Are you serious?

...the shocking truth about her grandmother's bravery leads to this woman's life-changing discovery.

Do you want to know more about the trip?

Yes.

(announcer) Gambling debt or murder?

What's the true story of his great-grandfather's mysterious disappearance?

We thought that was bizarre.

It did for us, too.

Same here.

(laughter) (announcer) Plus, could this woman of the cloth be related to a ruthless outlaw?

That's huge.

Huge.

(announcer) These stories and more on "Genealogy Roadshow."

♪ We've crisscrossed the country helping everyday Americans unlock family secrets and discover the truths of their past.

There was always questions.

(announcer) Helping uncover these fascinating stories is our expert team of genealogists.

My name's Kenyatta Berry.

My name is Joshua Taylor.

My name is Mary Tedesco.

(announcer) Join us as we take everyday people on an emotional journey of self-discovery.

Today, we're in the city of brotherly love-- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

♪ Known as the birthplace of democracy, it's here where our great nation's freedom was established.

In 1776, the country's founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, and in 1787, our Constitution was approved.

These monumental documents were signed at Philadelphia's Independence Hall.

Currently, Philadelphia is the second-largest city on the east coast and the fifth largest in the United States.

With over 1.5 million inhabitants from all over the world, it's no wonder the city is known for its cultural acceptance.

That's why the Roadshow has come to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Founded in 1824, it is home to collections that hold over 350 years of American history.

Today, we hope to uncover many family histories that are rooted in this distinctive city.

We've hit a roadblock.

My great-great-grandfather lived somewhere in Philadelphia.

I want to know about my family's past, my family's history, and all of my relatives from the South, yes.

(announcer) A question about her grandmother's mysterious inheritance uncovers a connection to one of the worst atrocities in modern-day history.

My name is Gail Mullen.

I'm from New Castle, Delaware.

I'm a photographer and a busy grandmother.

When I was in my early 20s, I was walking the streets of New York with my paternal grandmother, and she said to me, "I want to buy you a car," and I said, "Nana, you don't have that kind of money to buy a car," and she said, "Yes, honey, I was left $10,000 from a Jewish family that I helped escape from Europe."

At that time, when my grandparents were in Germany, there were just so many horrible things happening to Jewish people, and the thought of my grandmother risking her life to help a family to safety is just so amazing.

Like, what a wonderful thing you could do for another human being.

When I try to find out things about my heritage, it's like a million pieces, but nothing at all fits.

I have a friend who's interested in genealogy, and he found information that I had Jewish heritage in me.

Is this true?

It's too late to ask my grandmother these questions, but I hope it's not too late to find out the truth now.

Welcome to "Genealogy Roadshow."

It's wonderful to meet you.

Thank you so much for having me.

I understand you're here to unravel a bit of a family mystery.

I am.

Involving your grandmother.

Yes.

So, let's start with Anna Hubbell, your grandmother.

Okay.

This is a passenger list from Vienna in 1937 that records the arrival of your grandmother, who is married by now to your grandfather, Robert Kriwer.

Okay.

Now, at one point, your grandmother received money from a family that you were told that they had helped escape Europe during the Second World War.

Yes.

And that that money, your grandmother then gave to you to buy a car.

Now, who was this person who became... Yeah.

...close enough to your grandmother and your grandparents?

I'd love to thank them.

Well, I would like to introduce you to... Edith Kriwer.

This is the woman who left money in her will to your grandmother.

Oh, my gosh.

Look at her eyes.

They're beautiful.

Were they siblings?

Well, just because it's the same surname, it doesn't always mean that there's a relative.

Okay.

So, let's learn more about Edith and then figure out their connection.

What we do know about Edith Kriwer is that she had a brother, Albrecht Kriwer.

Now, Edith and Albrecht both naturalized within a day of one another.

So, they became citizens of the U.S. very shortly after one another.

And it's from those documents that we can actually trace how they arrived in America.

Now, this is a ship manifest.

This is March of 1940.

And here we see the arrival of Albrecht Kriwer.

He's 36 years old, from Germany, and he is Hebrew.

And at this period in time, the word Hebrew was used to mean Jewish.

He has noted that the last place that he lived is Vienna.

Now, a few months later, Edith Kriwer is listed on the passenger lists.

She's 38 and a clerk, also Hebrew, though notice here this is a very interesting moment in history.

It's written as Vienna, Austria, and then it's crossed out, and Germany's written on top.

Hmm.

That's because in 1938 Austria was annexed to Germany.

What an interesting moment in history to have captured within a document.

Wow, and there it is.

Now, the passenger list also can include a name of a relative they've left overseas, and Edith is leaving behind a sister, Serafine Kriwer.

Mm.

To really tell the story, though, you need to understand the Jewish experience in Vienna during World War II.

On March 12, 1938, German troops marched into Austria.

The following day, Austria was annexed into Germany.

And overnight, the Jewish population was brought under Germany's restrictive race laws.

