GATES: I'M HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.

WELCOME TO "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'LL MEET RADIO HOST JOE MADISON AND ACTOR TY BURRELL, TWO MEN SEEKING ANSWERS TO FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR FAMILY TREES.

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.

BURRELL: WE WERE LIKE, "WELL WHY DIDN'T YOU EVER TELL US THAT?"

BUT I THINK THERE WAS PROBABLY SOME SHAME THERE OR SOMETHING.

GATES: YOU BELIEVE THE STORY?

BURRELL: WELL, I'VE ALWAYS BEEN CURIOUS.

I MEAN, I WANTED TO BELIEVE IT WAS TRUE.

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

GENEALOGISTS HELPED STITCH TOGETHER THE PAST FROM THE PAPER TRAIL THEIR ANCESTORS LEFT BEHIND, WHILE DNA EXPERTS UTILIZED THE LATEST ADVANCES IN GENETIC ANALYSIS TO REVEAL SECRETS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD.

AND WE'VE COMPILED EVERYTHING INTO A BOOK OF LIFE.

MADISON: WHOA.

GATES: A RECORD OF ALL OF OUR DISCOVERIES.

BURRELL: THAT IS INCREDIBLE.

MADISON: WOW, WHO IS THAT?

GATES: YOU'RE LOOKING AT YOUR BIOLOGICAL FATHER.

MADISON: I'VE SEEN HIM.

I HAVE SEEN THAT FACE.

BURRELL: I'LL BE DAMNED.

THAT IS BADASS.

GATES: TY AND JOE COME FROM STARKLY DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS, BUT THEY ARE TIED BY A COMMON THREAD: BOTH HAVE ROOTS SHROUDED IN MYSTERY.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'LL RESOLVE THOSE MYSTERIES FOREVER, AND BY DECODING OUR DNA AND REVEALING THE DIVERSITY THAT'S HIDDEN IN THE BRANCHES OF OUR FAMILY TREES, WE'LL DISCOVER JUST HOW BLURRED THE LINES THAT DIVIDE US TRULY ARE.

(THEME MUSIC PLAYS) ♪ ♪ ANNOUNCER: IT'S MADISON TIME, HIT IT.

FLYING A MILE HIGH.

IT'S JOE MADISON, THE BLACK EAGLE.

MADISON: HARRISON FROM TEXAS, HI.

GO, GO TO MATT FROM MISSISSIPPI, HI.

ALICIA FROM TEXAS.

PRODUCER: THANKS FOR CALLING THE JOE MADISON SHOW AND WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO TALK TO JOE ABOUT TODAY?

MADISON: ALFRED, GO AHEAD.

LANCE FROM TEXAS, HI.

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

ENJOY THE WEEKEND EVERYBODY.

GATES: JOE MADISON IS A TALK RADIO ICON.

MADISON: DETROIT HAS PROVED THAT THE FEAR OF BUSING IS A FOOLISH ONE.

THEY PROVED THAT... GATES: A CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST TURNED HOST, JOE'S BEEN ON THE AIRWAVES FOR NEARLY FOUR DECADES.

BLESSED WITH A BEAUTIFUL BARITONE VOICE, 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 AND ON SATURDAY TO DO MY SHOW... GATES: HUH!

MADISON: AND I LEARNED THE TRADE THAT WAY.

GATES: JOE LEARNED VERY WELL.

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

TODAY, HE HOSTS A WEEKDAY SHOW ON SIRIUS XM, A SHOW THAT COUNTS ME AS ONE OF ITS MANY LOYAL LISTENERS.

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, A FORMER BOXER TURNED GARBAGE COLLECTOR WHO TOOK YOUNG JOE TO WORK WITH HIM.

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, SKIP, HE WOULD BE KNOWN AS A, 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 WASN'T I LIVING WITH MY MOTHER AND FATHER.

GATES: MHM.

MADISON: 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: 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: MY SECOND GUEST IS ACTOR TY BURRELL, STAR OF THE HIT TV SERIES "MODERN FAMILY."

TY'S WON TWO EMMYS PLAYING PHIL DUNPHY, A FATHER DEALING WITH THE SURREAL CHALLENGES OF RAISING CHILDREN IN LOS ANGELES.

BURRELL: THIS NAVIGATION SYSTEM IS ALL MESSED UP.

IT THINKS WE'RE IN A PARK.

OH MY GOD, IT IS A PARK!

AWAY FROM THE KIDS!

AIM FOR THE LAKE!

GATES: IT'S A FAR CRY FROM HIS OWN CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCE IN THE SMALL TOWN OF APPLEGATE, OREGON, WHERE TY WON HIS VERY FIRST AWARD.

BURRELL: OH BOY.

GATES: BEST LOOKING, YOU WERE VOTED BEST LOOKING?

BURRELL: THAT IS THE LAST TIME THAT WAS EVER THOUGHT.

GATES: AND YOU WERE A LINEMAN ON THE FOOTBALL TEAM.

BURRELL: I WAS.

