Man 1: Tell us why you want to go on this journey to learn about your great-grandfather and what you hope to get out of it.

- I want to go on this journey to find out more about my great-grandpa because I don't know very much about him and I carry his name, you know, his namesake.

Or am I his namesake?

I'm his namesake How does that work?

♪♪ Lise: John Searcy, a middle school teacher in Bloomington, Indiana is an idealistic man with deep convictions.

One of the things he feels passionate about is the power of a name.

John: Names stand for something.

I mean it’s how people know you.

I hope people hear the name John Searcy and feel, oh yeah, what a great guy, you know?

He's funny.

[laughs] He's very smart you know what I mean?

I was named after my great-grandpa, and I don't know very much about him.

I know that I was named after him for a reason, so I’m interested to find out more about my great-grandpa and to find out what type of life he lived and what kind of person he was that made my dad name me after him.

Lise: What is in a name?

It's how the world knows us.

It's who we are, sort of.

But it's also something we inherit and if we choose, it can shape who we become.

From the studios of BYU Television in Provo, Utah, this is The Generations Project.

♪♪ Hi everybody, I’m Lise Simms, and each week on our program we bring you the story of someone who wants to connect with an ancestor or an entire generation of their family tree, and we help them do just that.

We're an ongoing project helping people connect across generations and today that person is John Searcy.

John Robert Searcy.

- Yes.

- Named after your great-grandfather.

- I was.

- What did you know about your naming prior to this journey starting?

John: Um, wh-- I-I grew up knowing that I was named after my great-grandfather on my father's side, and um, and I didn't, and that's pretty much all I knew.

Lise: Mm-hm.

- I knew that I was-- my father named me after him and I assumed that he named me after him for a reason, and so I always kind of kept that feeling with me that I, that I was named after this man and that this man meant something to my dad and so I felt like that's, that’s the person I want to be, and that's the, the [laughs] name I want to live up to.

Lise: Well, as it turns out, you found out your dad didn't quite have that much depth behind it.

John: That's right.

Lise: What wa-- and so you talked to your dad and what did you discover?

John: Right, so one of the first people I-I-I wanted to talk to when, when I wanted to find out more about my great-grandfather was my dad, um, and find out why he named me John Robert.

And as I was having this conversation, I was expecting to hear this revelation of what my great-grandfather meant-- or what, yeah what my great-grandfather meant to my dad, and that didn't happen.

Lise: What did he tell you?

[laughter] John: I-I didn't realize this, but my great-grandfather died before my dad was born, and so my dad didn't even know him, and so I asked for stories and things, and my dad didn’t have the stories I thought that he would have, um, and so I realized that, um, that if finding out more about my great-grandfather would, would not mean a lot just to me, but would mean so much to my dad and I think kind of, um, give him a lot of answers that maybe he wondered about.

I asked him if a lot of stories were passed down about him and, and he said that it just-- things weren't talked a lot about- Lise: Oh isn't that interesting.

- and, and whether that was a reality of things or whether that was just things just- Lise: Weren't discussed.

- weren't discussed, or- - Not uncommon in a lot of families.

I know that names have a lot of weight in your world.

You, you feel like there's great value in a name.

Why is that?

- Um, I-- that notion of naming didn't really sink in I think or I-I didn't realize how much I felt about that until after our daughter was born, and, and you saw a picture of her and she's so sweet and, and—in fact, the-the first few days that Joyce was born, she didn't have a name.

We-- and I think every new parent goes through this, this process of trying to think of, What's the name, and we didn't want to just choose a name that sounded good necessarily, or um, or just something that we liked because it-- because of, of whatever.

We really felt like it-- the name should mean something.

- And you picked the name that is of someone important in your life.

Tell me about that.

John: Yes, and so one of the names that kept coming up was the name Joyce.

If our daughter was a girl, and Joyce was a woman in my family's life.

Um, I-I come from a family of six children, and we grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, and my dad worked downtown and, and so my mom had her hands full with all these kids, and fortunately there was a couple, an older couple in our neighborhood and in our church community that really took us in, and we-we took them in, and they became our grandparents because we lived away from our grandparents, and they were, they were Buddy and Joyce and so we would see them so often and they would take us to the park, and Joyce would feed us lunch, and so it was just a great relationship, and so that name meant a lot to me and as I shared that with, with Julie after we were married she knew how much Buddy and Joyce meant to our family, and she'd seen videos where our family was just bawling after we had moved away from Memphis and we were visiting and we were just bawling just saying goodbyes and so there was a huge connection to these-- to this couple.

Lise: I love that.

I want to talk about really quickly.

John: Sorry I’m getting really emotional.

- I know, I love that you're emotional.

Well, it shows me this power-- what the power of a name means to you, and why this journey was so important to you, discovering that you really didn't know anything about the man you were named after, and it matters to you, and I love that it matters to you.

