1 00:00:04,743 --> 00:00:06,443 GATES: I'm Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2 00:00:06,443 --> 00:00:09,309 Welcome to, Finding Your Roots. 3 00:00:09,309 --> 00:00:15,209 In this episode, we'll meet Viola Davis and Brian Cox; 4 00:00:15,209 --> 00:00:18,743 two actors who survived traumatic childhoods... 5 00:00:19,376 --> 00:00:21,243 COX: You know, it was pretty awful, really. 6 00:00:21,243 --> 00:00:22,243 GATES: Mm-hmm. 7 00:00:22,243 --> 00:00:23,476 COX: I mean, I grew up without 8 00:00:23,476 --> 00:00:26,776 any parental guidance whatsoever. 9 00:00:26,776 --> 00:00:28,776 DAVIS: I entered this world with a big old load. 10 00:00:28,776 --> 00:00:30,109 GATES: Right. 11 00:00:30,109 --> 00:00:33,243 DAVIS: I'm the amalgamation of a lot of 12 00:00:33,243 --> 00:00:36,409 stories and a lot of secrets. 13 00:00:36,409 --> 00:00:41,043 GATES: To uncover their roots we've used every tool available. 14 00:00:41,043 --> 00:00:43,676 Genealogists helped stitch together the past from 15 00:00:43,676 --> 00:00:46,876 the paper trail their ancestors left behind. 16 00:00:46,876 --> 00:00:48,243 COX: It's amazing. 17 00:00:48,243 --> 00:00:50,409 I mean, it really is. 18 00:00:50,409 --> 00:00:51,576 I'm not mad. 19 00:00:51,576 --> 00:00:52,876 (laughter) 20 00:00:52,876 --> 00:00:56,009 GATES: While DNA experts utilized the latest advances 21 00:00:56,009 --> 00:00:59,243 in genetic analysis to reveal secrets that have 22 00:00:59,243 --> 00:01:01,676 lain hidden for generations. 23 00:01:01,676 --> 00:01:03,309 DAVIS: You're uncovering the truth. 24 00:01:03,309 --> 00:01:04,809 I love this. 25 00:01:04,809 --> 00:01:08,176 GATES: And we've compiled it all into a book of life. 26 00:01:08,176 --> 00:01:09,876 COX: Oh wow! 27 00:01:09,876 --> 00:01:12,276 GATES: A record of all of our discoveries. 28 00:01:12,276 --> 00:01:14,176 What's it like to see that? 29 00:01:14,176 --> 00:01:17,676 DAVIS: Awesome. I mean awesome. 30 00:01:17,676 --> 00:01:20,076 People that made you who you are, 31 00:01:20,076 --> 00:01:21,376 like you wouldn't be born... 32 00:01:21,376 --> 00:01:23,109 GATES: Yeah. DAVIS: If it weren't for them. 33 00:01:23,109 --> 00:01:24,209 GATES: That's right. 34 00:01:24,209 --> 00:01:25,443 DAVIS: And yet you don't really know them, 35 00:01:25,443 --> 00:01:27,109 then all of a sudden you're seeing it right? 36 00:01:27,109 --> 00:01:29,409 It's pretty incredible. 37 00:01:30,709 --> 00:01:33,643 COX: I mean, I'm sorry, but this is very... 38 00:01:33,643 --> 00:01:37,043 Um, it's really something, really is something. 39 00:01:37,043 --> 00:01:40,276 I mean, I wish my ma could be here to see this. 40 00:01:40,276 --> 00:01:44,276 GATES: My two guests grew up in families where the struggle 41 00:01:44,276 --> 00:01:48,276 to survive outweighed every other concern, 42 00:01:48,276 --> 00:01:51,309 leaving their roots veiled in mystery. 43 00:01:51,309 --> 00:01:54,543 In this episode, we'll pull back those veils, 44 00:01:54,543 --> 00:01:57,309 uncovering long-hidden secrets, 45 00:01:57,309 --> 00:02:00,343 and shedding light on the ancestors who made 46 00:02:00,343 --> 00:02:03,376 Brian and Viola the people they are today. 47 00:02:09,643 --> 00:02:16,076 (theme music playing). 48 00:02:21,909 --> 00:02:24,976 ♪ ♪ 49 00:02:26,709 --> 00:02:27,643 (book closes) 50 00:02:40,609 --> 00:02:47,243 ♪ ♪ 51 00:02:47,243 --> 00:02:48,743 WOMAN: Viola, to your left! 52 00:02:48,743 --> 00:02:50,676 (overlapping chatter) 53 00:02:50,676 --> 00:02:54,143 GATES: Viola Davis is Hollywood royalty, 54 00:02:54,143 --> 00:02:58,643 one of only a handful of actors ever to win an Oscar, 55 00:02:58,643 --> 00:03:03,609 a Tony, and an Emmy, the triple crown of her profession. 56 00:03:04,509 --> 00:03:08,843 But Viola's greatest achievement is her own survival. 57 00:03:13,443 --> 00:03:17,309 Born in South Carolina, she grew up in Rhode Island, 58 00:03:17,309 --> 00:03:20,943 where her father had moved to work as a horse trainer. 59 00:03:20,943 --> 00:03:24,176 Unfortunately, the work soon dried up, 60 00:03:24,176 --> 00:03:28,809 and her father, an alcoholic who could be abusive, 61 00:03:28,809 --> 00:03:32,009 was unable to keep the family out of poverty. 62 00:03:33,843 --> 00:03:38,009 Viola's salvation came from an unlikely source; 63 00:03:38,009 --> 00:03:40,043 Television... 64 00:03:40,043 --> 00:03:41,409 As a young girl, 65 00:03:41,409 --> 00:03:45,143 she saw Cicely Tyson's iconic performance in 66 00:03:45,143 --> 00:03:48,143 The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, 67 00:03:48,143 --> 00:03:50,809 and it changed her life. 68 00:03:51,676 --> 00:03:55,043 DAVIS: I just, I could not believe what I was watching. 69 00:03:55,043 --> 00:03:59,309 It inspired me in a way that nothing else could. 70 00:03:59,309 --> 00:04:02,509 I saw possibility. 71 00:04:02,509 --> 00:04:05,243 I saw hope. I saw excellence. 72 00:04:05,243 --> 00:04:06,809 GATES: Mm-hmm. 73 00:04:06,809 --> 00:04:12,409 DAVIS: I saw that we have sort of the power 74 00:04:12,409 --> 00:04:16,876 that elixir in us, as artists, of transformation. 75 00:04:16,876 --> 00:04:20,576 To see her age from 18 to I think it was 108 or 76 00:04:20,576 --> 00:04:21,909 something like that? 77 00:04:21,909 --> 00:04:23,343 GATES: Right. I was shocked. 78 00:04:23,343 --> 00:04:25,509 DAVIS: I, I, you know what it was, 79 00:04:25,509 --> 00:04:27,709 we saw all the shows back in the day. 80 00:04:27,709 --> 00:04:30,209 Sanford and Son, you know,  The Jeffer... 81 00:04:30,209 --> 00:04:32,776 We saw all those shows and it was entertaining. 82 00:04:32,776 --> 00:04:33,909 It was awesome. 83 00:04:33,909 --> 00:04:36,243 Flip Wilson. They were great. 84 00:04:36,243 --> 00:04:40,676 But what I saw with Ms. Tyson was artistry. 85 00:04:40,676 --> 00:04:45,976 And for me, that was different because I felt that 86 00:04:45,976 --> 00:04:50,543 if I could do that, I could literally make a life. 87 00:04:50,543 --> 00:04:55,143 It was like she blew a hole into this world I was in that 88 00:04:55,143 --> 00:04:58,309 was drowning me and she blew a hole into and it, 89 00:04:58,309 --> 00:05:01,376 that hole led to the way out. 90 00:05:03,943 --> 00:05:06,409 GATES: It would take Viola some time actually to 91 00:05:06,409 --> 00:05:08,943 find that, "Way out." 92 00:05:08,943 --> 00:05:11,176 She was blessed with teachers who encouraged 93 00:05:11,176 --> 00:05:14,843 her acting through high school and beyond... 94 00:05:14,843 --> 00:05:17,809 But she was in her early 30's before she landed 95 00:05:17,809 --> 00:05:20,476 her first major role, 96 00:05:20,476 --> 00:05:23,943 and there were many lean years in between. 97 00:05:25,176 --> 00:05:28,643 Even so, Viola was always confident that 98 00:05:28,643 --> 00:05:32,243 she had already endured the worst. 99 00:05:32,243 --> 00:05:34,309 DAVIS: Struggle was relative to me, 100 00:05:34,309 --> 00:05:37,043 I always struggled to get food, 101 00:05:37,043 --> 00:05:39,076 struggled to stay warm, 102 00:05:39,076 --> 00:05:44,343 I mean, listen, a lot of times we didn't go to the Laundromat. 103 00:05:44,343 --> 00:05:46,943 I had to wash clothes by hand with cold water 104 00:05:46,943 --> 00:05:50,409 because we never had any hot water and try to hang it up. 105 00:05:50,409 --> 00:05:53,343 And hopefully the clothes would be dry the next day. 106 00:05:53,343 --> 00:05:55,676 So you can go to school a lot of times it wasn't. 107 00:05:55,676 --> 00:05:58,209 So you'd go to school with wet clothes on. 108 00:05:58,209 --> 00:06:01,176 I mean, so you're talking about the struggle of an artist. 109 00:06:01,176 --> 00:06:03,143 I had that down by that point. 110 00:06:03,143 --> 00:06:04,643 (laughter) 111 00:06:05,309 --> 00:06:09,009 GATES: Viola no longer has to worry about struggling. 112 00:06:09,009 --> 00:06:12,243 She's in constant demand as an actor, 113 00:06:12,243 --> 00:06:14,809 has written a best-selling memoir, 114 00:06:14,809 --> 00:06:18,709 and with her husband, runs her own production company. 115 00:06:21,443 --> 00:06:26,409 But when she reflects on her childhood, the pain lingers, 116 00:06:26,409 --> 00:06:30,476 even if she's learned to embrace it with a wry wisdom. 117 00:06:32,209 --> 00:06:35,176 DAVIS: I think that when you grow up in poverty, 118 00:06:35,176 --> 00:06:38,376 nobody's trying to repress anything. 119 00:06:38,376 --> 00:06:40,876 Everything is right out in the open, 120 00:06:40,876 --> 00:06:43,543 all the mess, all the spewl. 121 00:06:43,543 --> 00:06:47,943 And so it becomes a ripe sort of, um, fertile ground 122 00:06:47,943 --> 00:06:52,276 for an actor to observe human behavior. 123 00:06:52,276 --> 00:06:53,909 GATES: A laboratory for human nature. 124 00:06:53,909 --> 00:06:55,143 DAVIS: Absolutely. 125 00:06:55,143 --> 00:06:56,743 GATES: Right there in living color in your living room. 126 00:06:56,743 --> 00:06:58,509 DAVIS: Yes. 127 00:07:00,476 --> 00:07:05,576 GATES: My second guest is Scottish actor Brian Cox. 128 00:07:05,576 --> 00:07:08,409 A longtime star of both stage and screen, 129 00:07:08,409 --> 00:07:12,443 Brian became a cultural sensation in 2018 130 00:07:12,443 --> 00:07:15,676 when he took on the role of Logan Roy, 131 00:07:15,676 --> 00:07:21,709 the deliciously evil patriarch of HBO's hit series, Succession. 132 00:07:23,043 --> 00:07:25,243 LOGAN: You talk about... 133 00:07:25,243 --> 00:07:27,476 Love! 134 00:07:30,609 --> 00:07:32,976 You should have trusted me. 135 00:07:33,609 --> 00:07:35,543 ROMAN: Dad why? 136 00:07:35,543 --> 00:07:37,576 LOGAN: Why? 137 00:07:37,576 --> 00:07:40,109 Because it works. 138 00:07:40,109 --> 00:07:43,076 GATES: Logan is an unforgettable creation. 