0:00:03 > 0:00:07Actor, writer, and director Steve Buscemi
0:00:07 > 0:00:10is one of America's most respected screen artists.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Having earned almost 40 entertainment industry
0:00:13 > 0:00:15nominations and awards, Steve most recently
0:00:15 > 0:00:20won both the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards
0:00:20 > 0:00:23for his performance in Boardwalk Empire.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25Born in Brooklyn, New York, Steve's family
0:00:25 > 0:00:29moved to Long Island when he was eight years old.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33He returned to Brooklyn in his 30s, and lives there now with Jo,
0:00:33 > 0:00:36his wife of 20 years, and their son, Lucian.
0:00:37 > 0:00:45It's funny...growing up, I always felt like my heritage was Brooklyn.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48You know, I'm from the country of Brooklyn.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51My dad would make these Super 8 movies
0:00:51 > 0:00:54with my brothers and my cousins.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57In this one film, Dad decided to make this little,
0:00:57 > 0:00:59you know, episode of Superman.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02But my older brother Jonny got to play superman.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05And I got to play the bad guy.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07So that was my first bad guy role,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10and it's continued since then.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13As an actor and as a director,
0:01:13 > 0:01:17I'm always interested in the struggles of people's lives.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20I'm hoping, just personally,
0:01:20 > 0:01:22that there's a really interesting character
0:01:22 > 0:01:25whose story is compelling.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48To start his search into his family history,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51Steve is travelling to Valley Stream in Long Island,
0:01:51 > 0:01:53to visit his parents.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56I really wanna ask my mom anything she knows
0:01:56 > 0:01:59about her side of the family.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01Because that's the side that I know the least about.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04And it's her side of the family
0:02:04 > 0:02:06that I'm most curious about.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10My mom's mom, Amanda Van Dine,
0:02:10 > 0:02:13died when my mom was, like, three.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18We really don't know much about her.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22And I think a big reason that we don't talk about her
0:02:22 > 0:02:26is because it's a painful subject in the family,
0:02:26 > 0:02:28because she took her own life.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32I mean, it does make you wonder if...
0:02:32 > 0:02:34If there was one family member that...
0:02:34 > 0:02:37was able to take their own life...
0:02:37 > 0:02:42if there's been a history of depression in the family.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46It is something that I would like to know.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50Hello? - Hey.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53- How are you? - Hi.
0:02:53 > 0:02:54Hey, Michael. - Good to see you again.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56- How's it going?
0:02:56 > 0:02:58- Hi, Ma. - Hi, how are you?
0:02:58 > 0:02:59- Good, how are you? - Mm-mm, OK.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02- You all right? Yeah?
0:03:02 > 0:03:04We know about the Buscemi name
0:03:04 > 0:03:07and that it was from Sicily.
0:03:07 > 0:03:08But the big mystery, for me,
0:03:08 > 0:03:10is where your family is even from.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12- She doesn't even know what she is.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15- Well, this is what we wanna figure out. So now your mom,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18is Amanda... - Yeah, Van Dine.
0:03:18 > 0:03:19- Van Dine.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22You know her father... What the father's first name was?
0:03:22 > 0:03:24- Charles. - Charles Van Dine.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27- I like that. He sounds like Mr Moneybags from Monopoly.
0:03:27 > 0:03:28THEY LAUGH
0:03:28 > 0:03:31- And this was my mother.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33- Amanda Van Dine. So this is the picture that I know.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35- Yeah.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37After my mother died, my sister had this made up.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40- Because there were so few pictures of her?
0:03:40 > 0:03:41- There was no... Yeah.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44And this is my grandmother.
0:03:44 > 0:03:45Jane Van Dine.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48- Yeah, so Jane Van Dine is your...grandmother.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51As far as you know, she was born in New York.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53- Brooklyn, yeah. - And what year did she die?
0:03:53 > 0:03:551928.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59- For me, you know, this is where I would like to start the journey.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02And I'll let you know. I know you're curious, because...
0:04:02 > 0:04:04you don't know anything about them.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06- No, not a thing.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08- Well, we'll try and change that.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10- OK. (chuckles)
0:04:10 > 0:04:12'It would be great if I can find out...'
