DNA Mysteries

GATES: I'M HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.

WELCOME TO "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'LL MEET ACTOR TÉA LEONI AND RADIO HOST JOE MADISON.

TWO PEOPLE WHOSE LIVES HAVE BEEN MARKED BY DEEP FAMILY MYSTERIES.

LEONI: I WAS SCARED.

I REMEMBER FEELING LIKE, UNTETHERED.

THE FIRST THING I COULD THINK OF WAS, "THEN WHO ARE GRANDMOM AND GRANDAD?"

MADISON: SO I WOULD ALWAYS WONDER, WELL, WHO'S WHO?

GATES: RIGHT.

MADISON: WHY WASN'T I LIVING WITH MY MOTHER AND FATHER?

GATES: YOU READY TO FIND OUT?

MADISON: ALL THIS TIME I'VE BEEN WAITING.

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

GENEALOGISTS HELPED STITCH TOGETHER THE PAST FROM THE PAPER TRAIL THEIR ANCESTORS LEFT BEHIND...

WHILE DNA EXPERTS UTILIZED THE LATEST ADVANCES IN GENETIC ANALYSIS TO REVEAL SECRETS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD.

AND WE'VE COMPILED IT ALL INTO A "BOOK OF LIFE".

MADISON: WHOA!

GATES: A RECORD OF ALL OF OUR DISCOVERIES.

LEONI: I AM CHOMPING AT THE BIT!

COME ON, WHAT IS IT?

MADISON: WOW, WHO IS THAT?

GATES: YOU'RE LOOKING AT YOUR BIOLOGICAL FATHER.

MADISON: I'VE SEEN HIM.

I HAVE SEEN THAT FACE.

GATES: TÉA AND JOE CAME TO ME WITH BASIC QUESTIONS ABOUT THE IDENTITIES OF THEIR PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'RE GOING TO GIVE THEM THE ANSWERS THEY'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR, THROUGH A PIONEERING COMBINATION OF GENETICS AND GENEALOGY...

INTRODUCING THEM TO ANCESTORS WHOSE IDENTITIES THEY COULDN'T POSSIBLY HAVE IMAGINED... AND REVEALING FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME WHERE THEIR ROOTS REALLY LIE.

[THEME MUSIC PLAYS].

♪ ♪ GATES: WHEN WE LOOK AT OUR PARENTS AND OUR GRANDPARENTS, WE OFTEN CATCH GLIMPSES OF OURSELVES.

AND IT'S NOT JUST FROM SHARED DNA.

THE PEOPLE WHO RAISE US SHAPE US, ALMOST INVISIBLY, THROUGH THE VALUES THEY CONVEY, THEIR CONVICTIONS, AND ESPECIALLY THROUGH THEIR ACTIONS.

FOR ACTOR TÉA LEONI, CHILDHOOD WAS A JOYOUS TIME, SPENT IN A HOUSEHOLD WHERE SHE WAS BOTH LOVED AND FREE TO EXPRESS HERSELF.

LEONI: I HAD A REALLY ACTIVE IMAGINATION.

AND I LOVED STORYTELLING, AND I LOVED ENTERTAINING MY PARENTS AND MAKING 'EM LAUGH.

GATES: MM-HMM.

LEONI: AND I GUESS I WAS DRAMATIC IN MY STORYTELLING, AND, AND I THINK THAT PLANTED A LITTLE BIT OF A SEED.

GATES: TÉA'S CAREER GREW OUT OF THAT SEED.

AND, LOOKING BACK, IT'S BEEN A REMARKABLY DIVERSE CAREER.

FROM BLOCKBUSTER ACTION FILMS, LIKE "BAD BOYS" AND COMEDIES LIKE "FLIRTING WITH DISASTER".

COPLIN: WITH ALL YOUR NERVOUS ENERGY YOU KIND OF REMIND ME OF MY MOTHER.

OW!

GATES: TO HER STAR TURN IN THE HIT TELEVISION DRAMA, "MADAM SECRETARY".

AIDE: THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU FRONT AND CENTER TO REASSURE THE PUBLIC THAT EVERYTHING IS OK. LEONI: IS IT?

NEWS TO ME.

GATES: TÉA HAS SUCCEEDED SO WELL IN SO MANY DIFFERENT GENRES THAT I WAS SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT SHE MIGHT NOT HAVE GONE INTO ACTING AT ALL IF IT HADN'T HAVE BEEN FOR HER PARENTS.

LEONI: I WAS GONNA BECOME AN ANTHROPOLOGIST.

GATES: REALLY?

LEONI: YEAH.

I WAS VERY GOOD AT IT.

YOU KNOW, I WAS AN A STUDENT AND, YOU KNOW I WAS STUDYING IN COLLEGE AT ONE POINT THE TUI INDIANS OF NEW GUINEA, AND I WAS GONNA FOLLOW UP WITH THIS, AND MY DAD SAID, "HEY, YOU KNOW, BEFORE YOU DO THAT, YOU SHOULD GO TO A COCKTAIL PARTY WITH A BUNCH OF ANTHROPOLOGISTS."

AND I COULD KIND OF SENSE THAT HE, FOR ME, THOUGHT, "YOU NEED TO BE DOING WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE CREATIVE, MORE CREATIVE THAN THAT, MAYBE."

I THINK HE SAW SOMETHING THERE THAT WASN'T A GOOD MATCH.

GATES: WHEN DID YOU DECIDE, "I'M GONNA BE AN ACTRESS"?

LEONI: IT WAS A DARE, I GOT DARED TO DO IT.

THERE WAS A CATTLE CALL, YOU KNOW, THESE BIG, LONG, SORT OF ANYBODY-COME, ANYBODY, WHATEVER, FOR THE REMAKE OF "CHARLIE'S ANGELS".

GATES: HUH.

LEONI: AND I SAID, "I'LL GO."

AND SO, I JUST WENT, AND THEN MONTHS LATER, OOPS, I GOT IT.

GATES: DID YOUR PARENTS GO CRAZY?

LEONI: NO, MY DAD SAID, "DON'T DO SOMETHING BECAUSE YOU'RE GOOD AT IT.

DO IT BECAUSE YOU'RE PASSIONATE ABOUT IT, AND YOU'LL GET GOOD AT IT."

I DON'T KNOW THAT THAT'S RIGHT, BUT I WENT WITH THAT IDEA.

GATES: DID YOU GO TO THE COCKTAIL PARTY WITH THE ANTHROPOLOGISTS?

LEONI: NEVER MADE IT.

GATES: ANY REGRETS?

LEONI: NO.

MADISON: HARRISON FROM TEXAS, HI.

GO, GO TO MATT FROM MISSISSIPPI.

HI.

ALICIA FROM TEXAS.

GATES: MY SECOND GUEST IS TALK RADIO ICON, JOE MADISON.

A CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST TURNED HOST, JOE'S BEEN ON THE AIRWAVES FOR NEARLY FOUR DECADES.

BLESSED WITH A CUTTING WIT AND A PASSION FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE.

BUT TO HEAR JOE TELL IT, HIS CAREER STARTED ALMOST BY ACCIDENT.

MADISON: THEY HAD AN OPENING FOR A WEEKEND, A TALK PERSONALITY.

AND THE PROGRAM DIRECTOR, UH, SAID, "YOU KNOW, WE'VE, WE'VE HAD YOU ON AS A GUEST, AND WE'VE GOT A SLOT."

THE BLACK SLOT.

GATES: OF COURSE.

ON THE WEEKEND.

MADISON: ON THE WEEKEND.

"AND, AND WOULD YOU LIKE TO, UH, CONSIDER DOING IT?"

AND I SAID, "SURE.

I'LL TELL YOU WHAT I'LL DO TO PREP, I'LL GO TO BROADCASTING SCHOOL."

AND THEY SAID, "NO, DO NOT GO TO BROADCASTING SCHOOL, BECAUSE WHATEVER THEY TEACH YOU, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO UNDO IT."

GATES: UH-HUH.

MADISON: SO IT WAS LIKE, "YOU'RE ON."

IT'S BAPTISM OF FIRE.

GATES: MM-HM.

MADISON: AND I DID THAT FOR TEN YEARS.

GATES: TEN YEARS EVERY SATURDAY.

MADISON: TEN YEARS EVERY SATURDAY.

