1 00:00:01,070 --> 00:00:03,244 Viewers like you make this program possible. 2 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:05,350 Support your local PBS station. 3 00:00:16,533 --> 00:00:18,915 GATES: I am Henry Louis Gates Jr. 4 00:00:18,949 --> 00:00:22,091 Welcome to "Finding Your Roots." 5 00:00:22,125 --> 00:00:25,370 In this episode, we'll search for the biological 6 00:00:25,404 --> 00:00:29,236 father of actor Laurence Fishburne. 7 00:00:29,270 --> 00:00:30,892 FISHBURNE: I'm on the edge of my seat here. 8 00:00:30,927 --> 00:00:34,241 I've waited 60 some odd years for this. 9 00:00:34,275 --> 00:00:36,933 GATES: Then I myself will sit down with 10 00:00:36,967 --> 00:00:40,281 genetic genealogist, CeCe Moore, 11 00:00:40,316 --> 00:00:42,732 and investigate a mystery that's haunted 12 00:00:42,766 --> 00:00:45,493 my family for generations. 13 00:00:45,528 --> 00:00:46,632 MOORE: Here's your Book of Life. 14 00:00:46,667 --> 00:00:48,013 GATES: Oh my goodness. 15 00:00:48,048 --> 00:00:50,188 I never thought I'd see one of these. 16 00:00:50,222 --> 00:00:52,017 To uncover our roots, 17 00:00:52,052 --> 00:00:55,572 our team has used every tool available. 18 00:00:56,504 --> 00:00:58,610 Genealogists comb through paper trails, 19 00:00:58,644 --> 00:01:01,233 stretching back hundreds of years. 20 00:01:01,268 --> 00:01:03,511 FISHBURNE: This is great. 21 00:01:03,718 --> 00:01:06,169 GATES: While DNA experts utilize the latest 22 00:01:06,204 --> 00:01:09,931 advances in genetic analysis to reveal secrets 23 00:01:09,966 --> 00:01:12,900 that have lain hidden for generations. 24 00:01:13,107 --> 00:01:15,351 FISHBURNE: Whoa, that's what I'm talking about. 25 00:01:15,385 --> 00:01:19,044 GATES: And we've compiled it all into a Book of Life, 26 00:01:19,493 --> 00:01:21,322 a record of all of our discoveries. 27 00:01:21,357 --> 00:01:22,599 FISHBURNE: Wow. 28 00:01:22,634 --> 00:01:26,362 GATES: And a window into the hidden past. 29 00:01:27,190 --> 00:01:29,779 You just met your half-siblings. 30 00:01:30,331 --> 00:01:33,886 FISHBURNE: Oh my God, that's crazy. 31 00:01:35,750 --> 00:01:37,269 MOORE: Did you ever imagine you would see this? 32 00:01:37,304 --> 00:01:39,478 GATES: No, never. MOORE: How are you feeling? 33 00:01:39,513 --> 00:01:41,998 GATES: This is so deeply moving. 34 00:01:42,032 --> 00:01:43,965 I mean, stunningly powerful. 35 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:45,312 FISHBURNE: It's better than any movie script 36 00:01:45,346 --> 00:01:48,142 or television play I've ever read. 37 00:01:48,177 --> 00:01:50,006 [laughing]. 38 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:51,594 GATES: Laurence and I are about to embark 39 00:01:51,628 --> 00:01:54,700 on journeys that would have been impossible 40 00:01:54,735 --> 00:01:57,772 to make even a decade ago. 41 00:01:59,049 --> 00:02:01,880 But thanks to DNA detective work, 42 00:02:01,914 --> 00:02:05,090 we're going to hear the names of ancestors we 43 00:02:05,125 --> 00:02:07,955 have long dreamed of hearing. 44 00:02:08,231 --> 00:02:12,304 We're going to see for the very first time where 45 00:02:12,339 --> 00:02:14,582 our roots really lie. 46 00:02:15,204 --> 00:02:20,070 [theme music playing]. 47 00:02:29,390 --> 00:02:34,499 ♪ 48 00:02:37,260 --> 00:02:39,745 [book closes]. 49 00:02:43,611 --> 00:02:47,684 ♪ 50 00:02:47,891 --> 00:02:52,172 GATES: There's a revolution happening right now. 51 00:02:52,586 --> 00:02:56,590 DNA analysis is transforming genealogy. 52 00:02:58,868 --> 00:03:02,216 Uncovering long lost relationships and 53 00:03:02,251 --> 00:03:08,636 changing everything we know about our roots and our kin. 54 00:03:10,500 --> 00:03:12,778 In this episode, we're going to watch 55 00:03:12,813 --> 00:03:18,094 this revolution unfold in two family trees, 56 00:03:18,543 --> 00:03:22,202 Laurence Fishburne's, and my own. 57 00:03:23,168 --> 00:03:26,413 We'll start with Laurence's. 58 00:03:27,276 --> 00:03:30,969 Although he's recognized all over the world, 59 00:03:31,003 --> 00:03:34,006 Laurence came to me with a fundamental question 60 00:03:34,041 --> 00:03:38,873 about who he actually is. 61 00:03:40,012 --> 00:03:42,049 FISHBURNE: My question really concerns my origins. 62 00:03:42,083 --> 00:03:45,673 I, you know, all my life up until the time 63 00:03:45,708 --> 00:03:47,813 I was about 49 years old. 64 00:03:47,848 --> 00:03:48,987 GATES: Mm-hmm. 65 00:03:49,021 --> 00:03:50,230 FISHBURNE: I was led to believe that a man named 66 00:03:50,264 --> 00:03:53,336 Laurence John Fishburne Jr. was my biological father, 67 00:03:53,371 --> 00:03:56,477 and he was my dad, he showed up, 68 00:03:56,512 --> 00:04:00,343 gave me his name, um, but that's not true. 69 00:04:00,378 --> 00:04:01,758 GATES: Mm-hmm. 70 00:04:01,793 --> 00:04:03,139 FISHBURNE: He is not my biological father. 71 00:04:03,173 --> 00:04:06,107 And really, I'd like to know who that person is, 72 00:04:06,142 --> 00:04:08,144 if that person exists. 73 00:04:09,179 --> 00:04:14,530 GATES: There was only one way to help Laurence, DNA. 74 00:04:14,944 --> 00:04:17,843 So I reached out to my friend and colleague, 75 00:04:17,878 --> 00:04:21,295 genetic genealogist CeCe Moore. 76 00:04:21,330 --> 00:04:26,369 CeCe has solved more DNA mysteries than anyone 77 00:04:26,404 --> 00:04:30,684 I know, and she was not fazed by this one. 78 00:04:32,755 --> 00:04:35,896 She started with Laurence's, Y-DNA, 79 00:04:35,930 --> 00:04:39,037 the type of DNA that a man inherits from his 80 00:04:39,071 --> 00:04:42,040 direct paternal line. 81 00:04:42,074 --> 00:04:45,526 It's passed virtually intact from father to son 82 00:04:45,561 --> 00:04:48,011 down through the generations, 83 00:04:48,046 --> 00:04:50,082 meaning that two men with matching 84 00:04:50,117 --> 00:04:54,466 Y-DNA will often share the same last name. 85 00:04:55,812 --> 00:04:59,851 And this gave us our first big clue. 86 00:05:01,922 --> 00:05:03,164 You ready to see what we found? 87 00:05:03,199 --> 00:05:04,338 FISHBURNE: I am. 88 00:05:04,373 --> 00:05:05,443 GATES: Would you please turn the page? 89 00:05:05,477 --> 00:05:07,272 FISHBURNE: Sure. 90 00:05:09,136 --> 00:05:11,345 GATES: Laurence, this graphic lists the surname 91 00:05:11,380 --> 00:05:14,866 that most frequently matches your Y-DNA signature, 92 00:05:14,900 --> 00:05:17,420 and thus that of your biological father. 93 00:05:17,455 --> 00:05:20,354 Would you please read the surname right there out loud? 94 00:05:20,389 --> 00:05:23,115 FISHBURNE: Bohannan. GATES: Bohannan. 95 00:05:23,150 --> 00:05:25,221 FISHBURNE: Bohannan, huh? 96 00:05:25,255 --> 00:05:26,774 GATES: Have you ever heard that name mentioned 97 00:05:26,809 --> 00:05:31,089 in your family and associated with your mother 98 00:05:31,123 --> 00:05:32,711 or cousins or anything? 99 00:05:32,746 --> 00:05:35,231 FISHBURNE: No, no, mm-mm. 100 00:05:35,265 --> 00:05:39,787 GATES: Well, biologically that is your surname. 101 00:05:39,822 --> 00:05:44,516 So all this time you have been Laurence Bohannan 102 00:05:44,551 --> 00:05:45,759 pretending to be... 103 00:05:45,793 --> 00:05:47,105 People take stage names. 104 00:05:47,139 --> 00:05:48,244 FISHBURNE: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 105 00:05:48,278 --> 00:05:50,142 I'm Bohannan's boy, whoever Bohannan was. 106 00:05:50,177 --> 00:05:51,627 GATES: You are Bohannan's boy. 107 00:05:51,661 --> 00:05:54,043 FISHBURNE: Okay, okay. 108 00:05:54,388 --> 00:05:56,045 GATES: With this name in mind, 109 00:05:56,079 --> 00:06:00,532 CeCe now focused on Laurence's autosomal, DNA, 110 00:06:00,567 --> 00:06:04,812 the type of DNA we inherit from both of our parents. 111 00:06:05,399 --> 00:06:08,333 CeCe and our team began searching for autosomal 112 00:06:08,368 --> 00:06:13,303 matches that linked Laurence to other Bohannans 113 00:06:13,338 --> 00:06:16,410 in publicly available databases. 114 00:06:16,445 --> 00:06:19,275 It was a painstaking process, 115 00:06:19,309 --> 00:06:22,036 but after building out the family trees of dozens 116 00:06:22,071 --> 00:06:26,489 of matches, we made an incredible discovery. 117 00:06:26,903 --> 00:06:30,113 Would you please read the names of your father's parents? 118 00:06:30,148 --> 00:06:32,909 FISHBURNE: Murvin Hilliard Bohannan. 119 00:06:32,944 --> 00:06:34,255 GATES: Mm-hmm. 120 00:06:34,290 --> 00:06:37,224 FISHBURNE: And Loretta Constance Sandridge. 121 00:06:37,258 --> 00:06:38,398 GATES: You just met your grandmother 122 00:06:38,432 --> 00:06:40,089 and your grandfather. 123 00:06:40,123 --> 00:06:42,609 FISHBURNE: That's just, that's just great. 124 00:06:42,643 --> 00:06:45,128 GATES: You never heard those names before? 125 00:06:45,163 --> 00:06:47,027 FISHBURNE: No, sir, it's wonderful. 126 00:06:47,061 --> 00:06:48,062 GATES: What's to learn? 127 00:06:48,097 --> 00:06:49,305 FISHBURNE: It's, it's wonderful. 128 00:06:49,339 --> 00:06:50,996 It's, it's better than any movie script or 129 00:06:51,031 --> 00:06:52,895 television play I've ever read. 130 00:06:52,929 --> 00:06:54,966 [laughing]. 131 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:57,313 GATES: You have a major chunk of your DNA 132 00:06:57,347 --> 00:06:58,487 comes from these two. 133 00:06:58,521 --> 00:07:01,144 FISHBURNE: This is amazing. This is amazing for me. 134 00:07:01,179 --> 00:07:03,457 Yeah, this is beautiful. 135 00:07:04,044 --> 00:07:05,770 GATES: Since we'd identified Laurence's 136 00:07:05,804 --> 00:07:08,945 paternal grandparents, we knew that a son of 137 00:07:08,980 --> 00:07:12,224 theirs must be his biological father. 138 00:07:13,363 --> 00:07:16,781 The only problem the couple had two sons, 139 00:07:16,815 --> 00:07:22,096 Murvin Bohannan Jr. and William Seigel Bohannan, 140 00:07:22,131 --> 00:07:25,548 and both men have passed away. 141 00:07:25,583 --> 00:07:27,861 So we couldn't gather DNA evidence to 142 00:07:27,895 --> 00:07:30,657 distinguish between them. 143 00:07:30,691 --> 00:07:33,383 It seemed like we'd hit a dead end, 144 00:07:33,418 --> 00:07:35,489 but then we got lucky. 145 00:07:35,524 --> 00:07:38,872 William Bohannan has two living children, 146 00:07:38,906 --> 00:07:43,014 and we were able to track down one of them, 147 00:07:43,048 --> 00:07:46,189 a daughter named Lisa. 148 00:07:46,224 --> 00:07:49,607 So we contacted Lisa and asked her to take a DNA test. 149 00:07:49,641 --> 00:07:50,815 FISHBURNE: Mm-hmm. 150 00:07:50,849 --> 00:07:52,679 GATES: If Murvin Jr. was your biological father, 151 00:07:52,713 --> 00:07:54,784 then Lisa would be your first cousin. 