0:04:12 > 0:04:15some real concrete information about my mom's family.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17Because I think it would mean a lot to her.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21She sort of grew up not knowing much.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24She couldn't get a lot out of her own father.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26He never talked about his life too much.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28And of course, she didn't know her own mother.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32Steve's grandmother was Amanda Van Dine.
0:04:32 > 0:04:38Her mother was Jane Van Dine and Jane's husband was Charles Van Dine.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43Jane Van Dine died in 1928.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48To research her records and try to discover more about her background,
0:04:48 > 0:04:52Steve has arranged to meet genealogist Joseph Shumway
0:04:52 > 0:04:55at the New York Municipal Archives.
0:04:57 > 0:04:58Hello. - Steve?
0:04:58 > 0:04:59- Hi, you must be Joseph.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01- I am. Nice to meet you.
0:05:01 > 0:05:02- It's nice to meet you.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05- Come over here, let me show you what I've got. - All right.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08- I was able to locate a death certificate entry
0:05:08 > 0:05:11for Jane Van Dine for 1928.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14- Here she is. Full name, Jane Van Dine.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19Her father is... Ralph Montgomery.
0:05:19 > 0:05:24"Maiden name of mother, Julia Vanderhof."
0:05:24 > 0:05:27So Ralph Montgomery
0:05:27 > 0:05:30would be my great-great-grandfather.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32- Right. - And Julia Vanderhof
0:05:32 > 0:05:35would be my great-great-grandmother.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39So it says here that both her parents
0:05:39 > 0:05:41were born in the US
0:05:41 > 0:05:42But according to this,
0:05:42 > 0:05:45she was 48 when she died,
0:05:45 > 0:05:48but she'd only been living in New York for 32 years.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51I'm wondering, "Well, where did she live before New York?"
0:05:51 > 0:05:53It says that she was born in the US,
0:05:53 > 0:05:55but it doesn't say... It doesn't say where.
0:05:55 > 0:05:56- Mm-hmm.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58- That makes me curious.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00Where did they come from?
0:06:00 > 0:06:02- One record we wanna definitely see
0:06:02 > 0:06:04if we can pin down is a census record.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07And see if we can locate Jane with her parents.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19- All right. - So for the age range,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21this here is our best match. - This top one,
0:06:21 > 0:06:25"Jane Montgomery, born about 1869.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28"Residence, 1880, Camden, New Jersey."
0:06:28 > 0:06:31"The 1880 United States Federal Census."
0:06:32 > 0:06:35Well, I see here, "Montgomery, Jane."
0:06:38 > 0:06:41What is this? "11?"
0:06:41 > 0:06:43That's her age? - That's her age.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46- Servant?
0:06:49 > 0:06:52I'm confused. It says "servant?"
0:06:52 > 0:06:55As the relationship to who? To her...?
0:06:55 > 0:06:58- It looks like, the head of the household
0:06:58 > 0:07:01that she's residing in is this gentleman right here.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03- "Tillman, Turner."
0:07:03 > 0:07:05- Right.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07- So this is... I've never heard of this,
0:07:07 > 0:07:09this is really confusing to me that...
0:07:09 > 0:07:11so she did not live with her own parents.
0:07:11 > 0:07:16She lived in Camden, New Jersey, at...
0:07:16 > 0:07:17as far as I know,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20she's not related to these people.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24But she worked as their servant at 11 years old.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28How does something like that happen?
0:07:28 > 0:07:30- At this time period in the United States,
0:07:30 > 0:07:32it was actually very common for young children
0:07:32 > 0:07:36about Jane's age to have been sent out into the workforce.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38There were no child labour laws at that time period.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41Young children sometimes were orphaned,
0:07:41 > 0:07:42they may have been abandoned.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44The most common situation was that
0:07:44 > 0:07:47their families were just poverty-stricken.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49- Right. - And they needed all members of the family
0:07:49 > 0:07:53to go out, and to work, and to help bring in money for the family.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57- That is completely wild to me.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01You know, that's something I couldn't imagine...