This annexation, called the Anschluss, changed everything for Austrian Jews.

The establishment of German control meant exclusion from the economic, cultural, and social life they once knew.

The Jewish population faced professional restrictions, anti-Jewish violence, public humiliation, arrest, and deportation to concentration camps.

The Nazis established unyielding and sometimes insurmountable emigration requirements.

Those who were able to navigate the complicated labyrinth of bureaucratic demands left Austria for locations around the globe.

During this period of forced emigration, members of the Jewish community sought out help from family members anywhere in the world.

Those who were lucky enough escaped with the help of friends and families who provided money, documents, or even just a place to stay.

Eventually, conditions were so extreme, they wrote to anyone with a matching surname pleading for assistance.

The central office estimated that over 100,000 Jews left Austria between 1938 and 1939.

When war was declared in Europe in September 1939, emigration slowed.

The Nazis forcibly moved Austrian Jews from across the country to Vienna, where they were required to live in cramped apartments.

In 1941, the Nazis began deporting the Jewish population to detention camps.

The vast majority of those deported were murdered in mass shootings outside of urban areas, often in forests, or organized at various detention and annihilation camps.

In 1938, more than 200,000 Jews lived in Austria.

By the end of World War II, fewer than 6,000 remained.

Now take a moment and understand the context in which they left.

When Austria was annexed to Germany, within days, Adolf Eichmann, who was the second lieutenant in the SS, came to Austria, and he planned to solve what he called the Jewish problem.

They were forcing the Jewish community from their homes and from their homeland at their own expense.

For a member of the Jewish community to leave, more than half of their assets could be legally taken in a tax.

Now, in spite of these harsh restrictions, Albrecht left Vienna in July of 1939.

Edith leaves around the same time.

Hmm.

One can only imagine the harrowing experience that must have been to leave everything behind: their home, all their possessions, and their sister, Serafine, who we know from other documents was their oldest sister.

Now, Albrecht and Edith were helped by your grandparents, who likely helped to secure them documentation so they could enter the United States.

Mm-hmm.

The question is, what about the sister, Serafine?

We don't know why she didn't leave.

This is a 1942 travel report of a train transport, and it gives us details that on October 5th, 1942, 549 Jewish citizens are transported from Vienna to an extermination camp just outside of Minsk.

We know that among those 549 was Serafine Kriwer.

(sobbing) I know, it's-- it's tough.

(sniffling) Do you want to know more about the trip?

Yes.

Okay.

We know the trip took four days.

The train arrived the night of October 9th, 1942.

Upon arrival, Serafine was immediately executed.

So, one of the questions is, is your Kriwer family related to these Kriwer siblings?

Mm-hmm.

Or were they simply being good friends and good people and helping out?

We looked into the Kriwer family to see what we could find about Edith, Albrecht, and Serafine.

We see a record of Edith Kriwer.

Mm-hmm.

And it says that her father is Wolf Kriwer.

And then, looking at your Kriwer line, your grandfather Robert, his father was a Josef Kriwer.

Okay.

Josef Kriwer had a brother, Wolf Kriwer.

So, it turns out that Edith Kriwer's father Wolf and your great-grandfather Josef were brothers.

Aha.

What we learn is that the individuals your grandparents were helping were actually your grandfather's cousins.

Oh, my goodness.

Wow.

They were helping family.

Wow.

If only you had known when you got that car.

Yeah.

What it meant, what it represented, the story behind it.

My gosh.

She was trying to tell me something.

That's true.

Wow.

Sometimes the things we uncover in our past are not pleasant.

They reflect a horrific moment in our history.

Does that help clear up some of the confusion?

It does.

It does.

Thank you.

You're very welcome.

Thank you for stopping by today and sharing your story with us.

Thank you so much for having me.

My life is forever changed.

Thank you.

♪ My grandmother and my grandfather I feel were so overlooked, and I just wish that I could, you know, just have one minute with them both just to tell them how proud I am.

They deserve the honor.

My life is forever changed.

(announcer) This woman has spent a great deal of her life serving her church, but could she have ties to a notorious outlaw?

My name's Jennifer Berry.

I am a busy mom of two girls and a pastor in the United Methodist Church in New Hope, Pennsylvania.

My girls and I are so close.

We do everything that we can do together together.

My grandmother told me lots of stories growing up, and I loved them, but they were filled with question marks.

She had an ancestor who, rumor had it, was a counterfeiter and a horse thief.

It's so preposterous that part of me says, "Maybe that's true."

Horse thieves and counterfeiters and shotguns going off in the night.

That counterfeiter and horse thief, though, I've been told, gave away the money because people were desperately poor.

I would love to find out if those stories are true.

Both of the girls love to hear family stories.

It would be so great to have answers to these questions for my girls, to honor my grandmother, and for myself, as well.

Well, hi, Jennifer.

Welcome to "Genealogy Roadshow."

Thank you.

It's so good to be here, Kenyatta.

So, let's dive into your story.

