Lionel Richie tracks his great-grandfather from slavery to civil rights activist! | FULL EPISODE

50 and 15 right how could they do that in the first place was that legal it was at the time the common law was in effect and she could have been as young as 12. that's the law at the time older than 12. didn't change until 1899 about 10 years after that but that was not uncommon for Elder men to marry younger women I have a 12 year old daughter I this would be shotgun in hand today are you kidding me and evidently this is the things that that she says give her grounds for divorce yeah she said I'll let you read this oh with a successful music career spanning over four decades Oscar and Grammy winning singer and songwriter Lionel Richie has sold over 100 million albums worldwide Easy Like Sunday Morning Lionel has three children and lives in Los Angeles but was born in Tuskegee Alabama he was raised on the campus of the Tuskegee Institute a highly respected historically black University where both his mother and his grandmother were teachers the family home consisted of my grandmother my mom my father my sister I grew up knowing that everything was available impossible imagine during the Civil Rights movement every black guy I knew had access to a PhD or they were a lawyer it was not like growing up in the rural South and so we called Tuskegee the bubble and while we're afforded a lot of opportunity by living in that bubble there was another aspect of that our parents protected us from from everything they didn't tell us that that was segregation didn't tell us if the clan was coming to protest through the streets of Tuskegee our parents put us to bed early was I sheltered when I was growing up absolutely but the Commodores gave me that opportunity to kind of go out and see the real world because the blinders wore off and I was able to understand my mother and father in the community a lot better and I could appreciate them a lot more I didn't realize it but I was standing on the shoulders of giants people who struggled and overcame great obstacles to create the secure and nurturing environment in which I I was raised but I have no idea who the Giants in my family are who paved the way for my parents and ultimately for me so my goal right now in this part of my life is to find out the names and the faces and the places of those giants so that I can pass this information on to my kids so they can rise to the occasion I'm getting ready to leave town where are you going I think where I'm going to start out is Tuskegee with Auntie Deborah and we're going to find some interesting stuff on our ancestry okay guys be good bye-bye YouTube climb off to Tuskegee Alabama to meet up with my younger sister Deborah at our grandmother's house where we were raised [Music] Deb and I spent much of our youth for living with grandma Foster and while we heard many stories about her mother Belinda we have absolutely no idea who our grandmother's father was she never talked about him Deborah is The Keeper of the family photos and has been doing some research for me so I'm curious to see what she's been able to dig up here we go this should be quite interesting I got a lot to show you oh don't scare me now show me what you got yeah I got it do photos for you there wow wow you recognize that face it's uh Grandma's anime Potter got my foster there is Adelaide over there at age 100 at age 100 and she is probably here about what seven you know the thing I remember most growing up with her was if she didn't want to talk about it you don't talk about it you don't talk about it the original don't ask don't tell grandma Foster okay this is Grandma Foster's Social Security document I ordered it I haven't seen it yet so we're looking at it for the first time okay so oh my gosh look at that Adelaide and Brown father's name Louis Brown so this is my great grandfather that's certainly a revelation what do you think that's powerful right here I love it I can't believe it after all these years I finally know the name of Grandma Foster's father but I still don't know why she never talked about him so for Grandma to fill out that card she knew it was brown and she just didn't tell anybody don't ask don't tell me but here's the here's the kick she was born in Nashville Tennessee wow well my dear I'm going to take this with me thank you very much since I know the name of my grandmother's father I'm headed to her birthplace Nashville to try to find some Clues regarding the man she never talked about [Music] I'm meeting with the genealogist mark Lowe at the Nashville Public Library all right we have a Social Security application here my grandmother was born here in Nashville in 1893. I know my great-grandmother uh belindova but now father's name Lewis Brown how do we find more about him well with that information this is the marriage book for this time period gosh why don't we look for a marriage maybe two to three years before perfect your grandmother was born between Belinda bertosa right Lewis Brown 1991 under brown right [Applause] we have here George Brown nope not there in 1991 so let's back that to 1890. 90. all right let's move back well here we are Thomas Brown Towson here we are well philinder for right here this is the date the marriage was issued April 6 1890. is that it yes unbelievable JL so what was Jay well I have another document to show you what is this this is what's called a complaint uh Belinda Brown versus John Lewis brown right all right so now we've got that name down this is 1897 right very good been married seven seven years and he's a resident of Chattanooga Hamilton County Tennessee Chattanooga Tennessee which means he's not currently living in Nashville where the lindenberg is still living so this is basically a divorce yes wow so perhaps the complaint will tell us more about the circumstances they were married in Nashville Tennessee she was about 15 years old at the time of her marriage and the defendant was about 50 . wow 50 and 15 right how could they do that in the first place was that legal it was at the time the common law was in effect and she could have been as young as 12. that's the law at the time older than 12. didn't change until 1899 about 10 years after that but that was not uncommon for Alderman to marry younger women I have a 12 year old daughter I this would be shotgun in hand today are you kidding me and evidently this is the things that that she says give her grounds for divorce yeah she said uh I'll let you read this because of the difference in their ages she could not comply with his way of thinking until it reached the point where the complainant could no longer stand it therefore complainant praise that the matrimony be dissolved so there's one more document related to this divorce okay this one is called the final decree and this is from the judge correct all I can see here the date July 26 1897 and I am okay well basically the judge found that that she was abandoned for a period of more than two years and the divorce is granted wow wow and remember that based on those ages if he's 57 being born in in 1840. she would have been born in 1875 and that clearly are from Two Worlds absolutely we know verlindover was born free after emancipation but there's the possibility that that John Lewis that had been born as a slave we're free we don't know yet if he was a slave when he was born get a complete different mindset so probably there's some other records to get to that point to learn more about who John Lewis Brown was I love that thank you Mark well the age of difference might have had something to do with my great-grandparents divorce there's got to be more than this story what kind of man leaves his wife and child Lionel Richie is heading to the Metro archives in Nashville searching for information on his mysterious great-grandfather John Lewis Brown I know that my great-grandfather left his wife and child but now I want to find out why he would do such a thing so I'm meeting with historian Don Doyle I'm trying to find my grand great grandfather okay this is the city directory from 1885. but let's see if we can't find pages are as soft as butter around around J Lewis SGA Knights of wise men what is that sounds to me like some kind of a Fraternal Order some kind of an organization it does like the Masons or it would be a it would be a fraternity now you know what you've done you've only stoked my curiosity because if we can go back this far we got to go back some more we've got one more City Directory this is from 1880 1880. and so let's let's catch him just five years back a little bit earlier and see what we see now this one I'll let you not only falling apart it is apart yes so let me see if I can holy cow it is a part gone cure John L Brown editor of knights of wise men so now whatever SGA meant we now know that he is an editor of something called the Knights of wise men this tells you just by the the names here again that he's involved he's he's must be literate he's an editor I was going to say he's the editor this is this is a schooled guy yeah the Knights of wise men we got to figure out what that's all about I think you need someone who's an expert more on fraternal organizations and who can help you on this more very good esoteric very good branch of History all right I'm on the hunt it's so thrilling to learn that my great-grandfather was involved in such a mysterious organization just who are the Knights of wise men and what on Earth is an SGA I'm meeting with an expert on African-American fraternal organizations to find out more I'm in search of this SGA Knights of the wise men well I think I can help you with that the knights are the wise men this was a Fraternal Order that also had a benefit for its members the organization helped build bonds of community between African-American men it was an institution that provided Financial benefits to all of its members for sickness as well as in death so this is basically an insurance policy on insurance company basically so to some degree it's the precursor of what we think of as modern insurance companies remember at this time white organizations were completely separate and did not admit African-Americans the Knights of wise men was founded in 1879 to address the needs of the black community for a brief period after the Civil War African Americans participated in Southern government and implemented social reform but they were soon pushed out by a white community that reversed the progress toward Racial equality facing the future with few resources and virtually no Public Health Visionary leaders like J.L Brown took action and created institutions to assist African Americans the Knights of wise men became one of several National African-American fraternal orders in the 19th century and by 1882 the organization had grown to 278 lodges these were the prototypes of the organizations that help Propel the modern Civil Rights Movement wow so what does SGA mean SGA stands for Supreme Grand archon he wasn't just the member of the organization he was the leader the national leader of the organization [Music] and he had the presence of mind to think like this on on this level not just locally but nationally that was not what I was expecting if you look at this will give you some hint of just how important he was nature the wise men rules laws and regulations J.L Brown Supreme arcade he was not only the leader but he wrote the rules laws and regulations of the order what J.L Brown was at the Forefront and building a significant institution to meet the needs of African Americans Across the Nation unbelievable this is unbelievable so so you have you have we have more you know you take me from this you have more this is coming from The Daily Times in Chattanooga Tennessee from 1891. what this article informs us of is what's happened to the Knights of wise men ah very good it says here Chattanooga has the strongest Lodge of wise men outside of this city the organization has specifically weakened since the smallpox epidemic of 1885 when the backbone of the wise men was broken by excessive rain upon the treasury what happened was the Knights of wise men had to pay out of their treasuries these death benefits exactly so as those death benefits mounted the treasury was depleted he says the Knights of the wise men is in a quandary concerning the whereabouts of their Supreme secretary treasure s r Walker of Nashville Walker as Supreme treasurer of the wise men of the United States handle considerable money but was not required to give bond or secure funds placed in his hands so so it means now it is clear the treasurer ran off with the money that's right so a little uh six years after the smallpox epidemic of 1885. we have Sr Walker taking what's left in the treasury and leaving Nashville that was devastating my great-grandfather was he involved in this interestingly enough the account that we have does not implicate your great-grandfather very good so now what happened we see that the wise men although they're still mentioned in books as late as 1915. it's no longer a nationwide organization it's no longer this healthy vital organization so now that explains the the marriage fell apart during this period so it's it's understandable now in my head why the marriage fell apart on top of the fact that the age difference but also the business the business that he had established was now falling apart and he was trying to spend as much time as he could probably trying to resurrect this or to clear it up and so I can it makes sense to me what he what his mindset was at that particular time thank you very much you've been amazing appreciate it my great grandfather went from from being in my mind maybe a scoundrel all the way to being one of the pioneers of this of the Civil Rights Movement I mean I I'm extremely proud and now I'm heading to Chattanooga it seems that J.L Brown moved there after the demise of the Nashville branch of the Knights of wise men I really want to find out what happened to my great-grandfather Lionel Richie's search for the ancestral secrets that his family kept from him has brought him to Chattanooga Tennessee after finding his great-grandfather's name on ancestry.com listed in Chattanooga on the 1900 census Lionel is heading to the public library he's meeting with local historian Le Frederick thurkill looking for information that might continue to link J.L Brown to the troubled organization he founded The Knights of wise men I'm hoping you can help me well you came to the right place and and you'll be surprised that we were able to find him here I've got him in 1929 City Directory in Chattanooga 1929 so we're born in 1840 mixing pretty much around 90 years old yes but then he explains a lot about my grandmother she lived here she lived to be a hundred and um three wow wow so I love this family Gene ah here we go John L he is now is that caretaker yes at the Pleasant Garden Cemetery yes to think that probably the Knights of the wise men as the organization or as the business is no longer that is somewhat unclear but we do know that he worked for a long time so I'm thinking that he is now working to eat working to live basically working to to maintain his life yes caretaker at 90. Pleasant Gardens wasn't a small Cemetery it's 22 to 23 acres big it's okay if you can imagine you're kidding me 20 some odd acres is not a small temperature at all and of course to be able to to move around on that much property any more information that's the right answer that's what I'm talking about good biography and achievements of colored citizens in Chattanooga pretty impressive looking guys here J.W Williams JL Brown so that's what he looks like [Music] I'm noticing you know his forehead and my forehead and even to the point of the line which I don't like to point out flaws in my face but he has the same eyes and the same forehead is just unbelievable it's uncanny well I don't know whether this is a write-up about him or some of his thoughts is only about good qualities rightly set forth that we are to succeed in the future first by education every boy and girl and teaching them from the Cradle to the Grave let us all be wise men and women when I read this I I'm thinking he wants to lift these people up he is not about don't remind me that I'm poor right don't remind me that I'm not doing well let's talk about the good let's talk about going up and sit down very good so now what happened to him I was able to find one more document this ah place this is the death certificate right yes here we go Hamilton County Chattanooga Tennessee JL Brown so now we actually know do we know where he was buried yes Pleasant Gardens Pleasant Garden peasant Gardens the name here Morgan Brown Morgan Brown was his father Morgan Brown has listed as his father whoa here we go Morgan Brown and mother the mother's name is listed as don't know don't you just love records like that oh we have Morgan Brown I just found out that J.L Brown's father my great great grandfather was Morgan Brown but I still don't know the name of my great great grandmother [Music] Pleasant Gardens is still in existence wow would you take me there let's go go come on so I'm on my way to pay my respects to J.L Brown at the pleasant garden cemetery the Frederick tells me that Pleasant Gardens was an African-American owned and operated Cemetery founded in 1890 and was the primary burial ground for black men and women in Chattanooga [Music] this is not exactly what I expected man Lionel Richie is in Chattanooga unraveling the mystery surrounding J.L Brown this is not exactly what I expected he has uncovered that his great grandfather went from being an influential early civil rights activist to working his last days As a caretaker at a local Cemetery man Lionel is now visiting the cemetery where J.L Brown worked and was laid to rest is is a great granddaddy close by yeah I can show you the area yeah I should like to see it this portion of the cemetery is the proper section of the cemetery some do have headstones but amongst those are many that don't and uh It is believed that with the information that we had about JL that is buried in this section of the cemetery yeah I'm going to leave you a moment to reflect thank you my brother appreciate that you know that you're you're a great grandfather walked amongst this and was a part of this it's moving it's extremely moving it's just it's hard because you can't really you can't really um we we take so much for granted um because we're not face to face with the with the real stories [Music] this is about as close to a spiritual awakening as I've ever had in my entire life even though his circumstances did not work out sure his his heart was the same throughout he wanted to see the community lifted up and you know I am quite proud to be one of the guys that my great grandfather lifted up what about his early years so far I've learned that JL was born before slavery was abolished and that his father's name was Morgan brown but that his mother's name was unknown so the question Still Remains was my great grandfather born a slave or a free man I know that jail was working in Nashville in the 1870s so I'm meeting with historian Irvin Jordan to see what else I can dig up what did you find well let's begin with this first document it says here state of Tennessee colored man's application for pension yes filed September 19 1924. we have a pension back then yes 1920. he was 85. wow all right so now John L Brown a native of the state of Tennessee and who was a servant in the war between the United States and the Confederate States the Civil War wow all right it says here when did you go with the Army you served May 20th 1861 so that would make him 22 years old 20 22 years old so and here's here's one that just stands out right in front of me says give the name of your owner Morgan W brown give the name of your owner this shows you that he was a slave and that's why that's the owner his owner and on on J.L Brown's death certificate the name Morgan Brown was listed as his father uh I'm only assuming that Morgan W brown and Morgan Brown the owner it's uh is the same guy it's entirely possible and he explains to me totally now where it also said on that other document name of mother unknown ah that that touches me right there that's crazy um I think the the word that stabbed me through the heart was the owner you know those words are so far away from 2011. you know it's just unbelievable thank you very well so much doctor I'm clear on what I have to do now I'm on the search now for uh Morgan W brown and Morgan Brown thank you Professor good luck with your search so who is Morgan W brown owner father I need to find the answer Lionel Richie is in Nashville where he's just uncovered some unsettling clues about his great-grandfather according to J.L Brown's death certificate Morgan Brown is listed as his father but a Morgan W brown is listed as jl's owner on the pension application now I'm back at the Nashville Public Library meeting with historian Jacqueline Jones I want to find out whether or not Morgan Brown and Morgan W brown are one and the same do you know this guy named Morgan Brown well it's confusing Dr Morgan Brown had a son Morgan W brown ah there we go so to avoid confusion I'm going to refer to the father as Dr Brown very good and the son as Morgan W brown very good but let me go back and tell you about the doctor he was a general physician here in Nashville he owned a working slave plantation on the Cumberland River so with that little introduction in mind I have some documents here that you might find interesting and the first is an excerpt from Dr Brown's diary we found his diary yes yes this is very small writing oh my God what is this it says 1839 here this night at about 10 or 11 o'clock Mariah had a boy child born named him Lewis Mariah Mariah we've now given a name to the mother right Mariah was one doctor more Morgan Brown's slaves there are several remarkable things about this it was unusual for a master to make note of the name of a baby born to a slave on a plantation he was the father obviously of that that we can only speculate but just keep it Dr Morgan Brown was about 80 years old it's not unheard of for an 80 year old to have a child by a woman but it's it is unusual Morgan W brown was 39. wow when John Lewis was born so we have to go on and look at other pieces of evidence one of the most remarkable documents is you mean that wasn't the remarkable question even more remarkable I think is the will that Dr Morgan Brown wrote and this is the original will he wrote it's like the original this is the original one he wrote it in August of 1839. now keep in mind that Mariah was pregnant so he's writing this will about the middle of her pregnancy so in his will Dr Morgan Brown says that Mariah should be freed from slavery and then he goes on to say once her unborn child is born that he should be freed just like his mother and not only does Dr Brown leave Mariah a place for her and her son to live but he also gives my great grandfather two years of schooling [Music] unbelievable that is absolutely unheard of Batman the law was not to educate right right there were many laws that uh outlawed uh slaves becoming literate at all well it's it's pretty clear that Lewis got his education right because he was a sharp sharp guy well now I mean again this is in his will was Mariah freed well we're not sure but what he's intending is that Mariah and this baby should be free when he dies and then later in the will he says she might want to live by herself and if she does here on my land is where I would like her to have her own little cabin right but his son Morgan w was the one who would be carrying out the will and I think that's one of the big question marks Did he follow through it's ambiguous she might still be categorized legally Ashley but she might have some kind of quasi-freedom this is her this is her property right about that I mean I feel so relieved for Mariah because you know there is some compassion here yes let me show you a picture that I have taken from a painting of Morgan W brown unbelievable this is Morgan W this is the sun this is the sun who is possibly your great grandfather's father or possibly your great-grandfather's half-brother [Music] you know when we first started this journey you know you know as always [Music] thinking in the back of my head you know that we would uncover an ancestor like this but to be standing here face to face with the photograph it's pretty uh unnerbing on one respect and empowering on another you know what I'm saying it's because it was a brutal time it was an extremely brutal time and for doc Morgan or for Morgan W to even think for a moment protect what was his was just the greatest gift doc Morgan regardless of what the situation was he wanted to make sure that the kid Lewis was taken care of jail didn't really know what the true suffering was because inside of his Wubble which was the shelter that doc Morgan provided for him he was able to learn and reason outside of the of the pain and Agony of slavery and for me Tuskegee University was my protective place and of course the same circumstance happens with with JL it was pretty remarkable pretty remarkable Lionel Richie is back in Los Angeles heading home to his family to reveal the incredible story of his inspirational great-grandfather thank you very much you know this amazing journey would not be complete if I didn't share with my younger sister Deborah and two of my children miles and Sophia you are coming from the genes and the blood of very strong people [Music] who actually fought for the freedom their freedom and also the freedom of Black America you should be very proud to know that that's in your family history so to understand how fortunate we are now we are here because of their struggle when we first started this journey it was interesting because I kept thinking for the longest time that the family was actually keeping a big secret from us because it was just things that were not pleasant they didn't talk about it that's just that simple valendova married John Lewis Brown now that I'm at the end of the journey I I can honestly say that I don't think that my grandmother withheld the information I think she didn't know your great great great grandmother is Mariah who was a slave I am in awe of the strength of not only my grandparents and great grandparents but just of the strength of Black America what this has done for me is kind of give me a sense that I'm standing on these very powerful shoulders of of other people just will not take the word defeat that I'm very very proud very proud to be there through your adventures was there anything that really struck you the most the the part that moved me the most was that JL had been so proud of us because his dream is our reality and it's deep breath dude I love you it was done it's done oh my God all right [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: Who Do You Think You Are?

Views: 1,051,513

Keywords: who do you think you are, wdytya, who do you think you are uk, who do you think you are BBC

Id: Wp1QRtwWQSM

Length: 38min 21sec (2301 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 25 2023