Putative Identity of JB55

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# Authors

* Jennifer Daniels-Higginbotham
* Erin M. Gorden
* Stephanie K. Farmer
* Brian Spatola
* Franklin Damann
* Nicholas Bellantoni
* Katie S. Gagnon
* Maria de la Puente
* Catarina Xavier
* Susan Walsh
* Walther Parson
* Timothy P. McMahon
* Charla Marshall

# Publication History

Genes 2019, 10(9), 636; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes10090636
Genes; Volume 10, Issue 9
Received: 4 June 2019
Accepted: 20 August 2019
Published: 22 August 2019

# Abstract

In 1990 in Griswold, Connecticut, archaeologists excavated a burial found in a “skull and crossbones” orientation. The lid of the 19th century coffin had brass tacks that spelled “JB55”, the initials of the person lying there and age at death. JB55 had evidence of chronic pulmonary infection, perhaps tuberculosis. It is possible that JB55 was deemed a vampire due to his disease, and therefore had to be “killed” by mutilating his corpse. In an attempt to reveal the identity of JB55, DNA testing was performed. Ancestry informative single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis using the Precision ID Ancestry Panel indicated European ancestry. A full Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat (Y-STR) profile was obtained, belonging to haplogroup R1b. When the Y-STR profile was searched in the publicly accessible FamilyTreeDNA R1b Project website, the two closest matches had the surname “Barber”. A search of historical records led to a death notice mentioning John Barber, whose son Nathan Barber was buried in Griswold in 1826. The description of Nathan Barber closely fits the burial of “NB13,” found near JB55. By applying modern forensic DNA tools to a historical mystery, the identity of JB55 as John Barber, the 19th century Connecticut vampire, has been revealed.
Keywords: vampire; surname prediction; ancestry estimation; historical archaeology; Next-Generation Sequencing; DNA identification; SNP; Y-STR; genetic genealogy; tuberculosis

# Links to read / download

1. https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/10/9/636/htm

## Citations

* APA: Daniels-Higginbotham, J., Gorden, E., Farmer, S., Spatola, B., Damann, F., & Bellantoni, N. et al. (2019). DNA Testing Reveals the Putative Identity of JB55, a 19th Century Vampire Buried in Griswold, Connecticut. Genes, 10(9), 636. doi: 10.3390/genes10090636
* MLA: Daniels-Higginbotham, Jennifer et al. "DNA Testing Reveals The Putative Identity Of JB55, A 19Th Century Vampire Buried In Griswold, Connecticut". Genes, vol 10, no. 9, 2019, p. 636. MDPI AG, doi:10.3390/genes10090636. Accessed 23 Dec 2019.
* Chicago: Daniels-Higginbotham, Jennifer, Erin M. Gorden, Stephanie K. Farmer, Brian Spatola, Franklin Damann, Nicholas Bellantoni, and Katie S. Gagnon et al. 2019. "DNA Testing Reveals The Putative Identity Of JB55, A 19Th Century Vampire Buried In Griswold, Connecticut". Genes 10 (9): 636. doi:10.3390/genes10090636.
* Harvard: Daniels-Higginbotham, J., Gorden, E., Farmer, S., Spatola, B., Damann, F., Bellantoni, N., Gagnon, K., de la Puente, M., Xavier, C., Walsh, S., Parson, W., McMahon, T. and Marshall, C. (2019). DNA Testing Reveals the Putative Identity of JB55, a 19th Century Vampire Buried in Griswold, Connecticut. Genes, [online] 10(9), p.636. Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/10/9/636/htm [Accessed 23 Dec. 2019].