0:00:02 > 0:00:07In tribute to his late father, actor Jim Parsons is investigating his paternal ancestry.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09I think I've got some sort of French connection.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12He explores the lives of two ancestors
0:00:12 > 0:00:14and uncovers remarkable triumphs...
0:00:14 > 0:00:16HE GASPS Oh, I love this!
0:00:16 > 0:00:18..a great tragedy...
0:00:18 > 0:00:20He was literally walking through versions of hell.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24..in the lives of men who left indelible marks on history.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27This is really beyond anything I would have ever expected.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06Classically trained actor Jim Parsons has found success
0:01:06 > 0:01:08in roles on both Broadway and the big screen.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14But it was his breakout role on the megahit sitcom The Big Bang Theory
0:01:14 > 0:01:16that catapulted him to stardom,
0:01:16 > 0:01:19earning him two Emmys and a Golden Globe.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24Jim divides his time between Los Angeles and New York, where
0:01:24 > 0:01:28he recently filmed an adaptation of the play The Normal Heart.
0:01:30 > 0:01:35I grew up in Spring, Texas, which is a suburb of Houston, Texas.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37And looking back, I had a really great childhood.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39My parents, Judy and Milton,
0:01:39 > 0:01:44really put me in a good starting place to come from as an adult.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48I first started acting in first grade.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52Then from elementary into junior high into high school.
0:01:52 > 0:01:57Then I ended up going to grad school and continuing studying theatre.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01I think my dad's response to me wanting to get into theatre,
0:02:01 > 0:02:06join the circus, as it were, his positive response to it was,
0:02:06 > 0:02:11"What have I put in this work to provide for my son for
0:02:11 > 0:02:15"if the thing he wants to try doing, we squash?"
0:02:15 > 0:02:20My father was extremely loyal, very hard-working.
0:02:20 > 0:02:25His family and his friends were extremely important to him,
0:02:25 > 0:02:27he would literally do anything for us.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33He passed away in 2001, it was from a car accident.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36He was 52 and I was 28.
0:02:37 > 0:02:44With him being gone, it's been quite a comfort to think and feel
0:02:44 > 0:02:49that he's sort of still along for the journey.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53I think my father would be intensely interested in this, you know,
0:02:53 > 0:02:57finding out what it is you come from is fascinating.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02And that's important, you know. You are the sum of your parts.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Because family was so important to my father,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08I'd really like to do this for him, in honour of his memory.
0:03:09 > 0:03:15I know so little about my family in general, as far as history goes.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18The only thing that I've ever been curious about
0:03:18 > 0:03:22is I know of no other artists in the family.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25That would be interesting to me.
0:03:25 > 0:03:30Somebody did tell me something about my family being French,
0:03:30 > 0:03:35and I don't know who, but the only reason I believe it is because I know
0:03:35 > 0:03:39that there's some connection through Louisiana, but I don't know who.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43I think it's time to start collecting the stories.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49Jim has invited his mother Judy to meet him in New York
0:03:49 > 0:03:52to review his father's family history.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55Judy has brought some photos and documents to look at.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58- I did bring some things that I thought...- Yes.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01- ..might help on your dad's side of the family.- Yes.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03Do you know who this is?
0:04:03 > 0:04:06- OK. I've seen this picture, Daddy's- grandma? Yes.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08My great-grandmother.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10- And her name was Jeanne Hacker. - Mm-hm.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14I have something else that I'm not sure that you've seen before,
0:04:14 > 0:04:17because I didn't until I really started trying to bring some
0:04:17 > 0:04:23things for you, and this is Jeanne Hacker's death certificate.
0:04:23 > 0:04:24Oh, wow!
0:04:24 > 0:04:26See her birthdate.
0:04:26 > 0:04:33Oh, yeah, January 24th, 1882, born in New Orleans.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37Mother - Adele Drouet. Is that French, Drouet?
0:04:37 > 0:04:40- I think so. - Right, it must be.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42Mm-hmm.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44- Well, what did I tell you? - I know!
0:04:44 > 0:04:50Wow, father's name, Charles Hacker, Charles and Adele.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54Jim has just confirmed a connection to Louisiana, which is where
0:04:54 > 0:04:58his paternal great-grandmother, Jeanne Hacker, was born.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01Her parents were Charles Hacker and Adele Drouet,
0:05:01 > 0:05:04Jim's great-great-grandparents.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06- Look at this.- That's Adele.
0:05:06 > 0:05:12This is Adele. This is a picture of her when she was older.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14Wow!
0:05:14 > 0:05:19- And look, look how old she lived to be.- Oh, 90.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21- Yeah.- We got good blood. - Yeah.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24- Well, I do, this wasn't your side, was it?- Isn't that remarkable?
0:05:24 > 0:05:27- Good luck to yourself, yeah. That's incredible.- Right.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30- Is that in Louisiana? - Oh, I think so.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33So I think we have to go to New Orleans.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35I hope you have a wonderful journey.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37- Thank you very much, I love you. - I love you.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42Now that Jim has proof of his Louisiana roots,
0:05:42 > 0:05:44he's heading to New Orleans.
0:05:51 > 0:05:58I am thrilled to be here, it's really nice to have that confirmed.
0:05:58 > 0:06:05I came through Texas by way of the beautiful city of New Orleans,
0:06:05 > 0:06:10so whether this leads to France, I'm pretty happy already.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13To help him investigate his great-great-grandparents
0:06:13 > 0:06:18Charles Hacker and Adele Drouet, Jim has contacted genealogist
0:06:18 > 0:06:21Judy Riffel at the Louisiana Historical Center.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24Very good to meet you too, thank you so much for meeting me.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26My pleasure.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30- I'm following through my father's father's side.- OK.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33I think I've got some sort of French connection.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37I recognize the name Hacker as being a French name even though it
0:06:37 > 0:06:40- doesn't sound like a French name. - Hacker is French too?
