
Finding Your Roots
To the Manor Born
Season 7 Episode 1 | 52m 11sVideo has Closed Captions
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. discovers the lineages that claim Glenn Close and John Waters.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. discovers the privileged lineages that claim actor Glenn Close and director John Waters as descendants, introducing ancestors who are as bold and independent as they are.
Corporate support for Season 11 of FINDING YOUR ROOTS WITH HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR. is provided by Gilead Sciences, Inc., Ancestry® and Johnson & Johnson. Major support is provided by...
Finding Your Roots
To the Manor Born
Season 7 Episode 1 | 52m 11sVideo has Closed Captions
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. discovers the privileged lineages that claim actor Glenn Close and director John Waters as descendants, introducing ancestors who are as bold and independent as they are.
How to Watch Finding Your Roots
Finding Your Roots is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
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A new season of Finding Your Roots is premiering January 7th! Stream now past episodes and tune in to PBS on Tuesdays at 8/7 for all-new episodes as renowned scholar Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. guides influential guests into their roots, uncovering deep secrets, hidden identities and lost ancestors.Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipGATES: I'M HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.
WELCOME TO "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".
IN THIS EPISODE, WE'LL EXPLORE THE ANCESTRY OF ACTOR GLENN CLOSE AND FILM DIRECTOR JOHN WATERS.
TWO AMERICAN ICONS WHO'VE TURNED THEIR FAMILY TRADITIONS UPSIDE DOWN... CLOSE: I'VE ALWAYS FELT THAT TO CREATE ART, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A SENSE OF OUTRAGE.
GATES: MM-HMM.
CLOSE: AND IT FUELS YOU.
WATERS: I WAS REBELLING FROM EVERYTHING THEY BELIEVED IN AND IT WAS PUBLIC.
I DIDN'T GET GOOD REVIEWS.
I GOT ARRESTED FOR MAKING A MOVIE...
SO YEAH, WHAT PARENT WOULD BE PROUD THEIR KID MADE "PINK FLAMINGOS"?
NONE REALLY.
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.
CLOSE: WOW!
GATES: WHILE DNA EXPERTS UTILIZED THE LATEST ADVANCES IN GENETIC ANALYSIS TO REVEAL SECRETS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD...
WATERS: IT'S STUPEFYING.
GATES: AND WE'VE COMPILED IT ALL INTO A BOOK OF LIFE... GATES: COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?
CLOSE: I'M SCARED!
GATES: A RECORD OF ALL OUR DISCOVERIES...
WATERS: I KNEW SOMEONE HAD TO BE CRAZY IN OUR FAMILY.
IT'S KIND OF DRAMATIC THOUGH, IT SOUNDS LIKE A MOVIE SCENE I'D WRITE.
CLOSE: JOHN S. WORRALL IS CHARGED WITH FORNICATION.
I LIKE HIM.
GATES: MY GUESTS ARE BOTH INDEPENDENT SPIRITS, ARTISTS WHO BLAZED THEIR OWN TRAILS.
AND THEY ARE BOTH IN FOR A SURPRISE.
IN THIS EPISODE, THEY'RE GOING TO SEE THAT THEIR FAMILY STORIES HAVE BEEN DEEPLY WOVEN INTO THE FABRIC OF THIS COUNTRY, AND THAT THEIR ANCESTORS HELPED SHAPE AMERICA FROM ITS VERY BEGINNINGS... (THEME MUSIC PLAYS).
♪ ♪ (OVERLAPPING CHATTER) GATES: GLENN CLOSE IS A LIVING LEGEND... ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED ACTORS OF HER GENERATION AND THE CREATOR OF SOME OF THE MOST INDELIBLE CHARACTERS IN MY MEMORY.
BUT GLENN'S OWN STORY IS FAR MORE DRAMATIC THAN ANY OF HER CREATIONS.
WHEN SHE WAS SEVEN YEARS OLD, HER PARENTS JOINED A RELIGIOUS GROUP CALLED "MORAL RE-ARMAMENT" AND MOVED THEIR FAMILY TO THE GROUP'S HEADQUARTERS IN SWITZERLAND.
YOUNG GLENN SUDDENLY FOUND HERSELF IN WHAT SHE DESCRIBES AS A CULT.
WHAT DO YOU THINK MADE YOUR PARENTS DO THAT?
CLOSE: IT'S COMPLICATED.
I THINK THEY GOT, YOU KNOW, THEY GOT MARRIED WHEN THEY WERE 18, MY DAD WENT OFF TO THE WAR.
GATES: MM-HMM.
CLOSE: I THINK HE CAME BACK CHANGED.
GATES: MM-HMM.
CLOSE: AND I THINK THEY HAD A ROUGH TIME.
GATES: MMM.
CLOSE: AND SO THIS GROUP KIND OF SWOOPED IN AND SUCKED THEM UP.
GATES: "MORAL RE-ARMAMENT" WOULD SCATTER GLENN'S FAMILY ACROSS THE GLOBE.
HER PARENTS ENDED UP IN WEST AFRICA WHERE HER FATHER, A DOCTOR, PERFORMED MISSIONARY WORK AND PRACTICED MEDICINE.
MEANWHILE, GLENN SPENT HER CHILDHOOD IN A SERIES OF BOARDING SCHOOLS; THEN THE GROUP SENT HER OUT INTO THE WORLD AS PART OF A MUSICAL OUTFIT KNOWN AS "UP WITH PEOPLE".
♪ WHAT COLOR IS GOD'S SKIN?
WHAT COLOR IS GOD'S SKIN ♪♪ THE EXPERIENCE WAS PROFOUNDLY DISORIENTING.
CLOSE: WE WOULD TRAVEL ON GIRLS' BUSES AND BOYS' BUSES.
IT WAS VERY, YOU KNOW, NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE ANY SEX, NOT SUPPOSED TO, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY DO ANYTHING, UH, EXCEPT, YOU KNOW, ADHERE TO WHAT THE GROUP WANTED YOU TO HEAR.
UM, I, I WROTE SONGS FOR THEM, AND UM, PERFORMED.
UM, SO DURING THE DAY WE, WE EITHER WERE TRAVELING OR WE WERE LIVING IN SOMEONE ELSE'S HOME, YOU KNOW, WHEREVER WE WENT.
GATES: WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS IN LIFE AT THIS POINT?
CLOSE: I WANTED TO BE AN ACTRESS.
GATES: MM-HMM.
CLOSE: AND I WAS CAUGHT, YOU KNOW, I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO GET OUT.
GATES: GLENN ULTIMATELY FOUND A SOLUTION ALL ON HER OWN.
WHEN SHE WAS TWENTY-TWO YEARS OLD SHE LEFT "MORAL RE-ARMAMENT" AGAINST HER PARENTS' WISHES... ENROLLED IN WILLIAM & MARY COLLEGE AND BEGAN TO STUDY THEATER.
IN LESS THAN A DECADE, SHE WAS ON BROADWAY...
THE LAUNCH PAD FOR HER REMARKABLE CAREER.
GLENN'S NEVER LOOKED BACK.
THOUGH SHE REMAINS DRIVEN, EVEN NOW, BY MEMORIES FROM HER YOUTH... CLOSE: I'VE ALWAYS FELT, AND MAYBE BECAUSE OF MY EARLY CHILDHOOD IS ONE OF THE REASONS, THAT TO CREATE ART, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A SENSE OF OUTRAGE ABOUT SOMETHING.
GATES: MM-HMM.
CLOSE: AND IT FUELS YOU.
UM, YOU CAN'T HAVE IT STAY NEGATIVE, UM, BECAUSE THAT'S DESTRUCTIVE, BUT THERE'S SOMETHING THAT FUELS THAT ENGINE OF CREATIVITY, AND I THINK MANY OF US HAVE GONE THROUGH THINGS THAT, THAT HAVE PLANTED A SENSE OF OUTRAGE, AND YOU WANT TO CHANGE THINGS, YOU KNOW.
GATES: MY SECOND GUEST IS FILM DIRECTOR JOHN WATERS.
ONE OF THE TRUE VISIONARIES OF INDEPENDENT CINEMA.
LIKE GLENN, JOHN'S UPBRINGING IS REFLECTED IN HIS WORK.
ALMOST ALL OF HIS FILMS ARE SET IN HIS HOMETOWN: BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.
BUT DESPITE WHAT YOU MIGHT IMAGINE, JOHN DIDN'T GROW UP IN ANYTHING SO STRANGE AS A CULT.
QUITE THE CONTRARY.
WATERS: OUR FAMILY LIFE, WE WERE UPPER MIDDLE CLASS.
MY FATHER STARTED HIS OWN BUSINESS.
I LIVED IN A FUNCTIONAL FAMILY.
GATES: WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP?
WATERS: THE FILTHIEST PERSON ALIVE.
NO, I WANTED TO ALWAYS BE WHAT I BECAME.
I KNEW I WAS GOING TO BE IN SHOW BUSINESS AFTER MY PARENTS TOOK ME.
MY UNCLE WHO LIVED IN NEW YORK GOT ME ON THE HOWDY DOODY SHOW WHEN IT WAS AT THE HEIGHT OF WHEN IT WAS THE BIGGEST TELEVISION SHOW IN ALL OF AMERICA.
AND I WAS IN THE PEANUT GALLERY.
GATES: NO KIDDING.
WATERS: AND I REMEMBER SEEING IT ALL AND THINKING IT'S ALL FAKE, IT'S A LIE, BUT I WASN'T DISILLUSIONED.
I THOUGHT THIS IS WHAT I'M GOING TO DO.
I KNOW WHAT I'M GOING TO DO.
I WANT TO BE INSIDE THE MAGIC TRICK.
GATES: JOHN STARTED PURSUING HIS DREAM AT A VERY YOUNG AGE, MAKING HIS FIRST FILM WHEN HE WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL AND STARTING HIS OWN PRODUCTION COMPANY SOON AFTER...
BUT SUCCESS DID NOT COME QUICKLY.
AFTER GETTING KICKED OUT OF COLLEGE, HE SPENT MUCH OF HIS EARLY TWENTIES LIVING WITH HIS PARENTS, MAKING MOVIES THAT CHALLENGED ALMOST ALL BOUNDARIES OF TASTE AND WERE ROUTINELY SAVAGED BY THE PRESS...
IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE WHAT HIS PARENTS MUST HAVE THOUGHT.
WATERS: MY FATHER DIDN'T EVEN SEE THE EARLY ONES.
MY MOTHER DID AND WAS HORRIFIED BY THEM, YOU KNOW.
BUT MY FATHER LEANT ME THE MONEY TO MAKE THEM AND I'D PAY HIM BACK EVERY TIME.
GATES: YOU DID?
WATERS: YEAH.
I THINK HE HOPED I WOULD NEVER PAY HIM BACK BECAUSE THEN HE WOULDN'T GIVE IT TO ME AGAIN AND I'D HAVE TO STOP.
I WOULD PAY HIM BACK WITH INTEREST SOMETIMES.
GATES: OH,YEAH?
WATERS: AND HE WAS SO AMAZED THAT I COULD GET THEM SHOWN THAT FINALLY, AND IT WAS VERY LOVING WHEN I LOOK BACK ON IT.
AFTER I STARTED MAKING "PINK FLAMINGOS" AND IT CAME OUT, WHICH WAS INCREDIBLY NOTORIOUS, HUMILIATED THEM.
I GOT ARRESTED FOR MAKING MONDO TRASHO AT JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY WHERE HE WENT, SHOOTING NUDE MEN.
YOU KNOW, HE WAS REALLY MORTIFIED.
HE STILL LEANT ME THE MONEY AND I WOULD PAY HIM BACK.
I GOT THEM SHOWN AROUND THE COUNTRY AND HE WAS AMAZED AT THAT.
GATES: WHAT DID YOUR FATHER WANT YOU TO BE?
WATERS: HE CERTAINLY DIDN'T WANT ME TO BE WHAT I TURNED OUT TO BE.
GATES: NO.
WATERS: BUT I CAUSED TROUBLE SO EARLY THAT I THINK HE KNEW.
HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT... YOU KNOW, WHAT?
THAT'S WHY THEY APPROVED OF WHAT I DID BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT WHAT ELSE COULD HE DO?
HE'LL BE IN JAIL.
GATES: OF COURSE, JOHN WOULD EVENTUALLY FIND AN AUDIENCE BEYOND HIS WILDEST DREAMS... HIS MOVIES ARE BOTH CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AND BELOVED.
"HAIRSPRAY" IS A CLASSIC.
AND OVER TIME, EVEN HIS PARENTS CAME TO APPRECIATE WHAT HE WAS DOING, GIVING JOHN A SENSE OF DEEP FULFILLMENT...
WATERS: I FEEL COMPLETE DELIGHT THAT SOMEHOW I PULLED THIS OFF.
I BUILT A CAREER ON EVERYBODY HATING ME AND HATING THE MOVIES EXCEPT THE AUDIENCE THAT LIKED IT.
SO, YOU KNOW, I WAS LUCKY.
I WON THE LOTTERY.
I WAS BORN IN A FAMILY THAT OBVIOUSLY HAD MONEY, HAD MENTAL HEALTH, PRETTY MUCH, YOU KNOW, AND WERE ABLE TO DEAL WITH A CHILD THAT WAS BORN PRETTY CRAZY.
GATES: THAT'S RIGHT.
IT WOULD BE TEMPTING TO THINK THAT MY TWO GUESTS SEEMINGLY INVENTED THEMSELVES OUT OF WHOLE CLOTH, MORE OR LESS IN SPITE OF THEIR PARENTS.
NOT TO MENTION ALL THE ANCESTORS WHO CAME BEFORE THEM.
BUT OUR RELATIONSHIP TO OUR FAMILY'S PAST IS ALWAYS MUCH MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT, AS MY GUESTS WERE ABOUT TO DISCOVER.
I STARTED WITH GLENN, AND WITH THE ONE PERSON IN HER FAMILY WHO MOST CLEARLY SHARED HER SENSE OF DRAMA.
HER MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER, ELIZABETH MOORE.
CLOSE: OH, SHE WAS WONDERFUL!
SHE HAD THIS GREAT SPIRIT, AND I, I ONCE MET A LADY SITTING, SITTING WAITING FOR A TRAIN IN GREENWICH, AND THIS LADY, SHE FIGURED OUT WHO MY GRANDMOTHER WAS, AND SHE SAID, SHE KIND OF GOT ALL MISTY, SHE SAID, "OH, BETTY MOORE, SHE KNEW HOW TO ENTER A ROOM."
(LAUGHTER).
GATES: THAT'S GREAT.
GLENN'S AFFECTION FOR HER GRANDMOTHER IS PALPABLE.
SHE REMEMBERS HER AS A LARGER-THAN-LIFE CHARACTER.
GIVEN TO SEANCES, DANCING AND A HOST OF OTHER ECCENTRICITIES.
AND WHEN WE TURNED TO ELIZABETH'S ROOTS, WE ENCOUNTERED ANOTHER OUTSIZED CHARACTER.
PETERA WORRALL, GLENN'S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER, WAS A QUINTESSENTIAL SELF-MADE MAN.
HE ROSE FROM NOTHING TO RUN A DRY GOODS FIRM.
CLOSE: "MR. WORRALL ENTERED THE EMPLOY OF THAT CONCERN AS A MESSENGER BOY IN 1877 AND BY HIS FIDELITY TO BUSINESS, WORKED HIMSELF UP TO THE HEAD OF THE FIRM."
GATES: YEAH.
HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF PETERA WORRALL BEFORE?
CLOSE: NO.
PETERA.
THAT WAS HIS NAME?
GATES: YES.
CLOSE: PETERA.
GATES: WHEN HE DIED IN 1916, HIS ESTATE WAS VALUED AT A MILLION DOLLARS.
DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH A MILLION DOLLARS IN 1916 IS TODAY?
23.6 MILLION BUCKS.
CLOSE: WOW.
AND HE WORKED HIMSELF UP FROM A MESSENGER BOY.
GATES: YOU GOT IT.
DID YOUR GRANDMOTHER EVER TALK ABOUT HIM?
HE WAS HER GRANDFATHER.
CLOSE: NO.
GATES: THOUGH RAGS-TO-RICHES STORIES ARE STAPLES OF AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE, IN REALITY, THEY ARE ACTUALLY QUITE RARE.
VERY FEW PEOPLE RISE UP TO RUN A COMPANY.
AND PETERA"S UNUSUAL ASCENT MAY WELL HAVE BEEN MOTIVATED BY HIS UNUSUAL FAMILY.
HE WAS BORN IN 1844, THE CHILD OF JOHN AND ELIZABETH WORRALL.
AND IN THE ARCHIVES OF SWARTHMORE COLLEGE, JUST OUTSIDE OF PHILADELPHIA, WE NOTICED SOMETHING STRIKING ABOUT THEM.
ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT?
CLOSE: NO.
GATES: THIS IS THE BIRTH RECORD FOR JOHN S. WORRALL, PETERA'S FATHER.
CLOSE: MM-HMM.
GATES: NOW, SWARTHMORE HOLDS THIS VERY BIRTH RECORD FOR A SPECIFIC REASON, IT'S IN THEIR COLLECTION OF QUAKER MONTHLY MEETING RECORDS.
CLOSE: THEY WERE QUAKERS?
GATES: YEAH, YOUR ANCESTORS WERE QUAKERS.
DID YOU KNOW THAT?
CLOSE: NO.
GATES: WHAT'S IT LIKE TO LEARN THAT?
CLOSE: I LIKE IT.
I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW THAT MUCH ABOUT QUAKERS, BUT I KNOW THEY'RE, THEY'RE, THEY'RE PACIFISTS.
I LIKE THAT.
IT MAKES ME FEEL DEEPLY CONNECTED TO THIS COUNTRY.
GATES: THE QUAKERS, ALSO KNOWN AS "THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS", DID INDEED PLAY A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN AMERICAN HISTORY...
IN 1682, THE COLONY OF PENNSYLVANIA WAS FOUNDED AS A QUAKER HAVEN, AND THE RELIGION WOULD GO ON TO INFLUENCE AN ARRAY OF PROGRESSIVE SOCIAL CAUSES... FROM PACIFISM TO FEMINISM.
BUT FOR ALL THEIR FORWARD-LOOKING IMPULSES, THE QUAKERS ALSO DEVELOPED STRICT RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES AND CODES OF CONDUCT, WHICH WOULD HAVE UNFORTUNATE CONSEQUENCES FOR GLENN'S ANCESTORS.
WOULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?
GLENN, THIS IS ANOTHER QUAKER DOCUMENT FROM SWARTHMORE'S ARCHIVES.
(LAUGHTER).
GATES: IT'S DATED 1843.
WOULD YOU MIND READING THE TRANSCRIBED LINES ABOUT YOUR ANCESTOR?
CLOSE: "MIDDLETOWN PREPARATIVE MEETING INFORMED THAT JOHN S. WORRALL IS CHARGED WITH FORNICATION, WHICH CHARGE HE DENIED, AND THAT HE HAS ALSO MARRIED A WOMAN NOT IN MEMBERSHIP WITH FRIENDS BY THE ASSISTANCE OF A MAGISTRATE."
GATES: YEAH.
CLOSE: I LIKE HIM!
GATES: YOUR EYES.
CLOSE: WOW.
GATES: YOUR EYES, IT WAS LIKE A CARTOON.
YOUR EYES WENT DING ON FORNICATION, YOU KNOW?
CLOSE: YES.
RIGHT.
THERE.
SO, HE MARRIED A WOMAN WHO WASN'T A FRIEND, AND.
GATES: YES, AND YOUR ANCESTOR WAS DISOWNED BY HIS OWN QUAKER MEETING FOR DOING THAT.
CLOSE: WELL, I SHARE SOME OF THAT WITH HIM.
GATES: YES.
CLOSE: BEING DISOWNED BY, YOU KNOW, WALKING AWAY FROM.
GATES: YOU GOT IT.
CLOSE: SOMETHING THAT WAS TRYING TO CONTROL YOU.
GATES: JOHN WAS AT LEAST A FIFTH-GENERATION QUAKER, AND HIS RELIGION LIKELY TOUCHED EVERY ASPECT OF HIS LIFE.
BUT HE CAST ALL OF THAT ASIDE WHEN HE CHOSE TO MARRY GLENN'S THIRD GREAT-GRANDMOTHER ELIZABETH.
THE REPERCUSSIONS OF THAT DECISION WERE SEVERE: JOHN WAS NEVER RE-ADMITTED TO THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS...
MOREOVER, IT SEEMS THAT HE AND ELIZABETH HAD PROBLEMS OF THEIR OWN, AS EVIDENCED BY THE 1860 CENSUS.
CLOSE: "JOHN A WORRALL, AGE 48.
OCCUPATION, LABORER.
MARY A, AGE 27, WIFE.
GATES: NOW, HERE IS YOUR THIRD GREAT-GRANDFATHER.
DO YOU NOTICE SOMETHING STRANGE ABOUT THIS RECORD?
CLOSE: UH... GATES: WHAT'S HER NAME?
CLOSE: IT'S ANOTHER WOMAN.
GATES: YES.
IT'S ANOTHER WOMAN.
BY 1860, JOHN WAS NO LONGER MARRIED TO YOUR ANCESTOR ELIZABETH.
WE BELIEVE THAT THEY DIVORCED IN 1850.
CLOSE: SO HE, HE LEFT THEM?
GATES: WELL, THERE HE IS, MARRIED TO ANOTHER WOMAN, WHO IS A YOUNGER WOMAN.
CLOSE: SO HE IS A SEXUAL ANIMAL.
(LAUGHTER).
GATES: WELL, HE'S NOT HERE TO DEFEND HIMSELF, BUT UH, I THINK IT'S REASONABLE TO ASSUME THAT.
(LAUGHTER).
GATES: WHATEVER HIS MOTIVATIONS, JOHN CLEARLY STRUGGLED IN HIS ROMANTIC LIFE AND HE DOES NOT SEEM TO HAVE THRIVED OUTSIDE OF IT.
IN 1860, HIS PERSONAL ESTATE WAS VALUED AT JUST $40.
IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE THAT HE WAS ABLE SUPPORT EVEN ONE FAMILY, MUCH LESS TWO...
WHICH MAKES HIS SON PETERA'S RISE ALL THE MORE IMPRESSIVE.
NOW, WE CAN'T KNOW FOR CERTAIN, BUT WE CAN IMAGINE, IT MUST HAVE BEEN VERY DIFFICULT FOR THE FAMILY AND PETERA CLEARLY FACED HARDSHIP, ECONOMIC HARDSHIP IN HIS CHILDHOOD.
HOW DO YOU THINK THIS TYPE OF EXPERIENCE SHAPES US AS PEOPLE?
CLOSE: OH, PROFOUNDLY.
I MEAN, I JUST... MY, MY IMAGINATION IS LEAPING.
IF, IF HE FELT HIS FATHER HAD, HAD DESERTED HIS MOTHER, LEFT THEM ALONE, HE WOULD FEEL OBLIGATED TO TAKE CARE OF HER.
GATES: MM-HMM.
CLOSE: AS THE MAN OF THE FAMILY.
GATES: MM-HMM.
CLOSE: AND IT PROBABLY REALLY MOTIVATED HIM TO, TO SOMEHOW BE SUCCESSFUL.
GATES: TO FILL THE VOID.
CLOSE: YES.
TO FILL THE VOID.
GATES: YEAH.
AS IT TURNS OUT, THE WORRALLS WERE NOT GLENN'S ONLY ANCESTORS TO HAVE THEIR FORTUNES SHAPED BY RELIGION.
FOLLOWING ANOTHER OF HER MATERNAL LINES, WE CAME TO A MAN NAMED JOHN STRONG, GLENN'S 9TH GREAT-GRANDFATHER.
JOHN WAS BORN IN ENGLAND AROUND 1605.
WHEN HE WAS ROUGHLY THIRTY YEARS OLD, HE BOARDED A SHIP FOR THE NEW WORLD AND ENDED UP AS ONE OF THE FOUNDING MEMBERS OF THE FIRST CHURCH OF NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS.
GATES: HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF FIRST CHURCH IN NORTHAMPTON?
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO NORTHAMPTON?
EVER BEEN TO SMITH COLLEGE?
CLOSE: NO.
I'VE NEVER BEEN TO SMITH.
GATES: WELL, IT WAS A PURITAN CHURCH.
CLOSE: OH, NO.
GATES: YEAH.
CLOSE: OH, NO.
GATES: AND IT WAS FOUNDED IN THE YEAR 1661 BY EIGHT MEN, AND YOUR ANCESTOR WAS ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF THIS CHURCH.
CLOSE: OH, REALLY?
GATES: IN THE YEAR 1661.
CLOSE: SO HE WAS A PURITAN?
GATES: HE WAS A PURITAN.
CLOSE: PURITAN AND QUAKER.
GATES: AND QUAKER!
THE PURITANS, OF COURSE, ARE PERHAPS BEST REMEMBERED FOR THEIR RELIGIOUS SEVERITY.
BUT THEY MADE FUNDAMENTAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO WHAT WOULD BECOME AMERICAN DEMOCRACY... AND GLENN'S ANCESTOR JOHN STRONG WAS A PROMINENT MEMBER OF THEIR COMMUNITY; BOTH AS A POLITICIAN AND A CHURCH LEADER.
MOREOVER, HE AND HIS WIFE, A WOMAN NAMED ABIGAIL FORD, LEFT BEHIND AN AMAZING PERSONAL LEGACY...
TOGETHER, YOUR ANCESTORS JOHN AND ABIGAIL, HAD 17 CHILDREN.
CLOSE: SEVENTEEN?
GATES: SEVENTEEN CHILDREN.
YOU KNOW, IT WAS ONLY A COUPLE WAYS TO KEEP WARM.
CLOSE: OR TO GET WORKERS ON YOUR FARM.
GATES: YEAH.
DID YOU EVER IMAGINE THAT YOUR ROOTS IN THIS COUNTRY WENT BACK VIRTUALLY TO THE BEGINNING?
CLOSE: I'VE ALWAYS KIND OF FELT THAT WAS TRUE, BUT NOW TO SEE IT ON, YOU KNOW, WRITTEN OUT LIKE THIS, IT'S VERY MOVING TO ME, VERY.
GATES: THERE WAS ANOTHER BEAT TO THIS STORY.
JOHN AND ABIGAIL'S DESCENDANTS ARE ESTIMATED TO NUMBER IN THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS.
AMONG THEM ARE MANY FAMOUS PEOPLE, ALL COUSINS OF GLENN'S, INCLUDING PRESIDENTS, PHILANTHROPISTS AND A VERY NOTABLE ACTOR.
CLOSE: CLINT EASTWOOD?
GATES: DO YOU KNOW CLINT?
CLOSE: NO.
GATES: HE'S YOUR COUSIN!
(LAUGHTER).
GATES: HE IS YOUR COUSIN THROUGH THIS BRANCH OF YOUR FAMILY.
ISN'T THAT AMAZING?
CLOSE: WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN THAT?
GATES: WHAT COULD BE BETTER.
YOU HAVE ONE MORE COUSIN TO WHOM I WANT TO INTRODUCE YOU.
WOULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?
CLOSE: REALLY?
GATES: YOU ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO PRINCESS DIANA.
CLOSE: REALLY?
GATES: YEAH.
CLOSE: WOW.
GATES: GLENN AND DIANA ARE EIGHTH COUSINS.
THEIR NEAREST COMMON ANCESTORS ARE GLENN'S 7TH-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS, SARAH AND JOSEPH STRONG.
BY COINCIDENCE, THE TWO MET AT LEAST ONCE IN PERSON, IN 1989, WHEN GLENN WAS IN ENGLAND, PROMOTING A FILM... CLOSE: SHE WAS LOVELY.
GATES: DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA THAT YOU WERE, WERE RELATED TO HER?
CLOSE: NO, BUT LOOK AT OUR HAIRSTYLES!
THEY'RE VERY MUCH ALIKE.
WOW.
IT'S EXCITING, AND I'LL HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT FOR A WHILE, YOU KNOW?
GATES: MM-HMM.
CLOSE: UH, MAKES ME FEEL STRONGER.
(LAUGHTER).
GATES: AS IT WERE.
CLOSE: EXACTLY.
GATES: MUCH LIKE GLENN, JOHN WATERS WAS ABOUT TO TAKE A JOURNEY INTO CHAPTERS OF AMERICAN HISTORY THAT HE NEVER FELT CONNECTED TO BEFORE.
IT BEGAN WITH HIS MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS, CLIFFORD AND STELLA WHITAKER.
JOHN KNEW STELLA WELL, BUT CLIFFORD WAS LARGELY A MYSTERY...
WATERS: THEY WERE DIVORCED AND, UH, IT WAS A SECRET I GUESS.
IT WASN'T IN OUR FAMILY.
MY MOTHER TOLD US, BUT IT WAS, THEN, FOR A CATHOLIC WOMAN TO BE DIVORCED... GATES: SCANDAL.
WATERS: WAS A SCANDAL.
AND, UH, I LOVED MY GRANDMOTHER.
SHE UNDERSTOOD MY LIFE EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS STRAIGHTER AND MORE, YOU KNOW, BUT SHE STILL WAS ALWAYS MY SUPPORTER BECAUSE I TRAVELED AND SHE WAS ALL FOR THAT.
BUT HER HUSBAND, WHO SHE WAS DIVORCED FROM, WE HEARD MANY DIFFERENT REASONS HOW HE DIED.
HE DIED VERY YOUNG.
I GATHER HE DRANK.
I GATHER HE WAS A HUNTER.
I DON'T KNOW REALLY.
GATES: RECORDS SHOW THAT CLIFFORD DIED WHEN HE WAS JUST 35-YEARS-OLD, FROM CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING.
A TRAGIC ACCIDENT, CAUSED BY A FAULTY HEATER IN A HOTEL.
AT THE TIME, CLIFFORD AND STELLA HAD BEEN DIVORCED FOR AT LEAST TWO YEARS.
BUT IT SEEMS THAT CLIFFORD STILL HAD FEELINGS FOR HIS FORMER WIFE BECAUSE HE LEFT HER VIRTUALLY HIS ENTIRE ESTATE, AN AMOUNT TOTALING CLOSE TO $200,000.
WATERS: HOW MUCH IS THAT IN TODAY'S MONEY?
GATES: $3.5 MILLION.
WATERS: OKAY, I MEAN, I ALWAYS KNEW THAT HE HAD A LOT OF MONEY.
I MEAN I REMEMBER THE HOUSE.
IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL HOUSE WHERE THEY LIVED.
I DON'T LIVE TOO FAR FROM IT NOW.
IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL HOUSE AND WE USED TO GO THERE WHEN I WAS GROWING UP AS A KID BUT I CAN'T FIGURE IT OUT.
IF YOU GOT DIVORCED WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE IT ALL TO THE WOMAN THAT DIVORCED YOU?
GATES: WELL, WE DON'T KNOW WHY THEY GOT DIVORCED.
MAYBE SHE LEFT HIM AND MAYBE HE LOVED HER.
MAYBE SHE BROKE HIS HEART.
WHO KNOWS?
WATERS: THAT'S ONE THING WE DON'T KNOW.
GATES: JOHN WAS ABOUT TO SEE THAT THERE WAS ACTUALLY A GREAT DEAL ABOUT THIS PART OF HIS FAMILY THAT HE DIDN'T KNOW, PERHAPS BECAUSE THEY EXPERIENCED EVENTS FAR MORE SCANDALOUS THAN A DIVORCE.
MOVING BACK JUST ONE GENERATION, WE CAME TO HIS GREAT-GRANDFATHER, WHO WAS ALSO NAMED CLIFFORD WHITAKER.
HE WAS BORN IN 1863, AND RAISED IN MARYLAND, THE HEIR TO THE FAMILY FORTUNE THAT WOULD PASS TO JOHN'S GRANDFATHER.
BUT CLIFFORD DIDN'T ACT LIKE AN HEIR.
IN 1898, WHEN HE WAS THIRTY-FOUR YEARS OLD, HE MARRIED A WOMAN NAMED BERTHA FORD NEAR SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.
AT THE TIME, CLIFFORD WAS WORKING AS A MINER.
AND THE FOLLOWING YEAR, HE AND BERTHA HAD A SON, JOHN'S GRANDFATHER, WHILE LIVING IN ALASKA!
SO ANY GUESSES WHY THEY WOULD HAVE MOVED FROM SEATTLE TO ALASKA?
WATERS: LOOKING FOR MINING OR LOOKING FOR I DON'T KNOW, ORE. MAYBE THEY WERE FRACKERS, I DON'T KNOW.
GATES: THAT'S A PRETTY GOOD GUESS.
PLEASE TURN THE PAGE.
THIS IS AN ARTICLE FROM THE SEATTLE POST INTELLIGENCER DATED JULY 17, 1897.
WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSCRIBED LINES?
WATERS: "LATEST NEWS FROM THE KLONDIKE.
GOLD!
GOLD!
GOLD!
GOLD!
THERE IS PLENTY OF GOLD, BUT ONLY THE HARDY AND PROVIDENT CAN SECURE IT, NO MAN WHO IS WITHOUT A SUITABLE OUTFIT SHOULD TEMPT FORTUNE IN THAT REMOTE REGION."
GATES: IN THE SUMMER OF 1896, GOLD DEPOSITS WERE FOUND ALONG CREEKS IN THE KLONDIKE REGION OF NORTHWEST CANADA.
SOON, ROUGHLY 100,000 PROSPECTORS WOULD POUR INTO THE REGION.
IT WAS AN ARDUOUS JOURNEY, COVERING OVER 2000 MILES AND ENDING IN ONE OF THE MOST REMOTE SPOTS ON EARTH: DAWSON CITY, THE HARDSCRABBLE MINING TOWN NEAREST TO THE KLONDIKE GOLD FIELDS.
THE TOWN WAS NO PLACE TO RAISE A FAMILY, AND JOHN'S ANCESTORS DIDN'T TRY.
BY 1900, JOHN'S GRANDFATHER AND HIS MOTHER HAD RETURNED TO SEATTLE.
WHILE JOHN'S GREAT-GRANDFATHER CONTINUED HIS IMPROBABLE SEARCH...
WATERS: LOOK AT HIM.
IT LOOKS LIKE HIPPIES IN SAN FRANCISCO.
AND THIS ONE HERE LOOKS... LOOK AT THAT, IS THAT A HAIRDO?
I GUESS THERE WERE NOT A LOT OF BARBERS UP THERE EITHER.
THEY GOT SOME BAD HAIRDOS.
GATES: BARBERS, MAN, IT WAS TOO COLD TO CUT YOUR HAIR.
CONDITIONS WERE HARSH.
WINTER TEMPERATURES IN THE YUKON RANGE BETWEEN MINUS 20 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT AND MINUS 50 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT.
THE GROUND WAS FROZEN ALL YEAR LONG SO MINING GOLD WAS PAINSTAKING LABOR.
I MEAN EVEN IF IT WAS THERE YOU HAD TO HAVE A MIRACLE TO EXCAVATE IT.
AND YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER WAS USING NOTHING BUT A PICK AND A SHOVEL TO REACH THE GOLD DEPOSITS.
WATERS: AND ADRENALINE.
GATES: YEAH.
CLIFFORD'S ENERGY IS AMAZING TO CONTEMPLATE.
BUT IT WOULD COME TO NOTHING.
LIKE MOST PROSPECTORS IN THE KLONDIKE, CLIFFORD NEVER FOUND ANY GOLD AND HIS YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS WOULD END SENSELESSLY... JOHN, THIS IS AN ANNOUNCEMENT PUBLISHED IN THE "DAILY MORNING SUN", A LOCAL NEWSPAPER IN DAWSON CITY, APRIL 23, 1902.
WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSCRIPTION?
WATERS: "YESTERDAY MORNING, WHITAKER, WHO HAD JUST RETURNED FROM A TRIP UP THE KLONDIKE, WAS PASSING THE STORE WHEN HE SPIED IN THE SHOW WINDOW A NEW KIND OF FIREARM... A STEPHENS 22-CALIBER PISTOL.
THE GUN WAS DISCHARGED AND WHITAKER RECEIVED THE BULLET IN THE RIGHT BREAST.
THE BULLET HAD CUT THROUGH AN ARTERY AND BLOOD BEGAN TO POUR FROM THE MOUTH.
HE LEAVES A WIDOW IN SEATTLE."
GATES: YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER WAS KILLED WHEN A PISTOL ACCIDENTALLY DISCHARGED.
HE WAS 39 YEARS OLD.
WATERS: OH, BROTHER.
SEE, IT PROVES THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS KARMA.
IT REALLY DOES.
AFTER HE WENT THROUGH ALL THAT.
IF YOU ASK ME.
GATES: HAVE YOU EVER HEARD THIS STORY?
WATERS: NO, CERTAINLY, BECAUSE IT'S KIND OF DRAMATIC THOUGH.
IT SOUNDS LIKE A MOVIE SCENE I'D WRITE.
GATES: AND HE WAS A RICH KID AND HE SAID, "I'M GOING TO GO FOR IT."
THAT'S YOUR ANCESTORS.
WATERS: HOW GREAT THAT WE HAD SOMEBODY THAT BRAVE IN OUR FAMILY AND THAT MUCH OF A RISK TAKER.
BECAUSE I DON'T THINK MY FAMILY SINCE HAS BEEN KNOWN FOR BEING BIG RISK TAKERS.
HE WAS A BIG ONE.
GATES: HE GOT THE RISK GENE.
WATERS: YEAH.
HE DIDN'T SIT AROUND EATING BON-BONS AND BEING RITCHIE RICH.
GATES: THAT'S TRUE.
WHEN CLIFFORD DIED, HE LEFT HIS WIFE AND CHILD TO FACE A SECOND ORDEAL.
THEY RETURNED TO HIS FAMILY IN MARYLAND, EXPECTING, ONE IMAGINES, TO FIND SYMPATHY AND SUPPORT.
INSTEAD, BERTHA BECAME EMBROILED IN A CONFLICT WITH HER MOTHER-IN-LAW: JOHN'S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER MARY WHITAKER.
THE TWO ENDED UP IN COURT, WITH BERTHA SUING FOR CUSTODY OF HER CHILD, AND MARY ALLEGING THAT BERTHA HAD AN "UNGOVERNABLE TEMPER"... BERTHA ULTIMATELY TRIUMPHED, SECURING THE FAMILY FORTUNE FOR HER SON.
BUT THE EMOTIONAL COST MUST HAVE BEEN HIGH.
GATES: SO, FIRST OF ALL, THIS IS LIKE A DICKENS NOVEL, AND YOU NEVER HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT IT WELL, THAT'S HOW THE MONEY WAS PASSED ON.
WATERS: THAT'S HOW IT WAS, YEAH.
GATES: ISN'T THAT FASCINATING?
WATERS: LUCK AND, UH, IT'S TWISTED HISTORY.
GATES: IT IS, YOUR FAMILY TREE DRIPS WITH DRAMA.
WATERS: YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, WELL MAYBE THAT'S WHERE I INHERITED WANTING TO BE, YOU KNOW, TELLING STORIES AND THINKING UP DRAMA.
YOU KNOW, I'M ALWAYS THINKING UP, INSANE THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO PEOPLE.
THAT'S HOW I MAKE MY LIVING.
GATES: THERE WAS STILL A QUESTION BEFORE US: WE WANTED TO KNOW HOW THE WHITAKERS HAD COME INTO ALL THIS MONEY IN THE FIRST PLACE.
THE ANSWER LAY FURTHER BACK ON THE FAMILY TREE, WITH JOHN'S THIRD GREAT-GRANDFATHER, A MAN NAMED GEORGE PRICE WHITAKER.
IN 1836, WHEN HE WAS ROUGHLY 33 YEARS OLD, GEORGE PURCHASED PROPERTY WITH SEVERAL OTHER MEN, AND BEGAN TO REFINE IRON ORE.
THE VENTURE WOULD TURN INTO A COMPANY CALLED "PRINCIPIO FURNACE", AND MAKE GEORGE A FORTUNE...
WATERS: "THE PRESENT OWNER OF PRINCIPIO IS GEORGE P. WHITAKER, NOW MORE THAN 80 YEARS OLD, BUT SO VIGOROUS THAT HE STILL GOES OVER HIS 10,000 ACRES OF LAND.
HE IS ONE OF THE PIONEER IRON MASTERS OF THE COUNTRY.
HE IS ONE OF THE FEW REMAINING TYPES OF THE OLD-TIME IRON MASTERS WHOSE WORD WAS LAW.
HE IS THE LARGEST LANDOWNER AND ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST MEN IN THE STATE."
GATES: IN THE STATE.
DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA?
WATERS: NO.
GATES: HOW DO YOU PICTURE THIS GUY?
WATERS: WELL, YOU WONDER, WHEN SOMEBODY WAS THAT RICH THEN, WAS HE A MONSTER WITH THE MONEY, OR WAS HE GOOD WITH THE MONEY, OR WHO KNOWS?
GATES: WHO KNOWS?
YEAH.
COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?
THAT IS GEORGE PRICE WHITAKER.
THAT IS YOUR THIRD GREAT GRANDFATHER.
DO YOU SEE A RESEMBLANCE?
WATERS: HE'S GOT MUCH BETTER HAIR THAN I EVER DID.
AND WITH THE TOP HAT, I THINK HE'S GOING TO PULL A RABBIT OUT OF THERE.
I'LL GIVE HIM THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT.
GATES: HOW DO YOU DESCEND FROM THE MAN WHO OWNS THE MOST LAND IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND AND NOT KNOW IT?
HOW ARE THESE STORIES NOT PASSED ON?
WATERS: I THINK BECAUSE OF THE DIVORCE.
THE DIVORCE I THINK WAS A DEEP, DEEP SCAR THAT THEY.
SO THEY HAD THE MONEY FROM THAT BUT I DON'T THINK AND MY GRANDMOTHER NEVER MARRIED AGAIN SO MAYBE SHE DIDN'T WANT TO...
WANTED TO KEEP THAT MONEY.
I DON'T KNOW, YOU KNOW, UH, BUT STILL, WE KNEW ABOUT IT BUT IT WAS NOT MENTIONED A LOT, AT LEAST IN MY MOTHER AND FATHER'S HOUSEHOLD.
GATES: WHAT WOULD YOUR MOTHER HAVE MADE OF IT ALL?
WATERS: I THINK SHE WOULD BE PROUD TO KNOW MORE, AND I THINK SHE WOULD BE PROUD TO KNOW THAT SHE CAME FROM PEOPLE THAT TOOK CHANCES AND SOME OF THEM MADE THEIR OWN FORTUNES AND OBVIOUSLY DIDN'T THROW IT AWAY EITHER.
CAUSE THEY LEFT AND CAME DOWN THE LINE TO A LOT OF PEOPLE OR MANY FAMILIES.
GATES: AND THAT GUY STARTED.
WATERS: YEAH.
HE LOOKS SO MUCH LIKE A HIPSTER... LIKE SOMEONE WHO WOULD LIVE IN BROOKLYN.
GOOD FOR HIM.
GATES: HE SAW THE FUTURE.
I MEAN FIGURED OUT HOW TO BECOME AN IRON MASTER.
WATERS: YEAH.
THAT'S GREAT.
AN IRON MASTER.
THAT ALMOST SOUNDS LIKE, I DON'T KNOW, A SEXUAL TERM.
GATES: I WAS GOING TO SAY "KINKY".
SOUNDS KINKY TO ME.
WATERS: WELL, GOOD, AN IRON MASTER.
THAT'S WHAT I'LL BE NOW.
A STRONG CHILD RELATIVE OF AN IRON MASTER AND PROUD OF IT.
GATES: WE'D ALREADY INTRODUCED GLENN CLOSE TO HER MATERNAL ANCESTORS WHO LIVED IN MASSACHUSETTS AND PENNSYLVANIA, REVEALING HER DEEP CONNECTION TO AMERICA'S COLONIAL PAST.
NOW, FOLLOWING THE LINE OF HER PATERNAL GRANDMOTHER, A WOMAN SHE CALLED "GRANNY CLOSE", WE SHIFTED OUR FOCUS FURTHER SOUTH AND CONFRONTED A VERY DIFFERENT PART OF OUR NATION'S HISTORY.
GLENN'S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER, THOMAS TALIAFERRO, WAS BORN IN GLOUCESTER COUNTY, VIRGINIA IN 1816.
CENSUS RECORDS INDICATE THAT THOMAS WAS A MERCHANT AND A FARMER.
AND ACCORDING TO THE GLOUCESTER GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY, HE OWNED A COUNTRY STORE.
BUT THAT WASN'T ALL HE OWNED... GATES: DID YOU NOTICE THE VALUE OF THOMAS' PERSONAL ESTATE?
CLOSE: YEAH.
IT'S A LOT.
GATES: $40,000 IS WORTH SOMEWHERE AROUND $3 MILLION IN TODAY'S MONEY.
CLOSE: WOW.
SO HE GOT MORE MONEY FROM HIS FARM THAN HE DID FROM HIS STORE.
GATES: WE WONDERED HOW A COUNTRY STORE COULD BE VALUED, I MEAN, IT'S NOT LIKE WALMART IN 1860.
CLOSE: YEAH.
RIGHT.
GATES: COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?
CLOSE: I'M SCARED.
GATES: THIS IS ANOTHER PART OF THE 1860 CENSUS FOR GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSCRIBED NAMES?
CLOSE: "NAMES OF SLAVE OWNERS.
THOMAS B TALIAFERRO."
GATES: MM-HMM.
CLOSE: "AGE, 46.
DESCRIPTION, F." GATES: FEMALE.
THIS RECORD LISTS THOMAS' ENSLAVED WORKERS, NOT BY NAME, BUT ONLY BY AGE, GENDER, AND COLOR, IN WHAT WAS KNOWN AS A "SLAVE SCHEDULE."
ORIGINALLY USED TO CALCULATE POPULATION, THE DOCUMENT ALSO PROVIDES A GRIM WINDOW ONTO THE WORKINGS OF THE TALIAFERRO FARM... CLOSE: THESE ARE ALL THE SLAVES?
GATES: THESE ARE ALL THE SLAVES HE OWNED.
CLOSE: FORTY-SIX, F. FORTY-FIVE, F. THIRTY-SIX, F. SIXTEEN, F. FOURTEEN, M. TWELVE, M. TEN, F. TEN, F. FOUR, M. GATES: SO, YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS.
IN 1860, YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER THOMAS WAS THE OWNER OF NINE ENSLAVED PEOPLE, INCLUDING A FOUR-YEAR-OLD BOY AND TWO TEN-YEAR-OLD GIRLS.
WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE THIS?
CLOSE: IT MAKES ME FEEL A SENSE OF SHAME.
GATES: HAD YOU EVER IMAGINED THAT YOUR ANCESTORS OWNED SLAVES?
HAD YOU EVER THOUGHT.
CLOSE: I NEVER REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT IT.
NO.
GATES: I MEAN, YOUR FAMILY IS SO NEW ENGLAND ORIENTED, YOU KNOW.
CLOSE: YEAH.
YEAH.
WE HADN'T REALLY CONCENTRATED ON THE SOUTHERN COMPONENT, WHICH WAS THROUGH GRANNY CLOSE.
GATES: THROUGH GRANNY.
RIGHT.
THAT'S WHY WE'RE OPENING THAT DOOR.
CLOSE: YEAH.
GATES: WHEN THIS CENSUS WAS RECORDED, VIRGINIA HAD MORE ENSLAVED AFRICAN AMERICANS THAN ANY STATE IN AMERICA.
ALMOST 500,000 PEOPLE, CONSTITUTING ROUGHLY ONE THIRD OF ITS POPULATION, WERE HELD IN BONDAGE.
AND WHILE SOME VIRGINIANS WERE QUESTIONING THE MORALITY OF THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY, GLENN'S ANCESTOR DOES NOT SEEM TO HAVE BEEN AMONG THEM... WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE HIGHLIGHTED LINES.
CLOSE: "COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE."
GATES: MM-HMM.
CLOSE: "GLOUCESTER.
THOMAS B TALIAFERRO."
GATES: IN 1840, WHEN HE WAS 23 YEARS OLD, YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER WAS NAMED TO THE LOCAL COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE.
ANY IDEA WHAT THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE DID?
CLOSE: NO.
GATES: STARTING IN THE 1830S, VIRGINIANS BEGAN TO FORM ANTI-ABOLITION VIGILANCE COMMITTEES IN RESPONSE TO THE GROWING ABOLITIONIST MOVEMENT IN THE NORTHERN STATES.
CLOSE: WOW.
GATES: AND YOUR ANCESTOR WAS PART OF THAT OPPOSITION.
CLOSE: IT'S LIKE THE BEGINNING OF THE KKK?
GATES: KKK.
CLOSE: KIND OF?
GATES: IS BORN IN DECEMBER 1865, SO IT'S LIKE PREDECESSOR.
CLOSE: PREDECESSOR TO THE KKK.
GATES: YEAH.
VIGILANCE COMMITTEES SAW THEMSELVES AS ASSISTING THE AUTHORITIES IN STOPPING THE SPREAD OF ABOLITIONIST SENTIMENT.
CLOSE: HOW DID THEY DO THAT?
GATES: THEY STEPPED IN WHERE THEY THOUGHT THE GOVERNMENT WAS LIMITED.
THEY ARRESTED PEOPLE FOR SPREADING ABOLITIONIST PUBLICATIONS, AND SOMETIMES THEY EVEN WHIPPED THEM.
IN SOME CITIES, THEIR ACTIVITIES LED TO RIOTS.
CLOSE: WOW.
GATES: NOW, UM, VIRGINIA, JUST LIKE IT HAD THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF SLAVES, HAD ONE OF THE HIGHEST NUMBERS OF FREE BLACK PEOPLE.
SO THERE WERE PEOPLE FREEING THEIR SLAVES IN VIRGINIA, AND YOUR ANCESTOR WAS WORKING AGAINST THE PEOPLE WHO WERE FREEING.
CLOSE: WELL LOOK, HE WAS GETTING RICH, RIGHT?
GATES: YEAH, YEAH.
CLOSE: WOW.
GATES: SADLY, THOMAS WAS NOT THE ONLY MEMBER OF GLENN'S FAMILY WHO OWNED OTHER HUMAN BEINGS.
WE IDENTIFIED FOUR SLAVE-OWNING ANCESTORS ON HER FAMILY TREE, STRETCHING BACK TO HER SIXTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER, JOHN TALIAFERRO, WHO OWNED FIVE SLAVES IN 1715... CLOSE: MMM, 1715?
GATES: 1715.
HE WAS OWNING FIVE SLAVES.
CLOSE: WHEN DID SLAVES FIRST COME TO THE SOUTH?
GATES: THEY FIRST COME TO BRITISH NORTH AMERICA IN 1619.
CLOSE: 1619.
GATES: THEY COME TO SPANISH NORTH AMERICA, FLORIDA, IN 1526.
CLOSE: WELL, IN A WEIRD WAY, WEIRD, HORRIBLE WAY, IT ALSO MAKES ME PART OF THE HISTORY OF WHITE AMERICA.
A HISTORY THAT I FIND ABHORRENT.
GATES: MM-HMM.
AND YOUR GRANDMOTHER NEVER TALKED ABOUT ANY OF THIS?
CLOSE: SHE TALKED ABOUT HER MAMMY.
GATES: SHE DID?
CLOSE: SHE DID.
GATES: WELL, THERE'S A LITTLE REMNANT, YEAH.
CLOSE: MM-HMM.
GATES: WHOM SHE LOVED SO DEARLY.
CLOSE: EXACTLY.
WOW.
GATES: I HAD ONE MORE THING TO SHARE WITH GLENN, THE OLDEST DOCUMENT THAT WE'D FOUND IN OUR RESEARCH INTO HER ANCESTRAL PAST.
IT ALLOWED US TO TRACE HER FATHER'S TALIAFERRO LINE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC AND BACK TO ENGLAND, JUST AS WE'D DONE FOR HER MOTHER'S ANCESTORS WHO WERE PART OF THE STRONG FAMILY... YOU JUST MET YOUR SEVENTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER, AND YOU ARE LOOKING AT A RECORD OF HIS BAPTISM IN NOVEMBER 1626 IN MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND.
CLOSE: AH.
SO HIS PEOPLE WENT TO THE SOUTH WHILE THE STRONGS... WELL.
GATES: WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE THIS, TO KNOW THIS, AND TO KNOW THAT YOUR FAMILY IS DOCUMENTED ON ALL THESE DIFFERENT LINES?
CLOSE: YEAH.
YEAH.
YOU KNOW WHAT FIRST COMES TO MY MIND?
GATES: WHAT?
CLOSE: THAT THE PEOPLE WHO MY ANCESTORS OWNED DIDN'T HAVE THAT LUXURY OF KNOWING THEIR LINEAGE.
GATES: THAT'S RIGHT.
WE CAN'T DO THIS FOR ANY BLACK PERSON WHOSE WHITE ANCESTOR WE HAVEN'T IDENTIFIED.
CLOSE: RIGHT.
GATES: YEAH.
CLOSE: YEAH.
GATES: LIKE GLENN, JOHN WATERS WAS ABOUT TO DISCOVER THAT HE, TOO, HAS SLAVE OWNERS IN HIS FAMILY TREE.
AS A NATIVE OF A BALTIMORE, WITH DEEP AND PROSPEROUS ROOTS IN MARYLAND, JOHN HAD KNOWN THAT THIS WAS ALWAYS A POSSIBILITY EVEN SO: IT WASN'T EASY TO FACE... GATES: THIS IS FROM THE 1860 CENSUS.
ANY IDEA WHAT IT RECORDS?
WATERS: WELL, WHAT YOU SEEM TO FIND ON YOUR SHOW A LOT, SLAVES.
"S.R.
WATERS, SLAVES.
ONE FEMALE, 26.
ONE MALE, 22.
ONE FEMALE, TWELVE.
ONE MALE, SIX."
GATES: JOHN, IN 1860, YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER, SOMERSETT R. WATERS HELD FOUR PEOPLE AS SLAVES.
DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA?
WATERS: NO, I CERTAINLY DID NOT.
GATES: HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL TO KNOW THAT YOUR ANCESTOR OWNED SLAVES?
WATERS: WELL, I'M SHOCKED ALWAYS THAT THERE WAS SLAVERY PERIOD, THAT ANYBODY OWNED.
GATES: I AM, TOO, ACTUALLY.
WATERS: THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING.
I'M SHOCKED FOR THE WHOLE SITUATION OF IT EVER.
YOU KNOW, IT'S APPALLING.
GATES: JOHN'S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER WAS A FARMER IN CARROLL COUNTY, MARYLAND...
THOUGH WE KNOW LITTLE ABOUT THE DAY-TO-DAY OPERATION OF HIS FARM, WE UNCOVERED A SERIES OF DOCUMENTS THAT CAST AN UNSETTLING LIGHT ON HIS CHARACTER.
WATERS: "FIVE HUNDRED DOLLAR REWARD, RAN AWAY FROM THE SUBSCRIBER, LIVING NEAR MOUNT AIRY, CARROLL COUNTY, MARYLAND, ON THE EVENING OF THE 26 OF SEPTEMBER, A NEGRO WOMAN, CALLING HERSELF CAROLINE GASSAWAY.
I WILL GIVE THE ABOVE REWARD OF $500 IF APPREHENDED AND RETURNED TO ME..." OH GOD.
GATES: IN 1858, YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER POSTED THAT AD IN THE "BALTIMORE SUN" WHEN ONE OF HIS SLAVES NAMED CAROLINE RAN AWAY.
WATERS: HE SAYS, "CALLING HERSELF."
THAT'S EVEN WORSE.
GATES: YES, "CALLING HERSELF" YOU KNOW WHY THEY SAID THAT?
WATERS: WHY?
GATES: BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T HAVE A LEGAL NAME IF YOU WERE A SLAVE BECAUSE YOU WERE A PIECE OF PROPERTY.
WATERS: YEAH, IT'S REALLY TERRIBLE, A $500 REWARD, THAT'S LIKE A DOG.
GATES: YES.
WATERS: SO HE WAS A PIG.
THAT'S ALL.
I MEAN WHAT CAN I SAY.
I DIDN'T KNOW HIM.
I HOPE EVERY BIT OF HIS RACIST GENE EACH TIME WAS WIPED AWAY.
GATES: UNFORTUNATELY, THIS STORY WAS ABOUT TO TURN TURN DARKER, AND UGLIER.
IN THE MARYLAND STATE ARCHIVES, WE FOUND A SET OF COURT PAPERS, DATED JUST MONTHS AFTER CAROLINE RAN AWAY.
THAT REVEAL THAT FOUR MEN, THREE OF THEM FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR, WERE ARRESTED FOR "ASSISTING" HER.
WATERS: SO THESE PEOPLE GOT ARRESTED FOR HELPING HER TO ESCAPE?
GATES: THAT'S RIGHT.
AND WHO IS THE WITNESS FOR THE STATE?
WATERS: YEAH.
WHATEVER HE IS, MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER, RIGHT?
GATES: THAT'S RIGHT, YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER.
THE THREE FREED MEN, THESE WERE PEOPLE WHO WERE FREE.
WATERS: THEY WERE BRAVE.
THEY ALL SHOULD HAVE TAKEN A HATCHET TO HIM IS WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE DONE.
GATES: JOHN, FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR WERE CONSTANTLY SUSPECTED OF HELPING RUNAWAY SLAVES TO ESCAPE, PROBABLY BECAUSE AS OFTEN AS THEY COULD THEY WERE HELPING.
WATERS: YEAH, YEAH.
GATES: LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENED.
COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?
JOHN, THIS IS A COURT DOCKET FROM THE MARYLAND STATE ARCHIVES DATED NOVEMBER 11, 1858.
WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSCRIPTION?
WATERS: "JUDGMENT OF THE COURT THAT THE PRISONER, ABRAHAM LOWRY, FREE NEGRO, BE SOLD BY THE SHERIFF OF FREDERICK COUNTY AS A SLAVE FOR LIFE."
YOU COULD GET SENTENCED FROM BEING FREE TO BEING A SLAVE?
GATES: YEAH.
BECAUSE YOU WERE IN VIOLATION OF THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW.
WATERS: SO IF YOU WERE A FREE NEGRO, YOU COULD BE SENTENCED TO BE A SLAVE.
OH, GOD.
I'VE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF THAT ONE.
GATES: AS CRUEL AS IT MAY SEEM, IN THE END, ALL THREE OF THE FREEDMEN ACCUSED OF HELPING CAROLINE WERE FOUND GUILTY AND ORDERED TO BE SOLD BY THE SHERIFF...
MOREOVER, TWO OF THEM ENDED UP IN WHAT MAY HAVE BEEN THE WORST POSSIBLE SITUATION... GATES: THIS IS A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE FREDERICK COUNTY EXAMINER ON DECEMBER 8TH, 1858.
WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSCRIPTION?
WATERS: "SOLD AT THE JAIL DOOR ON MONDAY, THE THREE FREE NEGROES CONVICTED AT THE LATE SESSION OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF ENTICING SLAVES TO ABSCOND, AND ORDERED TO BE SOLD BEYOND THE LIMITS OF THE STATE, AS ALLOWS: ABRAHAM LOWRY, FOR $800, AND CALEB BURGESS, FOR 175 TO S. R.
WATERS."
GATES: YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER PURCHASED TWO OF THE FORMER FREED MEN, WHO HELPED ONE OF HIS SLAVES TO ESCAPE.
WATERS: SO HE DIDN'T GIVE UP.
HE WAS VINDICTIVE.
I SHOULD GO SPIT ON HIS GRAVE.
GATES: WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE THAT?
WATERS: IT'S STUPEFYING.
OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, YOU THINK MAYBE THAT'S WHY YOU DON'T WANT TO LOOK SOMETIMES, FOR FEAR, BECAUSE WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT.
ALL I'VE DONE MY WHOLE LIFE HAS BEEN ALWAYS PISSED OFF ABOUT RACISM AS MUCH AS I COULD POSSIBLY BE, AND I LIVE IN A CITY THAT'S STILL TORN WITH THAT, TORN WITH THAT.
SO, AND IT'S BECAUSE OF PEOPLE LIKE HIM.
I'M SURE THAT HIS FATHER WAS EVEN MORE RACIST.
GATES: PROBABLY SO.
WATERS: IT'S PASSED DOWN LIKE A BAD DISEASE.
GATES: JOHN WAS NOW PRIMED TO HEAR ONLY THE WORST ABOUT HIS FATHER'S FAMILY.
BUT AS WE MOVED BACK TWO GENERATIONS, TO SOMERSET'S GRANDFATHER, A MAN NAMED RICHARD WATERS, WE ENCOUNTERED A STORY THAT WOULD CHALLENGE JOHN'S PRECONCEPTIONS YET AGAIN.
RICHARD WAS LIKELY BORN IN MARYLAND AROUND 1760.
MEANING THAT HE WAS A TEENAGER WHEN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR BROKE OUT... GATES: WHICH SIDE WAS HE ON?
REMEMBER, A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE LOYALISTS.
SO WHICH SIDE DID HE GO ON?
DID HE GO WITH THE PATRIOTS?
WATERS: I'M SURE HE TOOK THE WRONG SIDE, YEAH.
GATES: SO YOU THINK HE WENT WITH THE BRITS?
WATERS: I DON'T KNOW.
I'M NOT BEING OPTIMISTIC ON ANYTHING ON THIS SIDE.
I'M STILL SAFE.
I'LL PICK THE WORST AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.
GATES: ALL RIGHT.
LET'S FIND OUT.
WATERS: "MUSTER ROLL OF THE FIELD STAFF AND WARRANT OFFICERS OF THE 2ND MARYLAND REGIMENT OF FOOT IN THE SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
COMMISSIONED AND APPOINTED: 7 MAY 1778.
RANK AND NAME: ASSISTANT SURGEON RICHARD WATERS."
SO HE MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE.
GATES: HE DID.
YOUR ANCESTOR WAS A PATRIOT.
WATERS: ALL RIGHT.
GOOD.
GATES: THAT'S QUITE SOMETHING.
WATERS: I GUESS IT'S NICE TO KNOW WE HAVE GOOD GUYS AND BAD GUYS.
GATES: RICHARD WAS INDEED A "GOOD GUY"...
HE JOINED THE PATRIOT ARMY WHEN HE WAS ABOUT 18 YEARS OLD, AND SERVED AS AN ASSISTANT SURGEON.
LIKELY TREATING BATTLE WOUNDS AND DISEASES AMONG THE TROOPS.
IT WAS A GORY JOB, INVOLVING AMPUTATIONS PERFORMED WITHOUT ANESTHESIA, BUT ALSO A NECESSARY ONE AND IT GAVE RICHARD AN UP CLOSE VIEW OF ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS EVENTS OF THE ENTIRE WAR.
ONLY A MONTH AFTER RICHARD WAS COMMISSIONED, THE SECOND MARYLAND REGIMENT ENTERED VALLEY FORGE WHERE GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON'S TROOPS HAD JUST ENDURED A VERY HARSH WINTER.
WHEN YOU WERE IN SCHOOL STUDYING ABOUT GEORGE WASHINGTON AND THAT WINTER AT VALLEY FORGE, IN YOUR WILDEST DREAMS DID YOU THINK THAT ONE OF YOUR ANCESTORS WAS THERE?
WATERS: NO.
BUT DID I EVEN WONDER, NO, YOU KNOW, TO BE HONEST.
AT THAT TIME, I WAS PROBABLY.
(SNORING SOUND).
BECAUSE THEY WERE TEACHING SUCH A BORING WAY.
THEY BROUGHT UP ALL THE POSSIBILITIES MAYBE.
WE WERE FED IN THE '50S, YOU'VE GOT TO REMEMBER, IN GRADE SCHOOL ONE VERSION OF HISTORY THAT WAS ALWAYS AMERICA WAS ALWAYS RIGHT AND EVERYTHING, SO I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW TO QUESTION THAT YET.
GATES: RIGHT.
I DIDN'T EITHER.
WATERS: SO TO REALLY WONDER ABOUT MY GREAT-GREAT, WHO WAS THERE, I WASN'T THAT AWOKE.
GATES: JOHN'S ANCESTOR DID NOT SPEND LONG WITH THE PATRIOTS.
HE FELL ILL DURING THE SUMMER OF 1778, AND RESIGNED HIS COMMISSION THAT FALL.
NEVERTHELESS, HE SEEMS TO HAVE FOUND HIS CALLING IN THE ARMY.
AFTER THE WAR, RICHARD BECAME A DOCTOR, AND SETTLED IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND, WHERE HE RAISED HIS FAMILY...
WATERS: SO HE WENT ON.
SO HE MADE THE RIGHT DECISION TO GO AWAY.
HE PROBABLY HELPED A LOT OF PEOPLE AND CUT OFF A LOT OF LEGS AND THEY LIVED AND HE PROBABLY WAS A GOOD SOLDIER AND A GOOD PERSON, SO I'M HAPPY TO HEAR THAT.
ALL OF IT IS ALMOST LIKE A DREAM BECAUSE I WASN'T HERE.
YOU WONDER HOW MUCH IS PASSED DOWN.
GATES: YEAH.
WATERS: IT ONLY SEEMS LIKE ONE REALLY ROTTEN APPLE HERE TO ME.
GATES: THE SLAVE OWNER.
WATERS: YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.
SO WE HAD A LOT OF RELATIVES ON BOTH SIDES AND I THINK ONE ROTTEN APPLE.
I THINK EVERYBODY PROBABLY HAS ONE ROTTEN APPLE.
I'M NOT SAYING IT WAS SLAVES ALWAYS BUT DID SOMETHING HIDEOUS.
GATES: THE PAPER TRAIL HAD RUN OUT FOR EACH OF MY GUESTS.
IT WAS TIME TO UNFURL THEIR FAMILY TREES, CLOSE: OH MY GOSH.
GATES: THIS IS A RECORD OF ALL OF THE ANCESTORS WE FOUND.
NOW FILLED WITH ANCESTORS WHOSE NAMES THEY'D NEVER HEARD BEFORE.
YOU HAVE AN AMAZING FAMILY TREE.
FOR BOTH, IT WAS A MOMENT OF AWE.
CLOSE: IT WILL TAKE ME A LONG TIME TO, TO REALLY ASSIMILATE THIS, AND I JUST, I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW MOVING IT IS FOR ME.
GATES: ISN'T THAT SOMETHING?
WATERS: THAT IS AMAZING.
GATES: OFFERING THE CHANCE TO SEE HOW THEIR OWN LIVES FIT INTO THE LARGER JOURNEYS OF THEIR FAMILIES AND OF OUR NATION.
WHAT'S STRIKING ABOUT DOING YOUR ANCESTRY IS THAT WE CAN TAKE YOU BACK ON SO MANY LINES TO PRIMAL SCENES IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
CLOSE: MM-HMM.
GATES: TO THE PURITANS.
TO THE QUAKERS.
TO SLAVE OWNERS.
IN DIFFERENT LOCALES.
IT'S LIKE YOU'RE A MICROCOSM OF THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE IN ALL OF ITS COMPLEXITY.
IT'S INCREDIBLE.
I MEAN, YOU DO REPRESENT THE MANY FACETS OF THE SET OF EXPERIENCES THAT MAKE AMERICA AMERICA.
CLOSE: THAT'S SOMETHING TO REALLY, UM, THINK ABOUT.
GATES: MM-HMM.
CLOSE: UM, BECAUSE IN SOME WAYS WE NEED TO TALK TO EACH OTHER.
GATES: YEAH.
CLOSE: IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD LEARN ABOUT.
UM, I THINK IT'S INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY TODAY.
GATES: MM-HMM.
CLOSE: YEAH.
IT'S, IT'S, UH, IT'S SOBERING.
GATES: WHAT HAS THIS JOURNEY MEANT TO YOU?
WATERS: IT'S MEANT TO ME A LOT ABOUT HOW MUCH I MISS MY PARENTS AND HOW MUCH THEY WOULD LOVE TO KNOW ALL THIS AND SEE IT.
I COULD ASK THEM, HOW MUCH DID YOU KNOW?
HOW COME WE NEVER TALKED ABOUT THIS?
OR HOW COME, DID YOU KNOW IT OR HOW COME YOU THINK YOUR PARENTS NEVER TOLD YOU THIS OR IF THEY DID I GET WHY SOME OF IT YOU DIDN'T TELL.
SO I'D LIKE TO JUST SEE THEIR REACTION TO IT BECAUSE THEY'D BE ONE STEP CLOSER TO IT THAN I WAS.
GATES: THAT'S THE END OF OUR SEARCH FOR THE ANCESTORS OF JOHN WATERS AND GLENN CLOSE... JOIN ME NEXT TIME WHEN WE UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF THE PAST FOR NEW GUESTS ON ANOTHER EPISODE OF "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".
Video has Closed Captions
John Waters talks about his grandparents' secret divorce. (1m 19s)
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John Waters learns how his family fortune came to be. (1m 23s)
Glenn Close’s Relative Was Disowned by the Quakers
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Glenn Close discovers that the Quakers disowned her ancestor. (1m 8s)
Video has Closed Captions
Glenn Close recalls her grandmother's great spirit. (41s)
The Howdy Doody Show Inspired John Waters
Video has Closed Captions
John Waters knew from an early age he wanted to work in entertainment. (44s)
Video has Closed Captions
Glenn Close learns that she is directly related to Princess Diana. (54s)
Video has Closed Captions
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. discovers the lineages that claim Glenn Close and John Waters. (32s)
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