SOMETIMES, I WOULD TRAVEL SOMETIMES TO GIVE SPEECHES FOR THE NAACP, COME BACK IN, IN, ON SATURDAY TO DO MY SHOW... GATES: HUH!

MADISON: AND I LEARNED THE TRADE THAT WAY.

GATES: JOE "LEARNED" VERY WELL.

BY THE LATE-1990'S, HE WAS A NATIONAL FIGURE, SYNDICATED ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

TODAY, HE HOSTS A WEEKDAY SHOW ON SIRIUS-XM.

BUT DESPITE ALL HE'S ACCOMPLISHED, JOE ISN'T RESTING ON HIS LAURELS.

HE WAKES UP AT 3:30 EVERY MORNING, AND DRIVES HIMSELF AS HARD AS ANYONE I KNOW.

IT'S A DRIVE, HE SAYS, THAT COMES FROM THE MAN WHO RAISED HIM, HIS MATERNAL GRANDFATHER, JIM STONE.

MADISON: BIG JIM STONE WAS NO NONSENSE.

HE WAS ABOUT 6'8".

GATES: HMM.

MADISON: I THOUGHT HE WAS SEVEN FEET.

HE WAS JUST A HARD WORKER.

HE DID WHATEVER HE HAD TO, TO BRING MONEY IN.

HE WAS UP AT 4.

TODAY, HE WOULD BE IN "WASTE MANAGEMENT".

GATES: UH-HUH.

MADISON: IN THOSE DAYS, WE COLLECTED PEOPLE'S TRASH.

GATES: RIGHT, SURE.

MADISON: AND YOU DIVIDED THE PAPER, THE CARDBOARD, THE METAL.

AND THAT'S HOW HE MADE A LIVING.

GATES: HUH.

MADISON: AND I TRAVELED ON THAT TRUCK WITH HIM.

GATES: UH-HUH.

MADISON: AND THAT'S HOW I WORKED IN THE HOT SUMMER.

STINKY LANDFILL, AND A GRANDFATHER WHO SAID, YOU KNOW, "YOU DON'T LIKE THIS, DO YOU?"

"NO."

HE SAYS, "WELL, YOU GOT, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY TWO OR THREE CHOICES.

YOU CAN GET AN EDUCATION, OR YOU CAN GO INTO THE MILITARY."

GATES: "OR YOU COULD INHERIT MY BUSINESS".

MADISON: "OR YOU CAN STAY HERE."

THAT WAS THE THIRD CHOICE.

GATES: FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!

MADISON: THAT WAS THE THIRD CHOICE.

GATES: JOE'S AFFECTION FOR HIS GRANDFATHER IS PALPABLE, BUT WHEN IT COMES TO THE REST OF HIS FAMILY, FOND FEELINGS ARE INTERLACED WITH UNANSWERED QUESTIONS.

GROWING UP, JOE RARELY SAW HIS PARENTS, WHO SEPARATED WHEN HE WAS A CHILD AND THE SITUATION LEFT HIM CONFUSED, BRINGING HIM TO ME WONDERING WHAT EXACTLY HAD HAPPENED.

MADISON: IT WOULD BE BITS AND PIECES.

GATES: RIGHT.

MADISON: THAT I WOULD PICK UP FROM CONVERSATIONS WHEN I WAS VERY YOUNG, ADOLESCENT CURIOUS ABOUT WHO I WAS AND MY BACKGROUND, WHY AM I LIVING WITH MY GRANDPARENTS WHEN MOST OF MY FRIENDS WERE WITH THEIR PARENTS?

YOU KNOW, THEY WOULD BRING THEIR PARENTS TO SCHOOL.

YOU KNOW, MY GRANDFATHER ALWAYS SEEMED MUCH OLDER.

GATES: MMMM AND, OF COURSE, HE WAS.

MADISON: YEAH.

HE WAS.

SO I WOULD ALWAYS WONDER, WELL, WHO'S WHO?

GATES: RIGHT.

MADISON: WELL, YOU KNOW, WHAT HAPPENED?

AND THEY NEVER WENT INTO, IT WAS NOT ONE OF THESE, YOU KNOW, SIT DOWN, SON, AND LET ME TELL YOU.

GATES: ABOUT ROOTS.

MADISON: YEAH, EXACTLY.

GATES: JOE AND TÉA COME FROM DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS; BUT THEY SHARE SOMETHING PROFOUND...

BOTH WERE RAISED IN FAMILIES WHERE SECRETS AND SOCIAL CONVENTIONS HAD LEFT THEM WITH BASIC QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR ROOTS.

IT WAS TIME TO REVEAL THE ANSWERS THAT THEY'D BEEN SEEKING FOR SO LONG.

I STARTED WITH TÉA.

LEONI: I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT MY MOTHER'S BIOLOGICAL SIDE.

GATES: RIGHT.

SHE GREW UP WITH AN ENTIRE BRANCH OF HER FAMILY TREE SHROUDED IN MYSTERY.

LEONI: I'VE ALWAYS WONDERED ABOUT THAT.

GATES: HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOUR MOTHER WAS ADOPTED?

LEONI: I WAS ABOUT EIGHT, SEVEN OR EIGHT.

AND WE WERE WITH MY COUSINS, AND UH, AND IT'S ONE OF THOSE THINGS, IT FLEW OUT OF SOMEBODY'S MOUTH LIKE EVERYBODY KNEW IT.

GATES: WHAT WAS ITS EFFECT ON YOU?

LEONI: I WAS SCARED.

I HAD A SUDDEN FEELING, I REMEMBER FEELING, LIKE, UNTETHERED ALL OF A SUDDEN, LIKE LITERALLY, LIKE, LIKE MY KNEES WERE GONNA GO, BECAUSE I GUESS IT, THE ONLY, FIRST THING I CAN THINK OF WAS, "THEN WHO ARE GRANDMOM AND GRANDDAD?"

GATES: FOR YOUNG TÉA, "GRANDMOM AND GRANDDAD" WERE VIRGIL AND FLORRY PATTERSON, A TEXAS COUPLE WHO ADOPTED HER MOTHER EMILY WHEN SHE WAS AN INFANT.

THEY WERE THE ONLY PARENTS EMILY EVER KNEW.

TÉA ADORED THEM.

BUT LEARNING THAT THEY WERE NOT HER BIOLOGICAL GRANDPARENTS WAS UNSETTLING AND SHE TOLD ME THAT IT TOOK HER SOME TIME EVEN TO RAISE THE SUBJECT AGAIN.

LEONI: I WAS HAVING DINNER WITH MY PARENTS, AND I SAID, "MOM, I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE ADOPTED," AND I HAD NOT UTTERED IT OUT LOUD, AND I REMEMBER MY MOTHER TOOK HER TRAY AND PUT IT ON THE TABLE, AND WALKED OUT OF THE ROOM.

AND MY DAD GAVE ME A LOOK, MAYBE HE THOUGHT I SHOULD'VE KNOWN BETTER.

AND THEN HE GOT UP AND LEFT, AND I REMEMBER SITTING THERE AND JUST FEELING LIKE I'D DONE, I'D DONE SOMETHING VERY WRONG, YOU KNOW?

AND I DON'T KNOW WHEN IT WAS, IT WAS NOT IMMEDIATELY AFTER, BUT I REMEMBER MY MOTHER SAT ME DOWN AND SHE SAID, "YOU KNOW, I WAS ADOPTED.

I DON'T KNOW WHY I DIDN'T TELL YOU, BECAUSE GRANDMOM AND GRANDDAD ARE MY MOTHER AND DADDY."

GATES: MM-HMM.

LEONI: AND SHE SAID, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE SOMEBODY LIKE A CARPENTER WHO BUILDS YOUR HOUSE, BUT THEN IT WAS GRANDMOM AND GRANDDAD THAT MADE IT A HOME.

GATES: MM-HMM.

LEONI: SO, SHE WAS NEVER CURIOUS, AND I ASKED HER IF SHE WAS CURIOUS, AND SHE SAID, "ARE YOU CURIOUS ABOUT THE PERSON THAT BUILT THIS HOUSE?"

I SAID, "NO."

SHE SAID, "YEAH, ME NEITHER."