The first way that we do that is knowing that your grandmother, Gertrude Emma Burroughs, is the one who passed along those stories to you.

Her father, your great-grandfather, was Willis Harmon, okay?

Okay.

So, I'm gonna pull up an 1860 census for you to take a look at here.

This is your third great-grandfather, Joseph Harmon.

Okay.

So, Joseph Harmon is living in Clarion County, Pennsylvania, which is in western Pennsylvania.

Now, in researching your family and looking at them being in Clarion County, in the mid-1880s, there were a lot of gangs around like Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and people were sort of disenfranchised from the Civil War.

They were kind of lawless at that point, you know?

That makes sense.

And what's interesting about the Pennsylvania Wilds-- it's known as Clarion County-- is that they had a gang known as the Boss Buck gang, okay?

Now, Boss Buck was notorious.

He was known only second to Jesse James, and he was a horse thief and a counterfeiter... Wow.

...and his territory of crime spanned from Pennsylvania to Maine to Kentucky to Tennessee to Illinois.

That's huge.

Huge.

Now, if your family is in Clarion County and we know Buck is in Clarion County 'cause people are writing about him...

Okay.

...let's see if there's some type of connection between the two families.

So, I'm gonna show you a map of Clarion County from 1877...

Okay.

...to show you where Boss Buck lived.

Now, you see the name of Buck, okay?

So, this is where a lot of criminal activity is taking place because this is where the head man lives of the gang.

But if you look further down, you see a J.B. Hartman.

Okay.

Got it.

That is Joseph B. Harmon, your third great-grandfather, okay?

We believe it is spelled Hartman because census takers are coming in and they're writing down names phonetically.

So, J.B. Harmon, we know that's him, and he's in the same area where all of this criminal activity is taking place.

So, to establish your family's possible connection, we needed to look at this map... Sure.

...to see if they knew each other.

Sure.

And they're living less than a mile apart.

Right.

Now, do we know if they are partners in crime?

First, this is a clip of a newspaper article describing in 1885 when Boston Buck and his gang were captured for being counterfeiters.

And then we looked at court records, and we found a jury verdict for Boston Buck, Benton Buck, and Ed Harmon.

Ed is the eldest son of Joseph Harmon, your third great-grandfather.

So, Ed Harmon is your second great-grandfather.

Okay.

So, he was arrested with Boss Buck for counterfeiting as part of the Buck gang.

And they found them guilty.

Now, what I find so incredible about this is, how were Buck and Harmon caught?

An undercover agent goes to Boss Buck and says, "I want to buy some counterfeit money."

Boss goes directly to Ed, your second great-grandfather.

Boss and Ed meet up with the agent.

They try to sell him $40 worth of counterfeit money for $10.

So, Ed Harmon, your second great-grandfather, was fined $10 as a sentencing document indicates...

Okay.

...and he spent four years of hard labor at the Western Penitentiary of Pennsylvania.

Okay.

But it still leaves the question of, what are you doing with the money?

We looked to see what were they doing with the money, where did it go.

We know that it's rumored that Boss Buck and his gang never stole a horse from anyone who could not afford to lose it.

Mm.

But there was no evidence, really, that they gave that money back to the community.

Okay.

Okay.

So, the big question is, for you, is if your ancestor was truly a Robin Hood, robbing the rich to give back to the poor, and unfortunately he wasn't.

He was part of one of the largest gangs in the region and was convicted for counterfeiting and horse thieving.

There is one redemptive quality about your second great-grandfather, Ed Harmon.

He learned his lesson.

He went on to live a very clean life and to change his ways, and maybe in having that hard lesson in life, he was able to look at himself and say, "I need to move forward and do something different."

And perhaps as you've changed and you decided to devote yourself to social good and to ministering to people, those traits came from your ancestors.

Well, I think maybe both.

Yeah.

And that my grandmother knew these stories at all to tell them-- This is a community of stories.

It is a community of stories.

Which, I think, says something important in and of itself.

Absolutely.

How do we hold ourselves together?

Yeah.

And stories are how we hold ourselves together.

Yeah.

Well, Jennifer, it's been great having you here.

So, thank you so much for coming to "Genealogy Roadshow."

Thank you so much, Kenyatta.

It's been wonderful, the whole entire journey.

(announcer) Why did this man's great-grandfather go missing?

Was he killed or something much less scandalous?

Our genealogist tries to locate the man that some thought vanished forever.

My name is Paul Baker.

This is my sister, Shawna Kline.

And we're here to find some information out about our great-grandfather.

Last name Flynn.

I'm not quite sure of the first name.

We hear lots of rumors that he rode barges up and down the Ohio River.

And one day everybody lost contact with him, so we don't know exactly what happened to him.

We have a lot of information on everybody else except this side of our family.

Finding answers today would fill in a lot of gaps.

Paul, welcome to "Genealogy Roadshow."

So, you've come to us with somewhat of a family mystery.

Is that right?

That's right.

A real mystery.

How many years have you been searching for this information?

(stammering) Well, for us alone, I mean, probably almost 10 years, but I mean, the family just never knew any of this stuff.

Never.

Never.

I mean, they never talked about it.

Exactly, if they knew, they never told anybody about it.

Now, like any missing persons case, we have to retrace the steps of this person.

Were they murdered?

Did they fall off a boat?

Off a bridge?

This is some of the stuff that we're gonna explore today.

Now, I know that you guys might have had a question about what your great-grandfather's actual name was.

Is that right?

Yes.

(laughs) So, we were able to determine that his name was Charley Flynn.

Oh, wow.

So, let's talk about Charley.

Okay.

So, here you are, Paul Baker Jr. Then we have Shavonne Joy Flynn, Raymond Flynn, and there's Charley Lee Flynn.

We were able to retrace this using genealogical records and research techniques, so...

Okay.

Charley Flynn was born in 1899 in Lyon County, Kentucky.

Now, going forward, just about 18 years to 1920 and World War I, we were actually able to locate a photo.

And there's Charley on the right with his brother George.

Oh, my.

(laughs) So... During this period, the brothers had enlisted in the army during World War I.

They actually served down in the Panama Canal Zone.

The Panama Canal was actually completed in 1914, so they were there pretty much shortly after that.

Now, we know he was only there for two years because here's a passenger list from 1922 which shows Charley returning home from the Panama Canal region, from his military service.

Flynn, Charles L. returning back, Kentucky, December 1899.

Do you think we got the right guy?

I'm thinking so.

I'm thinking so, too.

Now let's take a look at Charley and his family.

In 1925, Charley marries your great-grandmother, Gertrude Tait.

Right.

You guys have heard this name before.

Yes, absolutely.

So, there she is, Gertrude E. Tait, getting married to Charley Lee Flynn, and this is taking place in 1925.

So, Charley and Gertrude, shortly thereafter, begin a family of their own.

They have two sons, as I'm sure you guys know.

The youngest of these sons, Roy Flynn, is born on the 18th of July, 1929.

Now, Paul, this date is important.

Okay.

So, I want you to ingrain it in your mind.

July 18, 1929.

Because this is supposedly the date that Charley Flynn died?

Exactly.

We just thought it was the most bizarre thing to have the same exact date.

Exactly.

Right.

We thought that was bizarre, too.

So, when we saw the date July 18, 1929, is the birth date of the youngest son, I said, "Let's take a look at all the records again" because I've seen this date before.

And there it is again.

It lists Gertrude Lee Flynn, who is obviously your great-grandmother.

Right.

She's getting married again to another man in 1946, and she lists that she's widowed.

And her former husband, Charley, was deceased on the 18th of July, 1929.

So, obviously, this set off some bells.

Right.

It did for us, too.

Same here.

(laughter) Now, we have a death date, and what do deaths generate?

There typically is a death record, maybe an obituary, maybe a death notice.

Right.

Perhaps even a burial record.

But we couldn't find any evidence of Charley dying in 1929 in general.

Mm-hmm.

Never mind July 18, 1929.

So, since there was no indication that he died, we decided to check to see if he was living.

Charley disappeared from the records, as you know and we know, until one record actually did show up.

(both chuckling) And I got to tell you, this record is not from July 18, 1929.

Okay.

It was actually from nearly 60 years later.

Wow.

Wow.

This is an obituary for a Charley Flynn in Fredonia, Kentucky.

(chuckling) Now, this man has the same birth date, the same siblings as your Charley, the same World War I record as Charley.

And it also mentions that he married a woman named Magdaline, which we find from other records to be the case.

Wow.

This obituary we believe to be your great-grandfather, Charley Flynn.

That's unbelievable.

Just, like, blown away.

(chuckling) Well, that makes sense, though, I mean, him riding the barges, if it's the Ohio River and he was in Kentucky.

It goes right down through, right?

Through Louisville.

So...

So, Fredonia makes sense.

Yeah.

Wow.

(chuckling) Now, we may never know Charley's motivation for leaving, but what we do know is that he was not murdered and he didn't fall off a boat.

It appears that he simply left your great-grandmother and ended up marrying another woman.

(chuckling) So, Paul, I want to thank both of you for coming here on "Genealogy Roadshow."

It's really been my sincere pleasure and just great fun to have you both.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

(announcer) People continue to line the streets, hoping to discover more about their ancestral roots.

Mary helps guest June Smith discover a family mystery about her adopted parents and her birth mother.

So, we decided to look into both of those names on their certificate, and we were able to determine that Ann, listed as your mother, is your biological mother, and she was Italian-American.

Okay.

Wow.

There was always questions.

So, that-- that is real.

That's real.

(announcer) And Kenyatta talks to Jerry Sacconi, who wants to know if his orphaned grandfather is the illegitimate son of famed Russian writer Anton Chekhov.

The lack of documentation as well as just the timeline when we started digging a little bit deeper was kind of off.

So, it's highly unlikely that Anton Chekhov was your great-grandfather.

Okay, well, I'm still gonna go on believing... (laughing) (announcer) Where there's smoke, there's usually fire.

Our genealogist hopes to connect one woman to one of the biggest coal mine fires in history.

♪ My name is Liz Welsh.

I grew up in a small town north of Boston, and I'm currently living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

My family is Welsh.

The Welsh are kind of famous for being coal miners, which is what my dad's family did as well.

I recently found out apparently my dad's family was run out of Pennsylvania to Illinois due to union-organizing activity.

So, I want to know whether or not it's actually true.

Also, the biggest question that I have about my family comes from a story that my dad told me when I was much younger.

My dad went with his mom to visit his great-uncle in a nursing home, and one of the things that she brought along with them was like a book of records, right?

Biggest, smallest, whatever it is.

And they got to the page for, like, longest-burning fire in the world, and my great-uncle told my dad, "Oh, Grandpa Welsh helped start that fire."

And, you know, I'd love to find out the truth about whether or not my family was involved in this.

I think, also, learning more about my dad's side of the family would be really meaningful because my dad's father died when he was four, and so there's a lot that we don't know.

We're not as close to that side of the family.

So, I think in a way it could bring us closer.

Liz, welcome to "Genealogy Roadshow."

Thank you.

Thank you.

Now, who have you brought with you today?

My Aunt Lori and my Uncle Dave.

They're brother and sister.

Okay, so we've brought the family along to see what we were going to uncover.

Yes.

And I understand that organized labor has a strong history in your family.

Yes.

My Aunt Lori was involved in a lot of union activity for her teachers union, and my uncle is a union member, as well.

Okay.

Yes.

Now, in genealogy, we often work from the known to the unknown.

So, we're gonna start with what you know, and that is your grandfather, John Welsh, was from Illinois.

Yes.

So, looking at the 1930 census, here we see your grandfather, John Welsh... Yeah.

...who is 14 years old.

He's born in Illinois.

Now, his father, your great-grandfather, whose name was also John Welsh...

Yes.

...he's born in Ohio, and his other children are born in Iowa.

So, you can see a little bit of movement in the family.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Now, it isn't uncommon to see families involved in mining that are moving frequently, because they're moving where there's work.

And we know from newspapers and obituaries that John, your great-grandfather, moved his family to Illinois to take a job in a coal mine that was managed by his brother-in-law.

Oh.

Now, looking back, in the 1900 census, we found a Peter and John Welsh living in Monroe County, Ohio.

Now, we know in family history, spelling doesn't always count because oftentimes when they're writing on records, they're doing it phonetically.

They might misspell it.

Okay.

Now, Peter Welsh is your second great-grandfather and your immigrant ancestor.

Oh, he came from Wales.

Oh, he really did, okay.

Yeah.

He really did.

Yeah.

(chuckles) Now, let's go back a bit further.

This is from 1885.

Here we see Peter Welsh, your immigrant ancestor.

If you look at his occupation... A miner.

Peter's a miner.

Yeah.

But if we return to the 1900 census, what's interesting about Peter is, though his sons are very much involved in the coal mines-- you can see they're listed as drivers in the coal mines... Mm-hmm.

...Peter's occupation is a music teacher.

Hmm.

No kidding?

(laughing) We have a number of musicians in our family.

Yes.

So, did you know that music went that deep in your family?

No.

You uncover all sorts of things when you start looking into the family tree.

So, he's gone from being a miner in 1885 to a music teacher in the year 1900.

Right.

Wow.

This is actually something that a lot of mining families aspire to, and that is starting work in the mines and moving themselves into a middle-class job.

And this is what you see literally within the documents happening to your immigrant ancestors.

Yeah.

Now, going back to 1885 and from the birth registers for the Welsh children, we learn that the Welsh family lived in an area called Shawnee, Ohio.

This was a primary mining area in Ohio.

You can see here from the map that there's the Salt Lick mine, and there's Shawnee right where your relatives were living.

And that area of Ohio is part of the Hocking Valley coal field.

Now, the Hocking Valley coal fields were owned by a few companies who were fraught with what we might term as very poor labor relations.

Okay.

We're getting warm.

(laughter) You're getting warm.

Not surprising.

Now, it was traditional for miners to take a pay cut in the spring and the summer each year because the demand for coal was less.

In 1884, they were told to take a double pay cut.

Ooh, nasty.

And the company basically forced them to take the pay cut.

So, you can imagine how this would have impacted your great-grandfather and his family.

Yeah.

Now, the miners refused.

We know that Peter Welsh was in that area, so he was most certainly working for that company.

And this is where the miners decided to strike.

The strike was not just about wages.

The strike was about the conditions and the right to organize, okay?

Oh, good for them.

Good.

(laughter) Bet that makes you happy.

Yeah.

Oh, absolutely.

They're doing the right thing.

The strike went on for a long time.

The companies were actually evicting those miners who were striking from their homes.

Wow.

There was extreme tension, violence, and at a certain point, the Ohio National Guard was called in to help calm down the strike.

Wow.

And this is where it gets very interesting, if it wasn't already.

So, lean in.

We're all ears.

(chuckling) In late October, several miners set fire to the mines near Shawnee.

(laughing) They loaded timber into coal cars, lit the timber on fire, and pushed them into the mines.

Ah.

Wow.

Now, they thought that it would eventually burn out.

This is what's known as the New Straitsville mine fire.

Now, the New Straitsville mine fire was set in 1884, and it's still burning today.

Oh... Really?

That's what I heard from my old uncle.

Uh-huh.

He thought that the longest-burning mine fire was set.

The fire was set where your great-grandfather was living.

Mm.

Now, there was only one miner who ever testified about the event, and he said that there were five other men who set the fire, but he never named the names.

Oh.

Good for him.

It was good, yeah.

So, the big question of who was involved, this is a mystery.

Ah.

No one was every prosecuted.

Oh.

Now, the strike ended in March of 1885.

We know that Peter and his family by that time had moved to Iowa.

Now, whether they moved because of the extremely long period of a strike, whether they moved because Peter was involved... Mm-hmm.

Or they could have moved because they needed to find work elsewhere.

Mm-hmm, yeah.

We've seen that within your family.

Yeah.

What we do know for sure is that labor rights figure very prominently in your family.

Now, you came here today with a question about your grandfather and your great-grandfather, and what we see is a very long legacy.

I think that Peter would be very proud of his descendants, who are still involved in helping workers and helping organized labor.

Well, let's hope so.

I mean, their struggles were much greater than anything we've had to face.

Right.

We actually benefit from what they did.

Certainly.

People like them.

Yeah.

Well, thank you so much for stopping by "Genealogy Roadshow" today and letting us share in your story.

Thank you so much, Josh.

Thank you, Josh.

It's been a pleasure.

This was great.

(chuckles) ♪ It's interesting to learn all this because it's funny how much history seems to repeat itself with the union connections and moving around and the love of music, as well.

So, that's really nice.

And it's cool to know exactly what happened, but it's also exciting that there's still a little bit of mystery.

(announcer) Kidnapping, smuggling, and pirates are certainly a good recipe for a Hollywood blockbuster, but how about your own family history?

My name's Susan Famiglietti, and this is my husband Charles Famiglietti.

I want to know who my third great-grandfather John Griffis was.

I heard a story about how he spent most of his life on the seas.

I'm just trying to figure out is that story true and anything else anybody can enlighten me with.

Susan, welcome to "Genealogy Roadshow."

I see that you brought somebody with you today.

Yes, my husband Charles.

Hey, Charles.

Hi, how are you?

Nice to meet you.

Thanks so much.

Nice to meet you too.

So, what do you know about Captain John Griffis?

He was supposedly a captain at the East India Trading Company.

Mm-hmm.

I don't even know if that's true, to be honest with you.

I truly don't know much about him.

Well, sometimes family lore is really more exciting than the actual story.

Yeah.

But in this case, the reverse is true.

Captain John Griffis was quite a remarkable guy.

And he led a pretty interesting life, I would say.

Really?

So let's start with what we know about Captain John Griffis.

According to his headstone, as I think that you've seen...

Right.

...he was born on the 16th of August of 1766.

Susan, you're third great-grandfather, Captain John Griffis, was actually the captain of a nautical vessel called "Ariel."

The "Ariel"?

Yeah.

Okay.

And on or about the 17th of March, 1800, the "Ariel" and Captain John Griffis sailed from Livorno, Italy.

Now, this is where the cool story begins.

The cargo on the "Ariel" during this voyage was writing paper, umbrellas, various food products, silk stockings, and opium, amongst some other items.

(laughing) So, the cargo was actually quite valuable.

It was insured at that time for $28,000, which today is over half a million dollars.

Wow.

So, that's quite a responsibility that he had.

That's amazing.

Now, on the 3rd of May, 1800, about a month after leaving Italy, the "Ariel" is actually captured by a French privateer.

Wow, that's interesting.

Yeah.

At the time, the French and Americans were waging what is called the Quasi-War, which took place between 1798 and 1801.

This was an undeclared war that was fought at sea, and it was all about commerce.

Now, a privateer was a private person or ship authorized by a government to attack foreign vessels.

This was done in order to avoid committing naval officers.

In essence, privateers were legal pirates.

French privateers began seizing American ships that were trading with Britain.

In 1797, the French had seized over 300 American merchant ships in the past year.

Wow.

So, in response, Congress issued an act to defend their American vessels.

The U.S. government basically authorized captains to seize goods of any ship that they chose.

We believe that Captain John Griffis was authorized to seize goods under this law, which is pretty cool.

That's pretty cool.

So, American privateers, like John Griffis, were basically pirates with a license to plunder.

American pirate.

Yeah.

Pretty cool.

It is cool stuff.

So, let's find out what happened to the "Ariel" and your third great-grandfather, John Griffis.

330 miles from the French island of Guadeloupe, the French vessel pulled up alongside the "Ariel" and fired.

(artillery fire) "Ariel" responded by firing right back.

(artillery fire) For nearly 30 minutes, the vessels went back and forth.

One fired, the other fired, and then again.

30 minutes.

Wow.

(artillery fire) The French combatants tried to board the "Ariel" three times.

On the third time, they were actually successful.

The "Ariel" was outnumbered 100 to 30.

Wow.

Pretty tough crew.

Captain John Griffis was a pretty brave guy.

Wouldn't you say?

Yes, oh, definitely.

That's unbelievable.

I'm impressed.

Like Errol Flynn.

(both laughing) Now, Griffis was taken to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.

On the 21st of May, 1800, in Guadeloupe, the tribunal of commerce and prizes determined that John Griffis carried an authorization by the U.S. government.

In essence, this would make him Captain John Griffis American privateer commissioned by the U.S. government.

How about that?

That's pretty cool.

Yep, cool.

Now, this Quasi-War between the U.S. and France, as we said, dealt with cargo and not people.

So, your third great-grandfather didn't face the possibility of going to prison in this particular case.

In fact, he was actually allowed to return to the United States while the "Ariel" and all of its cargo, including the opium, remained in French Guadeloupe.

Wow.

Okay.

(laughs) Now, following Guadeloupe, he returned to Delaware, and in short order, he's back on the seas and the captain of a ship called "Maria."

Hmm.

Now, we were able to locate a newspaper article.

It says, "'Maria,' Griffis, Waterford."

Right.

So, this is actually a notice that his ship, of which he is the captain, is departing for Waterford.

And then we see a little while later that he has arrived safely in Waterford.

Oh.

We see, "Ship 'Maria,' Griffis, from hence" and then at the end, "Waterford."

How about that?

Especially if you have a captain in the family, looking up arrivals and departures in the newspaper can be a great way to track your ancestors' movements.

Okay.

Never thought of that-- doing that.

No.

Yeah.

So, by 1802, Captain John Griffis marries Hannah Eyre, a Quaker, as I'm sure you know.

They go on to have two children, only one surviving childhood, named John L. Griffis.

John Limeberger, yup, yup.

Exactly, exactly.

Now, the Griffis family lived in a fashionable section of Philadelphia, right here in town.

Hannah raised their son John L. while Captain John continued his work on the high seas.

How about that?

Yeah, that's interesting.

Now, another fantastic source are city directories.

So, we looked up Captain John Griffis from 1807.

Oh, look at that.

We see John Griffis sea captain.

How about that?

Oh, right down by the water.

Exactly.

So, this is actually one of the last records that John Griffis appears in because, as we know, he dies in April of 1807.

Right.

Now, had you heard any of these stories before?

Never.

This is all new information to me.

I would have never dreamed of, you know, anything like this.

So, although Philadelphia was the last address that he called home, his home was really the high seas.

Right.

So, I hope we were able to shed some light on the swashbuckling life of Captain John Griffis.

Definitely.

Thank you so much for coming to "Genealogy Roadshow," Susan.

Thank you.

It's been a real pleasure.

Charles.

Thank you.

Well, I found out that John Griffis, my third great-grandfather, was an authorized pirate by the government.

It's pretty interesting.

It's just another great story to pass on to younger generations of my family, and hopefully they'll appreciate it as much as I do.

(announcer) Questions about her slave ancestors led this woman to an answer she's been desperately searching for.

My name is Shelby Cowan, and the story of my family is that my third great-grandfather came to own a vast amount of land through his father who was the slave owner.

Just been a story that's been passed down from generation to generation, and we would like to have proof.

Shelby, welcome to "Genealogy Roadshow."

Thank you.

Thank you for having me.

So, who are you specifically looking for answers on?

Orin Fulp, who is my third great-grandfather.

Okay.

And I just want to know about his life and about how he came to own this land I guess right after slavery.

Okay.

My aunt and my cousin recently passed away, and they really got me interested in learning about my family.

It just became... a passion for me because of them.

Right.

It's like their spirit passed it on to me and I had to do this for our family to let us know where we came from and who we are.

I'm excited about telling you about your family because this is a classic case study for African-American genealogy.

Okay.

Now, it wasn't like every person who owned slaves had 50 slaves.

Exactly.

It could be one or two.

One or two-- very small number.

So, they were working on the fields with them.

They were interacting with them.

Right.

Now, the 1870 census is the first census that former slaves were enumerated.

Right.

Because before that, slaves were considered to be property.

Now, we open up the 1870 census.

Okay.

I see a Sookey Fulp and a May Fulp.

Sookey is actually Orin's mother.

Okay.

So, that would be your fourth great-grandmother.

Now, Orin is not listed in the 1870 census, but he would have been 14 years old, and we do know that he was born during slavery.

Now, 1880 is the first census that establishes family relationships.

Okay.

So, we located Orin Fulp, your third great-grandfather in the 1880 census.

We see that Orin is a farmer listed as black, 24 years old, and married.

Now, what's interesting, we also have the 1910 census for Orin Fulp.

Okay.

And as we just saw, in 1880, Orin was listed under race as black.

Okay.

But here, in 1910, all of his family, they're listed under mulatto.

Mulatto is typically used at this time to describe someone of mixed race.

Now, when you're dealing with a name such as Fulp, the biggest myth is that African-Americans took the name of their last owner.

Yes.

I'm sure you've heard that many times.

Many times.

There's exception to every rule.

One of those exceptions is the unusual surname like Fulp.

Okay.

So, let's explore that with the 1870 census.

Okay.

Let's see who else is in the neighborhood here.

Okay, cool.

You can see just three doors down there's a James Fulp and Martha, and then there's also William.

Yes.

So, this is a neighborhood.

And looking at the neighborhood, we do see white folks and black folks living together.

Okay.

And this is something that we use in African-American genealogy to connect the white families and the black families...

Okay.

...in the same county with the same last name.

Especially if it's an unusual surname.

Okay.

The next step is then to say what Fulps in that same county owned slaves?

Okay.

Now, the 1860 federal slave schedules...

Okay.

...connects slaves to their owners.

We were able to find George Fulp, who owned salves.

All right.

Now, the slave schedules don't list the slaves' names, only their age, sex, and color.

So, we were not able to make a direct connection between this slave owner, George Fulp, and your third great-grandfather, Orin Fulp.

But let's see what we can discover about the land Orin Fulp was said to own.

Let's see if we can dig deeper to see the source of that link.

Okay, sure.

Now, it is very, very, very, very rare for a master to leave land to his slave unless they emancipated them.

If they did, the white families would always contest the will.

Okay.

All right.

Always.

They would always contest the will.

Okay.

And they typically would end up winning the case.

Okay.

So, Orin post-slavery is a farmer just like most in North Carolina in that county.

So, we looked at land records, deeds, and mortgages in the courthouse.

Okay.

And we see that Orin does have interactions with a William Walker Fulp in 1895.

Now, the first time we see Orin Fulp and William Walker Fulp come into contact is when Orin and two other gentlemen purchase land from William Walker Fulp for $10.

Okay.

Why did they get such a sweetheart deal?

Yeah, exactly.

Exactly.

What was going on there?

Okay.

They purchased the land to build a church and a house for the pastor.

Oh, okay.

For the community.

Oh, that's wonderful.

Yeah, it is wonderful.

It is wonderful.

Yeah, okay.

Now, the second transaction that we see is in 1899.

Orin-- former slave-- and his wife buy land from the estate of William Walker Fulp.

213 acres... Oh.

...of land at $1,200.

Excellent, excellent.

But that seems like a lot of money and a lot of land.

Exactly.

I personally haven't seen anything like that in my research.

What is the equivalent of $1,200 today?

$220,000.

Are you serious?

I'm serious.

Orin Fulp, your third great-grandfather, went from being property... Mm, to owning property.

...to owning property.

Wow, that's amazing.

That's absolutely amazing.

Now let's get back to your question, okay?

Okay.

And that question is...

Whether or not Orin was a slave owner's son.

To find the answer to your question we've searched census records, courthouse records, deeds, mortgages, all of that.

But we were unable to confirm that connection.

Okay.

But one of our last resorts is to look to DNA.

Okay.

Now, Shelby, you took a DNA test.

I did.

We actually found a descendant of William Walker Fulp, and they were willing to take a DNA test.

Really?

And the results are in.

And the results are... (chuckling) Ready?

You ready.

You ready?

Yes.

There is a match between your DNA... Great.

...and their DNA.

Wow, that's excellent.

I'm excited.

So it appears that Orin Fulp, your third great-grandfather, was the son of slave owner William Walker Fulp, who would be your fourth great-grandfather, and Orin ultimately purchased 213 acres of land from his father William.

I'm very excited.

Your ancestor as able to overcome something tragic...

Exactly.

...and build himself up and provide for things so that you today are here because he did that.

Yes, exactly.

I mean, that should make you feel proud, you know?

It does.

It really does.

It makes me feel good that there's some truth to the story.

Mm-hmm.

And that it'll go on in truth and not in mystery.

And so I'm really excited that I'll be able to pass that on to the rest of my family.

Well, this has been a very important story to tell, and I'm glad I've been able to share it with you.

So, thank you so much for coming to "Genealogy Roadshow."

Thank you.

(announcer) From the courageous to the infamous, everyone has a tale to tell.

Join us next time for more amazing stories on "Genealogy Roadshow."

♪ (man) To learn more about this program, please visit pbs.org/genealogyroadshow.

This episode of "Genealogy Roadshow" is available for download on iTunes.

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