John: Sure.

- But I also want to talk about something else that matters to you, and that is eating locally, growing your own food, being a localvore.

Talk to me briefly about that, and then we'll get into our story.

- Right.

- Why is that important to you?

- Um, I grew up having-- we grew up in the South and things grow abundantly- Lise: Mm.

- and I guess anywhere else, and we always had a garden.

My dad always had this garden, and he knew-- it was just a beautiful garden we had okra and tomatoes and peppers and- Lise: Makes me hungry just talking about it.

- [laughs] it's delicious and so summers are just this great time- - Abundance.

- of abundance and when I moved away from that I always found I was going to farmers markets and, and, and, and trying to find places where people were growing vegetables and fruit the way that I always knew it.

Lise: The way that felt right?

- Yeah, the way it felt right, the way I’d always seen it happen.

Lise: As it turns out, you have a connection to your great-grandfather in that way.

John: Yes.

- We know he was a farmer and we're going to go to the first part of your trip and start there in Palmetto, Florida.

We send you to Palmetto- John: Yes.

- to do a little research to find out if perhaps your great-grandfather had this localvore connection with you.

John: Right.

- Which would have meant a lot.

Let's look.

John: Okay.

♪♪ Lise: Palmetto is a waterfront community located on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

The city's economy was originally built around farming, and continues to be a hub in the local agricultural industry.

John: Palmetto seems to be like a pretty nice town.

It's not anything too big.

I’m kind of curious what it might have been like when my great-grandpa was here.

Lise: The city of Palmetto has created a historic town where visitors can see the buildings that existed there at the turn of the last century.

♪♪ When John's great-grandfather lived there, Palmetto boasted three churches, a library, a large schoolhouse, and even a newspaper.

Automobiles navigated and stalled on streets made of sand, and farmers worked their fields in the hot, humid climate.

♪♪ John: I’m glad they have this park here because I think it would be hard for me to imagine what it was like, or what the homes were like or just what life was like when John Robert moved here and raised his family here.

It's really great to see the, the homes and just to sit on the porch and just imagine what they might have been doing up there.

So I’m kind of interested to find out more about what brought him to Palmetto, and, and why he was here and why he chose to come here.

♪♪ Lise: John knows that his great-grandfather moved to Palmetto from northern Florida just after he was married at the turn of the 20th century.

But he doesn't know why he moved.

To answer his question and learn more about what it was like for his namesake to farm in this area, John is visiting the Palmetto Agricultural Museum, where he's meeting with Kathy Slusser, a local historian who's been doing research on John's family.

- I’m, I’m learning that my grandpa, he came here early 1900s.

I also heard that he, so this is, he moved here just after he was married.

What would have brought him to Palmetto from where he was?

Kathy: This was a farming community.

The rich soil here made it very easy to grow crops.

In fact there were usually three or four seasons of crop growing in Manatee County, and so he most likely came here as a farmer.

The railroad was coming, and it was an exciting place to live.

Lise: Palmetto had a lot to offer newlyweds like John and his wife.

When the railroad connected to the town in 1903, good farmland that was previously inaccessible was up for sale at relatively low prices.

The Searcy's were a part of a mass migration of young couples coming to Palmetto to take advantage of these new opportunities.

♪♪ Kathy: This is our farm, shop, and garage, and I wanted you to see this because your grandfather most likely had a truck that he would use in his work on the farm.

John: When would he have started using the truck?

Kathy: He would have probably started using a truck around 1920.

That was when the Model T Fords got more affordable for just an average farmer.

- Can I get in it?

- Yes, you can.

- Yeah?

It's so small.

I wonder how big he was.

I think I get my tallness from my grandma's side.

Kathy: Yeah maybe.

The truck ties into your family because we found the 1930 census records, which shows your grandfather's occupation as a truck farmer.

John: Truck farmer.

How's a truck farmer different than-- just because he had a truck?

Kathy: Well he would grow enough crops that he could send to market, not just farming for his own family, and so he would grow several different kinds of crops.

He would grow what was called money crops- John: Mm-hm.

Kathy: which were things like cucumbers and beans and tomatoes and peppers, and he could send them to the market, transporting them by truck.

John: Some of the produce from this area was shipped out, or, or the train came and picked it up.

What do you think my grandpa did?

Was he more of a local farmer?

Did he local-- farm for the local community or did he farm for people far away?

- To answer that question, we need to know how much land he owned.

John: Hm.

- The farmers who owned over five to ten, fifteen acres were probably growing for larger markets and so we need to go look at the deed books to find out what property he owned and how much land he owned.

Then we can decide if he was a truck farmer for the northern markets or just for local fields.

John: Okay.

Great.

Let's do it.