GATES: TÉA AND HER MOTHER WERE FACING QUESTIONS THAT CONFRONT MOST FAMILIES AFFECTED BY ADOPTION AND EACH FAMILY HANDLES THESE QUESTIONS IN THEIR OWN WAY.

THE BONDS BETWEEN PARENT AND CHILD CAN BE EQUALLY DEEP, WHETHER THE RELATIONSHIP IS BIOLOGICAL OR ADOPTIVE.

NEVERTHELESS THE DESIRE TO KNOW ONE'S ROOTS IS PROFOUND.

AND OVER TIME, TÉA GREW INCREASINGLY CURIOUS ABOUT WHO GAVE BIRTH TO HER MOTHER EMILY.

INDEED, IT'S THE MAIN REASON SHE WANTED TO BE IN OUR SERIES.

EMILY, HOWEVER, NEEDED TO BE CONVINCED.

LEONI: SHE IMMEDIATELY STRUGGLES WITH IT, IS SHE BETRAYING MY GRANDPARENTS BY DOING THIS?

MY GRANDPARENTS ARE GONE, AND YOU KNOW, I TRIED TO, I GUESS, EXPLAIN TO HER THAT WE'RE NOT CHALLENGING AN OWNERSHIP.

THIS IS A CHANCE FOR HER TO KNOW WHERE HER ESSENCE MAYBE COMES FROM, WHERE HER BONES COME FROM, YOU KNOW, THE HAMMERS AND THE NAILS AND THE BEAMS.

SO, SHE'S ON BOARD.

GATES: MM-HMM.

LEONI: SHE TOLD ME, "YOU GO FIND OUT WHAT YOU'RE GONNA FIND OUT, AND THEN YOU COME TELL ME."

GATES: WITH EMILY'S BLESSING, WE BEGAN TO TRY TO UNRAVEL THIS MYSTERY.

THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO GUARANTEE THAT WE'D SUCCEED.

COUNTLESS ADOPTEE'S HAVE SPENT THEIR ENTIRE ADULT LIVES WITHOUT EVER DISCOVERING THE IDENTITIES OF THEIR BIRTH PARENTS.

FORTUNATELY, WE HAD AN ALLY, GENETIC GENEALOGIST CECE MOORE.

CECE SPECIALIZES IN WHAT'S KNOWN AS, "BIOLOGICAL FAMILY REUNIFICATION".

SHE'S A DETECTIVE, WITH SKILLS THAT WOULD PUT SHERLOCK HOLMES TO SHAME.

IF ANYBODY COULD FIND EMILY'S BIRTH PARENTS, IT WAS CECE.

MOORE: WELL, FIRST WE WANT TO LOOK AT THE RECORDS THAT EXIST.

AND, SO, WE ASKED FOR HER BIRTH CERTIFICATE.

NOW, I DIDN'T EXPECT IT WAS GOING TO TELL US MUCH BECAUSE ADOPTEE'S GENERALLY HAVE WHAT'S CALLED AN "AMENDED BIRTH CERTIFICATE".

AND YOU CAN SEE HERE IT HAS HER ADOPTIVE PARENTS.

SO, WHEN YOU ARE ADOPTED THEY SEAL YOUR ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE, AND THEY ISSUE A NEW ONE WITH THE ADOPTIVE PARENTS ON IT.

SO THAT'S HER LEGAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE, AND BECAUSE ADOPTIONS ARE SEALED IN THE STATE OF TEXAS, WE'RE NOT ABLE TO GET ACCESS TO HER ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE.

GATES: SO THEN WHAT DID YOU DO?

MOORE: DNA.

GATES: DNA.

MOORE: SO ALL WE HAVE IS DNA.

WE'RE GOING TO TURN TO THE DNA AND SEE IF WE'RE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THEM THAT WAY.

GATES: WITH NO RECORDS TO GUIDE HER, CECE BEGAN A PAINSTAKING PROCESS.

SHE COMPARED EMILY'S DNA TO THE DNA OF PEOPLE IN MULTIPLE DATABASES, HOPING TO FIND A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP.

THERE ARE MORE THAN SIX MILLION PEOPLE IN THESE DATABASES.

THAT DIDN'T DETER CECE.

SHE STARTED BY LOOKING AT THE FAMILY TREES OF ALL THE PEOPLE WHO SHARE SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF DNA WITH EMILY, TRYING TO FIND COMMON ANCESTORS.

THE REASON FOR THIS IS THAT EMILY WOULD LIKELY DESCEND FROM THOSE ANCESTORS, TOO.

MOORE: SO I IDENTIFIED FOUR KEY ANCESTRAL COUPLES THAT I THOUGHT SHOULD BE IN EMILY'S TREE BECAUSE THERE WERE ENOUGH PEOPLE SHARING DNA WITH EMILY WHO HAD THOSE PEOPLE IN THEIR TREES, THAT THEY SEEMED THAT THEY SHOULD FIT IN THERE SOMEWHERE.

GATES: MM-HMM.

MOORE: AND THEN I LOOK AT THEIR DESCENDANTS, AND I TRIANGULATE THOSE DESCENDANTS TRYING TO FIND WHERE THEY INTERSECT.

BECAUSE WE'RE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO CARRIES THE DNA OF THOSE FOUR ANCESTRAL COUPLES.

GATES: CECE BUILT DOZENS OF FAMILY TREES, LOOKING FOR CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE DESCENDANTS OF THESE FOUR ANCESTRAL COUPLES.

HER SEARCH FINALLY NARROWED DOWN TO TWO SISTERS FROM LOUISIANA NAMED IRENE AND ABILENE GINDRATT.

GATES: AND WE BELIEVE THAT ONE OF THEM IS YOUR MOTHER'S MOTHER.

LEONI: WHOA.

WOW.

GATES: SO, THEN WE HAVE TO FIND OUT WHICH ONE IT IS, AND TO FIGURE THAT OUT, WE NEEDED TO DO MORE DNA TESTING.

IRENE NEVER HAD ANY CHILDREN THAT WE KNOW OF, BUT ABILENE DID, AND THANKFULLY, ABILENE'S DAUGHTER AGREED TO TEST FOR US.

(SIGHS.)

IF WE WERE RIGHT, THIS LAST TEST HAD ONLY TWO POSSIBLE OUTCOMES.

IF ABILENE WERE EMILY'S MOTHER, THEN ABILENE'S DAUGHTER AND EMILY WOULD BE HALF SIBLINGS AND THEY'D SHARE ABOUT 25% OF THEIR DNA.

BUT IF IRENE WERE EMILY'S MOTHER, THEN ABILENE'S DAUGHTER AND EMILY WOULD BE FIRST COUSINS AND THEY'D SHARE ABOUT 12.5% OF THEIR DNA.

THE SOLUTION TO OUR MYSTERY WAS FINALLY AT HAND.

SO, ON THE NEXT PAGE I'M GONNA SHOW YOU A CHART THAT COMPARES YOUR MOTHER'S DNA TO OUR TESTER'S DNA.

ANY SEGMENTS THAT THEY SHARE WILL BE HIGHLIGHTED IN RED.

LEONI: OKAY.

GATES: YOU READY TO FIND OUT?

LEONI: YEAH.

I SEE A LOT OF RED.

"SHARED DNA, 26%."

GATES: AND I SAID THAT IF THEY SHARED 25%, THEN THEY SHARED A MOTHER.

LEONI: RIGHT.

WOW.

GATES: YOUR BIOLOGICAL GRANDMOTHER IS A WOMAN NAMED ABILENE GINDRATT.

THIS RESOLVES A QUESTION THAT YOU WERE ASKING, LEONI: 43 YEARS AGO.

GATES: 43 YEARS AGO.

I WANT TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING.

WOULD YOU TURN THE PAGE?

LEONI: YEAH.

WHO'S THAT?

GATES: THAT'S YOUR GRANDMOTHER.

LEONI: GOD.

SHE LOOKS LIKE MY MOM A LOT.

BOY.

THAT IS...

I MEAN, EVEN, JUST THE WAY SHE HOLDS HER HEAD.

GATES: REALLY?

LEONI: YEAH.

GATES: YOU WANT TO KNOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HER?

LEONI: YEAH.

GATES: OKAY.

ABILENE WAS BORN ON MAY 13, 1920, LIKELY IN A PLACE CALLED ZWOLLE, LOUISIANA.