139 00:07:43,076 --> 00:07:45,943 But he couldn't be more different than the man 140 00:07:45,943 --> 00:07:48,076 who's brought him to life. 141 00:07:49,543 --> 00:07:53,076 In person, Brian is warm, affable, 142 00:07:53,076 --> 00:07:57,243 and possessed by an innate optimism that's carried him 143 00:07:57,243 --> 00:07:59,709 through some terrible times. 144 00:08:00,043 --> 00:08:04,243 Indeed, his childhood, much like Viola's, 145 00:08:04,243 --> 00:08:07,476 sounds like a chapter out of a Dickens novel. 146 00:08:09,343 --> 00:08:11,209 COX: You know, it was pretty awful, really, 147 00:08:11,209 --> 00:08:12,876 even though I didn't feel it at the time, 148 00:08:12,876 --> 00:08:14,143 I've never felt, 149 00:08:14,143 --> 00:08:16,109 I've never felt depressed or anything like that about it, 150 00:08:16,109 --> 00:08:17,876 but it was, you just learn to cope, you know. 151 00:08:17,876 --> 00:08:19,109 My dad died when I was eight, 152 00:08:19,109 --> 00:08:21,709 and my mom had series of mental breakdowns, 153 00:08:21,709 --> 00:08:23,643 which meant that she had electric shock treatment 154 00:08:23,643 --> 00:08:25,143 and all kinds of things happen to her 155 00:08:25,143 --> 00:08:27,376 and she became non-functional. 156 00:08:27,376 --> 00:08:32,176 And so, I grew up without any parental guidance whatsoever. 157 00:08:32,176 --> 00:08:35,043 But, at the same time, during that time, 158 00:08:35,043 --> 00:08:39,543 there was this survivalist mechanism which was kicking in, 159 00:08:39,543 --> 00:08:45,209 and kind of made me realize that I was okay. 160 00:08:45,209 --> 00:08:48,009 It was hell, but I was okay. 161 00:08:48,843 --> 00:08:50,709 GATES: Brian's, "Survival mechanism," 162 00:08:50,709 --> 00:08:53,809 was complemented by his talent. 163 00:08:53,809 --> 00:08:57,676 He was 15 years old when he got a job at the repertory theater 164 00:08:57,676 --> 00:09:01,543 in his hometown of Dundee, Scotland, 165 00:09:01,543 --> 00:09:03,509 but long before that, 166 00:09:03,509 --> 00:09:06,876 he'd known what he wanted to do with his life. 167 00:09:08,009 --> 00:09:09,543 COX: I've always wanted to be an actor. 168 00:09:09,543 --> 00:09:11,143 GATES: Always? COX: Always. 169 00:09:11,143 --> 00:09:14,409 I had this sensation when I was about three, I think. 170 00:09:14,409 --> 00:09:17,443 And, you know, the biggest celebration was for 171 00:09:17,443 --> 00:09:19,809 the Scot's New Year, Hogmanay, 172 00:09:19,809 --> 00:09:21,576 we call it, Hogmanay. 173 00:09:21,576 --> 00:09:24,443 And, we do this thing called, first footing, 174 00:09:24,443 --> 00:09:27,343 where you go to a person's house just after the bells, 175 00:09:27,343 --> 00:09:30,209 the bells are when it announces the new year at midnight. 176 00:09:30,209 --> 00:09:32,343 And, you give a piece of coal and you first foot, 177 00:09:32,343 --> 00:09:33,543 you're the first foot in the house. 178 00:09:33,543 --> 00:09:35,276 And, you bring good luck and good fortune and warmth 179 00:09:35,276 --> 00:09:36,943 to the house for the rest of the year. 180 00:09:36,943 --> 00:09:38,809 And, it's a tradition that we do, but of course, 181 00:09:38,809 --> 00:09:41,476 it's also an excuse to drink a lot, you know. 182 00:09:41,476 --> 00:09:45,276 So, my dad would have these amazing first 183 00:09:45,276 --> 00:09:48,409 New Year's Eve do's, where there'd be loads of 184 00:09:48,409 --> 00:09:50,976 drunken people who would be in the room, you know. 185 00:09:50,976 --> 00:09:53,343 And we had a tiny apartment and 186 00:09:53,343 --> 00:09:55,176 there'd be a lot of singing going on. 187 00:09:55,176 --> 00:09:57,043 And, I would be asked to sing. 188 00:09:57,043 --> 00:09:59,976 And I'll never forget the effect on the room, 189 00:09:59,976 --> 00:10:04,009 there was this harmony, this sense of community, 190 00:10:04,009 --> 00:10:06,176 that suddenly focused. 191 00:10:06,176 --> 00:10:08,143 And, it's what happens, and it happens in church, 192 00:10:08,143 --> 00:10:10,943 it happens in any place of worship, 193 00:10:10,943 --> 00:10:12,609 and the theater is also a place of worship... 194 00:10:12,609 --> 00:10:13,943 GATES: It is. COX: In a way. 195 00:10:13,943 --> 00:10:17,576 And I remember thinking, "This is great, I love this, the, the, 196 00:10:17,576 --> 00:10:19,776 the power that this gives me." 197 00:10:21,176 --> 00:10:25,476 GATES: Brian's power would soon be obvious to the world. 198 00:10:25,476 --> 00:10:29,743 He made his debut on London's famed West End when he was just 199 00:10:29,743 --> 00:10:34,209 21 years old, and spent decades as a leading man of 200 00:10:34,209 --> 00:10:38,009 the British theater before breaking into Hollywood. 201 00:10:39,076 --> 00:10:42,643 Where's he's crafted an array indelible characters. 202 00:10:45,576 --> 00:10:47,276 But looking back on it all, 203 00:10:47,276 --> 00:10:49,509 Brian takes the greatest pleasure in 204 00:10:49,509 --> 00:10:52,176 the endurance of his own character. 205 00:10:53,209 --> 00:10:54,809 What are you proudest of? 206 00:10:54,809 --> 00:10:56,409 COX: What am I proudest of? GATES: Yeah. 207 00:10:56,409 --> 00:10:58,676 COX: I think I'm proudest of the fact that 208 00:10:58,676 --> 00:11:00,743 the boy is still there. 209 00:11:00,743 --> 00:11:02,143 GATES: Yeah. That's good. 210 00:11:02,143 --> 00:11:04,143 COX: And I love the fact that the boy has not gone. 211 00:11:04,143 --> 00:11:05,243 GATES: No, that's good. 212 00:11:05,243 --> 00:11:06,443 COX: And I always say that to my students. 213 00:11:06,443 --> 00:11:08,676 I say that to my students, my acting students. 214 00:11:08,676 --> 00:11:11,343 I say, "Please. Always carry a photograph." 215 00:11:11,343 --> 00:11:13,076 I mean, this is, this is... 216 00:11:13,076 --> 00:11:14,176 That's me. 217 00:11:14,176 --> 00:11:15,843 GATES: There you go. I feel that way. 218 00:11:15,843 --> 00:11:16,976 COX: That's me. GATES: Yeah. 219 00:11:16,976 --> 00:11:18,743 COX: That's totally who I am. GATES: Yeah. 220 00:11:18,743 --> 00:11:21,943 COX: That little guy there, smiling, holding that ball. 221 00:11:21,943 --> 00:11:23,376 That's me. 222 00:11:23,376 --> 00:11:25,209 And I don't think I'm any different from that. 223 00:11:25,209 --> 00:11:26,576 That's what I... 224 00:11:26,576 --> 00:11:28,143 I mean, I, I look in the mirror and I go, "Oh, what happened?" 225 00:11:28,143 --> 00:11:31,043 But that's, that's my essence. 226 00:11:31,043 --> 00:11:32,609 GATES: But if you lose that, you've lost everything. 227 00:11:32,609 --> 00:11:33,809 COX: Yeah, exactly. GATES: I agree. 228 00:11:33,809 --> 00:11:35,443 COX: I'm proud that I haven't lost that little boy. 229 00:11:35,443 --> 00:11:37,209 GATES: Yeah. COX: And I won't lose him. 230 00:11:38,709 --> 00:11:42,643 GATES: Brian and Viola each grew up under dire circumstances, 231 00:11:42,643 --> 00:11:45,409 grappling with the most basic needs, 232 00:11:45,409 --> 00:11:48,643 before finding an escape on the stage. 233 00:11:49,476 --> 00:11:51,643 Along the way, they had little time to 234 00:11:51,643 --> 00:11:54,009 contemplate their ancestors. 235 00:11:54,009 --> 00:11:56,509 But that was about to change... 236 00:11:58,643 --> 00:12:01,309 I started with Viola. 237 00:12:01,909 --> 00:12:05,176 She was born on a plantation in South Carolina 238 00:12:05,176 --> 00:12:08,476 where her mother's family had lived for generations. 239 00:12:09,709 --> 00:12:12,343 And she still feels a deep tie to the place, 240 00:12:12,343 --> 00:12:15,009 even though she didn't stay there long. 241 00:12:16,209 --> 00:12:17,209 So when someone asks you, 242 00:12:17,209 --> 00:12:19,109 "Viola Davis, who are your people? 243 00:12:19,109 --> 00:12:20,209 Where do you come from?" 244 00:12:20,209 --> 00:12:21,909 What do you say? 245 00:12:21,909 --> 00:12:24,809 DAVIS: I always say I came from Singleton Plantation in 246 00:12:24,809 --> 00:12:26,343 St. Matthews, South Carolina. 247 00:12:26,343 --> 00:12:28,376 I was born in my grandmother's, um, 248 00:12:28,376 --> 00:12:29,676 sharecropper's house... 249 00:12:29,676 --> 00:12:31,709 GATES: Mm-hmm. DAVIS: And that's usually it. 250 00:12:31,709 --> 00:12:32,809 It, it stops there. 251 00:12:32,809 --> 00:12:34,543 I mean, once we moved to Rhode Island 252 00:12:34,543 --> 00:12:36,343 when I was two months old, 253 00:12:36,343 --> 00:12:39,709 I sort of lost that connection to my family's house. 254 00:12:39,709 --> 00:12:40,743 GATES: So, you don't think of yourself as 255 00:12:40,743 --> 00:12:42,909 a native of Rhode Island? 256 00:12:42,909 --> 00:12:44,643 Though you spent so much time there. 257 00:12:44,643 --> 00:12:45,709 You went to school there. 258 00:12:45,709 --> 00:12:48,476 DAVIS: Yeah. I, I would call that my home. 259 00:12:48,476 --> 00:12:50,243 GATES: Mm-hmm. 260 00:12:50,243 --> 00:12:52,009 DAVIS: But it's interesting that when 261 00:12:52,009 --> 00:12:53,376 I talk about where my home, 262 00:12:53,376 --> 00:12:54,809 I always talk about where I was born. 263 00:12:54,809 --> 00:12:55,976 GATES: Right. 264 00:12:55,976 --> 00:12:57,776 DAVIS: And I think the disconnect from Rhode Island is 265 00:12:57,776 --> 00:13:00,809 just the Black side of me going, "Ah." 266 00:13:00,809 --> 00:13:02,376 It was just hard integrating... 267 00:13:02,376 --> 00:13:03,643 GATES: Absolutely. DAVIS: Into that culture. 268 00:13:03,643 --> 00:13:06,276 So, then I always revert back to my birth. 269 00:13:06,276 --> 00:13:08,009 GATES: Yeah. And where your people are from. 270 00:13:08,009 --> 00:13:10,009 DAVIS: The purest form. Yeah. 271 00:13:11,509 --> 00:13:14,876 GATES: While Viola may feel bonded to her mother's people, 272 00:13:14,876 --> 00:13:17,776 she knew little about their lives. 273 00:13:18,576 --> 00:13:21,109 We focused first on her mother's parents, 274 00:13:21,109 --> 00:13:23,509 Henry and Mozell Logan. 