0:08:01 > 0:08:03happening today.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06What were the parents...doing?
0:08:06 > 0:08:08- Well, I've actually had a look for us
0:08:08 > 0:08:10in the 1880 census.
0:08:10 > 0:08:11And I've searched in Camden,
0:08:11 > 0:08:14and some of the other surrounding areas,
0:08:14 > 0:08:18and cannot seem to find a Ralph or a Julia Montgomery in that area.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23But there is one other option that I think we should try,
0:08:23 > 0:08:26and see if we can find any other people out there
0:08:26 > 0:08:29who may have posted some of their personal research
0:08:29 > 0:08:31that we could gather clues from.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33- I should see if there's anybody else out there
0:08:33 > 0:08:34who was connected to either
0:08:34 > 0:08:38Ralph Montgomery or Julia Vanderhof.
0:08:38 > 0:08:39- Right.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48- So we have a family tree.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50An unknown person to me posted this.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52- Right.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54- That is a really strange coincidence.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57All right, so here's Ralph B Montgomery,
0:08:57 > 0:08:59born 1834...
0:08:59 > 0:09:04in Milton, Northumberland, Pennsylvania.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08These would be his... Ralph Montgomery's children.
0:09:08 > 0:09:09So there's Jane.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11So he had other children.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13And they have a living descendant.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17- Probably the person who created this family tree.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20- How do I get in touch with this person?
0:09:20 > 0:09:22- Click on her username.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25- Maybe this relative can tell me more about Ralph,
0:09:25 > 0:09:29including how his daughter, Jane, ended up a servant.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35OK. "Your message has been sent."
0:09:35 > 0:09:38To continue his search and try to find out more
0:09:38 > 0:09:42about Jane Montgomery's childhood and about her father Ralph,
0:09:42 > 0:09:45Steve is heading to Harrisburgh, Pennsylvania
0:09:45 > 0:09:47to visit the State Archives.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56Right now, I just have a lot of questions in my mind
0:09:56 > 0:09:58about Ralph Montgomery.
0:09:58 > 0:09:59I really don't have a lot to go on.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03But since Ralph was born in Milton, Pennsylvania,
0:10:03 > 0:10:05I'll have to start with his life there
0:10:05 > 0:10:08and work my way back up to 1880.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11Your daughter doesn't end up working for another family
0:10:11 > 0:10:14at a young age in another state for no reason.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16Steve is meeting archivist Aaron McWilliams.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18Hi, Aaron? - Hey, Mr Buscemi.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20Nice to meet you. - Steve, please.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22- Steve, let's go in. - OK, thank you.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25In 1880, there was a fire in Milton
0:10:25 > 0:10:28and many of the local records were lost.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31But some tax and court records did survive.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35Steve and Aaron are splitting their search efforts.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39- We'll go up to 1857. Take a look at those.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43Steve is starting with the 1856 and 57 tax records,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46while Aaron checks the federal censuses.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53Miller...
0:10:53 > 0:10:55Oh, wait a minute.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58Here is a Ralph B Montgomery.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05"Occupation, dentist."
0:11:05 > 0:11:07I don't think I would've ever imagined
0:11:07 > 0:11:10that I had dentist in my family.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12Um...
0:11:13 > 0:11:16Under "With whom residing," it's left... It's blank.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18So it seems like he was single.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20I mean, if he was a dentist
0:11:20 > 0:11:21by the time he was in his early 20s,
0:11:21 > 0:11:25he was probably a very enterprising young man.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27- Steve, you have any luck?
0:11:27 > 0:11:31- Uh, yeah. I found a Ralph Montgomery.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34He was single and listed as a dentist.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36- Very well-respected in the community.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38- Yeah.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41Much like today, dentists in the 1850s
0:11:41 > 0:11:44used anaesthesia to perform painful tooth extractions.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Because anaesthesia was a new and risky practice,
0:11:47 > 0:11:51patients sought out dentists they deemed trustworthy.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54With a good reputation, a dentist like Ralph Montgomery
0:11:54 > 0:11:58could build a lucrative practice.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00- I took a look at the census records, and I found something.