SHE GREW UP ON A FARM.

AND SHE GOT MARRIED IN THE 1950'S, AND HAD TWO DAUGHTERS.

LEONI: OH, MY GOSH.

WOW.

BOY, THAT IS SOMETHING.

I WAS READY TO HAVE THAT QUESTION ANSWERED.

GATES: OH, I BELIEVE YOU WERE.

LEONI: SHE LOOKS LIKE SHE HAS A GOOD HEART.

I MEAN... MY MOM DOES AND SHE LOOKS LIKE MY MOM.

GATES: MUCH LIKE TÉA, JOE MADISON HAD A MYSTERY IN HIS FAMILY TREE.

BUT JOE'S WAS EVEN CLOSER TO HOME.

GROWING UP, HE SPENT VERY LITTLE TIME LIVING WITH HIS PARENTS, AND CAME TO ME WITH BASIC QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS ROOTS.

AND WHEN WE TESTED HIS DNA, WE DISCOVERED THAT JOE KNEW EVEN LESS THAN HE THOUGHT.

HIS RESULTS REVEALED THAT THE MAN HE BELIEVED TO BE HIS BIOLOGICAL FATHER, FELIX EDWARD MADISON, WAS IN FACT, NOT RELATED TO HIM AT ALL.

IT WAS SUCH A SHOCKING DISCOVERY THAT I FELT COMPELLED TO CALL JOE AT HOME BEFORE OUR INTERVIEW TO LET HIM KNOW IN PRIVATE, AWAY FROM ANY TV CAMERAS.

EVEN WEEKS LATER, JOE WAS STILL TRYING TO PROCESS THE NEWS.

JOE, ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT PHONE CALLS I HAVE EVER HAD TO MAKE WAS THE SATURDAY MORNING WHEN I CALLED YOU TO TELL YOU THAT, THAT MAN, FELIX EDWARD MADISON, ACCORDING TO YOUR DNA, IS NOT YOUR BIOLOGICAL FATHER.

AND I DIDN'T KNOW HOW YOU'D TAKE THIS.

MADISON: WELL.

GATES: IF SOMEBODY TOLD ME THAT I DON'T KNOW HOW I WOULD TAKE IT, IT WOULD BE A BIG SHOCK.

MADISON: WELL I, I APPRECIATED THE, UH, YOUR SINCERITY AND CONCERN.

AND, YOU KNOW, I THOUGHT ABOUT IT AND IT JUST, UH, THERE WAS THIS CURIOSITY AND THEN THE REAL QUESTION IS: THEN WHO WAS?

GATES: UM-HUM.

MADISON: AND I KNEW ONLY ONE PERSON WOULD KNOW THAT.

[LAUGHTER] GATES: JOE'S CONFIDENCE IN ME WAS TOUCHING, BUT THIS WAS A DAUNTING CHALLENGE.

WE KNEW THAT JOE WAS BORN IN DAYTON, OHIO.

BEYOND THAT, WE HAD VERY LITTLE TO GO ON.

THE ONE PERSON WHO MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GUIDE US WAS HIS MOTHER, BUT SHE PASSED AWAY IN 1981.

OUR ONLY HOPE WAS DNA.

SO ONCE AGAIN, I TURNED TO CECE MOORE FOR HELP.

USING JOE'S Y-DNA, A UNIQUE GENETIC SIGNATURE THAT MEN INHERIT DIRECTLY FROM THEIR FATHERS, SHE BEGAN COMPARING JOE TO OTHER MEN IN DNA DATABASES.

SHE QUICKLY NOTICED A PATTERN: JOE'S Y-DNA MATCHED THAT OF A SMALL GROUP OF MEN WHOSE SURNAMES WERE ALL REMARKABLY SIMILAR.

GATES: DO YOU SEE THE SURNAMES FOR THE MEN YOU MOST CLOSELY MATCHED?

MADISON: "HAYWOOD, HAYWOOD, HEGWOOD, HAGEWOOD."

GATES: THEY'RE ALL VARIANTS OF THE NAME "HAYGOOD."

MADISON: OKAY.

GATES: OKAY?

CECE WAS ABLE TO NARROW OUR SEARCH DOWN TO FOUR BROTHERS WITH THE SURNAME HAYGOOD.

AND GUESS WHAT?

THREE OF THE BROTHERS WERE FROM DAYTON, OHIO.

MADISON: YOU'RE KIDDING ME.

SO, ONE OF THEM IS THE BIOLOGICAL FATHER.

GATES: THAT'S RIGHT.

MADISON: WOW.

GATES: THE FOUR HAYGOOD BROTHERS ARE DECEASED, BUT EACH HAS LIVING CHILDREN, AND THEY AGREED TO TAKE DNA TESTS FOR US.

IF CECE'S THEORY WAS CORRECT, ONE OF THEM WOULD BE JOE'S HALF -SIBLING, MEANING THAT THEY SHARE A BIOLOGICAL FATHER WITH JOE AND THAT THEIR TEST RESULTS WOULD SHOW THAT THEY ALSO SHARE ROUGHLY 25% OF THEIR DNA.

YOU READY TO FIND OUT?

MADISON: ALL THIS TIME I'VE BEEN WAITING.

EVER SINCE THAT PHONE CALL.

RIGHT?

GATES: WOULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

NOW, JOE, HERE ARE THE MATCHES.

CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME HOW MUCH DNA YOU SHARE WITH EACH OF THEM?

MADISON: "SON OF WILL, 11.3%.

DAUGHTER OF WILLIE B., 12.7%.

DAUGHTER OF ANDREW, 13.6%."

AND THEN "SON OF HERMAN, 25.8%" GATES: JOE, HE IS YOUR HALF-BROTHER.

MADISON: AND I'VE ALWAYS WANTED A BROTHER.

GATES: YOU HAVE ONE.

YOUR BIOLOGICAL FATHER IS HIS BIOLOGICAL FATHER AND HIS NAME IS HERMAN HAYGOOD.

MADISON: WOW.

GATES: COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

THAT IS YOUR BIOLOGICAL FATHER.

MADISON: I'VE SEEN HIM.

I'VE SEEN HIM.

I HAVE SEEN THAT FACE.

GATES: WE HAVE NO IDEA HOW HERMAN HAYGOOD MET JOE'S MOTHER.

ACCORDING TO HIS FAMILY, HE LIVED IN DAYTON OHIO IN THE 1940'S AND EARLY 50'S, WHICH PLACES HIM IN THE CITY WHEN JOE WAS CONCEIVED.

BUT THAT'S ALL WE COULD LEARN REGARDING THEIR RELATIONSHIP.

IT COULD HAVE BEEN A ONE-NIGHT STAND.

MAYBE IT WAS SOMETHING MORE.

WE JUST DON'T KNOW.

MADISON: WE DON'T KNOW.

YOU DON'T KNOW.

GATES: WE DON'T KNOW.

MADISON: THE QUESTION IS DID HE KNOW?

GATES: THE QUESTION IS, "DID HE KNOW?"

WE DON'T KNOW.

MADISON: WE DON'T KNOW.

GATES: HOW ARE YOU FEELING?

MADISON: YOU KNOW I DIDN'T KNOW HOW I WOULD REACT.

YOU KNOW, I'LL TELL YOU WHAT MY BIGGEST FEAR WAS, WAS THAT IT WAS SOMEBODY THAT I KNEW IN DAYTON, THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN CLOSE TO THE FAMILY.

GATES: OH, RIGHT, UH-HUH.

MADISON: THAT HAD KNOWN.

GATES: RIGHT.

MADISON: AND I WAS DECEIVED, AND HE, AND HE, AND HE NEVER SAID ANYTHING.

GATES: BUT YOU'VE SEEN HIM BEFORE?

MADISON: I HAVE SEEN THAT FACE.

I COULD NOT TELL YOU WHERE.

BUT I CAN TELL YOU THIS, THIS IS NOT SOMEONE WHO WAS EVER IN AND OUT OF MY LIFE.

GATES: OF YOUR LIFE, RIGHT.

MADISON: NO.

GATES: TURNING FROM DNA TO THE PAPER TRAIL, WE BEGAN TO RESEARCH JOE'S NEWFOUND ROOTS.