♪♪ Lise: As a supporter of farmer's markets, John is anxious to know if his great-grandfather did in fact sell his produce locally, or if he had to sell his goods to a larger market.

He and Kathy are visiting the county historical archives, where they're looking through the old deed records in order to find out how much land John's namesake owned.

♪♪ Kathy's found a deed showing that John's ancestor bought two acres of land in 1905.

She found another record showing that he bought 15 additional acres shortly thereafter.

Kathy: This 15-acre parcel is significant.

He was actually a large landowner for that time.

We have some records where people who lived during that time period have told us that if you owned more than 2 acres, you were a large landowner.

John: Really?

So is this meaning that he shipped his goods out of the area?

Kathy: Probably, yes.

John: [disappointed] Oh, I see.

- There was a train depot in the Palmview area, and he most likely would have sold some of his crops to the northern markets where it would be shipped there by railroad.

- Huh, so he's not someone I’m gonna see at the farmer's market or at the-- - You could have seen him selling in the local market some of the things grown in his own garden, but probably his mo-- his major occupation was selling for consumers outside of the area.

- Hm, I see.

Well I came into this hoping to see that-- and kind of imagining that my great grandpa was a local farmer, and that everything that he did was for a local community, and so I was kind of disappointed that what he grew was kinda shipped out or he didn't have that imagined place in his community that I imagined, but the reality of it of course is a little different and changes some of the ideas you have of your relatives.

♪♪ Kathy: The other thing that you need to know was it was very hard to be a farmer.

They had to worry about diseases, they had to worry about the weather.

Florida in the summertime is not a great place to live.

In fact, they would have wells for their fresh water, and in the rainy season it would flood, and when they were dipping down into their well they were actually dipping up rainwater from the ground to drink.

So there were a lot of diseases that people died from, a lot of fevers.

There were a lot of deaths of children at young ages, and when we were doing our research we found in our tombstone inscription book that your grandfather actually had an older brother who died at the age of 15 months.

There's an old cemetery in Palmetto called the old Palmetto cemetery.

Sometimes it's called the yellow fever cemetery, and when we were looking in our cemetery book, this has an inscription that shows us that there was an Odell Searcy who died at fifteen months old in 1905 right about the time that they were buying their property in Palmetto.

- Hm, wow, so this would have been their first baby.

Kathy: First child.

John: Oh, wow.

My baby's just about that age right now.

- Oh that’s sad.

- That's really sad to think about.

I’m anxious to go see this, this place where my grandpa's brother was buried.

My great-grandpa's son.

His firstborn.

Um, I think it might be kind of challenging for me because of, of my little girl is the same age and so I will be able to really, that'll be real to me.

I'll be able to see that.

♪♪ ♪♪ Lise: John is going to the Palmetto yellow fever cemetery, which was built in the 1880s in response to the large number of deaths that resulted from the era's yellow fever epidemic.

With time, this became the place where all of Palmetto's deceased were buried.

The cemetery used to be filled with markers, most of which were wooden crosses but with time, all but the most resilient markers have decayed.

John's meeting with Cis Paulson.

A historic parks volunteer who's helping him find Odell Searcy's grave.

- This is it.

- Yes, this is it.

- This is Odell's grave.

Odell Searcy, 1904-1905 age 15 months.

Cis: As you can see from the stone this is a very old cemetery but the family either had money, or what they did have they put to goo-- put to preserve his headstone so that it would be here for all time.

As-as you can see, other headstones no longer exist, so this is really special in that regard.

- Yeah, wow.

Cis: And with that in mind, we have a little something, uh, we found an obituary of Odell's, with-- and a picture of him that-- - Oh wow.

I’m sorry.

- No, that’s okay.

John: My daughter is that age right now, and so seeing this picture really- - Really hits home.

- Yeah.

- It’s, I think it's a parent's worst nightmare to lose a child, and he was absolutely beautiful.

John: It says, “Little Odell Searcy.

"Infant son of Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Searcy "of Palmetto, Florida was born March 2, 1904, "died July 20, 1905.

"Odell's baby lips had just began to lisp "mama, papa, and grandmamma.

"This sweet baby prattle was the sweetest music "to their hearts.

"In their sorrow and loneliness "it is hard to see the loving hand "of an ever-tender all-wise Heavenly Father "or to recognize the divine voice as it calls, "I love thee, I love thee.

"Pass under the rod but dear one, "those whom He loveth, He chasteneth.

"Your tender little flower that was so treasured here "has only been transplanted to that beautiful "garden to God to bloom there forever "in its beauty and sweetness "will draw your hearts heavenward "and, in the years to come you may thank God for your one dear little one safe in the arms of Jesus.” ♪♪ [rain pattering] That just had to be devastating for John Robert and Blanche and I can't imagine being in a new place and, and the hardships that they have and then having to go through the loss as great as that.