0:12:00 > 0:12:01- What did you find?
0:12:01 > 0:12:06- This here is the 1860 US Federal census population schedule.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10- All right, so here's an RB Montgomery, profession...
0:12:10 > 0:12:13"grocer"?!
0:12:13 > 0:12:15In 1860.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21So he either decided that dentistry was not for him,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24or he did such a terrible job
0:12:24 > 0:12:26that he was run out of the business.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29- And see, the individuals listed below
0:12:29 > 0:12:31will be those living in his household at the time.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35Most likely, they would be his wife and then the children.
0:12:35 > 0:12:36- Margaret?
0:12:36 > 0:12:40That's odd. Why, I don't understand why...
0:12:40 > 0:12:42Who this Margaret was.
0:12:42 > 0:12:43He seems to have had another family
0:12:43 > 0:12:47before the family he had with Julia.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53Steve has discovered that around 10 years
0:12:53 > 0:12:56before his great-grandmother Jane was born,
0:12:56 > 0:13:00her father Ralph had a first wife and two children,
0:13:00 > 0:13:03another family that Steve never knew existed.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09What a story... is unfolding here.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11- Yeah.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14- what would cause somebody to stop being a dentist?
0:13:14 > 0:13:16You know, something must've happened.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18And what happened to his first family?
0:13:18 > 0:13:22Because I know that this was not the family
0:13:22 > 0:13:24that shows up later.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Did he leave them? Did he abandon them?
0:13:27 > 0:13:29There's another mystery there.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31- The next step I would take is to go through
0:13:31 > 0:13:34more of the Northumberland County records.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Court records, newspaper accounts...
0:13:36 > 0:13:38We have a lot more searching to do.
0:13:38 > 0:13:39- There's a lot of searching, yes.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41There's a lot of questions.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43Each day I seem to get answers,
0:13:43 > 0:13:45but that also poses new questions.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49He's not a dentist anymore. What went wrong?
0:13:49 > 0:13:51And what happened to his first family?
0:13:54 > 0:13:58It's the next day and Steve is back at the State Archives.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00Aaron suggested that I search
0:14:00 > 0:14:02the Pennsylvania Daily Telegraph in 1860,
0:14:02 > 0:14:04when Ralph lived in Milton.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08I'm wondering if earlier in that year
0:14:08 > 0:14:11there's an article in the paper that would explain
0:14:11 > 0:14:14why he stopped being a dentist.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17And if I don't find it in that year, I'll just work my way back.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25Very, very small print.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27Nothing there.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38Now I'm on November 28th.
0:14:43 > 0:14:44OK.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47Here is a Ralph Montgomery.
0:14:49 > 0:14:50And it says here...
0:14:50 > 0:14:53"Supposed suicide."
0:14:56 > 0:14:59Well, I was talking about going down dark roads,
0:14:59 > 0:15:01and this certainly seems like one.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10"Supposed suicide.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14"A few days ago, Mr Israel Brunner
0:15:14 > 0:15:16"found on the river shore...
0:15:16 > 0:15:19"a porter bottle, tightly corked.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22"which contained the following,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25"written with a lead pencil.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27"'Tired of this world,
0:15:27 > 0:15:31"'I take this method to shuffle off this mortal coil.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34"'Upon this lonely island,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37"'a few miles below this town,
0:15:37 > 0:15:40"'if this be ever found, it will be known
0:15:40 > 0:15:43"'that my body is in the Susquehanna River.'"
0:15:45 > 0:15:48"'Weep not for me, my friends.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51"as I have gone to a better world.'
0:15:51 > 0:15:54"Signed, Ralph Montgomery."
0:15:57 > 0:16:00My great-great-grandfather was so troubled by something
0:16:00 > 0:16:04that he...at least, he wanted to take his own life.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07And I know by this time, he had a wife and two kids.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10I mean, I know that he survived
0:16:10 > 0:16:13and ended up having another family,
0:16:13 > 0:16:17whose daughter is my great-grandmother, Jane.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21Her daughter, Amanda, my grandmother,
0:16:21 > 0:16:23she DID take her life.