WE DISCOVERED THAT HIS FATHER HERMAN WAS BORN IN ALABAMA IN MAY OF 1920, AND THAT EVENTUALLY HE SETTLED IN CALIFORNIA, WHERE HE WORKED FOR THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

JOE, OF COURSE, WAS EAGER TO LEARN ALL THAT HE COULD ABOUT HERMAN'S FAMILY.

BUT WE SOON UNCOVERED SOMETHING THAT WOULD PROVE PAINFUL.

HERMAN'S FATHER, JOE'S BIOLOGICAL GRANDFATHER, WAS A MAN NAMED ANDREW HAGOOD AND ANDREW WAS A VICTIM OF ONE OF THE DARKEST CHAPTERS IN AMERICA'S HISTORY.

JOE, THIS IS FROM THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES.

IT'S A MEDICAL REPORT.

WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE HIGHLIGHTED SECTION?

MADISON: "#223.

HAGOOD, ANDREW.

TUSKEGEE, ALABAMA."

GATES: YOUR GRANDFATHER WAS PART OF THE INFAMOUS TUSKEGEE SYPHILIS STUDY.

MADISON: MY GRANDFATHER.

GATES: YEP, YOUR BIOLOGICAL GRANDFATHER.

MADISON: GRANDFATHER.

GATES: YEP.

HE WAS ONE OF THOSE UNFORTUNATE PEOPLE WHO WAS EXPLOITED.

YOU KNOW THE STORY AS WELL AS I DO.

THE STORY IS AGONIZING TO RECOUNT.

IN 1932, SEEKING TO STUDY UNTREATED SYPHILIS IN BLACK MEN, DOCTORS FROM THE UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE RECRUITED SUBJECTS IN MACON COUNTY, ALABAMA BY OFFERING FREE MEDICAL CARE AT THE TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE.

ABOUT 600 MEN ENROLLED.

FROM THE OUTSET, THE PROJECT HAD LITTLE SCIENTIFIC MERIT, AND THAT MERIT VANISHED ENTIRELY IN THE 1940'S, WHEN PENICILLIN EMERGED AS AN EFFECTIVE TREATMENT FOR SYPHILIS... INCREDIBLY, THE RESEARCHERS WITHHELD THE NEW DRUG FROM THEIR PATIENTS SO THAT THEY COULD CONTINUE THEIR STUDY!

AS A RESULT, HUNDREDS OF BLACK MEN SUFFERED UNNECESSARILY, FOR DECADES.

JOE'S GRANDFATHER ANDREW WAS ONE OF THESE MEN.

WE DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT HE ENDURED, BUT HIS MEDICAL FILES CONTAIN A CHILLING DETAIL; SUGGESTING THAT ANDREW ALMOST ESCAPED THE ORDEAL.

HERE IS ANOTHER PAGE FROM ANDREW'S MEDICAL FILE.

WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSCRIPTION?

MADISON: HUH.

"ONE WOULD NEVER BELIEVE."

"ONE WOULD NEVER BELIEVE THIS MAN IS A NEGRO, SHOULD/MIGHT BE DISCARDED."

I MEAN, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS.

"ONE WOULD NEVER BELIEVE THIS MAN IS A NEGRO."

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

GATES: YOUR GRANDFATHER WAS LIGHT-COMPLECTED.

MADISON: MM-HMM.

GATES: THEY ACTUALLY WROTE, JOE, THAT IN HIS RECORD THAT HE WAS "ALMOST WHITE" AND HIS "NEGROID CHARACTERISTICS ARE PRACTICALLY ABSENT", SO HE SHOULD BE DISMISSED FROM THE STUDY.

BUT THEY REFUSED TO DO THAT.

MADISON: AS MANY, AS OFTEN AS WE'VE TALKED ON THE AIR, AND STUDIED OUR HISTORY, AND LECTURED, AND, YOU KNOW, AND, AND MOVIES HAVE BEEN MADE ABOUT THAT NEVER KNEW THAT A... GATES: NO.

MADISON: THAT, UM, A GRANDFATHER WAS PART OF THAT EXPERIMENT.

GATES: PLEASE TURN THE PAGE.

MADISON: WOW.

WHO IS THAT?

GATES: THAT IS YOUR GRANDFATHER.

MADISON: THE GRAND, REALLY?

GATES: THAT IS ANDREW HAGOOD.

MADISON: THAT'S WHY THEY THOUGHT HE WAS... GATES: YEAH.

MADISON: HE ALMOST LOOKS LIKE HE'S GOT BLUE EYES, OR SOMETHING.

WOW.

GATES: THAT IS YOUR BIOLOGICAL GRANDFATHER.

THAT'S YOUR FATHER'S FATHER.

MADISON: WOW.

ISN'T THAT AMAZING?

LOOK AT THAT FACE.

HE'S GOT A SERIOUS LOOK ON HIM, DOESN'T HE?

GATES: HE DOES.

MADISON: YEAH, LOOK AT THAT.

THIS IS JUST, THIS IS, I, I WOULD NEVER HAVE, NEVER HAD DREAMED THAT THIS COULD EXIST.

GATES: DOES YOUR MOTHER WANT TO KNOW?

TURNING BACK TO TÉA LEONI, WE HAD ALREADY REVEALED THAT HER BIOLOGICAL GRANDMOTHER WAS A WOMAN NAMED, "ABILENE GINDRATT" , THUS ANSWERING A QUESTION THAT TÉA HAD BEEN ASKING SINCE CHILDHOOD.

BUT ANOTHER QUESTION LINGERED, ONE WE HAD NOT EVEN DISCUSSED.

YOU KNOW SOMETHING?

THE WHOLE TIME, YOU'VE ONLY TALKED ABOUT IN TERMS OF YOUR MOTHER'S MOTHER.

NOT ONCE HAVE YOU MENTIONED YOUR MOTHER'S FATHER, I DON'T BELIEVE.

LEONI: WOW.

I, THAT'S FUNNY, YOU'RE RIGHT.

I DON'T... GATES: RIGHT.

LEONI: YOU KNOW WHY, 'CAUSE SOMEWHERE IN THE FANTASY, YOU IMAGINE THAT SHE'S A SINGLE MOTHER, AND THAT SHE GAVE MY MOTHER UP BECAUSE SHE WAS UNWED, OR, SO I NEVER, I DIDN'T THINK ABOUT HIM.

GATES: MMM-HMM.

WELL USING EXACTLY THE SAME TECHNIQUE, WE DECIDED TO LOOK FOR YOUR BIOLOGICAL GRANDFATHER.

OUR SEARCH TOOK US BACK TO THE TEXAS STATE ARCHIVES.

NOW THAT WE KNEW ABILENE'S NAME, WE WERE ABLE TO REQUEST EMILY'S ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE.

WE HOPED IT WOULD CONFIRM WHAT WE HAD LEARNED, AND POSSIBLY PROVIDE CLUES TO HELP GUIDE US FURTHER.

UNFORTUNATELY OUR REQUEST WAS DENIED, LEADING US TO CONCLUDE THAT ABILENE HAD LIKELY GIVEN THE STATE PSEUDONYMS... A COMMON PRACTICE AMONG UNWED PARENTS.

SO ONCE AGAIN, OUR ONLY HOPE WAS DNA.

AND ONCE AGAIN, DNA DIDN'T LET US DOWN.

CECE WAS ABLE TO IDENTIFY A NUMBER OF SIGNIFICANT PATERNAL MATCHES IN THE DATABASES THAT FINALLY CONVERGED ON A MAN NAMED SUMPTER DANIEL.

SUMPTER WAS BORN IN VICK, LOUISIANA ON AUGUST 25, 1909.

WHICH MEANT HE WAS THE RIGHT AGE TO BE EMILY'S FATHER.

BUT WE HAD TO BE CERTAIN.

SO WE CONTACTED ONE OF HIS GRANDCHILDREN, AND FORTUNATELY, THEY AGREED TO TAKE A TEST FOR US.

IF SUMPTER IS IN FACT EMILY'S FATHER, SHE AND HIS GRANDCHILD WILL SHARE APPROXIMATELY 12% OF THEIR DNA.

PLEASE TURN THE PAGE.

LEONI: WAIT, 11.3?

GATES: 11.3 IS ENOUGH.

THIS CONFIRMS THAT YOUR MOTHER'S FATHER WAS A MAN NAMED SUMPTER DANIEL.

SUMPTER DANIEL IS YOUR BIOLOGICAL GRANDFATHER.

LEONI: DO YOU HAVE A PICTURE OF HIM?

GATES: WOULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

THAT WAS SUMPTER IN 1964.

THAT'S YOUR GRANDFATHER.

ANY FAMILY RESEMBLANCE YOU CAN SEE FROM THAT PHOTO?

LEONI: I SEE IT IN THIS PART.

AND I SEE IT A LITTLE BIT, MOM'S NOT GONNA LIKE THIS PART, BUT A LITTLE BIT IN HIS NOSE.

GATES: ONCE WE HAD DISCOVERED HER GRANDFATHER'S IDENTITY, I WANTED TO FILL IN THE GAPS FOR TÉA.

WHO WAS THIS MAN, AND WHAT WERE THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH ABILENE?

TÉA, THIS IS A PAGE OF THE FEDERAL CENSUS FOR THE YEAR 1940, FOR ELIZABETH, LOUISIANA.

SO, THIS IS THE YEAR BEFORE YOUR MOM WAS BORN, 'CAUSE YOUR MOM'S BORN IN 1941.

LEONI: RIGHT.

"SUMPTER DANIELS, 25 YEARS OLD, SINGLE.

COMPLETED 4 YEARS OF HIGH SCHOOL.

WORKS ON WINDER MACHINE ROOM AT THE PAPER MILL."

GATES: AND HE WAS A PERMANENT GUEST AT A PLACE CALLED THE ELIZABETH HOTEL.

IN FACT, EVERYONE ON THE TOP HALF OF THAT CENSUS RECORD WAS A PERMANENT GUEST AT THE ELIZABETH HOTEL.

NOW, ASIDE FROM A FEW OTHER RESIDENTS WORKING IN THE PAPER MILL AND THE LUMBER MILL, CAN YOU SEE WHAT PROFESSION THE OTHER RESIDENTS HAD?

LEONI: PUBLIC SCHOOL.

GATES: PUBLIC SCHOOL.

TEACHERS.

IT TURNS OUT THAT THERE WAS A PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL HERE THAT SERVED THE SMALL TOWN OF ELIZABETH AND THE SURROUNDING RURAL AREAS.

OKAY, NOW, I WANT TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING ELSE, OKAY?

PLEASE TURN THE PAGE.

THIS IS AN ARTICLE FROM THE LOCAL ALEXANDRIA, LOUISIANA NEWSPAPER CALLED THE "TOWN TALK", DATED JANUARY 13, 1941.

LEONI: "TUESDAY MARKED THE ELECTION OF THE OFFICERS OF THE JUNIOR CLASS OF THE LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL, MISS A. GINDRATT, FACULTY MEMBER WILL SPONSOR THE ACTIVITIES OF THE CLASS."

GATES: NOW, WHO'S "A. GINDRATT"?

LEONI: THAT'D BE ABILENE.

GATES: THAT IS YOUR GRANDMOTHER ABILENE.

THIS ARTICLE TELLS US THAT YOUR BIOLOGICAL GRANDMOTHER WAS A TEACHER AT ELIZABETH HIGH SCHOOL.

NOW, REMEMBER THAT ELIZABETH IS THE SAME SMALL TOWN WHERE SUMPTER DANIEL WAS LIVING IN A HOTEL WITH TEN PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS.

NOW, WE CAN'T BE SURE, BUT IT SEEMS LIKELY THAT THEY MET THROUGH THIS TEACHER CONNECTION AT THE HOTEL.

LEONI: YEAH.

YEAH.

GATES: WE NOW HAD AN IDEA OF HOW TÉA'S GRANDPARENTS MAY HAVE COME TOGETHER.

AND WHILE WE DON'T KNOW ANYTHING FURTHER ABOUT THE NATURE OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP, WE WERE ABLE TO GET A SLIGHTLY MORE DETAILED GLIMPSE OF SUMPTER IN THE RECORDS OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY.

LEONI: "NAME, SUMPTER J. DANIEL.

ENLISTMENT DATE, 15TH OF JANUARY 1942."

GATES: SUMPTER ENLISTED ABOUT A MONTH AFTER THE BOMBING OF PEARL HARBOR.

LEONI: 68 INCHES.

I'M IN NO MOOD FOR MATH, HOW TALL IS THAT?

GATES: FIVE FEET EIGHT INCHES TALL.

LEONI: AND 175 POUNDS.

THIS GUY WAS... GATES: YEAH, HE WAS IN GOOD SHAPE, RIGHT?

LEONI: I GET THE WHOLE PICTURE.

THAT'S SO FUNNY.

GATES: SO, AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, YOU NOW KNOW THE IDENTITY OF YOUR BIOLOGICAL GRANDPARENTS, YOUR MOTHER'S PARENTS.

LEONI: I FEEL MORE SETTLED, EVEN, JUST WITH MINUTES THAT PASS, BECAUSE I THINK, WELL, I'M MEETING THE BUILDERS.

GATES: MM-HMM, YEAH.

ONCE WE DISCOVERED SUMPTER'S NAME, AN ENTIRE BRANCH OF TÉA'S FAMILY TREE OPENED UP TO US, ONE THAT EXTENDED THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH: FROM LOUISIANA, AND SOUTH CAROLINA TO VIRGINIA, STRETCHING BACK CENTURIES OVER TIME.

THERE'S WILLIAM, YOUR FIFTH-GREAT-GRANDFATHER, THIS IS YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GREAT- GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

HIS FATHER WAS A MAN NAMED JOHN O'DANIEL, BORN ABOUT 1718, AND HIS FATHER WAS A MAN NAMED WILLIAM O'DANIEL, WHO WAS BORN ABOUT 1691, POSSIBLY IN IRELAND.

LEONI: I'M IRISH?

GATES: DID YOU EVER IMAGINE YOU HAD IRISH ANCESTRY?

LEONI: NO.

I'VE GOT AN "O'" IN ME.

WOW.

GATES: WILLIAM O'DANIEL IS TÉA'S SEVENTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

RECORDS SUGGEST THAT HE IS THE FIRST ANCESTOR ON THIS LINE OF HER FAMILY TREE TO SETTLE IN NORTH AMERICA.

HE ARRIVED IN VIRGINIA SOMETIME IN THE EARLY 18TH CENTURY AND BECAME A LANDOWNER.

HIS SON JOHN, TÉA'S SIXTH GREAT GRANDFATHER, BUILT ON HIS FATHER'S SUCCESS.

HE WAS A PROMINENT FARMER WITH ONE VERY NOTABLE NEIGHBOR.

TÉA, THIS IS A POLL SHEET THAT WE FOUND AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

IT'S FOR A LOCAL ELECTION IN FAIRFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA FROM THE YEAR 1755.

LEONI: "FAIRFAX COUNTY POLL, DECEMBER 11, 1755.

JOHN O'DANIEL, COLONEL GEORGE WASHINGTON."

GATES: YOUR SIXTH-GREAT-GRANDFATHER WAS GEORGE WASHINGTON'S NEIGHBOR.

[GROANS] [LAUGHTER] LEONI: OH MY GOSH.

GATES: HE LIVED ABOUT SEVEN MILES FROM MOUNT VERNON.

LEONI: WOW.

THIS IS SO WILD.

I, I NEVER, I, I NEVER PLAYED WITH A FANTASY THAT FAR BACK.

GATES: JOHN O'DANIEL WAS BORN IN VIRGINIA AROUND 1720.

BY THE MID 1700'S HE OWNED THOUSANDS OF ACRES OF LAND, INCLUDING A PLANTATION WHERE HE LIKELY GREW TOBACCO.

BUT THAT WASN'T ALL HE OWNED.

WE FOUND A LEDGER IN THE COURT ARCHIVES OF FAIRFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA.

TAKEN FOR PURPOSES OF TAXATION IT REVEALS THAT JOHN'S PROPERTY INCLUDED HUMAN BEINGS.

LEONI: "TOM, A NEGRO BOY BELONGING TO JOHN O'DANIEL BEING BROUGHT BEFORE THE COURT IS ADJUDGED TO BE ELEVEN YEARS OF AGE.