THAT GIVES YOU AN IDEA OF HOW SMALL OUR SCHOOL WAS, IF I WAS A TACKLE.

GATES: WHAT KIND OF STUDENT WERE YOU, WERE YOU A GOOD STUDENT?

BURRELL: NO, I WASN'T.

GATES: BUT WERE YOU A C STUDENT?

YOU WEREN'T FLUNKING.

BURRELL: WELL, I WOULD HAVE IF I HADN'T BEEN CHEATING.

GATES: OH REALLY.

BURRELL: YEAH, YEAH, I WOULD HAVE BEEN FLUNKING.

GATES: TY TOLD ME THAT WHILE HE MAY HAVE STRUGGLED AS A STUDENT, HE ALWAYS FELT SUPPORTED AT HOME BY HIS PARENTS.

MOREOVER, HIS FAMILY WAS A SOURCE OF A STEADY STREAM OF ENTERTAINMENT THAT WAS ESPECIALLY WELCOME IN HIS REMOTE HOMETOWN.

NOTABLY, HE SAYS THAT HIS FATHER, GARY BURRELL, A SOCIAL WORKER, HAD A GIFT FOR COMEDY.

BURRELL: WE GREW UP IN A HOUSE FULL OF A LOT OF LAUGHS.

GATES: OH, THAT'S GOOD.

BURRELL: AND YEAH, MY DAD WAS A VERY FUNNY GUY AND YOU KNOW WE DIDN'T REALLY HAVE TV YOU KNOW OUT THERE IN THE COUNTRY.

WE HAD LIKE ONE CHANNEL.

GATES: YEAH.

BURRELL: AND YOU'D JUST SIT AND WATCH YOUR DAD...

PLAYING CHARACTERS AND GOING OFF AND THEN MY BROTHER AND I GOT VERY, VERY INTO IT.

AND MY DAD WOULD LAUGH HYSTERICALLY AT US.

GATES: TRAGICALLY, TY'S FATHER DIED OF CANCER WHEN TY WAS JUST 22-YEARS OLD.

SO GARY NEVER GOT TO SEE HIS SON'S SUCCESS.

OR THE YEARS OF HARD WORK THAT PRECEDED IT.

STILL, TY REMEMBERS THAT HIS FATHER WAS THERE TO WITNESS A KEY MOMENT IN HIS LIFE: A HIGH SCHOOL TALENT SHOW, ONE OF THE FIRST TIMES HE EVER PERFORMED IN PUBLIC.

BURRELL: HOW IN THE WORLD DID YOU GET A PHOTO OF THAT?

THAT IS CRAZY.

WEIRDLY, THAT'S THE... THAT'S THE MOMENT THAT I, I WENT BACK TO YEARS LATER AND REALIZED THAT I WANTED TO BE AN ACTOR.

GATES: REALLY?

BURRELL: YEAH.

MY DAD, WHO UHM, SORRY.

IT'S HARD NOT TO BE A LITTLE BIT EMOTIONAL ABOUT IT BECAUSE, HE AFTER THIS NIGHT ON STAGE, HE SAID, "I THINK YOU SHOULD DO THIS."

GATES: REALLY?

BURRELL: YEAH.

AND THEN WHEN HE PASSED AWAY, I, I REMEMBER, YOU KNOW THIS, THIS WAS A VERY IMPORTANT MOMENT.

YEAH.

GATES: TY AND JOE COME FROM VERY DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS; BUT THEY SHARE MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'RE GOING TO USE GENETICS AND GENEALOGY TO REVEAL WHAT THEY HAVE IN COMMON.

GATES: IS THERE ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR YOU'RE INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT ABOUT YOUR FAMILY TREE?

I STARTED WITH TY BURRELL.

BURRELL: I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT MY FATHER'S LINE.

GATES: MHMM.

BURRELL: SO I'M VERY... GATES: TY TOLD ME SOMETHING THAT NONE OF MY WHITE GUESTS HAD EVER TOLD ME BEFORE.

HE SAID THAT WHEN HE WAS A TEENAGER, HE HEARD A FAMILY RUMOR THAT HIS MATERNAL GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER, A WOMAN NAMED SUSANNAH WEEKS, WAS ACTUALLY BLACK.

GATES: I'M FASCINATED, AS A STUDENT OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY.

BURRELL: YEAH.

GATES: SO YOU COME HOME ONE DAY AND... BURRELL: YES.

GATES: YOUR PARENTS GO, THERE'S SOMETHING WE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT.

BURRELL: YES.

GATES: YOU GO, OH MY GOD, THEY'RE GETTING A DIVORCE.

TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED?

BURRELL: WELL, IT WASN'T LIKE, IT WASN'T A SOMBER THING.

MY MOM WAS LIKE: "THERE'S... WE JUST FOUND OUT SOME PRETTY COOL STUFF!"

GATES: IF THIS STORY WERE TRUE, THAT MEANT THAT TY'S GRANDMOTHER, A WOMAN NAMED KATHY WEEKS, BORN IN OREGON IN 1918, HAD A BLACK GRANDMOTHER.

