0:00:02 > 0:00:06Country music singer Tim McGraw lives on his farm outside Nashville
0:00:06 > 0:00:08where he takes refuge from the spotlight
0:00:08 > 0:00:11- and enjoys country living. - Good shooting there.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13How the West was won right here.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16Throughout his record-breaking career,
0:00:16 > 0:00:18Tim has won numerous music awards
0:00:18 > 0:00:22and received acclaim for his performances as a film actor.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26Tim's been married to singer Faith Hill since 1996,
0:00:26 > 0:00:28and they have three daughters together.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32But Tim's life hasn't always been so fortunate.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34His youth was marred by chaos
0:00:34 > 0:00:37having been raised by an alcoholic father.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40The tides turned for him when he was just 11 years old.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42Tim found his birth certificate
0:00:42 > 0:00:44and discovered that the man he knew as his father
0:00:44 > 0:00:47was not his father at all.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50On my birth certificate, it said "McGraw"
0:00:50 > 0:00:53and it was scratched out and had "Smith" written on it.
0:00:53 > 0:00:59Tim's biological father was actually Major League pitcher Tug McGraw.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01As a kid, I played baseball like every kid.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03And I had three cards on my wall.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05I had Tug McGraw.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08I remember looking at that card, and, um, you know,
0:01:08 > 0:01:11not knowing what to think.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14I tried to reach out to him, but for most of my teen years,
0:01:14 > 0:01:17he didn't acknowledge that I was his son.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20When I turned 18, we were talking just small talk
0:01:20 > 0:01:23and I finally just looked at him
0:01:23 > 0:01:26and said, "I want to know one thing and I won't bother you again.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29"I just want to know do you think I'm your son?"
0:01:29 > 0:01:32Ha...
0:01:32 > 0:01:34And he said, "Yeah."
0:01:43 > 0:01:46It changed who I thought that I could be.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50There was this light that I could hold on to
0:01:50 > 0:01:53that made me think that I could become something or I could be somebody.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58There was something in me that I discovered that I didn't know was there.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00It's certainly interesting to me
0:02:00 > 0:02:04to go back through my family tree and sort of see what those men were like.
0:02:24 > 0:02:30Tim's father, Tug, died in 2004 so to start his journey,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33Tim is meeting Tug's older brother, his uncle, Hank McGraw.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36Hank is one of Tim's closest connections
0:02:36 > 0:02:38to the McGraw side of the family.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42So, dude, tell me,
0:02:42 > 0:02:44why do you want to get involved in this,
0:02:44 > 0:02:46digging up all the stuff from the past?
0:02:46 > 0:02:49- You scared what we might find out? - Yeah!- There's no telling
0:02:49 > 0:02:51what we're gonna find out with these characters!
0:02:51 > 0:02:55It's just...it's just always been sort of a black hole for me.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59I have a bunch of pictures that might help us.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03That's something I want to see, because I have rarely seen any pictures of anybody
0:03:03 > 0:03:07- on that side of the family. - Well, there's some here.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11- There's Big Mac. - Oh, let me see that.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14Big Mac was Hank's father and Tim's grandfather.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16- I didn't know him very long before he passed away.- Right.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20You've got photos of Big Mac's parents?
0:03:20 > 0:03:24We have a few. Andrew and Ella May from "Missoura"
0:03:24 > 0:03:28they like to say back there. Ella May Nave. She was the rock.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31She was the rock that held everything together.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33- Oh, yeah?- Yeah.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37She looks like it. So this is my...great grandmother.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41- Great grandmother.- Yeah. - Just one great.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44So Tim has discovered the name of his great grandmother
0:03:44 > 0:03:47and Hank's grandmother, Ella May Nave.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51I lived with Grandma until she died.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Grandma used to talk about family picnics
0:03:54 > 0:03:58in Lee's Summit, which is just east of Kansas City.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00- Well, I guess... - That'll be your next stop, huh?
0:04:00 > 0:04:02A good place for me to start would be Missouri.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06Yeah. Good luck up there. I hope you find out, you know,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09the secrets that, you know, that you're looking for.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11- And let me know.- I will.