0:06:40 > 0:06:43Hacker is a French name, and, of course, Drouet,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46- or "Drou-ey", sounds like a French name as well.- Right, right.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49So you may have two French lines to research.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53Unbelievable! Where do I go from here?
0:06:53 > 0:06:55Let's do a little digging and see what we can find out.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58Sometimes it's easier to go through the male line,
0:06:58 > 0:07:02so let's start by looking at the census records for Charles Hacker.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05All right, so we put in "lived in, Louisiana."
0:07:05 > 0:07:08- And then we search.- All right.
0:07:08 > 0:07:13OK, Charles P Hacker, residence Iberville, Louisiana.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16Birthdate, 1850.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20- 1850, there it is, there's Hacker. - OK.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23Hacker, Hacker, Hacker. OK.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26HE GASPS Oh, I love this!
0:07:26 > 0:07:29There's Charles, who is my great-great-grandfather.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32He was five months old when this was taken,
0:07:32 > 0:07:39- and up at the top it says JB Hacker, who is 40.- Correct.
0:07:39 > 0:07:44So that would be Charles' father, so this is... Oh, wow.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48So he's a doctor. That's fascinating.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52It's rare to have a physician, a white collar person in that area
0:07:52 > 0:07:55- at that time period, Iberville Parish.- Iberville.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57It was a very rural area,
0:07:57 > 0:08:01- and he was probably the only local doctor that they had.- Wow!
0:08:01 > 0:08:05I come from helpful people, good, good, OK.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07And then the Louisiana next to that signifies...?
0:08:07 > 0:08:10- Where he's born.- Where he's born? - Correct.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14So even JB was born in, we've gone back another generation
0:08:14 > 0:08:16- and he was born in Louisiana.- Yes.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19OK, so what do I, where do I go from here?
0:08:19 > 0:08:25You could look into Dr JB Hacker, and speak to someone who's familiar
0:08:25 > 0:08:27with 19th century Louisiana history.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29I can do a little more digging
0:08:29 > 0:08:31and see if can find some more information on Adele Drouet.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33Oh, thank you. Thank you so much.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36- My pleasure. - This is very, very exciting.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40I'm nowhere near a doctor but it's nice to know that I'm related to one.
0:08:41 > 0:08:42That really surprises me
0:08:42 > 0:08:47that we run at least three generations deep in Louisiana.
0:08:47 > 0:08:53I grew up in Texas, all of our family that I know of grew up in Texas.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56I had no idea there was a part of the family
0:08:56 > 0:08:57that was really entrenched here.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00So I'm going to continue tracing things
0:09:00 > 0:09:03through my three times great-grandfather JB Hacker.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10I think it's very interesting this idea
0:09:10 > 0:09:13of being in a physician in this rural area.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17How all-encompassing is that, what level of surgery did he do or not do?
0:09:17 > 0:09:20I just, I have no concept of that.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23Jim is heading to Tulane University in New Orleans
0:09:23 > 0:09:29to meet Jeanette Keith, a specialist in 19th century Louisiana history.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Jeanette has been looking into Jim's three times great-grandfather,
0:09:32 > 0:09:36JB Hacker's medical practice.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40I've got some documents here that I think maybe will take
0:09:40 > 0:09:42- your search a little bit further. - OK.
0:09:42 > 0:09:47We will get this big book out and we're going to look at page 46.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50- Aren't you scared to touch this? - Yes. OK?
0:09:50 > 0:09:54Ooh, the smell, it smells like my grandma's house.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57This is a list of graduates from the Medical College of Louisiana.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59- OK.- Here we are in the Hs.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02Hall, Hale...
0:10:02 > 0:10:07I see "acker" without an H, so I'm assuming that's where we want to be.
0:10:07 > 0:10:12"Jno. B." So... OK, so that's JB.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15That is an abbreviation for John or Jonathan.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17- Oh.- OK?
0:10:17 > 0:10:23In the state of Louisiana, year graduated, 1842,
0:10:23 > 0:10:26so that makes him 32.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29Number of graduate, 55.
0:10:29 > 0:10:35Mm-hm. He was the 55th graduate in the history of the school.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37- Of the school?- Yeah, yeah.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39Now, this is the best... One of the best medical schools
0:10:39 > 0:10:42if not THE best medical school in the South,
0:10:42 > 0:10:44- so it's a new thing, OK?- Wow.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47And I do want to kind of emphasise this -
0:10:47 > 0:10:51your ancestor did not have to do this to make a living.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53There were people that just hung out a shingle
0:10:53 > 0:10:55and said, "I'm the doctor."
0:10:55 > 0:10:59- Some still do. I feel certain about this!- Yeah, probably.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03This school was opened by a group of young doctors
0:11:03 > 0:11:05who wanted to change that.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08Because American medical practice in the 19th century
0:11:08 > 0:11:11did not have an established qualification process,
0:11:11 > 0:11:15many pharmacists and drug peddlers called themselves doctors
0:11:15 > 0:11:17but became known as quacks.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20They commonly gave useless medical advice and hawked
0:11:20 > 0:11:22sometimes dangerous products
0:11:22 > 0:11:24made from ingredients such as opium,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27sulphuric acid or just coloured water,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30and touted them as cure-alls.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33In an effort to legitimise and professionalise medicine,
0:11:33 > 0:11:36the Medical College of Louisiana, just the second of its kind
0:11:36 > 0:11:41in the Deep South, was established in 1834, eight years prior
0:11:41 > 0:11:43to JB Hacker's graduation.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47These are the people who are going to be founders of the medical
0:11:47 > 0:11:50- profession as we have it today.- OK.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53- And we have turned over to this other page here.- Yes.
0:11:53 > 0:11:59Hacker, JB. Other degrees, public offices, honours, etc.
0:11:59 > 0:12:04"V.X.U.O." Middle, I'm assuming - "Mdl"?
0:12:04 > 0:12:07No. Not at all. What is it?
0:12:07 > 0:12:12This is actually the New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal.
0:12:12 > 0:12:17- He wrote an article.- Oh.- OK?- So he was published.- He was published.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19- Wow.- OK?
0:12:19 > 0:12:23- So the New Orleans... - New Orleans Medical Journal.
0:12:25 > 0:12:31And we will open this up to page 868 and 869.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34- And what year is this?- 1854.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37OK, so 1854 - so that... From the census... 40, 50...
0:12:37 > 0:12:40- So he's 44 when he's written this. - Mm-hm.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Yellow Fever in Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville
0:12:44 > 0:12:46by JB Hacker, MD.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51"An epidemic yellow fever prevailed in this town..."
0:12:51 > 0:12:52HE GASPS
0:12:52 > 0:12:56Your ancestor here was in the middle of the yellow fever epidemic
0:12:56 > 0:13:01- of 1853, and it killed about 8,000 people in New Orleans alone.- Oh!
0:13:01 > 0:13:04"In the majority of cases that came under my observation,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07"the fever began with a chill of greater or less severity,
0:13:07 > 0:13:10"followed by violent headache, pain in the back
0:13:10 > 0:13:12"and abdominal extremities."
0:13:12 > 0:13:15So he's going to tell exactly what happened through the epidemic?
0:13:15 > 0:13:16He's going to describe it,
0:13:16 > 0:13:20- he's providing information for the medical profession.- Mm-hm.
0:13:20 > 0:13:26"When black vomit supervened it was generally on the fourth day." Wow.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30"Haemorrhage from the gums, bowels, nose, etc, were frequent
0:13:30 > 0:13:33"accompaniments, and generally happened on the third or fourth day."
0:13:33 > 0:13:38Good grief. He was literally walking through versions of hell
0:13:38 > 0:13:40- where he was going.- Yeah.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43- It's horrifying.- It is horrifying. - Absolutely horrifying.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49They were still trying to figure out how it's contracted exactly.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53- Yeah. We know that yellow fever is spread by mosquitoes.- Right.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56But they do not know that, and no-one knows that
0:13:56 > 0:13:57until the early 20th century.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01Wow. This is very reminiscent of, like, the things you
0:14:01 > 0:14:05read about in the 1980s with HIV and everything.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08The courage of a doctor to deal with anything when you don't know
0:14:08 > 0:14:13how it's travelling, and you put yourself in the room with patients...
0:14:13 > 0:14:20You know, that's a real commitment, certainly, to your chosen work,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23but it's also, I think, a real commitment to your...
0:14:23 > 0:14:25humanity in general, and maybe that's...
0:14:25 > 0:14:28- The best of science always does that, actually.- We can hope.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31You would hope, you would hope.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34Now, do you have more, that takes us even further with him?
0:14:34 > 0:14:37- Yeah. Yes, we do.- Of course you do. SHE LAUGHS
0:14:37 > 0:14:42We're going to use a database that shows us newspapers.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44- Oh.- So...- OK.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47HE GASPS I love this.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51- And the date range - he was born in 1810?- That's right.- OK.
0:14:51 > 0:14:56- And then let's just make it 1900. - Louisiana?- Louisiana, yeah.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01"The Loss Of The Steamer Gipsy."
0:15:02 > 0:15:04"Eight Or Ten Lives Lost."
0:15:05 > 0:15:08"At 3½ o'clock yesterday morning,
0:15:08 > 0:15:10"the fire broke out,
0:15:10 > 0:15:12"it originated in the wood on the boiler deck
0:15:12 > 0:15:14"between the chimneys,
0:15:14 > 0:15:15"and immediately spread
0:15:15 > 0:15:17"with fearful rapidity."
0:15:17 > 0:15:20- Hm.- Yeah.- I'll be damned.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24"A telegraphic dispatch which we have received confirms the report
0:15:24 > 0:15:29"of the sacrifice of Dr Hacker of Plaquemines,
0:15:29 > 0:15:34"with his nephew, a lad of some 13 years of age, and his daughter."
0:15:34 > 0:15:35Oh, so he died in this?
0:15:35 > 0:15:36Yeah.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40We just figured out who he was and now he's gone.
0:15:40 > 0:15:421854.
0:15:42 > 0:15:47- So this is... This is the same year as the journal.- Yeah. Yeah.
0:15:47 > 0:15:48- When he's 44.- Yeah.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51That's only four years older than I am right now.
0:15:51 > 0:15:52Mm-hm.
0:15:52 > 0:15:57It's hard to hear of putting so much work and all these things
0:15:57 > 0:16:02and all this advancement made, and to have it end, you know,
0:16:02 > 0:16:05- both suddenly but so soon, you know? - Mm-hm.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10He couldn't have been more in the prime of his working,
0:16:10 > 0:16:11- and that happens, you know?- Mm-hm.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15I am curious, how did this happen, how did this specific steamer...?
0:16:15 > 0:16:18They really don't go into that.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22So that's what I'm going to do next, I'm going to find out how this
0:16:22 > 0:16:25- fire started and find out what killed him.- Mm-hm.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27- Thank you.- It's been a pleasure.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31'JB Hacker was very impressive to me. The efforts he was making,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34'the progress he was making, the good he was doing,'
0:16:34 > 0:16:37and - bam! - it's finished.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40'And he's one of those people that when they're gone,
0:16:40 > 0:16:42'you have to sit back and wonder,'
0:16:42 > 0:16:45"What else would you have done?"
0:16:46 > 0:16:50Even though I'm tracing my specific family, it's connecting me
0:16:50 > 0:16:54to people and places that reach beyond that.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00Jim has arranged to meet Robert Gudmestad,
0:17:00 > 0:17:04an expert on 19th-century Mississippi steamboats,
0:17:04 > 0:17:06on board the Natchez.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Robert has been looking into the fire aboard the Gipsy
0:17:09 > 0:17:12that claimed the life of Jim's ancestor.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15Well, we are on the Natchez, and the Natchez
0:17:15 > 0:17:18is a rough approximation of what a steamboat would have looked like
0:17:18 > 0:17:22in the 1850s. The difference with this steamboat to one that
0:17:22 > 0:17:26- your great-great-great-grandfather would have travelled on...- Right.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29..is that those steamboats were made almost completely out of wood.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34- Oh.- And would have been fuelled by fire.- But come on -
0:17:34 > 0:17:38it's amazing that they all didn't burn up, if they were made of wood!
0:17:38 > 0:17:40- Well, there's something I'd like to show you.- OK.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42This is a steamboat.
0:17:44 > 0:17:45It's the Gipsy.
0:17:46 > 0:17:51- Was this done before the accident? - This was painted in 1853.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54- So, the year before the accident. - The year before the accident.
0:17:54 > 0:17:55That's amazing.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01OK, this is what I find so curious about the fact that he was on it,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04- and he was on it with his nephew and his daughter.- Sure.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06Were they there...for pleasure?
0:18:06 > 0:18:10This would have been the normal way to travel,
0:18:10 > 0:18:11and they were probably,
0:18:11 > 0:18:14in Louisiana in the 1850s, the fastest way to travel.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18So what do we know about the very specifics of the Gipsy's perish,
0:18:18 > 0:18:20if you will?
0:18:20 > 0:18:24On a steamboat like the Gipsy, you have the boiler room and the...
0:18:24 > 0:18:26- Oh, yeah. - ..furnaces in the middle of the boat
0:18:26 > 0:18:29- and so you can actually see... - The burning...- Yeah.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32Someone opened the door to the boiler room,
0:18:32 > 0:18:34apparently that was a very, very windy evening
0:18:34 > 0:18:38and there was a gust of wind that came through the boiler room
0:18:38 > 0:18:43and it carried some of the flame out of the boiler room onto the deck,
0:18:43 > 0:18:45so the boat catches on fire.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48Your great-great-great-grandfather
0:18:48 > 0:18:51would have been very close above the boilers,
0:18:51 > 0:18:55- because that's where the men's cabin was.- Oh.- And so he was
0:18:55 > 0:18:59in his cabin, perhaps did not hear the commotion.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02The fire apparently was a huge fire. It spread to the bank.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04- Unbelievable.- To the landing, yeah.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08- It's tragic all the way around. - Yeah.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13Let me show you one more thing.
0:19:15 > 0:19:20All right, so this is the Southern Sentinel. Plaquemine.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22This would have been your great-great-great-grandfather's...
0:19:22 > 0:19:24- ..Local paper? - His hometown newspaper.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26OK, and this is almost two weeks after the accident.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29"The Late Dr Hacker.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31"At a meeting of the Cannoniers..."
0:19:31 > 0:19:33What are the Cannoniers?
0:19:33 > 0:19:37It was a civic organisation. It was like the Kiwanis or the Elks.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41Thank you. That's helpful. "In the death of the late Dr JB Hacker,
0:19:41 > 0:19:44"the community lost a kind, dutiful and exemplary citizen
0:19:44 > 0:19:49"devoted to its interests, a skilful and well-beloved physician,
0:19:49 > 0:19:53"highly benevolent and industrious in the discharge of his duties.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56"The members of said Cannoniers, as a mark of respect
0:19:56 > 0:19:59"for our late commanding officer and regret for his unfortunate death,
0:19:59 > 0:20:04"wear Black Crape, in the usual form, on our left arms for 30 days."
0:20:06 > 0:20:07Wow.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11I mean, that's like when you see people on the sport fields
0:20:11 > 0:20:13- or whatever, these days.- Right.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17- Well, this is amazing, this outpouring, for his death.- Yeah.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29It's really touching to see the reach that JB Hacker had.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32This is sad, I know, but it really reminded me
0:20:32 > 0:20:33of going to my father's funeral.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40The amount of people that showed up that I had never heard of
0:20:40 > 0:20:43or seen before was sort of jaw-dropping to me,
0:20:43 > 0:20:47and the reach that he had with his life, to affect other lives,
0:20:47 > 0:20:51was really touching, and it was really surprising,
0:20:51 > 0:20:54and I had the exact same feeling today,
0:20:54 > 0:20:58and I think, too, you feel a real sense of pride,
0:20:58 > 0:20:59and to have that feeling again
0:20:59 > 0:21:03from so long ago... And this is on my father's side of the family,
0:21:03 > 0:21:08and... Are these the kind of qualities that are passed down
0:21:08 > 0:21:09through a family?
0:21:09 > 0:21:11I don't know the answer to that,
0:21:11 > 0:21:14but it's not a far reach to say that they are.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22JB Hacker's life ended unexpectedly,
0:21:22 > 0:21:25but Jim is still determined to explore the French roots
0:21:25 > 0:21:28in his family. He is meeting genealogist Judy Riffel
0:21:28 > 0:21:32at the Louisiana Historical Center for a second time.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36He wants to see if she's uncovered evidence of French ancestry
0:21:36 > 0:21:38on either the Hacker or the Drouet lines.
0:21:41 > 0:21:46Well, I did try to trace Dr Hacker's line back to France,
0:21:46 > 0:21:48but unfortunately, he got lost in the document trail.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52- He did?- But I did have more luck with Adele Drouet.
0:21:52 > 0:21:53You're kidding!
0:21:53 > 0:21:57And I did prepare a pedigree chart for you.
0:21:57 > 0:21:58Oh.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00There's Adele.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04OK, and so Adele's mother was Anais.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06Right, Anais Trouard.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10Trouard. OK, and now we're going through Anais' side,
0:22:10 > 0:22:14to her parents, so these are my four-time...
0:22:14 > 0:22:16- Four-times... - ..great-grandparents.- Yes.
0:22:16 > 0:22:23- Pros-PER.- Or Pro-SPER. - Prosper Trouard and Eliza Delery,
0:22:23 > 0:22:26and he was born in La Rochelle,
0:22:26 > 0:22:28- France, so there you go. - There you go.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30There's a relative born in France.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33OK, and then we go through my four-times great-grandfather's side
0:22:33 > 0:22:35up to his parents.
0:22:35 > 0:22:41Alexandre... I must sound like a fool. Alexandre Louis Trouard.
0:22:41 > 0:22:46- And he was born in March of 1761 in Paris, France.- Yes.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50- The heart of it all, I would say. - Yes.- Wow.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54OK, so if I want to extend this journey, I need to get to France,
0:22:54 > 0:22:55- don't I?- Yes.
0:22:55 > 0:23:00I would suggest you go to the French National Archives in Paris.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03Well, Judy, I really can't thank you enough. This has been so exciting.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07- Bon voyage.- Bon voyage to you. Thank you so much.- Good luck.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10'For years, I'd heard that we were French,
0:23:10 > 0:23:13'and I didn't know what that meant. To see definitive proof
0:23:13 > 0:23:15'that we're actually going to go trace now,'
0:23:15 > 0:23:18it's fascinating, and it puts it into a whole other context.
0:23:18 > 0:23:23I've got these two new people now - Alexandre and Prosper Trouard.
0:23:23 > 0:23:28I love the idea of getting to travel to France now with these ancestors,
0:23:28 > 0:23:32and get, hopefully, some sort of full book on what they were doing,
0:23:32 > 0:23:33what they were like.
0:23:34 > 0:23:35I'm very excited.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41Jim has come to Paris to visit the French National Archives.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43He's meeting Professor Drew Armstrong,
0:23:43 > 0:23:46a specialist in 18th-century French history.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50Drew has been searching through the archives for any information
0:23:50 > 0:23:55about Jim's French ancestors Prosper and Alexandre Louis Trouard.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00I haven't been able to find anything substantial on Prosper Trouard.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03- OK.- However, for Alexandre Louis Trouard,
0:24:03 > 0:24:06I have found some documentation that starts to open up
0:24:06 > 0:24:09a vision into his life.
0:24:09 > 0:24:10OK, beautiful.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15The first piece is the baptismal record of Alexandre Louis Trouard.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17OK.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20- So we have a translation.- You have a translation? Beautiful, OK.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24So, "Baptism on Monday the 16th of March 1761
0:24:24 > 0:24:29"of Alexandre Louis..." OK, my five-times great-grandfather...
0:24:29 > 0:24:32"..son of Louis Francois Trouard..." OK - there's a new name.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34So Louis Francois Trouard would...
0:24:34 > 0:24:36he's my six-times great-grandfather?
0:24:36 > 0:24:37That's correct, yes.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41"Architect to the King..."
0:24:41 > 0:24:44So...Louis Francois Trouard
0:24:44 > 0:24:47is an architect to the King - the literal King?
0:24:47 > 0:24:48That is correct, yes.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50- Really?- Yes.
0:24:50 > 0:24:51He is the architect to Louis XV.
0:24:51 > 0:24:52To Louis XV?
0:24:52 > 0:24:55Louis XV, precisely.
0:24:55 > 0:24:56Wow.
0:24:56 > 0:25:02OK, "Godfather, Louis Trouard, marble supplier to the King..."
0:25:04 > 0:25:08So, Louis Trouard - who is that?
0:25:08 > 0:25:11Louis Trouard is your seven-times great-grandfather.
0:25:11 > 0:25:12My seven times great-grandfather.
0:25:12 > 0:25:17He's the father of Louis Francois Trouard, architect of the King.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21Jim has discovered that not only was his six-times great-grandfather,
0:25:21 > 0:25:25Louis Francois Trouard, architect to King Louis XV,
0:25:25 > 0:25:29but his father, Louis Trouard, was marble supplier to the King.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34So all of Alexandre's family
0:25:34 > 0:25:35basically worked for the King?
0:25:35 > 0:25:37It looks like that, doesn't it? Absolutely.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39It does look like that, yeah.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42But Louis Trouard is a middle-class person, not an aristocrat.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46Oh, he's not? Not as noble a job as what he...
0:25:46 > 0:25:48his son ended up in, but it was a very good job.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51It was a very, very good position. As opposed to his son,
0:25:51 > 0:25:55Louis Francois, who is being groomed as a professional.
0:25:55 > 0:25:56Huh.
0:25:56 > 0:26:01So a complete transition from one generation to the next generation.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03Louis Trouard essentially positioned his son,
0:26:03 > 0:26:08Louis Francois, in THE most elite artistic circles in France.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10Wow.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13Well, how does one ever become an architect to the King?
0:26:13 > 0:26:17I mean, I can't imagine that's easy, or a common thing to do.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21It was neither easy nor common, and that's the whole point.
0:26:21 > 0:26:27So, this is an 18th century register, and what this is here
0:26:27 > 0:26:30is a transcription of an official document
0:26:30 > 0:26:32concerning Louis Francois Trouard -
0:26:32 > 0:26:35- this is your six-times great-grandfather.- OK.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37September 1754.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42- And this is the translation of that? - This is the translation.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45"Acting on the report submitted to us of the great aptitude
0:26:45 > 0:26:50"of Mr Louis Francois Trouard of Paris, about 25 years of age,
0:26:50 > 0:26:53"in the art of architecture he has practised through study
0:26:53 > 0:26:57"under Mr Loriot, professor of the Royal Academy of Architecture,
0:26:57 > 0:27:01"in which he won the first prize last year, 1753, we have chosen
0:27:01 > 0:27:05"and named him to be one of the boarding students sponsored
0:27:05 > 0:27:08"by the Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture
0:27:08 > 0:27:11"established for service to His Majesty in Rome..."
0:27:13 > 0:27:14So he was scholarshipped to go to Rome.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16He was scholarshipped, absolutely.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19In the hope, although not necessarily for sure, that he
0:27:19 > 0:27:21would one day work for the King.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23Indeed, that is a strong implication.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26Winning that prize, the Grand Prix de Rome,
0:27:26 > 0:27:30- this is when his career is absolutely made.- Yeah.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34- It sounds like it.- It's extremely uncommon to have this opportunity.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36Wow.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38So what does he do after Rome?
0:27:38 > 0:27:40How does he continue this trajectory?
0:27:40 > 0:27:45So, he's in Rome from 1754 to 1757,
0:27:45 > 0:27:47and then he travels back.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50One document that I found that helps to give a sense
0:27:50 > 0:27:55of how he's cultivating his supporters is this letter.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58This is 1769, so we're...
0:27:58 > 0:28:02Wait - let me see something real quick. He was 25 in 1754.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05So... This is 1769, so he's 40.
0:28:05 > 0:28:06Ah, so am I.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10"It is with pleasure, Sir, that I announce that the King has
0:28:10 > 0:28:14"elected you to fulfil in the second class of his Academy of Architecture
0:28:14 > 0:28:17"the place made vacant by the death of Mr Pluyette."
0:28:17 > 0:28:18- Yes.- Wow.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20He becomes a member of an organisation
0:28:20 > 0:28:22called the Royal Academy of Architecture -
0:28:22 > 0:28:26an elite, learned, scholarly body.
0:28:26 > 0:28:32There were 32 seats, divided into two classes - 16 seats per class.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36And you had to wait for someone to die in order for a vacancy
0:28:36 > 0:28:37to open up, and then...
0:28:37 > 0:28:40It's like looking for real estate in New York.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43"I do not doubt that this new favour by His Majesty
0:28:43 > 0:28:46"shall prove for you further reason for zeal in His service."
0:28:46 > 0:28:49Oh. I mean, really, it's his acceptance letter.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53In 1769 he is catapulted into the Academy, yeah.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56It's the greatest honour you could achieve. That's the most
0:28:56 > 0:28:59significant function of the Academy, you are honoured by the King.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01Unbelievable.
0:29:03 > 0:29:05It's the Supreme Court of architects.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08It might as well be the Supreme Court of architects, yes.
0:29:08 > 0:29:09Wow. That's amazing.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12This is a distinct and forever thing, exactly.
0:29:12 > 0:29:16And he was obviously extremely good at his job,
0:29:16 > 0:29:18and devoted to it and talented at it.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22Would he live in the palace?
0:29:22 > 0:29:27In fact, Trouard has an apartment, not in the Chateau at Versailles,
0:29:27 > 0:29:30not in the residence proper, but in a building adjacent to it.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33- Really?- So if you're interested in continuing to expand
0:29:33 > 0:29:36your understanding of Louis Francois Trouard's work
0:29:36 > 0:29:40and career, and get a feel for the period that he lived at
0:29:40 > 0:29:44Versailles, I think the best thing would be to actually travel there.
0:29:44 > 0:29:45So I'm going to Versailles?
0:29:45 > 0:29:47Indeed.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50I've said "wow" a lot but I mean it. It's a sincere "wow".
0:29:50 > 0:29:52Excellent.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54Thank you very, very much for this. I appreciate it.
0:29:55 > 0:29:59You know, it's funny. We had to go back to the 1700s, but - damn it -
0:29:59 > 0:30:03we found somebody in the arts, really,
0:30:03 > 0:30:05which is very exciting, but, you know,
0:30:05 > 0:30:06it's just very appropriate
0:30:06 > 0:30:10that we've been going through my father's side of the story.
0:30:10 > 0:30:16Clearly, my father was a man much like Louis Francois' father was.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20I'm on no Academy to the King, but
0:30:20 > 0:30:24my father did find a way to allow me to do exactly what I wanted to do.
0:30:25 > 0:30:30I've always said without that, I wouldn't be doing this right now.
0:30:31 > 0:30:36I loved school, I loved being in the educational environment,
0:30:36 > 0:30:40and to find Louis Francois, who went through, essentially,
0:30:40 > 0:30:45grad school in Rome, and we had... Before we him, we found JB,
0:30:45 > 0:30:47who went to school when he need not have gone to school,
0:30:47 > 0:30:49to further his career at that point.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52I think it gets to a point where it's more than a coincidence
0:30:52 > 0:30:54that this is my blood relation.
