John van Salee de Grasse

Dr. John van Salee de Grasse (1825–1868) was the first African-American to be formally educated as a doctor in the United States. He was a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and served as a surgeon during the American Civil War. His sister Serena was married to New York restaurateur and abolitionist George Downing. Van Salee de Grasse was a descendant of Jan Janszoon through his son Abraham Janszoon van Salee and a black mistress. He is an ancestor of "the Vanderbilts, the Whitneys, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Humphrey Bogart."