0:04:13 > 0:04:18Tim is travelling to Kansas City, Missouri, to start his journey.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23According to his Uncle Hank, Tim's great grandmother Ella May Nave
0:04:23 > 0:04:28lived somewhere in this area. So Tim is meeting with a genealogist
0:04:28 > 0:04:31- at the local library.- Hi.- Hi.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35- I'm Tim.- I'm Kathleen. - Kathleen. Nice to meet you.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38'I found out a little bit about my great grandparents,
0:04:38 > 0:04:40'about Andrew McGraw and Ella Nave.'
0:04:40 > 0:04:45So I'm here to find out more... more about Ella, my grandmother.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49- Well, I have a document here.- OK.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52Her certificate of death.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55Oh, wait a minute. It's got her parents' name.
0:04:55 > 0:05:00David Nave from Missouri and Amelia Chrisman.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02I got my great, great grandparents here now.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05What is interesting about this is the Chrisman surname.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08The Chrismans were very instrumental
0:05:08 > 0:05:12- in settling this area of Missouri...- Mm-hmm.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15- ..and were pretty much pioneers here.- That's pretty awesome.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19- Why don't I show you something. - Uh-oh. Computers are out.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21I'm scared. I'm kidding.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24I'm going to put in your ancestor's name there.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26This is going to be interesting.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32- And you can just put in "Jackson County".- OK.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36And you can see here how many Chrismans right here.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38And all these were the same Chrisman family?
0:05:38 > 0:05:41- They're all related. - That's pretty amazing.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45With the information available on the Chrismans in Tim's lineage,
0:05:45 > 0:05:49Kathleen has able to take Tim back eight generations
0:05:49 > 0:05:52to a man named Isaac Chrisman.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55'What I want to know now is who is Isaac
0:05:55 > 0:05:58- 'and where did he come from?' - Take a look at this.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01What is this?
0:06:01 > 0:06:03OK, I'm looking for Chrisman?
0:06:03 > 0:06:08- There's Isaac Chrisman.- Sure.- Right there.- And this is a tithable list.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12What it was was that the civil government in Virginia
0:06:12 > 0:06:15- excised a tax on its men over the age of 16.- OK.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17This particular tithable list
0:06:17 > 0:06:20is from the Clinch River area in Virginia.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22And, actually, there's a date on it.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26- 1772.- Yes.
0:06:26 > 0:06:27Wow. That's amazing.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32So part of my family was here before...before the Revolution,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35- before we were a country.- Exactly.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39So at least we pinpointed so far Isaac Chrisman
0:06:39 > 0:06:42was in the Clinch River area in Virginia in 1772.
0:06:42 > 0:06:47- That's what we know.- Fantastic. I guess we're off to Virginia.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50Thank you very much for all your help.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52- You're welcome. - You've set us in motion here.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59Tim is heading to southwest Virginia,
0:06:59 > 0:07:04where his sixth great grandfather, Isaac Chrisman lived in 1772.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11'It was pretty cool to go back so far so quickly
0:07:11 > 0:07:15'into my lineage and learn that I have ancestors from pre-revolutionary America.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19'But now I want to find out all I can about Isaac Chrisman.'
0:07:19 > 0:07:23- Tim has arranged to meet historian Stephen Aron.- We know he's here.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26We know he's here in 1772 because that's the date
0:07:26 > 0:07:27on the tithable list.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29And so I just want to find out more.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Well, I think we have some documents
0:07:32 > 0:07:36- that can shed further light on Isaac Chrisman.- OK.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38We have here a map that was done
0:07:38 > 0:07:43in 1774 by Daniel Smith, who is the surveyor.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46- Right. I love these old maps. - Well, this is a spectacular map.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49There's the Clinch River.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52Which runs through this valley.
0:07:52 > 0:07:53- Clinch Mountains.- Yeah.
0:07:53 > 0:07:58You can see here - this is Rye Cove or Cove Creek.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00Rye Cove is where his property is.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05What does that say? Donelson's Indian...?
0:08:05 > 0:08:07- Line.- Line.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11- So is this, like, Indian territory? - That's the idea. Now, we know...
0:08:11 > 0:08:13So you weren't supposed to settle past that?
0:08:13 > 0:08:15Right. And if you look, he's...