275 00:13:23,509 --> 00:13:27,709 They were both born in St. Matthews, South Carolina. 276 00:13:27,709 --> 00:13:30,309 And we found them in the town's archives, 277 00:13:30,309 --> 00:13:35,576 in the year 1942, making a very significant decision. 278 00:13:36,909 --> 00:13:38,976 DAVIS: "Signatures of contracting parties, 279 00:13:38,976 --> 00:13:42,276 Henry Logan, Mozell Howell." 280 00:13:42,276 --> 00:13:44,343 GATES: That's your grandparents' marriage certificate. 281 00:13:44,343 --> 00:13:45,443 DAVIS: Wow. 282 00:13:45,443 --> 00:13:46,943 GATES: What's it like to see that? 283 00:13:46,943 --> 00:13:48,909 DAVIS: Awesome. 284 00:13:48,909 --> 00:13:53,109 I mean, you know, people that made you who you are, 285 00:13:53,109 --> 00:13:56,209 like you wouldn't be born if it weren't for them. 286 00:13:56,209 --> 00:13:57,276 GATES: That's right. 287 00:13:57,276 --> 00:13:58,743 DAVIS: And yet you don't really know them, 288 00:13:58,743 --> 00:14:00,443 then all of a sudden you're seeing it right? 289 00:14:00,443 --> 00:14:02,476 It, it's pretty incredible. 290 00:14:02,476 --> 00:14:05,143 GATES: They were married on September 19th, 1942. 291 00:14:05,143 --> 00:14:06,609 Henry was 22. 292 00:14:06,609 --> 00:14:08,809 Your grandmother Mozell was just 15. 293 00:14:08,809 --> 00:14:10,776 DAVIS: Same age as my mom and dad, 294 00:14:10,776 --> 00:14:11,843 when they got married. 295 00:14:11,843 --> 00:14:12,843 GATES: Yep. That's right. Same spread. 296 00:14:12,843 --> 00:14:15,076 DAVIS: Same age. Wow. 297 00:14:16,276 --> 00:14:19,109 GATES: The Logan's were married for 37 years, 298 00:14:19,109 --> 00:14:22,809 and had at least 18 children together. 299 00:14:24,276 --> 00:14:27,376 But as we scoured the records that they left behind, 300 00:14:27,376 --> 00:14:30,109 we noticed something unusual. 301 00:14:30,109 --> 00:14:34,276 A secret that Viola's grandfather Henry had 302 00:14:34,276 --> 00:14:36,809 largely kept to himself. 303 00:14:37,143 --> 00:14:39,709 In his social security application, 304 00:14:39,709 --> 00:14:42,643 filed in the early 1940's, 305 00:14:42,643 --> 00:14:47,276 Henry's father is listed as being a man named, Gable Logan. 306 00:14:47,276 --> 00:14:50,876 But when Henry passed away in 1979, 307 00:14:50,876 --> 00:14:53,943 his obituary said something very different. 308 00:14:54,343 --> 00:14:56,776 DAVIS: "He was the son of the late John Young, 309 00:14:56,776 --> 00:14:59,776 and Mrs. Corrine Ravenel Logan." 310 00:14:59,776 --> 00:15:02,776 Ooh. 311 00:15:03,576 --> 00:15:06,609 (groaning) 312 00:15:07,343 --> 00:15:08,809 GATES: Well, according to this obituary, 313 00:15:08,809 --> 00:15:13,143 Henry's father was a man named John Young, not Gable Logan. 314 00:15:13,143 --> 00:15:15,043 Did your mom ever talk about this? 315 00:15:15,043 --> 00:15:16,543 DAVIS: Never. 316 00:15:16,543 --> 00:15:19,109 GATES: Mm, isn't that interesting, that silence? 317 00:15:19,109 --> 00:15:21,709 DAVIS: Silence is always interesting to me. 318 00:15:23,176 --> 00:15:26,276 GATES: Records show that Henry's mother Corrine married 319 00:15:26,276 --> 00:15:30,143 Gable Logan in 1912, and that they were still married when 320 00:15:30,143 --> 00:15:32,943 Henry was born in May of 1920. 321 00:15:33,543 --> 00:15:35,576 But, of course, that doesn't prove that 322 00:15:35,576 --> 00:15:38,643 Gable was Henry's father. 323 00:15:38,976 --> 00:15:40,876 So we set out to see what else we could learn about 324 00:15:40,876 --> 00:15:44,876 Gable and Corrine, and we found a surprise. 325 00:15:45,843 --> 00:15:47,376 Could you please turn the page? 326 00:15:47,376 --> 00:15:50,209 DAVIS: Oh, Corrine. What're you doing? 327 00:15:50,209 --> 00:15:51,709 (laughs) 328 00:15:51,709 --> 00:15:56,409 GATES: Viola, this record is dated July 18th, 1919. 329 00:15:56,409 --> 00:15:58,609 Would you please read the transcribed section? 330 00:15:58,609 --> 00:16:00,909 DAVIS: "Passenger list of colored casuals 331 00:16:00,909 --> 00:16:02,643 returning to the United States, 332 00:16:02,643 --> 00:16:05,376 port of departure, Brest, France, 333 00:16:05,376 --> 00:16:07,176 to Camp Mills, New York. 334 00:16:07,176 --> 00:16:10,276 Arrived; July 18th, 1919. 335 00:16:10,276 --> 00:16:14,076 Name Logan Gable, address St. Matthews, South Carolina." 336 00:16:14,076 --> 00:16:15,976 GATES: Any idea what you're looking at? 337 00:16:15,976 --> 00:16:17,943 DAVIS: He must have served during, 338 00:16:17,943 --> 00:16:19,709 this would be World War I, right? 339 00:16:19,709 --> 00:16:20,809 GATES: That's right. 340 00:16:20,809 --> 00:16:23,643 That's a list of Black soldiers returning from 341 00:16:23,643 --> 00:16:26,509 serving in France, during World War I, 342 00:16:26,509 --> 00:16:28,876 and Gable Logan was on that ship. 343 00:16:28,876 --> 00:16:29,976 Did you know? 344 00:16:29,976 --> 00:16:31,943 DAVIS: No. Nobody talks about that. 345 00:16:31,943 --> 00:16:33,843 GATES: Right. DAVIS: Yeah. 346 00:16:33,843 --> 00:16:35,276 GATES: Well, it's certainly possible that 347 00:16:35,276 --> 00:16:37,743 Gable got off the ship and went home to his wife 348 00:16:37,743 --> 00:16:39,376 and conceived your grandfather. 349 00:16:39,376 --> 00:16:41,176 However, there's just one problem. 350 00:16:41,176 --> 00:16:42,709 (laughter) 351 00:16:42,709 --> 00:16:44,443 Do you see where the men on the ship were headed? 352 00:16:44,443 --> 00:16:45,709 DAVIS: Camp... 353 00:16:45,709 --> 00:16:47,043 GATES: They were coming back to Camp Mills. 354 00:16:47,043 --> 00:16:48,876 DAVIS: Camp Mills, yep, I see it right there, "Camp Mills." 355 00:16:48,876 --> 00:16:52,409 GATES: Gable got off his ship and went to a military base in 356 00:16:52,409 --> 00:16:56,276 Long Island, New York, and we found no evidence that 357 00:16:56,276 --> 00:16:59,076 he ever went back to South Carolina. 358 00:16:59,076 --> 00:17:01,043 DAVIS: Wow. 359 00:17:01,043 --> 00:17:03,143 GATES: So, what do you think happened? 360 00:17:03,809 --> 00:17:07,109 DAVIS: I think Corrine, uh, 361 00:17:07,109 --> 00:17:10,676 I don't know, got bored, 362 00:17:10,676 --> 00:17:14,809 had a disconnect, and, um, 363 00:17:14,809 --> 00:17:17,609 went with someone else while he was away. 364 00:17:17,609 --> 00:17:21,909 And I think that that was a very short-lived relationship. 365 00:17:23,309 --> 00:17:25,476 GATES: Viola's theory was seemingly supported by 366 00:17:25,476 --> 00:17:28,709 the 1920 census for South Carolina, 367 00:17:28,709 --> 00:17:34,143 where we saw Corrine living with her parents just four doors away 368 00:17:34,143 --> 00:17:36,676 from a familiar name. 369 00:17:37,176 --> 00:17:38,609 DAVIS: "John Young." 370 00:17:38,609 --> 00:17:39,776 Bing! 371 00:17:39,776 --> 00:17:42,309 "Head, Black, age 35, married." 372 00:17:42,309 --> 00:17:43,543 (sighs) 373 00:17:43,543 --> 00:17:47,976 "Occupation, farmer, Josephine, wife, Black, age 27." 374 00:17:47,976 --> 00:17:49,643 GATES: Recognize any names there? 375 00:17:49,643 --> 00:17:51,709 DAVIS: Yeah, John Young. 376 00:17:51,709 --> 00:17:53,143 GATES: What's it like to see that? 377 00:17:54,243 --> 00:17:57,743 DAVIS: It's, it's like life, you know, 378 00:17:57,743 --> 00:18:01,709 it's people getting with other people who are married. 379 00:18:01,709 --> 00:18:03,609 It's the mess of relationships, 380 00:18:03,609 --> 00:18:07,743 and the mess of, you know, love, sex. 381 00:18:07,743 --> 00:18:09,876 GATES: Mm-hmm. DAVIS: Um, yeah. 382 00:18:09,876 --> 00:18:10,876 GATES: Lust... DAVIS: It's truth. 383 00:18:10,876 --> 00:18:13,209 GATES: Yep. Lust, desire. DAVIS: Yeah. 384 00:18:13,809 --> 00:18:17,909 GATES: At this point, it seemed quite likely that Henry's father 385 00:18:17,909 --> 00:18:21,509 was John Young, and not Gable Logan. 386 00:18:22,809 --> 00:18:26,609 But we had to be certain, so we turned to DNA. 387 00:18:27,809 --> 00:18:31,843 Since Viola's mother is one generation closer to Henry, 388 00:18:31,843 --> 00:18:34,709 we asked her take a DNA test. 389 00:18:34,976 --> 00:18:38,576 We then compared her genetic profile to millions of 390 00:18:38,576 --> 00:18:42,443 other profiles in publicly available databases, 391 00:18:42,443 --> 00:18:46,509 and we saw that she had no matches to anyone in 392 00:18:46,509 --> 00:18:49,476 the extended Logan family, 393 00:18:49,476 --> 00:18:54,409 meaning that Henry definitely was not Gable's son. 394 00:18:55,409 --> 00:18:58,543 But that still left us with a question. 395 00:18:59,443 --> 00:19:02,176 Now, of course, the fact that Gable wasn't Henry's father does 396 00:19:02,176 --> 00:19:04,609 not mean that John Young was. 397 00:19:04,609 --> 00:19:05,809 DAVIS: Exactly. 398 00:19:05,809 --> 00:19:07,876 GATES: So, we returned to the DNA databases and 399 00:19:07,876 --> 00:19:10,643 immediately noticed a cluster of matches that were 400 00:19:10,643 --> 00:19:13,443 all related to your mother through one couple. 401 00:19:13,443 --> 00:19:15,943 And based on the amount of DNA that your mother shares with 402 00:19:15,943 --> 00:19:20,776 the descendants of that couple, we confirmed that they were 403 00:19:20,776 --> 00:19:24,476 your mother's great grandparents, biologically. 404 00:19:24,476 --> 00:19:27,009 Genetically, linked to your mother through 405 00:19:27,009 --> 00:19:28,509 one of their children. 406 00:19:28,509 --> 00:19:31,309 In fact, a son, to be exact. 407 00:19:31,309 --> 00:19:32,309 DAVIS: Wow. 408 00:19:32,309 --> 00:19:34,809 GATES: That son is Henry's father. 409 00:19:34,809 --> 00:19:38,843 And that son is your mother's biological grandfather. 410 00:19:38,843 --> 00:19:40,143 You want to meet him? 411 00:19:40,143 --> 00:19:41,143 DAVIS: Yes, absolutely. 