0:16:25 > 0:16:26It's upsetting.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30Ralph thinks that suicide is the only way out.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Why would he even want to commit suicide?
0:16:37 > 0:16:39Aaron has come across a document
0:16:39 > 0:16:42that might help explain Ralph's mindset.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44- Well, I found something.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48- What is this that I'm looking at?
0:16:48 > 0:16:50- It's "the grand..." - "The grand..."
0:16:50 > 0:16:52- "Inquest..." - "Inquest of the..."
0:16:52 > 0:16:54Both: "Of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania."
0:16:54 > 0:16:58- "Present that Ralph Montgomery and..."
0:16:58 > 0:17:02John Mc... McMuttry? - Mm-hmm.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05- "An assault did make...
0:17:05 > 0:17:08"did beat, wound, and..."
0:17:08 > 0:17:10- "And ill-treat." - Ill-treat.
0:17:10 > 0:17:16- "And other wrongs to the said Samuel Rhule..."
0:17:16 > 0:17:20So what this is basically saying is that in 1857,
0:17:20 > 0:17:22Ralph Montgomery and this other guy, John,
0:17:22 > 0:17:26they beat this guy up. This Samuel Rhule.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28- Yeah, basically. - And by 1860,
0:17:28 > 0:17:32he was... He stopped, you know, being a dentist.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34And so I'm thinking, maybe something like this
0:17:34 > 0:17:36could've put a damper on his business.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38- Definitely. - Yeah.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40- There is a second document I did find.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43This is a docket entry for the same case.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48- "Charge, assault and battery.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51"November 27th, 1859.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55The prosecutor agrees to withdraw this suit."
0:17:55 > 0:17:57So the charges were dropped.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59- Yeah. Two years later.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03- Although he was cleared, the damage was done.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07Then that brings me to this note that was found.
0:18:07 > 0:18:11He throws this bottle into the river
0:18:11 > 0:18:14From... Maybe from up there.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16- Yeah.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18- And then decides...
0:18:18 > 0:18:22not to jump in himself. - Second thoughts.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25- And maybe he thinks, "Well, I'll just go back to my family,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29and hopefully, no one will find this note." But then, months later,
0:18:29 > 0:18:32it's found and not only found, but printed in the newspaper.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35- Yeah. - So now everybody knows
0:18:35 > 0:18:37that he was contemplating suicide.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42And so I imagine back in that time,
0:18:42 > 0:18:46suicide would really be looked at so unfavourably.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50I mean, it's not like today, where you would get help.
0:18:50 > 0:18:51You know. - Mm-hmm.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55- He would be ostracized probably by the town.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58- He disappears from the tax records by 1861, so...
0:18:58 > 0:19:01- And so 1861, he's gone from Milton.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03- Correct. - Wow.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11There's certainly something mysterious about Ralph.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15He definitely had dark thoughts, that's for sure.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19This is sort of bothering me now.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22He was this young, ambitious guy,
0:19:22 > 0:19:25and then his circumstances changed,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28and he disappeared. Where did he go from here?
0:19:31 > 0:19:35In 1861, this was the start of the Civil War,
0:19:35 > 0:19:39so I guess I could check army records,
0:19:39 > 0:19:42if he was in the Union Army.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44Here we go.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52"US Civil War soldiers,
0:19:52 > 0:19:56"Ralph B Montgomery, Pennsylvania." There he is.
0:19:57 > 0:20:02"Side, union. 91st Pennsylvania infantry. Company F.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08He didn't just up and leave town,
0:20:08 > 0:20:11he joined the Civil War.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13This is pretty amazing.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20To find out what happened to Ralph as a soldier in the Union Army
0:20:20 > 0:20:23during the Civil War, Steve is following his trail
0:20:23 > 0:20:28to Fredericksburg in Virginia. He's meeting historian Andy Waskie.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33- Well, there you have a copy... - Ralph B Montgomery.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35This is his muster roll?
0:20:35 > 0:20:36- Every two months,
0:20:36 > 0:20:39one of these would have to be filled out for pay.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41- "and November 20th, 1861.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44"91st regiment, Pennsylvania infantry.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47Age, 28 years old." OK.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50- This is the next muster roll that we have.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54- "A muster roll for May and June, 1862."
