. They also helped fund the genetic profiles. Additional sponsorship came from the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust (SCBPT), Historic Camden Foundation, Genealogy For Justice™, and the DNA project’s participants and fans.

While relatives frequently contribute DNA or cooperate with investigators, Peacock verified that John Pumphrey’s relatives helping to finance the final expenses for his identification was truly unique in unidentified remains cases.

The investigation also received generous support from FamilyTreeDNA, who facilitated a research upload of Pumphrey’s data to their database of users who had opted in to this kind of comparison. “FTDNA’s unique YDNA services were crucial to our success at confirming this soldier’s surname,” assured Cyndi Despault, FHD’s operations manager, who was in charge of reference DNA testing.

As SCBPT’s executive director, Rick Wise told the relatives in attendance, “We are proud that identifying this soldier allows you, his family, to know the fate of their relative and that his sacrifice is being honored by a grateful nation.”

Wise also pointed out that Private Pumphrey represents about 400 others – including over 330 Continentals – who fell on the Camden Battlefield that day making it a hallowed ground filled with shallow, unmarked graves.

John Pumphrey now rests in Camden’s historical Quaker Cemetery not far from the battlefield. Peacock thinks John’s Quaker grandfather, Ebenezer Pumphrey would have surely approved of his grandson’s final resting place.

In a full circle development, just a few yards away in the very same burial ground with John Pumphrey, lies another very special man. That man’s YDNA, passed down to his own son, helped to confirm our hero’s identity.

In a stunning twist of fate, this man’s paternal ancestor was the family villain whose actions surely led to John Pumphrey dying in battle at such a young age. To understand that bombshell requires reading the biography that Peacock published on her Family History Detectives® blog.

“We are proud to have supported this research, and honored that he is now laid to rest in Camden where his story can continue to educate and inspire future generations,” stated Austin Sheheen, Chairman of the Historic Camden Foundation Board of Trustees.

FHD Forensics joins with the entire cohort of collaborators on this project to thank the Secretary of the Army and the Executive Director of the Office of Army Cemeteries and Army National Military Cemeteries, Ms. Karen Durham-Aguilera, for expert advice and stewardship of this project honoring America’s first veterans.

For more information:
Cyndi Despault
(512) 270-1301
Images available.

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