0:08:15 > 0:08:17- Right on the edge. - ..right on the edge,
0:08:17 > 0:08:19though if you actually look, we have one other map
0:08:19 > 0:08:22that might put that into a little context here.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26If you look at this, this is the line that's drawn
0:08:26 > 0:08:28of the Proclamation of 1763.
0:08:28 > 0:08:34Clearly, this line is considerably further east than...
0:08:34 > 0:08:38- Than where this property is. - ..than where this property is.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41Drawn by the British colonial government,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43the Proclamation Line of 1763
0:08:43 > 0:08:46was a boundary agreement between the British colonies
0:08:46 > 0:08:48and several of the Indian tribes.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52To address the rising tension over the colonists' westward expansion,
0:08:52 > 0:08:57the settlers were not supposed to make their homes west of that line.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02Seven years later in 1770, the Donelson Indian Line was drawn
0:09:02 > 0:09:04as a result of a local treaty with a group of Cherokees
0:09:04 > 0:09:09and it was much farther west than the Proclamation Line.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12By settling on the border of the Donelson Line,
0:09:12 > 0:09:14Isaac Chrisman was putting himself at risk,
0:09:14 > 0:09:18living on land that many Indians still regarded as their own.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22This is really during a tremendous time of change
0:09:22 > 0:09:25- when all this was going on. - And Isaac Chrisman...
0:09:25 > 0:09:28Was right at the point of the spear.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31- That's a great way to put it - he's right at the spear.- Yeah.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33'Isaac Chrisman had a tract of land
0:09:33 > 0:09:37'that was really, really on the boundaries of Indian territory.'
0:09:37 > 0:09:39So I'm looking forward to seeing the land, hearing more
0:09:39 > 0:09:44about what was going on at that period and what was going on in that particular spot.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46We're going to go look at that piece of land that he owned.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51Not a lot of farming to be done in this rock here, huh?
0:09:51 > 0:09:53That's exactly it.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57You can grow some corn here probably in the 18th century.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01But it's probably better for hay and cattle.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05So here we are.
0:10:05 > 0:10:10This is where Isaac Chrisman, your ancestor,
0:10:10 > 0:10:14would've stood, 230-some odd years ago in 1774, when he was here.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18He would've probably... He was born in 1736,
0:10:18 > 0:10:21so he'd been late 30s, 38, 37, somewhere around there.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25- Your age?- Little younger than me! But, yeah...- Prime of his life.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28But, I think, we always have to remember
0:10:28 > 0:10:31- that there were Indians here first. - Sure. Absolutely.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35And to be out here, and you're so isolated
0:10:35 > 0:10:38in a lot of ways, dangerous. Very dangerous.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40He's not just building a home here.
0:10:40 > 0:10:46He knows - especially in 1774 - how exposed he is.
0:10:46 > 0:10:47He's building a fort.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53At this point in 1774, I think most Indians still think
0:10:53 > 0:10:55they're in a position to defend this land.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59- So he was in a precarious situation out here. - He's in a precarious situation.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04He's got that tough dilemma. If you're sitting in a fort, you have relative security.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07But, you know, your livestock is outside the fort,
0:11:07 > 0:11:11- your water supplies are outside. - So they could cut your supplies off. - Burn your crops.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14And you're stuck there, it's just how long can you survive?
0:11:14 > 0:11:19- What happened to him? - Well, I have a piece of information here that might shed some light.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22- This is from August 26, 1777.- Right.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26It was part of the inventory and appraisement
0:11:26 > 0:11:28of the estate of Isaac Chrisman...
0:11:29 > 0:11:32- Deceased?- Deceased.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35Ah. So he was killed. Or he died.
0:11:35 > 0:11:40Well, we know by 1777, he's dead.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43So we can try to figure out why...how he died.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46What happened, that's what I want to know.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48Only three years after surveying his land
0:11:48 > 0:11:53in Rye Cove in 1774, Isaac Chrisman was dead.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55He would've been 41 years old.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00Now Tim is heading to Richmond, Virginia,
0:12:00 > 0:12:01to try to find out HOW he died.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04He's visiting the Virginia Historical Society
0:12:04 > 0:12:07to search for any information.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11Isaac Chrisman died around 1777.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15- I'm curious to find out what happened.- I think we can help you out
0:12:15 > 0:12:17because we do have a document
0:12:17 > 0:12:21called the Bickley Report made by a militiaman
0:12:21 > 0:12:24who was stationed in this part of Virginia in the mid-1770s.