412 00:19:41,143 --> 00:19:43,443 GATES: Could you please turn the page? 413 00:19:45,143 --> 00:19:47,509 Viola, would you please read the name in the box with 414 00:19:47,509 --> 00:19:50,376 a yellow border on the chart in front of you? 415 00:19:50,376 --> 00:19:51,543 DAVIS: "John Young." 416 00:19:51,543 --> 00:19:53,843 GATES: John Young. DAVIS: Yeah. Wow. 417 00:19:54,843 --> 00:19:59,009 It makes me know that I entered this world with a big old load 418 00:19:59,009 --> 00:20:01,076 from the moment I came out of my mother's womb. 419 00:20:01,076 --> 00:20:02,276 GATES: Right. 420 00:20:02,276 --> 00:20:05,309 DAVIS: I'm the amalgamation of a lot 421 00:20:05,309 --> 00:20:08,609 of stories and a lot of secrets. 422 00:20:09,809 --> 00:20:13,376 GATES: The truth of Henry's paternity likely stayed hidden 423 00:20:13,376 --> 00:20:16,909 in no small part because of the events that followed. 424 00:20:18,943 --> 00:20:23,676 His mother Corrine died of tuberculosis in 1926, 425 00:20:23,676 --> 00:20:26,409 when Henry was just six years old. 426 00:20:26,409 --> 00:20:28,276 And when we looked for his father, 427 00:20:28,276 --> 00:20:32,676 John Young, we found him in the 1930 census, 428 00:20:32,676 --> 00:20:35,509 living far from St. Matthews. 429 00:20:36,343 --> 00:20:38,909 DAVIS: "Charlotte City, North Carolina. 430 00:20:38,909 --> 00:20:41,143 John Young, head, age 46. 431 00:20:41,143 --> 00:20:43,509 Occupation, janitor apartment house. 432 00:20:43,509 --> 00:20:45,476 Josephine, wife, age 37. 433 00:20:45,476 --> 00:20:48,076 John Jr., son, age, eight. 434 00:20:48,076 --> 00:20:49,809 Place of birth, South Carolina. 435 00:20:49,809 --> 00:20:52,409 Julius, son, age four. 436 00:20:52,409 --> 00:20:55,143 Place of birth, South Carolina." 437 00:20:55,843 --> 00:20:58,176 GATES: Sometime between 1926 and 1930, 438 00:20:58,176 --> 00:21:00,909 John Young, his wife Josephine, 439 00:21:00,909 --> 00:21:04,643 and their two young sons, your grandfather's half-brothers... 440 00:21:04,643 --> 00:21:05,976 DAVIS: Yeah. 441 00:21:05,976 --> 00:21:09,109 GATES: Moved from St. Matthews to Charlotte, North Carolina. 442 00:21:09,109 --> 00:21:11,943 Do you think that John's relationship with Corrine may 443 00:21:11,943 --> 00:21:14,409 have had something to do with this move? 444 00:21:14,409 --> 00:21:16,409 DAVIS: Oh, absolutely. 445 00:21:16,409 --> 00:21:18,776 You know, you got to, you got to bury your secrets. 446 00:21:18,776 --> 00:21:19,909 GATES: That's right. 447 00:21:19,909 --> 00:21:21,609 Can't be living four doors away from that heifer. 448 00:21:21,609 --> 00:21:23,309 I could hear that conversation. 449 00:21:23,309 --> 00:21:25,076 "Huh? You don't think I know? 450 00:21:25,076 --> 00:21:27,109 Look at that baby. That baby looks just like you." 451 00:21:27,109 --> 00:21:28,809 (laughter) 452 00:21:28,809 --> 00:21:30,376 How do you imagine Henry felt? 453 00:21:30,376 --> 00:21:32,176 His mother dies, and then his father, 454 00:21:32,176 --> 00:21:34,176 his biological father moves away. 455 00:21:34,943 --> 00:21:36,709 DAVIS: Abandoned. GATES: Yeah. 456 00:21:36,709 --> 00:21:39,476 DAVIS: And he was probably labeled unwanted. 457 00:21:39,476 --> 00:21:41,143 GATES: That's right. DAVIS: Yeah. 458 00:21:41,143 --> 00:21:43,809 GATES: What's it like to learn all this, to see all this? 459 00:21:43,809 --> 00:21:48,909 DAVIS: I think that all of us want to create a past that 460 00:21:48,909 --> 00:21:51,343 benefits us and our fantasies. 461 00:21:51,343 --> 00:21:52,609 GATES: Yes. 462 00:21:52,609 --> 00:21:55,843 DAVIS: I think because the other is too hard to process, 463 00:21:55,843 --> 00:21:58,543 we like stories that are going to elevate us. 464 00:21:58,543 --> 00:21:59,809 GATES: Right. 465 00:21:59,809 --> 00:22:05,076 DAVIS: You know, um, we're not so good with messy truth. 466 00:22:05,076 --> 00:22:06,576 GATES: No. 467 00:22:06,576 --> 00:22:09,209 DAVIS: And, uh, this is a messy truth. 468 00:22:10,943 --> 00:22:14,376 GATES: Like Viola, Brian Cox was about to confront 469 00:22:14,376 --> 00:22:17,943 a messy truth within his family tree. 470 00:22:19,276 --> 00:22:23,076 His mother's father, a man named James McCann, 471 00:22:23,076 --> 00:22:25,609 died long before Brian was born, 472 00:22:25,609 --> 00:22:27,743 after a troubled life. 473 00:22:28,909 --> 00:22:32,076 Growing up, Brian's mother had told him that James had served 474 00:22:32,076 --> 00:22:35,776 in the military, and had distinguished himself. 475 00:22:35,776 --> 00:22:39,576 But Brian's many efforts to investigate this story had come 476 00:22:39,576 --> 00:22:44,509 to nothing, even a photo of James that Brian recalled from 477 00:22:44,509 --> 00:22:47,543 his childhood had disappeared. 478 00:22:48,443 --> 00:22:51,376 COX: They had this giant photograph of this guy with 479 00:22:51,376 --> 00:22:54,609 red hair and my mother told me he was a drill sergeant in 480 00:22:54,609 --> 00:22:58,376 the army and, and that was my grandfather and 481 00:22:58,376 --> 00:23:00,709 I don't know what ever happened to that photograph. 482 00:23:00,709 --> 00:23:05,043 You know, it's gone in the mist of time but it's just been that 483 00:23:05,043 --> 00:23:08,176 nagging thing in my life. 484 00:23:08,176 --> 00:23:09,543 GATES: Oh, and it's so frustrating, isn't it? 485 00:23:09,543 --> 00:23:10,643 COX: Yeah. 486 00:23:10,643 --> 00:23:11,943 GATES: And you say, "I know I saw it." 487 00:23:11,943 --> 00:23:14,443 COX: Yeah, and I saw it and I saw it and it was there and 488 00:23:14,443 --> 00:23:16,343 yet when we were investigating, 489 00:23:16,343 --> 00:23:20,976 we couldn't find any, any records of his at all. 490 00:23:20,976 --> 00:23:23,143 GATES: Well, I want to show you what we found. 491 00:23:23,143 --> 00:23:24,143 COX: Oh! 492 00:23:24,143 --> 00:23:25,143 GATES: Okay? COX: Yeah. 493 00:23:25,143 --> 00:23:26,243 GATES: Would you please turn the page? 494 00:23:26,243 --> 00:23:27,909 COX: Sure. 495 00:23:27,909 --> 00:23:29,976 GATES: Brian, this is a record from the National Archives... 496 00:23:29,976 --> 00:23:31,643 COX: Oh, my God! 497 00:23:31,643 --> 00:23:32,809 Sorry. 498 00:23:32,809 --> 00:23:34,676 GATES: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 499 00:23:34,676 --> 00:23:36,043 COX: "Sergeant..." 500 00:23:36,043 --> 00:23:38,076 "James McCann ranked Sergeant 501 00:23:38,076 --> 00:23:44,009 enlistment 26 of the July '08." 502 00:23:44,009 --> 00:23:45,576 GATES: So you've been looking for that record, I think. 503 00:23:45,576 --> 00:23:48,609 COX: I have. Wow. 504 00:23:48,609 --> 00:23:51,543 It's amazing, I mean it really is. 505 00:23:51,543 --> 00:23:52,709 I'm not mad. 506 00:23:52,709 --> 00:23:53,976 (laughter) 507 00:23:53,976 --> 00:23:55,409 I did have a grandfather who was a Sergeant, 508 00:23:55,409 --> 00:23:57,909 you know, at least that much I know. 509 00:23:58,676 --> 00:24:02,009 GATES: James' military career was difficult to research 510 00:24:02,009 --> 00:24:05,276 because many British service records were lost 511 00:24:05,276 --> 00:24:07,909 during the second World War. 512 00:24:07,909 --> 00:24:11,376 But we got lucky because were able to uncover 513 00:24:11,376 --> 00:24:14,743 pension documents for Brian's grandfather. 514 00:24:14,743 --> 00:24:18,643 They showed that James enlisted in the Black Watch, 515 00:24:18,643 --> 00:24:22,176 also known as the Royal Highlanders. 516 00:24:22,409 --> 00:24:25,209 This was a fateful decision. 517 00:24:25,209 --> 00:24:28,776 In 1915, at the height of World War I, 518 00:24:28,776 --> 00:24:32,409 the Highlanders ended up on the front lines in France... 519 00:24:32,409 --> 00:24:33,776 (explosion) 520 00:24:33,776 --> 00:24:38,043 Where they endured some of the worst combat in modern history. 521 00:24:38,909 --> 00:24:41,676 Fighting in a maze of earthen trenches, 522 00:24:41,676 --> 00:24:46,043 sometimes knee-deep in mud and sewage. 523 00:24:47,776 --> 00:24:50,409 Now I'm sure you've heard of the infamous Western Front... 524 00:24:50,409 --> 00:24:51,676 COX: Yeah, yeah. 525 00:24:51,676 --> 00:24:52,676 GATES: But did you realize that 526 00:24:52,676 --> 00:24:54,209 your grandfather had served there? 527 00:24:54,209 --> 00:24:56,176 COX: No. I had no idea. 528 00:24:56,176 --> 00:24:59,076 GATES: How would you have fared? 529 00:24:59,076 --> 00:25:01,376 How would you have processed that experience? 530 00:25:01,376 --> 00:25:03,743 COX: Yeah, no. GATES: No? 531 00:25:03,743 --> 00:25:05,409 COX: We, we were spared that. 532 00:25:05,409 --> 00:25:06,509 GATES: Yeah. COX: We've been spared that. 533 00:25:06,509 --> 00:25:07,809 GATES: I would've been crushed. 534 00:25:07,809 --> 00:25:11,209 COX: Yeah. I mean, it's, it's, it's beyond imagination. 535 00:25:11,209 --> 00:25:12,243 GATES: Could you please turn the page? 536 00:25:12,243 --> 00:25:13,476 COX: Sure. 537 00:25:13,476 --> 00:25:15,509 GATES: Brian, these are excerpts from the war diary of 538 00:25:15,509 --> 00:25:17,643 the 9th battalion of the Black Watch 539 00:25:17,643 --> 00:25:21,709 from late 1915 and early 1916. 540 00:25:21,709 --> 00:25:24,043 Now we believe that your grandfather was in 541 00:25:24,043 --> 00:25:26,409 that battalion at the time. 542 00:25:26,409 --> 00:25:29,276 Would you please read the transcribed section. 543 00:25:29,276 --> 00:25:33,909 COX: "December 11th, battalion went into the trenches. 544 00:25:33,909 --> 00:25:35,509 The trenches were full of water, 545 00:25:35,509 --> 00:25:37,543 two feet deep in places. 546 00:25:37,543 --> 00:25:40,276 February the 20th, between 9:00 and 10:00 pm, 547 00:25:40,276 --> 00:25:43,343 heavy artillery firing was heard to the south. 