Top 20 Darkest Family Reveals on Finding Your Roots

[@MsMojo]

What unexpected discoveries have YOU made in your own ancestry? Let us know below, and check out our video of the Top 20 Most Awkward Moments on Finding Your Roots - kzbin.info/www/bejne/pIurY4ejrLOqfq8

[@MichelleFlood-l4p]

Finding out my two times great grandmother was a Irish famine orphan was a revelation and I like to think I’ve got her resilience . My great great grandparents Ludwig and Elisabeth were one of the German couples that James McArthur brought to australia this is the start of Australian viniculture

[@bc52023]

I was in my fifties when I discovered the man on my Birth Certificate wasn't my biological father. I felt like my whole sense of myself was a big lie. I wish I had a show like this that researched non-celebrities.

[@johnniejennings3325]

Mine was finding my 3x great grandpa was Richard Green(e). He and his son' s were involved in the Green-Jones War in the late 1800's. Richard Green (sons Alfred, Richard and Robert) were the 3 involved, and Asa Jones were the the leaders of the feud(war). This took place in Hawkins County and Hancock County Tenn. It happened around the time of the Hatfield and McCoy feud. The reason it was called the "War" is because it was the bloodiest.

[@andrewwilliams2444]

Pocahontas had kids?

[@MichelleFlood-l4p]

@@andrewwilliams2444 only one we know of Thomas Rolfe her son with John Rolfe an Englishman

[@VictoriaWElise]

I’ve always been into history and learning more about where we come from. Sometimes it can be difficult to discover the truths but also a rewarding opportunity to share light on someone else’s journey that eventually led to you.

[@candicehoneycutt4318]

I found one ancestor I'd never want to be left alone with tbh. Some of the structures he built are pretty cool and even still standing centuries later (like I could actually go tour some of them), but he was a notoriously awful little man. A lot of his exploits were pretty well documented and so was his relationship with his first wife, who I just feel so sorry for omg

[@imthewolf1]

I have 2 great (x3 or x4) aunts (sisters), that were hung for being witches in Norway. I am assuming that they probably had epilepsy cause it is hereditary and I have epilepsy.

[@osho5996]

Damn that's pretty sad

[@IrisAsuras]

People didn't tragically lose their lives. Those lives were taken, stolen, they were murdered. I hate when language is altered to downplay events.

[@NenaHansen-nh8ne]

P]0qq a😅q33😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅¹

[@nickhudd2011]

Tragedy is defined as: "an event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress, such as a serious accident, crime, or natural catastrophe." I think it's appropriate language for these discoveries.

[@cadencejane75]

This!

[@theseventhchilde]

My great great grandmother divorced my gg-grandfather back in the 1880s. After that, he got drunk and went hunting for them (ex wife and children) in overgrown Kansas farmland, threatening to kill them. He was arrested, and moved into a boarding house in Chicago where he lived until he died (like being run out on a rail, I'm guessing). They had his body shipped back to "make sure he was damn sure dead" and after he was buried, someone removed the brass nameplate on his grave, so for decades his gravesite was lost.

[@georgielancaster1356]

Sounds like the family made the right choices. He did not deserve to be family.

[@rosemadder5547]

That's crazy 😧 It feels so weird to know those type of things. My great great uncle Mose killed a deputy in Williamson WV. Later, when I looked up the deputy, I found a passage that his daughter left on find a grave's website. I guess her mom was pregnant when my uncle killed her dad, and she talked about growing up without him. To make it worse, the deputy and cops showed up to protect Mose's wife, Cora, who had a protective order against him. After Mose was shot and arrested, he was in the hospital. When the cops came in to question him, he ended up "falling" out of the hospital window and died...

[@robmorton8037]

I remember watching the Jeff Danials episode and having a very visceral reaction to it. Being a descendent of one of the victims of the witch trials (my ninth great-grandmother is Rebecca Nurse) I’ve long been curious about the reactions of those who discover ancestors who were accusers. It was very interesting to see.

[@samanthab1923]

Sara Jessica Parker’s ancestor was wrongly accused of witchcraft.

[@BeccaJoyDowdaBriscoeMoorehead]

I am a descendent of Rebecca Nurse and the judge

[@GCKMimi]

I'm a descendant of Savannah Martin, and it struck me that Daniels was hoping for the best intentions of his ancestor. I felt like it acknowledges a part of the Witch Trials that's overlooked - that while it was horrible, there were people who truly believed it.

[@HRHDMKYT]

@@GCKMimi Just like the MAGA Trump supporters now believe all the lies Fox tells them. Brainwashing is a possibility in any generation, it seems.

[@roscoeshepard]

​@@GCKMimiIdone alot of research on my ancestors. I from NC and most of them came to the colonies in the 1600s and early 1700s. Some of them owned slaves. One of my gggggrand mothers was a slave. There isn't anything we can do about what our ancestors did or didn't do,we can't change it. People look at history though our eyes now in today. The world all over was a harsh place. People lead hard lives,everything they done was back breaking work and done by hand.The thing about slavery in the USA it wasn't just here, it was all over the whole world . Before the black slave trade they was enslaving whites. The Irish were enslaved by Moors. the English sent them to the Caribbean in the 1600s. The word slave comes from the Slavs eastern Europeans ,everybody was enslaving them.