I’m sure it's something they carried with them a long time.

♪♪ Cis was telling me that the marker, it's in really good shape for the condition of the cemetery, and I’d like to think that that's how much love that my great-grandparents had for Odell that um if not— they, they purchased you know, the best or the finest-quality marker for their son, then they passed on how much they cared and loved him so that others would, would take care of the grave of a 15 month old.

♪♪ ♪♪ - Very moving, and suddenly it looks to me like they've become very real people that you can feel for.

- They were, they were.

Um, I think it's a-amazing or fascinating that um-- I think it's fascinating that-- I don't know how to say that.

- It's okay.

- Um, I guess I thought it was really interesting that at this point in my life, that this experience happened.

Um, because my family's moved to a new place.

We're at the same age that John Robert and his wife were, um, with the same age baby and so I just felt there were these multiple layers of connection, and you can see how powerful that was to me that, that my great-grandfather was going through some of the same experiences and feeling the same feelings that I-- that I feel as a parent- Lise: Yes.

- as someone moving to a new place working on what their life is going to be like, and making those things happen.

- I definitely felt your deep connection to his whole experience, the hardships of a move, a new place, the baby, the loss.

This-- you saw a picture of your great-grandfather for the very first time here.

- That's right.

- What was that like?

- Um, it-- when I, when I first saw that, I-I-I did a second look.

I really needed to see who that was, and I felt like this instant um, moment of connection and, and, and feeling like I-I-I recognize you.

Lise: Wow, physically?

John: Physically, and, and, and I think more because I know some of his story and where he was and, and had seen where he'd been and so I feel like there was that connection there that I hadn’t-- that wouldn't have been if I’d just seen his picture in, in some kind of form or fashion before.

- Well another way you thought you were going to be connected is this local farming concept.

He was a farmer.

John: He was.

- Apparently quite successful.

Seventeen acres, two acres and then a purchase of fifteen.

Seventeen acres at a time when the average person had two acres.

Clearly very good at what he did, but you were somewhat disappointed that you maybe didn't have the connection you hoped for.

- Right, right, um, it's true.

I-I was hoping that he was this great community man, um and I feel like I took a lot of that idea from my grandfather because they were very much involved in the community.

Although my grandfather was a-a farmer of many acres.

I-I want to say over a hundred acres, and so he also farmed large-scale and appropriately so.

I mean he learned it firsthand.

He-he was one of the truck drivers on his dad's farm.

Lise: Isn't it amazing-- in that era to be successful at that kind of work is really saying something, and you saw it in the cemetery in this headstone where you say it so eloquently that clearly their love was manifested in the money they put into this marker, and that meant so much to you.

You-- I know you planned to emulate or had hopes to emulate John Robert, your great-grandfather who you're named after.

Anything at this point in the story that you're starting to see that- John: In fact, I’d been thinking about that.

What-- because going through this experience you don't learn everything, and you can only make the story out of-of the pieces that you get and my great-grandfather is someone that many stories haven't been passed down about him- Lise: Mm-hm.

- and so from what I’ve seen, I feel like I have to-- well I see, I see my great-grandfather being someone connected to his family and, and someone caring about um, his family, his wife and his kids.

Lise: Mm-hm.

And you are clearly that man.

- I-I hope to be.

I hope to be.

- We're going to move forward in this story, and it turns out at this point, that your name, John Robert goes much deeper into the family history than you even knew, so we're sending you back home, and let's see where the story takes us shall we?

John: Okay.

- Okay.

♪♪ Genealogist Michelle Ercanbrack who's been doing research on John's family line, is paying him a visit at his home.

She's found some new information about naming patterns in John's family tree.

Michelle: All right John, well, what we have obviously this is you and this is your great-grandfather John Robert Searcy that you are named after- - Uh-huh.

- and what we found out is that his grandfather is also named John Searcy.

John: Are you serious?

Michelle: Yeah, can you believe that?

John: No way, that’s awesome!

Michelle: So this is actually a family naming pattern of John Searcys, um and what we found out about him is that he actually lived in Georgia um during the Civil War period.

Right here is a census record from 1860 in Chattahoochee, which is a western county of Georgia- - Okay.

- kind of along the Alabama border.

So, this is in 1860, which is a year before the Civil War began- - Right, right.

- um and so we were trying to figure out if maybe he served in the Civil War.

In this area, um, we found a John Searcy that did serve in the Confederate Army.

- Are you serious?

- Yup, he enlisted in a nearby county, and he actually served as a guard in a prison called Andersonville, which is one of the largest and most notorious Confederate prisons and-- from-- that came out of the Civil War.

- I want to know what his role was down there.

I do want to know like what he did.

- What his duties were?

- Yeah, like what does that mean?

That's gonna be hard.