A SECRET THAT KATHY HERSELF HAD KEPT HIDDEN.

BURRELL: MY GRANDMOTHER THEN, AFTER WE SAID IS THIS TRUE?

GATES: MHMM.

BURRELL: SHE SAID, "YEAH, PEOPLE USED TO COME UP TO ME AND SAY YOUR GRANDMOTHER IS... AN "N" WORD."

GATES: WOW, THEY DID?

THAT IS COLD.

BURRELL: BUT WE WERE LIKE, WHY DIDN'T YOU EVER TELL US THAT?

WHY, BUT I THINK THERE WAS PROBABLY SOME SHAME THERE OR SOMETHING.

GATES: YEAH, SOMEBODY'S SAYING YOUR GRANDMOTHER'S AN "N" WORD IT'S NOT LIKE... BURRELL: SHE WOULDN'T PASS THAT ON TO US.

GATES: BUT DID YOU BELIEVE THE STORY?

BURRELL: WELL I HAD A HARD TIME, BUT I WANTED TO BELIEVE IT WAS TRUE.

GATES: MHMM.

TO FIND OUT, WE STARTED RESEARCHING KATHY'S FATHER, TY'S GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

HIS NAME WAS GEORGE WEEKS, AND ACCORDING TO THE FAMILY STORY, HIS MOTHER SUSANNAH WAS AN AFRICAN AMERICAN.

IN THE 1930 CENSUS, WE FOUND GEORGE LIVING WITH HIS WIFE AND SIX CHILDREN IN JACKSON COUNTY, OREGON, A REMOTE FARMING REGION.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE CENSUS LISTED GEORGE'S RACE.

BURRELL: "WEEKS, GEORGE, AGE 65, WHITE."

GATES: WHITE.

IN FACT, YOUR WHOLE FAMILY... BURRELL: YEAH.

GATES: IN THIS FEDERAL CENSUS IS LISTED AS MY FATHER WOULD SAY, WHITE AS THE DRIVEN SNOW.

BURRELL: RIGHT.

GATES: AND THE PHOTOGRAPH ON THE LEFT SHOWS YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER GEORGE.

BURRELL: WOW.

BUT HE DOESN'T LOOK BLACK.

GATES: DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT TO ME BROTHER AND I'M ALWAYS TRYING TO RECRUIT BLACK PEOPLE.

THIS WASN'T EXACTLY SURPRISING TO ME.

FAMILY STORIES ARE NOTORIOUSLY INACCURATE.

BUT AS I LOOKED DEEPER INTO GEORGE WEEKS'S PAST, I DISCOVERED SOMETHING THAT CAME AS A GENUINE SHOCK.

GOING BACK A DECADE TO THE 1920 CENSUS, I SAW THAT GEORGE WASN'T LISTED AS WHITE.

BURRELL: WEEKS, GEORGE, MU... GATES: DO YOU KNOW WHAT MU?

BURRELL: MULATTO.

GATES: MULATTO.

BURRELL: ARE YOU SERIOUS?

GATES: YEAH.

BURRELL: THAT IS CRAZY.

GATES: YOU DO HAVE BLACK ANCESTRY, YOUR FAMILY STORY WAS TRUE.

BURRELL: WOW.

THAT GIVES ME CHILLS.

GATES: TY BURRELL, TALK ABOUT A "MODERN FAMILY", BROTHER.

BURRELL: YEAH.

GATES: I'VE BEEN SENT HERE BY AL SHARPTON AND JESSE JACKSON TO WELCOME YOU, WELCOME YOU TO... BURRELL: THANK YOU SO MUCH.

GATES: GOING BACK FURTHER, WE FOUND THAT GEORGE WAS ACTUALLY LISTED IN THE 1900 CENSUS AS A BLACK MAN!

THAT MEANS THAT SOMEHOW BETWEEN 1900 AND 1930, GEORGE'S IDENTITY UNDERWENT A TRANSFORMATION FROM BLACK TO MULATTO TO WHITE, AT LEAST IN THE EYES OF CENSUS TAKERS.

AND SOMETHING ELSE CAUGHT MY ATTENTION AS WELL: GEORGE'S HOME STATE.

IN 1900, WHILE MORE THAN 400,000 PEOPLE LIVED IN OREGON, ONLY ABOUT 1,000 OF THEM WERE AFRICAN AMERICAN.

THAT'S LESS THAN ONE HALF OF 1%.

SO WHAT WAS TY BURRELL'S BLACK GREAT-GRANDFATHER DOING IN WHITE RURAL OREGON?

BURRELL: IT'S, IT'S HARD TO EVEN IMAGINE WHAT THAT WOULD BE LIKE FOR THEM.

THERE WERE NO BLACK PEOPLE THERE.

GATES: NONE.

BURRELL: ZERO.

GATES: RIGHT.

BURRELL: NAZERO.

GATES: YEAH, THAT'S TRUE.

IT'S LIKE THEY GOT LOST.

BURRELL: YEAH.

GATES: HARLEM IS 3,000 MILES, GO EAST.

TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE WEEKS FAMILY ENDED UP IN OREGON, WE HAD TO MOVE BACK A GENERATION AND EXPLORE THE STORY OF GEORGE'S MOTHER SUSANNAH WEEKS, THE WOMAN WHO HAD INSPIRED THIS SEARCH IN THE FIRST PLACE.

WE DETERMINED THAT, IN 1840, SUSANNAH WAS LIKELY A FREE PERSON OF COLOR, LIVING WITH HER MOTHER IN SLAVE-HOLDING TENNESSEE.

WE COULDN'T FIND ANY CLUES ABOUT HOW SHE WAS EMANCIPATED, BUT CENSUS RECORDS REVEALED THAT OVER THE NEXT 20 YEARS, SUSANNAH TRAVELLED 2500 MILES, JOURNEYING FROM TENNESSEE ALL THE WAY TO JACKSON COUNTY, OREGON.

WE ALSO FOUND A RECORD THAT SUGGESTS WHY SHE MIGHT HAVE MADE THIS INCREDIBLE JOURNEY.

BURRELL: SUSANNAH WEEKS OF JACKSON COUNTY, OREGON, DO HEREBY APPLY TO ENTER THE ACT OF SECURE HOMESTEADS TO ACTUAL SETTLERS ON THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

I'LL BE DARNED, SHE ON HER OWN IS ASKING FOR A HOMESTEAD?

GATES: SHE, ON HER OWN, APPLIED FOR A HOMESTEAD.

BURRELL: THAT IS AMAZING.

THAT IS AN INCREDIBLE WOMAN.

GATES: IN 1862, ABRAHAM LINCOLN SIGNED THE HOMESTEAD ACT WITH THE GOAL OF ENTICING SETTLERS TO THE AMERICAN WEST.

OVER THE NEXT SEVEN DECADES, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WOULD GIVE AWAY 270 MILLION ACRES OF LAND.

THAT'S ABOUT 10% OF ALL THE LAND IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY.

THE PROGRAM WAS OPEN TO ANYONE OVER 21-YEARS OF AGE, OSTENSIBLY, REGARDLESS OF RACE OR GENDER.

SO HOMESTEADING OFFERED SUSANNAH A WAY TO BECOME A PROPERTY OWNER.

BUT APPLYING FOR A HOMESTEAD GRANT AND ACTUALLY GETTING THE LAND WERE TWO VERY DIFFERENT THINGS.

TO RECEIVE LAND, AN APPLICANT HAD TO LIVE ON THEIR PROPERTY FOR FIVE YEARS AND SHOW THAT THEY HAD MADE IMPROVEMENTS.

DATA SUGGESTS THAT NO MORE THAN HALF OF THE HOMESTEADERS WERE ABLE TO DO THIS, MANY NEVER GOT THEIR LAND.

SO I WAS NERVOUS AS WE SEARCHED TO SEE IF SUSANNAH HAD BEEN AMONG THE SUCCESSFUL ONES.

BURRELL: THE CLAIM OF SUSAN WEEKS HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED AND DULY CONSUMMATED IN UNIFORMITY TO LAW FOR THE 160 ACRES.

SO, SHE PULLED IT OFF?

SHE DID THAT?

THAT'S INSANE.

GATES: SUSANNAH BECAME THE LEGAL OWNER OF THAT LAND.

BURRELL: THAT IS BADASS.

GATES: AND THERE SHE IS.

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THAT?

BURRELL: I HAVE NEVER SEEN THAT.

UHM, SHE LOOKS TOUGH.

I'M, I, I'M JUST IN COMPLETE ADMIRATION.

I WISH I COULD SAY I RELATED TO THE TOUGHNESS.

GATES: THAT'S HOW YOUR FAMILY GOT TO OREGON.

BURRELL: I HAVE A HARD TIME GOING FOR A LONG WALK IN THE COLD.

WHAT HAPPENED?

GATES: YOU TOOK AFTER THE WHITE SIDE.

BURRELL: YEAH.

YEAH.

EXACTLY.

WOW, THAT IS TRULY INCREDIBLE.

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

BUT JOE'S MYSTERY WAS 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 NEWS.

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...

YOUR SINCERITY AND CONCERN.

AND, YOU KNOW, I THOUGHT ABOUT IT AND IT JUST 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.

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 I TURNED TO GENETIC GENEALOGIST CECE MOORE FOR HELP.

CECE IS LIKE A DETECTIVE.

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.

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?

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF ANY HAYGOOD'S IN DAYTON?

MADISON: YOU KNOW, MAY... LOOK, I'M GOING TO TELL YOU, WE ALL LIVED ON THE SAME SIDE OF TOWN, AND I SUSPECT I HAVE BUT, UM, IT WOULDN'T SURPRISE ME, YOU KNOW.

GATES: 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.

GATES: 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.

I HAVE SEEN THAT FACE.

SO I'M LOOKING AT MY FATHER?

GATES: YOU'RE LOOKING AT YOUR BIOLOGICAL FATHER.

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

ACCORDING TO HIS FAMILY, HE LIVED IN DAYTON OHIO IN THE 1940S AND EARLY 50S, 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.

MADISON: THAT HAD KNOWN.

GATES: RIGHT.

AND THAT YOU WERE DECEIVED.

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

GATES: RIGHT.

BUT YOU'VE SEEN HIM BEFORE?

MADISON: I HAVE SEEN THAT FACE.

I COULD NOT TELL YOU WHERE.

BUT THAT FACE LOOKS VERY FAMILIAR.

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

GATES: OF YOUR LIFE, RIGHT.

MADISON: MHM, 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.

GATES: 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 INSTITUTE 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 1940S, 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: MHM.

GATES: THEY ACTUALLY WROTE, JOE, IN HIS RECORD THAT HE WAS "ALMOST WHITE" AND QUOTE, "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, I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW, BUT, YEAH.

GATES: YEAH.

MADISON: WOW.

AND THIS IS THE ONE THEY DID THE EXPERIMENT ON?

GATES: YEAH.

THAT IS YOUR... MADISON: AND THIS IS THE ONE THEY WERE GOING TO DISCARD?

GATES: YOUR BIOLOGICAL, THAT'S RIGHT.

THAT IS YOUR BIOLOGICAL GRANDFATHER.

THAT'S YOUR FATHER'S FATHER.

MADISON: WOW.

ISN'T THAT AMAZING?

LOOK AT THAT FACE.

LOOK AT THAT.

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: WE HAD ALREADY DISCOVERED THAT TY BURRELL'S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER SUSANNAH WAS AN AFRICAN AMERICAN, MOST LIKELY BORN INTO SLAVERY.

AND WE KNEW THAT SHE ENDED UP FREE, WINNING A HOMESTEAD GRANT IN OREGON.

NOW WE WANTED TO UNDERSTAND WHERE SUSANNAH CAME FROM, BUT THIS REPRESENTED A DAUNTING CHALLENGE.

SLAVES WERE CONSIDERED PROPERTY AND THEIR NAMES WERE GENERALLY NOT RECORDED IN PUBLIC DOCUMENTS.

THIS MAKES DOING AFRICAN AMERICAN GENEALOGY EXTREMELY DIFFICULT, BECAUSE IT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO TRACE PEOPLE WHOSE NAMES DON'T APPEAR IN RECORDS.

I TOLD TY THAT THERE WAS A GOOD CHANCE THAT WE'D NEVER BE ABLE TO GET BEYOND HIS FIRST GENERATION OF ENSLAVED ANCESTORS.

BUT I WAS WRONG.

BURRELL: FULL NAME: SUSANNAH W. WEEKS.

BIRTHPLACE: MONTGOMERY COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA.

THAT'S PRETTY INCREDIBLE.

GATES: THIS DOCUMENT, SUSANNAH'S DEATH CERTIFICATE, FILED IN OREGON IN 1909, HELD A CRUCIAL CLUE, THE NAME OF HER MOTHER.

BURRELL: MAIDEN NAME OF MOTHER: NELLIE MASK.

GATES: AND NELLIE MASK IS YOUR THIRD GREAT-GRANDMOTHER.

BURRELL: WOW.

THAT'S AMAZING.

GATES: AND THINK ABOUT THAT.

YOU JUST MET TWO GENERATIONS OF YOUR FAMILY, BORN IN SLAVERY.

BURRELL: WOW.

GATES: AND MOST BLACK PEOPLE, I KNOW YOU'RE STILL GETTING USED TO THAT.

MOST OF US CAN'T GO BACK THIS FAR ON THEIR FAMILY TREE... BURRELL: BECAUSE IT'S NOT DOCUMENTED.

GATES: BY NAME.

BECAUSE IT'S NOT DOCUMENTED.

BURRELL: I UNDERSTAND.

THAT'S, THAT'S INCREDIBLE.

GATES: TO LEARN MORE ABOUT NELLIE, WE SEARCHED FOR HER MASTER, WHOM WE THOUGHT MIGHT SHARE HER SURNAME.

AND WE FOUND THAT THERE WAS ONE EXTENDED SLAVE-OWNING FAMILY NAMED "MASK" IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA.

AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, MANY DESCENDANTS OF THIS FAMILY ARE STILL ALIVE TODAY, AND ONE HAS PUBLISHED AN ORAL HISTORY.

IN ITS PAGES, WE MADE A STARTLING DISCOVERY: WE FOUND A STORY ABOUT TY'S THIRD GREAT GRANDMOTHER, NELLIE, AND HER MOTHER, A WOMAN NAMED JANE.

BURRELL: "JANE MUST HAVE BEEN AN ATTRACTIVE SLAVE GIRL, AS DUDLEY MASK COULDN'T KEEP HIS HANDS OFF HER."

OH, THAT IS TERRIBLE.