[@Bdhstl95]

My mother’s family has a book with all the names of our ancestors that traces us back to the original farm we came from in 1670 in the Shenandoah Valley. My father’s family goes back to Alexander Hamilton. I am a daughter of the American Revolution.

[@Bdhstl95]

@@Nonjubuisness we are not dueling

[@maryvalentine9090]

I haven’t ever done a detailed family tree, but there are some interesting stories about my ancestry, and one of them is from my maternal grandmother, Pearl Wold- née Putnam. According to my family oral tradition she was descended directly from Isaiah Putnam who was a general under George Washington, and I guess his nickname was “Old Put” 😂 I think the path of family genetics is very interesting.

[@TarahMatson-zz2hj]

🤣

[@jennachanthavisay6051]

Hey my family has a book that goes back to around that time and is from the Shenandoah Valley/ Appalachian area also! So cool!

[@roscoeshepard]

​@@Bdhstl95I've traced my surname to Prince George County VA the first one came from England in 1635. I am also related to the Harrison president's and Jimmy Carter and William Jennings Bryan on my mom's side. People don't realize when you are born you have 4 grandparents then 8 then 16 then 32 and so on. All of them have different surnames. It gets mind boggling tracing all these surnames.

[@jacobchandler219]

I looked into my ancestry and i'm related to my mom, brothers, and my dad. Wild stuff.

[@rutht2023]

Lol.

[@maryault8928]

Im related to my mom sister and brothers to...idk my dad so idk 🤷🏻‍♀️ how cool 😎 😉 😂

[@lofthouse23]

Thank goodness you found that out. Imagine if you had found out the opposite?

[@tinawilson4616]

🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂

[@Tacha2878]

😂😂😂😂

[@TarahMatson-zz2hj]

I recently found out that my 12th great grandfathers knew of each other. One wrote a strong letter of condemnation to the governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony regarding the treatment of the other by the governor. They are Roger Williams and Obadiah Holmes. I also found out that Obadiah Holmes is the 6th great grandfather of Abraham Lincoln. However the fate of my 13th (?) great grandfather was a difficult revelation. His name is Edward Wightman, and he is the last religious martyr of England to be burned at the stake for heresy. I admit that I got a sick knot in my throat when I read that. His son John and widow later immigrated to the Colonies. Thank you for sharing these stories.

[@corrinejacobson9232]

My ggggrand uncle was the youngest member of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

[@samanthab1923]

That is cool

[@rutht2023]

Thats super. Clark is one of my ggg...uncles. It is interesting to me to think about historical events that my family members may have experienced.

[@KinaBoo20]

As a Washingtonian we all know that story very well! Very cool!❤

[@teritreiger7662]

Mandy Patinkin not being included surprised me. It was a gut-wrenching episode.

[@freddie488]

Probably because his reaction is already burned into the psyche of anyone who has seen just the clip of his ancestors revelation. I've never seen the episode but I've seen the clip and damn - my heart breaks for the man.

[@GenerallDRK]

I need to use one of these ancestry sites because I'm Afro, Italian, irish, and possibley native American.

[@careliz]

Eres Argentino?

[@cydkriletich6538]

Yes. Do a DNA test. Check out various sites, cuz some go deeper than others. What an interesting heritage you have!

[@amys2650]

His ancestor accused my 10th maternal grandmother of witchcraft and she was executed on 09/22/1692 . RIP Mary Ayer Parker

[@alecianewman4226]

😂

[@georgielancaster1356]

​@@alecianewman4226Are you laughing? Do you understand English?

[@veegeebrew3695]

hey cousin, Mary Ayers Parker was my 8th g-grandmother too.

[@AJ-sx4zz]

Growing up my grandmother always told us that we had a relative that fought in revolutionary war we did some research after she died it turns out the person she was talking about was Nathan hale which is kinda cool

[@thorthorson9926]

Thats very cool to discover. In my own genealogical research, I discovered that on my maternal side, that my 5th GGF fought the PA militia in the Revolutionary War, and my 2nd GGF fought at Cemetery Ridge/Little Big Top at the Battle of Gettysburg.

[@devinoolmstead3781]

Wait Nathaniel hall? Because I’m also related to him in my grandfathers side.

[@bdbeaudette]

Huge fan of Wes Studi! The man is a legend.

[@happyhedgehog6450]

Wes Studi is one of my favourite actors. He's always brilliant.

[@infinitejest.4994]

I was shocked at age 30 to find I had a half brother aged 60. He’s now deceased but he was a child my mother gave up for adoption in 1932. He tracked down my mother (who didn’t want anything to do with him.) He subsequently found me… just showed up at my house. We got to know each other somewhat over a six month period. It was stunning to see not only physical similarities in each other but talents and quirks we shared with our mother. He had spent no time with her. It was deeply unsettling. I realized my family kept this secret from me for years.

[@CazPea]

I would imagine that every human alive today, had ancestors who experienced an horrific event, it would be impossible not to have happened at some point in history.

[@missytuffet]

My mom has done her family tree back to William of Orange in the Netherlands (she's descended from one of his daughters). Also, my paternal grandfather liked to tell my dad he was descended from royal servants in the Netherlands (no idea if it's true or from what time period).

[@Jennifer-jt9cb]

A sad fact of reality is that a lot of people think that celebrities have everything going for them. That their lives are all but perfect and there’s no way they could relate to the general populace. They still eat, sleep, and do their laundry, the same as us. We just don’t see the pain in their lives anymore than we see it in the person behind us at Walmart.

[@maryault8928]

I wouldn't say they eat or do laundry the same as us but i see what your saying....at the end of the day we all have pain and it all hurts 😔

[@roxyjinks9643]

Pocahontas is my grandmother too, the Native American tribe is called wicocomico, my uncle researched our family tree!

[@gnostic268]

If you are an actual descendant, you should know her true name was Matoaka.

[@roxyjinks9643]

@@gnostic268 what did they call her on the show hmm🤔I know!

[@melanieboccinfuso5619]

Same with my other half. And he's a cousin of Laura secord

[@quentinburns8298]

They found what they are reasonably sure is the city of Werowocomoco. A lady had lived on the property for a few years having purchased it back in the 50s or 60s or whatever...she was not long on that land. She was a nature lover and walked the property and EVERYWHERE she went, she found artifacts. Pot shards by the 10s of thousands and similar. She made a hobby of collecting these items and categorizing them by color. After many years, someone got wind of this and came to see the artefacts and, even though a professional archaeologist, was astounded. They began a study of the place and based on old maps of the place, were able to make the call that this was Werowocomoco. In Virginia obviously.

[@herintuion88]

🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@alexguerra9337]

I wonder how much research they can do on my ancestry. I’m 80% indigenous American, in Mexico to be exact. But there’s VERY little paper trail due to the Spanish colonizers. I tried for years to find family past my great grandma but it’s hard.

[@Maya-bu2rf]

The Catholic Church is a good place to check. They have records that go very far back.

[@sid362]

I ordered a ancestry DNA test kit. I'm wondering how much indigenous blood I have in me as well. I live in South Texas, 20 minutes away from Mexico. I know I have to have European in me as well. I hope you find all the answers you're looking for ❤️

[@donnabo3619]

I've always wondered about my ancestors. I know some of my paternal grandparents are from Germany. Love this program.

[@darkangel7589]

Descendant of Martha Carrier here. Witch blood forever. 💖

[@byteme83]

I felt the shit out of Jeff Daniels reaction. We are not our ancestors. If they looking up at us, that reflects who THEY are, not who we are.

[@missamy5174]

I'm adopted, and when I met my birthdad this summer, I found out that I'm related to a famous LDS painter, Minerva Teichert, and Tom Brady. Kinda wild!

[@samuelcollantes1175]

Happy monday night, Phoebe, take care and God bless you. Greetings from Colombia to you as well

[@Jay123hollis]

I do a lot of genealogy research and I'm related to the Cash family.

[@haven_lady675]

Like Johnny Cash? 😮

[@Jay123hollis]

@haven_lady675 Yes ma'am I don't remember exactly how but I'm a distant cousin on my dad's side of the family. I'm also related to his wife's family the Carter family and I'm related by marriage to the country singer Johnny Russell Johnny Russell was a first cousin to my second cousin 1× removed that is 86 she is still alive on my mom side of the family.

[@IttyBittyStickerCo]

@@Jay123hollis I'm related to June Carter too! How fun!

[@JacobCarpenter-u6v]

My paternal grandfather was related to General Benedict Arnold by marriage. He was also connected to actress Katherine Hepbburn, also by marriage. My maternal grandmother was/is the great-granddaughter of a woman who had two illegitimate children and two husbands. It was family tradition untl last year, when two distant cousins paid for a DNA test for my great-uncle. I am now the genealogist regarding both of my parents' sides.

[@maryault8928]

"By marriage" doesnt count as family relation in my opinion but it does connect and tie families 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@kitchenwitch4860]

I really need to research my family. I knew my great grand morher and my great great grandmother both died within the last 4 years. My nana can't really trace back the history of our family. My aunt is native American and African American. My mom is Hispanic and African American and creole. Im creole and african american. My sister is islander (dont know specifically which) and african american. My brother is japanese and african american. Like... where did we come from? That 23 and me is so expensive.

[@charlesbranscomb8493]

yall brainnwashed blacks in america are not african weare indians no africanswere slaves here got proof that they been lying to us for almost 124 years

[@PrincessMeggala0913]

My whole family is a mystery. I was adopted as a baby so I have no idea my history. I wish I could go on this show and have them look it up 😂

[@veegeebrew3695]

You can probably do one of those ancestry DNA kits, will tell you who you have DNA links to iIF any of your DNA sharing relatives have also taken the same test). But beware, many people don't want to know that their g-g-granny/pa might have fooled around and had a kid by another person. BTW it is TERRIBLY expensive to get some genealogists to do some of your ancestry, I mean like thousands of bucks. I have 2 dead-ends in my tree that I wish I could afford to have someone trace for me. Maybe that lotto win lol.

[@johndonohue7862]

My grandfather was adopted. I know his father's name, but it's so common, it's hard to track down. Frank E. Smith.

[@realmama8683]

Family history is so fascinating. I am Irish on my father’s side and Italian on my mother’s side. Both sides of my family came to the UK just before WW2 broke out. My great grandparents on both sides met in in church, so my grandmother and grandfather grew up together in their lose nit catholic community. Likewise, my parents knew each other from Sunday school.

[@ninglight4433]

The darkest secrets were the fates of my paternal grandparents. My paternal grandfather died in a concentration camp. And he was neither jewish nor political active. My paternal grandmother was killed by a "person" after raping her. She harmed him with a scissor and trudged her out at the street, claiming with her dying breath that he violated her. He slit her throat at the street. He went free, irrespective from the brave witnesses confirming the story, since he claimed only defended his life against her and that she was a prostitute since she has not fought against. 30(!) staps in her belly and several other disgusting wounds are for me a prove that she was not willing at all. The modern part: You still find this behavior in all war zones, from Afghanistan to Irak, from Iran to Ukraine. Note: My father was raised by his at this time still working grand parents. My father became police officer and he never spoke about his parents.

[@veegeebrew3695]

ugly family history. May they RIP

[@Maya-bu2rf]

A lot of people were taken to the camps because of ethnic origin like gypsies, some were gay, some were disabled, and many were just poor

[@chrishorton9863]

Descendant of King Edward 3rd of England. Still looking into how far my ancestry goes.

[@THELIONSDEN-jw4ul]

YOU DO KNOW KING JAMES KING CHARLES THE FIRST WERE BLACK MEN WHO ARE JEWS FROM THE TRIBE OF JUDAH THE SAME AS JESUS CHRIST FROM THE TRIBE OF JUDAH THE SAME AS AMERICAN NEGROES FROM THE TRIBE OF JUDAH. BLACK PEOPLE WHO WERE JEWS RULED EUROPE DURING THE BYZANTIUM EMPIRE. GET BOOKS CALLED NATURE KNOWS NO COLOR LINE AND ANYWAYS KNOWING KING JAMES. PRESIDENT PUTIN RELEASED THE ANCIENT PAINTINGS OF JEWS BEING BLACK AND PUTIN SAID THAT HE SERVES BLACK JESUS AND GOT BAPTIZED UNDER BLACK JESUS. BOOKS RUSSIAN ICONS . WHITES STOLE THE HISTORY OF BLACK PEOPLE AND WHITE WASHED HISTORY

[@johndonohue7862]

I have a couple lords and ladies in England. I cancelled my ancestry a while ago. I should get back into it.

[@kerbearlynch15]

My granny didn't fully know when her birthday was, she thought it was either the 11th or 14th of November. Shortly after she past away my uncle found out that both of those dates were wrong and she was actually born 11th October 1925!! Lol another thing he found out that my great granda (her father in law) was an old-time IRA member long before my granda was born. The other side of my family (my daddy's side) I don't know alot about, apart from that my granny was related to the hunger striker Kevin Lynch, the Guildford 4 and the Maguire 7. I don't know anything about my Granda Lynch other than what I've heard from his family about him, (he died when I was 9) but nothing about his ancestry.

[@williamthomas1]

I am a direct descendant, and I wont say who, that signed the Deceleration of Independence and another married a President of the United Sates. They were separated by over 130 years from the same family but did not know each other at all and lived in very different parts of the country.

[@ohinyaprue3436]

We love you Wes Studi 🫶🏽

[@JuanEnriqueFloresJr]

Same here. Want to be friends?

[@alioh7615]

​@@JuanEnriqueFloresJr weirdo

[@robpolaris7272]

He played some of the scariest antagonists, yet he seems so kind in interviews. He is quite a convincing actor.

[@JuanEnriqueFloresJr]

@alioh7615 I’m a girl. What do you mean?

[@tracisr]

Vivian Liberto to me obviously had mixed roots.

[@janecenufer9097]

One of my distant uncles had a strange connection to Pancho Villa. His dad lost his entire livelihood when he was forced to abandon his ranch in Mexico after Pancho Villa's attacks. However, his father-in-law frequently played cards with Pancho Villa in a border town.

[@Scorpio13-w8c]

John Chavis who was one of the first educated blacks that attended present day Princeton, is my paternal grandmother’s great uncle. He opened a school in the Raleigh area where he taught and prepared students for Washington University. He taught white during the day and well to do black students in the evening. He was simultaneously employed by the Presbyterian church to preach on Sundays. He traveled from NC to Virginia. The law allowed him to teach slaves until the first slave revolt in that area. Then he could no longer teach slaves and his school was closed. He lost his income as a result of the slave revolt. The church continued to pay him a $50. stipend and he continued to preach to black and white congregations. His death was suspicious. It was suspected that he was killed because he taught any students that applied. The original sign posted outside his school stands in Chavis Park erected in his honor in Raleigh NC. He taught 7 languages. There is a statue of him in the civic center in Raleigh, housing complex and elementary school named after him as well. Our family roots began with free Cherokee Indians in the NC. They took on wives who were white and African. I don’t know who John Chavis parents are not sure where he fits in. Can you help me find that information. Also he served in the army.

[@HRHDMKYT]

It amazes me when the narration tries to sugar-coat harsh truths. (It says that Joe Manganiello’s female ancestor was thrown in an internment camp where she “met” German soldier [Name]. That removes all of the brutal violence that most likely was perpetrated upon this poor woman. Clearly she was assaulted and impregnated against her will. That’s how it was. The overlords were vicious and treated the prisoners they oversaw as no better than trash. Women were especially targets of their rage and lust. The inhumanity was real). Same issue with Edward Norton finding out his 12th Great Grandmother was Pocahontas. For a Caucasian person to be related to an American aboriginal person most likely means that somewhere in his family’s history, a First Nations woman was assaulted and impregnated by a white man. Not always, but most often.

[@riiiiight-z8m]

I've been feeling the same way about these sort of episodes. As you said, the scripts... okay, this is a light entertainment show, but that doesn't justify treating these painful subjects with the same trite language (how many times can you say "tragic" in one video?) and chipper delivery used for the ten best dances on Dancing with the Stars. The victims of holocausts and slavery didn't "lose their lives" like it was some sort of accident. They were starved to death. They were beaten to death. They were tortured to death.

[@elisabethhughes6005]

No blunt language allowed on the’Tube let alone TV. I agree with you guys. This nonsense with the soft language has to go. Call it what it is, and shame the @ss off of it.

[@veegeebrew3695]

I believe Pocahontas was married to explorer and plantation owner John Rolfe. They were married a few years and had a son. She died on a voyage to England they took together

[@kathrynellis-carter7298]

I wish I could have mine done. I am related to the Clantons of the Ok Corral but dontknow my father's side.

[@yvie914]

I recently discovered that my great grandfather, who was the Mayor of a small town, had resided over a young couples wedding and even signed their wedding certificate- that young bride's little brother (who was 7 yrs old at the time) grew up to marry the Mayor's daughter. These were my beloved, maternal grandparents! ❤ This was an incredible and cherished find. We now have these documents in our family album.

[@Mattnoble80]

I learned that my 3rd great grandmother was “a woman ahead of her times”. She had sons by different men but was never married. So my surname isn’t paternal it’s maternal

[@duke2651]

She was Edward Norton's 12th great grandmother. Interesting but not too genetically significant. After all, Ed Norton has 8,192 12th great grandmothers...we ALL do. An individual's genetic footprint shrinks very quickly as generations pass.

[@EphemeralFairyQueen]

i wonder if one of them was a shiny

[@madonnagorriaran9137]

No, not all of us do. My parents are 5th cousins, so I am missing a set of great great grandparents. Meaning I’m missing two sets of great great greats and so on.

[@duke2651]

@@madonnagorriaran9137 Even if some names show up on your family tree twice, or even more, those names still go in the slots where they belong within your lineage. As I said, we all have the same family tree structure. There is no biological or mathematical way to get around it. Be well.

[@lilianikolova7685]

I was surprised about Wess Stoody актьорът от Последния Мохикан разбира за индианските и другите си корени!😢

[@larissahorne9991]

I wouldn't exactly call what I found out about my maternal Great Grandma Hilda, known in my family as Gran unsettling. But it did explain where my olive skin tone came from. One of my aunties on Mum's side told me about Gran having been a Russian of Mongolian descent. Also, my great uncle, whom I knew as old man, inherited her colouring. My grandma's family immigrated from Finland during WWI. My Great Grandpa Frans was a blue-eyed blonde. My grandma had her dad's blue eyes and her mum's almond eye shape, with auburn hair. Her name was Impi, and she changed it to Imbi, we called her Nan-nan. Gran had to hide her ancestry because of a highly racist immigration policy that was in force at the time. It was called "The White Australia Policy." I'm proud of my heritage. Recently, I met my distant cousins of my Grandpa Frans who were visiting from Finland. I told them that about my resemblance to Nan-nan. With her father shape of the face, almond shaped eyes, high cheek bones, and olive skin. Thankfully, I inherited my nose shape from my maternal grandpa's side of the family. Nan-nan had a rather large nose. A friend of my from high school who did modelling told me that I had a face for it. She graduated with a contract with the same agency as Naomi Campbell.

[@veegeebrew3695]

OMG, Jeff Daniels ancestor squealed on my ancestor Mary Ayers Parker who was in the last group of accused Salem witches to be hung in 1692! She was my 8th g-grandmother.

[@samuelcollantes1175]

Happy monday night, Phoebe, take care and God bless you. Greetings from Colombia to you as

[@LilMermaid28]

We found out just in the last two years or so that my great grandmother (RIP) who we knew adopted my grandmother (RIP) may have actually been related to us. She may have been a distance cousin. My great grandmother never had kids so I would assume she had fertility issues. She adopted my grandmother from her mother who was 14 at the time. We also recently discovered she is still alive but did not want to reconnect. We were told she may have been sexual abused by a relative which produced my grandmother. She did go on to have more kids. History is crazy. I would have never thought that my great grandmother who I thought I shared no blood with may actually be family. Wild!!! Family is not always blood related but I had accepted that but to be told something different a decade after her death. I have so many questions that I wish I could have asked her. She is the reason I have a coffee addiction now. lol. Never give your 9 year olds coffee. 😂

[@kylaarmstrong-benjamin8066]

4:10 Lisa looks so much like her grandmother!

[@maryault8928]

Not knowing who my father is means i will never really know who i am or where i come from 😔 im so happy for everyone who finds there heritage ❤

[@AnneCaulder]

Have you heard of DNA testing?

[@orangeempire1745]

Found that I am related to famous Irish author Edna O'Brien, through her mother's line of CLEARYs. Found that I was not related to famous 6-day bike racer Reggie McNamara that my pop said we were. Also found some family secret about an uncle that caused our family to be estranged from my Irish grandparents in NY.

[@roscoeshepard]

Cleary is the oldest Irish surname. I live in NC there are alot of Cleary's here.

[@jessicabender1301]

Well my biggest shock is that I am viking ancestry and scots, and less german than I thought

[@peter636]

..Viking Norse peoples spoke a Germanic language, as they themselves descended from the Germanic~Tribes.. as the many and numerous Germanic tribes resided all over Europe.. __________________

[@veegeebrew3695]

Many Vikings eventually settled in the UK and of course there was a bunch who settled in Normandy France. So Scandanavian DNA pops up when you might not expect it

[@bretta3]

Wow, $1250 in 1860 is worth $47,500 and 2024.

[@EllenMRangel-ew8de]

My ancestors were from Austria 🇦🇹 heritage and the Princess 👸 had arthritis and neuropathy so they traveled to the USA 🇺🇸 and traveled further south west. They found an abandoned church ⛪️ and turned into a castle 🏰 The prince 🤴 got homesick and returned to Austria leaving the Princess 👸 behind 😢 She died of a broken heart 💔

[@Fadingroses19]

Seriously, that's so FUCKING sad 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢 1:00

[@labyrinthgirl17]

I think the most interesting thing I've discovered about my ancestors is that my mom's side of the family has a crest.

[@opheliaismyname9180]

I should preface this with the fact I'm English, so I don't have the tribulations of the New World in my direct ancestry I know that I have a great-great-uncle who was a racing driver (and a darn good one at that), that we have a 'relative' who was friends with Alfred Hitchcock, that another great-great-uncle is buried somewhere in Africa, and that my great-great-grandfather died after being mortally wounded in a bombing raid in WW1 (he's one of the unsung victims because the bomb that wounded him was dropped on a primary school, so the kids were, rightly, much bigger news). We suspect that I have Jewish ancestry on my mum's side, but she's unwilling to look into it too far (they lived in London going back generations, so any lost relatives would likely be pretty distant). I have a friend who is genuinely descended from the Witchfinder General, which they think is hilarious because they're very into tarot and stuff like that, as well as autistic, as are most of us, so wouldn't last long if he came to call

[@melissag2102]

I’m related to Michelle Obama. My maiden name is Applin and my great great great grandmother was Melvinia Shields McGruder.

[@veegeebrew3695]

I share a distant ancestor to Obama. My many times g-grandfathers first wife died, leaving a bunch of kids (one of which was my line) and he re-married another woman, had a bunch more kids, one of which was Obama's mother's line. I never can figure out the 5th cousin whatever removed, so I just say I share a common ancestor with xxx famous person

[@SqwatchinEas-Tx]

My 11th sbd 12th great grandparents also were on the Mayflower

[@honeylacecookie]

I had a feeling as a young girl about my Mom's side of the family being Jewish and all the names and times of them hiding in plain sight in Canada finally an older cousin confirmed the fact that we are Jewish on Mom's side and she was full of love for my Dad that tall man who fought in WW2 for the people who would become his family

[@patricksmith2274]

I watch this show but if I was a celebrity I wouldn't go on it because I already know that I'm descendant of slaves. Just talking about it there's a overwhelming pain/anger/ and grief I experience. To see it in writing will no doubt magnify my feelings. It's a part of AMERICAN HISTORY inwhich we still seem to gloss over or want people to forget. I remember asking my teacher in high school why wasn't slavery talked about in depth like the other things in class and his response was that it wasn't important.

[@adaly4649]

I am no historian, but my guess is that in large part it's because there's just so many fewer records illuminating the enslaved peoples' experiences as compared to their enslavers' voices. It's not to say that those accounts don't exist (e.g. Frederick Douglas, the 1936 Federal Writers' Project, etc.). But because most were denied an education it was especially difficult for most to write about their personal experiences (and obviously not everyone who *could* write would want to, after such trauma). So many records of slavery (like the 1850 Census' slave schedule) list only slightly more about enslaved people as do about animals and farm equipment in tax records-- which is exactly why family history research for descendants of former slaves is so difficult. Part of dehumanization is trying to strip away those pieces of their individuality-- which does make it more work to dig up accurate portrayals of what these generations of people were subjected to.

[@adaly4649]

...although on second thought if you grew up in certain parts of the country, then the teachers really may just have wanted to gloss over it and ignore the "nasty", utterly cruel parts of our history. Perhaps I am giving this teacher way, way, way too much benefit of the doubt here.

[@ericwandless7966]

On my 56th birthday I was told I had a long lost sister. Thanksgiving of that year I texted her for the first time. Since then we have texted constantly and I will be seeing her and my brother in law in a few days. The only downside (lol) is that of the half dozen eggs, I'm the only one cracked! 🤦🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️✌️

[@horrorluver565]

They could have left Lena Dunham off this one…

[@bwenluck9812]

Why???

[@horrorluver565]

She’s a dark family reveal in her own right..

[@horrorluver565]

@@bwenluck9812 admitted to molesting her younger sister in her book

[@myswanktrendz]

I agree with some of your response (all families have seen horror), and I also agree that a minority of people aren't happy with any group's acknowledgement of bad behavior, or apology; wanting more from a perceived aggressor in the form of reparations. We forget that all of us have experienced (at one time or an other) aggression for trying to start life in a new country. I feel that N America is full of immigrants and I can guarantee every one of those immigrant groups went through some form of prejudice, or unwanted attention, and unfairness , Every group! So who, exactly, should be paying reparations, and to whom, and who determines which parties are involved? Then, who determines which group pays, and which groups should receive? The best reparation we can offer each other is to actually pay attention and understand our questionable past actions, and how we got to here, Then we vow to NEVER repeat history, again.

[@Jennifer-jt9cb]

If family legends are to be believed, I’m blood cousins of both Martha Washington and Robert E Lee. Other legends are that we were nobility in Scotland. And my grandfather (who was completely full of shit) even made the claim that four cousins, who were all brothers, owned the entire island of Jamaica. There’s other family legends, but those are what comes to mind. The only claim I have been able to verify is the nobility. Our family home was razed to the ground centuries ago. But supposedly the foundation is still there under a few feet of soil. Besides, we all know the Jamaica claim was just random words my grandfather strung together. I don’t doubt that the island was owned by someone at some point. I’m just 110% positive that it wasn’t any of my family.

[@Von199X]

Fred Armisen looks like his grandfather

[@QueenTenacity]

My husband found out he’s a descendant of King Béla III of Hungry. I was a direct descendant of a Viking royal/warrior.

[@anitasanders3865]

I found out I had a relative who made ilegal moonshine in Kentucky.

[@iranbarnes2]

How the heck did Don Cheadle not make the list. The showed him the name of the boat his ancestor was on from Nigeria (1 of 9 only). Then sold to Native Americans who then went on the Trail of Tears with their slaves to the Indian Territory. After the slaves were freed, his ancestors were not because the Territory was considered a sovereign state. 7 years later when the tribes freed the slaves, his tribe held out 2 more years!

[@bejoyful753]

Sold at 5.

[@melanieboccinfuso5619]

Id like to find the link between me and our family's castle. The cooling castle in kent.

[@小鹿-p8f]

so much pain spread throughout the world by these doctrines that are still so pervasive to this day. my grandparents were holocaust survivors with most of their family killed in camps, and the trauma and the fear and the pain are generational. my line will end with me, because i cant bear to bring children into such an evil world. It's crippling to know how easily you and your entire family could be obliterated simply for existing...

[@thearmchairjournalist566]

I totally understand your reasoning for making that decision, I never wanted to bring children into this world either 😢

[@veegeebrew3695]

your choice, but I would be proud that any of my line survived such horrors and make sure the lines continued. Don't dwell on the negative, look at the positive,

[@diankelly6689]

I found out that my grandfather isn't my DNA match. Meaning he is only the man who was married to my grandmother not my father's father.

[@veesancez]

Ik my grandpa was part German and we had family in north Texas going back to before texas was apart of the u.s. my cousin traced our grandpa side back 3 generations to find our German great great great grandparents coming to texas. Now if we could find out what tribe we are apart of

[@catiemo7635]

The Slave Narratives must become a cornerstone of our American history- now!

[@YouCountSheep]

If you go back far enough you might discover that you had an ancestor who hit another over the head with a club because he wouldn't share his mammoth meat. We are all descendants of killers.

[@judychandler8733]

The price of slaves was astronomical for the times. It was a rich mans game The Average person of the times could never have owned a slave

[@bejoyful753]

Sold at 12 years old.

[@tokemeout]

One of my ancestors was the first person in Australia to commit murder

[@luislozano6073]

Joe Madison should have been the first place but I Maya Rudolph is more famous

[@maggiebastolla5430]

21:15 what is the “controversial” part of that syphilis study? From what I’ve heard, it was wrong (actually evil) in anybody’s/everybody’s book. There couldn’t possibly be any controversy about that, could there?

[@thursaiz]

Feeling upset for your ancestors owning slaves is ridiculous. It says nothing about you as a person, and it's just the realization that anyone with money throughout history owned slaves. Especially Africans and Muslims who invented the Atlantic Slave Trade.

[@dorethasmith2841]

The Portuguese started the slave trade

[@CobartDouglas]

Hey y'all 😮

[@NwoRun]

FRED did look like an Asian + Mexican.

[@judyreza4923]

💔

[@sherrita80548]

My great great grandmother was a slave she was freed when she was eight years old

[@jeffreyrichardson]

till we meet again welchs brothers ball point pen cardinal titmouse wren

[@cosaosa2855]

The people who take credit or blame for the actions of their ancestors are fools.

[@bwenluck9812]

@cosaosa No, that makes them human!!!

[@myswanktrendz]

@@bwenluck9812 exactly. They're just highly empathetic.

[@gulsahkara]

why so mad?

[@ES-qt6yo]

That includes material and financial assets too, right??? Can't take the spoils and not the responsibility for how they were gained..

[@veegeebrew3695]

@@ES-qt6yo how much financial gain have you inherited from your 5 times g-grandfather?

[@5SOSFAN1]

Do a video on top hardest 5sos to sing and most emotional 5sos songs and 5sos songs songs to dance too

[@BrendaAustin-c2j]

I discovered that my father had been married before he married my mother.

[@jcsinca3387]

I found out I'm related to Jeffrey Dahmer, Lizzy Borden and Joseph Stalin so I just came out of the closet this week and registered as a Republican...

[@mama_duck_on_the_lake7510]

Can't this show provide kleenex??? Jeez.

[@damonrouzerjr6895]

Johnny Cash marrying and having kids with a black woman at that time. I knew he was a G.O.A.T

[@aretnap3653]

Alanis Morissette Keeps Getting Hotter & Hotter! (Don't Ya Think!)😜 (DaveCoolYay Prolly Kicks HimSelf EveryTime She Appears on His TV for CellPhone Ads!) Coulier...I Know...I Know.😒

[@sydniestinson7377]

Her name is Matoaka, don’t use the name the colonizers gave her after all she went through

[@RyanK-100]

Yeah, well, this appeal to heartstrings might work with young people under 30. The rest of us just see it as the things that happened over 100 years ago. Farther back, we all have horror stories in our families. The word "slave" comes from the Muslim word for "Slavic people" and my ancestors were enslaved by Islam. Where are the reparations? I say let bygones be bygones for anything before 1970. Good only for historical analysis. Don't get too emotional or it will cause division. But the far-left extremists want to cherry pick certain "atrocities" to remember today. I found the history wonderful. I really think we should end welfare payment to mothers. Instead, the government should take the children and raise them in public institutions where every kid is considered equal. Stop paying poor people to have more babies. The old days had it right. Instead of welfare, give them work on the roads, bridges and infrastructure. No kids to worry about.

[@marquitadavis9916]

Melenials proving that they think that the world revolves around them, I didn't think anyone could have a low iq until I read this comment 😁😁😁 and just cause YOU don't care about ur ancestry doesn't mean others don't

[@bwenluck9812]

@Ryan You need to get out more!

[@marquitadavis9916]

Melenials try not to be miserable challenge go.... and u failed the transatlantic slave trade was the worst in history since it was based off of SKIN COLOR, u snow flakes get so triggered by the word slavery it's hilarious, by telling balck ppl to get over slavery is like telling Jewish ppl to get over the holocaust or 9/11 survivors to get over that traumatic day or native Americans to get over the genocide that has happened to them, and I thought u didn't care for ur ancestry but all of sudden ur ancestors were slaves😂😂😂

[@myswanktrendz]

I agree with some of your response (all families have seen horror), and I also agree that a minority of people aren't happy with any group's acknowledgement of bad behavior, or apology; wanting more from a perceived aggressor in the form of reparations. We forget that all of us have experienced (at one time or an other) aggression for trying to start life in a new country. I feel that N America is full of immigrants and I can guarantee every one of those immigrant groups went through some form of prejudice, or unwanted attention, and unfairness , Every group! So who, exactly, should be paying reparations, and to whom, and who determines which parties are involved? Then, who determines which group pays, and which groups should receive? The best reparation we can offer each other is to actually pay attention and understand our questionable past actions, and how we got to here, Then we vow to NEVER repeat history, again.

[@theseventhchilde]

...you think children should be taken from their mothers and raised in public institutions because of MONEY and you think the "far left" are extreme? 😂 You have NO perspective at all 😂😂😂

[@bee-vz9fw]

REPARATIONS FOR BLACK AMERICANS

[@thursaiz]

Will the African nations who sold their own people to Muslims and Europeans also be paying? Without them, the slave trade would not have been possible. Not to mention that Islamic nations in the Middle East took more African slaves than the Europeans did. Who pays? The "buyer" or the "seller"?

[@acommonsense2548]

​​@@thursaizEasy! Many of those governments are no longer around. Our government is. Also what do they have to do with the atrocities committed by our goverment against it's own people? Reparations are owed and not just for slavery but goverment supported terrorism , murder, and theft of property for many years. Right is right and justice is justice. It's owed.

[@backforblood3421]

"Fathers never seeing their kids again..." Well, that somehow seems like an improvement over choosing never to see them to begin with. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@veegeebrew3695]

sounds normal for modern times