The Amazing Connection Between The Obamas And The Duke And Duchess Of Sussex

Michelle’s Great-Great-Grandpa Would Settle Further West

Photo: Leigh Vogel/Getty Images

Melvinia was reportedly one of three slaves that the Shields family owned, so their master, Henry Shields, often worked alongside them. “The DNA tests and research indicate that one of his sons, Charles Marion Shields, is likely the father of Melvinia’s son Dolphus,” The New York Times reported in 2012.

Charles was around 20 years old at the time of Dolphus’s birth. Still, Melvinia remained mum about Dolphus’s parentage. Regardless, Dolphus T. Shields would go on to become Michelle Obama’s great-great-grandfather on her mother’s side after settling in Alabama.