Michelle: I think it will be interesting for you to go and visit Andersonville and kind of see maybe the other side um of the Civil War and how that pertains to you and pertains to your heritage.

- Sure, yeah.

♪♪ Lise: John is on his way to Georgia, where he hopes to learn more about the life of his Confederate ancestor, and his involvement in the Civil War.

♪♪ John: I grew up just outside of Memphis, Tennessee and so I-I didn't think much of what the Confederacy really was, or what it stood for.

I-I mean my-- the Confederate flag was just more of a symbol of Southern-ness and Southern hospitality to a degree, which I completely disagree with now.

Um, I think after moving-- moving away from where I grew up from and going to school out west really opened me up to, to other experiences and when I came back to the South and, and, and I saw Confederate flag in someone's yard, it just made me sick.

I was really offended by it.

I-- to me it symbolized the shackling of, of an entire people, a whole race of people who didn't have the choice to do what they wanted.

I have strong feelings about basic human rights, and this is gonna be hard to see someone who I’m trying to glean these uh, morals and values from participating in this.

♪♪ Lise: Before visiting the Andersonville prison, John wants to understand what his great-great-great grandfather's life was like before the war.

He also wants to understand what might have motivated his ancestor to enlist with the Confederacy.

♪♪ The 1850 census shows John's ancestor living in Georgia with his small family working as a laborer.

By 1860 at the brink of the Civil War, John Searcy was now supporting a household of six children on the same meager wage of a laborer.

♪♪ In order to learn more about his great-great-great- grandfather's life, John is visiting the Andersonville Civil War village where he has arranged to meet with local historian Cynthia StormCaller.

Cynthia is showing him a replica of the sort of cabin his great-great-great-grandfather might have lived in.

Cynthia: This is the one-room log cabin that more or less like what your ancestor might have lived in back then.

John: With his family.

Cynthia: With his family.

It's one room, a breezeway and a kitchen.

John: So my-- my great-great-great grandfather was a day laborer.

So, what does that mean?

What was his income?

Where did he stand?

- Well he probably didn't even live in a cabin this nice to be honest.

- Oh, really?

- He probably didn't even make a dollar a week.

- Are you serious?

- I’m serious.

I’m serious.

John: Wow, can we go in?

Cynthia: Yeah, let's go check it out.

John: Alright.

Cynthia: Okay.

John: Who would be here during the day?

Li-- how long would my great-great-great grandpa be out working?

When would he come home?

What would that be like?

Cynthia: Well it'd be sun up to sun down.

As soon as sundown happened, my goodness, they were going to bed.

And as soon as the sun was up, they were out working.

- And so, it was just very minimum wage, hard life, that he was experiencing?

- Mm-hm.

Well, hard life compared to our life now.

It was a good life to him.

He actually had a job- - Mm-hm.

- and a home.

♪♪ Lise: Cynthia is taking John to the Andersonville Drummer Boy Museum where he hopes to get a better idea of what might have motivated his great-great-great-grandfather to enlist in the confederate army.

♪♪ John: With this war coming on or with Secession happening, what-- as, as my great-great- great-grandfather was going around, what would he hear, what would he be doing to participate?

- Well, most Southerners and everything were just not happy with the Union.

You know, trying to force their ideas and everything upon us.

The Confederacy was rallying and wanting to secede from the nation, and most people in the South, you know, were for that.

John: Even though there were no-- they necessarily weren't slave owners or they were just day laborers they were still- - Well see it was not about slavery for here.

You know, it was made about slavery up north.

You know, it was about being-- crushing the little man more or less and the South was the little man because it was industry up north.

- And so, my great-great-great-grandfather was probably feeling like he was the little man.

Obviously, he was the little man.

- He could have been feeling that way, or you know, at the same time he could have just not cared and just realized that if he mustered in, you know, to a certain unit he could get a hundred and something dollars and that would help his family survive.

John: How would that have compared to what he was making as a day laborer?

- You're talking about, you know maybe $113 for the year, and he would never have made that- - Oh really?

- as a day laborer.

- Oh really?

♪♪ - I’m not sure what to think of the reasons he, he went to war.

I mean I want to believe that [chuckles] that it wasn't just about slavery although I think a lot of it was, and, and-- but where was my great-great-grandfather amid that?

What was his thoughts and actions?

So, I wonder if it was more economical that, that there was a nice salary of, of sorts, that there was a good wage to go that he couldn't get otherwise, and-- I wonder if he, he did see things or experience things that caused him to rethink or to reevaluate what he was standing up for, what his being a guard there really stood for.

I want to go see this, this prison, and I’m hearing things that I think are really gonna be disturbing for me, especially the position my great-great-great-grandfather was in, so I want to go see that.

♪♪ Lise: Andersonville was chosen as the site for a Confederate prison in December of 1863, two and a half years into the war.