"ONE CAN ONLY IMAGINE THE FEAR THIS YOUNG 13-YEAR-OLD GIRL FELT IN 1798 WHILE IN THE AGONY OF CHILDBIRTH WITH A BABY, SHE NAMED NELLIE MASK, A CHILD OF DUDLEY MASK, HER 33-YEAR-OLD MASTER."

GATES: THAT MEANS THAT, THAT 13-YEAR-OLD SLAVE, JANE.

BURRELL: OH MY GOSH.

GATES: IS THE 13-YEAR-OLD.

SHE IS YOUR FOURTH GREAT-GRANDMOTHER.

BURRELL: AH, THAT IS CRAZY.

GATES: AND THAT MEANS THAT DUDLEY MASK, HER OWNER, IS YOUR FOURTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

BURRELL: WOW.

JANE WAS 13.

GATES: 13.

BURRELL: AND RAPED BY MY GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

GATES: YOUR FOURTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

BURRELL: THAT'S SAD.

THAT'S REALLY SAD.

GATES: TY'S NEWLY-DISCOVERED AFRICAN AMERICAN ANCESTORS OFFER A WINDOW ONTO SOME OF THE MOST PAINFUL LEGACIES OF SLAVERY.

LEGACIES OF CRUELTY, BONDAGE, AND SEXUAL EXPLOITATION.

AND PERHAPS MOST TROUBLING IS THE FACT THAT ALL ARE NOW INTERWOVEN, INTREXTRICABLY, INTO HIS LARGER FAMILY STORY.

BURRELL: IT'S DEFINITELY A COMPLICATED FEELING BECAUSE THERE IS NO WAY TO JUST SEPARATE DUDLEY MASK FROM THE PART THAT I WANT TO EMBRACE.

GATES: NO, YOU CAN'T YOU KNOW.

BURRELL: I WANT TO, I WANT TO JUST BE THE, WITH THE HEROINES OF THE STORY.

GATES: SURE.

BURRELL: UHM, SO THAT'S, THAT'S HARD.

GATES: THERE WAS STILL A QUESTION IN FRONT OF US.

TY'S FAMILY ORAL HISTORY CLAIMED THAT JANE HAD BEEN RAPED BY HER MASTER.

RAPE, OF COURSE, WAS COMMON DURING SLAVERY.

BUT ORAL HISTORIES CAN BE UNRELIABLE, AND THE ACCOUNT OF THIS RELATIONSHIP WAS NOT DOCUMENTED.

COULD DNA TELL US IF TY WAS REALLY DESCENDED FROM A SLAVE OWNER?

GATES: NOW OBVIOUSLY, IN ORDER TO DO THAT WE HAD TO FIND A DESCENDANT FROM DUDLEY MASK BECAUSE WE'RE MATCHING DNA.

IT'S LIKE AN EXTENDED PATERNITY TEST.

BURRELL: UM-HUM.

GATES: SO WE FOUND A DESCENDANT OF DUDLEY MASK AND COMPARED YOUR MOM'S DNA.

BURREL: WOW.

GATES: TO THIS PERSON'S.

BURREL: YOU DID?

GATES: YEAH.

IF DUDLEY MASK DID IN FACT FATHER A CHILD WITH TY'S ENSLAVED ANCESTOR, THEN OUR ANALYSIS WOULD REVEAL SEGMENTS OF DNA REPRESENTED IN RED THAT ARE SHARED BETWEEN HIS DESCENDANT AND TY'S MOTHER.

YOU SEE ANY RED?

BURRELL: YEP, TWO SPOTS.

I DON'T KNOW THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THAT, BUT THERE'S DEFINITELY RED THERE.

GATES: TWO RED SEGMENTS ARE EXACT DNA OVERLAPS.

BURRELL: I'LL BE DARNED.

GATES: SO WE COULD RECONCILE THE ORAL HISTORY OF THE MASK PLANTATION WITH YOUR GENOME ISN'T THAT AMAZING?

BURRELL: WITH THE SCIENCE, THAT IS INSANE.

THAT IS INCREDIBLE.

GATES: SO YOU HAVE SLAVES IN THE FAMILY, BUT YOU HAVE A MASTER IN THE FAMILY TOO.

BURRELL: THAT'S UH A LOT OF MIXED FEELINGS.

GATES: YEAH.

WE HAD ONE FINAL REVELATION FOR TY.

DNA HAD SHOWN THAT HE DESCENDED FROM THE WHITE PLANTER DUDLEY MASK, COULD IT ALSO CONFIRM HIS AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE?

TO FIND OUT, WE CONDUCTED WHAT'S KNOWN AS AN ADMIXTURE TEST, WHICH BREAKS DOWN A PERSON'S DNA INTO PERCENTAGES TO REVEAL THE BROAD REGIONS WHERE THEIR ANCESTORS LIVED ROUGHLY OVER THE LAST 500 YEARS.

IF THE STORY WAS TRUE, TY WOULD HAVE ABOUT 1.56% AFRICAN ANCESTRY IN HIS GENOME.

WE CAN ACTUALLY FIGURE IT OUT.

BURRELL: OH, WOW.

GATES: WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE RESULTS?

BURRELL: YES.

GATES: COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

HERE ARE YOUR ADMIXTURE RESULTS.

BURRELL: 98.5 EUROPEAN, 1.4% SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN.

GATES: 1.4% SUB-SAHARAN.

THE AVERAGE WHITE PERSON IS ZERO SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN.

BURRELL: RIGHT.

GATES: SO IT'S TRUE.

BURRELL: THAT'S AMAZING.

GATES: IT IS TRUE!

YOUR AFRICAN DNA IS AT 1.4%, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT ONE WOULD EXPECT TO INHERIT FROM A FOURTH GREAT-GRANDPARENT.

BURRELL: I'LL BE DAMNED.

GATES: WELL HOW DOES THIS MAKE YOU FEEL, MAN?

WE'VE SOLVED THE MYSTERY.

BURRELL: YEAH.

GATES: WE PROVED A RUMOR.

BURRELL: YEAH.

GATES: BUT WE COMPLICATED THE STORY.

BURRELL: YEAH.

GATES: CONSIDERABLY.

BURRELL: WELL I'D SAY MY OVERRIDING FEELING IS, IS OF GRATITUDE TO, TO KNOW THIS AND I THINK MY FAMILY WILL FEEL THE SAME WAY BECAUSE WE'VE WONDERED ABOUT IT FOR A LONG TIME AND BEEN VERY CURIOUS ABOUT IT.

BUT I NEVER EVEN FROM THE MINUTE WE FIRST THOUGHT THAT MAYBE WE HAD SOME AFRICAN HERITAGE, I DIDN'T THINK THAT, YOU KNOW IF YOU LOOK BACK FAR ENOUGH, I FIGURED THERE WAS GOING TO BE SOME TRAGEDY IN THERE.

GATES: UM-HUM.

BURRELL: AND UHM IT'S HARD TO SEE THAT PART OF IT BUT IT'S ALSO GOOD TO, GOOD TO SEE IT AND, AND GOOD TO HAVE IT ANSWERED I GUESS.

GATES: WELL AND YOU HAD BEEN GIVEN A NAME AND ONE IDENTITY.

BURRELL: YES.

GATES: BUT IT TURNS OUT YOU HAVE... BURRELL: IT'S JUST SO MUCH.

GATES: THREE GENERATIONS OF BLACK WOMEN WHO WERE ENSLAVED, WHOSE NAMES WE KNOW.

BURRELL: AND THAT IS AMAZING.

I'M HONORED AND PRIVILEGED TO KNOW THAT MY ANCESTOR IS, IS SUSANNAH AND NELLIE... GATES: AND JANE.

BURRELL: AND JANE.

YEAH.

GATES: YOU COME FROM A FASCINATING BACKGROUND.

BURRELL: IT MAKES ME PROUD.

YEAH, YEAH.

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: THERE YOU GO.

WOW.

MADISON: NOW YOU KNOW.

GATES: YOUR GREAT- GRANDFATHER IS A WHITE MAN.

MADISON: YEAH.

GATES: SO YOU HAVE DIRECT WHITE ANCESTORS.

MADISON: RIGHT!

GATES: ON BOTH SIDES OF YOUR BIOLOGICAL FAMILY TREE.

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 VERY FAMILIAR NEIGHBOR.

GATES: 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.

MADISON: YEAH.

GATES: ONE TIME AND THEN THEY'RE TOGETHER... MADISON: 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 26 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 GENTLEMEN.

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.

GATES: YOU COULD INDEED.

MADISON: THAT WOULD SHAPE THEM UP, WOULDN'T IT?

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 ROUGHLY 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.

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.

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.

MADISON: WOW.

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

MADISON: YOU KNOW, WHEN I LOOK AT THESE, 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.

GATES: OH MY GOD!

MADISON: HAVE.

GATES: 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.

GATES: MHM.

MADISON: AND IT JUST REINFORCES THE FACT THAT WE HAVE MORE IN COMMON THAN WE HAVE DIFFERENCES.

GATES: MHM.

ABSOLUTELY.

MADISON: IT REALLY DOES.

IT REALLY DOES.

AND HOW INSIGNIFICANT COLOR IS.

GATES: WE HAD NOW USED DNA TO HELP CONNECT BOTH JOE AND TY TO ANCESTORS THEY NEVER KNEW THEY HAD, ON BOTH SIDES OF THE COLOR LINE.

BURRELL: WOAH... GATES: THESE ARE ALL THE ANCESTORS... UTTERLY RE-DRAWING THEIR FAMILY TREES.

MADISON: WOW, LOOK AT THAT!

BURRELL: I CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH, I REALLY CAN'T.

THAT, THAT IS A BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL GIFT.

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.

GATES: 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 GOTTA TRIBE.

BROTHER: YEAH, NOW I GOTTA, YEAH!

NEXT THING YOU KNOW, YEAH!

GATES: BUT GENETIC GENEALOGY ISN'T JUST REBUILDING FAMILIES SEPARATED BY CIRCUMSTANCES.

IN RECENT YEARS, IT'S BECOME AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL OF IMMENSE VALUE.