ESTHER, A NEGRO GIRL BELONGING TO JOHN O'DANIEL BEING BROUGHT BEFORE THE COURT IS ADJUDGED TO BE TEN YEARS OF AGE."

GATES: SO YOUR ANCESTOR VERY MUCH A PERSON OF HIS TIME WAS LIKE HIS NEIGHBOR, GEORGE WASHINGTON, AN OWNER OF SLAVES.

LEONI: RIGHT, RIGHT.

GATES: THESE WEREN'T THE ONLY PEOPLE JOHN OWNED IN HIS LIFETIME.

ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, HE DISTRIBUTED 23 SLAVES AMONG HIS SECOND WIFE NANCY AND THEIR NINE ADULT CHILDREN.

LEONI: WOW.

GATES: GEORGE WASHINGTON KEPT 317 SLAVES AT MOUNT VERNON.

LEONI: YEAH, THAT'S OUR HISTORY.

GATES: DOES IT CHANGE THE WAY YOU SEE YOURSELF?

LEONI: NO, IT DOESN'T.

I MEAN, I THINK...

I GUESS IN A WAY IT JUST FEELS LIKE HOPEFUL BECAUSE I LOOK AT IT AND I THINK, WE SHOULD ALL KNOW THAT, BECAUSE IT MEANS THAT WE LEAVE THAT BEHIND IN ITS ENTIRETY.

GATES: OH, YEAH.

LEONI: YOU ARE NOT TETHERED TO YOUR BIOLOGY.

YOU CAN OUTPERFORM, YOU CAN OUTLIVE, YOU CAN OUTSMART YOUR RELATIVES MAYBE BUT NOT YOUR HISTORY.

GATES: WE HAD ALREADY USED DNA ANALYSIS TO INTRODUCE JOE MADISON TO HIS BIOLOGICAL GRANDFATHER, ANDREW HAGOOD, A MAN WHO APPEARED TO BE WHITE, OR NEARLY WHITE.

NOW WE WERE ABOUT TO UNCOVER THE STORY BEHIND ANDREW'S LIGHT COMPLEXION.

IN THE 1910 CENSUS FOR MACON COUNTY, ALABAMA WE FOUND ANDREW LIVING WITH HIS FATHER, A MAN NAMED LEMUEL D. HAGOOD.

HE'S JOE'S BIOLOGICAL GREAT-GRANDFATHER, AND THE CENSUS REVEALED THAT HE WAS NOT AN AFRICAN AMERICAN.

MADISON: "LEMUEL D. HAGOOD, HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD.

WHITE, 75, SINGLE.

FARMER.

ANDREW, SON, MULATTO."

THAT TELLS ME A WHOLE LOT RIGHT THERE, RIGHT THERE.

GATES: YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER IS A WHITE MAN.

MADISON: YEAH.

GATES: SO YOU HAVE DIRECT WHITE ANCESTORS.

MADISON: WELL, WE ALL KNOW THAT PART.

GATES: YEAH, BUT YOU CAN NAME YOURS.

MADISON: I CAN NAME MINE, YEAH.

GATES: MOST OF US IS BACK IN THE RECESS OF SLAVERY.

YOURS ARE, LIKE, POPPING UP.

MADISON: YEAH, LIKE, BOOM!

GATES: IF ANDREW'S FATHER WAS WHITE, HIS MOTHER MUST HAVE BEEN BLACK, WHICH MEANT THAT THE COUPLE HAD TAKEN A SIGNIFICANT RISK, BECAUSE UNDER ALABAMA LAW AT THAT TIME, INTER-RACIAL RELATIONSHIPS WERE ILLEGAL AND SUBJECT TO PRISON TERMS.

SO WHO WAS ANDREW'S MOTHER?

WE FOUND A CLUE BY COMPARING CENSUS RECORDS FROM 1900 AND 1910.

IN 1910, ANDREW WAS LIVING WITH HIS WHITE FATHER, LEMUEL HAYGOOD.

TEN YEARS EARLIER, IN THE SAME COUNTY, WE SAW A WOMAN NAMED "EMMA THOMPKINS" LIVING WITH A SON NAMED "ANDREW".

EMMA WAS BLACK, AND SHE HAD A VERY FAMILIAR NEIGHBOR.

PLEASE TELL ME WHO IS LIVING NEXT DOOR TO EMMA?

MADISON: LEMUEL.

"HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD, WHITE."

GATES: 64 YEARS OLD, SINGLE.

MADISON: HE'S 64 YEARS OLD, SINGLE.

GATES: SO THAT'S YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER LIVING NEXT DOOR ONE TIME AND THEN THEY'RE TOGETHER.

MADISON: YEAH, YEAH.

GATES: TEN YEARS LATER.

MADISON: YEAH.

MAN, THEY COULD PASS ALL THE LAWS THEY WANT.

IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE.

FOLKS ARE GOING TO GET TOGETHER.

GATES: FOLKS ARE GOING TO GET TOGETHER.

MADISON: OKAY.

GATES: SEEN IN COMBINATION, THE PAPER TRAIL AND THE DNA EVIDENCE PROVIDE OVERWHELMING PROOF THAT EMMA IS JOE'S GREAT GRANDMOTHER.

BUT WE KNOW LITTLE ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMMA AND LEMUEL.

AND WE CAN ONLY GUESS HOW MUCH OF IT OCCURRED IN SECRET.

WE DO KNOW HOWEVER THAT TEN YEARS AFTER THIS CENSUS, ANDREW WAS LIVING WITH HIS WHITE FATHER, AND HAD TAKEN HIS SURNAME.

WHICH SUGGESTS THAT LEMUEL ACKNOWLEDGED HIS ROLE AS A PARENT, AND TOOK CARE OF HIS FAMILY.

A DECISION THAT WOULD SOON STAND OUT EVEN MORE STRONGLY AS WE DUG DEEPER INTO LEMUEL'S PAST.

RECORDS REVEAL THAT LEMUEL WAS BORN IN 1835 IN SOUTH CAROLINA.

WHICH MEANS THAT HE WAS ABOUT 25 YEARS OLD WHEN THE CIVIL WAR BROKE OUT.

SO, WANNA GUESS WHAT HE DID DURING THE WAR?

MADISON: NO, PLEASE.

GATES: WOULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

THIS IS A MUSTER ROLL FROM THE FEDERAL NATIONAL ARCHIVES IN WASHINGTON, DC.

WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSCRIBED.

MADISON: MAN, I GOT A CRAZY, CRAZY FAMILY.

GATES: THIS IS THE MOMENT WHEN THE BLACK EAGLE...

THE BLACK EAGLE, LADIES AND GENTLEMAN.

MADISON: YEAH.

GATES: THE BLACKEST MAN IN SATELLITE RADIO IS ABOUT TO ANNOUNCE WHAT HIS GREAT-GRANDFATHER DID DURING THE WAR.

MADISON: "L.D.

HAGOOD".

HE WAS A "PRIVATE, COMPANY D., 14TH REGIMENT, SOUTH CAROLINA INFANTRY."

GATES: AND WHAT'S THAT FIRST WORD?

MADISON: NOW, WAIT A MINUTE, I.

GATES: IT BEGINS WITH A C. MADISON: CONFEDERATE.

NO, I, I LEFT THAT OUT.

THAT MY EYES JUST SKIPPED OVER THAT.

CONFEDERATE L.D.

HAGOOD.

WELL, HE COULDN'T HELP IT.

HE WAS A WHITE SOUTHERNER.

SO WAIT A MINUTE.

SO I COULD JOIN.

GATES: SONS OF THE CONFEDERACY.

MADISON: CONFEDERACY.

[LAUGHTER].

GATES: JOE'S GREAT-GRANDFATHER WAS NOT ONLY A CONFEDERATE; HIS REGIMENT WAS PART OF ROBERT E. LEE'S ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, THE MOST FAMOUS OF ALL CONFEDERATE FORCES!

THEY FOUGHT IN SOME OF THE WAR'S MOST ICONIC BATTLES, INCLUDING GETTYSBURG, WHERE THEY SUFFERED 50% CASUALTIES.

LEMUEL SURVIVED THE FIGHTING, BUT IN THE DAYS AFTER THE BATTLE, HIS LUCK RAN OUT...

HE WAS CAPTURED.

MADISON: NO!