0:31:01 > 0:31:06Jim has come to Versailles to visit the Chapelle de la Providence.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08He's meeting Ambrogio Caiani,
0:31:08 > 0:31:12a specialist in 18th-century French architecture and history.
0:31:16 > 0:31:17- Ambrogio?- Yes, indeed.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19- Hi. Hey. I'm Jim. - Hello, Jim. How are you?
0:31:19 > 0:31:20Very good to meet you, and thank you
0:31:20 > 0:31:23so much for meeting me here in Versailles.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26I was just dying to know if I could learn any more about
0:31:26 > 0:31:29my six-time great-grandfather, Louis Francois Trouard,
0:31:29 > 0:31:33the projects he had worked on and how his career went.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36Well, I certainly think we can help you with that.
0:31:36 > 0:31:40This church is one of his masterpieces.
0:31:40 > 0:31:41This is?
0:31:41 > 0:31:42Yes.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46Wow.
0:31:46 > 0:31:48This is quite beautiful.
0:31:51 > 0:31:56It's very elegant and it's very classy-looking,
0:31:56 > 0:31:59but at the same time there's... It seems very inviting.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04So he's doing this, Trouard is doing this,
0:32:04 > 0:32:07while working still within the monarch?
0:32:07 > 0:32:12Yes, indeed. Trouard reaches the highest point in his career in 1787
0:32:12 > 0:32:17when he is made a Premier, an Architect of the King First Class.
0:32:17 > 0:32:20By now, Trouard is 60.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23It's quite an achievement, because, as I think we all know,
0:32:23 > 0:32:25France is heading towards
0:32:25 > 0:32:30rather choppy or stormy seas at this time, and Trouard's nomination
0:32:30 > 0:32:33as Architect First Class to the King
0:32:33 > 0:32:38is only two years before the beginning of the French Revolution.
0:32:38 > 0:32:39Right.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44The French Revolution erupted in response
0:32:44 > 0:32:47to the lower and middle classes' demands
0:32:47 > 0:32:51for social and economic equality, but the seeds of were sown
0:32:51 > 0:32:55decades earlier during the so-called Age of Enlightenment.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58A new intellectual movement promoted reason over tradition
0:32:58 > 0:33:02and superstition, inspiring French citizens to fight for their rights
0:33:02 > 0:33:05in the 1789 Revolution.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10After several years of violent upheaval, the monarchy
0:33:10 > 0:33:15was abolished, Louis XVI was beheaded, and some 40,000 people
0:33:15 > 0:33:20were executed, striking fear into the hearts of royal architects
0:33:20 > 0:33:22like Louis Francois Trouard.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29Now, architects have a pretty difficult time.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32Four are executed, 25 are put in prison.
0:33:32 > 0:33:34Why were they executing architects?
0:33:34 > 0:33:36It was for the old-fashioned reason of corruption,
0:33:36 > 0:33:40and they were too, perhaps, compromised with the old regime.
0:33:40 > 0:33:41Sure.
0:33:41 > 0:33:45Architects who worked more in the tradition of the French court
0:33:45 > 0:33:49created spaces which were much more ornate, much more decorated,
0:33:49 > 0:33:52very much for the private pleasure of the aristocracy,
0:33:53 > 0:33:56and they had ended up under...
0:33:56 > 0:34:00The hot blade is the euphemism for the guillotine.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03So there is the possibility at least that my ancestor
0:34:03 > 0:34:05could have been executed?
0:34:05 > 0:34:08Indeed, but Trouard doesn't have the track record of the other
0:34:08 > 0:34:10architects who were executed.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12- Oh, really?- Yeah.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15He really was one of the key figures in the redesign of churches
0:34:15 > 0:34:18- in the Age of Enlightenment. - How fascinating.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21So what happens to Trouard as an architect of the King
0:34:21 > 0:34:23once the revolution starts?
0:34:23 > 0:34:25The key question is, "What was your past like?"
0:34:25 > 0:34:27"What did you do before the revolution?"
0:34:27 > 0:34:29- Right.- And, "What did you do to support it?"
0:34:29 > 0:34:32Trouard seems to have been quite friendly
0:34:32 > 0:34:35with some pretty liberal and radical thinkers of his age.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38- Really?- One of the more interesting figures that he definitely knows was
0:34:38 > 0:34:42somebody called Father or the Abbe Raynal, who was a member
0:34:42 > 0:34:45of the Enlightenment. Raynal was so radical in the 18th century
0:34:45 > 0:34:49- that he actually said that slavery was an awful thing.- Wow.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52And your grandfather was a deeply intimate friend with him,
0:34:52 > 0:34:56because we know that Raynal, from the late '70s until the early '80s,
0:34:56 > 0:35:00lived in Trouard's house in Paris.
0:35:00 > 0:35:01You're kidding!
0:35:01 > 0:35:04I found a document which is rather interesting on all of this,
0:35:04 > 0:35:07and I'm just going to go and grab...this book.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10We have some of his correspondence.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13So have a look here, Jim, at page 221.
0:35:13 > 0:35:14221.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18OK. I see Raynal's name, and I see it again.
0:35:18 > 0:35:20A bunch of French I can't read...
0:35:20 > 0:35:23Monsieur Trouard.
0:35:23 > 0:35:24John Adams.
0:35:27 > 0:35:29What's going on here?
0:35:29 > 0:35:33This needs interpretation, and perhaps the translation
0:35:33 > 0:35:34- might help you a bit.- Thank you.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38"Letter from Raynal to Franklin, 2nd February 1779."
0:35:38 > 0:35:42It's just ten years before the French Revolution.
0:35:42 > 0:35:46"On Thursday 4th of this month, around 11 in the morning,
0:35:46 > 0:35:49"a very pleasant gathering of friends are to have Russian tea
0:35:49 > 0:35:51"at Father Raynal's home.
0:35:51 > 0:35:53"Mr Franklin is beseeched by all of the party
0:35:53 > 0:35:55"to honour this breakfast with his presence."
0:35:57 > 0:35:58Is that, like, Benjamin Franklin?
0:35:58 > 0:36:01- Yes, quite.- No! Really?- Yeah.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03That is unbelievable.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07"I ask the same favour of Mr Adams in Paris,
0:36:07 > 0:36:10"February 2nd... the House of Mr Trouard."
0:36:12 > 0:36:15- Is that saying that they all stayed there?- Yes indeed.
0:36:15 > 0:36:21So, wait a minute... So Benjamin Franklin, Raynal and John Adams
0:36:21 > 0:36:23were in the house of Mr Trouard.
0:36:23 > 0:36:28Wow. Is this just a nice little brunch to have,
0:36:28 > 0:36:32or would there be some sort of reason for them to gather?
0:36:32 > 0:36:35Well, I suspect that Franklin and Adams would have been,
0:36:35 > 0:36:38in particular, interested in Raynal's ideas
0:36:38 > 0:36:41- about slavery and the colonies. - Really?
0:36:41 > 0:36:43Franklin being a man of the Enlightenment.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45These people were eating-and-drinking buddies.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48One of the few ways in which we can tell who was a member
0:36:48 > 0:36:49of the Enlightenment or not
0:36:49 > 0:36:52is where they went and ate, and in whose house they frequented.
0:36:52 > 0:36:54Wow.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57And your ancestor knew some of the greatest thinkers of the day.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59Wow!
0:36:59 > 0:37:02Until I talked to you, all I found out about him was
0:37:02 > 0:37:05the way his career went, which was mostly shown to me
0:37:05 > 0:37:09through that he was associated with the King, and now to hear
0:37:09 > 0:37:14that, obviously, there's some sort of leaning or way of thinking
0:37:14 > 0:37:18on his part that obviously isn't in camp with this regime.
0:37:18 > 0:37:23Indeed. He seems to have survived the revolution pretty unscathed.
0:37:23 > 0:37:24Oh, that's good.
0:37:24 > 0:37:25And that he dies in 1804.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27- Oh, really?- Mm-hm.
0:37:27 > 0:37:33So his behaviour and his actions and the way he worked and led his life
0:37:33 > 0:37:36must have been in a way that didn't let people believe he had been
0:37:36 > 0:37:42corrupt, or serving too fervently, at least, people or a regime
0:37:42 > 0:37:46that had been oppressive. They didn't feel he was part of that.
0:37:46 > 0:37:48Yeah, exactly.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52Now, do you suspect that Trouard himself ever visited America?
0:37:53 > 0:37:55"I don't know" is the honest answer.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57- Right.- But his children certainly do.
0:37:57 > 0:37:58Oh, is that true?
0:37:58 > 0:38:02Alexandre Louis, his eldest son, was also a talented architect
0:38:02 > 0:38:04who'd also won the Prix de Rome.
0:38:04 > 0:38:05Oh, really?
0:38:05 > 0:38:08Yeah. We know that Alexandre Louis took a radical step
0:38:08 > 0:38:12of going to the French colonies, and spent some time in Saint-Domingue,
0:38:12 > 0:38:14or, as it is known now, Haiti.
0:38:14 > 0:38:17- Oh, his son did?- Yeah.- OK.
0:38:17 > 0:38:18And then Alexandre Louis'
0:38:18 > 0:38:21younger brother transferred to Louisiana, and I think this
0:38:21 > 0:38:24brings us back to your American connection quite nicely,
0:38:24 > 0:38:25- to the very founding.- Oh, without a doubt.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28It's kind of an unbelievable way to tie back in to America.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32This is really beyond anything I would have ever expected.
0:38:32 > 0:38:34- An absolute pleasure, Jim. - Thank you. It was good to meet you.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36A pleasure.
0:38:42 > 0:38:47'I think that, in both the case of Hacker and Trouard...'
0:38:48 > 0:38:52..it's really the hard-working aspect of them
0:38:52 > 0:38:54that my father would most identify with.
0:38:54 > 0:38:59It just was a constant devotion to getting the job done
0:38:59 > 0:39:03as best you could, and that's just something that my father
0:39:03 > 0:39:04passed down to me.
0:39:05 > 0:39:06(Wow.)
0:39:06 > 0:39:11You know, and then again, with Louis Francois, and how important,
0:39:11 > 0:39:16obviously, it was for his own father to help him realise this dream
0:39:16 > 0:39:20of being an architect and helping him get that done,
0:39:20 > 0:39:22and not just get that done, but finding a way
0:39:22 > 0:39:24to help him get that done at the highest level possible.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28That was just not surprising to hear - that that was
0:39:28 > 0:39:32part of my father's side of the family, and when I was young
0:39:32 > 0:39:35and I knew no different, I didn't really take note of it,
0:39:35 > 0:39:39but it's been much later in life that you look back, not only with
0:39:39 > 0:39:43gratitude, but with a more, almost...
0:39:43 > 0:39:45I don't know what I would have done,
0:39:45 > 0:39:49I really don't know what I would have become without my father.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55But I have this suspicion that without that kind of love,
0:39:55 > 0:40:00I feel like I would have been a much less happy individual,
0:40:00 > 0:40:04and that's what's behind me for generations.