The prison consisted of an open 16 and a half-acre area enclosed by a stockade of twenty-foot-tall logs joined so tightly that it was impossible to see through.

By the time that John’s great-great-great-grandfather began guarding the prison, the situation had gotten out of control.

Thirty-three thousand Union prisoners were crammed into a space that was only made to hold ten thousand.

♪♪ In order to better understand what was happening at Andersonville while his ancestor was stationed there, John is visiting the Andersonville prison site, which is now a national park.

He has arranged to meet with Kevin Fry, an Andersonville historian.

Kevin: But four hundred prisoners a day would come through these gates into the prison itself.

John: Where would they be dropped off at?

Kevin: Just about three quarters of a mile over to the depot where they were unloaded, and then marched here.

Once they got to this point and explained the basic rules of the prison, which were very few, they were separated into groups of about 90 prisoners.

At that point, they would open these gates, and there was two gates, there was one on the north hill, there was one on the south hill.

They would open the gates, bring the prisoners within this small area- John: Mm-hm.

Kevin: and then they would close the gates behind them.

Now imagine yourself the-- most of them heard of Andersonville before they got here, except for the first very few.

The stench here was something fierce, so if you c-- I’m sure you can image what they were going through.

Once those gates were closed, they would open up these inner gates, which would allow the prisoners to come into the general population.

John: Mm-hm.

Lise: John's ancestor would have led prisoners through the gates into an overcrowded area that one eyewitness described as, “A great mass of gaunt, unnatural looking beings "soot begrimed and clad in filthy tatters "who looked as if they might belong to a world of lost spirits.” [somber music] Kevin: Now when they opened up the gates and came here you had been just completely swarmed upon by other prisoners that would come charging in here.

- Really?

Kevin: Do you have food, do you anything to trade?

Do you have anything at all?

What's the information, where's the war, how's the war going, where's Uncle Billy at?

You would just be rapid fire of questions looking for information- - Sure.

- and this whole area at the time that he was here was just completely covered.

Lise: In order to control the population, John Searcy's great-great-great-grandfather would have sat in the guard towers known as pigeon roosts.

He was given strict orders to shoot any Union prisoner who came within 20 feet of the stockade walls.

He and his fellow guards were given insufficient rations with which to feed the prisoners.

♪♪ While John Searcy guarded Andersonville in August of 1864, he and his fellow guards watched 100 prisoners die each day.

News of the treatment of Andersonville prisoners so horrified the people of the North that after the war, they held the first war crimes tribunal in the history of the United States.

The tribunal determined that the prison leadership could have alleviated the prisoner's suffering, but chose not to.

The tribunal's sentence for such woeful neglect was death.

John: What value do I get from a great-great-great ancestor that was part of this torture, part of this suffering of, of so many people?

I’m surrounded by these graves and I’m just thinking, you know he was there for this.

This was his reason for being here.

♪♪ And I’m imagining my great-great-great-grandpa being a part of marching those new inmates into the, the prison, and knowing what these, these soldiers are going into.

♪♪ Was the money worth it?

Was the cause worth it?

I-I-I don't know.

How do you make that decision?

How do you be in that position to, to decide that's right or not?

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Lise: Back at home, John is meeting again with genealogist Michelle Ercanbrack, who has done additional research on John's great- great-great-grandfather's military service.

She's found the records of his enlistment and payment for service.

Michelle: So this is the first actual muster roll for John.

So again, he again he enlisted in A-- uh July.

From the period after August, which is to December, it says that he hasn't been paid since he's enlisted, which was in July and then um, you can see present or absent what does it say?

John: Without leave.

Michelle: Absent without leave.

- Holy cow.

- So, you're familiar with that phrase AWOL?

- Sure, he went AWOL, yeah so how long had he been there?

Michelle: Okay so going back he, this says that he enlisted on- John: In July-- July 26th.

In July, July to September, that's all he did and then went AWOL.

- A month and a half and then he left.

- Oh my gosh.

- Yeah.

Now and if you think about it, some of the information that you've gathered in Andersonville- John: Yeah?

- the period where there were 33,000 people held, so three times what its capacity, was August.

So he enlisted in July, uh end of July, gets there where there are 100 men dying a day, and leaves by September 17th.

Potentially as far as the reasons why he might have left- John: Yeah?

- I can come up with about three.

The first which is about economic, the second is moral, and the third is his family.

So, we're talking economics.

He's only been paid once after working a month and a half in this prison.

Um, it's obvious that that would get old really quick.

- Sure.

- The second however, is a moral reason, which you’ve experienced.

- And that’s-- when you first told me that, that's why I was just like please, please, you know?

- That there's a shred of humanity somewhere there.

- Especially after seeing the conditions, and hearing the stories about just- - What happened.