0:12:24 > 0:12:29- Oh, wow. So the same... during the same time.- Yeah.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32Summer, 1776.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35According to this report, an alarm went off in the Rye Cove area
0:12:35 > 0:12:39to alert the settlers that Indians were in the territory.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43They were ordered to evacuate because it was too dangerous for them to stay.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47The men and their families - and probably even Tim's ancestor
0:12:47 > 0:12:53Isaac Chrisman - were told to head east and go to a safer place - Blackmore Fort.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56Senior archivist here has brought a document
0:12:56 > 0:12:58called the Reminiscences Of Western Virginia
0:12:58 > 0:13:03- by the militiaman John Red. - Gosh, look how old that is.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06"Isaac Chrisman, who built a fort some time before,
0:13:06 > 0:13:08"while we were gone to the Indian towns,
0:13:08 > 0:13:10"Chrisman and two of his family members
0:13:10 > 0:13:12"were murdered by the Indians."
0:13:14 > 0:13:18Local legend suggests that one summer day in 1776,
0:13:18 > 0:13:24Isaac Chrisman took two of his sons - they were there in the fort with him at Fort Blackmore -
0:13:24 > 0:13:28back to Rye Cove to check on his crops. And on the way back,
0:13:28 > 0:13:31he was murdered by what we think was a band of Cherokees.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35Wow. And two of his sons were killed in that general area that we were at.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39Very close to where you... were walking the ground yesterday.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41Where we were walking the ground yesterday.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44Of course you feel bad for the guy,
0:13:44 > 0:13:48but at the same time, you sort of think that he might... he knew what he was getting into.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51I mean, he was encroaching on their land.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55He was out on the edge where... where not a lot of people were.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58He, uh, was sort of playing with fire.
0:13:58 > 0:14:03I guess for me, what I want to do is maybe go back, go back further
0:14:03 > 0:14:07and see what Isaac was doing before this and see where he came from.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11- This is a simplified family tree. - OK.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15You can see that Isaac was the son of Jacob and Mary Magdalena Hite.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19And his grandfather was a man named Jost Hite...
0:14:19 > 0:14:21- Jost Hite.- Jost Hite.
0:14:21 > 0:14:28..who was a incredibly prominent, well-to-do landholder
0:14:28 > 0:14:30in the Shenandoah Valley.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33I want you to take a look at these land deeds we've had pulled here,
0:14:33 > 0:14:37- mainly from the 1730s and '40s. - That's a lot of land.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41Take a look at just some of the individual transactions.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45OK. 120 acres here. 7,000 acres.
0:14:45 > 0:14:501,000 acres. Another 2,000 acres. These are huge. 62 acres. 300 acres.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53Do we know how he acquired all this land, where his wealth came from?
0:14:53 > 0:14:58- I think you'll probably need to go to the Shenandoah Valley to find that out.- Oh, really? OK.
0:14:58 > 0:15:03- Enjoy the rest of the journey. - Thank you.- You bet.- Appreciate it. Thanks for all the help.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05Tim has just found out that Isaac's grandfather
0:15:05 > 0:15:09and his own eighth great grandfather was Jost Hite.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13So now he is heading across to the Shenandoah Valley
0:15:13 > 0:15:17to try to find out more about Jost Hite's life there.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21He's meeting Warren Hofstra.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23An expert on the history of the Shenandoah Valley.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27Your ancestor Jost Hite played a very important role
0:15:27 > 0:15:32in the settlement of the Shenandoah Valley.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34Well, I know that I saw a lot of land grants.
0:15:34 > 0:15:40- I'm curious about how that all came about.- I can tell you that Jost Hite
0:15:40 > 0:15:46- was able to acquire land orders for 140,000 acres...- Wow.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50..from the Colonial Government of Virginia.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54- Wow.- I have to tell you something - he didn't actually own the land.
0:15:54 > 0:15:56What he had acquired from the Governor of Virginia
0:15:56 > 0:16:02was the authority to distribute up to that amount of land
0:16:02 > 0:16:07to settlers looking for land. And by the requirements placed on him,
0:16:07 > 0:16:11he had to find one family for every 1,000 acres in the land orders.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14So he had to go find these families who were willing to move out here,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16which was the frontier at that time,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19- to move out here and settle 1,000 acres.- Right.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22But you think about once he met that requirement,
0:16:22 > 0:16:24he could acquire some of the land himself,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27and he DID become one of the largest landowners
0:16:27 > 0:16:30- in this entire valley region.- Wow.
0:16:30 > 0:16:35'When I looked at the breathtaking expanse of land in the Shenandoah Valley,
0:16:35 > 0:16:38'and the extraordinary role that my eighth great grandfather
0:16:38 > 0:16:41'played in the settlement of the West, it really hit home.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45'You can understand why someone would come over a ridge,
0:16:45 > 0:16:49'and see this, and think that this was...the Promised Land.'
0:16:51 > 0:16:56To find out more about who Jost Hite was and what his early life was like
0:16:56 > 0:16:59Tim is off to Washington, DC.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04He's visiting the Library of Congress with Warren Hofstra.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07- This is such a cool place.- It is.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18Oh, my goodness gracious!
0:17:18 > 0:17:21- This is unbelievable. - Amazing, isn't it?
0:17:21 > 0:17:25There are more documents about early American history here
0:17:25 > 0:17:29than anywhere else. It's a remarkable national treasure.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34I never thought I'd be here to find out something about my ancestors.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36- That's for sure.- Here we are.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39We have someone here who can introduce these documents to us.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43- What do we have here? - It's the journal of a young man.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46He's travelling along with this surveying party
0:17:46 > 0:17:49- in the Shenandoah Valley. - And what year is this?
0:17:49 > 0:17:52The entry we're going to ask you to attempt to read
0:17:52 > 0:17:57is from March 14, 1748. It's very difficult to read.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00It's so amazing that something could last that long
0:18:00 > 0:18:04from that far back. Something about bags.
0:18:04 > 0:18:09"Sent our baggage... sent our baggage to the Hites
0:18:09 > 0:18:11"from Frederickstown."
0:18:11 > 0:18:16Oh, can't touch it. Sorry. It's hard not to touch it, isn't it?
0:18:16 > 0:18:20What's that say? "We dined..." It says, "We dined in town
0:18:20 > 0:18:25"and then went to the Hites and lodged."
0:18:27 > 0:18:32So these are your people. And this is a journal that a young man
0:18:32 > 0:18:35who was to play a monumental role
0:18:35 > 0:18:38in American history wrote when he was 16.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Do we know who it was?
0:18:41 > 0:18:44You want to just read the spine on this?
0:18:47 > 0:18:50Oh, my gosh! This is George Washington. That's amazing. Wow.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53So George Washington,
0:18:53 > 0:18:57- this journal was George Washington at 16 years old...- 16 years old.
0:18:57 > 0:19:03- ..travelling through the Shenandoah Valley and writing notes about MY ancestors?- That's right.- Wow!
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Probably my favourite person of history of all time
0:19:06 > 0:19:10- is George Washington. - Model for our nation.- Absolutely.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15What I really want to know now is where Jost came from.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19- Well, we have a document here. - Oh, wow. Now what is this?
0:19:19 > 0:19:24- This is a facsimile.- I see New York.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26I see New York, 4th of October, 1710.
0:19:26 > 0:19:32And it's a list of people. Among whom, particularly number 66.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34Johann Jost... Now it's H-A-Y-D.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37- Little different spelling.- Right.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40I wonder... I mean, a lot of names were changed
0:19:40 > 0:19:44when they first came over, I guess. Now what is this from?
0:19:44 > 0:19:47It's called a subsistence list.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50It's a list of people who were being provided support
0:19:50 > 0:19:54on immigration to North America by the British government.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57So would all these people have come from Britain?
0:19:57 > 0:20:01- That's for you to find out. - So I guess I'm off to New York to find out more about this?
0:20:01 > 0:20:05- Yeah.- Can I take this list with me? - That's yours to take.- Fantastic.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08Well, I'm going go find out more about Jost Hayd.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12- Thank you for everything. - It's been a pleasure. Safe journey.- All right.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15'Jost was clearly a power player in the 1730s,
0:20:15 > 0:20:17'but I just found out that he was on a list
0:20:17 > 0:20:21'to get support from the British government just 20 years earlier.
