Coming up,
on Genealogy Roadshow, our genealogists have
searched the country for answers to
hundreds of families' questions about their past. (woman)
I have a real-mystery that I have not been
able to solve. (woman #2)
I'd love to be able
to answer the question, "Oh, what are you?" (man)
I do wonder where
my relatives have come from. My name is Evelynn Johnson. My name is
Andrew Sentilles. I'm Gail Lukasik. My name's
Ron Ramey. My name is Charissa Joy Los. (Evelynn)
Most families have
an interesting story to tell about their ancestors. (announcer)
The stories we have uncovered have been truly amazing. Without your ancestor,
Texas might not exist today. This is very
validating. It's astonishing. It's amazing. I'm just blown away
by all the details. (announcer)
We have connected them to
famous people in history. (man)
Benjamin Franklin. (woman)
George Washington. (man)
Abraham Lincoln. (woman)
Laura Ingalls Wilder. Wow. (woman)
How does that make
you feel, Caroline? Like, really excited. (announcer)
We have investigated
many family mysteries. (Ron)
All families have secrets, and you just have no idea
how deep those secrets go. (man)
My mother never
knew her mother. (Charissa)
I was adopted at two-days-old. I need to know
where I come from. You had an uncle. Yeah. I'll be darned. Oh, my God. (announcer)
We have revealed scandals. One of his sons was
dragged out of the house and beaten by the KKK. Wow. My great-uncle's
tombstone reads "He was murdered and robbed." I'd like to know more about
the people who murdered him. (announcer)
And, we have discovered the journey of our ancestors. So, James, this is
what makes you James. (James)
That is pretty cool, man. I never-- I never smiled
harder in my life. Just mean a lot. (announcer)
And learned how we got here. Your fourth great-grandfather
actually helped to save the city
of New Orleans. No wonder you have such a
connection to this city. That's why I
like it so much. (laughter) Welcome to
"Genealogy Roadshow." Welcome to
"Genealogy Roadshow." Welcome to
"Genealogy Roadshow." (announcer)
Welcome to "Genealogy Roadshow." ♪♪ Today, we're looking back at
some of our greatest stories. Researching these claims are
our expert team of genealogists. My name's Kenyatta Berry. My name is
Joshua Taylor. My name is Mary Tedesco. (announcer)
The journeys our ancestors
have taken in our past are what makes us
who we are today. And sharing those journeys
has been remarkable. So, in doing our research,
we were able to find that you are not
necessarily related to one person on
the Mayflower, but you're actually
related to four... (chuckles) ...people on the Mayflower. (Mary)
The first person
I really wanna talk about is your grandmother. We were able to actually
locate her birth record that was in 1870 in Ireland. (Colleen gasps) (woman)
Oh, wow. Oh, wow. There she is, and that
lists her dad's name, Timothy Hanebury, and Mary Hanebury,
your great-grandparents. (ladies)
Wow. This is more than
we've ever known. It's so wonderful
to hear that. We do have the certificate
of arrival for Julius. And, if you look here. (gasps) I know. Oh, my God! No way! That's your great-grandfather. Oh, my God.
(laughing) (announcer)
St. Louis, Missouri
brought us one love story that started on a journey
from Italy to America. Was it an
arranged marriage? Or love at first sight? (Mary)
Hey, Em, and welcome
to "Genealogy Roadshow." Thank you. We're so pleased to
have you here today. I'm excited to be here! So, tell us, what brings you
to "Genealogy Roadshow?" The legend goes that
my great-grandmother as a young Italian woman
was sent for by mail. Okay. And was a mail-order bride. She came here to marry
the cowboy from Wyoming. Right. So, let's talk about
who this is. This is your
great-grandmother. Isabella Rizzo. Isabella Rizzo. And, who is this? Eugene Piro. Eugene Piro. My great-grandfather, yeah. So, you came to us
with the information that Isabella was from
Sorbo San Besile, which is in the province
of Catanzaro, Calabria. Okay. It's a small town. So, let's take a look
at her journey to America. This is the passenger manifest
from the S.S. Berlin that sailed from
Naples to New York in 1912. You can see "Reet-zo,"
or Rizzo, Carmina Isabella. Hey, wow. Okay, so, never forget page two of the
passenger list. 'Cause look what we
find on page two. Her destination is her
brother Giuseppe in Denver. Yeah, that was one of my
questions-- it's like, was she just, like,
sent for out of the blue? So, she had a brother
that was already here. She had a brother, Giuseppe,
already in Denver. Ahh. And if we scroll back
for a moment, you'll see that it
designates that her brother paid for her passage... Okay. ...to America. Never forget page two. (laughs) So, Giuseppe, her brother,
came to America in 1906. We went back and found
the passenger manifest for his voyage to America
aboard the S.S. Prinz Oscar. And, he was traveling
to see his uncle. Did you know you had... No! ...somebody else? There was another one here? Geez! An uncle named Salvatore Granato,
already in Denver. An uncle, and you
knew nothing about her. I had no idea. I thought she just came
here blindly on her own. She had more than a
brother here, she had
a whole family here. A whole family here,
possibly more than in Sorbo San Basile. Really? So, we want to get as close
to the source as possible Yeah. when we're dealing
with family stories. And so, it's important to talk
to family members as well. And we did. When I take into
consideration all the data
that we've gathered, this is the picture
that emerges. Isabella was supposed to marry
somebody else in Denver. So, that is true. And this guy
was gonna pay for her passage
to America. Right. But, she shows
up at the station, and who is there
to pick her up? Eugene Piro. Really? Yes. Your great-grandfather,
Eugene Piro. So then, when she
got to Giuseppe's home, she was informed that
somebody else had paid her passage if she agreed
to marry them. So, what happened,
was the guy probably gave
Giuseppe the money, he paid for the passage. Gotcha. She came over. Giuseppe was like,
"I wanna introduce you to this guy." And being the good
Calabrian woman that she is, she goes, "I don't
wanna marry him." (laughs) Dang, she had
her sights out! Exactly. And then, within a short
amount of time, she married Eugene Piro. The man who picked
her up at the-- Shoot, watch out! The man who picked her up, and she obviously
fell in love, Yeah! and they wanted
to get married. Now, my speculation
is that "cowboy" was an Italian
nickname of some kind, because Denver is the West. Yeah. So, "cowboy" just could have
been her phrase for, like, the American over there. Exactly. Like, "Oh, those
cowboys in Denver." And, that's what
we speculate the word "cowboy"
may have made its way into the story. So, you should be
just so proud of your wonderful roots, cowboy or not cowboy. Yeah! So, thank you so much for
coming on "Genealogy Roadshow." Thank you,
thank you so much! It's been a pleasure. Thank you, Mary. (announcer)
In Detroit, Michigan, Charissa Joy found out
that her ancestors were part of a bigger
African-American migration to the North. Hi, Charissa,
it's nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. You have some folks
with you today. Yeah. Can you please
introduce them to us? Yes, I have my
birth parents. Okay. Jessica and Tyrone. Okay, nice to meet you. And then, I have my parents,
Scott and Wendy. Nice to meet you guys. Nice to meet you. Let's try to fill in
those missing pieces? Okay? Cool, I'm ready. We're gonna focus on
your dad's family. When you're starting to do
African-American research, you start with the
census records, and you kinda work
your way backwards. So, in doing your research, we did find your dad's
surname of Ingram, in 1880. Wow. This is what is known
as a federal census. Okay. We did find your ancestor
Andrew Ingram in Hancock County, Georgia. And you can see his wife Mary
and all of their children. And so, we went back
further and we said, "Let's go to 1860." Okay. And, unless you were a free
African-American at that time, you were not enumerated
by name on the census. So, what I'm gonna bring
up is what's known as an 1860
Slave Schedule. What it actually lists
are the ages, sex, and the race of slaves in the household
of Thomas Dudley. Okay. We were able to
find a gentleman, listed here, who is around
the same age as Andrew. Yep. We believe that
your ancestor, Andrew Ingram, was part
of the plantation workers enslaved at Thomas' plantation
in Hancock, Georgia. Okay. Okay? Let's follow your
family forward. We do see them
on the 1900 census. And you see he's a farmer,
but he's renting that farm. And so, we know in 1900
that your Ingram family were staying pretty
close together-- probably all working
the farm together as well. Okay. So, I wanna talk a
little bit about the Great Migration.
Are you familiar with that? Okay, that's a
point in history between about 1910 and 1920 when six million
African-Americans left the South for better
opportunities up North. In Detroit,
there were opportunities with the motor companies,
right? Yep. This is Motor City. Henry Ford paying the
five dollars a day helped establish the
African-American middle class. Detroit's African-American
population actually in 1910 was 5,000. By 1920,
it was 40,000. Wow. We're gonna take a
look at John Ingram, who makes that journey. In the 1930 census,
we find John Ingram living in Detroit. His son--
your great-grandfather-- Ike, or Isaac, was a laborer
at an auto factory. So, he was part of
that Great Migration. That was truly remarkable
in having an impact on Detroit as well. So, birth dad,
how do you feel about uncovering
this information about your family history? Just very excited,
it's a gap that we've been trying to
fill for a number of years. And I got cousins here
that's in the audience that's really wanted
to know this, so... Okay. We finally got this tree wrapped up, and we're
really thankful for it. Yeah, I can finish my tree,
it was kind of, like, really side heavy on one side. Right. And then just like a little
twig on the other side. Right, right. So, now, I can,
like, finish it. Manifest Destiny says
"Go West, young man." In our case, it's go Midwest. Right. So, our families came here
for a better opportunity. I'm so happy you
came here today, and I really
appreciate you allowing us to share
your story. Thank you for finding it. Thank you. (applause) (announcer)
Murder, scandal, lies, and cover-ups
are the perfect recipe for a blockbuster
motion picture, or maybe your
own genealogy. San Francisco's Cecilia Chen
came to the roadshow wanting to know about
her possible connection to a notorious Chinese gangster. When you uncover a story like
the question that you asked... (laughs) ...it keeps you up at night. This guy is a gangster. As a gangster, you're going
to hide from records. In 1931, a San Francisco
police officer wrote of a gangster,
Big Jim Chin. Big Jim returns
to defy avengers. Big Jim was thought to be the
one who perpetrated the murder, and so, he fled. After that, I will be
completely honest with you. The trail runs cold. It's incredible. (announcer)
New Orleans, Louisiana
brought us Graham McDougall, who wanted to find out the
mystery that surrounded one key figure in
his family's past. Now, the colorful life
of Charles Montaldo comes to an end in 1910. We find this article in
"The Daily Picayune" here in New Orleans. "Soldier of fortune succumbs
after long regarded dead." So, it may have
been a surprise to some members
of the family if they had regarded him
as dead for that many years. Which I assume
they would have. (announcer)
In Nashville,
it was a massive cover-up and political scandal
that brought Marguerita Page to the show. (Marguerita)
Growing up, I heard a story that we were
somehow related to one of the governors
of Tennessee. So, it was sort of a mystery. Mm-hmm? Until we uncovered
a document that-- I will tell you,
I did a double take. This is<i> the</i> document. All right. If I could pick a document to
frame on my wall and look at, it would be this. Oh, man! All right. So, the letter says,
"I didn't know "until recently
that Albert Roberts was Former Governor
Austin Peay's son." Oh, man, that is
absolutely amazing. (announcer)
Was it an affair
or something much worse that ended the life of this
woman's great-great-grandfather? (woman)
My great-great-grandfather,
Clinton Augustus Edson. Did he have the affair,
or was it a disgruntled worker? Okay, to possibly dispute
the affair situation, Mm-hmm? Clinton, at the time
of his death is 52. Mm-hmm? While the man
who killed him, Charles Becker
and his wife... are both 70. Oh! Older woman? I don't know. Maybe, I don't know. I don't know. Mrs. Robinson, right? Maybe, it could be. But, we do know that... Wow. ...part of the story
that you heard around the disgruntled
worker is actually correct. Oh! Your great-grandfather
Clinton did not pay
Charles Becker. Charles stated that Clinton
owed him $800. Mm-hmm. Which is a lot of money in the late 1870s. Your great-grandfather
continually promised to pay his debts,
and he didn't. Uh-oh. Now, Becker files a lawsuit against Clinton, and he actually
lost the lawsuit. So, he takes matters
into his own hands. Mm-hmm? He goes to see Clinton,
your great-grandfather. And, apparently,
there's an altercation, and Charles Becker is
knocked to the ground. Oh! Okay. Okay? So, he comes back
a second time. (sighs) And, when he comes
back a second time, he brings a gun with him. He finds him walking
out of a saloon... Okay. ...after he just
purchased a cigar. He catches him
by surprise, but then is able
to fire off one shot, which hits him in
his left breast. He starts fleeing. Oh, wow, okay. And he fires
three more shots, all of them hitting your
great-grandfather. Clinton then runs into
the local candy store, just two doors down, and he was
pronounced dead. Wow, wow. So, after, he calmly handed
over the gun... Mm-hmm? ...and confessed... Wow, okay. ...to the crime. They did have
a jury trial, and he is sentenced to San Quentin Prison. San Quentin? It was manslaughter
and eight years. Oh, okay.
Oh, wow. Well, I just kinda get
a kick out of it, how probably my
grandfather threw in, "Oh, he had an affair,"
you know? Probably just
to spice it up. Had to make it
more salacious, yeah. That was sorta, yeah, exactly. Well, I'm just blown away
by all the details, and that he didn't pay
the guy for three years! For three years. Are we gonna owe
this family $800? Are they gonna come
hunt us down? At the end of this show, there are gonna be
some people outside you need to talk to. Get your checkbook. So, we're done
researching it. Think so. Thank you. I'm so glad that you
and your family came here today to
"Genealogy Roadshow." This is great, thank you. (applause) (announcer)
A century-year-old cold case is what brought down
New Orleans native Patricia Parrish
to the roadshow. What our genealogists
found out gave her the clue she's been desperate
to find for decades. My great-uncle's
tombstone reads, "He was murdered
and robbed." Now, we actually have a
photograph of that tombstone. And, if I were walking
through a cemetery, and I saw this, I would
stop and do a double take. I have searched diligently, and I'd like to know
more about the people who murdered him. Let's dive into
our cold case. Let's see if we can find
more about this murder. You know, newspapers
are the number one source for things like this, because anything sensational
that happens in an area, we absolutely want to
head to the newspapers. Right. So, this is a newspaper published in Scott County,
Mississippi, on January 3rd, 1906. It tells us that
the body was found by a Mr. James Sullivan. Now, looking at a newspaper
on January 17th, 1906, at this point,
they have a suspect. Oh, my goodness. This man named
Henry "Ran" Walk was attending a
Christmas Eve wedding. Your great-uncle Neal Sessions
was also there. They're seen together
at the wedding and after. At about 8:00 P.M.,
people actually claim that they heard a notice
of distress. This man named
Henry "Ran" Walk came home, and he's
described in the article as being dirty, muddy,
and intoxicated. They actually believe
he's the suspect because... he's fled the scene. Oh, my goodness. According to
the newspapers, his younger brother
helps him escape. And, when we
look at a map of the railroad system
in the area, we can see here
where they believe Ran Walk hopped
the train. The article said that
they think that he boards an Alabama and
Vicksburg train near either Rankin
or Brandon, which is the next
town from Forest. Now, where did he go? No one knows
for sure. But, let's recap
what we do know. We now have a suspect,
Henry "Ran" Walk. We know he has a
younger brother. And we know that they
were all at a wedding on Christmas Eve, 1905. So, it was probably
a neighborhood wedding. Yes. Now, according to a lot
of the newspapers, your great-uncle,
Neal Sessions, was flashing around $100 which they suspect could
have been the motive. The murder occurs
some time before 8:00 P.M. Ran Walk comes home,
he's very disheveled. And his younger brother
helps him board a train, and he escapes. Do you remember
James Sullivan? Yes, the man who
found him, right. He discovered the body. Looking at this census,
there's James Sullivan. He's living right
next to a Westerfield. Yes. So, we now know the
wedding they were at, the person who discovered
the body. We have the victim,
your great-uncle, and we have the murder suspect,
all in that same area. So, all of the characters
of the play... That's right. ...are in place. They're right there. Now, on February 28th, 1906, we learn that
the grand jury has indicted Ran Walk for the
murder of Neal Sessions. Now, remember earlier,
Ran Walk hopped the train, but no one knew
where he went. But, according to the
article, he has escaped to Texas, they believe--
they can't find him. And, the one
tantalizing clue, and sort of the final piece
of the puzzle that we have, is the 1910 census
of the Walk family. Here, we see
R.R. Walk and Maud, the murder suspect's parents. And there is
that son, Willy. That's the younger brother
who helped Ran escape. Looking over at the
column, Maud now says... She has four children and only one
surviving. One surviving. So, was that a story
Maud just told to cover up,
or was Ran dead by then? That's the mystery. Did she lie to
the enumerator... Right. ...to protect her son? Right. Because she knew that he
was an indicted criminal? And so, that's where we
leave the cold case. I know you came
here today, you know,
wanting to solve this. Yes. I think we got pretty close. We did. A lot of questions
that my family had have been answered
with these. I appreciate it. You're welcome. (announcer)
Some of our guests come
to the show wanting to know if they are related to
someone famous, or even infamous. (Kenyatta)
I'd like to let you
know you're related to Sam Houston. How cool is that? And you are related to the
current governor of Texas, Rick Perry. Really? Yes, I know you're
surprised about that. I'm stunned by that. I heard that you dress up
as Davy Crockett. I sure do, I do
reenactments twice a year. (laughter) That's proof enough for me. (laughter continues) There is a very high
probability this is the right line, and you're related
to Davy Crockett. Excellent, that's what
I was wanting to hear. All right. (laughing) Congratulations. You are
related! Yes! I knew it. You are related to statesman
Edward Everett. (Joshua)
You are, I'm very happy to say, Benjamin Franklin's
first cousin, ten times removed. Wow! (audience laughing) How many of us can
walk around saying "That's my first cousin. "Ten times removed... Right. but that's my
first cousin!" Yeah! (applause) (announcer)
Monica Donley caught up
to us in the Motor City wanting to know if
she could be a descendant of famous explorer
Ponce de León. He told me that
we are related-- we, my family is related
to Juan Ponce de León, which was the first
governor of Puerto Rico. Mm-hmm. And then,
named Florida? Right? (man)
Yeah, he came up
with the name Florida. So, I'm like, "Wow,
I didn't know any of that." I got really excited because
I wanted to tell my family. And he's, like,
"No, no, no." "Wait, because I made the
connection on the internet, "but we cannot say that
you are related, but it
looks pretty close." So, you came to the
"Genealogy Roadshow"
wanting to know the truth behind what the
internet said. Yes, mm-hmm. Now, to trace this, sort of from
a family history standpoint, this is where it gets
a little difficult. He was nobility in Spain, though access to those
records is very difficult. Those that have
actually survived are in Spain's Ministry
of Cultural Archives. And, it's a long
application process to actually obtain permission
to view the records. Uh-huh? Then, you have to hope that they've survived,
that the fragments that are there, you can
read what's been written, and you can put the
family together. So, it's very
difficult work. Here's what we know. So, we know that he
had five children. Mm-hmm? It's a bit of a needle
in a haystack-- three daughters
and two sons. Now, one of
the sons was a cleric, so we don't believe there
was any descendants off of that line. Right, right. He did have his
eldest daughter who had a son
born about 1529. So, we know there's a
grandson out there. And, here's actually where
it gets really interesting, and this is why I love doing
Spanish genealogy. Because, in Northern European
and Western European genealogy-- Kevin, you probably
know this-- you lose the maiden
names everywhere. Right, oh,
tell me about it. I mean, once-- once you
get married, it's just gone. Right. And we spend hours and hours and years trying to track
down what those names were. Yeah. So, it actually makes Spanish genealogy
somewhat easier, because you--
they keep that name. Mm-hmm. So, in this case,
we can look at some of the early descendants
that we can trace of the famous explorer. And you'll notice that some
of them carry the surname, following that tradition. Here's where the tree
gets interesting, right? We know the grandson was
living in Puerto Rico. Now, we were able to
actually trace the family, which stayed in Puerto Rico
for three generations. Some of the family
did make their way to a town called
Puebla, Mexico. And the interesting
thing about that town is it actually was founded
as a destination for Spanish settlers. So, it makes a lot of sense
that the descendants and the relatives... Right. ...of the famous explorer
Ponce de León would find their
way into that town. We know that they were there. And at some point,
they take a trek to a town
1,300 miles away. Chihuahua? Ah, that's right! And that's where you're from. Yeah. You have a long
family tree there. So, at this point, we know
that we have known descendants of the famous explorer
Ponce de León... Right. ...in the same town
where you have family. Yes! So, now it comes to literally
looking in your tree to see if we can
find any connection. Right. So, let's look at your tree. There you are, and we can
go back one generation. We keep going back,
and back, and back. Right. And so, these families are all in that
same area. We get to a point where
we hit the surname. Oh, look at that! (laughs) And we go back,
and we go back, and there he is. I can confirm,
you are, in fact, the 15th great-granddaughter of the seeker of the
Fountain of Youth. Yay! Yay, that's great! (applause) (announcer)
Evelynn Johnson of
St. Louis, Missouri wanted to know if the apple
fell far from her musical tree, when she asked whether
she had a connection to a famous
local jazz composer. Hi, Evelynn. Hello. Who did you bring
with you today? I brought my uncle,
Ralph Roberts. Hi, Ralph. And my mother, Lori Stavis. Hi. So, with your question about
your great-grandfather, Daddy "Buggs" Roberts, as you guys called him. Yes, yes. You wanted to know if that was
the same famous Buggs Roberts, arranger and composer. Yes. So, let's take a look and
learn a little bit more about Buggs Roberts... Okay. ...to see if we can
make that connection. Okay. Like many musicians,
you know, Buggs Roberts was drawn to St. Louis
because it was a hot bed. And we know he came here
when he was around 22. He first arrived
in St. Louis in 1937. And then, he landed a job
as a composer and arranger for the Jeter-Pillars
Orchestra. Wow! The band played all
of the top spots... Okay. ...in St. Louis. Over the years,
he also arranged songs for many world famous
musicians, including Benny Goodman
and Louis Jordan. But, you didn't come
here for a jazz lesson. I know you came to find out
if your Daddy Buggs is indeed the
Buggs Roberts, arranger and composer. Yes. Now, when doing
genealogy research, we tend to look for,
obviously, someone's given
birth name and surname. But, as you know,
with musicians, they use nicknames
and pseudonyms. Okay. And so, when looking for Buggs Roberts,
came up short. (gasps) There was nothing with the
name Buggs Roberts on it. So, then, I thought,
Buggs was famous in St. Louis
as a musician. Let's go to some
newspapers. Okay. We were able to
find an article that was published
in January, 1951. Now, this article
gives us a name, and it's truly
sort of the start of an obit for Buggs,
if you take a look here. And it says
Leroy Buggs Roberts. Oh, okay! Ohh! So, now we go from just Buggs Roberts
to Leroy Buggs Roberts. We searched for Leroy
and names similar to Leroy with the last name Roberts. We were able to find
a death certificate... Ahh. ...for a LaVelle Roberts. (chuckling) That's where your
middle name comes from! Yeah! Where it comes from. So, your middle name
is LaVelle? Yeah! Okay! But, don't get
too excited. We still don't have proof
that they're the same person. Okay. Now, he was born on May 11th, 1915 in a little town called
Anniston, Alabama. Wow. He was the seventh child born to Augustus
and Viola Roberts. Okay. When he was about
four years old, his family actually
moved to Zanesville, Ohio. Okay. Oh, my goodness! Okay, in 1934,
while they're living in Zanesville, Ohio, Buggs joins his
first band. The Al Sears Band... Okay. ...in Cincinnati. Okay. Okay, Al Sears. Oh-oh! Al Sears Band. All right. So, now that we have
an idea of who he is, we've gone through
some information about his family members,
his childhood. Yeah. We need to see if we can answer that
question for you. Yes, yes. Is this famous Buggs Roberts of St. Louis... Yes. ...the same as your
great-grandfather, Daddy Buggs Roberts. So, let's look at
the second part of that article we have. Okay. One of the big
things it mentions is who his surviving
family is. Oh! Tell me if you
recognize a name. Do you all see-- Delores, your great-grandmother. Oh! (laughing) And actually,
all of these names are familiar to you
as your ancestors. Yes, yeah. And, just to confirm
what we've seen on the obituary,
that Daddy Buggs Roberts... Yes. ...is indeed the famous St. Louis arranger
and composer... I'm so excited. ...Buggs Roberts. I'm just tingling all over. Oh, well, thank you. I'll let you
have your moment. (laughs) Oh, my goodness. Take all of that in. Okay, okay. (sighs)
All right, I'm ready. Now, if you turn around,
we were able to find an article with a photo of
Buggs Roberts up there. (gasps) It's kind of grainy. But, if you can
see it right there in
the corner, that's him. Right here. Talking a little bit
about his accomplishments and who he played
with as well. Oh, look at it. Oh, wow! That's amazing. (laughing) It's just overwhelming
to me, it really is. This is the very first time I've ever seen
a picture of him. Oh, wow! Yes. Daddy Buggs died when
I was just a year old. (sighs) So, why are you so--
your mom is getting really emotional. This is overwhelming, really. This has been just
wonderful for me. It really has. I'm so happy, I'm so happy. Yes, I really
appreciate it. (announcer)
Sometimes, uncovering your past can be painful. But, it's the truths
and the connections to history that bring our guests
the most peace. My father died when
I was two years old. Okay. I don't know anything
about my father. We were able to
find a document related to your
father's death. He was dragged off
into the woods by the Nazis
and beaten, and that he died because of
the result of his injuries. Yes. So, we know, though,
following your father's death, your mom never remarried. No, she didn't. It must have been
a true love. Mm-hmm. We were able to find the
death record of an infant. Oh, no! Oh, no. Now... ...this baby unfortunately
passes away just a few months before... She dies? ...she dies. You'll never know what
this means to me. You'll never know. This story of your
ancestor's lynching received national attention. Okay. The "New York Herald"
ran coverage of it for 28 consecutive days. Wow. It became a national story. Okay. Your family is
part of history. Really? Something that was national that changed
African-American history and American history. Wow. (announcer)
In San Francisco, our genealogists tried to
make the connections between a family heirloom and this man's
Native American ancestor. You brought something. Yes, I have. What is this? This is a walking stick
that I spent my entire life believing was
Eliza Lindgren's. Literally, the day she died,
I asked my mom about it, and she told me it actually
belonged to Josephine Beach, who I am under the impression
is Eliza Lindgren's sister. Okay, so we have a family
heirloom in front of us. Absolutely. We're trying to figure out how close it
might be connected. Right. So, Josephine Beach and Eliza Lindgren are
both Native American. Yes. We know that Eliza Lindgren was the last medicine woman
of the Cher-Ae. Right. Now, the Wiyot massacre,
this is a horrible event. In late February of 1860, the Wiyots were celebrating
the sacred ceremony that lasted
seven to ten days. On one of the nights
of this ceremony, the young men
would leave and travel to get supplies for
the next day. After the men left, a group
of whites came to the island. They massacred
what is estimated between 80 and 100 women,
children, and the elders. Josephine Beach was
sailing in a canoe to attend the ceremony. The fog was fairly bad,
so she turned around with her son
and went home. Her family was not
as fortunate. At age 19,
Josephine, we believe, lost almost every member of
her family in that massacre. And to have that story verified as actually
happening is kind of-- it's upsetting. Now, looking for a connection between Josephine Beach
and Eliza. We do have a picture of her. We know they were from
two different tribes. It's not uncommon for
tribes to intermarry at some point,
for alliances, though we couldn't
find a connection through an intermarriage. In 1900,
we find Eliza on the Indian census. Okay. She's at the very top,
she's head of the household. Her daughter Dora is there. So, here's Eliza
in 1900. Let's go find
Josephine in 1900. Now, you notice she's not
on the Indian census. This is the general
population schedule. Oh, wow. And, what's very interesting, is this column right here
is the race column. Now, everyone else on the page,
and even in her household, all have the "W" for white. Okay. If you look
very carefully-- and this is where the detective
part of the job comes out-- this is where the
magnifying glass comes out-- it looks like there is
either an "I-N" or and "I-D" or something written
underneath, and a "W" written on top, like someone altered the
original enumeration, worrying that it might
look funny to have someone who is Native American
listed in a family where everyone else
was listed as white. Sometimes, records can
be altered and changed to fit with the times. We do know this is her
in the 1900 census. Okay. Moving forward in time,
Eliza's daughter, Dora, has married Fred Beach. Okay. Dora marries the son
of Josephine Beach. Oh! Okay. That's your ancestor's
walking stick. (sighs) Thank you. Wow. The fact that a survivor
of the massacre like that actually is an ancestor
of mine is profound. We have these items
we keep around our houses. Yeah. And we always say, "Oh, that's so-and-so,
that's so-and-so." But, this is your story. And it's just the fact
that, you know, the day my mom dies
is when she tells me that this is actually
Josephine's and not Eliza's. Yeah, this is a absolute
family heirloom. It has no intrinsic
value otherwise, but it means a
great deal to me. And I just--
it means more now. It's kind of a
profound thing. It's haunting. Thank you. You're very welcome. My mom would have
loved this. My mom would have
adored this opportunity, and I just wish that she
could have been here
to partake in it. Thank you for stopping by the
"Genealogy Roadshow" today. Appreciate it. Thanks. (applause) (announcer)
Gail Mullen came to us wanting to know about how
she received money from a mysterious woman. What she found out
was not only shocking, but truly life-changing. Welcome to
"Genealogy Roadshow." It's wonderful
to meet you. Thank you so much
for having me. I understand you're
here to unravel a bit of a family mystery. I am. Involving your grandmother. Yes. So, let's start with
Anna Hubbell, your grandmother. Okay. This is a passenger list from Vienna in 1937
that records the arrival of
your grandmother, who is married by now
to your grandfather, Robert Kriwer. Okay. Now, at one point,
your grandmother received money from a family that you were
told that they had helped escape Europe during
the Second World War. Yes. And that that money, your grandmother then gave
to you to buy a car. Now, who was this
person who became... Yeah. ...close enough
to your grandmother and your grandparents. I'd love to thank them! Well, I would like
to introduce you to... ...Edith Kriwer. This is the woman who
left money in her will to your grandmother. Oh my gosh. Look at her eyes,
they're beautiful. Were they siblings? Well, just because
it's the same surname, it doesn't always mean that
there's a relative. Okay. So, let's learn
more about Edith, and then figure out
their connection. What we do know
about Edith Kriwer is that she had
a brother, Albrecht Kriwer. Now, Edith and Albrecht
both naturalize within a day of
one another. So, they became
citizens of the U.S. very, sort of shortly
after one another. And it's from those documents
that we can actually trace how they arrived
in America. Now, this is a ship manifest,
this is March of 1940. And here, we see the
arrival of Albrecht Kriwer. He's 36 years old,
from Germany, and he is Hebrew. And, at this period in time,
the word "Hebrew" was used to mean Jewish. He is noted that the last
place that he lived is Vienna. Now, a few months later, Edith Kriwer is listed
on the passenger list. She's 38 and a clerk,
also Hebrew. Though, notice here-- this is a very interesting
moment in history-- it's written as
Vienna, Austria, and then it's crossed out, and Germany is
written on top. Hmm. That's because in 1938, Austria was
annexed to Germany. What an interesting
moment in history Yeah! to have captured
within a document. Wow, and there it is. Now, the passenger list
also can include a name of a relative
they've left overseas. And Edith is leaving behind
a sister, Serafine Kriwer. Mmm. Now, take a moment and
understand the context of which they left. When Austria was annexed
to Germany, within days,
Adolf Eichmann, who was the Second Lieutenant
in the SS, came to Austria, and he planned to
solve what he called "the Jewish problem." They were forcing the Jewish
community from their homes and from their homelands
at their own expense. Now, Albrecht and Edith were
helped by your grandparents... ...who likely helped to
secure them documentation so they could enter
the United States. Mm-hmm. The question is, what about
the sister, Serafine? We don't know why
she didn't leave. This is a 1942
travel report of a train transport. And it gives us details
that on October 5th, 1942, 549 Jewish citizens are
transported from Vienna to an extermination camp
just outside of Minsk. We know that
among those 549... was Serafine Kriwer. (sobbing) I know,
it's-- it's tough. (sniffling, sighing) Do you wanna know
more about the trip? Yes. Okay. We know the trip
took four days. The train arrived the
night of October 9th, 1942. Upon arrival, Serafine was
immediately executed. (sniffling)
Yeah. So, one of the questions is,
is your Kriwer family related to these
Kriwer siblings? Mm-hmm. Or were they simply being
good friends and good people, and helping out? We looked into
the Kriwer family to see what we could find about Edith, Albrecht,
and Serafine. Mmm. The individuals your
grandparents were helping were actually your
grandfather's cousins. Oh, my goodness. Wow. They were helping family. Wow. Sometimes, the things
we uncover in our past are not pleasant. They reflect a horrific
moment in our history. Does that help clear up
some of the confusion? It does, it does.
Thank you. You're very welcome. Thank you for
stopping by today and sharing your story
with us. Thank you so much
for having me. My life is
forever changed. Thank you. (announcer)
Sometimes, the hardest part of growing up is dealing with
family members we never knew. Stories like these
were brought to us from all over the nation. Retired football legend and
Austin, Texas native Earl Campbell
came to the roadshow in hopes to find out more about
the father he never knew. Your father died when you
were really very young, right? Yes, I was fifth grade. Your father fought
in World War II. Really? Yes. He was actually part of the
Black Army Air Corps, and this unit
participated in D-Day. Your father was a hero
on the battlefield. If I could look
my father in the eye, I would say a job
well done. (announcer)
While in St. Louis, it was Julie Bryar's mother's
side of her family that was shrouded in mystery. (Joshua)
Not only was your
mother an orphan, but your biological
grandmother was, too. Okay. Those were the children that
your grandmother knew, that she played with,
her friends, her schoolmates. Are you serious? (woman)
Oh, my God! (announcer)
Tim Dasenbrock
came to the roadshow in hopes of giving his
ailing mother some closure on the family she never knew. (Mary)
This divorce record shows us that in about 1921,
your mom, Barbara, took up with another man
called Rufus Eldridge Musgrave. That was-- that was
my father. She was stepping out
on her husband with your father! Yeah! (laughing) That's all right
with me. Okay! That's all right with me! I wouldn't have
been here otherwise. (laughter) (announcer)
A picture is said to be
worth a thousand words. But, it was two words
that unraveled a mystery that has gone unsolved
for dozens of years. And those two words
were "Uncle Fate." (Kenyatta)
The name Fate,
it's kinda interesting. I always wondered about that,
because it definitely seems to me that that's not
a name that somebody gives you. That sounds like a name you
would choose for yourself. Yourself, right. So, the first thing we did
was go to the 1900 census. You can see
Edwin Kennedy right there. Okay. And if you go down to a gentleman
named Lafayette Cox, who's African-American and
listed as a servant in the household. Okay. So, Fate-- it's actually a very common
nickname for Lafayette. Really? So, that led us to believe this is Lafayette Cox, who was a servant
in a household with Granville. Now, something else
interesting about this. We found that this picture,
as sweet as it is, touches not only you, but it also touches
another family. I would like to actually
introduce you to the second
great-granddaughter of Lafayette Cox. Really? Yes. (laughs) Birdy, please come out. (applause) Oh, my goodness! So, Birdy, this is the
first time you're seeing a photo of your
great-great-great grandfather, Lafayette Cox,
is that correct? It is. Well, I have to say, I see some family
resemblance. How do you feel
about the photo? It's endearing, and I like
that he's content. And the little boy is
very happy to be with him. I wanna tell you guys
a little bit more. Lafayette actually served in the first
Colored Heavy Artillery. So, he was part of the
United Stated Colored Troops in the Civil War. There's actually an
1890 military census, where Lafayette is
self-reporting where he served as a
Private in 1864 and 1865. And, Lafayette was
actually a farmer in the 1870s. One of the great things
that Lafayette did that really excites me, is he was a property
owner in 1891. Now, 1891, let's think about
