In September 1999, skeletal remains of at least five people were inadvertently disinterred from a local residence in Brentwood, New Hampshire.

These remains may represent burials from the Deer Hill Poor Farm in Brentwood circa 1841 - 1868. In the early 1800s, New England towns established poor houses and poor farms to provide for the less fortunate. They grew their own food and lived on the property as long as they needed to.

The Town of Brentwood Cemetery Department and Historical Society are collaborating with anthropologists from the University of New Hampshire Forensic Anthropology Identification and Recovery Lab to do a complete analysis of the remains in association with archival research.

The DNA Doe Project is working with the Town and the UNH FAIR Lab to obtain DNA to identify one individual using Investigative Genetic Genealogy. To obtain a burial permit and provide a dignified reburial for all of these people, the Town of Brentwood needs to determine that one of them was a documented resident of the Deer Hill Poor Farm.

The DNA Doe Project will provide investigative genetic genealogy services at no cost. We are raising funds to pay for laboratory DNA sequencing and analysis, and for uploads to the genealogy databases we are allowed to use to identify DNA relatives to our Doe, build a family tree and identify them. Every gift helps!

Newspaper coverage: Bones From Old Burial Ground by Susan Nolan, Staff Writer, Seacoast Online.

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