GATES: AS LEE'S ARMY MADE ITS DESPERATE RETREAT ACROSS THE POTOMAC.

HE SPENT MOST OF THE REST OF THE WAR IN UNION PRISON CAMPS.

MADISON: REALLY?

GATES: MM-HMM.

BUT EVENTUALLY HE RETURNED HOME AND BY 1878 HE HAD A RELATIONSHIP WITH EMMA, YOUR AFRICAN AMERICAN GREAT-GRANDMOTHER.

THEY HAD SIX CHILDREN TOGETHER!

MADISON: WOW.

GATES: SO HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS OLD REBEL?

MADISON: I MEAN, YOU KNOW, HE'S JUST ON THE WRONG SIDE.

GATES: LIFE IS COMPLICATED.

MADISON: LIFE'S COMPLICATED.

[LAUGHTER].

GATES: WE HAD ONE MORE STORY TO SHARE WITH JOE ABOUT HIS COMPLICATED NEW FAMILY.

MOVING BACK THREE GENERATIONS FROM LEMUEL, WE CAME TO A MAN NAMED SAMUEL CLEGG, WHOM WE BELIEVE TO BE JOE'S FOURTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

SAMUEL WAS BORN AROUND 1740 AND WAS IN HIS MID-THIRTIES, LIVING IN SOUTH CAROLINA, WHEN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION BROKE OUT...

FORCING HIM TO CHOOSE A SIDE, BETWEEN THE PATRIOTS AND THE BRITISH.

NOW, THIS IS A LETTER THAT WE FOUND IN THE GEORGIA ARCHIVES.

IT'S ADDRESSED TO KING GEORGE OF ENGLAND... MADISON: COME ON.

GATES: IT'S DATED APRIL 19, 1782.

WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSCRIBED SECTION?

MADISON: "SAMUEL CAMPBELL CLEGG, ENSIGN SOUTH CAROLINA ROYALIST."

GATES: NOW THINK ABOUT THIS.

THIS IS A LETTER WRITTEN TO KING GEORGE DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

HE'S IN THE BRITISH ARMY.

SAMUEL CLEGG WAS FIGHTING AGAINST THE PATRIOTS IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

MADISON: GIVE ME A BREAK.

GATES: IMAGINE WHEN YOU WERE READING ABOUT THE REVOLUTION.

MADISON: AND YOU NEVER, THAT'S RIGHT.

GATES: YOU KNEW ABOUT THESE LOYALISTS.

MADISON: THAT'S RIGHT.

GATES: YOU, YOUR ANCESTOR WAS ONE OF THEM?

MADISON: DIDN'T HAVE THE SLIGHTEST CLUE.

GATES: SAMUEL'S DECISION WOULD PROVE COSTLY.

ON FEBRUARY 14, 1779, HE WAS ONE OF A GROUP OF LOYALISTS MAKING THEIR WAY ACROSS GEORGIA TO RENDEZVOUS WITH BRITISH FORCES IN AUGUSTA.

THEY WERE CAUGHT UNAWARES BY THE PATRIOTS, AND FOUND THEMSELVES IN TERRIBLE JEOPARDY.

IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA OTHER LOYALISTS, UNDER SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES, HAD BEEN CHARGED WITH TREASON, A CRIME PUNISHABLE BY DEATH.

SO WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED?

DO YOU THINK THEY EXECUTED HIM OR NOT?

MADISON: I, I'LL TAKE A WILD GUESS AND SAY THEY DIDN'T.

GATES: LET'S FIND OUT.

PLEASE TURN THE PAGE.

MADISON: THEY WERE HANGED?!

GATES: HANGED.

MADISON: WOW.

GATES: YOUR ANCESTOR SAMUEL CLEGG WAS HANGED.

HE WAS EXECUTED IN APRIL 1779 ALONG WITH FOUR OTHER LOYALISTS.

SO, JOE, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU INHERITED FROM YOUR ANCESTORS?

MADISON: I GET A FEELING THESE FOLKS DIDN'T GIVE A DAMN WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT.

GATES: YEAH.

I BELIEVE THAT'S TRUE.

MADISON: YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT THEY DIDN'T.

THEY SAID, "WE'RE GOING TO DO WHAT WE THINK IS, IS RIGHT."

EVEN CLEGG... GATES: UH-HUH.

HE WAS FIGHTING FOR HIS KING.

MADISON: HE WENT TO HIS DEATH.

GATES: MM-HMM, FOR HIS PRINCIPLES.

MADISON: FOR WHAT HE, WHAT HIS PRINCIPLE.

FOR WHAT HE, WHAT HE BELIEVED IN.

GATES: RIGHT.

AND EVEN YOUR CONFEDERATE ANCESTOR WHO WAS PART OF AN UNFORTUNATE MOVEMENT ENDED UP HAVING SIX CHILDREN WITH A BLACK WOMAN.

MADISON: YEAH.

GATES: THAT'S AMAZING.

MADISON: AND OF COURSE, I TELL YOU WHAT ELSE, I'M JUST THINKING NOW, MY CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN, AND THE SENSE THAT THEY WILL NOW HAVE.

GATES: OH MY GOD!

THEIR WHOLE IDENTITY JUST CHANGED.

MADISON: YEAH.

WHEN YOU SEE THE SACRIFICES PEOPLE MADE, YOU SEE THE RELATIONSHIPS THEY, THAT THEY'VE HAD WITH EACH OTHER AND IT JUST REINFORCES THE FACT THAT WE HAVE MORE IN COMMON THAN WE HAVE DIFFERENCES.

GATES: MM-HM, ABSOLUTELY.

MADISON: AND HOW INSIGNIFICANT COLOR IS.

GATES: WE HAD NOW USED DNA TO HELP CONNECT BOTH JOE AND TÉA TO ANCESTORS THEY NEVER KNEW THEY HAD... LEONI: OH, WHOA!

GATES: UTTERLY RE-DRAWING THEIR FAMILY TREES... MADISON: WOW, LOOK AT THAT!

GATES: DID YOU THINK THAT WE HAD RESOLVED THE MYSTERY THAT WE WOULD?

LEONI: NO.

GATES: NO?

LEONI: NO, I REALLY DIDN'T.

I MEAN, AND I WAS CURIOUS BECAUSE I THOUGHT I'D HATE TO BE DISAPPOINTED.

I'M NOT DISAPPOINTED.

GATES: BUT THIS WASN'T THE END OF OUR JOURNEY.

THE DISCOVERIES WE MADE WOULD SOON LEAD JOE TO MEET HIS NEWFOUND HALF-SIBLINGS.

BROTHER: JOE MADISON.

BRINGING TOGETHER THREE SONS OF HERMAN HEYGOOD IN THE SAME ROOM FOR THE FIRST TIME.

A REUNION THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE JUST A FEW YEARS AGO.

BROTHER: I DON'T HAVE ANY OTHER FAMILY OUT HERE.

AND THEN TO TAKE THIS DNA TEST AND FIND OUT, WAIT A MINUTE, THERE'S, THERE'S, WAIT A MINUTE, THERE'S AN EXPLOSION OF FAMILY OUT HERE.

MADISON: NOW YOU GOT A TRIBE.

BROTHER: YEAH, NOW I GOT A, YEAH!

NEXT THING YOU KNOW, YEAH!

GATES: THAT'S THE END OF OUR JOURNEY WITH JOE AND TÉA.

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

MOORE: OH, MY GOSH!

NARRATOR: NEXT TIME ON "FINDING YOUR ROOTS" ACTOR JULIANNE MOORE.

MOORE: THE MILITARY GAVE ME A MUCH BROADER WORLD VIEW.

NARRATOR: COMEDIAN BILL HADER.

HADER: HE REALLY GOT IN THERE AND MADE THINGS HAPPEN.

NARRATOR: AND ARTIST KEHINDE WILEY.

WILEY: THIS IS INTENSE.

NARRATOR: WAR STORIES... MOORE: I HAD NO IDEA!

GATES: HE WAS A UNION SOLDIER.

WILEY: SO, HE WAS A FIGHTER.

NARRATOR: FROM ANCESTORS WHO SERVED... GATES: HE WENT A.W.O.L.

AND WENT STRAIGHT TO THE FRONT.

(LAUGHTER) NARRATOR: ON THE NEXT, "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".