548 00:25:43,343 --> 00:25:46,943 March 18th we were heavily shelled at 11:00 am 549 00:25:46,943 --> 00:25:49,809 and again from 5:30 to 7:00 pm. 550 00:25:49,809 --> 00:25:53,409 Gas from the shells was distinctly noticed." 551 00:25:53,409 --> 00:25:55,676 Yeah, wow. 552 00:25:55,676 --> 00:25:57,976 GATES: And we believe your grandfather was there. 553 00:25:57,976 --> 00:25:59,176 COX: Yeah. 554 00:25:59,176 --> 00:26:00,676 GATES: What's it like to read those words to think of 555 00:26:00,676 --> 00:26:03,076 your grandfather actually living through that, 556 00:26:03,076 --> 00:26:04,943 experiencing that horror? 557 00:26:04,943 --> 00:26:07,609 COX: I, I think that explains a lot. 558 00:26:07,609 --> 00:26:11,909 It's not a fantasy, it's a reality and 559 00:26:11,909 --> 00:26:13,976 he lived with that harsh reality. 560 00:26:13,976 --> 00:26:16,709 You know, I mean, apparently he was a drunk. 561 00:26:16,709 --> 00:26:21,143 He drank and, and I, I think it all makes sense. 562 00:26:21,143 --> 00:26:23,109 It just makes sense and he, I mean, 563 00:26:23,109 --> 00:26:24,109 he didn't live very long. 564 00:26:24,109 --> 00:26:25,543 He died at the age of 50. 565 00:26:25,543 --> 00:26:27,576 So he didn't live long, you know. 566 00:26:27,576 --> 00:26:32,809 And it doesn't excuse anything but it fills in a lot about what 567 00:26:32,809 --> 00:26:35,776 he was going through and what he went through and 568 00:26:35,776 --> 00:26:39,209 how he didn't deal with it, how he couldn't cope with it. 569 00:26:42,443 --> 00:26:46,743 GATES: Very few men could cope with what James endured. 570 00:26:48,276 --> 00:26:50,609 He and his fellow soldiers were subjected to 571 00:26:50,609 --> 00:26:53,109 near constant bombardment... 572 00:26:53,109 --> 00:26:57,009 (explosions) 573 00:26:57,009 --> 00:27:01,143 And some of the shells contained poison gas. 574 00:27:01,576 --> 00:27:04,176 It would settle in the trenches. 575 00:27:04,176 --> 00:27:08,476 Men who breathed too much would find their lungs blistered 576 00:27:08,476 --> 00:27:12,776 and burned, if they survived at all. 577 00:27:14,343 --> 00:27:16,509 It was one of the most gruesome weapons ever 578 00:27:16,509 --> 00:27:19,543 seen on a battlefield. 579 00:27:19,543 --> 00:27:23,676 And James may have been one of its victims, 580 00:27:24,576 --> 00:27:27,909 five months after he arrived in France, 581 00:27:27,909 --> 00:27:30,743 he found himself in Harley Hill Hospital 582 00:27:30,743 --> 00:27:33,143 in Yorkshire, England. 583 00:27:36,109 --> 00:27:40,476 COX: "James McCann, Sergeant age 39, cough, 584 00:27:40,476 --> 00:27:42,376 short of breath. 585 00:27:42,376 --> 00:27:45,976 Four days no duty." 586 00:27:45,976 --> 00:27:48,209 GATES: Your grandfather was admitted to the hospital for 587 00:27:48,209 --> 00:27:51,276 issues related to his lungs. 588 00:27:51,276 --> 00:27:53,443 Did you ever hear anything about that? 589 00:27:53,443 --> 00:27:56,843 COX: No. Wow. 590 00:27:56,843 --> 00:27:59,543 No, and this is all new. 591 00:27:59,543 --> 00:28:02,143 GATES: His diagnosis was that he was short of breath 592 00:28:02,143 --> 00:28:03,343 and he was coughing. 593 00:28:03,343 --> 00:28:05,743 So let's see why, could you please turn the page? 594 00:28:05,743 --> 00:28:07,776 Brian, this is your grandfather's pension card 595 00:28:07,776 --> 00:28:09,776 issued to him after the war. 596 00:28:09,776 --> 00:28:12,976 Would you please read the transcribed section? 597 00:28:12,976 --> 00:28:15,943 COX: "Cough and dyspnea, 598 00:28:15,943 --> 00:28:19,276 chronic bronchitis and emphysema. 599 00:28:19,276 --> 00:28:22,443 Degree of disarmament 30%." 600 00:28:22,443 --> 00:28:23,676 GATES: So you know what this means, 601 00:28:23,676 --> 00:28:26,176 we spoke to a scholar who told us that your grandfather's 602 00:28:26,176 --> 00:28:28,776 symptoms are typical of gas poisoning. 603 00:28:28,776 --> 00:28:29,976 COX: Wow. 604 00:28:29,976 --> 00:28:32,109 GATES: What's it like to learn this? 605 00:28:32,109 --> 00:28:35,043 COX: It... 606 00:28:35,043 --> 00:28:39,076 It's relieving actually, because it's like a ghost has 607 00:28:39,076 --> 00:28:41,143 been laid for a while finally, you know? 608 00:28:41,143 --> 00:28:42,443 GATES: Ah, good. 609 00:28:42,443 --> 00:28:45,443 COX: You know, that, that hadn't been laid. 610 00:28:45,443 --> 00:28:50,543 You know, that had been so, um, debatable, you know, and, 611 00:28:50,543 --> 00:28:54,309 and especially that he, he had a particularly bad rap. 612 00:28:54,309 --> 00:28:55,509 You know, he was a drunk. 613 00:28:55,509 --> 00:28:56,509 You know. He wasn't... 614 00:28:56,509 --> 00:28:59,509 And nobody's taken into account any of this. 615 00:28:59,509 --> 00:29:00,709 GATES: Yeah, it wasn't his fault. 616 00:29:00,709 --> 00:29:02,376 COX: No. No. I mean, 617 00:29:02,376 --> 00:29:07,209 and that's how he survived and oh boy. 618 00:29:09,409 --> 00:29:12,643 GATES: James likely suffered from his symptoms for 619 00:29:12,643 --> 00:29:14,976 the rest of his short life. 620 00:29:17,376 --> 00:29:19,176 But records show that this wasn't 621 00:29:19,176 --> 00:29:21,909 the end of his military career. 622 00:29:23,443 --> 00:29:26,209 COX: "James McCann ranked Sergeant 623 00:29:26,209 --> 00:29:30,443 discharged 30/10/1918." 624 00:29:30,443 --> 00:29:33,376 GATES: James was honorably discharged just 12 days before 625 00:29:33,376 --> 00:29:34,843 the end of the war. 626 00:29:34,843 --> 00:29:37,176 We believe that after his hospital stay, 627 00:29:37,176 --> 00:29:40,009 he remained in Britain and assisted in training 628 00:29:40,009 --> 00:29:43,576 new recruits and if you look to your left, 629 00:29:43,576 --> 00:29:45,609 did you know that your grandfather received 630 00:29:45,609 --> 00:29:48,509 four honors for his service? 631 00:29:48,509 --> 00:29:50,576 COX: No. 632 00:29:51,876 --> 00:29:54,509 GATES: The 1914/15 star. 633 00:29:54,509 --> 00:29:56,943 The British War Medal. 634 00:29:56,943 --> 00:30:01,076 The Victory Medal and the Silver War Badge. 635 00:30:01,809 --> 00:30:03,043 COX: Wow. 636 00:30:03,043 --> 00:30:05,676 GATES: Those are photos of the awards your grandfather won. 637 00:30:05,676 --> 00:30:08,043 COX: We, we never saw these. 638 00:30:10,343 --> 00:30:13,709 Oh. Gosh. 639 00:30:13,709 --> 00:30:15,809 Wow. 640 00:30:17,209 --> 00:30:19,809 It's, um... 641 00:30:20,409 --> 00:30:22,709 It's incredibly moving. 642 00:30:22,709 --> 00:30:24,009 It really is. 643 00:30:24,009 --> 00:30:29,043 I mean, it's just, I mean, you now, this man whose life 644 00:30:29,043 --> 00:30:34,443 has been kind of traduced and debased and this and that 645 00:30:34,443 --> 00:30:36,109 about him and then you realize that 646 00:30:36,109 --> 00:30:38,609 this is exactly what he did. 647 00:30:38,609 --> 00:30:41,509 GATES: He's a hero. COX: Yeah. 648 00:30:41,509 --> 00:30:44,876 Wow, that's, um... 649 00:30:44,876 --> 00:30:47,676 I have to say, it's just amazing. 650 00:30:47,676 --> 00:30:51,276 I mean, I'm sorry, but this is very... 651 00:30:51,276 --> 00:30:53,176 I know, this really something, 652 00:30:53,176 --> 00:30:54,376 really is something. 653 00:30:54,376 --> 00:30:57,776 I mean, I wish my ma could be here to see this. 654 00:30:57,776 --> 00:31:01,243 I wish my ma could just see all this about dad. 655 00:31:02,543 --> 00:31:05,609 This validates his life, you know, and, uh, 656 00:31:05,609 --> 00:31:08,443 his life was pretty unvalidated until this point. 657 00:31:08,443 --> 00:31:10,509 And this is a, this is a major, major, 658 00:31:10,509 --> 00:31:12,809 major thing for him. 659 00:31:12,809 --> 00:31:17,443 And I am so, so grateful for this, I can't tell you. 660 00:31:22,076 --> 00:31:25,143 GATES: Much like Brian, Viola Davis was about to 661 00:31:25,143 --> 00:31:28,676 discover that she has an ancestral connection 662 00:31:28,676 --> 00:31:30,843 to a terrible war. 663 00:31:31,709 --> 00:31:35,876 Her great-great-grandfather, a man named Emanuel Howell, 664 00:31:35,876 --> 00:31:39,909 was born into slavery sometime around 1840. 665 00:31:41,076 --> 00:31:43,376 Searching for evidence of his life, 666 00:31:43,376 --> 00:31:47,409 we found him in an unexpected place; 667 00:31:47,409 --> 00:31:50,076 the state archives of South Carolina, 668 00:31:50,076 --> 00:31:55,343 on a pension application asking to be compensated for time spent 669 00:31:55,343 --> 00:31:58,043 with the Confederate Army. 670 00:31:59,143 --> 00:32:02,609 DAVIS: "I served in the war between the states, as servant. 671 00:32:02,609 --> 00:32:06,043 I served in army about one year, remaining faithful 672 00:32:06,043 --> 00:32:09,076 to the Confederacy throughout the said war, 673 00:32:09,076 --> 00:32:11,509 and my conduct since the war has been such that 674 00:32:11,509 --> 00:32:15,309 I am entitled to a pension under the above act. 675 00:32:15,309 --> 00:32:20,009 Sworn and subscribe; Emmanuel his Mark Howell." 676 00:32:20,009 --> 00:32:21,243 Wow. 677 00:32:21,243 --> 00:32:23,576 GATES: Viola, have you ever heard of a, a Black person 678 00:32:23,576 --> 00:32:27,143 getting a pension for being a servant for the Confederates? 679 00:32:27,143 --> 00:32:28,643 DAVIS: No, not at all. GATES: No. 680 00:32:28,643 --> 00:32:29,709 And we hadn't neither. 681 00:32:29,709 --> 00:32:31,376 (laughter). 682 00:32:31,376 --> 00:32:32,943 GATES: What's it like to learn that? 683 00:32:32,943 --> 00:32:35,943 DAVIS: It tells me that I was born at the right time. 684 00:32:35,943 --> 00:32:37,176 GATES: We both were. 685 00:32:37,176 --> 00:32:39,509 DAVIS: But it also proves to me that 686 00:32:39,509 --> 00:32:41,409 somebody paid a price for me to be here. 687 00:32:41,409 --> 00:32:43,809 GATES: Absolutely. DAVIS: Yeah. 688 00:32:46,709 --> 00:32:50,176 GATES: Viola wondered how her ancestor could possibly have 689 00:32:50,176 --> 00:32:53,443 ended up in such a difficult situation. 690 00:32:53,776 --> 00:32:56,976 His pension application contains a clue. 691 00:32:56,976 --> 00:33:00,243 It lists several witnesses to his service, 692 00:33:00,243 --> 00:33:02,709 including a White man named H.C., 693 00:33:02,709 --> 00:33:05,443 or Hamilton Pauling. 694 00:33:07,943 --> 00:33:10,743 Digging deeper, we discovered that Hamilton 695 00:33:10,743 --> 00:33:13,276 was a Confederate soldier. 696 00:33:14,276 --> 00:33:17,743 He joined the Rebels when he was 16 years old. 697 00:33:17,743 --> 00:33:22,676 And we believe that his parents owned Viola's ancestor, 698 00:33:22,676 --> 00:33:27,109 and compelled him to accompany their son into battle. 699 00:33:28,809 --> 00:33:30,276 DAVIS: Wow. GATES: Can you imagine? 700 00:33:30,276 --> 00:33:32,176 DAVIS: Oh. Yeah. 701 00:33:32,176 --> 00:33:34,009 GATES: So, you're a Black man, you're a slave, 702 00:33:34,009 --> 00:33:36,809 and then they force you to go off to the Confederacy to 703 00:33:36,809 --> 00:33:40,343 protect the son who's fighting to keep you enslaved. 704 00:33:40,343 --> 00:33:41,376 DAVIS: Exactly. 705 00:33:41,376 --> 00:33:43,109 GATES: This by the way, was not uncommon. 706 00:33:43,109 --> 00:33:46,643 Many Southern soldiers brought their enslaved men 707 00:33:46,643 --> 00:33:48,209 with them into the army. 708 00:33:48,209 --> 00:33:49,409 They didn't fight. 709 00:33:49,409 --> 00:33:50,709 They weren't given guns. 710 00:33:50,709 --> 00:33:52,809 Instead, they were used as teamsters, cooks, 711 00:33:52,809 --> 00:33:55,376 blacksmiths and so on. 712 00:33:55,376 --> 00:33:58,009 And of course, they had no say in their master's decision 713 00:33:58,009 --> 00:33:59,876 to take them to war. 714 00:33:59,876 --> 00:34:03,443 Your great-great grandfather would've been about 23 years old 715 00:34:03,443 --> 00:34:05,609 at the time Hamilton enlisted. 716 00:34:05,609 --> 00:34:08,076 DAVIS: Wow. GATES: How do you think he felt? 717 00:34:08,076 --> 00:34:10,243 It's the middle of the war must have been terrifying. 718 00:34:10,243 --> 00:34:12,976 He had to be rooting for the Union to beating 719 00:34:12,976 --> 00:34:14,276 the Confederates, right? 720 00:34:14,276 --> 00:34:16,909 Because that was the only way he was going to be, be free. 721 00:34:16,909 --> 00:34:17,976 DAVIS: Absolutely. 722 00:34:17,976 --> 00:34:19,876 GATES: But he had to put his life on the line, 723 00:34:19,876 --> 00:34:22,709 taking care of his ostensible owner. 724 00:34:22,709 --> 00:34:23,843 DAVIS: Absolutely. 725 00:34:23,843 --> 00:34:25,809 GATES: That's a bad position to be forced to be in. 726 00:34:25,809 --> 00:34:27,309 DAVIS: Yeah. It's a horrible position. 727 00:34:27,309 --> 00:34:30,843 It's, you know, it, it, it speaks to the invisibility of 728 00:34:30,843 --> 00:34:34,043 our humanity and our lack of choices. 729 00:34:34,043 --> 00:34:39,476 And I think that, you know, for our survival so long, 730 00:34:39,476 --> 00:34:42,809 I think that with African Americans, 731 00:34:42,809 --> 00:34:47,676 we've sucked down some major trauma in order to muster on. 732 00:34:49,843 --> 00:34:53,176 GATES: We have no idea how Emmanuel survived his time with 733 00:34:53,176 --> 00:34:58,309 the Confederate Army, and we can only guess how he felt about it. 734 00:35:00,776 --> 00:35:03,809 But as we turned to the records of the Pauling family, 735 00:35:03,809 --> 00:35:07,476 we saw exactly what they thought of him. 736 00:35:07,876 --> 00:35:13,143 In 1863, John Pauling, Hamilton's father, 737 00:35:13,143 --> 00:35:16,876 wrote out his will, describing how Emanuel, 738 00:35:16,876 --> 00:35:19,276 and his other human property, 739 00:35:19,276 --> 00:35:22,376 were to be divided among his heirs. 740 00:35:23,409 --> 00:35:26,176 DAVIS: It's like, you know, it's like mentioning your, 741 00:35:26,176 --> 00:35:28,576 I don't know, your, your dining room table... 742 00:35:28,576 --> 00:35:29,576 GATES: Yes. 743 00:35:29,576 --> 00:35:30,909 DAVIS: In your last will and testament. 744 00:35:30,909 --> 00:35:34,276 GATES: That's right, "My antique chandelier, 745 00:35:34,276 --> 00:35:37,909 my piano, Emmanuel." 746 00:35:37,909 --> 00:35:40,309 DAVIS: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Exactly. 747 00:35:40,309 --> 00:35:42,743 GATES: My horse, Trigger. DAVIS: Exactly. 748 00:35:42,743 --> 00:35:45,009 GATES: It's cold. DAVIS: Exactly. 749 00:35:45,009 --> 00:35:48,843 GATES: The whole system was designed to demean us, 750 00:35:48,843 --> 00:35:50,309 to rob us of our humanity. 751 00:35:50,309 --> 00:35:51,576 DAVIS: Absolutely. 752 00:35:51,576 --> 00:35:53,909 GATES: And it had an effect that we see being played out 753 00:35:53,909 --> 00:35:55,476 in our people over and over again. 754 00:35:55,476 --> 00:35:57,309 DAVIS: Time and time again, absolutely. 755 00:35:57,309 --> 00:35:58,509 GATES: Yeah. 756 00:35:58,509 --> 00:36:02,643 DAVIS: And I think that there is no explaining where 757 00:36:02,643 --> 00:36:06,509 we are as people and where we are as a country, 758 00:36:06,509 --> 00:36:09,143 without blowing the lid off of this. 759 00:36:09,143 --> 00:36:10,176 GATES: Right. 760 00:36:10,176 --> 00:36:12,743 DAVIS: You know, the same country, 761 00:36:12,743 --> 00:36:15,643 the same place that gave me an Oscar, 762 00:36:15,643 --> 00:36:18,543 gave me an Emmy, gave me two Tony's, 763 00:36:18,543 --> 00:36:22,576 gave me a really good life is also the same country that 764 00:36:22,576 --> 00:36:26,543 enslaved my ancestors and saw them as property. 765 00:36:26,543 --> 00:36:28,109 GATES: One and the same. 766 00:36:29,043 --> 00:36:31,909 DAVIS: It hurts my soul, it really does. 767 00:36:36,043 --> 00:36:38,943 GATES: This story has a complex ending. 768 00:36:38,943 --> 00:36:42,943 In February of 1865, the Union Army passed by 769 00:36:42,943 --> 00:36:48,143 St. Matthews on their way to Columbia, South Carolina, 770 00:36:48,143 --> 00:36:52,843 and it's likely that Viola's ancestors were freed soon after. 771 00:36:54,476 --> 00:36:57,176 But as Viola knows all too well, 772 00:36:57,176 --> 00:37:00,576 freedom brought a fresh set of challenges. 773 00:37:01,809 --> 00:37:03,076 DAVIS: That means you're no longer a slave, 774 00:37:03,076 --> 00:37:04,476 but then you're what? 775 00:37:04,476 --> 00:37:05,809 GATES: And then you're what? 776 00:37:05,809 --> 00:37:07,976 DAVIS: What opportunities are there out there? 777 00:37:07,976 --> 00:37:10,643 Where do you go? What do you do? 778 00:37:10,643 --> 00:37:13,276 I mean, then, you know, you're walking straight into 779 00:37:13,276 --> 00:37:15,676 the Black codes in Jim Crow. 780 00:37:15,676 --> 00:37:21,209 You're walking into just another evolution of, of slavery. 781 00:37:22,276 --> 00:37:25,943 So, I don't have any romantic notions of what that is. 782 00:37:25,943 --> 00:37:29,843 I know how my family life played out after that, 783 00:37:29,843 --> 00:37:32,376 I was born in my grandmother, 784 00:37:32,376 --> 00:37:35,743 my grandfather's, um, home in Singleton Plantation. 785 00:37:35,743 --> 00:37:37,909 GATES: Right. DAVIS: You know, um. 786 00:37:37,909 --> 00:37:39,709 I know, you know, a lot of people say, 787 00:37:39,709 --> 00:37:42,043 "Viola, how did you make it out of poverty?" 788 00:37:42,043 --> 00:37:45,943 And literally someone did a study and they said that 789 00:37:45,943 --> 00:37:49,476 how you make it out of dire circumstances usually 790 00:37:49,476 --> 00:37:53,443 is you have one person in your life that believes in you... 791 00:37:53,443 --> 00:37:55,343 GATES: Uh-huh. 792 00:37:55,343 --> 00:37:58,843 DAVIS: That shows you how to succeed and how to fail. 793 00:37:58,843 --> 00:38:02,209 That, that's, that's just the factor. 794 00:38:02,209 --> 00:38:06,809 You know, and I still ask the question, 795 00:38:06,809 --> 00:38:09,009 "My ancestors, how did you survive? 796 00:38:09,009 --> 00:38:12,776 Who was that one person? What was that one thing?" 797 00:38:12,776 --> 00:38:14,676 I don't know. 798 00:38:16,743 --> 00:38:20,276 GATES: Viola's question has a harsh answer. 799 00:38:20,576 --> 00:38:24,176 After emancipation, her ancestor didn't receive 800 00:38:24,176 --> 00:38:26,809 any help from anyone. 801 00:38:26,809 --> 00:38:31,109 Instead, Emmanuel signed a sharecropping contract with 802 00:38:31,109 --> 00:38:33,676 the man who had enslaved him, 803 00:38:33,676 --> 00:38:36,176 and went back to work in fields that 804 00:38:36,176 --> 00:38:39,809 he'd likely been working since he was a child. 805 00:38:41,176 --> 00:38:44,609 Even so; surveying Emmanuel's life, 806 00:38:44,609 --> 00:38:48,309 Viola chose to find a note of hope. 807 00:38:49,643 --> 00:38:51,709 What's it like to learn that? 808 00:38:51,709 --> 00:38:54,176 DAVIS: You know, I will say this. 809 00:38:55,809 --> 00:38:59,109 This is a day that I'm proud of me, 810 00:38:59,109 --> 00:39:05,476 and I'm proud because I think that me, my sister, Deloris, 811 00:39:05,476 --> 00:39:10,576 my sister, Diane, a lot of my family members 812 00:39:10,576 --> 00:39:14,576 have broken generational curses, 813 00:39:14,576 --> 00:39:17,543 because we dared to dream big. 814 00:39:17,543 --> 00:39:22,043 And we dared to just, just dig in deep in 815 00:39:22,043 --> 00:39:24,843 the dirt and filth and trauma 816 00:39:24,843 --> 00:39:30,476 of our childhood and want better for our lives. 817 00:39:30,476 --> 00:39:33,309 And not that any of our relatives didn't want better, 818 00:39:33,309 --> 00:39:35,043 they all did. 819 00:39:35,043 --> 00:39:38,809 But my story is different, 820 00:39:38,809 --> 00:39:41,043 and I'm proud of that. 821 00:39:43,009 --> 00:39:45,876 GATES: Turning from Viola back to Brian Cox, 822 00:39:45,876 --> 00:39:49,709 we left South Carolina for Scotland, only to find 823 00:39:49,709 --> 00:39:53,509 more stories of people trapped in poverty. 824 00:39:54,443 --> 00:39:58,643 Indeed, almost all of Brian's ancestors were farmers 825 00:39:58,643 --> 00:40:02,976 or laborers who struggled their entire lives just to 826 00:40:02,976 --> 00:40:05,309 put food on the table. 827 00:40:06,043 --> 00:40:11,109 And among them, was one man who struggled with more than that. 828 00:40:12,276 --> 00:40:14,376 Brian's great-great-grandfather, 829 00:40:14,376 --> 00:40:19,509 Harriot Walker, was born in rural Scotland in 1815, 830 00:40:20,743 --> 00:40:25,709 as a teenager, he moved to what is now the city of Dunfermline 831 00:40:25,709 --> 00:40:27,909 and found work as a weaver. 832 00:40:27,909 --> 00:40:30,976 But work isn't all he found. 833 00:40:32,576 --> 00:40:35,109 COX: "In the sheriff court held at Dunfermline, 834 00:40:35,109 --> 00:40:39,076 appeared Harriot or "Harriet" Walker, 835 00:40:39,076 --> 00:40:42,243 accused of the crimes of willful mischief, 836 00:40:42,243 --> 00:40:47,076 breach of the public peace and of assault and wound into 837 00:40:47,076 --> 00:40:51,309 the effusion of blood and severe injury of the person with stones 838 00:40:51,309 --> 00:40:55,309 or other missiles without cause or provocation on 839 00:40:55,309 --> 00:40:59,576 the public street or within the precincts of a dwelling house." 840 00:40:59,576 --> 00:41:01,676 Oh boy. 841 00:41:01,676 --> 00:41:04,176 So he was a bit of a rabble rouser, was he? 842 00:41:04,176 --> 00:41:07,576 GATES: In 1833, Harriot was convicted of willful mischief, 843 00:41:07,576 --> 00:41:10,476 breach of the public peace and aggravated assault. 844 00:41:10,476 --> 00:41:12,243 He was only 17 years old. 845 00:41:12,243 --> 00:41:13,243 COX: Yeah, I know. 846 00:41:13,243 --> 00:41:14,243 GATES: What's it like to read that? 847 00:41:14,243 --> 00:41:15,243 COX: Well, it's very funny. 848 00:41:15,243 --> 00:41:17,043 I keep thinking of my 17 year old. 849 00:41:17,043 --> 00:41:19,743 I have a 17 year old, and I could well believe that 850 00:41:19,743 --> 00:41:21,509 he might be in the same position. 851 00:41:21,509 --> 00:41:23,076 (laughter) 852 00:41:24,743 --> 00:41:27,976 GATES: Harriot's conviction did not seem to change him. 853 00:41:28,743 --> 00:41:33,676 In 1837, he was back in a Dunfermline courtroom, 854 00:41:33,676 --> 00:41:38,476 charged once again with assault for a his role in a brawl. 855 00:41:39,976 --> 00:41:41,143 COX: Wow. 856 00:41:41,143 --> 00:41:42,543 GATES: So we want to see how this trial went. 857 00:41:42,543 --> 00:41:44,343 Remember, he had already been convicted once. 858 00:41:44,343 --> 00:41:46,343 Would you please turn the page? 859 00:41:46,343 --> 00:41:48,543 COX: God. How old is he now? 860 00:41:48,543 --> 00:41:50,043 GATES: 21. COX: He's 21 now? 861 00:41:50,043 --> 00:41:51,509 GATES: Yeah. He was 17, three and a half years later. 862 00:41:51,509 --> 00:41:52,709 COX: Three and a half, okay. 863 00:41:52,709 --> 00:41:54,276 GATES: Brian, this is a newspaper article published 864 00:41:54,276 --> 00:41:58,643 in Perth, Scotland on the 13th of April, 1837. 865 00:41:58,643 --> 00:42:00,809 Would you please read the transcribe section? 866 00:42:00,809 --> 00:42:04,109 COX: "Harriot Walker and John Henderson from Dunfermline 867 00:42:04,109 --> 00:42:06,276 charged with aggravated assault. 868 00:42:06,276 --> 00:42:07,976 The panels plead guilty. 869 00:42:07,976 --> 00:42:11,209 Lord Gillies after suitable admonition sentenced 870 00:42:11,209 --> 00:42:14,543 the prisoners to six months in Kirkaldy jail." 871 00:42:14,543 --> 00:42:18,609 GATES: Six months in jail. COX: Wow. 872 00:42:18,609 --> 00:42:20,909 GATES: What's it like to learn that? 873 00:42:20,909 --> 00:42:21,909 COX: Well... 874 00:42:21,909 --> 00:42:24,843 (laughter) 875 00:42:24,843 --> 00:42:27,609 It's providing a rich mixture. 876 00:42:27,609 --> 00:42:29,609 GATES: It is, indeed. 877 00:42:29,609 --> 00:42:32,543 COX: You know, having had a heroic grandfather and 878 00:42:32,543 --> 00:42:37,643 now having a, an errant great-grandfather, it's, uh, 879 00:42:37,643 --> 00:42:39,476 it's something else. 880 00:42:41,143 --> 00:42:43,509 GATES: When Harriot arrived at Kirkaldy jail, 881 00:42:43,509 --> 00:42:46,843 he was likely in for a terrible shock. 882 00:42:48,309 --> 00:42:52,209 Most Scottish jails at the time had appalling conditions, 883 00:42:52,209 --> 00:42:55,009 and opportunities for rehabilitation 884 00:42:55,009 --> 00:42:57,843 were virtually nonexistent. 885 00:42:58,776 --> 00:43:01,309 But Harriot mended his ways. 886 00:43:01,309 --> 00:43:06,809 By 1851, he'd married, and was helping to support a family by 887 00:43:06,809 --> 00:43:11,309 laying slate tiles in the tiny town of Leslie, Scotland. 888 00:43:13,143 --> 00:43:16,509 So sounds like he was on the straight and narrow, right? 889 00:43:16,509 --> 00:43:18,643 Let's see what happened next. 890 00:43:18,643 --> 00:43:20,709 Could you please turn the page? 891 00:43:22,576 --> 00:43:24,243 Brian, here are two newspaper articles. 892 00:43:24,243 --> 00:43:27,176 Would you please read these transcribed sections? 893 00:43:27,176 --> 00:43:30,476 COX: "On April the 3rd, 1866, 894 00:43:30,476 --> 00:43:33,043 Harriot Walker was fined two pounds, 895 00:43:33,043 --> 00:43:36,343 12 shillings for being on the lands of Rylaw, 896 00:43:36,343 --> 00:43:39,209 armed with a gun in pursuit of game." 897 00:43:39,209 --> 00:43:41,776 (laughter) 898 00:43:41,776 --> 00:43:47,476 "October the 31st, 1872, Horatio Walker was convicted of 899 00:43:47,476 --> 00:43:50,509 having stolen the slater's trowel, 900 00:43:50,509 --> 00:43:53,676 sentenced 14 days." 901 00:43:53,676 --> 00:43:54,709 Oh, dear. 902 00:43:54,709 --> 00:43:56,743 GATES: Oh. COX: Oh, my God. 903 00:43:56,743 --> 00:43:59,776 GATES: Now, these crimes are very different from the crimes 904 00:43:59,776 --> 00:44:02,209 that your ancestor was committing as a young man. 905 00:44:02,209 --> 00:44:04,809 He's not out carousing and beating people up 906 00:44:04,809 --> 00:44:06,576 when he's inebriated anymore. 907 00:44:06,576 --> 00:44:11,576 He seems to be committing petty thefts and poaching, perhaps, 908 00:44:11,576 --> 00:44:13,809 of course, to support his family. 909 00:44:13,809 --> 00:44:17,176 At the same time, even if he's just trying to get by, 910 00:44:17,176 --> 00:44:19,009 these are still crimes. 911 00:44:19,009 --> 00:44:20,709 COX: Yes, of course. 912 00:44:20,709 --> 00:44:25,343 I mean, clearly he can't stop misbehaving himself. 913 00:44:25,343 --> 00:44:27,376 Clearly he's, throughout his life he's always been on 914 00:44:27,376 --> 00:44:29,976 the fiddle, as we would say back home. 915 00:44:29,976 --> 00:44:31,843 He's always been on the fiddle in one way or another. 916 00:44:31,843 --> 00:44:33,009 GATES: Yeah. 917 00:44:33,009 --> 00:44:35,009 COX: He, he just sounds naughty. 918 00:44:35,009 --> 00:44:36,843 He sounds like a naughty man, 919 00:44:36,843 --> 00:44:38,776 you know, who's not going to change his ways. 920 00:44:38,776 --> 00:44:39,943 GATES: No. 921 00:44:39,943 --> 00:44:41,476 COX: But there's something sweet about it as well. 922 00:44:41,476 --> 00:44:42,776 GATES: I know. COX: I don't... 923 00:44:42,776 --> 00:44:45,309 I don't know what it is, but I get a sweetness of it. 924 00:44:45,309 --> 00:44:46,543 GATES: He's lovable. 925 00:44:46,543 --> 00:44:47,676 COX: There's a lovableness of him. 926 00:44:47,676 --> 00:44:49,843 GATES: Yes. COX: Yeah. I do get that. 927 00:44:49,843 --> 00:44:51,143 I mean, my, my other grandfather, 928 00:44:51,143 --> 00:44:53,709 he's more complicated because of what he went through. 929 00:44:53,709 --> 00:44:54,943 GATES: Yes. 930 00:44:54,943 --> 00:44:56,943 COX: But this guy is just, there was just something about, 931 00:44:56,943 --> 00:44:58,943 he just said, "Oh, bugger it. 932 00:44:58,943 --> 00:45:01,009 I'm just doing it. I'm going to steal that thing. 933 00:45:01,009 --> 00:45:02,009 And I... 934 00:45:02,009 --> 00:45:03,943 To hell with it," you know? 935 00:45:05,409 --> 00:45:08,209 GATES: Unfortunately, Harriot's story was about 936 00:45:08,209 --> 00:45:11,109 to darken significantly. 937 00:45:11,343 --> 00:45:13,609 When he was 77 years old, 938 00:45:13,609 --> 00:45:16,876 he was charged with stealing a pair of boots. 939 00:45:18,143 --> 00:45:20,143 Alone and impoverished, 940 00:45:20,143 --> 00:45:24,109 he found himself in the Dunfermline poorhouse, 941 00:45:24,109 --> 00:45:27,143 where he met a cruel end. 942 00:45:29,043 --> 00:45:31,376 COX: "Cause of death, general disability." 943 00:45:31,376 --> 00:45:33,509 GATES: Yeah. COX: Worn out. 944 00:45:33,509 --> 00:45:37,676 GATES: One month after being admitted to the poorhouse. 945 00:45:37,676 --> 00:45:40,709 Looking back on his life, what do you make of Harriot? 946 00:45:40,709 --> 00:45:42,143 COX: It's kind of unreal. 947 00:45:42,143 --> 00:45:43,909 I mean, I'm having to get my head around it really, 948 00:45:43,909 --> 00:45:45,243 because it's so new. 949 00:45:45,243 --> 00:45:46,709 And I've been so worried about 950 00:45:46,709 --> 00:45:49,609 my other grandfather and his fate. 951 00:45:49,609 --> 00:45:53,243 So coming to this, it's just like a it, 952 00:45:53,243 --> 00:45:55,309 it's a bit like a slap in the face, you know... 953 00:45:55,309 --> 00:45:56,509 GATES: Hmm. 954 00:45:56,509 --> 00:46:01,443 COX: With a, with a, a wet cloth, you know, uh. 955 00:46:01,443 --> 00:46:03,909 That you just thought, "Oh, well that's bad. 956 00:46:03,909 --> 00:46:06,543 And it couldn't be any worse than that." 957 00:46:06,543 --> 00:46:08,043 And then you get to something like this 958 00:46:08,043 --> 00:46:09,543 and you go, "Jesus Christ." 