0:20:54 > 0:20:56And the remarks...
0:20:57 > 0:21:00Oh, my God. "deserted." - Yes.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02This is a volunteer... a citizen army.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04Discipline was a big problem.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07And so desertion was very common.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11- But do we know how long he was missing?
0:21:11 > 0:21:14- That will be indicated in the next muster roll.
0:21:14 > 0:21:15- So he's returned.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19"Remarks... gained from desertion."
0:21:19 > 0:21:20- August 22nd.
0:21:20 > 0:21:25- So he deserted in June, he was brought back in August.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27- Exactly.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30- So he was gone for a couple months. - Two months, yes.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33- What was going on around that time?
0:21:33 > 0:21:37- This was a tumultuous time for the Union Army.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39General Burnside launched a campaign
0:21:39 > 0:21:41toward Fredericksburg.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44- And so his decision to come back...
0:21:44 > 0:21:47- Could've been a patriotic response
0:21:47 > 0:21:49to the emergency of the period, yes.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53On December 13th, 1862,
0:21:53 > 0:21:55Ralph Montgomery and the 91st regiment
0:21:55 > 0:21:58fought in the battle of Fredericksburg,
0:21:58 > 0:22:02one of the Union Army's biggest military blunders.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05With the aim of claiming the confederate capital of Richmond,
0:22:05 > 0:22:07the union troops made their way through Fredericksburg,
0:22:07 > 0:22:10to the outskirts of town.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12There, the confederate soldiers lay in wait
0:22:12 > 0:22:16behind a half-mile-long trench-like stone wall,
0:22:16 > 0:22:18muskets trained on Ralph Montgomery
0:22:18 > 0:22:21and the Union Army's completely exposed approach.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27- This wall was lined with confederate infantry,
0:22:27 > 0:22:29probably close to 4,000 men,
0:22:29 > 0:22:31actually standing where we are right now,
0:22:31 > 0:22:35where the men were just loading and firing as quickly as they could.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38Union General Burnside believed that firing
0:22:38 > 0:22:41upon the confederates' position behind the wall was futile.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44So he commanded his union soldiers,
0:22:44 > 0:22:46including Ralph Montgomery's 91st regiment,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49to break the confederacy's impenetrable line
0:22:49 > 0:22:51using a strategy called a bayonet charge.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54The union troops entered the battlefield in waves,
0:22:54 > 0:22:56lining up shoulder-to-shoulder,
0:22:56 > 0:22:59marching forward in unison, bayonets extended...
0:22:59 > 0:23:02muskets unloaded.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04- Not firing. They were not loaded.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07And the idea was to make it to that wall
0:23:07 > 0:23:09and over. - and over the wall,
0:23:09 > 0:23:11and bayonet the enemy behind it, yes.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13That's exactly right. - That seems totally insane.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16What he must've seen,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19no man should ever see.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23After suffering more than 12,000 union casualties,
0:23:23 > 0:23:27Burnside retreated and was later relieved of his command.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29The experience of war
0:23:29 > 0:23:31seemed to be too much for Ralph Montgomery.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34After another battle, this time in Chancellorsville,
0:23:34 > 0:23:38he deserted his regiment for the second and final time.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40It's not a shock,
0:23:40 > 0:23:43knowing that he deserted for a second time.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45I mean, I have to say, it is disappointing
0:23:45 > 0:23:47to know that he did leave.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50But yet, I can certainly understand why he did.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54After the Civil War, Ralph did not return to his family.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58He moved to New Jersey and started a new life and a new family
0:23:58 > 0:24:02which included a daughter, Steve's great-grandmother, Jane.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08He died in 1878, aged just 44
0:24:08 > 0:24:10and was buried in an unmarked grave,
0:24:10 > 0:24:14leaving his wife and children in poverty.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18So with Ralph gone, I wanna find out what happened
0:24:18 > 0:24:20to his wife Julia and their kids,
0:24:20 > 0:24:24including my great-grandmother, Jane.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28And I did receive a message from the person
0:24:28 > 0:24:30who posted the Montgomery family tree.