this time period. Here, we have a man who
might have been a slave, who served in the
U.S. Colored Troops, and in 1891, he is owning
property in Knoxville. So, not only
was he a farmer, but he was a land owner. We took a look at
the 1906 city directory. This is the section for anyone
with the last name Cox. We can see that Lafayette
works for E. M. Kennedy. So, Edwin, I believe that's
your namesake, correct? Yeah, that's my
great-grandfather. Yeah. So, here, we can see
that connection, not only from that photo,
but also from the directory. One of the things I think is
so important about this story, is that Edwin could
have just said, "Oh, I already know
enough about my family." But, he wanted to understand
this person and their impact. And what you've
given to Birdy is the connection
to her history. You've provided
to her a photo of your second
great-grandfather. Mm-hmm, it's touching,
and I'm grateful. That makes me happy. I'm grateful that, one, someone kept these pictures,
and it meant that much. And then, you chose
to seek further. So, it gave me
new information, and more importantly,
my daughter more information about who she is. (Edwin)
It's interesting just to
start off with a picture, and then actually get some idea
of who he was as a person. And, it's clear he was
a remarkable person. And the fact that this has
been able to give you something and your family something, um... I'm so excited, I just
can't put it into words. I'm delighted,
I really am. (applause) (announcer)
James Taylor and his family came to us in St. Louis
knowing absolutely nothing about their family past. With the help of DNA
and some deep research, our genealogist made some
unbelievable connections. (Joshua)
Taylor family, welcome
to "Genealogy Roadshow." Thank you. Thank you. It is such a pleasure
to have you here. Glad to be here. I know you're here to learn a few things. Mm-hmm. I was so excited to meet you, and I was all over this story
from the very, very beginning. (laughter) So, in genealogy, as we're
doing some of the research, we start with exactly
what we know, which is what
you passed onto us. Mm-hmm. And then, we work towards the unknown and try
and fill in the mysteries. So, let's start
with Mom's side. Okay. We see you. Uh-huh? And we trace back
to your parents. And we'll look first
on the Cato family. Okay. Now, we know you've done
a little bit of work, and you'd found
Charlie and Jesse Cato. Mm-hmm. We were able to actually
go back a bit further using the census
records in 1880. Wow. So, this is
Toby and Anna Cato. Now, James, this is your
third great-grandparents. You see, Toby is a farmer, and his wife, Anna,
is keeping house, and they have
a slew of children. Oh, my goodness! Now, living right above your third great-grandfather
Toby Cato, is his father and mother,
Abraham and Harriet Cato. I'm discovering people
that I've never heard of and that I've always
wondered about. I wish I could
talk to them! (laughter) So, Dad, let's look at
your line a little. All right. Dass Whaley, your biological
great-grandfather, is from Arkansas. Uh-oh, Arkansas! He married a woman
named Chanch Leopold. And we were able to trace
the Leopold family back to William
and back to Simon Leopold. One thing to remember, because slaves were seen as
property before the Civil War, they're not typically
enumerated by name in census records. This can be a real
roadblock for many. In this case, we can use
DNA to get a view of your deep ancestry taking us back hundreds
and thousands of years. While there is that
large gap before 1870, hopefully, we can
fill in your story by looking at your DNA. So, we deal a lot
in genealogy with sort of the
current generations. Uh-huh? We think 300 years is really, really good,
if we can get back that far. Yeah. James, I know you're thinking
"thousands of years back," and DNA actually
helps us do that. So, we have your DNA profile. Aah! All right. You ready? Yeah. James, this is what
makes you James. Aw, man! (Mom)
Oh, my goodness. Dang, I got
Nigerian blood! Aw, man! Wow! So, you are
89% African. Ah! 86% from West Africa. (Mom)
Wow. 3% from
South Central Africa. Oh, my goodness. And you're 8% European. You said Mali,
and Mali's there. You know,
speaking of Mali, I hear you're interested in
the Mali Empire, right? Well, that map
actually places you... smack dab where the
Mali Empire was. Wow! Your ancestors come
from the Mali Empire. That's awesome! Well, I'll be danged. (laughs) That's what he wanted! I think that is
pretty cool, man. I never-- I never smiled harder
in my life, but this is-- (laughter) This is cool, this is cool. I'm just, like, so happy,
like, my brain can just jump out of my head and say,
"That's what I told you. That's where I told you
where you come from." Thank you for
letting me look at the Taylor family tree. (Mom)
It's been awesome. So exciting. Thank you, man. It was amazing. Yes, yes, yes. Thank you so much. We appreciate it very much. You're welcome. Thank you. Thank you. (announcer)
We look forward to uncovering your family histories. I'd like to know these people,
I'd like to meet them. They're part of my family. (announcer)
Solving your family mysteries. Are you sure you want
that to be your ancestor? (laughs) I have to ask. (announcer)
And sharing with you how your family made the
journey to this country. I bet they would
have been amazed. To imagine our families
would have kept getting brought back together again. All the way around the world. Right. The two of you were
obviously meant to be. (announcer)
Everyone has a story to tell. The words of your
third great-grandmother. Oh, you're kidding me! (announcer)
What's yours? Wow. Wow! (man)
Wow. (gasps) (announcer)
Who knows what stories lie ahead on "Genealogy Roadshow." ♪♪