152 00:07:54,819 --> 00:07:56,337 FISHBURNE: Mm. 153 00:07:56,372 --> 00:07:57,960 GATES: But if William was your biological father, 154 00:07:57,994 --> 00:07:59,789 then Lisa is your half-sister. 155 00:07:59,824 --> 00:08:01,377 FISHBURNE: Okay. 156 00:08:01,411 --> 00:08:03,137 GATES: On the next page, I'm going to show you a 157 00:08:03,172 --> 00:08:06,520 chart revealing how much DNA that you and Lisa share. 158 00:08:06,555 --> 00:08:07,901 FISHBURNE: Mm-hmm. 159 00:08:07,935 --> 00:08:09,454 GATES: And thus your genetic connection with Lisa. 160 00:08:09,489 --> 00:08:10,593 FISHBURNE: Okay. 161 00:08:10,628 --> 00:08:12,112 GATES: If you share roughly 25%, 162 00:08:12,146 --> 00:08:13,941 then you are half-siblings. 163 00:08:13,976 --> 00:08:15,046 FISHBURNE: Okay. 164 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:16,150 GATES: And you share a father. 165 00:08:16,185 --> 00:08:17,151 FISHBURNE: Okay. GATES: Okay? 166 00:08:17,186 --> 00:08:18,256 FISHBURNE: Alright. GATES: You ready? 167 00:08:18,290 --> 00:08:20,258 FISHBURNE: Mm-hmm. GATES: Please turn the page. 168 00:08:20,292 --> 00:08:22,294 Would you please read the information transcribed 169 00:08:22,329 --> 00:08:23,675 in the white box? 170 00:08:23,710 --> 00:08:24,918 FISHBURNE: Wow. 171 00:08:24,952 --> 00:08:26,506 "Shared amount of DNA between Lisa Bohannan 172 00:08:26,540 --> 00:08:28,577 and Laurence John Fishburne III, 173 00:08:28,611 --> 00:08:31,545 22% shared. 174 00:08:31,580 --> 00:08:33,513 Relationship between Lisa Bohannan and 175 00:08:33,547 --> 00:08:35,445 Laurence John Fishburne III, 176 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:39,070 half-sister, half-brother." 177 00:08:39,104 --> 00:08:43,039 Wow, so that's my half-sister. 178 00:08:43,074 --> 00:08:46,111 GATES: That's your half-sister. 179 00:08:46,146 --> 00:08:49,321 FISHBURNE: So her dad was... 180 00:08:49,356 --> 00:08:52,083 GATES: Lisa's, DNA, confirmed that she is 181 00:08:52,117 --> 00:08:54,775 your half-sister, and that means that your 182 00:08:54,810 --> 00:08:57,122 biological father, turn back. 183 00:08:57,157 --> 00:08:59,746 FISHBURNE: Is William... GATES: William Siegel Bohannan. 184 00:08:59,780 --> 00:09:01,644 FISHBURNE: Yeah. Okay. 185 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:04,164 GATES: The mystery is solved. FISHBURNE: That's cool. 186 00:09:05,199 --> 00:09:07,408 GATES: Now that we knew his name, 187 00:09:07,443 --> 00:09:09,721 we set out to find as much as we could 188 00:09:09,756 --> 00:09:12,172 about William's life. 189 00:09:12,206 --> 00:09:14,726 Laurence, of course, was eager to see anything 190 00:09:14,761 --> 00:09:18,385 at all, and especially delighted 191 00:09:18,419 --> 00:09:21,561 by what we showed him first. 192 00:09:21,595 --> 00:09:22,907 [gasps]. 193 00:09:22,941 --> 00:09:24,978 FISHBURNE: There he is, is that him? 194 00:09:25,012 --> 00:09:26,566 Hey, Pop. 195 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:28,602 Oh my God. 196 00:09:28,637 --> 00:09:33,331 Wow. That's my dad. 197 00:09:33,365 --> 00:09:35,954 GATES: That's your father. 198 00:09:36,472 --> 00:09:39,440 FISHBURNE: That's cool, thank you, Skip. 199 00:09:39,475 --> 00:09:40,925 GATES: What's it like finally to see his face? 200 00:09:40,959 --> 00:09:43,065 FISHBURNE: It's so nice to see his face and 201 00:09:43,099 --> 00:09:45,792 to see him smiling. 202 00:09:45,826 --> 00:09:48,622 And he's dressed well. 203 00:09:48,657 --> 00:09:51,832 He's probably what, late 40s, early 50s 204 00:09:51,867 --> 00:09:52,902 in this photograph? 205 00:09:52,937 --> 00:09:54,214 GATES: Mm-hmm, I think so. 206 00:09:54,248 --> 00:09:57,458 FISHBURNE: Mm-hmm, yeah. 207 00:09:57,493 --> 00:09:59,564 He looks like a kind man. 208 00:09:59,599 --> 00:10:01,946 GATES: Hmm. 209 00:10:01,980 --> 00:10:04,431 FISHBURNE: He looks like a kind man. 210 00:10:04,742 --> 00:10:06,536 GATES: So what are you feeling right now, if I may? 211 00:10:06,571 --> 00:10:08,021 FISHBURNE: Relieved. GATES: Mm-hmm. 212 00:10:08,055 --> 00:10:10,610 FISHBURNE: Relieved, yeah, yeah. 213 00:10:10,644 --> 00:10:13,578 And, uh, you know, there's a certain amount of 214 00:10:13,613 --> 00:10:14,959 joy that I feel now. 215 00:10:14,993 --> 00:10:16,650 GATES: Mm-hmm. FISHBURNE: Yeah. 216 00:10:16,685 --> 00:10:18,065 GATES: Hmm. 217 00:10:18,100 --> 00:10:19,377 FISHBURNE: Because I know I come from somewhere. 218 00:10:19,411 --> 00:10:22,035 GATES: Yeah. FISHBURNE: You know? 219 00:10:22,691 --> 00:10:25,038 GATES: Laurence was about to learn more about where 220 00:10:25,072 --> 00:10:30,146 he came from than he'd ever imagined possible as 221 00:10:30,181 --> 00:10:33,529 a treasure trove of documents and images, 222 00:10:33,563 --> 00:10:36,532 brought his father to life. 223 00:10:36,566 --> 00:10:40,501 From high school photos and military service records, 224 00:10:40,536 --> 00:10:43,125 all the way to a funeral program that 225 00:10:43,159 --> 00:10:46,059 tied everything together. 226 00:10:46,991 --> 00:10:48,613 FISHBURNE: "William was employed by the Belt Railway 227 00:10:48,648 --> 00:10:49,994 for 30 years. 228 00:10:50,028 --> 00:10:52,306 He was an avid swimmer and diver. 229 00:10:52,341 --> 00:10:54,654 His passion, however, was jazz. 230 00:10:54,688 --> 00:10:57,139 He moonlighted as a DJ at various local radio 231 00:10:57,173 --> 00:11:00,556 stations and shared his music with all who'd listened. 232 00:11:00,590 --> 00:11:03,352 It was this passion for jazz that sustained him 233 00:11:03,386 --> 00:11:06,320 and is his legacy and gift to those who loved him. 234 00:11:06,355 --> 00:11:10,773 He leaves children, Lisa and William." 235 00:11:11,015 --> 00:11:13,086 [laughter]. 236 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:14,708 He was a jazz head. 237 00:11:14,743 --> 00:11:15,847 GATES: How about that? 238 00:11:15,882 --> 00:11:18,712 FISHBURNE: I'm a jazz head. GATES: There you go. 239 00:11:18,747 --> 00:11:21,646 FISHBURNE: Oh my God. 240 00:11:21,681 --> 00:11:26,133 Jesus. Jesus. 241 00:11:26,168 --> 00:11:27,341 This is great. 242 00:11:27,376 --> 00:11:29,758 This is, this is great. 243 00:11:30,448 --> 00:11:33,313 GATES: There was still a question in front of us. 244 00:11:33,347 --> 00:11:37,731 William spent much of his life in and around Chicago, 245 00:11:37,766 --> 00:11:41,735 but Laurence was born in Augusta, Georgia, 246 00:11:41,770 --> 00:11:45,463 where his mother, a woman named Hattie Crawford, 247 00:11:45,497 --> 00:11:47,292 was raised. 248 00:11:47,327 --> 00:11:50,848 So how did William and Hattie end up together? 249 00:11:50,882 --> 00:11:53,471 We found the likely answer buried in 250 00:11:53,505 --> 00:11:56,750 William's military records. 251 00:11:56,785 --> 00:11:58,752 When Laurence was conceived, 252 00:11:58,787 --> 00:12:02,756 William was stationed at Fort Gordon, Georgia. 253 00:12:02,791 --> 00:12:05,448 Just miles from where Hattie was working as 254 00:12:05,483 --> 00:12:08,175 a school teacher. 255 00:12:08,210 --> 00:12:10,315 They were 10 miles apart, as you could see on that map. 256 00:12:10,350 --> 00:12:12,870 FISHBURNE: That's it, 10 miles? 257 00:12:12,904 --> 00:12:14,526 GATES: 10 miles you could walk. 258 00:12:14,561 --> 00:12:15,976 FISHBURNE: That's a walk. 259 00:12:16,011 --> 00:12:17,598 GATES: So Laurence seeing this, 260 00:12:17,633 --> 00:12:19,773 how do you imagine they met? 261 00:12:19,808 --> 00:12:22,776 He would've been 23, your mom, about 25. 262 00:12:22,811 --> 00:12:24,571 FISHBURNE: They met, hanging out. 263 00:12:24,605 --> 00:12:25,779 GATES: Hanging out. 264 00:12:25,814 --> 00:12:26,884 FISHBURNE: Jukin, whatever they was doing. 265 00:12:26,918 --> 00:12:27,954 GATES: Yeah. 266 00:12:27,988 --> 00:12:29,231 FISHBURNE: Yeah, at the soda fountain, 267 00:12:29,265 --> 00:12:30,611 I don't know, wherever they was at. 268 00:12:30,646 --> 00:12:31,889 GATES: Well, we can't be certain, 269 00:12:31,923 --> 00:12:32,924 but we have a theory. 270 00:12:32,959 --> 00:12:33,891 FISHBURNE: Mm-hmm. 271 00:12:33,925 --> 00:12:34,995 GATES: Please turn the page. 272 00:12:35,030 --> 00:12:36,790 FISHBURNE: Ooh, a theory. I like a good theory. 273 00:12:36,825 --> 00:12:39,689 GATES: This was published in "The Augusta Chronicle" 274 00:12:39,724 --> 00:12:41,864 on April 3rd, 1960. 275 00:12:41,899 --> 00:12:44,039 Would you please read that transcribed section? 276 00:12:44,073 --> 00:12:45,557 FISHBURNE: "The following activities have been 277 00:12:45,592 --> 00:12:49,769 announced for this week at the Ninth Street, USO. 278 00:12:49,803 --> 00:12:52,357 Coffee, sacred music and church dates." 279 00:12:52,392 --> 00:12:54,152 Mm, "sacred music." 280 00:12:54,187 --> 00:12:55,533 GATES: Sacred music. 281 00:12:55,567 --> 00:12:57,638 FISHBURNE: "10:00 A.M. to noon, singing around the piano. 282 00:12:57,673 --> 00:13:04,093 5:30 P.M. Miss Hattie Crawford will be in charge." 283 00:13:05,025 --> 00:13:06,371 GATES: How about that? 284 00:13:06,406 --> 00:13:07,683 FISHBURNE: Uh, yeah, there you go. 285 00:13:07,717 --> 00:13:08,960 There you go. 286 00:13:08,995 --> 00:13:10,203 GATES: There you go. 287 00:13:10,237 --> 00:13:12,619 FISHBURNE: Wow, "singing around the piano." 288 00:13:12,653 --> 00:13:14,414 [laughter]. 289 00:13:14,448 --> 00:13:16,519 Hmm. 290 00:13:18,073 --> 00:13:20,489 GATES: According to this article, 291 00:13:20,523 --> 00:13:25,494 Laurence's mother Hattie was a volunteer for the USO, 292 00:13:25,528 --> 00:13:29,636 a nonprofit organization that provides entertainment 293 00:13:29,670 --> 00:13:32,052 to members of the military. 294 00:13:32,087 --> 00:13:35,953 And this quite likely is what put her in the company of 295 00:13:35,987 --> 00:13:40,095 William Bohannan for an evening, 296 00:13:40,129 --> 00:13:44,409 or perhaps longer, more than 60 years ago. 297 00:13:45,721 --> 00:13:49,967 A realization that filled Laurence with emotion. 298 00:13:52,245 --> 00:13:54,903 FISHBURNE: I'm having all the feels as they say. 299 00:13:54,937 --> 00:13:56,697 [laughter]. 300 00:13:56,732 --> 00:13:58,113 I'm having all the feels, Skip. 301 00:13:58,147 --> 00:14:03,877 I'm intrigued, I'm relieved, I'm, 302 00:14:03,912 --> 00:14:06,949 uh, you know, confused. 