0:20:21 > 0:20:22'If he was getting help,
0:20:22 > 0:20:26'then I'm guessing he was a self-made man who started out
0:20:26 > 0:20:27'with very little.'
0:20:29 > 0:20:34Tim has come to New York City to search for the last piece of the puzzle -
0:20:34 > 0:20:38where Jost Hayd came from and why he was getting government assistance
0:20:38 > 0:20:40from the British in 1710.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44To find out more he's meeting Phil Otterness
0:20:44 > 0:20:47at the New York Public Library.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52I've got this list that shows...
0:20:52 > 0:20:54Johann Jost Hayd.
0:20:54 > 0:20:59And, um, I'm told this is some sort of subsistence list.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03So I'm curious what this is all about, what he was doing here, and how he got here.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07I've got another document here. It's another subsistence list.
0:21:07 > 0:21:08So it looks very similar to it.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12This one though is dated June of 1710.
0:21:12 > 0:21:18If you look down on this one, you'll find Johann Jost Hayd as well.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22Oh, I do, right here. Same number. 66. Johann Jost Hayd.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27It says, "The Palatins hereafter named for themselves
0:21:27 > 0:21:34"and their families subsistence debtors to the Queen, most sacred Majesty."
0:21:35 > 0:21:39What is "Palatines"? I don't think I've heard that reference before.
0:21:39 > 0:21:44Palatines was actually the word that the English used for the Germans.
0:21:44 > 0:21:49OK. That's interesting that, you know, Jost Hayd was German -
0:21:49 > 0:21:52when I first heard the name, I sort of suspected that -
0:21:52 > 0:21:58but how did Jost end up on a debtors' list to the Queen of England?
0:21:58 > 0:22:03Well, it's a really interesting story, and it's story that many Americans don't know.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05I want to show you something.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12This is the cover of a book that was published in 1709.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14The title of the book is,
0:22:14 > 0:22:23A Complete And Detailed Report Of The Famous Land Of Carolina That Lies In English America.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26The Germans referred to this as the "golden book".
0:22:26 > 0:22:32One of the most powerful pieces of propaganda that was written in the 18th century.
0:22:32 > 0:22:37The proprietors of the Carolinas were trying to draw German settlers.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41And it has these wonderful promises of the Carolinas.
0:22:41 > 0:22:46And not only that, it's implied in there that the Queen of England
0:22:46 > 0:22:51will send anybody who comes to England to America for free and give them free land.
0:22:51 > 0:22:56- This is like their golden ticket in a lot of ways.- That's absolutely right.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59This map was actually included in the book
0:22:59 > 0:23:05and it's of the Carolinas. Helps to show why it was so attractive to them.
0:23:05 > 0:23:10You see, you have this large, empty land, rivers running through it.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12It is absolutely enticing to these people.
0:23:12 > 0:23:19So Jost Hayd and his family, this must've just seemed like the land of milk and honey to them - Paradise.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21- This almost seems unreal.- Yes.
0:23:22 > 0:23:27Lured by the golden book's false promise of free land in America,
0:23:27 > 0:23:30Jost Hayd and 13,000 Palatines set sail for London in 1709
0:23:30 > 0:23:36believing the British Government would be providing them safe travel to the Promised Land.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41The Crown had no knowledge of the golden book
0:23:41 > 0:23:44and it had no intention of giving land to the Palatines.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46But it found a use for these refugees
0:23:46 > 0:23:49and decided to send some of them to America.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51After a long and arduous journey,
0:23:51 > 0:23:57the Palatines arrived at Governor's Island, New York, only to be betrayed again.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01Instead of receiving free property in the purported land of milk and honey,
0:24:01 > 0:24:05they were put to work making tar and pitch for the British Navy
0:24:05 > 0:24:09to pay back the Crown for its aid in their passage to America.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11Shortly after his arrival in the New World,
0:24:11 > 0:24:15Jost was able to find his way out of this life of indentured servitude
0:24:15 > 0:24:18and was no longer found on any subsistence list.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21Some of these German families that were sent up there
0:24:21 > 0:24:24managed to find work with the local farmers,
0:24:24 > 0:24:27and Jost Hayd was probably one of them.