- what those prisoners were going through.

Michelle: He left in September of 1864, which is when Sherman's March from the Sea is really gaining strength.

John: Mm-hm.

Michelle: He has six little kids at home, and so obviously, his-his thoughts are going to be with the family that he's left behind.

John: Any of those reasons to me seem- - Understandable.

- understandable, you know, and, and, and I can't imagine what was going through his mind.

You know, he was close to his family, he'd just left them.

To have that on your shoulders and to see what's going on in this prison, I really hope that's what his decision was.

Lise: At the end of the Civil War, Sherman's March had left Georgia in a shambles.

Mass amounts of lumber were needed to rebuild the state's infrastructure.

The 1870 census, the last available record of John Searcy's life, shows that he was living with his family in eastern Georgia where he worked at a lumber mill helping to supply his state with the materials it desperately needed to rebuild.

Michelle has been doing some further digging into the Searcy family tree and found some exciting new information.

Michelle: So, as I’ve showed you, this is the pedigree leading up to John who served in the Civil War.

Um, what I found was John's father, um and John's father, George W., lead me to a long, longer line of John Searcy's.

- Are you kidding me?

- That go back actually to 1666 in Nottingham, England.

John: No way.

Michelle: Um, believe it or not you can see that this John Searcy was born in Nottinghamshire, England and died in North Carolina, and he actually is the first Searcy to come to America.

- Wow.

- So, um- John: My family was at a total loss for where our family came from, and this just blew that all open, and then to see my name attached to all of that, ah it's just really powerful.

Really powerful.

John: I think the moment that I realized the most power that a name can have, is when Michelle unscrolled that paper, and to see my name so many generations back.

And it's not that I was necessarily, Yeah, there's my name on paper, or this is a name a lot of people have had because of course John is, it’s a common name right?

But to see it in that, that to see it connected to me.

♪♪ I felt kind of this responsibility.

I felt this, this need, or this desire to, to find out more about them, um but also to make sure that I carry myself better, that I-I-I live a better life.

It really gave this incredible meaning and, and story.

A story that I can pass down to my daughter, to my kids you know.

A story that she can tell her kids and that’s just— and I think that's exciting.

We all, I think we all seek for that.

I-I know that, that's what I was looking for.

- You had a roller coaster ride.

John: I really did.

[laughter] - I see your relief when you hear that your great-great- great-grandfather went AWOL, I just see this phew.

Is that what it felt like?

- It, it did.

It did and, and I think that came from seeing the, the conditions and, and the pictures and the-- and hearing the stories and actually being there it, it, I can’t-- I would never want to ever experience that.

Um, and, and he had to.

And so I really, really hope that that's the decision he made.

His family was close by, his uh-- yeah, so I think there were a lot of pressures on him.

He wasn't getting paid, what he signed up to do wasn't what he thought he was doing.

- You were looking for role models.

Did you find it?

John: I did.

I-I-I, again I feel like it’s um, you get-- you're only given so much and so you really have to read into what um, those facts mean, and maybe that's the luxury of finding out more about your ancestors is that you kind of get to make up the story a little bit.

- Fill in the blanks.

- Fill in the blanks.

- Yeah.

- Um, but I-- it’s also uh, you're not just filling in the stories with, with what you're making up.

You're filling in the stories with how you live your life, and knowing that that person must have lived their life in a, in a similar way.

You are connected.

You have the same genes.

You have the same ideas that have been passed along and, and so that's what I hope, um and so I hope my great-great-great-grandfather who worked in, in fields and plantations along with slaves used that and, and, and didn't harbor ill feelings towards others but really cared about those who were around him, and about his family and I think that's evident.

Lise: Well you’ve-- you're sort of proof that you know, each generation improves on the last as well.

You discovered something you didn't know which was this really deep history of John Searcys going back to the 1600s in Nottingham, England and you knew none of that.

Did you know there was an English- John: We-- I-- my family knew there was some connections, and, and we've run into people who have, I mean there's a book that's written called Searching for Searcys, and so we know there's- Lise: Oh, I have to read it now.

Have you read it?

- I haven't read it.

- Oh, John-- well you haven't had a minute.

- No, I haven't, not since that moment, um, but there um, there has been a lot of work done, but there's been a point where we haven't figured out how we connect to that.

Lise: Mm-hm.

- How my dad's family fits into all that, and so when I saw that and saw my name, my father's name, and his dad's name and these other folks that I’ve-- my ancestors, that I’ve been learning about connected to this pivotal moment of change in deciding to better their lives from England to the, to the hope of moving here to the United States.

It wasn't even the United States at that time- Lise: Right.

- you know there's just these jumping off points and to be connected to that was just.

Lise: Fulfilling?

- Yeah, fulfilling.

And, and really does fill in some of the needs and some of the stories that, that I have heard in my, in my family's life.