OGBUNU: WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO NOW IS GONNA BE FASCINATING.

WE'RE GOING TO EXTRACT ACTUAL DNA.

WITH SOME BASIC CHEMISTRY, WE ARE GOING TO SEE DNA, NOT ONLY ARE WE GOING TO SEE DNA, WE'RE GOING TO SEE YOURS!

GATES: LAST SUMMER, I VISITED A CAMP AT PENN STATE UNIVERSITY, WHERE A DIVERSE ARRAY OF STUDENTS ARE LEARNING THE SAME RESEARCH PROCEDURES THAT WE EMPLOY IN OUR SERIES, USING GENETICS AND GENEALOGY TO UNDERSTAND HISTORY, AND THEIR OWN PLACE IN IT.

A PROJECT THAT IS VERY CLOSE TO MY HEART.

FROM THE TIME I WAS NINE YEARS OLD, I WANTED TO KNOW WHERE I CAME FROM.

IT'S FASCINATING TO WATCH YOUNG PEOPLE GO THROUGH THE SAME STEPS WE DO.

STUDENT: I JUST ADDED FOUR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS TO MY FAMILY TREE.

GATES: AT AN AGE WHERE THEIR IDENTITIES ARE STILL TAKING SHAPE.

STUDENT: BY MARRIAGE, I'M RELATED TO ROYALTY.

OGBUNU: WHAT?!

GATES: AND THE PAST IS STILL A GRAND ADVENTURE.

STUDENT: OH, THAT'S SO COOL!

STUDENT: SO, HE WAS A DENTIST WITH PRACTICE IN BOSTON.

GATES: AND HE TREATED WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.

I FOUND MYSELF DRAWN IN TO THE EXCITEMENT, THE SENSE OF DISCOVERY.

SO HOW ARE YOU RELATED TO MARCUS GARVEY?

STUDENT: I REALLY NEVER LOOKED INTO IT UNTIL TODAY.

GATES: HMM!

STUDENT: I FOUND OUT THAT HE WAS MY FATHER'S GREAT-GREAT, GRANDMOTHER'S UNCLE?

SOMETHING LIKE THAT?

GATES: WOW, YEAH.

STUDENT: I DON'T REMEMBER.

YEAH, IT WAS KIND OF CONFUSING TO REMEMBER THAT.

GATES: THAT'S COOL.

WOW, MR. GARVEY, IT'S A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU.

STUDENT: NICE TO MEET YOU.

STUDENT: MY ANCESTORS, THEY CAME FROM INDIA.

GATES: AND I WAS REMINDED, PROFOUNDLY, WHY THIS SERIES IS SO MEANINGFUL TO ME.

STUDENT: IT'S PRETTY COOL.

GATES: IT'S IMPORTANT TO QUESTION WHO WE ARE.

STUDENT: I'M 100% EUROPEAN.

GATES: EVEN IF WE THINK WE ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER.

JOHNSON: I'M PART EAST-ASIAN AND NORTH, NATIVE AMERICAN.

WOMAN: 98.1 CHINESE, .2% KOREAN.

STUDENT: COOL!

JOHNSON: 100% CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON.

OGBUNU: YOU'RE 100% CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON.

GATES: THE STORIES I UNCOVERED WITH JOE MADISON AND TY BURRELL ARE NOT AS UNUSUAL AS THEY MIGHT SEEM.

EVERYONE HAS A SURPRISE SOMEWHERE IN THEIR FAMILY TREE, AND UNRAVELLING OUR SHARED PAST CAN BRING US ALL CLOSER TOGETHER.

STUDENT: THE MOST INTERESTING THING TO ME WAS THAT I FOUND OUT THAT I WAS 4% BRITISH.

GATES: OH WOW!

STUDENT: AND TO MY FRIEND, I HAD NO IDEA, THAT LIKE, UM, WE WERE LIKE, "I DIDN'T KNOW THAT YOU WERE BRITISH."

GATES: OH HELLO, WOULD YOU LIKE SOME TEA?

STUDENT: YEAH.

AND I CAN LIKE DO A PRETTY GOOD BRITISH ACCENT AND THEY THOUGHT THAT.

GATES: OK, GO AHEAD AND DO IT.

STUDENT: UM, HI, I'M BRITISH, AND... GATES: YEAH.

YOU CONVINCED ME.

STUDENT: MY MOM'S ANCESTORS BASICALLY CAME FROM HERE TO HERE.

GATES: LOOKING AT THESE YOUNG FACES, I FOUND MYSELF FEELING INCREASINGLY OPTIMISTIC.

HEARTENED TO KNOW THAT AS THE HUMAN RACE MOVES FORWARD, MORE AND MORE PEOPLE WILL UNDERSTAND WHAT OUR DNA ALREADY TELLS US.

THAT WE ARE FAR MORE CONNECTED THAN WE THINK, AND WE ARE FAR MORE ALIKE THAN WE ARE DIFFERENT.

THAT'S THE END OF OUR JOURNEY.

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