0:24:30 > 0:24:35So I'm heading back home to Brooklyn to meet this newfound relative.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37Hello. - Hello.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40How are you? - I'm good, how are you? I'm Steve.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42- And I'm Carol, Steve. - Hi, Carol.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45Steve's great-great-grandparents, Ralph and Julia,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47had five kids.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Two of the siblings were Jane, Steve's great-grandmother,
0:24:50 > 0:24:53and Ralph Jr, Carol's great-grandfather.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56So that makes Carol Steve's third cousin.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58- Pleasure to meet you.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00- It's really great to meet you. My third cousin!
0:25:04 > 0:25:05- I would like to know
0:25:05 > 0:25:07what became of Julia after Ralph died.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10- Well, I have some information for you here...
0:25:10 > 0:25:14that Julia actually gets remarried.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16- Huh.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22To "Charles Brandenburg."
0:25:22 > 0:25:26And I'm wondering if she... if she got her kids back then.
0:25:26 > 0:25:31Because Jane, my great-grandmother,
0:25:31 > 0:25:36at 11 years old, she was living in Camden, New Jersey
0:25:36 > 0:25:38with another family.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41And she was in fact working as a servant
0:25:41 > 0:25:43for another family.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46- Julia also sent her son, my great-grandfather Ralph.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48- She did? - Because I found him
0:25:48 > 0:25:51in the 1880 census as a servant as well.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53- He was working with another family?
0:25:53 > 0:25:54- Yes.
0:25:54 > 0:25:59Well, this is actually a New York census.
0:25:59 > 0:26:00From 1892.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03- Mm-hmm? - Flatbush.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05- "In the county of kings."
0:26:05 > 0:26:06That's Brooklyn. - Yeah.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08So we've Julia. - Julia Brandenburg.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10There's the Montgomerys. - Right.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12Ralph. - Ralph Montgomery.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15And that's your...? - That's my great-grandfather.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18- Looks like Jenni. - Yeah, Jenni Montgomery.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20This was my great-grandmother.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24Her name was Jane, but I guess they sometimes called her Jenni.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28- So they're all back together again.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30She got it all back together.
0:26:30 > 0:26:35- That's great. That's really wonderful. And now I know how...
0:26:35 > 0:26:37How my mom's family...
0:26:37 > 0:26:39when they started in New York, in Brooklyn.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42- Right. - Cos this is how Jane,
0:26:42 > 0:26:47my great-grandmother, ended up in Brooklyn,
0:26:47 > 0:26:49and I guess got to know the neighbourhood.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57Well, I started this journey hoping
0:26:57 > 0:27:00to find an ancestor with a compelling story.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02I also wondered if I'd uncover
0:27:02 > 0:27:04a history of depression in my family.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07And I found both in Ralph Montgomery.
0:27:07 > 0:27:08And now I'm looking forward
0:27:08 > 0:27:12to sharing everything I've discovered with my parents.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15Especially my mom, who until now has known little about her family.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17- Hey!
0:27:17 > 0:27:18- How are you? - Hi.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23- So this journey took me to really unexpected places.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25It's not a simple story, you know.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28I mean, the story of Ralph Montgomery is...
0:27:28 > 0:27:31uh...complex.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34I love having that sense of knowing
0:27:34 > 0:27:36where my great-great-grandfather,
0:27:36 > 0:27:38you know, practiced dentistry.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41- And I never would've imagined we had a dentist in...
0:27:41 > 0:27:43- In the family. - In the family.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45- We need one! - Yeah, tell me about it.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48THEY LAUGH
0:27:48 > 0:27:51- I guess I've always taken it for granted, you know, that...
0:27:51 > 0:27:53i have a good family.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56And...our struggles...
0:27:56 > 0:28:00cos every family has stuff that they may wanna hide or not talk about.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04But when I think of the past generations,
0:28:04 > 0:28:06the things that they went through...
0:28:06 > 0:28:09and that they survived...
0:28:09 > 0:28:14it really makes me so much more appreciative of my family.
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0:28:42 > 0:28:45E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk