Season 6: All Episodes Talk

[bybrandy]

In Alan Cumming's book he said that he got and gave to his mother two books of information one on each side of her family on research they did before deciding what line they were going to focus on for the show.

 

[Blergh]

I have to admit that this episode was more awkward than most in that  the subject [sean Hayes] claimed to want to learn about and try to understand his paternal line yet categorically had no interest in reconnecting with his actual father. I'm not saying Mr. Hayes was wrong to feel that way but his father evidently is still living and I'm wondering how he felt about not only his estrangement from his famous son being spelled out for the world but also seeing his own ancestry plotted by that very son and the son trying to claim  a bond with their ancestral homeland. It would have been one thing if the elder Mr. Hayes was known to be deceased but he's still alive so I'm wondering if the producers had to get any permission to get him to sign off for the search to be done on camera.

     On a similar note, it's interesting that  Patrick, Jr. was not only estranged from his own criminal father but also evidently had had nothing to do with his destitute son William for sometime  before William's death- nor attempted to stop his own grandchildren from being put in an orphanage after his daughter-in-law broke both hips [How? Where was her husband when this happened? These questions never were answered]. 

[millk]

I will admit to having no idea who Tony Goldwyn was beyond the last name but he is seriously hot. Pretty smart on his search too.

Got a giggle at Dog River. Corner Gas anyone?

[Demian]

 

Pretty smart on his search too.

The search was entirely orchestrated for him, but I was impressed with his (apparent) ability to offer obviously literate cold readings of 160-year-old documents on camera.  Of course, those moments might have been as rehearsed as everything else about this show, but whatever.

 

(And side note:  The Ancestry.com/Newspapers.com/FindAGrave.com branding is just beyond obnoxious right now.  I mean, come on.)

 

(Oh, and Groban?  This one's for you.)

[millk]

Of course it is all laid out for him but he knew the Panama Canal wouldn't have been there in 18xx. Could be all smoke and mirrors but there was no major hand holding on big events.

[kassygreene]

He's well-educated enough to start cringing as soon as Manifest Destiny was mentioned.  I'm still not watching Scandal, but smart is sexy.

[riverblue22]

Tony Goldwyn did an amazing job playing the terrifying and creepy Warren Jeffs in a TV movie last year.  The stuff of nightmares! 

[DkNNy79]

I liked the first 3/4 of this episode, but was bored by the last 1/4th.  I guess there were no more interesting ancestors that's why they stopped at the 3x grandfather and grandmother?

 

I thought he came off very well spoken and educated.  I was pissed on his behalf that they kept on making him travel to so many different places for very little information.

[Vandy10]

I was so jealous of some of the stuff Tony Goldwyn was given. The one lady at the Oregon Historical Society had 3 boxes full of journals and handwritten letters. That's the kind of artifacts I wish I could find in my own research! Census forms, obituaries, and newspaper articles have been easy for me to find, but not journals or old photos. I also liked that his episode focused on an important and interesting time in US history (women's rights movement, the westward expansion and Manifest Destiny) that doesn't get covered on this show as much as immigration stories and Civil War stories. I still like watching those too, but this was a different episode. The only other one like it that I can think of was Helen Hunt's episode that focused on some early San Francisco history.

[attica]

I've grown weary of the time given over to the endless introductions and thank yous to the researchers. Sure, we'd like to know our subject is polite, but do we need to see every. single. one. of those "Hi, pleased to meetcha!" "Thanks so much for meeting with me!"? I say we don't. At least cut out the audio if you have to show the handshakes, and  VO something interesting. Fill up those moments with more facts!

 

I wonder if that old newspaper collection we saw has been scanned yet. That paper was falling apart; I hope so.

 

In related news, if you're interested in Goldwyn's grampy Sam, I recommend A. Scott Berg's biography Goldwyn. Very well researched and written.

[Blergh]

I liked Mr. Goldwyn's episode with his maternal 3rd great-grandparents   Nathaniel and Mary Coe. I wasn't the least bit upset on his behalf [and I don't think HE was either] over being told to go to this spot and that spot- primarily because Albany, New York and Salem, Oregon seem like very pleasant places to visit. Moreover, I think it was refreshing that he gave full credit and thanks to the researchers instead of acting as though he was entitled and/or somehow HE had done ALL this work solo.

    As for the Coes? OK, I think the idea of protecting vulnerable single women from the consequences of premarital sexual encounters was well-intended and a noble gesture. HOWEVER; going so far as to even attempt to outlaw consentual encounters not only seemed a bit infantilizing but also may have backfired on a few young women [e.g. by being misused by parents who hated their choice in perspective husband to frame the man to get him out of the picture]. Somewhat like temprance, a noble idea with good intentions to protect against very serious consequences that may have wound up punishing their original intended benefactors.

      Anyway, I liked how detailed the journey  from New York State to Oregon via Panama were via that  Mrs. Coe's letter [and I think it should have been noted that it wasn't JUST riding in canoes and burros to cross the Isthmus that wasn't so pleasant but the entire time travellers had to worry about being bitten by ONE wrong mosquito that would give them a lifetime of malaria]. Also, nice that they made their corner of Oregon into a thriving, bountiful community [even crediting Mrs. Coe for the namechange to Hood River]. Good, for Mr. Goldwyn to consider that despite their otherwise noble objectives, the Coes DID have rather condescending if not dehumanizing ideas re Native Americans [not surprising since, like many other settlers, they didn't want to have to consider themselves thieves or exploiters]. I wonder if the Coes might have also looked with disdain upon their own great-great-granddaughter's marriage to Mr. Goldwyn's father of Jewish heritage?

   Regardless, I thought it was an intriguing segment and I'm glad he got to read the detailed accounts and SEE where they wound up.

[kassa]

Yeah, I was thinking Sam Goldwyn probably would not have been received by the Coes!

 

You just knew watching this episode that Goldwyn would have perked up if HE heard the words "Ft. McHenry."  

 

I wonder if that old newspaper collection we saw has been scanned yet. That paper was falling apart; I hope so.

 

Oh, I cringed when the head of the historical society took his turn in front of the camera (they never have multiple people, so his participation must have been the cost of filming there), and picked up that precious book of original documents with pages hanging out, and just grabbed it in such a way that the exposed edges were crumbled into the air.  Only to take it out to the other room where the genealogist provided gloves because they were so delicate!

[camom]

I thought it was interesting that Goldwyn kept wondering why the Coes stayed in Oregon rather than return to New York.  I kept thinking, "They were old!"  They were in their 60s, which was old in those days, and a trip across the U.S. would have been pretty tough.  (I'm not sure what the status of trains was at that time, but at least some of the trip would have been by wagon I assume.)

 

 

I was pissed on his behalf that they kept on making him travel to so many different places for very little information.

 

What gets me is that the people they meet at all these locations are from other places.  They go to New York to meet researchers from Tennessee, to Oregon to meet researchers from South Dakota, etc.  If you haven't before, look at where the researchers are from; it's rarely from the area they are visiting.

[attica]

I think they have a coterie of researchers on staff, deployed as needed. We've seen at least that Shumway dude on at least 3 different episodes I can remember.

[kassa]

Well, if they're the ones who have done the work, I'm glad they get the payoff of meeting the celeb in person.  

[bybrandy]

Well more importantly they get paid to be on tv.

[Lovecat]

There are also a lot of worker bees behind the scenes doing the actual digging, and providing historical context for the story told on the air. Two professors from my alma mater worked on Rob Lowe's and Blair Underwood's stories: https://www.washcoll.edu/live/news/1071-tracing-hollywoods-family-trees

Edited April 13, 2015 by Lovecat

[Blergh]

Not a bad episode re Miss Ferrera. However; I wish she had actually confronted her late father's 'brother' who said that the reason he'd amscrayed and didn't bother to even contact her or her sibs after he left her mother [when Miss Ferrera was eight] was that he had 'problems and issues' . I mean, yeah nice that he made a new life as a tech programmer [so why couldn't he e-mail?], but what would it have hurt Miss Ferrera to have asked the 'uncle' 'WHAT issues? WHAT problems?'. And was he making excuses just to cozy up to the celeb when he couldn't be bothered to contact her [or even urge his 'brother' to do so] when she was obscure?

   Speaking of celebrity. Am I being cynical in wondering whether her great-grandpa's hometown naming the center after him in 2014 may have had more to do with wanting to be linked to her rather than an impromptu remembrance of him 80 years after his death?

    Here's hoping Miss Ferrera eventually get the answers she needed rather than just got told what she wanted to hear.

Edited April 13, 2015 by Blergh

[camom]

I wondered about the timing of naming the building after him, too.  I don't know how far in advance they tape the shows, but I thought it might be because of the show.  

 

I also wanted to know more about why her dad left.  That part was quite unsatisfactory to me.  And she did one of the things I really don't like -- "I'm politically involved because my great-grandfather was."  What a load of crap.  I can see political activism (and many other traits) being passed down from generation to generation because of a person's exposure to it.  (My mother was big into volunteering, so am I because it's what I grew up with.)  Since America didn't really even know her own father, much less her great-grandfather, this is not exactly genetic.

[riverblue22]

Another comment about this program, nothing was said about America Ferrara's mother.  She apparently raised a large family as a single mother abandoned by her husband.  I don't think they even said if she was living.  And she was from Guatemala as well, possibly the same village as her husband.

[bybrandy]

I could see her not really wanting to get into that on television.   Accept the answer "he had issues" on camera and come back to it later, privately... or with the other members of your family.   

[camom]

I kept wondering if America's dad had another family in Hondurus.

[zxy556575]

The show's focus is on genealogy so I can see them not wanting to delve into a missing parent. I guess I assume a lot goes on out of camera range, if that's what the subject is interested in. They could just hire a danged PI to find out about living relatives and whatnot.

 

I really enjoyed this episode, and America herself. Seems like she has her head on straight.

 

I wonder about the lack of bookend relatives this season -- we were seeing the celebrity touch base with someone at the start of the show and then bring that person the answers at the end. I didn't realize I even liked it, but now it seems like the celebrities are simply cast adrift.

Edited April 14, 2015 by lordonia

[zoey1996]

Another comment about this program, nothing was said about America Ferrara's mother.  She apparently raised a large family as a single mother abandoned by her husband.  I don't think they even said if she was living.  And she was from Guatemala as well, possibly the same village as her husband.

They were both from Honduras.  Perhaps America already knew about some of her mother's family history, so chose to focus on her father.  One does wonder if he had another family in Honduras.

The general was one of the most interesting relatives that have been featured.  There were a lot of conflicting emotions - proud that he stood up for his people, yet also concern over whether this morphed into power-grabbing.  Such a sad end for him, yet what he chose, it seems.

[kassa]

At first I was confused - how do you "coincidentally" end up in your father's village in Honduras?  And then I realized she probably went there to visit her mother's side of the family and at some point somebody made a random comment "this is where your father came from" or something like that.  

 

I did like that America was open to the possibility that her ancestor was a flaky malcontent.  Though I winced when she asked the guy devoted to caring for the remnants of a poor country's historical documents if everything was saved electronically.  Perhaps she can fund that initiative!

[Cara]

I wondered about the timing of naming the building after him, too. I don't know how far in advance they tape the shows, but I thought it might be because of the show.

I also wanted to know more about why her dad left. That part was quite unsatisfactory to me. .

Yeah, I found the naming of the building to be a little too convenient in timing.

I also so agree with you about her dad. There were way too many unanswered questions about him. Why would he leave his family and return to Honduras? I actually wondered if he may have been deported for some reason.

Overall, I found this one pretty dull.

Edited April 15, 2015 by Cara

[DkNNy79]

Yeah, I thought this episode was dull as well.  My least favorite of the season so far.

[ChicagoCita]

I didn't find this one compelling as an episode, although I did like the characters. I usually "listen" more than "watch" -- I'm an annoying multi-tasker who can't just sit and watch TV, gotta be doing something else.  With so much of it being subtitled, it was tedious because I kept having to hit rewind.  Took three or four sessions to finish it.

 

I think her ancestor was fascinating, and I was very impressed with America's personality.  She seems to be quite intelligent, not just as in informed, but as in emotionally perceptive.  I liked that she was able to piece what was going on together from the various infobits she got from the documents. I came away from this having new respect for her.

Edited April 15, 2015 by ChicagoCita

[Glaze Crazy]

I've made my way through the shows so far and my thoughts as to the missing fathers in America Ferrera and Sean Hayes' lives, I'm willing to bet they themselves know more about why these men stepped out of their lives.  That's their personal information, so I'm OK with just getting past that step and moving on to the more interesting ancestors.  I'm sure it's the intent of these shows to get to that person on the family tree with the best story and present that anyway. 

 

I'm with you above who would love to get some all-access to naturalization records.  I immediately went online to see how to get into the ones for Pennsylvania.  That state has a lot of info online, but it looks like I could do with some long hours in the archives, paging through piles of papers to find a couple of my ancestors.  I suspect I would need to be someone famous for it to be easy, that's for sure.

 

Julie Chen and America Ferrera's family stories were a nice change and a peek at cultures different from Northern Europe and North America.

[Cara]

I've made my way through the shows so far and my thoughts as to the missing fathers in America Ferrera and Sean Hayes' lives, I'm willing to bet they themselves know more about why these men stepped out of their lives. That's their personal information, so I'm OK with just getting past that step and moving on to the more interesting ancestors. I'm sure it's the intent of these shows to get to that person on the family tree with the best story and present that anyway.

.

Yes, they probably do know more info than is stated. In Sean Hayes case I gathered his dad is probably still alive. And they really didn'talk a lot about him. They basically just started the research with his childhood.

But, in America's episode she talked to her Dad's friend and they talked about him a bit more and then just dropped it. So it was handled oddly IMO.

Last season I saw an online discussion with one of the genealogists who did off camera research for the Christina Applegate episode. He said they found out a lot more information than was revealed on the show. But he signed a confidentiality agreement so he couldn't discus it. So that was probably the case here too. BTW, he also did research for Chris O'Donnell and appeared on camera with him. He implied that he thought he caught on to the Fort McHenry connection sooner than he let on and played up his ignorance for dramatic purposes. Maybe that was the case with Kelly Clarkson too. Because she was one who came off dumb as a box of rocks to me.

Edited April 16, 2015 by Cara

[Mittengirl]

I thought that with both Sean and America there might have been privacy issues regarding their fathers, given their stories were so recent. There are probably living family members in both cases and they may not have wanted some issues made public and that was respected.

Edited April 17, 2015 by Mittengirl

[Linderhill]

Enjoyed Bill Paxton's ancestor's story but once again the utter dismay that his ancestor had slaves.  Dude, he lived in Virginia and Missouri where its legal and he's a landowner.  It shouldn't be that shocking.  I liked how the historian pointed out that Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner and still respected. 

 

I did think it was interesting that Paxton didn't seem to be the least interested in his mother's side of the family.  Given what he already knew about his father's side, I'd want to know about that side too.  I do realize that they already may know the family history but the way it was presented gave an odd impression. 

 

I also wonder whether Bill Paxton is related to Matt Paxton from "Hoarders."

[kassa]

Enjoyed Bill Paxton's ancestor's story but once again the utter dismay that his ancestor had slaves.  Dude, he lived in Virginia and Missouri where its legal and he's a landowner.  It shouldn't be that shocking.

 

 

I think he expressed that it wasn't exactly a surprise, given the time and place, so he knew he shouldn't have been shocked.  I think what threw him was having made that sort of weird emotional connection with the man over the Rev. War battle story, picturing his own son about the same age, and then having to reconcile that with the slavery issue.  So it was a weird kind of personal disappointment in somebody he had gone from knowing nothing about to building up as an ancestral hero in the course of a few days.  

 

What I found weird was that the will didn't free his slaves, just bid his descendants to treat them well.  And his children obviously freed them within a couple of years.  And yet they kind of gave the slave owner ancestor the credit for wanting good lives for them, instead of his children for actually, you know, MAKING THEM FREE.

Edited April 20, 2015 by kassa

[maraleia]

Hey at least Bill owned up to the fact that his ancestor owned slaves unlike Ben Affleck who tried to keep his ancestors slave owning past hidden on Skip Gates' show.

[kassygreene]

Slave-owning ancestors shouldn't have been a surprise since apparently he already knew that one of them had been a Confederate general.  And I don't think he was surprised, more just "oh, there's the documentation of something I kinda knew had to be there".  

 

For that matter, like most "unscripted" "reality" shows, the person on camera doesn't control the editing.

 

I liked how he wished he could share the experience with his dad.

Edited April 20, 2015 by kassygreene

[vera charles]

We are just catching up this season using OnDemand. We watched Josh Groban and Julie Chen last night. I know Josh Groban got some flack here for being so laid back and not very exciting, but I enjoyed his show. As a person of German ancestry, I loved how he was surprised to find out he had a German ancestor. I actually said out loud, "Yeah, you and everybody else, buddy". 1/2 the people in the US have German ancestors, even though they might not know it.

 

I also really liked the Julie Chen episode, even though they didn't go back very far. I teared up when she saw her grandfather's picture on the wall at the school and all the children said his name. What a surprise!

Edited April 20, 2015 by vera charles

[zxy556575]

Enjoyed Bill Paxton's ancestor's story but once again the utter dismay that his ancestor had slaves.  Dude, he lived in Virginia and Missouri where its legal and he's a landowner.  It shouldn't be that shocking.  I liked how the historian pointed out that Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner and still respected.

 

I'm not gonna go back and count, but it seems like there's been so much focus on slaves and slave-owners. Or maybe I'm conflating this show with Finding Your Roots or Genealogy Roadshow or a dream I once had. Whatever the truth, I'd be happy to never hear about the subject again. There are other stories to tell.

[camom]

 

I'm not gonna go back and count, but it seems like there's been so much focus on slaves and slave-owners.

 

That's why I stopped watching Finding Your Roots.  There was slavery and/or race relations in every single story.  Yeah, it's important, but it's not everything.

[Blergh]

Amazing story re Bill Paxton's 4-times great-grandpa Sharp. Many questions though. Like why did he [and his family] leave the somewhat tamed Virginia spread to go to what was definitely fronteir land? Even going by river, they'd have had to cross the Appalachians to get there and then go upstream on the Mississippi.  Could he have been given that land for his Revolutionary War service and/or government service. Also, were the slaves Mr. Sharp begged in his will to be freed possibly linked to them more than merely having grown up with his children- like could one   of them have been his  actual offspring? Even making those declarations in the will re urging them to be set free  AND bequeathed land was somewhat risky for him in that time and place. Also, it seems that the Sharp Family Plot had long since passed out of the family to other folks because they almost certainly would NOT have put the gravestones in a hard to reach wooded area. However; none of the trees growing amongst the stones seemed more than a few decades old so it's likely the plot was tended for a good century after Mr. Sharp's death. Also, quite amazing how all those researchers ALREADY knew Mr. Sharp had written not one but TWO accounts of his participation in King's Mountain .What a WILD spot that must have been for all sides .Also a good note that, since it was fought between Colonists alone [ Patriots and Loyalists], that it was a sneak peak to how the Civil War would be fought less than a century later.  Overall, a good episode [and liked the locales].

[JennyMominFL]

In studying my own genealogy I have discovered that after the Revolution ended, the new government often could not afford to pay the soldiers. They were often offered land out "west" instead. My family picked Ohio. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the case with Paxton

[Mittengirl]

It seems like everyone follows their father's side of the line. I am sure there have been a few that didn't, maybe Helen Hunt, but it seems rather rare. I get that it is the last name most people have the most connection to, and for men the one they pass on, but it still is only a small part of a person's lineage.

I wish they had talked more about Ben Sharpe's descendants, if I recall correctly, they never mentioned his wife or kids until the will.

It bugs me that the show latches on to one person usually. Instead of repeating scenes and conversations so much, how about filling in a few more blanks. Like, Ben's son Whosits did this and had these kids and his daughter married SoandSo and they had five kids and moved there and so forth. It is like they go from 5x great-grandfather to the present in one step.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Mittengirl

[Lovecat]

Also, were the slaves Mr. Sharp begged in his will to be freed possibly linked to them more than merely having grown up with his children- like could one   of them have been his  actual offspring?

William and Judith Sharp were about 54 and 49 years old in 1844 when Benjamin Sharp died, and IIRC he was about 83 when he passed, so it is mathematically possible. They are also both listed as Mulatto on the 1850 census.

[Linderhill]

I forgot to mention in my earlier post how shocked I was that Ancestry.com was not the first, go-to website that they started with.  It was the DAR.  Color me shocked.  What was it, at least halfway thru that Ancestry.com showed up?

[Lovecat]

I forgot to mention in my earlier post how shocked I was that Ancestry.com was not the first, go-to website that they started with.  It was the DAR.  Color me shocked.  What was it, at least halfway thru that Ancestry.com showed up?

10:44 to be exact! If we'd have been playing the drinking game last night, we'd have had barely a buzz.

[andromeda331]

It seems like everyone follows their father's side of the line. I am sure there have been a few that didn't, maybe Helen Hunt, but it seems rather rare. I get that it is the last name most people have the most connection to, and for men the one they pass on, but it still is only a small part of a person's lineage.

 

If that's the reason it kind of cracks me up because my dad's side is Swedish and every generation took a new last name that of their father adding "son" to the end of it. Well, for sons, the daughters got the  "dottor". We have a few until my great-great-grandfather decided to finally stick with one. My mother's side is the one with a last names that goes back forever. Her side also is the more interesting. Their mother's side might prove to be exciting too.

[barbedwire]

Eh, it was just an ok episode.  I wish they would have found out why he went from a plantation in VA to living out his last years in Missouri.

[SingleMaltBlonde]

10:44 to be exact! If we'd have been playing the drinking game last night, we'd have had barely a buzz.

Does the DAR have a website search function?  I couldn't find it?

[Driad]

 

Does the DAR have a website search function?  I couldn't find it?

 

If you're looking for information on an ancestor, try http://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search/

 

From the main DAR page it's under Library.

 

 

[DkNNy79]

I enjoyed this episode.  It was interesting to hear about revolutionary war battles in the south.  I think generally the focus is on Washington and the battles waging up north.

 

I was glad that Bill Paxton acknowledged that your history whether bad or good is still your history.  He was very conflicted about his feelings towards his ancestor.  I would be too.  Benjamin had led such an admirable life and then to find out he had slaves was disappointing.  At least he seemed to be a decent master and I thought his will was very touching (in context of the time).  I'm glad that his children granted William and Judith their freedom.  I hoped they freed all the slaves.

[DkNNy79]

Enjoyed Bill Paxton's ancestor's story but once again the utter dismay that his ancestor had slaves.  Dude, he lived in Virginia and Missouri where its legal and he's a landowner.  It shouldn't be that shocking.  I liked how the historian pointed out that Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner and still respected. 

I read it more like disappointment then shocking.

 

Honestly, I would be disappointed too if I found out my ancestors participated in such a heinous thing even if it was morally and socially acceptable at the time.

 

Regarding Jefferson and Washington:  personally while I appreciate them for the achievements and leadership they showed, I will always look down upon them for owning slaves.