0:24:27 > 0:24:32Tells you that he was very entrepreneurial and very spirited,
0:24:32 > 0:24:35that he wanted to find a way to really better himself.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39Well, you know he was one of the largest landowners in Virginia,
0:24:39 > 0:24:43and that wasn't too long after he had arrived in America as a 24-year-old.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46It's pretty incredible. Go Jost!
0:24:46 > 0:24:50- Yes!- Thank goodness for Jost Hayd, you know, or I wouldn't be here.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53You might be interested to find out
0:24:53 > 0:24:58that there were a couple of other people who were in that migration.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01One was a fellow who had the last name of Preslar.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04And over time, that name changed a bit.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08It changed to Presley. Elvis Presley. Elvis Presley!
0:25:08 > 0:25:12- So his ancestors were from this area also?- That's right.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15His ancestors were travelling with your ancestors to America.
0:25:15 > 0:25:21Maybe they were jamming, you know, on the boat on the way over. THEY LAUGH
0:25:21 > 0:25:24'It's pretty amazing.
0:25:24 > 0:25:29'Found out a lot of stuff about Jost Hayd - where he came from, why he came here.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33'Jost seemed to be the type of guy who really took some chances and took some risks'
0:25:33 > 0:25:37and pushed the envelop. I can see a pattern through the ancestors
0:25:37 > 0:25:43that we've discovered and you know, it's definitely people that I sort of know, you know.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47My father sort of was a nut, but ambitious at the same time.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51There's probably a long list of people who didn't quite get there. But, uh, you know,
0:25:51 > 0:25:54you can certainly see a pattern of the people who did succeed.
0:25:54 > 0:26:01'Now that I've gone so far back in my father's family history, there's only more thing left to do.'
0:26:06 > 0:26:09Tim is back home to see his Uncle Hank and to tell him
0:26:09 > 0:26:15what he's discovered during his journey through 10 generations of their family.
0:26:15 > 0:26:16Hey-hey.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21There's the old guy! TIM LAUGHS
0:26:21 > 0:26:24- How are you?- How was your trip? Good to see you, lad.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27- You too. Let's take a walk? - Yeah.- Let's go.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34'It's been incredible to go back so many generations in my father's family.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37'After learning so much about my ancestors from Tug
0:26:37 > 0:26:40'to Isaac Chrisman, to Jost Hayd,
0:26:40 > 0:26:44'I think that Jost's drive was definitely passed down to my father Tug.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47'It's in our blood.'
0:26:49 > 0:26:51So I guess the interesting thing about Jost Hayd
0:26:51 > 0:26:55is he became this power player in the Shenandoah Valley.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58But he started out in southwest Germany -
0:26:58 > 0:27:01in a little village in southwest Germany.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05He came over and shortly after that is when he ended up in the Shenandoah Valley.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07- Opening up the West. - Opening up the West.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11He seemed like he was a pretty industrious guy.
0:27:11 > 0:27:17You know, one interesting side note with the boat trip that Jost took
0:27:17 > 0:27:19with those immigrants from Germany,
0:27:19 > 0:27:24there was another family that was pretty interesting on that boat...
0:27:24 > 0:27:26- On the same trip. - On the same trip.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28..and it was the Presley family.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31- Not THE Presley family. - THE Presley family.- Get out!
0:27:31 > 0:27:35- Yeah. It's king of rock 'n' roll. - I wonder who else was there. The whole band might've been onboard.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39THEY LAUGH
0:27:39 > 0:27:43It seemed to me that Jost Hayd didn't come to America to be an indentured servant
0:27:43 > 0:27:46and just to survive - he came here to make something of himself.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50- It's not unlike you, kid.- I think the spirit's the same for sure.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54Yeah, it's a similar kind of drive.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58I think that it's pretty interesting to me
0:27:58 > 0:28:04to realise that Jost Hayd was here so early in the beginning of this country -
0:28:04 > 0:28:08in the beginning of the settlement of America -
0:28:08 > 0:28:10and that two of his ancestors
0:28:10 > 0:28:14are involved in two of the most American things that there are -
0:28:14 > 0:28:18my dad was a baseball player and I'm a country music singer.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22And Jost Hayd was one of the first Americans, really.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26So I think that that's... For me, that's really interesting.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28You know, it's Jost Hayd, baseball, and country music.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32It's pretty American.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd