Anchored to the Past

GATES: I'M HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR., WELCOME TO "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'LL EXPLORE THE FAMILY TREES OF DON LEMON AND GRETCHEN CARLSON, TWO TRAIL-BLAZING JOURNALISTS WHO ARE ABOUT MEET THE ANCESTORS WHO BLAZED A TRAIL FOR THEM.

CARLSON: WHY DID NOBODY EVER TELL ME THIS?

I'M GONNA CALL MY MOM IMMEDIATELY.

LEMON: OH MY GOD.

GATES: THIS IS YOUR FAMILY.

NOW, YOU WANT A MIND-BLOWING FACT?

LEMON: WAIT A MINUTE, THIS ISN'T MIND BLOWING ALREADY?

GATES: TO UNCOVER THEIR ROOTS, WE'VE USED EVERY TOOL AVAILABLE.

GENEALOGISTS HELPED STITCH TOGETHER THE PAST FROM THE PAPER TRAIL THEIR ANCESTORS LEFT BEHIND, WHILE DNA EXPERTS UTILIZED THE LATEST ADVANCES IN GENETIC ANALYSIS TO REVEAL SECRETS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD, AND WE'VE COMPILED EVERYTHING INTO A BOOK OF LIFE, A RECORD OF ALL OF OUR DISCOVERIES.

LEMON: WOW!

GATES: AND A WINDOW... CARLSON: WHAT ARE YOU GONNA TELL ME?

GATES: INTO THE HIDDEN PAST.

LEMON: OUR HISTORY HAS BEEN ERASED.

IT'S AS IF MY ANCESTORS DIDN'T EXIST.

CARLSON: IT'S EMOTIONAL BECAUSE I'VE JUST NEVER BEEN ABLE TO SEE ANY OF THESE DOCUMENTS.

GATES: YEAH.

CARLSON: IT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE THAT FIRE IN MY BELLY THAT'S THERE EVERY DAY IS THERE FOR A REASON.

GATES: DON AND GRETCHEN HAVE DEVOTED THEIR LIVES TO TELLING STORIES THAT MIGHT NEVER HAVE COME TO LIGHT WITHOUT THEIR OWN EFFORTS.

NOW, THE TABLES ARE ABOUT TO BE TURNED.

IN THIS EPISODE, THEY'LL MEET PEOPLE FROM THEIR OWN FAMILY TREES WHOSE NAMES THEY DON'T KNOW, FROM PLACES THEY'VE NEVER BEEN, RECOUNTING STORIES THAT EVEN THEY COULD NEVER HAVE IMAGINED.

(THEME MUSIC PLAYS).

♪ ♪ GATES: DON LEMON IS A FORCE OF NATURE.

THE HOST OF "CNN TONIGHT" HAS ENDURED CONTROVERSY, AND A GREAT DEAL OF PREJUDICE, TO BECOME A SHAPING VOICE IN OUR NATION, ALL THE WHILE REMAINING UNIQUELY, UNWAVERINGLY HIMSELF.

IT'S A REMARKABLE ACCOMPLISHMENT AND ONE THAT'S HARD-EARNED.

GROWING UP IN BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, DON HAD AN EXPERIENCE THAT WOULD DERAIL MOST PEOPLE BEFORE THEY EVEN GOT STARTED, WHEN HE WAS FIVE YEARS OLD, WITH HIS PARENTS' MARRIAGE FALLING APART, HIS OLDER SISTERS TOLD HIM THAT THE MAN HE THOUGHT WAS HIS FATHER WASN'T ACTUALLY EVEN RELATED TO HIM, INSTEAD, THEY SAID HIS FATHER WAS THEIR MOTHER'S BOSS, A LOCAL LAWYER NAMED WILMON RICHARDSON.

LEMON: I WAS LIKE, "WHAT?"

LIKE, IT WAS A SHOCK TO ME.

I WAS LITTLE.

I WAS TINY.

GATES: RIGHT.

LEMON: AND SO MY MIDDLE SISTER, WHO IS AN INSTIGATOR, SAID, "WHY DON'T YOU CALL HIM?"

"LET'S CALL HIM."

AND I SAID, "OKAY."

IT PICKED UP, AND UM, IT WAS MY MOM, AND SHE WAS LIKE, "LAW OFFICE," WHATEVER, AND I WAS LIKE, "HEY, MOM, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, WE WERE JUST TALKING, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH."

AND I SAID, "IS MR. RICHARDSON THERE?"

AND SHE SAID, "YEAH?"

AND I SAID, "OKAY, CAN I SPEAK WITH HIM?"

AND SHE THOUGHT IT WAS A LITTLE ODD AND WAS HESITATING, AND THEN HE PICKS UP THE PHONE AND HE GOES, "HELLO?"

AND I SAID, "HI, DADDY."

AND I COULD HEAR HIM, LIKE, DO THE, "HE JUST SAID, 'HEY, DADDY.'"

(GASPS) AND MY MOM, IT WAS, IT WAS QUIET, AND HE SAID, "WELL, HEY, SON, HUH, WHAT'S GOING ON," WHATEVER, AND I SAID, "WELL, THEY TOLD ME," AND WE JUST STARTED, WE HAD A CONVERSATION, AND FROM THEN ON OUR RELATIONSHIP CHANGED.

GATES: AFTER THAT PHONE CALL, WILMON PLAYED A MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN DON'S FAMILY, AND EVEN THOUGH THE RELATIONSHIP WOULD BE CUT SHORT JUST A FEW YEARS LATER, WHEN WILMON PASSED AWAY AT AN EARLY AGE, DON TREASURES THE TIME HE HAD WITH HIS FATHER, AND STILL RECALLS THE EMOTION HE FELT AT LEARNING HIS IDENTITY.

SO, YOU DIDN'T HAVE A MOMENT OF FEAR, ANXIETY?

YOU JUST SAID, "WOW, I'M GLAD NOT HIM.

I'M GLAD I, I'M GLAD I DREW THE LOTTERY TICKET."

LEMON: WHEN THEY TOLD ME WHO IT WAS, I WAS LIKE, "WOO!

YES!

I HIT THE JACKPOT!"

BECAUSE HE WAS JUST, HE WAS AN AMAZING, GREAT MAN WHO PEOPLE LOOKED UP TO.

HE WASN'T JUST, UM, UNCLE SO-AND-SO OR BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, THEY CALLED HIM LAWYER RICHARDSON.

THAT LAWYER HAD A RING TO IT.

LIKE, HE WAS SOMEBODY.

MY DAD WAS SOMEBODY.

GATES: YEAH.

LEMON: SO... GATES: SO YOU WERE SOMEBODY.

LEMON: SO, I WAS SOMEBODY.

GATES: AFTER HIS FATHER'S DEATH, DON'S MOTHER STRUGGLED MIGHTILY, AND HIS MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER TOOK UP MUCH OF THE SLACK IN RAISING HIM.

YET FOR ALL THE TUMULT OF HIS CHILDHOOD, DON EMERGED WITH A KEEN INTELLIGENCE AND A ZEN-LIKE SENSE OF POISE, HE WOULD NEED BOTH WHEN IT CAME TIME TO CHOOSE A CAREER.

LEMON: I KEPT TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT I WANTED TO DO, WHAT I WANTED TO DO, BECAUSE EVERYONE SAID, "OKAY, YOU SHOULD BE AN ATTORNEY."

SO I DID, I TRIED... GATES: LIKE YOUR DADDY.

LEMON: LIKE MY DADDY.

AND THEN, SO, OR BUSINESS.

SO, I STARTED DOING THIS BUSINESS THING.

BORING.

BORING.

BORING.

AND I DID ECONOMICS.

BORING.

BORING.

BORING.

AND THEN I SAID, "I KNOW WHAT I WANT TO DO."

I SAW THIS LADY ON TV, HER NAME WAS JEAN WEST, SHE WAS ON WAFB.

AND SHE LOOKED LIKE MY FAMILY AND I WAS LIKE, "THAT'S IT!"

RIGHT?

LEMON: AND SO I STARTED GOING TO JOURNALISM SCHOOL.

AND I WAS LIKE, "OH THIS IS REALLY GREAT."

'CAUSE I COULD DO EVERYTHING REALLY WELL.

BUT I COULDN'T EDIT.

IT'S LIKE I HAD THE HARDEST TIME EDITING.

I JUST COULDN'T GET THE THINGS TO LINE UP.

GATES: MM-HMM.

LEMON: AND SO WE HAD AN EXAM.

AND THERE WAS THIS PROFESSOR.

I TOOK THE THING, AND I WAS LIKE, "I'M SORRY, LIKE, I WAS TRYING TO EDIT AND I TURNED IT IN LATE," OR WHATEVER.

AND HE GOES, "LISTEN, WHY DON'T YOU DO SOMETHING YOU'RE BETTER SUITED FOR?

YOU'RE NOT GOING TO MAKE IT IN THIS."

AND IT WAS ME AND HIM ALONE.

GATES: OH, WOW.

LEMON: NOW, WHAT I COULD HAVE DONE WAS BELIEVED HIM.

GATES: RIGHT.

LEMON: BUT I DIDN'T.

GATES: RIGHT.

LEMON: BECAUSE OF MY MOM AND MY GRANDMOTHER AND MY DAD.

GATES: YEP.

ALL OF THAT BACKGROUND.

LEMON: "OH, YOU THINK SO?"

GATES: RIGHT.

LEMON: "WATCH ME."

GATES: MY SECOND GUEST IS JOURNALIST AND ACTIVIST GRETCHEN CARLSON, WHO BOLDLY FILED A SEXUAL HARASSMENT LAWSUIT AGAINST ROGER AILES, THE C.E.O.

OF FOX NEWS, HELPING TO LAUNCH THE "ME TOO" MOVEMENT.

GRETCHEN'S STORY IS INCREDIBLE, IT'S ALREADY BEEN MADE INTO A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE, AND HER LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS IS MIND-BOGGLING, A FORMER VIOLIN PRODIGY, SHE WAS STUDYING AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY WHEN SHE DECIDED TO PUT ASIDE HER TEXTBOOKS AND COMPETE IN THE MISS AMERICA CONTEST, ULTIMATELY WINNING IT, DRIVEN BY FORCES WITHIN HER THAT EVEN SHE DID NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND.

CARLSON: I ALWAYS SAY, AND YOU KNOW THIS FROM DOING THIS SHOW, PEOPLE'S LIVES WORK IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS.

GATES: SURE.

CARLSON: I MEAN I NEVER, EVER WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT I WOULD HAVE EVER BECOME MISS AMERICA.

GATES: REALLY?

CARLSON: FOR ME, IT WAS JUST THE, THE, THE COMPETITION ASPECT OF IT, I THINK.

GATES: UH-HUH.

CARLSON: IS WHAT I LIKED ABOUT IT.

GATES: WOULD YOU SAY YOUR PARENTS WERE PARTICULARLY COMPETITIVE?

CARLSON: NO.

GATES: NO?

CARLSON: I MEAN I HAVE THAT FIRE IN MY BELLY EVERY SINGLE DAY AND A BURNING BRAIN, WHICH SOMETIMES I WISH I COULD TURN OFF, TO BE QUITE HONEST WITH YOU.

GATES: UH-HUH.

CARLSON: BUT IT'S A, IT'S A DRIVE THAT WAS WITH ME AS A YOUNG CHILD.

IT'S STILL WITH ME EVERY SINGLE DAY NOW.

GATES: GRETCHEN'S "DRIVE" WOULD, UNFORTUNATELY, RUN HEADLONG INTO THE REALITY OF WHAT IT ACTUALLY MEANT TO BE MISS AMERICA, A JOB THAT FORCED HER TO CONFRONT AN ARRAY OF STEREOTYPES, SOME TRULY APPALLING, CARLSON: THERE WAS A LOT OF PAIN AND SHAME AND AGONY ABOUT WHY PEOPLE WERE TREATING ME IN A DIFFERENT WAY.

ONE OF MY JUDGES THAT YEAR WROTE A BOOK ABOUT ME.

I MEAN WHY?

AND HE CALLED ME NOT BY MY NAME THROUGHOUT THE BOOK.

HE CALLED ME "MISS PIGGY."

GATES: REALLY?

CARLSON: UH-HUH.

HE THOUGHT I WAS TOO FAT TO HAVE WON AT LESS, PROBABLY AROUND 100 POUNDS WHEN THAT ALL HAPPENED.

GATES: THAT'S HORRIBLE.

CARLSON: IT IS HORRIBLE, BUT IT, IT, IT SHOWS, AND I TALK ABOUT THIS WHEN I SPEAK TO YOUNG WOMEN.

IT SHOWS THAT SHAME HURTS, AND IT STAYS WITH YOU FOR LIFE.

GATES: UH-HUH.

UH-HUH.

CARLSON: IT'S THE SAME THING ABOUT BEING SEXUALLY ASSAULTED.

GATES: OF COURSE.

CARLSON: OR HARASSED.

YOU, YOU KEEP IT ALL IN, RIGHT, AND THEN, AND THE SYSTEM HELPS TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN THAT WAY.

GATES: RIGHT.

CARLSON: AND YOU'RE SCARED TO HAVE A VOICE ABOUT IT.

GATES: GRETCHEN HAD LEARNED A LESSON SHE WOULDN'T FORGET.

AFTER HER YEAR AS MISS AMERICA, SHE TOOK AN ENTRY-LEVEL JOB AS A REPORTER AND SCALED THE LADDER OF HER PROFESSION, RISING TO CO-ANCHOR "FOX & FRIENDS" AND, ULTIMATELY, HER OWN SHOW ON FOX NEWS.

BUT WHEN THE TIME CAME TO ACT AGAINST AILES, SHE DIDN'T HESITATE.

EVEN THOUGH IT MEANT RISKING HER ENTIRE CAREER, SHE KNEW THERE WERE IMPORTANT ISSUES AT STAKE.

CARLSON: DOING SOMETHING LIKE THIS WAS THE BIGGEST, MOST DIFFICULT DECISION OF MY LIFE.

GATES: MM-HMM.

CARLSON: UH, MAINLY FOR MY CHILDREN.

GATES: MM-HMM.

CARLSON: BECAUSE, I MEAN, FOR US TO SIT HERE NOW AND, AND HAVE HINDSIGHT AS TO HOW IT, IT ACTUALLY PLAYED OUT, WE WOULD'VE NEVER TELEGRAPHED IT THIS WAY.

GATES: NO.

CARLSON: EVEN MY OWN LAWYERS SAID TO ME, YOU KNOW, THIS PROBABLY WON'T WORK OUT GREAT.

GATES: RIGHT.

CARLSON: YEAH, AND UH, NOW, THEY WERE RIGHT ABOUT THE FACT THAT TONS OF PEOPLE WILL MALIGN YOU, AND THEY'LL CALL YOU A LIAR.

GATES: RIGHT.

CARLSON: AND THAT WAS ALL TRUE, BUT I HAD NO IDEA HOW ANY OF THIS WAS GONNA PAN OUT.

I JUST SAID IF I DON'T DO THIS NOW, WHO WILL?

GATES: UH-HUH.

CARLSON: AND THAT IS WHAT MADE ME DECIDE TO JUMP.

GATES: MY TWO GUESTS HAVE SHOWN BOTH COURAGE AND TENACITY.

TURNING TO THEIR ROOTS, WE WANTED TO SEE IF WE COULD FIND ANCESTORS WHO SHARED THOSE TRAITS.

FOR DON LEMON, WE DIDN'T HAVE TO LOOK FAR.

WE STARTED WITH HIS OWN FATHER, WILMON RICHARDSON.

WILMON'S EARLY DEATH DEPRIVED DON OF THE CHANCE TO LEARN ABOUT HIS LIFE.

WE SOON DISCOVERED THAT HE BEGAN HIS LEGAL CAREER ON THE FRONT LINES OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.

IN 1957, HE WORKED UNDER THE LEGENDARY ATTORNEY A. P. TUREAUD TO FILE A SUIT AGAINST BATON ROUGE, DEMANDING THAT THE CITY DESEGREGATE ITS BUSES.

LEMON: WOW.

MY DAD DID THIS?

GATES: YOUR FATHER AND HIS TEAM SPENT OVER FOUR YEARS PRESSING THAT CASE.

THE CITY TRIED TO DISMISS THE LAWSUIT, BUT A DISTRICT JUDGE WOULDN'T LET THEM, AND IN 1961 THE JUDGE RULED IN THEIR FAVOR.

HAD YOU HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT THIS?

LEMON: NO.

NO.

GATES: AND LOOK WHO HE'S WITH.

LEMON: A. P. TUREAUD!

GATES: YEAH!

LEMON: A. P. TUREAUD IS A BIG DEAL!

WOW!

GATES: A. P. TUREAUD IS A BIG DEAL, AND YOUR DAD WORKED WITH A. P. TUREAUD.

REMEMBER, THIS IS 1961, TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON.

THE FREEDOM RIDES HAD NOT EVEN STARTED.

LEMON: OH MY GOD.

GATES: WILMON'S TRIUMPH UNFORTUNATELY, WAS QUICKLY THROWN INTO PERIL.

THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE APPEALED, AND THE CASE EVENTUALLY FOUND ITSELF BEFORE A FEDERAL APPEALS COURT, WHERE SURPRISINGLY, A MEASURE OF SANITY PREVAILED.

LEMON: "THE CENTRAL ISSUE IN THIS CASE IS CUT AND DRIED.

THE SUPREME COURT HAS SETTLED BEYOND QUESTION THAT NO STATE", HUH, "NO STATE MAY REQUIRE RACIAL SEGREGATION OF TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES."

GATES: THE COURT UPHELD THE ORIGINAL DECISION.

THE CASE PRESENTED ON A TEAM THAT INCLUDED YOUR DAD.

THAT'S AMAZING.

YOUR FATHER WAS AN HISTORIC PLAYER IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.

HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?

LEMON: OH MY GOD.

OH.

I FEEL, I, I CAN'T, I CAN'T REALLY EXPLAIN HOW I FEEL.

I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY I'M PROUD, BUT I ALSO FEEL LIKE I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THIS AND, I CAME FROM A MESSED UP PLACE, BATON ROUGE, SHOWS YOU HOW RACIST BATON ROUGE WAS.

GATES: YOUR DAD WAS FIGHTING A WAR.

LEMON: THAT'S HUGE.

GATES: THAT'S RIGHT.

THAT'S A HUGE CASE, AND WINNING IT ON APPEAL AND APPEAL AND APPEAL.

LEMON: LAWYER RICHARDSON.

GATES: YEAH, LAWYER RICHARDSON, INDEED.

DON WAS CLEARLY BOTH IMPRESSED, AND SURPRISED, BY HIS FATHER'S ACCOMPLISHMENT.

BUT A MUCH GREATER SURPRISE WAS STILL TO COME.

THE STORY OF HIS FATHER'S ORIGINS.

IN THE 1920 CENSUS FOR LOUISIANA, WE FOUND WILMON LIVING WITH HIS PARENTS, DON'S GRANDPARENTS.

LEMON: "THOMAS RICHARDSON, HEAD, 37, TURPENTINE LABOR.

REBER, WIFE, 21, ALICE, DAUGHTER, FIVE, WILMER, SON, THREE MONTHS. "

GATES: "WILMER, SON, THREE MONTHS."

LEMON: OH MY GOSH.

GATES: RECOGNIZE THOSE NAMES?

LEMON: THAT'S MY DAD.

GATES: THERE'S YOUR FATHER WHEN HE WAS THREE MONTHS OLD, LIVING WITH HIS PARENTS AND HIS OLDEST SISTER ALICE.

LEMON: RIGHT.

GATES: AND YOU KNEW HE HAD AN OLDER SISTER ALICE.

LEMON: ALICE.

GATES: OKAY.

AND DON, ACCORDING TO THIS RECORD, YOUR GRANDFATHER TOM WAS A TURPENTINE LABORER.

DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE TURPENTINE BUSINESS?

LEMON: NO.

I HAVE NO IDEA.

GATES: DON'S GRANDFATHER WORKED IN AN INDUSTRY THAT HAS LARGELY DISAPPEARED, BUT ONCE IT PROVIDED EMPLOYMENT TO MANY AFRICAN AMERICANS ACROSS THE SOUTH, WHERE PINE FORESTS ARE PLENTIFUL.

TURPENTINE WAS A HIGHLY DESIRABLE BYPRODUCT OF THESE FORESTS, USED IN SOLVENTS, FUELS, AND EVEN MEDICINES, BUT TO EXTRACT IT REQUIRED BACK-BREAKING WORK.

DON'S GRANDFATHER WAS WHAT WAS KNOWN AS A "CHIPPER", MEANING HE SPENT HIS DAYS TEARING OPEN PINE TREES WITH A HAND TOOL.

LEMON: WOW.

GATES: HE HAD TO SCRAPE THE TREE, THEN HE HAD TO CUT THE BARK TO GET TO THE GUM.

LEMON: AND THAT'S HOW HE FED MY FATHER.

GATES: THAT'S HOW HE FED HIS FAMILY.

LEMON: AND HIS WIFE AND, AND MY DAD'S SISTER.

GATES: YOU GOT IT.

IT WAS HARD WORK.

LEMON: WOW.

IT IS HARD, AND DIRTY.

LOOK AT THAT.

GATES: YOUR GRANDFATHER LIKELY MADE LESS THAN $1.50 PER WEEK, THAT'S ABOUT 20 BUCKS A WEEK TODAY.

AND HE HAD HIS WIFE AND TWO KIDS TO SUPPORT.

LEMON: WOW.

GATES: WHAT DO YOU IMAGINE THAT LIFE WAS LIKE, MAN?

THAT'S...

LEMON: SO, THEY WERE POOR.

GATES: THEY WERE POOR.

LEMON: THEY WERE VERY POOR.

GATES: AS WE SET OUT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT TOM RICHARDSON, WE QUICKLY RAN INTO A MYSTERY.

IN THE 1930 CENSUS FOR LEESVILLE, LOUISIANA, WE FOUND HIS WIFE REBA LIVING WITH THEIR DAUGHTER ALICE.

BOTH WERE WORKING AS COOKS IN PRIVATE HOMES, A COMMON OCCUPATION FOR BLACK WOMEN AT THE TIME.

BUT THERE WAS SOMETHING UNUSUAL ABOUT THEIR HOUSEHOLD.

WHO'S MISSING?

LEMON: MY DAD IS NOT THERE.

GATES: AND...

LEMON: AND HER HUSBAND.

GATES: THAT'S RIGHT.

YOUR FATHER AND HIS FATHER TOM ARE MISSING FROM THIS RECORD.

YOUR DAD WOULD HAVE BEEN TEN.

DID YOU EVER HEAR ANYTHING ABOUT THIS?

LEMON: NO.

GATES: OKAY.

WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSCRIPTION TO SEE REBA'S MARITAL STATUS?

LEMON: OH.

WIDOW.

IS THAT WHAT, THE "WD" IS A WIDOW?

GATES: "WD" IS "WIDOW."

LEMON: HE DIED?

GATES: WOULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

LEMON: OKAY.

OH MY GOSH.

GATES: THIS IS THE 1930 CENSUS AGAIN, ONLY THIS PAGE ENUMERATES PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN TYLER COUNTY, TEXAS, ABOUT 80 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LEESVILLE.

LEMON: SO, NOW WE'RE IN TEXAS.

GATES: 80 MILES AWAY.

LEMON: "TOM RICHARDSON, HEAD, 46, MARRIED.

TURPENTINING FOR TURPENTINE COMPANY.

WILMA, SON.

TEN.

OLLIE DEE, DAUGHTER, EIGHT.

HOME RENTED, $6."

GATES: SO, YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS.

YOUR GRANDMOTHER WAS NOT A WIDOW, "A".

YOUR GRANDFATHER TOM, LISTED HERE AS "MARRIED", IS LIVING ALONE WITH TWO OF HIS KIDS, INCLUDING YOUR FATHER, WILMON, LISTED THERE AS WILMA, OBVIOUSLY, IN TYLER COUNTY, TEXAS.

MANY TURPENTINE WORKERS, INCLUDING, IT SEEMS, YOUR GRANDFATHER, HAD TO MOVE TO KEEP UP WITH THE INDUSTRY AS THE COMPANIES RELOCATED WHEN THEY FOUND NEW FORESTS TO TAP.

SO, YOUR GRANDFATHER HAD TO MOVE TO A NEW STATE AND, FOR WHATEVER REASONS, HAD TO TAKE HIS TWO KIDS WITH HIM.

LEMON: BECAUSE THIS IS A NEW DAUGHTER.

THIS IS OLLIE.

THAT'S NOT ALICE, RIGHT?

GATES: NO, REMEMBER, ALICE IS LIVING WITH YOUR GRANDMOTHER, LEMON: RIGHT.

RIGHT.

RIGHT.

GATES: BECAUSE THEY'RE COOKS.

LEMON: YEAH.

GATES: AND YOU COULD SEE, THEY COULDN'T MOVE.

THEY HAD JOBS COOKING FOR WHITE PEOPLE.

HE HAS TO MOVE AND FOR WHATEVER REASON, UNUSUALLY, IN MY EXPERIENCE...

LEMON: YEAH.

GATES: A BLACK MAN ON THE MOVE TAKES HIS TWO CHILDREN WITH HIM.

LEMON: RIGHT.

RIGHT.

RIGHT.

GATES: WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE THAT?

LEMON: IT'S AMAZING TO LEARN, I'VE GOT TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, IT'S AMAZING TO LEARN ANYTHING.

I HAD NO IDEA.

GATES: NOW, DO YOU THINK YOUR GRANDFATHER, REMEMBER TOM RICHARDSON, WHO IS 46 IN 1930, AND WHO IS TAKING CARE OF YOUR FATHER AND HIS SISTER OLLIE.

LEMON: RIGHT.

GATES: DO YOU THINK THAT HE IN HIS WILDEST DREAMS COULD HAVE IMAGINED THAT HIS SON WAS GOING TO GROW UP TO BECOME A LAWYER?

LAWYER RICHARDSON?

LEMON: NO.

GATES: THIS IS OUR LAST GLIMPSE OF DON'S GRANDFATHER, WE COULDN'T FIND HIM ON ANY RECORDS AFTER 1930, AND UNFORTUNATELY, WE DON'T KNOW WHERE HE WAS BORN, OR HIS PARENTS' NAMES.

BUT, TURNING TO TOM'S WIFE REBA, WE HAD MORE LUCK.

WE TRACED REBA BACK TO HER GRANDPARENTS, EZEKIEL AND EMELINE JONES, WHO APPEAR IN THE 1880 CENSUS FOR ALABAMA.

THEY ARE DON'S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS, AND THE OLDEST ANCESTORS WE COULD IDENTIFY BY NAME ON HIS FATHER'S FAMILY TREE.

SO, ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS, YOUR GREAT-GREAT- GRANDFATHER EZEKIEL, ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?, WAS BORN AROUND 1830 IN SOUTH CAROLINA, MOST LIKELY, OF COURSE, BORN INTO SLAVERY.

SO, WE CAN TAKE YOUR FATHER'S FAMILY TREE, OR YOU BACK ON YOUR FATHER'S LINE, BACK TO 1830 IN SOUTH CAROLINA.

LEMON: WOW.

I DIDN'T THINK THAT ANYBODY WOULD BE ABLE TO FIND THIS.

GATES: DOES LEARNING ABOUT YOUR PATERNAL ANCESTORS CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR DAD AND ABOUT HIS SON, DON?

LEMON: YES.

GATES: HOW?

LEMON: THAT WE'RE SURVIVORS.

GATES: YOU'RE SURVIVORS.

LEMON: AND THAT I'M A WORKER.

GATES: YOU'RE A WORKER.

LEMON: AND YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET RID OF ME.

I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE.

GATES: MUCH LIKE DON, GRETCHEN CARLSON WAS ABOUT TO MEET ANCESTORS WHO SURVIVED HARROWING CHALLENGES TO LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR HER SUCCESS.

BUT THE ORIGINS OF THESE ANCESTORS WERE NO MYSTERY TO HER.

SHE GREW UP IN MINNESOTA, SURROUNDED BY GENERATIONS OF HER EXTENDED FAMILY, AND SHE WAS CONFIDENT THAT SHE KNEW EXACTLY WHERE THEY CAME FROM.

INDEED, THAT KNOWLEDGE WAS INTEGRAL TO HER IDENTITY.

CARLSON: MY PARENTS AND MY GRANDPARENTS AND MY GREAT-GRANDPARENTS ALWAYS TOLD ME THAT I WAS 100% SWEDISH.

NOW, I'M SURE THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF A VARIANCE IN THERE.

GATES: WE WILL FIND OUT.

CARLSON: YES, WE WILL FIND OUT.

BUT YOU KNOW, EVEN WHEN I WAS GROWING UP, THAT WAS SOMEWHAT, UH, UNUSUAL TO BE ABLE TO SAY THAT YOU WERE 100% OF ANYTHING, AND, AND THE VALUES AND THE WAY IN WHICH WE LIVED OUR LIVES WERE COMPLETELY TIED TO WHAT WE BELIEVED OUR ETHNICITY TO BE, AND THERE WAS A PROTESTANT WORK ETHIC, AND THERE WAS A NEVER-GIVE-UP ATTITUDE, AND I, I JUST, I LOVED THE TRADITIONS OF BEING A SWEDISH AMERICAN, AND ASIDE FROM SOME OF THE FOOD, WHICH WASN'T THE BEST.

GATES: YEAH.

CARLSON: I CAN THINK OF THIS FISH I HAD TO EAT AT CHRISTMAS TIME, WHICH WAS REALLY RANCID AND HORRIBLE.

GATES: OH, OH YEAH.

CARLSON: BUT, BUT IT WAS JUST SOMETHING THAT I WAS PROUD OF, AND UH, IT'S INTERESTING BECAUSE MY CHILDREN NOW ARE, ARE NOT 100% OF, OF ANYTHING, BUT I STILL PASS ALONG, YOU KNOW, THE TRADITIONS AND, AND WHAT MADE ME, ME.

GATES: THOUGH THEIR TRADITIONS ARE STILL TREASURED, THE STORIES OF GRETCHEN'S ANCESTORS WHO FIRST CAME TO AMERICA FROM SWEDEN HAVE BEEN FORGOTTEN.

WE SET OUT TO RECOVER THEM, BEGINNING WITH THE PASSENGER LIST FOR THE "SS THEMIS", A SHIP THAT ARRIVED IN NEW YORK IN 1851.

ON BOARD WERE GRETCHEN'S THIRD GREAT-GRANDPARENTS ON HER MOTHER'S SIDE, JONS AND MARIA JONNASON, AS WELL AS FIVE OF THEIR CHILDREN.

CARLSON: WOW.

GATES: THIS IS HOW YOUR FAMILY CAME TO THE UNITED STATES IN 1851.

CARLSON: SO, THIS IS 1850,1851?

GATES: 1851.

CARLSON: WOW.

GATES: ELLIS ISLAND WOULDN'T OPEN UP FOR ANOTHER 40 YEARS.

CARLSON: YOU KNOW, IT'S EMOTIONAL BECAUSE I'VE JUST NEVER BEEN ABLE TO SEE ANY OF THESE DOCUMENTS, AND EVEN JUST TO SEE THE HANDWRITING.

GATES: YEAH.

CARLSON: AND TO SEE THE NAMES THAT I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH.

IT'S FASCINATING.

GATES: ACCORDING TO THE SHIP'S MANIFEST, GRETCHEN'S ANCESTORS TRAVELED BELOW DECK, ALONGSIDE CARGO, WITH LITTLE LIGHT, VENTILATION, OR SANITARY FACILITIES.

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN AN ORDEAL UNDER ANY CONDITIONS, BUT THIS PARTICULAR JOURNEY WAS UNIQUELY DIFFICULT.

AS EVIDENCED BY THE FACT THAT THE "THEMIS" LEFT SWEDEN ON JUNE 12TH AND DIDN'T REACH NEW YORK UNTIL SEPTEMBER 9TH.

MEANING THAT GRETCHEN'S ANCESTORS HAD TO ENDURE THESE STIFLING CONDITIONS AT SEA FOR THREE MONTHS!

GATES: THE TRIP LASTED TWICE AS LONG AS IT WAS SUPPOSED TO.

CARLSON: DO WE KNOW WHY?

GATES: WELL, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT CAUSED THE DELAY.

ALL WE CAN SAY IS THAT IT'S UNUSUAL, AND IT MUST'VE BEEN HELL.

CARLSON: THAT'S THE UNDERSTATEMENT.

GATES: YEAH.

WELL... CARLSON: THAT'S A GOOD HEADLINE FOR THE STORY.

GATES: YEAH.

CARLSON: "IT WAS HELL".

GATES: IT WAS HELL.

CARLSON: GATES: LOOK TOWARDS THE BOTTOM OF THE MANIFEST.

YOU SEE WHAT IT SAYS NEXT TO THOSE LAST PASSENGERS?

CARLSON: YEAH, UNFORTUNATELY, IT SAYS DEAD.

GATES: DEAD.

BY THE TIME THE SHIP DOCKED IN NEW YORK, A TOTAL OF FOUR PASSENGERS HAD DIED.

THAT'S 4 OUT OF 115.

DURING THIS PERIOD, TYPICALLY ONLY 10 OUT OF EVERY 1,000 PASSENGERS DIED, SO THAT DEATH RATE FOR THAT VOYAGE WAS WELL ABOVE AVERAGE.

CARLSON: HMM.

WELL, THEY WERE SO LUCKY WITH THE, ALL THESE YOUNG KIDS.

GATES: YEAH.

CARLSON: WOW.

I HAD NO IDEA.

GATES: ONCE SAFELY ASHORE, GRETCHEN'S ANCESTORS SETTLED IN PENNSYLVANIA.

BUT THEIR ELDEST SON JONAS DIDN'T STAY THERE.

HE MOVED NORTH IN 1857, JOINING A SWEDISH COMMUNITY IN WATERTOWN, MINNESOTA AND TAKING THE SURNAME "AKINS".

JONAS IS GRETCHEN'S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER AND THE FIRST MEMBER OF HER FAMILY TO ARRIVE IN HER HOME STATE.

BUT THOUGH HE'D TRAVELED A GREAT DISTANCE TO GET THERE, HIS JOURNEY WASN'T OVER.

ON APRIL 12, 1861, SHOTS WERE FIRED AT FORT SUMTER.

THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR HAD BEGUN, AND JONAS WAS CONFRONTED BY A CHOICE.

GATES: YOUR ANCESTOR HAD BEEN IN THIS COUNTRY FOR LESS THAN A DECADE.

HOW DO YOU THINK HE RESPONDED?

CARLSON: I HAVE NO IDEA.

NOBODY'S EVER TALKED ABOUT IT, AT LEAST, AT LEAST WITH ME.

GATES: WOULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

THIS IS FROM THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES IN WASHINGTON.

IT'S DATED 1865.

CARLSON: WOW.

THAT'S AMAZING.

GATES: CAN YOU READ THE TRANSCRIBED SECTION?

CARLSON: "FIRST MINNESOTA INFANTRY MUSTER ROLL, AKINS, JONAS, PRIVATE, RANK, 27, JOINED FOR SERVICE, FEBRUARY 15, 1865, ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, ONE YEAR."

HMM.

WHY DID NOBODY EVER TELL ME THIS?

I'M LIKE, I'M GONNA CALL MY MOM IMMEDIATELY.

GATES: JONAS WAS ONE OF ROUGHLY 600 SWEDISH-BORN MEN FROM MINNESOTA, WHO SERVED THE UNION, RISKING THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR NEW COUNTRY.

MANY DIDN'T EVEN SPEAK ENGLISH AND THEIR EXPERIENCES ARE LARGELY UNDOCUMENTED.

BUT A RESEARCHER AT THE WATERTOWN HISTORICAL SOCIETY DISCOVERED A SET OF DIARY ENTRIES WRITTEN BY MEN IN JONAS'S REGIMENT, ALLOWING GRETCHEN AN EXTRAORDINARY UP-CLOSE GLIMPSE OF HER ANCESTOR'S WARTIME EXPERIENCE.

CARLSON: "FEBRUARY 13, MONDAY, LEFT FOR MINNEAPOLIS TO ENLIST, LEFT AT 5:00 IN THE MORNING, AJ BROWN, PHILLIP JOHNSON, JP HENDRICKS, JOHN OBERG, JP AKINS. "

WOW.

I MEAN, THAT'S AMAZING THAT YOU WOULD FIND THAT.

GATES: THESE DIARY ENTRIES WERE WRITTEN BY MEN WHO SERVED ALONGSIDE YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER, AND THEY MENTIONED HIM BY NAME.

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?

CARLSON: NO.

GATES: WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE THIS?

CARLSON: NO.

I JUST, I CAN ONLY IMAGINE HOW FEARFUL HE PROBABLY WAS.

OH WOW, AND LOOK, IT SAYS DOWN BELOW, LIKE, "STOOD GUARD, FOUR HOURS, COLD, CHEWED RAISINS."

OH MY GOSH!

GATES: ACCORDING TO THESE DIARIES, AND SUPPORTED BY THE RECORDS OF THE UNION ARMY, JONAS AND HIS REGIMENT WERE SENT TO DEFEND CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE IN THE CLOSING MONTHS OF THE WAR.

THOUGH THEY NEVER SAW COMBAT, THE MEN FACED A MORTAL THREAT JUST THE SAME: DISEASE.

CARLSON: "APRIL 7, HELPED PHILIP TO HOSPITAL, JULY 22ND, WENT TO SEE JONAS AND ANDREW IN HOSPITAL.

JULY 26, SMITH, MATSON, AND HENDRICKS WITH ANDREW ANDERSON WHEN HE DIED, AUGUST 11, PUT BOARD ON ANDREW'S GRAVE."

GATES: MM-HMM.

CARLSON: HMM.

WHAT'D THEY HAVE?

GATES: LIKELY TYPHOID FEVER OR DYSENTERY, AND BOTH WERE POTENTIALLY FATAL.

CARLSON: HMM.

GATES: OVER THE COURSE OF THE WAR, TYPHOID KILLED 35,000 UNION TROOPS.

IN FACT, MORE TROOPS DIED OF DISEASE THAN WERE KILLED IN COMBAT OVER THE WHOLE COURSE OF THE CIVIL WAR.

WHEN JONAS WAS DISCHARGED FROM THE HOSPITAL, HE WEIGHED 94 POUNDS.

CARLSON: WHOA!

GATES: JONAS RETURNED TO MINNESOTA BOWED, BUT UNBROKEN, AND SOON REGAINED HIS HEALTH .

INDEED, HE WOULD GO ON TO HAVE AT LEAST 11 CHILDREN, SURVIVE TWO WIVES, AND BECOME A LEADING CITIZEN OF HIS ADOPTED HOMETOWN.

WE EVEN FOUND A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HIM, PUBLISHED IN 1915 WHEN HE WAS 77 YEARS OLD.

HE WAS A LOCAL CELEBRITY.

DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA?

CARLSON: NO.

GATES: COULD YOU PLEASE READ THE HIGHLIGHTED SECTION?

CARLSON: "A PROSPEROUS FARMER, NOW RETIRED AFTER A LONG CAREER OF USEFUL INDUSTRY. "

"AND ONE OF FOUR SURVIVORS OF A PARTY OF 13 YOUNG MEN WHO ENLISTED FROM WATERTOWN IN THE LAST YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR, A PUBLIC OFFICIAL WHO HAS ACCEPTABLY FILLED SEVERAL LOCAL OFFICES.

HE SERVED SOME YEARS AS CHAIRMAN OF THE TOWNSHIP BOARD, AND IN 1870 WAS ELECTED COUNTY COMMISSIONER, SERVING ONE TERM. "

HMM.

NOBODY EVER TALKED ABOUT THIS.

GATES: INTERESTING.

CARLSON: YEAH.

I CAN HARDLY WAIT TO SHOW MY MOM THIS.

GATES: WHAT'S IT BEEN LIKE TO HEAR HIS STORY?

CARLSON: I'M PROUD THAT HE WAS MY RELATIVE.

GATES: UH-HUH.

CARLSON: AND WELL, I'M ESPECIALLY PROUD THAT HE FOUGHT IN THE CIVIL WAR AND THAT HE, ESPECIALLY NOT EVEN BEING BORN IN AMERICA, TOOK ON THAT CHARGE.

GATES: HE DID INDEED.

CARLSON: AND IT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE THAT FIRE IN MY BELLY THAT'S THERE EVERY DAY IS THERE FOR A REASON.

GATES: HMM.

IT COMES FROM SOMEWHERE.

CARLSON: AND IT PROVES, NOW, THAT, UH, THERE WAS A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF TENACITY IN MY FAMILY, I MEAN, THAT THEY FOUGHT.

THEY FOUGHT FOR A BETTER LIFE, AND IN SOME CASES ACTUALLY FOUGHT FOR THE COUNTRY.

GATES: RIGHT?

THEY CAME TO KEEP THE UNION TOGETHER AND TO FREE A WHOLE BUNCH OF PEOPLE WHO DEFINITELY DID NOT LOOK LIKE THEM.

CARLSON: RIGHT.

I LOVE THAT.

GATES: WE HAD ALREADY EXPLORED DON LEMON'S FATHER'S ROOTS, INTRODUCING HIM TO ANCESTORS WHOSE VERY NAMES HAD BEEN A MYSTERY TO HIM.

NOW, TURNING TO HIS MOTHER'S SIDE OF HIS FAMILY TREE, WE FOUND OURSELVES CONFRONTING A DIFFERENT KIND OF MYSTERY.

IT BEGAN WITH DON'S MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER, MARY HENRIETTA JACKSON.

DON SPENT A GREAT DEAL OF TIME WITH MARY DURING HIS CHILDHOOD, AND HE VIVIDLY RECALLS HOW HER LIGHT SKIN PROVOKED BOTH COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS.

LEMON: I MEAN, IT'S THE SOUTH, IN, IN THE 1970S.

GATES: MM-HMM.

LEMON: I DON'T REALLY NEED TO EXPLAIN.

GATES: NO.

LEMON: I MEAN, BUT PEOPLE WOULD SEE MY GRANDMOTHER AND ME AND THEY WOULD WONDER WHY THIS WHITE LADY WAS WALKING WITH THIS BLACK KID?

GATES: HOW DID YOUR GRANDMOTHER IDENTIFY?

BLACK?

WHITE?

CREOLE?

MULATTO?

WHAT?

LEMON: WE NEVER REALLY KNEW THAT, HER COMPLETE RACIAL MAKEUP.

GATES: MM-HMM.

LEMON: BUT SHE IDENTIFIED AS A BLACK WOMAN.

SHE LOVED BLACK MEN.

SHE'D ALWAYS SAY, THE BLACKER THE BERRY, THE SWEETER THE JUICE.

GATES: MARY'S COLORING WAS A DIRECT REFLECTION OF HER PARENTS RACIAL IDENTITIES.

SHE WAS BORN AROUND 1914 IN THE DEPTHS OF THE JIM CROW ERA AT THE TIME HER MOTHER, CATHERINE JACKSON, WAS A WORKER AT A LOUISIANA SUGARCANE PLANTATION, AND HER FATHER, HARRY RIVAULT, WAS A WHITE MAN WHO SERVED AS AN OVERSEER ON THE PLANTATION.

THEY NEVER MARRIED, AND THE PAIR HAVE LONG BEEN A SOURCE OF SPECULATION WITHIN DON'S FAMILY.

GATES: HOW DO YOU IMAGINE THEIR RELATIONSHIP?

HE WAS AN OVERSEER ON THAT PLANTATION.

LEMON: SO, THERE WAS A POWER IMBALANCE.

GATES: MM-HMM.

LEMON: I WOULD LIKE TO THINK, I DON'T KNOW, BUT I'D LIKE TO THINK THAT THERE WAS SOME LOVE.

I'D LIKE TO THINK THAT, BUT THE POSSIBILITY, I DON'T KNOW.

THE, THE STORY IS, IS THAT HE LOVED HER, AND MAYBE THAT'S WHAT THEY TOLD US THAT, OR US THEMSELVES TO FEEL BETTER, AND THEY COULDN'T BE TOGETHER, SO HE HAD A TERRIBLE LIFE.

HE ENDED UP TAKING HIS LIFE, I HEARD.

GATES: RECORDS INDICATE THAT HARRY DID, INDEED, TAKE HIS OWN LIFE, AND THAT CATHERINE DIED YOUNG, LEAVING THE DETAILS OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP UNKNOWABLE.

NEVERTHELESS, THERE'S NO QUESTION THAT THERE WAS "POWER IMBALANCE" BETWEEN THE TWO.

AND WHEN WE FOCUSED ON THEIR ROOTS, WE SAW THAT IMBALANCE REFLECTED IN THE PAPER TRAIL, AS WE WERE ABLE TO TRACE HARRY BACK TO THE EARLY 1700S, INTRODUCING DON TO A HOST OF WHITE ANCESTORS, INCLUDING HIS 6TH GREAT-GRANDFATHER, A MAN NAMED JOHN BROWN, WHO HELPED SETTLE THE STATE OF KENTUCKY.

THESE ARE YOUR BLOOD ANCESTORS.

JUST AS SURELY AS THE, THE ANCESTORS ON YOUR FATHER'S SIDE.

THIS IS YOUR FAMILY.

LEMON: OH MY GOD.

GATES: WHAT'S IT LIKE TO HAVE THIS KNOWLEDGE?

LEMON: LISTEN, WE KNEW SOMETHING WAS UP WITH THE WAY MY GRANDMOTHER LOOKED AND, BUT WE WEREN'T SURE OF HER ETHNICITY AND ALL OF THAT, BUT WE COME FROM, LISTEN, WE ALL COME FROM SOMETHING, AND THE WHOLE IDEA ABOUT RACE, YES, IT IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE PEOPLE OWNED SLAVES, AND WE HAVE THE, THAT TERRIBLE HISTORY OF SLAVERY, BUT WE'RE MORE MIXED, ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTH, THAN ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO BELIEVE.

GATES: OH YEAH, THERE'S NO QUESTION.

DON WAS ABOUT TO SEE THAT HIS MOTHER'S FAMILY WAS EVEN MORE "MIXED" THAN HE'D EVER IMAGINED.

RETURNING TO HIS GRANDMOTHER, WE FOLLOWED HER ROOTS BACK TWO GENERATIONS TO A WOMAN NAMED CATHERINE WOODS.

CATHERINE IS DON'S 3RD GREAT-GRANDMOTHER.

SHE WAS BORN INTO SLAVERY IN LOUISIANA SOMETIME AROUND 1850.

TRYING TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HER, AND HER FAMILY, WE UNCOVERED A SLAVE SCHEDULE IN THE 1860 CENSUS, LISTING THE HUMAN BEINGS OWNED BY A BATON ROUGE PLANTER WHO SHARED HER SURNAME JAMES C. WOODS.

THE SLAVES IN THIS SCHEDULE ARE NOT RECORDED BY NAME, ONLY BY AGE, GENDER AND COLOR, BUT THERE WAS A CHANCE THAT DON'S ANCESTORS WERE AMONG THEM, WHICH COMPELLED A POWERFUL REALIZATION.

LEMON: PROPERTY.

CHATTEL.

OUR HISTORY HAS BEEN ERASED.

IT'S AS IF MY ANCESTORS DIDN'T EXIST.

GATES: DIDN'T EXIST AS PEOPLE.

LEMON: THEY WEREN'T, AS PEOPLE.

GATES: THEY EXISTED AS PROPERTY.

LEMON: AS PROPERTY.

GATES: NOW, REMEMBER, THIS RECORD WAS CREATED IN 1860, SO CATHERINE WOULD HAVE BEEN BETWEEN SEVEN AND 11 YEARS OLD RIGHT?

LEMON: MM-HMM.

GATES: SO, DO YOU SEE ANY FEMALE SLAVES WHO WERE AROUND CATHERINE'S AGE ON THE DOCUMENT IN FRONT OF YOU?

LEMON: THIS RIGHT HERE, RIGHT?

"TWO FEMALES, AGE EIGHT."

WOW.

GATES: WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE THAT OR EVEN THINK ABOUT IT AS A POSSIBILITY?

LEMON: I CAN'T EVEN THINK RIGHT NOW.

THIS IS SERIOUSLY THIS IS BLOWING MY MIND.

GATES: ON THEIR OWN, THERE IS NO WAY TO TELL IF ONE OF THE MARKS ON THIS SCHEDULE ACTUALLY REPRESENTS CATHERINE OR ANY OTHER MEMBER OF DON'S FAMILY, BUT WE SOON FOUND EVIDENCE THAT ERASED ALL DOUBTS.

IN 1858, JAMES C. WOODS' WIFE PASSED AWAY, AND THE ESTATE RECORDS FILED IN THE WAKE OF HER DEATH LIST AN ENSLAVED GIRL NAMED CATHERINE AS WELL AS HER MOTHER AND HER SIBLINGS.

LEMON: "M. SHANNON DEPARTED THIS LIFE, LEAVING AN ESTATE COMPOSED OF LAND, SLAVES, AND MOVABLES, SITUATED IN THIS PARISH, THE FOLLOWING NAMED SLAVES, MARIA, AGED 30, HER FOUR CHILDREN, CATHERINE, SIX, MARY, FOUR, ELIZA, TWO, AND AN INFANT, AT $1,800."

THAT WAS THEIR WORTH?

GATES: RIGHT.

LEMON: THIS WAS THEIR SLAVES.

THAT IS, THAT'S MY FAMILY.

(CRIES).

THAT'S WHERE I CAME FROM.

$1800.

HUH.

GATES: THOUGH THIS NUMBER REFLECTS A TRAGIC REALITY, THAT REALITY WOULD CHANGE.

THE CIVIL WAR BROUGHT AN END TO SLAVERY, AND IN THE 1870 CENSUS, WE FOUND CATHERINE LIVING IN FREEDOM WITH HER HUSBAND MOSES AND THEIR INFANT SON JAMES.

THAT FIRST NAME, OF COURSE, IS THE SAME AS CATHERINE'S FORMER OWNER'S NAME, JAMES C. WOODS, AND WE WONDERED IF THERE MIGHT BE A CONNECTION.

WE DISCOVERED WHAT SEEMED LIKE A CLUE FROM THE DEATH CERTIFICATES OF TWO OF CATHERINE'S SIBLINGS, HER BROTHER WILLIAM WOODS AND HER SISTER CHERRY JOHNSON.

LEMON: "CHERRY JOHNSON.

NAME OF FATHER, JIM WOODS."

GATES: GUESS WHAT, JAMES.

LEMON: THE PLANTATION OWNER IS THEIR DAD.

GATES: THE PLANTATION OWNER IS THEIR DAD.

BOTH CHERRY AND WILLIAM ARE CATHERINE'S YOUNGER SIBLINGS, AND ACCORDING TO THESE RECORDS, A MAN NAMED JIM WOODS WAS THEIR FATHER.

AND GUESS WHAT?

THERE'S NO DOUBT THAT THIS JIM WOODS WAS JAMES C. BECAUSE HE WAS THE ONLY JAMES OR JIM IN THE WHOLE PARISH IN 1860, AND THERE WERE NONE TEN YEARS LATER IN 1870, BECAUSE BY THEN HE HAD MOVED TO MISSISSIPPI.

AND SO OF COURSE, WE WONDERED IF CATHERINE MIGHT HAVE BEEN JAMES' CHILD AS WELL.

RIGHT?

LEMON: MM-HMM.

GATES: THAT WOULD BE A REASONABLE THING TO WONDER ABOUT.

NOW, JUST BECAUSE SOMEBODY PUTS IT ON THEIR DEATH CERTIFICATE THAT SOMEBODY IS THEIR DADDY DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY'RE THEIR DADDY.

LEMON: TRUE.

GATES: SO, WE WANTED TO BE DOUBLE SURE, SO WE TURNED TO D-N-A.

WOULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

LEMON: OH, LORD HAVE MERCY.

OH MY GOSH, NO WAY!

GATES: WHEN WE LOOKED AT DON'S DNA, WE FOUND A DISTANT MATCH TO A DESCENDANT OF JAMES C. WOODS, AND WHEN WE TESTED DON'S MOTHER, GOING ONE GENERATION FURTHER BACK IN TIME, WE FOUND A MUCH STRONGER MATCH, INDICATING THAT DON IS ALMOST CERTAINLY A DESCENDANT OF THE WHITE MAN WHO OWNED HIS MATERNAL ANCESTORS, THE SAME MAN WHO VALUED DON'S RELATIVES AT $1800.

LEMON: WELL, I'LL BE DAMNED.

GATES: NOW, DON, YOU'RE GOING TO BE PROCESSING THIS FOR A LONG, LONG TIME.

BUT I HAVE TO ASK YOU: WHAT ARE YOU FEELING RIGHT NOW?

LEMON: IT'S WEIRD.

IT'S ALMOST LIKE WHEN YOU'RE DELIVERED, YOU KNOW, BAD NEWS, NOT THAT THIS IS BAD NEWS, OR YOU'RE IN AN ACCIDENT AND EVERYTHING JUST KIND OF GOES OUT OF FOCUS.

GATES: OH, YEAH.

LEMON: YOU'RE LIKE, OH, WAIT, WHAT'S HAPPENING?

GATES: YEAH.

LEMON: AND I, FOR YOU, I'M SURE YOU SEE THESE REACTIONS ALL THE TIME, SO MAYBE YOU'RE USED TO THEM, BUT EVEN, EVEN THAT THEY WERE PROPERTY, THAT'S, OKAY, THAT'S FINE.

GATES: RIGHT.

LEMON: BUT THAT $1,800 FOR ME IS A MOTIVATOR.

GATES: MM-HMM.

LEMON: I'VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING THAT MAKES THEIR, THAT HONORS THEIR MEMORY.

GATES: MM-HMM.

LEMON: AND THAT GIVES VALUE TO OTHERS LIKE THAT BEFORE I LEAVE THIS EARTH.

GATES: MM-HMM.

LEMON: THAT'S WHAT THIS DOES TO ME.

GATES: WE HAD ALREADY TRACED GRETCHEN CARLSON'S MOTHER'S ROOTS BACK TO 19TH CENTURY SWEDEN, AND WHILE HER FATHER IS ALSO OF SWEDISH DESCENT, HIS STORY BEGINS IN A PLACE THAT IS QUINTESSENTIALLY AMERICAN.

"MAIN MOTOR", A CAR DEALERSHIP IN ANOKA, MINNESOTA, THAT WAS FOUNDED BY GRETCHEN'S GRANDFATHER AND BECAME A TRUE FAMILY BUSINESS.

CARLSON: SO, I WORKED AT MAIN MOTOR.

GATES: MMM-HMM.

CARLSON: AND FROM A, FROM A YOUNG AGE, I ANSWERED THE PHONES.

GATES: OH, WOW.

CARLSON: MAIN MOTOR, CHEVROLET CADILLAC.

I STILL HAVE IT INGRAINED IN ME.

GATES: WHILE IT MAY BE DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE GRETCHEN WORKING AT A CAR DEALERSHIP, SHE CREDITS THE EXPERIENCE WITH FUNDAMENTALLY HELPING TO SHAPE THE PERSON SHE HAS BECOME TODAY.

AND HER ADMIRATION FOR HER FATHER, WHO RAN THE BUSINESS FOR DECADES, IS PALPABLE.

CARLSON: SO, MY DAD DID EVERY SINGLE JOB AT THE DEALERSHIP, YOU KNOW?

GATES: UH-HUH.

CARLSON: MY GRANDFATHER BROUGHT HIM UP THROUGH THE RANKS IN THE RIGHT WAY, UH, ACTUALLY, IT'S, IT'S A REALLY GOOD LESSON FOR ANY INDUSTRY THAT YOU DECIDE TO GO IN.

LIKE, FOR ME, IN TV, I KNOW EVERY SINGLE JOB 'CAUSE I DID EVERY SINGLE ONE.

GATES: RIGHT.

CARLSON: SO, THEREFORE, YOU APPRECIATE ALL OF THE PEOPLE THAT IT TAKES TO PUT TOGETHER A PRODUCTION, 'CAUSE YOU'VE DONE IT ALL.

YOU'RE LIKE, OH, YEAH, THE PHOTOGRAPHER, I'VE DONE THAT, AND THE EDITOR OVER HERE, AND THE WRITER OVER HERE, AND SAME THING FOR MY DAD.

GATES: HMM.

CARLSON: AND GOSH, I REMEMBER WHEN I WOULD WORK UP THERE AND SOME ANGRY CUSTOMER WOULD COME IN, AND THEIR SALESPERSON WASN'T THERE OR SOMETHING, AND THEY WOULD DEMAND TO SEE LEE CARLSON.

THEY WANTED TO SEE THE OWNER OF THE PLACE, AND I'M LIKE, OH GOSH, I GOT TO CALL.

I'D BE LIKE, DAD, THERE'S SOMEBODY REALLY MAD DOWN HERE, YOU KNOW?

AND I WOULD WATCH HIM.

HE'D COME DOWN THE STAIRS, AND HE WOULD SHAKE THEIR HAND, AND HE WOULD HANDLE IT.

THEY WOULD YELL, AND HE WOULD BE SO GRACIOUS ABOUT IT, AND YOU KNOW WHAT?

THEY ALMOST ALWAYS LEFT PLEASED.

GATES: MAIN MOTOR WAS OWNED BY THE CARLSON FAMILY FOR OVER A CENTURY, A LEVEL OF STABILITY THAT'S RARE FOR ANY BUSINESS.

BUT, SURPRISINGLY, AS WE SET OUT TO EXPLORE THE ROOTS OF THE MAN WHO STARTED IT ALL, GRETCHEN'S GRANDFATHER, LEROY CARLSON, WE ENCOUNTERED A FAMILY THAT EXPERIENCED VERY LITTLE STABILITY.

LEROY'S FATHER WAS A MAN NAMED FRANK CARLSON.

ACCORDING TO CENSUS RECORDS FOR SAINT CHARLES, ILLINOIS, HE WAS LIVING WITH HIS WIFE ANNA AND THEIR TWO YOUNG SONS IN 1900.

WITHIN A DECADE, THE COUPLE HAD TWO MORE SONS, BUT FRANK WAS GONE.

SO SOMETIME BETWEEN 1900 AND 1910, HE MOVED OUT.

CARLSON: HUH.

GATES: WE FOUND NO EVIDENCE THAT HE LIVED WITH ANNA OR HIS CHILDREN EVER AGAIN.

YOUR GRANDFATHER, LEROY, GREW UP IN A BROKEN HOME.

DID YOU KNOW THAT?

CARLSON: NO.

HMM.

I WONDER IF MY DAD EVEN KNOWS THAT.

GATES: HMM.

CARLSON: I'LL HAVE TO ASK HIM, 'CAUSE I KNOW HE WAS VERY... GATES: I MEAN... CARLSON: MY GRANDFATHER WAS A VERY, UH, PRIVATE PERSON.

GATES: UH-HUH.

CARLSON: I KNOW THAT MUCH ABOUT HIM.

GATES: WELL, OF COURSE, THIS ALSO MEANS THAT YOUR GREAT-GRANDMOTHER WAS RAISING THE CHILDREN ON HER OWN, AND THE FAMILY NEVER TALKED ABOUT THAT?

CARLSON: UH-UH.

GATES: EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN WERE LIMITED IN EARLY 20TH CENTURY AMERICA, BUT THAT DIDN'T STOP GRETCHEN'S GREAT-GRANDMOTHER.

IN HER HUSBAND'S ABSENCE, ANNA OPENED A BOARDING HOUSE, AND RAN IT OUT OF HER OWN HOME, A HOME THAT SHE EVENTUALLY PURCHASED.

CARLSON: WELL, NOW I KNOW WHERE MY GRANDFATHER GOT HIS ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT.

GATES: YOU GOT IT.

ANNA RAISED FOUR KIDS AS A SINGLE MOM, STARTED HER OWN BUSINESS, AND MANAGED TO BUY HER OWN HOME.

SHE MUST'VE BEEN QUITE A PERSON.

CARLSON: I LOVE HER.

I DON'T KNOW HER, BUT I LOVE HER.

GATES: SO, THERE WAS A MYSTERY HERE.

WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR GRANDFATHER'S FATHER, FRANK CARLSON?

CARLSON: I DON'T KNOW.

GATES: SO, WE SET OUT TO FIND OUT.

CARLSON: OKAY.

GATES: COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

THIS IS ANOTHER PART OF THE 1910 CENSUS FOR ST. CHARLES.

WHO DO YOU SEE THERE?

CARLSON: "FRANK A. CARLSON. "

GATES: THAT'S YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

CAN YOU TELL ME WITH WHOM HE WAS LIVING, ANY OTHER CARLSON'S?

CARLSON: NOPE.

GATES: FRANK IS THE SOLE MEMBER OF THE HOUSEHOLD.

FRANK DIDN'T RUN OFF WITH ANOTHER WOMAN, AS YOU MIGHT'VE WONDERED.

CARLSON: HMM.

GATES: IN 1910, HE WAS LIVING BY HIMSELF AND WORKING AS A TAILOR, WHICH BECAME HIS LIFELONG OCCUPATION.

IN FACT, AS FAR AS WE CAN TELL, HE WAS BASICALLY ON HIS OWN FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE.

HE REMAINED IN ST. CHARLES UNTIL HIS DEATH.

WE DON'T KNOW HOW OFTEN HE SAW HIS CHILDREN, BUT THEY WERE LIVING NEARBY.

SO, WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THIS STORY, ANY IDEA WHAT DROVE YOUR GREAT-GRANDPARENTS APART?

CARLSON: NOPE.

NOT AT ALL, BUT THAT'S, I MEAN, I JUST FIND IT, I FIND IT VERY INTERESTING THAT WE'VE NEVER DISCUSSED THIS AT ALL.

GATES: YEAH.

CARLSON: I WONDER IF MY DAD KNOWS.

GATES: YEAH.

I WONDER.

CARLSON: I'LL FIND OUT.

GATES: WE CAN'T BE CERTAIN WHAT MOTIVATED FRANK, BUT IN THE ILLINOIS STATE ARCHIVES, WE FOUND A TELLING DETAIL ON HIS DEATH CERTIFICATE.

CARLSON: OH, "CHRONIC ALCOHOLISM, HEPATIC CIRRHOSIS. "

GATES: YEAH.

YEAH.

SO, YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS.

CARLSON: YEAH.

GATES: FRANK DIED OF A KIDNEY AND PROSTATE INFECTION WHEN HE WAS 71, BUT AS YOU COULD SEE, HE HAD SERIOUS LIVER DAMAGE CAUSED BY ALCOHOLISM.

CARLSON: I MEAN, I'M NOT SURPRISED BY THAT, UNFORTUNATELY.

BUT IT WAS NEVER DISCUSSED.

I, I KNOW THAT... GATES: OH, YEAH?

CARLSON: YEAH.

GATES: WELL, WHAT IMPACT DO YOU THINK IT HAD ON YOUR GRANDFATHER TO HAVE A FATHER WHO WAS LARGELY ABSENT FROM HIS LIFE AND CLEARLY HAD A DRINKING PROBLEM?

CARLSON: YEAH.

GATES: YEAH.

CARLSON: WELL, THAT HE HAD TO LEARN HOW TO SURVIVE ON HIS OWN, AND HE OBVIOUSLY HAD A STRONG MOTHER.

GATES: RIGHT.

CARLSON: WHO, I HOPE, STEERED HIM IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

GATES: SHE WAS TOUGH.

CARLSON: YEAH, BUT HE DID.

HE HAD A, HE HAD A LOT OF FAILED BUSINESSES IN THE BEGINNING, TOO.

GATES: HE DID.

CARLSON: AND SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK HE, HE ALSO LEARNED TO PERSEVERE BECAUSE HE PROBABLY, MAYBE HE WAS USED TO IT AS A CHILD?

GATES: UH-HUH.

CARLSON: YEAH, I MEAN SOMETIMES ADVERSITY MAKES YOU INTO A STRONGER PERSON.

GATES: THERE WAS A GRACE NOTE TO THIS STORY.

AS WE COMBED THROUGH THE HANDFUL OF RECORDS WE COULD FIND RELATING TO FRANK AND ANNA, WE DISCOVERED THE NAMES OF FRANK'S PARENTS ON THEIR MARRIAGE LICENSE.

THIS ALLOWED US TO TRACE GRETCHEN'S DIRECT PATERNAL ROOTS BACK TO THE SAME REGION OF SWEDEN WHERE WE'D FOUND HER MATERNAL ANCESTORS: SMALAND, A COASTAL PROVINCE, WHERE SOME OF HER RELATIVES LIKELY LIVED DATING BACK TO THE MIDDLE AGES.

ISN'T THAT AMAZING?

CARLSON: IT IS AMAZING.

IT MAKES ME FEEL GOOD TO KNOW THAT IF I GO TO SWEDEN, IT WON'T BE VERY DIFFICULT TO SEE ALL THE PLACES WHERE THEY WERE, YOU KNOW?

GATES: MM-HMM.

CARLSON: I'LL JUST BE ABLE TO GO TO THAT ONE PLACE, AND BE ABLE TO MAYBE EVEN MEET SOME RELATIVES THAT ARE STILL THERE.

GATES: YEAH.

CARLSON: AND UH, THIS IS JUST SO WONDERFUL BECAUSE NOW I HAVE THIS INFORMATION TO BE ABLE TO SHARE WITH MY PARENTS WHILE THEY'RE STILL HERE, AND WITH MY SIBLINGS, AND WITH MY CHILDREN.

GATES: AND NONE OF THESE PEOPLE WILL EVER BE LOST AGAIN.

CARLSON: RIGHT.

GATES: NONE.

CARLSON: AND THAT'S THE BEST PART.

GATES: THE PAPER TRAIL HAD NOW RUN OUT FOR DON AND GRETCHEN.

IT WAS TIME TO LEARN WHAT GENETIC ANALYSIS COULD TELL US ABOUT THEIR DISTANT ANCESTRY.

BOTH WOULD SEE THAT THEY'RE FAR MORE DIVERSE THAN THEY EVER IMAGINED.

LEMON: 75.1% AFRICAN.

GATES: MM-HMM.

LEMON: 22.7% EUROPEAN.

GATES: RIGHT.

SO YOU ARE ALMOST A QUARTER EUROPEAN DESCENT, ALMOST A QUARTER OF YOUR ANCESTRY IS WHITE.

LEMON: WHITE.

GATES: WE COULD SEE THAT MATCHES ON YOUR FAMILY TREE.

LEMON: IT MATCHES ON THE TREE.

GATES: BECAUSE YOU HAVE ALL THESE WHITE ANCESTORS.

LEMON: RIGHT.

WELL, I'LL BE DAMNED.

GATES: GRETCHEN'S DIVERSITY WAS NOT AS PRONOUNCED AS DON'S, BUT PERHAPS MORE SURPRISING: SHE'S NOT 100% SWEDISH.

SHE'S 30% NORWEGIAN, AND 1% FINNISH.

CARLSON: WAIT, THERE, OH MY GOSH.

I WISH MY GRANDFATHER WAS HERE TO TELL HIM.

HE WOULD, HE WOULD NOT LIKE TO SEE THAT.

JUST KIDDING.

JUST KIDDING.

GATES: THESE RESULTS ARE LIKELY EXPLAINED BY THE FACT THAT SWEDEN, NORWAY, AND FINLAND SHARE BORDERS AND HAVE TRADED WITH EACH OTHER FOR CENTURIES.

EVEN SO, BOTH OF MY GUESTS HAD NOW SEEN THEIR CHROMOSOMES EXPAND ON WHAT WE'D FOUND IN THE PAPER TRAIL, PROVOKING EACH TO REFLECT ON THE DEEPER MEANINGS OF THE JOURNEYS WE'D SHARED.

LEMON: IT'S LIKE A BURDEN BEING LIFTED, BUT IT'S ALSO, IT'S LIKE A, IT GIVES YOU, LIKE, A SENSE OF PRIDE.

LIKE, YOU KNOW WHERE YOU COME FROM AT LEAST, BECAUSE FOR THE LONGEST I HAD NO IDEA.

I JUST KNEW MY GRANDMOTHER.

GATES: SURE.

LEMON: THAT'S IT.

AND THEN I LOOK AT THIS AND THE STRUGGLES AND ALL OF THE BLOCKS AND HINDRANCES AND EVERYTHING THAT THESE PEOPLE WENT THROUGH, THE TRAGEDY, AND THE RACISM, AND ALL OF THAT, AND THEY STILL SURVIVE, AND I'M HERE.

GATES: YEAH.

LEMON: IT GIVES ME PEACE.

GATES: FINAL QUESTION, IN LIGHT OF EVERYTHING THAT WE'VE DISCUSSED TODAY, WHAT DO YOU THINK MAKES US WHO WE ARE, OUR NUCLEAR FAMILY, OUR EXPERIENCES, UH, OUR DNA, WHAT?

CARLSON: I THINK IT'S A COMBINATION OF ALL OF THE THINGS, BUT I, I DO BELIEVE THAT CERTAIN TRAITS ARE PASSED ALONG FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION, AND I THINK IN MY FAMILY TREE, WE'VE, WE'VE SEEN THAT.

GATES: IT'S LIKE LEITMOTIFS IN A COMPOSITION.

CARLSON: THAT'S A GOOD WAY TO PUT IT.

I'LL STEAL THAT!

I ALWAYS KNEW THAT THIS WAS HOW I WAS RAISED, BUT NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY.

GATES: THAT'S THE END OF OUR SEARCH FOR THE ANCESTORS OF GRETCHEN CARLSON AND DON LEMON.

JOIN ME NEXT TIME AS WE UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF THE PAST FOR NEW GUESTS ON ANOTHER EPISODE OF "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".