959 00:46:09,543 --> 00:46:12,109 I mean, you know, it's, it's, 960 00:46:12,109 --> 00:46:13,643 I mean, really horrific. 961 00:46:13,643 --> 00:46:14,976 It's horrific. 962 00:46:14,976 --> 00:46:17,476 And it's horrific that he cannot break it. 963 00:46:17,476 --> 00:46:20,309 He couldn't break it because he had nothing. 964 00:46:20,309 --> 00:46:23,343 I mean, this is the thing, this is the poverty thing. 965 00:46:23,343 --> 00:46:25,343 These people had nothing. 966 00:46:27,743 --> 00:46:30,343 GATES: As it turns out, Harriot was not the only one of 967 00:46:30,343 --> 00:46:33,343 Brian's ancestors to suffer this fate. 968 00:46:33,709 --> 00:46:35,876 His maternal great-grandfather, 969 00:46:35,876 --> 00:46:40,076 Patrick McCann, also passed away in a poorhouse, 970 00:46:41,976 --> 00:46:46,176 and on his father's side, Brian's great-great-grandfather, 971 00:46:46,176 --> 00:46:50,776 a man named Francis Boyland, followed a similar path. 972 00:46:52,876 --> 00:46:55,976 Brian, this is a record from the Dundee City archives, 973 00:46:55,976 --> 00:46:58,476 dated 1864, 974 00:46:58,476 --> 00:47:00,943 would you please read the transcribed section? 975 00:47:00,943 --> 00:47:02,909 COX: "Francis Boyland, 976 00:47:02,909 --> 00:47:06,843 66 widower, place of birth Ireland, 977 00:47:06,843 --> 00:47:11,776 day of admission, 22nd of February, 1864." 978 00:47:11,776 --> 00:47:13,443 And what is this? 979 00:47:13,443 --> 00:47:16,209 GATES: Well, just like your maternal ancestors, 980 00:47:16,209 --> 00:47:18,243 Harriot Walker and Patrick McCann, 981 00:47:18,243 --> 00:47:20,076 your great-great grandfather Francis 982 00:47:20,076 --> 00:47:22,209 was admitted to the poorhouse. 983 00:47:25,876 --> 00:47:27,243 (laughs) 984 00:47:27,243 --> 00:47:28,409 COX: There's no shaking it off. 985 00:47:28,409 --> 00:47:31,709 GATES: Mm. No. COX: It, it surrounds you. 986 00:47:31,709 --> 00:47:33,109 GATES: But what's it like to know that so many of 987 00:47:33,109 --> 00:47:36,176 your ancestors ended up in that same way? 988 00:47:36,176 --> 00:47:38,743 COX: I think this is what my motivating force is. 989 00:47:38,743 --> 00:47:41,343 You know, my motivating force is, 990 00:47:41,343 --> 00:47:42,676 there's something in my DNA that says, 991 00:47:42,676 --> 00:47:45,276 "Listen Cox, you're going to break that cycle." 992 00:47:45,276 --> 00:47:46,409 GATES: Yeah. 993 00:47:46,409 --> 00:47:48,076 COX: And you're going to break it well and true. 994 00:47:48,076 --> 00:47:50,543 GATES: What do you think they would've made of you? 995 00:47:50,543 --> 00:47:53,409 COX: I think they would've said, "Finally, 996 00:47:53,409 --> 00:47:55,276 somebody's got it right." 997 00:47:55,276 --> 00:47:58,309 I mean, you know, I don't want to be arrogant about that, and, 998 00:47:58,309 --> 00:48:00,576 you know, and that's the pride goes before the fall. 999 00:48:00,576 --> 00:48:01,843 So I'd have to be careful. 1000 00:48:01,843 --> 00:48:05,243 GATES: Yeah, knock on wood now. COX: Exactly, knock on wood. 1001 00:48:05,243 --> 00:48:07,143 No, but I think they would've gone, 1002 00:48:07,143 --> 00:48:09,443 "Well, this kid's trying to work it out. 1003 00:48:09,443 --> 00:48:12,909 He's really looking at the, the whole kit and caboodle," 1004 00:48:12,909 --> 00:48:15,543 and saying, "What does it, what sense does it make?" 1005 00:48:15,543 --> 00:48:16,876 GATES: Mm-hmm. 1006 00:48:16,876 --> 00:48:18,609 COX: And I think that's all we require, 1007 00:48:18,609 --> 00:48:20,843 is just to make sense of our lives, 1008 00:48:20,843 --> 00:48:26,176 to make, to, to give our lives perspective, you know, 1009 00:48:26,176 --> 00:48:28,076 and what our life is about and 1010 00:48:28,076 --> 00:48:30,643 what is the gift that we've got of life, 1011 00:48:30,643 --> 00:48:33,376 and how do we best serve that gift. 1012 00:48:33,376 --> 00:48:36,409 And I, and I think I'm very fortunate in that way. 1013 00:48:36,409 --> 00:48:38,409 But I do think it's because of these people. 1014 00:48:38,409 --> 00:48:39,743 GATES: Mm-hmm. 1015 00:48:39,743 --> 00:48:41,443 COX: You know, I couldn't have done it without any of these. 1016 00:48:41,443 --> 00:48:42,609 GATES: No. 1017 00:48:42,609 --> 00:48:45,376 COX: I couldn't be anywhere without this heritage 1018 00:48:45,376 --> 00:48:49,809 as depressing and as sad as it is, 1019 00:48:50,209 --> 00:48:51,276 because it's really quite tragic, 1020 00:48:51,276 --> 00:48:52,509 a lot of it, you know. 1021 00:48:52,509 --> 00:48:53,843 But they didn't see it that way. 1022 00:48:53,843 --> 00:48:55,676 GATES: No. Right. COX: They just get on with it. 1023 00:48:55,676 --> 00:48:57,643 They just dealt with it day in, day out, 1024 00:48:57,643 --> 00:49:00,676 day in for, you know, 300 years for Christ's sake. 1025 00:49:00,676 --> 00:49:01,943 GATES: And that's a form of triumph. 1026 00:49:01,943 --> 00:49:02,943 COX: Yeah. GATES: You know? 1027 00:49:02,943 --> 00:49:05,543 COX: Yeah, it's triumph over adversity. 1028 00:49:07,843 --> 00:49:11,143 GATES: The paper trail had run out for Brian and Viola. 1029 00:49:12,076 --> 00:49:14,243 DAVIS: Oh, my goodness. 1030 00:49:14,243 --> 00:49:18,209 GATES: It was time to show them their full family trees. 1031 00:49:18,209 --> 00:49:19,609 COX: Wow. 1032 00:49:19,609 --> 00:49:23,209 GATES: Now filled with names they'd never heard before. 1033 00:49:26,176 --> 00:49:28,209 DAVIS: This is beautiful. 1034 00:49:28,209 --> 00:49:31,543 GATES: For each, it was a moment of awe. 1035 00:49:31,543 --> 00:49:34,776 Offering the chance to see how their own lives were 1036 00:49:34,776 --> 00:49:37,743 part of a larger family story. 1037 00:49:38,109 --> 00:49:40,443 COX: I feel incredibly blessed. GATES: Hmm. 1038 00:49:40,443 --> 00:49:43,343 COX: I, you know, and it makes me even 1039 00:49:43,343 --> 00:49:46,109 more respectful of what, you know, that, 1040 00:49:46,109 --> 00:49:47,643 how lucky I am. 1041 00:49:47,643 --> 00:49:49,276 GATES: More appreciative, more humble about it. 1042 00:49:49,276 --> 00:49:50,376 COX: Absolutely. 1043 00:49:50,376 --> 00:49:51,743 I just think, "Jesus Christ, 1044 00:49:51,743 --> 00:49:55,143 Brian Cox, you, you really are a lucky son of a gun." 1045 00:49:55,143 --> 00:49:56,209 GATES: I feel the same way. 1046 00:49:56,209 --> 00:49:57,443 COX: You know? GATES: Yeah. 1047 00:49:57,443 --> 00:50:00,709 COX: That's an incredible feeling to come out of all this. 1048 00:50:00,709 --> 00:50:05,043 DAVIS: I feel like my whole life is a big kiss to them. 1049 00:50:05,043 --> 00:50:07,276 GATES: Yes. 1050 00:50:07,276 --> 00:50:08,376 DAVIS: Do you know what I'm saying? 1051 00:50:08,376 --> 00:50:09,643 GATES: I do. 1052 00:50:09,643 --> 00:50:12,876 DAVIS: I just want to bow down to every nick and scrape 1053 00:50:12,876 --> 00:50:17,543 and trauma and whip and chain and say just, 1054 00:50:17,543 --> 00:50:20,843 "You have no idea how much I love you 1055 00:50:20,843 --> 00:50:23,609 for taking the pain for me." 1056 00:50:25,243 --> 00:50:28,643 GATES: My time with my guests was running out, 1057 00:50:28,643 --> 00:50:31,476 but there were surprises still to come. 1058 00:50:31,476 --> 00:50:34,676 When we compared their DNA to that of other people 1059 00:50:34,676 --> 00:50:39,209 who've been in the series, we found matches for both. 1060 00:50:39,209 --> 00:50:43,409 Evidence within their own chromosomes of distant cousins 1061 00:50:43,409 --> 00:50:45,643 who they didn't know they had. 1062 00:50:46,509 --> 00:50:50,543 For Viola, this meant an unexpected connection to 1063 00:50:50,543 --> 00:50:53,176 a woman she's long admired. 1064 00:50:54,043 --> 00:50:55,109 You ready to meet your cousin? 1065 00:50:55,109 --> 00:50:57,243 DAVIS: Yes. GATES: Please turn the page. 1066 00:51:00,443 --> 00:51:01,809 DAVIS: Anita Hill? GATES: Anita Hill. 1067 00:51:01,809 --> 00:51:03,343 DAVIS: Oh my goodness. 1068 00:51:03,343 --> 00:51:05,776 (laughter) 1069 00:51:05,776 --> 00:51:10,076 GATES: Viola and Anita share a long identical stretch of DNA on 1070 00:51:10,076 --> 00:51:14,976 their ninth chromosome, a sure sign of a shared ancestor. 1071 00:51:16,476 --> 00:51:17,976 DAVIS: I knew she was a kindred spirit, 1072 00:51:17,976 --> 00:51:19,043 even when I met her. 1073 00:51:19,043 --> 00:51:20,776 I'm like, "You're a kindred spirit." 1074 00:51:20,776 --> 00:51:22,409 GATES: Yeah! 1075 00:51:22,776 --> 00:51:26,209 Brian's new cousin is a famed comedian, 1076 00:51:26,209 --> 00:51:28,976 who's also spent time on the stage. 1077 00:51:28,976 --> 00:51:31,176 Please turn the page, you'll meet your DNA cousin. 1078 00:51:32,209 --> 00:51:33,876 COX: Jim? GATES: Jim Gaffigan. 1079 00:51:33,876 --> 00:51:36,276 COX: We worked together. He's my DNA cousin? 1080 00:51:36,276 --> 00:51:37,776 GATES: He is your DNA cousin. 1081 00:51:37,776 --> 00:51:39,876 You and Jim share a long identical stretch of DNA 1082 00:51:39,876 --> 00:51:41,876 on your fifth chromosome. 1083 00:51:41,876 --> 00:51:44,443 And this shared DNA was passed down from a distant 1084 00:51:44,443 --> 00:51:48,476 common ancestor somewhere in the thicket of your family tree. 1085 00:51:48,476 --> 00:51:50,643 COX: That's great. GATES: Yeah! 1086 00:51:50,643 --> 00:51:52,409 COX: That's pretty amazing. 1087 00:51:53,209 --> 00:51:54,909 GATES: That's the end of our journey with 1088 00:51:54,909 --> 00:51:58,009 Brian Cox and Viola Davis. 1089 00:51:58,609 --> 00:52:02,143 Join me next time when we unlock the secrets of the past 1090 00:52:02,143 --> 00:52:07,476 for new guests on another episode of Finding Your Roots.