- You mentioned your dad, and I imagine you've taken all this information back to your dad.

John: Yes.

- What's his reaction?

- He was, um I think he was just as excited as I was, and I wish he could have been right there with me experiencing that.

In fact, we've already planned a trip to go visit these same places and to experience these same things together, and, and um it-- it's quite a connection to me.

It really does bind and strengthen those relationships.

Lise: In the midst of all this, you were moving.

You had cameras over your every move, discovering some things that were not pleasant to discover and not knowing where they would lead.

What was the shooting of this like for you?

- Um, I think-- and even right now trying to verbalize all of my, my thoughts isn't something I normally do.

Lise: Well you do it well.

So, whatever you say I'll take.

- Thanks, right.

Um, and maybe that's what I try and do for my students, you know, so that they're good communicators and what not, but it’s-- it's different.

It's different.

Lise: Did you feel watched?

- Definitely.

- Do you think it changed the way you would have reacted had you been there alone with your dad?

- Um, well, I feel like there would have been an element of, of intimacy that- Lise: Privacy.

- privacy that, that’s changed.

Um, I-I felt like I tried to be authentic as possible.

- You were very authentic.

- Um- - And so willing to open your heart and your soul, and I’m so grateful.

John: But it really was-- I was learning these things for the first time I-- and I was meeting people who had done this research that I'll forever be indebted to and grateful for, that-- for instance Kathy and Cynthia and Cis doing all these things that- Lise: With great passion.

John: Really, yes.

I mean the whole town of Palmetto stopped what they're doing, and, and did this research to make us feel welcomed, and, and to help us learn more about why they were there, and, and my great-grandpa's part in that, so it was quite the experience, and, and it’s-- I want to continue this experience and I know it's not gonna be as easily done.

- Without a little support.

John: Right, right, right.

- Well, it's a good start.

- But I-I know who to be looking for, and I know what I want to look for.

- You said there's another side of your family that you want to dig into that you really know even less about in so many ways so, that will be a fun journey and I’m glad that you're inspired to do that.

Is this going to change your teaching style do you think?

John: Oh yes.

- How so?

- I-I just started teaching again.

I took a little break when my wife was doing some graduate work, and so I’ve gone from being this dad with my daughter and, and working part-time to working at a school.

In fact, the school is called the Project School, and um, and I felt like I was doing exactly what we're hoping our students will do.

They're learning about history- Lise: Yeah.

- they're learning about um, the context of things happening, and it’s connected to themselves, it’s connected to them as people and to a place.

Lise: You're bringing it to life.

- Yeah.

- I love that about what we do, because I learn about history in a way I never knew before.

John: Right.

- Um, your story was so complex and so emotional.

You really had the opportunity to see two sides of what is a very American story, the Civil War.

John: Mm-hm.

- A side that maybe you didn't want to look into deeper.

Um, did you learn anything from that?

- Well, it was a-- it's something I knew I would have to experience or, or have to confront especially knowing that my family has lived in the South and has lived in the South long enough to, to be there during the Civil War.

I didn't know how we were connected.

Lise: Mm-hm.

- I didn't know what that would have looked like.

Lise: Was it uncomfortable learning it along the way, or did you have any fears?

- Um, I did have some fears.

Lise: Did you?

- Um- Lise: About?

- I don't, I don’t know how appropriate this is if it's being watched by all my family.

Lise: [laughs] Well.

- I have-- I don't want what my feelings that I expressed and, and, and the conflicts I have about my roots, I don't want that to offend or to, to- Lise: Hurt anyone.

- hurt anyone, especially people that I love most in my family who, who may not have the same viewpoint or, or, or ideas.

- I-I think that's one thing that just made your story so fascinating to me.

You really saw so many sides to one issue.

We don't often have that opportunity within your own bloodline.

- Right.

- You are very much the other side of that issue.

Um, so, are we a product of our era?

Our region?

Our circumstance?

Or is it choice?

Is it all of the above?

We have to wrap up.

I hate to, because I could talk to you all day long.

But I have to ask, will there be a John Searcy in your family some day?

Will you pass on this power of a name to a son?

- I don't know.

Lise: Knowing what you know?

- I don't know.

I-I feel like that hasn't been the tradition is to pass it directly on to- Lise: Ah, it jumps a generation here and there.

- It usually jumps a generation.

- Did this change your mind one way or the other or?

- Um, it-- I-I think it's kind of fortified our feelings of names, and my wife has a huge family.

Lise: So there are plenty of names to choose from.

John: Plenty of names to choose from.

- John Robert Searcy, thank you so much for sharing your name and your story with us.

I’m very grateful.

John: Thank you.

- Thank you all for watching.

Please join us next time for the next Generations Project.

Bye-bye.

♪♪