303 00:14:06,984 --> 00:14:11,471 Uh, and I'm also quite 304 00:14:13,059 --> 00:14:14,888 alright with all of this. 305 00:14:14,923 --> 00:14:16,269 GATES: Right. 306 00:14:16,303 --> 00:14:17,822 FISHBURNE: I'm really alright with all of this, 307 00:14:17,857 --> 00:14:21,999 because it's, I don't have to speculate about it anymore. 308 00:14:22,033 --> 00:14:23,552 GATES: Nope, you don't. 309 00:14:23,586 --> 00:14:25,795 FISHBURNE: I don't have to speculate about it anymore. 310 00:14:25,830 --> 00:14:27,659 I don't have to wonder, you know, every time I 311 00:14:27,694 --> 00:14:29,869 look up and think, "Oh, is it that guy?" 312 00:14:29,903 --> 00:14:31,008 GATES: Yeah. 313 00:14:31,042 --> 00:14:32,526 FISHBURNE: "Oh, is it that guy?" 314 00:14:32,561 --> 00:14:33,942 GATES: Do you feel less like an orphan? 315 00:14:33,976 --> 00:14:35,840 FISHBURNE: Yeah, absolutely. 316 00:14:35,875 --> 00:14:37,290 I feel less isolated. 317 00:14:37,324 --> 00:14:41,501 GATES: Mm-hmm. FISHBURNE: And, um, other. 318 00:14:41,535 --> 00:14:42,812 GATES: Yeah. 319 00:14:42,847 --> 00:14:46,575 FISHBURNE: Yeah, yeah, I feel less other. 320 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:51,649 GATES: My own family mystery lies deeper in 321 00:14:51,683 --> 00:14:55,825 the past than Laurence's, much deeper. 322 00:14:55,860 --> 00:14:59,795 But it's had a shaping influence on me just the same. 323 00:15:00,451 --> 00:15:01,728 I am nervous. 324 00:15:01,762 --> 00:15:03,730 And in the hopes of solving it, 325 00:15:03,764 --> 00:15:07,699 I've asked CeCe Moore to take my job for a day 326 00:15:07,734 --> 00:15:09,909 and let me be the guest. 327 00:15:09,943 --> 00:15:11,841 MOORE: Skip, today we're switching things up, 328 00:15:11,876 --> 00:15:15,466 and I'm giving you the "Finding Your Roots" treatment. 329 00:15:15,500 --> 00:15:18,331 GATES: I feel naked over here. 330 00:15:18,365 --> 00:15:19,815 MOORE: Here's your Book of Life. 331 00:15:19,849 --> 00:15:21,058 GATES: Oh my goodness. 332 00:15:21,092 --> 00:15:24,026 I never thought I'd see one of these. 333 00:15:25,165 --> 00:15:28,444 CeCe and I started with a story that I've told 334 00:15:28,479 --> 00:15:31,344 many times before. 335 00:15:31,378 --> 00:15:33,622 It begins at the Rose Hills Cemetery 336 00:15:33,656 --> 00:15:35,727 in Cumberland, Maryland. 337 00:15:35,762 --> 00:15:38,109 My grandfather Edward Gates, 338 00:15:38,144 --> 00:15:42,734 was buried here on July 2nd, 1960 339 00:15:42,769 --> 00:15:45,565 when I was nine years old. 340 00:15:45,599 --> 00:15:48,464 Following the funeral, my father showed my brother 341 00:15:48,499 --> 00:15:52,917 and me a photograph of Edward's grandmother, 342 00:15:52,952 --> 00:15:56,334 a woman named Jane Gates. 343 00:15:56,369 --> 00:16:00,062 Jane is my great-great-grandmother 344 00:16:00,097 --> 00:16:04,825 and seeing that photograph would change my life. 345 00:16:05,826 --> 00:16:08,968 He showed us this photograph and he said, 346 00:16:09,002 --> 00:16:11,798 this is the oldest Gates on record. 347 00:16:11,832 --> 00:16:14,007 Her name was Jane Gates she was a midwife and 348 00:16:14,042 --> 00:16:15,975 she was a slave. 349 00:16:16,009 --> 00:16:17,907 MOORE: And you hadn't heard about her before this? 350 00:16:17,942 --> 00:16:20,565 GATES: Never, I had not heard about her before. 351 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:22,257 "This is the oldest Gates on record," 352 00:16:22,291 --> 00:16:24,224 this is exactly what he said. 353 00:16:24,259 --> 00:16:25,570 MOORE: Mm-hmm. 354 00:16:25,605 --> 00:16:27,055 GATES: "I never want you to forget her name, 355 00:16:27,089 --> 00:16:28,332 and I never want you to forget her face." 356 00:16:28,366 --> 00:16:29,712 And we looked at it, 357 00:16:29,747 --> 00:16:32,750 and this is like looking at a Martian. 358 00:16:32,784 --> 00:16:35,856 She was so strange, she was dressed in her 359 00:16:35,891 --> 00:16:41,241 midwifery outfit, and the next day was July 3rd, 1960. 360 00:16:41,276 --> 00:16:42,898 MOORE: Mm-hmm. 361 00:16:42,932 --> 00:16:45,038 GATES: And that night I interviewed my mother 362 00:16:45,073 --> 00:16:48,524 and father about what only years later, 363 00:16:48,559 --> 00:16:51,976 I learned is called your family tree or your genealogy. 364 00:16:52,011 --> 00:16:54,392 And, um, that was it, I was in it 365 00:16:54,427 --> 00:16:55,980 hook, line, and sinker. 366 00:16:56,015 --> 00:17:00,502 And I never lost the fascination with my 367 00:17:00,536 --> 00:17:03,332 own family tree, never. 368 00:17:04,023 --> 00:17:06,611 Perhaps ironically, the woman who sparked 369 00:17:06,646 --> 00:17:10,374 this fascination also harbored my family's 370 00:17:10,408 --> 00:17:13,239 biggest secret. 371 00:17:13,273 --> 00:17:16,069 Growing up, I was told that Jane had 372 00:17:16,104 --> 00:17:21,109 five children, and that they all had the same father, 373 00:17:21,419 --> 00:17:24,871 but that Jane never told anyone his name. 374 00:17:24,905 --> 00:17:28,461 My family spent years trying to identify this man, 375 00:17:28,495 --> 00:17:31,809 speculating wildly before finally settling 376 00:17:31,843 --> 00:17:37,194 on one likely candidate, a wealthy White landowner 377 00:17:37,228 --> 00:17:41,232 named Samuel Dunlap Brady. 378 00:17:41,267 --> 00:17:43,752 Try, as we might, however, none of us could find 379 00:17:43,786 --> 00:17:47,169 records to confirm this story. 380 00:17:47,204 --> 00:17:50,276 And CeCe proved it wrong. 381 00:17:52,968 --> 00:17:56,627 She built a genetic network using DNA from 382 00:17:56,661 --> 00:17:59,906 my oldest relatives and discovered that 383 00:17:59,940 --> 00:18:04,462 Jane's youngest child, my great-grandfather Edward, 384 00:18:04,497 --> 00:18:09,502 was fathered by a man named Charles Wesley Kelley, 385 00:18:09,536 --> 00:18:11,883 a White farmer who would be killed by 386 00:18:11,918 --> 00:18:16,095 lightning when he was roughly 35 years old. 387 00:18:19,132 --> 00:18:21,100 I had to confess this revelation did not 388 00:18:21,134 --> 00:18:23,895 exactly excite me. 389 00:18:23,930 --> 00:18:28,141 I'd pictured my long-lost ancestor quite differently. 390 00:18:29,901 --> 00:18:33,008 [laughing]. 391 00:18:33,042 --> 00:18:34,906 "Death By Lightning. 392 00:18:34,941 --> 00:18:37,771 During the storm on Friday morning last, 393 00:18:37,806 --> 00:18:42,017 Charles W. Kelley was instantly killed by lightning. 394 00:18:42,051 --> 00:18:44,744 He was in the act of closing a window at the time, 395 00:18:44,778 --> 00:18:47,988 and held in his hand a piece of iron or steel, 396 00:18:48,023 --> 00:18:51,199 which had been used to hold the sash up the lightning, 397 00:18:51,233 --> 00:18:53,649 struck him on the neck and passed out 398 00:18:53,684 --> 00:18:55,617 the toe of his boot." 399 00:18:55,651 --> 00:18:57,136 This is my, this is my, 400 00:18:57,170 --> 00:18:58,413 you sure this is my ancestor? 401 00:18:58,447 --> 00:18:59,621 This guy is stupid. 402 00:18:59,655 --> 00:19:00,863 MOORE: I'm positive. 403 00:19:00,898 --> 00:19:03,556 GATES: He's not the brightest star in the firmament, 404 00:19:03,590 --> 00:19:05,592 you know what I mean? 405 00:19:05,627 --> 00:19:06,662 Wow. 406 00:19:06,697 --> 00:19:09,286 You know, I'm thinking this guy is gonna be, 407 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:11,184 you know, descended from one of the signers of 408 00:19:11,219 --> 00:19:13,082 the Declaration of Independence 409 00:19:13,117 --> 00:19:14,601 or something, you know? 410 00:19:14,636 --> 00:19:18,881 He was a General in the American Revolution, something. 411 00:19:18,916 --> 00:19:22,782 But here's this guy who just gets killed by lightning. 412 00:19:22,816 --> 00:19:25,888 I mean this, I'm sorry for my great-great, 413 00:19:25,923 --> 00:19:27,166 and now I'm wrapping, you know, 414 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:28,650 even as we're talking... 415 00:19:28,684 --> 00:19:29,789 MOORE: Mm-hmm. 416 00:19:29,823 --> 00:19:30,997 GATES: I'm embracing Charles W. Kelley. 417 00:19:31,031 --> 00:19:32,516 MOORE: I'm so glad. 418 00:19:32,550 --> 00:19:34,759 GATES: And I'm sorry he was killed by lightning. 419 00:19:34,794 --> 00:19:38,625 But it's not what I expected. 420 00:19:39,592 --> 00:19:42,250 Setting my expectations aside... 421 00:19:42,284 --> 00:19:43,803 MOORE: Please turn the page. 422 00:19:43,837 --> 00:19:47,082 GATES: CeCe now began to piece together the details 423 00:19:47,116 --> 00:19:48,808 of my ancestors' life. 424 00:19:48,842 --> 00:19:49,947 Wow. 425 00:19:49,981 --> 00:19:52,605 Records show that Charles Wesley Kelley was 426 00:19:52,639 --> 00:19:57,644 born around 1824 in Allegany County, Maryland. 427 00:19:58,300 --> 00:20:01,821 And that he married a woman named Ellen Everstein 428 00:20:01,855 --> 00:20:05,238 when he was roughly 28 years old. 429 00:20:05,273 --> 00:20:08,690 There were, of course, no records at all regarding 430 00:20:08,724 --> 00:20:11,589 the nature of the relationship between 431 00:20:11,624 --> 00:20:16,491 Charles and my enslaved great-great-grandmother Jane. 432 00:20:17,146 --> 00:20:21,185 But based on his age, CeCe believed it was unlikely 433 00:20:21,220 --> 00:20:24,084 that Charles could have fathered all five of 434 00:20:24,119 --> 00:20:26,466 Jane's children. 435 00:20:26,673 --> 00:20:29,780 What's more, CeCe thought it was possible 436 00:20:29,814 --> 00:20:33,853 that Charles never even met my great-grandfather, Edward, 437 00:20:33,887 --> 00:20:37,753 because Charles appears to have moved to Illinois 438 00:20:37,788 --> 00:20:40,618 before Edward was born. 439 00:20:40,653 --> 00:20:41,999 Cause and effect. 440 00:20:42,033 --> 00:20:43,587 Maybe he was run outta town. 441 00:20:43,621 --> 00:20:45,761 MOORE: Maybe, or maybe he just didn't know. 442 00:20:45,796 --> 00:20:47,176 GATES: Yeah, maybe he didn't know. 443 00:20:47,211 --> 00:20:49,834 Maybe it's just a casual... 444 00:20:49,869 --> 00:20:51,111 MOORE: Maybe. 445 00:20:51,146 --> 00:20:52,216 GATES: We like, we don't know. 446 00:20:52,251 --> 00:20:53,528 MOORE: We don't know. GATES: Hmm. 447 00:20:53,562 --> 00:20:54,632 MOORE: That's one thing I guess we'll never know. 448 00:20:54,667 --> 00:20:55,737 GATES: Never know. 449 00:20:55,771 --> 00:20:58,049 Well, I hope there was some feeling involved. 450 00:20:58,084 --> 00:20:59,913 But what's interesting is that Jane, 451 00:20:59,948 --> 00:21:03,262 according to my father, and the source of this 452 00:21:03,296 --> 00:21:06,541 must have been his grandfather. 453 00:21:06,575 --> 00:21:07,852 MOORE: Mm-hmm. 454 00:21:07,887 --> 00:21:09,268 GATES: Told the five children that they all 455 00:21:09,302 --> 00:21:11,442 had the same father and that he was White. 456 00:21:11,477 --> 00:21:12,892 That was it. 457 00:21:12,926 --> 00:21:14,134 MOORE: Mm-hmm. 458 00:21:14,169 --> 00:21:15,895 GATES: But it's the kind of thing that you would, 459 00:21:15,929 --> 00:21:18,415 um, say to protect your reputation. 460 00:21:18,449 --> 00:21:19,657 MOORE: Mm-hmm. 461 00:21:19,692 --> 00:21:21,107 GATES: You know, you want your children not to 462 00:21:21,141 --> 00:21:23,489 think that they have assorted fathers, 463 00:21:23,523 --> 00:21:25,318 that they're all related to each other. 464 00:21:25,353 --> 00:21:27,009 MOORE: So how do you think your father would react 465 00:21:27,044 --> 00:21:31,082 to learning this, that you are Kelleys on that 466 00:21:31,117 --> 00:21:32,463 direct paternal line? 467 00:21:32,498 --> 00:21:34,051 GATES: Oh, I think he, no question. 468 00:21:34,085 --> 00:21:35,708 He would believe you. 469 00:21:35,742 --> 00:21:36,881 Overwhelmingly. 470 00:21:36,916 --> 00:21:38,055 MOORE: Would he be happy about it or not so happy? 471 00:21:38,089 --> 00:21:41,645 GATES: Um, he would wonder about the Brady story. 472 00:21:41,679 --> 00:21:42,680 MOORE: Mm-hmm. 473 00:21:42,715 --> 00:21:43,819 GATES: But he would definitely, I mean, 474 00:21:43,854 --> 00:21:45,683 he loves science, this is scientifically, 475 00:21:45,718 --> 00:21:47,098 uh, accurate. 476 00:21:47,133 --> 00:21:49,238 He would make jokes forever about "Death by Lightning." 477 00:21:49,273 --> 00:21:50,930 [laughing]. 478 00:21:50,964 --> 00:21:52,656 No question about that. 479 00:21:52,690 --> 00:21:55,555 But no, he would definitely accept this. 480 00:21:56,245 --> 00:21:58,662 By this time, I too, of course, 481 00:21:58,696 --> 00:22:02,838 had accepted CeCe's news, and I soon realized that 482 00:22:02,873 --> 00:22:06,255 it carried a silver lining. 483 00:22:06,497 --> 00:22:11,813 The fact that Charles is my second great-grandfather 484 00:22:11,847 --> 00:22:16,127 means that his ancestors are my ancestors. 485 00:22:17,232 --> 00:22:21,685 And CeCe was able to introduce me to a host of them. 486 00:22:22,686 --> 00:22:27,104 Starting in the 1850 census where she found 487 00:22:27,138 --> 00:22:32,454 Charles living in a very crowded household. 488 00:22:32,661 --> 00:22:36,044 "Charles Kelley, age 26, farmer; 489 00:22:36,078 --> 00:22:37,045 Hannah Kelley." 490 00:22:37,079 --> 00:22:38,322 Whoa. 491 00:22:38,357 --> 00:22:40,704 "Age 46. Jacob Stotler, age 50. 492 00:22:40,738 --> 00:22:42,188 Amanda Kelley, 18. 493 00:22:42,222 --> 00:22:45,674 Mary Kelley, 12 and Fanny, 10." 494 00:22:45,709 --> 00:22:47,538 MOORE: So this is the 1850 census for 495 00:22:47,573 --> 00:22:49,298 Allegany County, Maryland, 496 00:22:49,333 --> 00:22:50,852 do you recognize any of their names? 497 00:22:50,886 --> 00:22:52,129 GATES: Yes, Charles Kelley. 498 00:22:52,163 --> 00:22:53,233 MOORE: Right. 499 00:22:53,268 --> 00:22:55,822 GATES: And someone 20 years older named Hannah, 500 00:22:55,857 --> 00:22:58,169 I am guessing is his mother, 501 00:22:58,204 --> 00:23:00,655 which would make her my third great-grandmother. 502 00:23:00,689 --> 00:23:02,277 MOORE: Right. You're jumping way ahead. 503 00:23:02,311 --> 00:23:03,589 You know how this goes. 504 00:23:03,623 --> 00:23:05,245 GATES: That's cool. 505 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:07,247 MOORE: So as you know, the 1850 census doesn't 506 00:23:07,282 --> 00:23:11,286 spell out the relationships, but it seemed very likely that 507 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:14,358 the 46-year-old woman named Hannah is Charles' mother, 508 00:23:14,393 --> 00:23:17,430 while the three women ages 10 to 18 were his sisters. 509 00:23:17,465 --> 00:23:18,811 GATES: Mm-hmm. 510 00:23:18,845 --> 00:23:20,640 MOORE: And DNA supports this conclusion. 511 00:23:20,675 --> 00:23:21,883 GATES: Mm-hmm, that's great. 512 00:23:21,917 --> 00:23:23,471 MOORE: So this means that you just met your 513 00:23:23,505 --> 00:23:25,956 great-great-great grandmother, 514 00:23:25,990 --> 00:23:27,336 a woman named Hannah. 515 00:23:27,371 --> 00:23:29,200 GATES: That is so cool. Now, that's great. 516 00:23:29,235 --> 00:23:31,720 This is the first addition up the tree. 517 00:23:31,755 --> 00:23:33,791 MOORE: Mm-hmm. GATES: Uh-huh, that's great. 518 00:23:33,826 --> 00:23:34,965 That's fabulous. 519 00:23:34,999 --> 00:23:36,553 MOORE: Now there's someone else on that census 520 00:23:36,587 --> 00:23:38,658 that stands out Jacob Stotler age 50. 521 00:23:38,693 --> 00:23:39,970 GATES: Yeah, who is this dude living on the farm 522 00:23:40,004 --> 00:23:42,559 in isolation with an unmarried woman? 523 00:23:42,593 --> 00:23:45,665 MOORE: Any guesses? GATES: Um, her brother. 524 00:23:45,700 --> 00:23:47,322 MOORE: Mm-hmm, good guess. GATES: I'm pretty good. 525 00:23:47,356 --> 00:23:49,151 MOORE: Yeah. GATES: Oh, that's great. 526 00:23:49,186 --> 00:23:51,395 MOORE: So we believe that he was Hannah's older brother 527 00:23:51,430 --> 00:23:52,465 and let me show you why. 528 00:23:52,500 --> 00:23:53,604 Please turn the page. 529 00:23:53,639 --> 00:23:54,881 GATES: Pretty good, huh? 530 00:23:54,916 --> 00:23:56,296 Pretty good. 531 00:23:56,331 --> 00:23:58,091 MOORE: So this is a marriage record. 532 00:23:58,126 --> 00:23:59,438 GATES: Mm-hmm. 533 00:23:59,472 --> 00:24:01,336 MOORE: From 1822 in Allegany County, Maryland. 534 00:24:01,370 --> 00:24:02,544 GATES: Wow, cool. 535 00:24:02,579 --> 00:24:04,684 "James Kelley married Hannah Stotler." 536 00:24:04,719 --> 00:24:06,237 MOORE: Mm-hmm. GATES: Nice. 537 00:24:06,272 --> 00:24:08,205 So I'm a Stotler too. 538 00:24:08,239 --> 00:24:10,207 MOORE: You keep reading my script for me. 539 00:24:10,241 --> 00:24:11,691 That's right. 540 00:24:11,726 --> 00:24:12,934 GATES: That's great. 541 00:24:12,968 --> 00:24:14,142 MOORE: You are a Kelley and a Stotler. 542 00:24:14,176 --> 00:24:15,557 GATES: And a Stotler. MOORE: Mm-hmm. 543 00:24:15,592 --> 00:24:16,903 GATES: That's cool. 544 00:24:16,938 --> 00:24:18,249 MOORE: Had you ever heard the Stotler name 545 00:24:18,284 --> 00:24:19,354 around Cumberland? 546 00:24:19,388 --> 00:24:20,562 GATES: I've never heard of the Stotler 547 00:24:20,597 --> 00:24:23,323 name around anywhere. 548 00:24:24,393 --> 00:24:27,431 As it turns out, the Stotlers have lived in 549 00:24:27,466 --> 00:24:31,608 and around Cumberland since the early 1800s. 550 00:24:32,609 --> 00:24:35,715 And learning that I was part of this family 551 00:24:35,750 --> 00:24:39,512 would lead to a startling discovery. 552 00:24:39,547 --> 00:24:42,342 In all our years of researching Jane, 553 00:24:42,377 --> 00:24:45,276 no one had ever been able to uncover even a 554 00:24:45,311 --> 00:24:49,073 single detail about her life in slavery. 555 00:24:50,730 --> 00:24:53,561 But as our team combed through the documents that 556 00:24:53,595 --> 00:24:58,186 the Stotlers left behind, they found what had eluded 557 00:24:58,220 --> 00:25:03,156 generations of Gates', an estate record listing 558 00:25:03,191 --> 00:25:07,506 Jane as a piece of property. 559 00:25:07,851 --> 00:25:09,197 Ohhh! 560 00:25:09,231 --> 00:25:10,509 MOORE: Okay, hold on. 561 00:25:10,543 --> 00:25:11,958 Let me introduce you to this record. 562 00:25:11,993 --> 00:25:13,201 GATES: Okay. 563 00:25:13,235 --> 00:25:14,961 MOORE: You're looking at a part of the estate file 564 00:25:14,996 --> 00:25:18,309 of Christian Stotler, your great-great-great-grandmother 565 00:25:18,344 --> 00:25:20,208 Hannah Stotler's brother. 566 00:25:20,242 --> 00:25:22,555 So remember Hannah had the brother, Jacob, 567 00:25:22,590 --> 00:25:24,488 she also has a brother Christian. 568 00:25:24,523 --> 00:25:28,561 He died just outside of Cumberland on March 4th, 1859, 569 00:25:28,596 --> 00:25:31,150 only seven months before the death of his nephew, 570 00:25:31,184 --> 00:25:34,360 your great-great-grandfather, Charles Wesley Kelley. 571 00:25:34,394 --> 00:25:36,569 GATES: Wow, these are the, this is the guy who owned 572 00:25:36,604 --> 00:25:38,364 Jane and her children. 573 00:25:38,398 --> 00:25:39,572 That's amazing. 574 00:25:39,607 --> 00:25:43,024 MOORE: Mm-hmm. GATES: That is amazing. 575 00:25:43,403 --> 00:25:45,371 Mm, mm, mm. 576 00:25:45,405 --> 00:25:47,062 "An inventory of the personal property 577 00:25:47,097 --> 00:25:50,238 of Christian Stotler, late of Allegany County deceased, 578 00:25:50,272 --> 00:25:55,036 Negro woman, Jane, 37 years old, $500. 579 00:25:55,070 --> 00:25:58,591 Negro girl, Clara, 11, $800. 580 00:25:58,626 --> 00:26:02,284 Negro girl, Alice, nine years, $750. 581 00:26:02,319 --> 00:26:04,597 Negro boy Henry seven..." 582 00:26:04,632 --> 00:26:06,150 That's was the source, by the way, 583 00:26:06,185 --> 00:26:08,843 of all the Henrys in family, down to me. 584 00:26:08,877 --> 00:26:13,295 "...$500 and Negro boy Edward, 18 months, $200." 585 00:26:13,330 --> 00:26:15,159 I can't believe you found this. 586 00:26:15,194 --> 00:26:19,060 It is so stunning. 587 00:26:19,094 --> 00:26:22,166 I am just floored. 588 00:26:22,201 --> 00:26:23,685 MOORE: Did you ever imagine you would see this? 589 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:26,170 GATES: No, never, mm-mm. 590 00:26:26,205 --> 00:26:28,345 MOORE: You've asked a lot of your guests this in the past, 591 00:26:28,379 --> 00:26:31,624 but how does it feel to see their names with 592 00:26:31,659 --> 00:26:33,212 dollar values assigned? 593 00:26:33,246 --> 00:26:35,455 GATES: Oh, it's just, uh, I have tears my eyes, 594 00:26:35,490 --> 00:26:37,872 you know, it's, uh, I can't believe it. 595 00:26:37,906 --> 00:26:42,393 I, this is the most amazing discovery that, 596 00:26:42,428 --> 00:26:44,119 um, I could have. 597 00:26:44,154 --> 00:26:48,089 This is more amazing even than the identity of, 598 00:26:48,123 --> 00:26:50,781 uh, uh, Edward's father, really. 599 00:26:50,816 --> 00:26:52,749 MOORE: That's what led us to this. 600 00:26:52,783 --> 00:26:55,061 We had to make that discovery to find this. 601 00:26:55,096 --> 00:26:56,442 GATES: Oh, that's, it's amazing, 602 00:26:56,476 --> 00:26:57,926 I can't believe it. 603 00:26:57,961 --> 00:27:01,067 I just can't believe it after all this looking, 604 00:27:01,102 --> 00:27:02,724 I just can't believe it. 605 00:27:02,759 --> 00:27:05,624 Mm. Wow. 606 00:27:05,658 --> 00:27:07,556 That's amazing, that is astonishing. 607 00:27:07,591 --> 00:27:10,732 This is just gonna floor everybody. 608 00:27:10,767 --> 00:27:13,045 I'm floored. 609 00:27:13,873 --> 00:27:17,221 Based on this record, it seems that Jane met 610 00:27:17,256 --> 00:27:20,293 Charles Kelley when she was enslaved by his 611 00:27:20,328 --> 00:27:23,607 uncle Christian Stotler. 612 00:27:23,642 --> 00:27:26,437 We don't know if Christian had any knowledge 613 00:27:26,472 --> 00:27:30,579 of the relationship, but in March of 1859, 614 00:27:30,614 --> 00:27:34,376 he made out his will, in reading it, 615 00:27:34,411 --> 00:27:38,139 I realized that if he had familial feelings towards 616 00:27:38,173 --> 00:27:42,522 Jane and her children, they were decidedly mixed. 617 00:27:44,697 --> 00:27:48,218 Well, he freed Jane, that's the good news. 618 00:27:48,252 --> 00:27:49,909 Then I read the second half. 619 00:27:49,944 --> 00:27:52,325 Okay, this is a good news, bad news document. 620 00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:53,706 MOORE: Mm-hmm. 621 00:27:53,741 --> 00:27:55,363 GATES: "I desire that my servant woman, Jane, 622 00:27:55,397 --> 00:27:57,710 be free after further servitude of three years..." 623 00:27:57,745 --> 00:27:59,781 So that would be 1862, 624 00:27:59,816 --> 00:28:02,473 the middle of what would become the Civil War. 625 00:28:02,508 --> 00:28:04,061 "...because of her faithful service to my 626 00:28:04,096 --> 00:28:08,100 family, however, I desire that my servant boys, 627 00:28:08,134 --> 00:28:10,550 Henry and Edward sons of Jane, 628 00:28:10,585 --> 00:28:14,313 my servant woman, be sold at private sale to 629 00:28:14,347 --> 00:28:18,662 good masters in the county or state and not be allowed 630 00:28:18,697 --> 00:28:21,630 to be sold out of state." 631 00:28:21,665 --> 00:28:24,564 Hmm, boy, that's cold. 632 00:28:24,599 --> 00:28:26,325 He, you know, he was freeing the mother, 633 00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:29,293 but keeping her sons in bondage. 634 00:28:29,328 --> 00:28:30,570 MOORE: Though, he did say 635 00:28:30,605 --> 00:28:32,780 "They couldn't be sold out of state." 636 00:28:32,814 --> 00:28:35,092 GATES: Yeah, but Maryland's got a whole lot of state. 637 00:28:35,127 --> 00:28:36,404 MOORE: Yeah. 638 00:28:36,438 --> 00:28:37,750 GATES: You know, you could be sold all the way 639 00:28:37,785 --> 00:28:39,165 down to the Eastern Shore where Frederick Douglass 640 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:41,616 was from all the way from up here in 641 00:28:41,650 --> 00:28:43,963 western Maryland in the mountains. 642 00:28:43,998 --> 00:28:45,758 That's cold and cruel. 643 00:28:45,793 --> 00:28:46,932 MOORE: Yeah. 644 00:28:46,966 --> 00:28:48,554 GATES: I wonder how Jane must have felt about that. 645 00:28:48,588 --> 00:28:49,658 MOORE: What do you think? 646 00:28:49,693 --> 00:28:51,764 GATES: It would've been devastating. 647 00:28:52,938 --> 00:28:57,011 Jane would soon have to face this devastation head on. 648 00:28:57,977 --> 00:29:00,911 Following Christian Stotler's death 649 00:29:00,946 --> 00:29:03,983 her family was torn apart. 650 00:29:04,604 --> 00:29:07,090 Her two daughters were bequeathed to other members 651 00:29:07,124 --> 00:29:09,748 of the Stotler family. 652 00:29:09,782 --> 00:29:14,960 Meanwhile, Jane and her young sons were sold. 653 00:29:14,994 --> 00:29:17,894 With the boys "purchased for life" 654 00:29:17,928 --> 00:29:21,829 and Jane for a term of two years. 655 00:29:22,519 --> 00:29:25,073 It was terrible to contemplate. 656 00:29:25,108 --> 00:29:28,007 But the family historian in me could not help but 657 00:29:28,042 --> 00:29:30,976 be intrigued by something. 658 00:29:31,010 --> 00:29:33,599 Hidden within the cold legal language of these 659 00:29:33,633 --> 00:29:37,810 transactions was a singular detail, 660 00:29:37,845 --> 00:29:39,985 "Additional list of the sales..." 661 00:29:40,019 --> 00:29:41,158 Oh. 662 00:29:41,193 --> 00:29:43,298 "...On the personal property of Christian Stotler, 663 00:29:43,333 --> 00:29:45,576 late of Allegany County, deceased to wit, 664 00:29:45,611 --> 00:29:49,373 Merriam Stotler, and JH Stotler, two rifle guns, 665 00:29:49,408 --> 00:29:51,030 $16. 666 00:29:51,065 --> 00:29:54,965 And to Samuel Brady, servant Jane, 667 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:57,105 and her two children." 668 00:29:57,140 --> 00:30:01,523 [laughter]. 669 00:30:02,283 --> 00:30:03,698 MOORE: There it is. GATES: There it is. 670 00:30:03,732 --> 00:30:06,011 That is amazing. 671 00:30:06,045 --> 00:30:09,911 Boy, that shows you the power of oral tradition. 672 00:30:10,187 --> 00:30:12,155 MOORE: Yeah, it wasn't out of nowhere. 673 00:30:12,189 --> 00:30:15,503 GATES: No, it wasn't out of nowhere. 674 00:30:15,537 --> 00:30:19,058 According to this record, Jane and her two boys, 675 00:30:19,093 --> 00:30:22,061 including my great-grandfather, Edward, 676 00:30:22,096 --> 00:30:27,480 were purchased by none other than Samuel Dunlap Brady. 677 00:30:28,827 --> 00:30:31,553 Meaning that the man my family had long believed 678 00:30:31,588 --> 00:30:34,384 to be the father of Jane's children had actually 679 00:30:34,418 --> 00:30:38,802 been the last man who owned her. 680 00:30:38,837 --> 00:30:41,115 They were close, they just didn't get it right. 681 00:30:41,149 --> 00:30:42,185 MOORE: Isn't that the way it is with 682 00:30:42,219 --> 00:30:43,427 family stories, though? 683 00:30:43,462 --> 00:30:45,740 There's usually a kernel of truth I have found, 684 00:30:45,774 --> 00:30:48,122 but it's often not quite right. 685 00:30:48,156 --> 00:30:51,988 GATES: Yeah, this is astonishing. 686 00:30:52,022 --> 00:30:57,269 This is, I could never have imagined that, 687 00:30:57,303 --> 00:31:00,962 um, any of this had been found. 688 00:31:00,997 --> 00:31:03,482 Nothing. 689 00:31:03,827 --> 00:31:07,486 I had now learned more about Jane than I'd ever 690 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:09,695 dreamed possible. 691 00:31:09,729 --> 00:31:13,768 She was no longer just my oldest Gates ancestor, 692 00:31:13,802 --> 00:31:18,324 suddenly she was a woman with a story, 693 00:31:18,359 --> 00:31:22,363 and that story had another beat to it. 694 00:31:22,639 --> 00:31:24,952 We'd seen that Jane was part of Christian Stotler's 695 00:31:24,986 --> 00:31:29,404 estate when he passed away in 1859, 696 00:31:29,439 --> 00:31:33,443 and in the 1840 census, we saw that Christian owned 697 00:31:33,477 --> 00:31:39,069 three female slaves, likely Jane and two daughters. 698 00:31:40,208 --> 00:31:44,419 But there was still a question in front of us. 699 00:31:44,764 --> 00:31:46,076 MOORE: How did Christian Stotler come 700 00:31:46,111 --> 00:31:47,422 to own Jane Gates? 701 00:31:47,457 --> 00:31:48,734 GATES: Mm-hmm. 702 00:31:48,768 --> 00:31:50,046 MOORE: We found no indication he owned 703 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:52,807 any enslaved people prior to 1840. 704 00:31:52,841 --> 00:31:54,188 GATES: Mm-hmm. 705 00:31:54,222 --> 00:31:55,672 MOORE: And indeed, we don't have a document 706 00:31:55,706 --> 00:31:57,156 that shows Christian acquiring any slaves, 707 00:31:57,191 --> 00:31:59,020 including your great-great-grandmother, Jane, 708 00:31:59,055 --> 00:32:00,332 at any time. 709 00:32:00,366 --> 00:32:02,472 So we can't be certain, but as we dug deeper 710 00:32:02,506 --> 00:32:03,611 into the paper trail, 711 00:32:03,645 --> 00:32:04,957 we found a very interesting clue. 712 00:32:04,992 --> 00:32:07,201 GATES: Okay. MOORE: Please turn the page. 713 00:32:07,235 --> 00:32:11,964 [laughing]. 714 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:14,622 Now this is one of several obituaries of your 715 00:32:14,656 --> 00:32:16,279 great-great-grandmother, Jane, 716 00:32:16,313 --> 00:32:18,902 it was published on January 7th, 1888 in 717 00:32:18,937 --> 00:32:20,869 "The Cumberland Daily Times." 718 00:32:20,904 --> 00:32:22,181 GATES: "Death of Aunt Jane Gates. 719 00:32:22,216 --> 00:32:25,150 Last night at 11 o'clock, Aunt Jane Gates, colored, 720 00:32:25,184 --> 00:32:26,875 a family servant of the Stover's." 721 00:32:26,910 --> 00:32:28,222 I've seen this before. 722 00:32:28,256 --> 00:32:29,464 MOORE: Mm-hmm. 723 00:32:29,499 --> 00:32:30,707 GATES: But I never could figure out who the Stovers were. 724 00:32:30,741 --> 00:32:31,880 MOORE: Mm-hmm. 725 00:32:31,915 --> 00:32:33,503 GATES: "Died in the 75th year of her age. 726 00:32:33,537 --> 00:32:35,470 She's lived for a long time on Green Street where 727 00:32:35,505 --> 00:32:36,747 her death occurred." 728 00:32:36,782 --> 00:32:38,301 So it's the Stovers. 729 00:32:38,335 --> 00:32:39,509 MOORE: Yes. 730 00:32:39,543 --> 00:32:40,613 GATES: That's the smoking pistol. 731 00:32:40,648 --> 00:32:41,994 MOORE: That's right. 732 00:32:42,029 --> 00:32:45,549 GATES: CeCe had indeed uncovered a smoking pistol. 733 00:32:46,723 --> 00:32:49,968 Based on this obituary we now knew that Jane worked 734 00:32:50,002 --> 00:32:54,144 as a domestic servant for a family named Stover 735 00:32:54,179 --> 00:32:57,561 at the end of her life, which got our team wondering 736 00:32:57,596 --> 00:33:00,288 if Jane might've had a relationship with the 737 00:33:00,323 --> 00:33:04,465 Stover family earlier than that. 738 00:33:04,499 --> 00:33:09,711 This led us back almost 50 years to a document 739 00:33:09,746 --> 00:33:13,612 I couldn't imagine even existed. 740 00:33:14,406 --> 00:33:16,442 MOORE: This was published in a local Cumberland 741 00:33:16,477 --> 00:33:18,548 newspaper called "The Phoenix Civilian" 742 00:33:18,582 --> 00:33:20,826 on September 21st, 1839. 743 00:33:20,860 --> 00:33:23,070 Would you please read the transcribed section? 744 00:33:23,104 --> 00:33:25,141 GATES: "By virtue of deed of trust to me, 745 00:33:25,175 --> 00:33:29,110 executed by Solomon Stover and Harriet, his wife, 746 00:33:29,145 --> 00:33:33,494 I will sell at public sale at the residence of said 747 00:33:33,528 --> 00:33:36,393 Stover in Cumberland, one Negro woman and 748 00:33:36,428 --> 00:33:39,120 her two children, one an infant and 749 00:33:39,155 --> 00:33:41,122 the other about three years old. 750 00:33:41,157 --> 00:33:42,572 Slaves for life." 751 00:33:42,606 --> 00:33:47,059 Geez, boy that's cold, "Slaves for life." 752 00:33:47,094 --> 00:33:48,647 MOORE: So Skip, we believe you're looking at 753 00:33:48,681 --> 00:33:50,373 an advertisement for the sale of your 754 00:33:50,407 --> 00:33:51,788 great-great-grandmother, Jane Gates, 755 00:33:51,822 --> 00:33:53,065 and her two young daughters. 756 00:33:53,100 --> 00:33:54,170 Mm. 757 00:33:54,204 --> 00:33:56,724 So they're owned by the Stovers. 758 00:33:56,758 --> 00:33:57,966 MOORE: Mm-hmm. 759 00:33:58,001 --> 00:33:59,140 GATES: And they're being sold. 760 00:33:59,175 --> 00:34:00,555 MOORE: Right. GATES: There you go. 761 00:34:00,590 --> 00:34:01,970 "The Phoenix Civilian," never heard of it. 762 00:34:02,005 --> 00:34:03,455 MOORE: What's it like to look at it and what did 763 00:34:03,489 --> 00:34:06,354 you think Jane would've been feeling? 764 00:34:06,389 --> 00:34:09,771 GATES: You know, I've seen 1,000 bill of sales... 765 00:34:09,806 --> 00:34:11,083 MOORE: Mm-hmm. 766 00:34:11,118 --> 00:34:13,120 GATES: But to know that that one Negro woman is 767 00:34:13,154 --> 00:34:14,845 my great-great-grandmother. 768 00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:16,192 MOORE: Mm-hmm. 769 00:34:16,226 --> 00:34:17,676 GATES: No, she must have been horrified. 770 00:34:17,710 --> 00:34:19,298 MOORE: Yeah. 771 00:34:19,333 --> 00:34:20,920 GATES: Yeah, I'll be thinking about this page 772 00:34:20,955 --> 00:34:23,440 for a long, long time. 773 00:34:23,889 --> 00:34:27,134 CeCe told me that our researchers couldn't be certain, 774 00:34:27,168 --> 00:34:30,965 but they believe this represents the moment 775 00:34:30,999 --> 00:34:35,073 when Jane and two of her daughters were purchased 776 00:34:35,107 --> 00:34:37,937 by Christian Stotler. 777 00:34:37,972 --> 00:34:39,974 What's more, it appears that one of the daughters 778 00:34:40,008 --> 00:34:44,841 was named Maria and that her very existence 779 00:34:44,875 --> 00:34:48,776 had been lost within my family's story. 780 00:34:49,397 --> 00:34:50,433 Maria, who is Maria? 781 00:34:50,467 --> 00:34:51,710 We never heard of her. 782 00:34:51,744 --> 00:34:53,194 MOORE: We never had. GATES: Mm-hmm. 783 00:34:53,229 --> 00:34:54,609 MOORE: So it looks like Jane has six. 784 00:34:54,644 --> 00:34:55,748 GATES: Jane had another child. 785 00:34:55,783 --> 00:34:56,887 MOORE: Right, six children. 786 00:34:56,922 --> 00:34:58,303 GATES: Yeah, amazing, okay. 787 00:34:58,337 --> 00:34:59,925 MOORE: So remember Christian Stotler owned 788 00:34:59,959 --> 00:35:01,823 three enslaved females by the time the 789 00:35:01,858 --> 00:35:04,136 1840 census was recorded. 790 00:35:04,171 --> 00:35:05,241 GATES: Right. 791 00:35:05,275 --> 00:35:06,621 MOORE: So this suggests that one was Jane, 792 00:35:06,656 --> 00:35:07,829 one was Maria. 793 00:35:07,864 --> 00:35:09,486 GATES: Maria, who is a ghost, mm-hmm. 794 00:35:09,521 --> 00:35:10,625 MOORE: And we searched high and low 795 00:35:10,660 --> 00:35:12,696 to try to find more information on Maria, 796 00:35:12,731 --> 00:35:15,147 and unfortunately we came up empty with her. 797 00:35:15,182 --> 00:35:16,390 GATES: Okay. 798 00:35:16,424 --> 00:35:18,150 MOORE: But we believe if she was living or if 799 00:35:18,185 --> 00:35:20,566 she had children or grandchildren, 800 00:35:20,601 --> 00:35:22,396 Jane would've mentioned them in her will. 801 00:35:22,430 --> 00:35:23,638 GATES: Mm-hmm. 802 00:35:23,673 --> 00:35:25,088 MOORE: Like she did her other children. 803 00:35:25,123 --> 00:35:26,469 GATES: Right and she didn't, okay. 804 00:35:26,503 --> 00:35:27,849 MOORE: So she may have died early. 805 00:35:27,884 --> 00:35:29,092 GATES: Mm-hmm. 806 00:35:29,127 --> 00:35:30,093 MOORE: Or she could have been sold away. 807 00:35:30,128 --> 00:35:31,163 GATES: Mm-hmm, she could have been. 808 00:35:31,198 --> 00:35:32,302 MOORE: We don't know. 809 00:35:32,337 --> 00:35:33,303 GATES: Right. 810 00:35:33,338 --> 00:35:34,511 MOORE: Would you please turn the page? 811 00:35:34,546 --> 00:35:35,650 GATES: Alright. 812 00:35:35,685 --> 00:35:36,962 MOORE: That's it, we're starting and ending. 813 00:35:36,996 --> 00:35:38,757 GATES: That's great. 814 00:35:38,791 --> 00:35:41,277 Hey grandma. 815 00:35:41,311 --> 00:35:43,002 [laughs]. 816 00:35:43,037 --> 00:35:44,590 I know a lot more about you than I did four hours ago, 817 00:35:44,625 --> 00:35:45,867 I'll tell you that. 818 00:35:45,902 --> 00:35:48,042 Wow, how fascinating. 819 00:35:48,076 --> 00:35:49,837 MOORE: So what's it like looking at her now 820 00:35:49,871 --> 00:35:51,494 knowing all of this? 821 00:35:51,528 --> 00:35:55,118 GATES: Well, I see a lot of pain in those eyes. 822 00:35:55,153 --> 00:35:57,293 Hmmm. 823 00:35:57,327 --> 00:35:59,053 And now I know why. 824 00:35:59,087 --> 00:36:00,261 MOORE: Mm-hmm. 825 00:36:00,296 --> 00:36:01,573 Did you see the pain before? 826 00:36:01,607 --> 00:36:03,782 GATES: Mm-mm. MOORE: Hmm. 827 00:36:03,816 --> 00:36:08,683 GATES: No, no, not, not in the same way, no. 828 00:36:08,718 --> 00:36:10,720 She just looked fierce. 829 00:36:10,754 --> 00:36:12,584 MOORE: That's my impression of her. 830 00:36:12,618 --> 00:36:15,311 GATES: Mm-hmm. MOORE: Fierce, perfect word. 831 00:36:15,345 --> 00:36:19,004 GATES: Yeah, I'm overwhelmed really. 832 00:36:19,038 --> 00:36:22,283 It's deeply emotional too. 833 00:36:22,318 --> 00:36:24,665 Yeah. 834 00:36:26,770 --> 00:36:29,532 We'd already identified Laurence Fishburne's 835 00:36:29,566 --> 00:36:33,743 biological father solving a mystery that 836 00:36:33,777 --> 00:36:36,573 had haunted him for decades. 837 00:36:37,747 --> 00:36:41,509 Now we turn to Laurence's father's ancestors, 838 00:36:41,544 --> 00:36:44,512 men and women whose lives Laurence had never 839 00:36:44,547 --> 00:36:47,584 even contemplated before. 840 00:36:49,552 --> 00:36:53,866 As it turns out, one of them has an incredible story. 841 00:36:55,109 --> 00:36:59,251 It begins with the 1870 census for Ohio, 842 00:36:59,286 --> 00:37:03,151 where we found Laurence's great-great-grandfather, 843 00:37:03,186 --> 00:37:06,603 a man named Paul Sandridge. 844 00:37:06,638 --> 00:37:08,536 FISHBURNE: "Inhabitants in Jefferson Township in 845 00:37:08,571 --> 00:37:11,470 the county of Montgomery, state of Ohio. 846 00:37:11,505 --> 00:37:15,543 Paul Sandridge, age 28, Black, occupation, farmer, 847 00:37:15,578 --> 00:37:18,097 place of birth, Virginia." 848 00:37:18,132 --> 00:37:19,340 GATES: According to this census, 849 00:37:19,375 --> 00:37:25,277 your great-great-grandfather, Paul was born around 1842, 850 00:37:25,312 --> 00:37:28,004 which is 19 years before the outbreak of the Civil War... 851 00:37:28,038 --> 00:37:29,281 FISHBURNE: Mm-hmm. 852 00:37:29,316 --> 00:37:30,765 GATES: ...In Virginia, so you know what that means? 853 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:31,973 FISHBURNE: Yes. GATES: About his status. 854 00:37:32,008 --> 00:37:33,320 FISHBURNE: He was enslaved. GATES: He was enslaved. 855 00:37:33,354 --> 00:37:34,528 FISHBURNE: Mm-hmm. 856 00:37:34,562 --> 00:37:35,736 GATES: Have you given much thought to your, you know, 857 00:37:35,770 --> 00:37:37,151 you saw "Roots," right, we all did, 858 00:37:37,185 --> 00:37:39,636 to your ancestors who may have been enslaved? 859 00:37:39,671 --> 00:37:41,189 FISHBURNE: All the time. GATES: Mm-hmm. 860 00:37:41,224 --> 00:37:42,846 FISHBURNE: All my life, I think... 861 00:37:42,881 --> 00:37:44,296 GATES: Mm-hmm. 862 00:37:44,331 --> 00:37:45,573 FISHBURNE: Without knowing who they were or 863 00:37:45,608 --> 00:37:46,919 what they might have endured. 864 00:37:46,954 --> 00:37:48,093 GATES: Right. 865 00:37:48,127 --> 00:37:50,854 FISHBURNE: I've always known and really had 866 00:37:50,889 --> 00:37:53,926 a connection to that experience. 867 00:37:53,961 --> 00:37:55,238 GATES: Mm-hmm. 868 00:37:55,273 --> 00:37:56,515 FISHBURNE: Um, I've thought about it. 869 00:37:56,550 --> 00:38:01,624 I've considered it, and I have used it as fuel to, 870 00:38:01,658 --> 00:38:04,972 uh, to make the most of my life. 871 00:38:06,249 --> 00:38:09,183 GATES: We now set out to learn whatever we could 872 00:38:09,217 --> 00:38:13,394 about how Laurence's ancestors experienced slavery. 873 00:38:14,292 --> 00:38:17,467 And immediately we faced a question, 874 00:38:17,502 --> 00:38:19,814 if Paul was born in Virginia, 875 00:38:19,849 --> 00:38:23,749 how did he end up in Ohio, roughly 300 miles away? 876 00:38:25,268 --> 00:38:28,685 Searching for an answer we eventually focused on 877 00:38:28,720 --> 00:38:33,345 Paul's mother, a woman named Lucy Carpenter. 878 00:38:34,795 --> 00:38:39,351 This led us to the archives of Amherst County, Virginia, 879 00:38:39,386 --> 00:38:41,733 where we found the estate records of 880 00:38:41,767 --> 00:38:45,495 a slave owner named Eaton Carpenter. 881 00:38:45,806 --> 00:38:49,292 They suggest that Eaton shaped the fate 882 00:38:49,327 --> 00:38:52,191 of Laurence's family. 883 00:38:52,813 --> 00:38:54,124 FISHBURNE: "I, Eaton Carpenter 884 00:38:54,159 --> 00:38:57,404 do make this to be my last will and testament. 885 00:38:57,438 --> 00:39:00,924 It is my will and desire that all my slaves that 886 00:39:00,959 --> 00:39:03,513 I am possessed of at the time of my death be 887 00:39:03,548 --> 00:39:06,240 emancipated and set free. 888 00:39:06,274 --> 00:39:08,829 It is my will and desire that all my estate, 889 00:39:08,863 --> 00:39:11,487 both land and perishable property, 890 00:39:11,521 --> 00:39:14,835 other than the slaves be sold by my executor upon 891 00:39:14,869 --> 00:39:19,218 such terms and in such manner as he shall think best, 892 00:39:19,253 --> 00:39:22,567 and the proceeds of the sales thereof be 893 00:39:22,601 --> 00:39:25,984 applied to the removal and settlement of the slaves 894 00:39:26,018 --> 00:39:28,124 to some of the free states. 895 00:39:28,158 --> 00:39:31,196 The money arising from the proceeds of the sales 896 00:39:31,230 --> 00:39:34,337 of my land and perishable property shall be divided 897 00:39:34,372 --> 00:39:37,409 equally amongst them all to buy lands, 898 00:39:37,444 --> 00:39:39,618 to settle them upon." 899 00:39:39,653 --> 00:39:43,242 Wow, that's amazing. 900 00:39:43,277 --> 00:39:44,416 That's amazing. 901 00:39:44,451 --> 00:39:46,245 GATES: So what do you make of this guy, 902 00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:47,626 old Eaton Carpenter? 903 00:39:47,661 --> 00:39:48,834 FISHBURNE: Old Eaton. 904 00:39:48,869 --> 00:39:49,939 Well, it makes me wonder what his relationship 905 00:39:49,973 --> 00:39:51,492 was to these people. 906 00:39:51,527 --> 00:39:53,045 GATES: Mm-hmm. 907 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:54,737 FISHBURNE: That's what, that's the question. 908 00:39:54,771 --> 00:39:58,361 GATES: Yeah, and it makes you think... 909 00:39:58,396 --> 00:39:59,914 FISHBURNE: He loved them... GATES: Mm-hmm. 910 00:39:59,949 --> 00:40:01,537 FISHBURNE: ...He cared for them, yeah. 911 00:40:01,571 --> 00:40:04,609 And was probably related to some of them. 912 00:40:04,643 --> 00:40:07,750 GATES: I think those are reasonable assumptions. 913 00:40:07,784 --> 00:40:09,717 FISHBURNE: Mm-hmm. 914 00:40:10,338 --> 00:40:12,962 GATES: We believe that Eaton Carpenter was likely 915 00:40:12,996 --> 00:40:15,654 Paul's great-uncle, but he may have been 916 00:40:15,689 --> 00:40:19,693 his grandfather, or simply a right-minded man 917 00:40:19,727 --> 00:40:22,627 who wanted to free his slaves. 918 00:40:22,661 --> 00:40:24,974 We can't be certain. 919 00:40:25,008 --> 00:40:29,012 What we do know is that in the wake of Eaton's death, 920 00:40:29,047 --> 00:40:31,946 Paul and his mother and siblings journeyed 921 00:40:31,981 --> 00:40:37,469 north to Ohio, a free state where they took up farming. 922 00:40:37,504 --> 00:40:39,437 We also know that Paul would do more with 923 00:40:39,471 --> 00:40:42,854 his life than farm. 924 00:40:43,164 --> 00:40:48,411 In April of 1861, when he was about 20 years old, 925 00:40:48,446 --> 00:40:50,586 the Civil War erupted. 926 00:40:50,620 --> 00:40:53,899 Roughly 19 months later with the outcome 927 00:40:53,934 --> 00:40:57,903 still very much in doubt the union finally began 928 00:40:57,938 --> 00:41:01,666 recruiting African Americans into the Army. 929 00:41:03,702 --> 00:41:07,672 And Laurence's ancestor heeded the call. 930 00:41:08,431 --> 00:41:10,847 FISHBURNE: "27 USCT, Paul Sandridge. 931 00:41:10,882 --> 00:41:12,780 Private Company C. 932 00:41:12,815 --> 00:41:15,093 Where enlisted, Portsmouth. 933 00:41:15,127 --> 00:41:18,510 When, mustered in, January 19th, 1864. 934 00:41:18,545 --> 00:41:20,754 Where mustered in, Columbus. 935 00:41:20,788 --> 00:41:22,549 GATES: Your great-great-grandfather 936 00:41:22,583 --> 00:41:24,723 enlisted in the Union Army. 937 00:41:24,758 --> 00:41:26,553 FISHBURNE: And fought. GATES: And fought. 938 00:41:26,587 --> 00:41:27,588 FISHBURNE: God bless you. 939 00:41:27,623 --> 00:41:28,900 GATES: What's it like to know that? 940 00:41:28,934 --> 00:41:30,660 FISHBURNE: That's fantastic. 941 00:41:30,695 --> 00:41:33,767 GATES: 180,000 Black men joined 942 00:41:33,801 --> 00:41:36,183 the United States Colored Troops 943 00:41:36,217 --> 00:41:37,943 to fight for the freedom of all 944 00:41:37,978 --> 00:41:39,600 their unfree brothers and sisters. 945 00:41:39,635 --> 00:41:41,084 FISHBURNE: Right, my great-grandfather 946 00:41:41,119 --> 00:41:42,189 was one of them. 947 00:41:42,223 --> 00:41:43,535 GATES: That's right. FISHBURNE: Wow. 948 00:41:43,570 --> 00:41:44,674 GATES: How about that? 949 00:41:44,709 --> 00:41:48,506 FISHBURNE: That's amazing, that's really amazing. 950 00:41:49,886 --> 00:41:51,647 GATES: Paul would quickly be forced to prove 951 00:41:51,681 --> 00:41:54,512 his worth as a soldier. 952 00:41:54,546 --> 00:41:56,617 Just months after he enlisted, 953 00:41:56,652 --> 00:41:59,724 his regiment was sent south to join what 954 00:41:59,758 --> 00:42:03,037 became known as the Petersburg Campaign, 955 00:42:03,072 --> 00:42:06,869 a sprawling series of battles fought across 956 00:42:06,903 --> 00:42:09,734 southern Virginia. 957 00:42:09,768 --> 00:42:14,739 The campaign lasted for almost a year and caused 958 00:42:14,773 --> 00:42:18,570 more than 70,000 casualties. 959 00:42:18,605 --> 00:42:20,986 It was some of the most brutal combat 960 00:42:21,021 --> 00:42:23,713 of the entire war. 961 00:42:23,989 --> 00:42:25,266 FISHBURNE: Oh my goodness. 962 00:42:25,301 --> 00:42:26,889 GATES: So, Laurence, I want you to think about something, 963 00:42:26,923 --> 00:42:28,822 Paul's military service took it back 964 00:42:28,856 --> 00:42:30,582 to Virginia where he had been enslaved. 965 00:42:30,617 --> 00:42:31,790 FISHBURNE: Where he'd been enslaved? 966 00:42:31,825 --> 00:42:33,378 [laughing]. 967 00:42:33,412 --> 00:42:34,793 GATES: How about that? FISHBURNE: It's fantastic. 968 00:42:34,828 --> 00:42:36,001 GATES: The state in which he was born and 969 00:42:36,036 --> 00:42:38,210 enslaved until he was about 11 years old. 970 00:42:38,245 --> 00:42:39,418 FISHBURNE: Oh man. 971 00:42:39,453 --> 00:42:40,937 GATES: Yeah, what do you think that was like for him? 972 00:42:40,972 --> 00:42:41,973 FISHBURNE: He had skin in the game. 973 00:42:42,007 --> 00:42:43,181 GATES: Yeah. FISHBURNE: He was... 974 00:42:43,215 --> 00:42:44,562 GATES: And he's old enough to remember if he's 11. 975 00:42:44,596 --> 00:42:46,529 FISHBURNE: Yes, if he was 11, he remembers. 976 00:42:46,564 --> 00:42:47,565 GATES: Yeah. FISHBURNE: Yeah. 977 00:42:47,599 --> 00:42:49,014 So he was ready to give his life. 978 00:42:49,049 --> 00:42:50,188 GATES: Yeah. 979 00:42:50,222 --> 00:42:52,052 FISHBURNE: He was ready to stand up and take one 980 00:42:52,086 --> 00:42:53,329 and give one, yeah. 981 00:42:53,363 --> 00:42:55,780 GATES: Yeah, that took a nobility of soul. 982 00:42:55,814 --> 00:42:57,402 FISHBURNE: That's right, and, and you know, 983 00:42:57,436 --> 00:43:00,819 real self-sacrifice, like real act of service. 984 00:43:00,854 --> 00:43:02,614 GATES: Mm-hmm. FISHBURNE: You know? 985 00:43:02,649 --> 00:43:03,995 That's beautiful. 986 00:43:04,029 --> 00:43:05,134 GATES: It is. 987 00:43:05,168 --> 00:43:07,757 FISHBURNE: That's really beautiful, yeah. 988 00:43:08,033 --> 00:43:11,865 GATES: Paul would pay a heavy price for his convictions. 989 00:43:11,899 --> 00:43:16,145 On October 27th, 1864, he was shot through the 990 00:43:16,179 --> 00:43:20,528 ankle during a battle with Confederate troops. 991 00:43:20,563 --> 00:43:24,187 Four days later, he found himself in a hospital 992 00:43:24,222 --> 00:43:27,328 in Alexandria, Virginia. 993 00:43:27,363 --> 00:43:29,468 He'd remain there for months, 994 00:43:29,503 --> 00:43:34,266 likely in inconsiderable pain. 995 00:43:35,233 --> 00:43:38,961 But suffering did not dim Paul's spirit. 996 00:43:38,995 --> 00:43:42,171 To the contrary, we found his signature on 997 00:43:42,205 --> 00:43:47,038 a remarkable document, a petition protesting the 998 00:43:47,072 --> 00:43:50,904 way the Union was treating Black soldiers. 999 00:43:51,663 --> 00:43:53,700 Would you please read that transcribed section? 1000 00:43:53,734 --> 00:43:55,287 FISHBURNE: "We, the undersigned convalescence 1001 00:43:55,322 --> 00:43:57,980 of The Overture Hospital, learned that the government 1002 00:43:58,014 --> 00:44:00,810 has purchased ground to be exclusively 1003 00:44:00,845 --> 00:44:03,606 for the burial of soldiers of the United States Army, 1004 00:44:03,641 --> 00:44:06,367 and has also purchased ground to be used for the 1005 00:44:06,402 --> 00:44:09,681 burial of contrabands or freed men." 1006 00:44:09,716 --> 00:44:10,924 GATES: Mm-hmm. 1007 00:44:10,958 --> 00:44:12,132 FISHBURNE: "We are not contrabands, 1008 00:44:12,166 --> 00:44:14,444 but soldiers of the U.S. Army fighting side by side 1009 00:44:14,479 --> 00:44:17,413 with the White soldiers as American citizens. 1010 00:44:17,447 --> 00:44:20,727 We are now sharing equally the dangers and hardships 1011 00:44:20,761 --> 00:44:23,695 in this mighty contest and should share the same 1012 00:44:23,730 --> 00:44:26,111 privileges and rights of burial. 1013 00:44:26,491 --> 00:44:29,252 We ask that our bodies may find a resting place 1014 00:44:29,287 --> 00:44:32,117 in the ground designated for the burial of the brave 1015 00:44:32,152 --> 00:44:34,810 defenders of our country's flag. 1016 00:44:34,844 --> 00:44:37,675 Paul Sandridge." 1017 00:44:37,709 --> 00:44:39,193 GATES: What's it like to see that? 1018 00:44:39,228 --> 00:44:41,540 FISHBURNE: It's magnificent. 1019 00:44:41,575 --> 00:44:45,268 It's absolutely magnificent and very American. 1020 00:44:45,303 --> 00:44:47,754 GATES: Mm-hmm. FISHBURNE: Deeply American. 1021 00:44:47,788 --> 00:44:49,341 GATES: It is. 1022 00:44:49,376 --> 00:44:51,792 FISHBURNE: Yeah, that's what it is. 1023 00:44:51,827 --> 00:44:53,138 GATES: He put his life on the line. 1024 00:44:53,173 --> 00:44:54,277 FISHBURNE: Yes. 1025 00:44:54,312 --> 00:44:55,416 GATES: He went back to where he was enslaved. 1026 00:44:55,451 --> 00:44:56,521 FISHBURNE: That's right. 1027 00:44:56,555 --> 00:44:57,625 GATES: He didn't have to do that. 1028 00:44:57,660 --> 00:44:58,730 FISHBURNE: Didn't have to do that. 1029 00:44:58,765 --> 00:44:59,766 GATES: Volunteered to do that. 1030 00:44:59,800 --> 00:45:00,801 FISHBURNE: That's right. 1031 00:45:00,836 --> 00:45:02,113 GATES: And then when he susses out the fact 1032 00:45:02,147 --> 00:45:03,424 that there's this racial discrimination... 1033 00:45:03,459 --> 00:45:04,494 FISHBURNE: He's like, we're not... 1034 00:45:04,529 --> 00:45:05,495 GATES: ...Takes a stand. 1035 00:45:05,530 --> 00:45:06,773 FISHBURNE: ...Not standing for that. 1036 00:45:06,807 --> 00:45:08,498 GATES: And that's your great-great-grandfather. 1037 00:45:08,533 --> 00:45:11,709 FISHBURNE: That's incredible, that's incredible. 1038 00:45:11,743 --> 00:45:14,884 GATES: This story has a happy ending. 1039 00:45:14,919 --> 00:45:16,817 Paul's petition made its way to the 1040 00:45:16,852 --> 00:45:21,166 Quartermaster General of the United States Army 1041 00:45:21,201 --> 00:45:25,723 and led to real change as Black soldiers began to be 1042 00:45:25,757 --> 00:45:30,313 buried alongside their White comrades. 1043 00:45:31,107 --> 00:45:34,041 What's more, Paul survived his wound and 1044 00:45:34,076 --> 00:45:39,598 returned to Ohio where he married and started a family. 1045 00:45:41,255 --> 00:45:44,189 He would live to be 80 years old before 1046 00:45:44,224 --> 00:45:49,022 passing away on May 27th, 1921. 1047 00:45:50,575 --> 00:45:53,992 And his pension records suggests he worked almost 1048 00:45:54,027 --> 00:45:57,582 right up until the end of his life. 1049 00:45:58,928 --> 00:46:00,654 FISHBURNE: Until he was 80. GATES: Mm-hmm. 1050 00:46:00,688 --> 00:46:02,725 FISHBURNE: He kept trying... GATES: Yeah. 1051 00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:05,728 FISHBURNE: ...To be a man and, and be whole. 1052 00:46:05,763 --> 00:46:08,075 GATES: And to be productive. FISHBURNE: Right and useful. 1053 00:46:08,110 --> 00:46:12,252 GATES: Yeah. FISHBURNE: Wow, I love it. 1054 00:46:12,528 --> 00:46:14,150 With a, with a bum leg, right? 1055 00:46:14,185 --> 00:46:15,807 GATES: Yeah. FISHBURNE: With a bum ankle. 1056 00:46:15,842 --> 00:46:18,534 GATES: Mm-hmm. FISHBURNE: Amazing. 1057 00:46:19,880 --> 00:46:21,330 GATES: Believed in himself. FISHBURNE: Mm. 1058 00:46:21,364 --> 00:46:22,814 GATES: Believed in the future. FISHBURNE: Mm. 1059 00:46:22,849 --> 00:46:24,195 GATES: He would not capitulate... 1060 00:46:24,229 --> 00:46:25,334 FISHBURNE: Right. 1061 00:46:25,368 --> 00:46:29,476 GATES: ...To adversity. FISHBURNE: At 80 in 1921. 1062 00:46:29,510 --> 00:46:32,134 GATES: Yeah. FISHBURNE: 102 years ago. 1063 00:46:32,168 --> 00:46:33,514 GATES: Yep. 1064 00:46:33,549 --> 00:46:38,071 FISHBURNE: Damn, that's great, that's great. 1065 00:46:39,382 --> 00:46:40,590 Hmm, okay. 1066 00:46:40,625 --> 00:46:42,869 GATES: Please turn the page. 1067 00:46:42,903 --> 00:46:46,804 FISHBURNE: Hello. GATES: Look on your right. 1068 00:46:47,632 --> 00:46:50,911 FISHBURNE: No? You found his headstone? 1069 00:46:50,946 --> 00:46:53,396 GATES: Yes. FISHBURNE: What? 1070 00:46:53,431 --> 00:46:54,432 GATES: That is your 1071 00:46:54,466 --> 00:46:56,365 great-great-grandfather's headstone. 1072 00:46:56,399 --> 00:46:57,780 FISHBURNE: In Ohio or in Virginia? 1073 00:46:57,815 --> 00:47:02,164 GATES: Mm-hmm, in Dayton. FISHBURNE: Oh my gosh. 1074 00:47:02,198 --> 00:47:03,855 That's amazing. 1075 00:47:03,890 --> 00:47:07,825 GATES: He's buried in the lower Miami Cemetery in Dayton. 1076 00:47:07,859 --> 00:47:10,172 FISHBURNE: In Dayton, Ohio. GATES: Ohio. 1077 00:47:10,206 --> 00:47:12,622 FISHBURNE: Interesting. I'll have to go visit. 1078 00:47:12,657 --> 00:47:14,693 GATES: And on the left. FISHBURNE: Mm-hmm. 1079 00:47:14,728 --> 00:47:16,903 GATES: I don't know if you've ever been to the 1080 00:47:16,937 --> 00:47:19,560 African American Civil War Memorial in D.C. 1081 00:47:19,595 --> 00:47:21,217 FISHBURNE: I have not. 1082 00:47:21,252 --> 00:47:23,150 GATES: On the left is your great-great-grandfather 1083 00:47:23,185 --> 00:47:24,842 Paul Sandridge's name... 1084 00:47:24,876 --> 00:47:25,946 FISHBURNE: I see him right there in the center, 1085 00:47:25,981 --> 00:47:27,016 look at that. 1086 00:47:27,051 --> 00:47:30,054 GATES: ...Etched into the wall. 1087 00:47:30,537 --> 00:47:31,710 FISHBURNE: That's crazy. 1088 00:47:31,745 --> 00:47:36,888 GATES: Isn't that cool? FISHBURNE: That's, wow. 1089 00:47:36,923 --> 00:47:38,786 That's awesome. 1090 00:47:38,821 --> 00:47:40,650 GATES: What's it been like to learn Paul's story? 1091 00:47:40,685 --> 00:47:44,240 FISHBURNE: It's just, it's, it's pretty special. 1092 00:47:44,275 --> 00:47:45,828 It's very special. 1093 00:47:45,863 --> 00:47:50,039 I didn't expect any of this at all. 1094 00:47:50,074 --> 00:47:51,351 I know about these stories, 1095 00:47:51,385 --> 00:47:52,800 I've heard these stories, but I, 1096 00:47:52,835 --> 00:47:55,596 I didn't think that my, 1097 00:47:55,631 --> 00:47:57,909 I would be connected to one of them. 1098 00:47:57,944 --> 00:47:59,221 GATES: We didn't either. 1099 00:47:59,255 --> 00:48:00,463 FISHBURNE: I didn't think that you know... 1100 00:48:00,498 --> 00:48:01,775 GATES: We were just trying to find... 1101 00:48:01,809 --> 00:48:02,741 FISHBURNE: Yeah, we was trying to find Fishburne, right? 1102 00:48:02,776 --> 00:48:04,433 GATES: Yeah right. 1103 00:48:04,467 --> 00:48:05,883 [laughing]. 1104 00:48:05,917 --> 00:48:07,194 We tryin' to find the boy's daddy. 1105 00:48:07,229 --> 00:48:09,093 [laughing]. 1106 00:48:09,127 --> 00:48:13,407 The paper trail had now run out for Laurence and me. 1107 00:48:13,442 --> 00:48:14,684 That's yours. 1108 00:48:14,719 --> 00:48:15,927 FISHBURNE: Oh wow. 1109 00:48:15,962 --> 00:48:18,688 GATES: It was time for us to see our full family trees. 1110 00:48:18,723 --> 00:48:19,758 Wow. 1111 00:48:19,793 --> 00:48:22,451 MOORE: There you go. GATES: Look at this baby. 1112 00:48:23,003 --> 00:48:24,694 FISHBURNE: Oh man. 1113 00:48:24,729 --> 00:48:26,489 GATES: This is your family tree brother. 1114 00:48:26,524 --> 00:48:30,942 Now filled with ancestors whose names we had long 1115 00:48:30,977 --> 00:48:33,841 hoped to learn. 1116 00:48:33,876 --> 00:48:37,362 For each of us, it was a profound sight. 1117 00:48:37,811 --> 00:48:40,296 This is so deeply moving, I mean, 1118 00:48:40,331 --> 00:48:41,919 stunningly powerful. 1119 00:48:41,953 --> 00:48:43,506 You're related to all these people, 1120 00:48:43,541 --> 00:48:44,852 what's that mean to you? 1121 00:48:44,887 --> 00:48:46,958 FISHBURNE: It means everything, man. 1122 00:48:46,993 --> 00:48:48,546 It means everything. 1123 00:48:48,580 --> 00:48:51,514 It means I have a history where before, 1124 00:48:51,549 --> 00:48:54,621 just when I walked in here today, I didn't. 1125 00:48:58,073 --> 00:48:59,937 GATES: My time with Laurence had come to 1126 00:48:59,971 --> 00:49:03,941 an end, but his journey was not yet over. 1127 00:49:04,631 --> 00:49:08,842 He was soon on his way to Los Angeles to meet 1128 00:49:08,876 --> 00:49:12,639 two brand-new members of his family. 1129 00:49:12,673 --> 00:49:14,641 FISHBURNE: Oh my God. 1130 00:49:14,675 --> 00:49:19,646 GATES: His half-siblings, Lisa and William Bohannan, 1131 00:49:19,680 --> 00:49:22,994 the younger children of his biological father. 1132 00:49:23,512 --> 00:49:25,169 LISA: This is when he was at his happiest. 1133 00:49:25,203 --> 00:49:26,998 WILLIAM: The whole, you know, thing with 1134 00:49:27,033 --> 00:49:29,276 the records and DJing, that was his thing. 1135 00:49:29,311 --> 00:49:32,003 LISA: It was, we would wake up before Saturday 1136 00:49:32,038 --> 00:49:34,350 morning cartoons to jazz playing in the house. 1137 00:49:34,385 --> 00:49:35,973 WILLIAM: Right, right, exactly. 1138 00:49:36,007 --> 00:49:37,940 Wow, handsome devil. 1139 00:49:37,975 --> 00:49:41,254 GATES: For all three it was a magical moment. 1140 00:49:41,288 --> 00:49:43,325 FISHBURNE: This is grandma? LISA: This is Dad. 1141 00:49:43,359 --> 00:49:45,534 GATES: A chance to forge bonds. 1142 00:49:45,568 --> 00:49:49,331 FISHBURNE: See. GATES: Share stories. 1143 00:49:49,365 --> 00:49:53,266 And celebrate the man who tied them together. 1144 00:49:53,300 --> 00:49:54,612 FISHBURNE: I love this. LISA: Yeah. 1145 00:49:54,646 --> 00:49:56,614 FISHBURNE: I absolutely love this. 1146 00:49:56,648 --> 00:49:58,167 Hey. 1147 00:49:58,202 --> 00:49:59,582 LISA: Family. 1148 00:49:59,617 --> 00:50:02,378 [camera shuttering] 1149 00:50:02,965 --> 00:50:06,658 GATES: Just like Laurence, I too had a magical moment 1150 00:50:06,693 --> 00:50:08,453 awaiting me. 1151 00:50:08,488 --> 00:50:11,249 The day after my meeting with CeCe, 1152 00:50:11,284 --> 00:50:13,182 I went to a family reunion. 1153 00:50:13,217 --> 00:50:14,494 Good afternoon, everyone. 1154 00:50:14,528 --> 00:50:16,082 And told everyone what I'd learned... 1155 00:50:16,116 --> 00:50:19,085 ...Jane Gates, so the family story was passed down that 1156 00:50:19,119 --> 00:50:20,776 we were Brady's. 1157 00:50:20,810 --> 00:50:23,503 We were Brady's, property of the Brady's, 1158 00:50:23,537 --> 00:50:27,955 Samuel Dunlap Brady purchased Jane, Henry and Edward 1159 00:50:27,990 --> 00:50:30,958 on April 28th, 1860. 1160 00:50:30,993 --> 00:50:34,307 That's where the myth of the Brady family came in. 1161 00:50:34,341 --> 00:50:35,791 Isn't that incredible? 1162 00:50:35,825 --> 00:50:38,621 So all you Gates', you can have your 1163 00:50:38,656 --> 00:50:39,933 driver's license changed, 1164 00:50:39,967 --> 00:50:41,555 we have a special fee for that, 1165 00:50:41,590 --> 00:50:46,767 your birth certificates, your new surname is Kelley. 1166 00:50:47,492 --> 00:50:49,046 Isn't that amazing? 1167 00:50:49,080 --> 00:50:51,082 People were so close in the story... 1168 00:50:51,117 --> 00:50:53,981 The room was filled with my closest relatives, 1169 00:50:54,016 --> 00:50:57,606 my older daughter and granddaughter, my brother, 1170 00:50:57,640 --> 00:51:03,715 my nieces and nephews, and dozens of my beloved cousins. 1171 00:51:03,750 --> 00:51:07,305 Each of us, a direct descendant of 1172 00:51:07,340 --> 00:51:10,170 one incredible woman. 1173 00:51:10,205 --> 00:51:14,209 So now we have a continuous paper trail 1174 00:51:14,243 --> 00:51:20,318 for Jane Gates going back between 1830 and 1175 00:51:20,353 --> 00:51:24,978 her death on the 6th of January, 1888. 1176 00:51:25,254 --> 00:51:27,705 We know that she was owned by three different 1177 00:51:27,739 --> 00:51:30,880 White families, started with the Stovers, 1178 00:51:30,915 --> 00:51:33,607 then the Stotlers, and then the Bradys 1179 00:51:33,642 --> 00:51:38,785 between 1830 at least, and her freedom in 1862. 1180 00:51:39,475 --> 00:51:42,685 And that is the wizardry of CeCe Moore. 1181 00:51:42,720 --> 00:51:44,998 Please give it up. 1182 00:51:45,032 --> 00:51:47,863 It's hard even to be, begin to imagine what 1183 00:51:47,897 --> 00:51:51,798 Jane would've thought of all of this. 1184 00:51:51,832 --> 00:51:54,456 But my guess is that she would've been proud to 1185 00:51:54,490 --> 00:51:58,908 see that her legacy had proved to be so large 1186 00:51:58,943 --> 00:52:01,394 and so joyous. 1187 00:52:01,428 --> 00:52:05,156 That's the end for now of my search for 1188 00:52:05,191 --> 00:52:08,332 Laurence Fishburne's family and my own. 1189 00:52:09,643 --> 00:52:13,060 Please join me next time when we unlock the secrets 1190 00:52:13,095 --> 00:52:18,273 of the past for new guests on another episode of 1191 00:52:18,307 --> 00:52:20,344 "Finding Your Roots."