History Channel Features Work of Plymouth State Professor

PLYMOUTH-On November 26 at 8:00 p.m. "Buried Secrets of the Revolutionary War," a program based on the work of Plymouth State University's Professor David Starbuck and his team of archeologists and forensic scientists investigation of the death of Jane McCrea, aired on the History Channel. The hour-long program is one of many in the History channel's "Investigating History" series.

Starbuck was pleased with the outcome of the show, "they filmed lots of re-enactors in Fort Edward in August, so we could recreate the actual murder and scalping of Jane McRea on film. So the television program had a mix of history, murder, and forensic science." The show also featured a dig that occurred on April 9, 2003 as well as coverage on the DNA analysis that followed.

McCrea was murdered and scalped on July 27, 1777 fueling the fire of Battle of Saratoga. Thousands of Americans were outraged at her murder and rose to fight the British in battle.

McCrea had been living with Sarah McNeil, and they were both going to Fort Edward where McCrea's fiancée (David Jones) would be stationed. Indians arrived at McNeil's home and when the two saw them they tried to hide in a cellar, however the Indians dragged them out. McCrea was murdered half way through her journey to the camp. McNeil however survived the journey. There is much debate on the cause of death of McCrea. Scientists and Historians believe of two different cases that could have happened. One theory is that two Indians were fighting over who would receive the bounty offered by the British for colonial prisoners, and in order to stop the fight one of the Indians murdered her then scalped her. Another theory is that members of a colonial militia fired at the fighting Indians and killed McCrea on accident, and then the Indians scalped her.

When the news spread of McCrea's murder, many of the bystanders of the battle, signed up to fight against the British. McCrea's murder is believed to have lent a heavy hand in the American's victory in the Battle of Saratoga.

Starbuck's research on McCrea has taken place over the last two years. Starbuck received permission from her relatives to exhume her remains in Fort Edward, New York on April 9, 2003 in order to do research. In their dig they discovered that only some of her skeleton was still in the grave. "In checking historical sources, we also found thatthe "leading citizens" of the town had taken part of her bones as souvenirs in 1852," said Starbuck. McCrea's remains had also been moved three times. Starbuck and his crew discovered that there were two sets of bones in the grave- the other belonging to Sarah McNeil who died 22 years later than McCrea.

In order to confirm that the bones in the grave were actually those of McCrea and McNeil, bone samples were sent to a laboratory for DNA testing. Through a matriarchal descendant of McNeil, it was confirmed that some of the skeletal remains belonged to her. However, all of McCrea's matriarchal line of descendants has died out, thus the bones could not be confirmed as hers. With very little bone left that is believed to be McCrea's Starbuck's team is unable to pinpoint the actual cause of murder. There was a final twist with the research on McCrea, a third sample of bone with a completely different DNA was found in the grave, leaving Starbuck with more questions than answers.

Starbuck has been digging in Fort Edward for 14 years; his project is long from over. "We are now in the process of going back to court. My attorney is putting together a petition that will take us back into the grave withinthe next 1-2 months. We will then separate the two skeletons and giveboth Jane and Sarah their own coffins. We also plan to do a forensicscan of Sarah's skull at that time, so that we can completelyreconstruct her face and body for future museum exhibits."