The Hidden Truth in Viola Davis' Family Tree | Finding Your Roots | PBS

- I started with Viola. She was born on a plantation in South Carolina, where her mother's

family

had lived for generations. And she still feels a deep connection to the place, even though she didn't stay there for long. So when someone asks you, Viola Davis, who are

your

people, where do you come from? What are you saying? - I always say that I come from Singleton Plantation, in St. Matthews, South Carolina. I was born in my grandmother's sharecropping house, and that's usually it. Yo, everything stops there. I mean, once we moved to Rhode Island, when I was two months old, I lost that connection to my

family

in the South. - So you don't consider

your

self a Rhode Island native?

You spent a lot of time there though. You went to school there. - Yes, I would call it my home. But it's interesting that when I talk about where my home is, I always talk about where I was born. - Good. - And I think the Rhode Island disconnect is just the black side of me saying, oh, it was hard to integrate - Absolutely. - in that culture. So, I always return to my birth. - Yes. And where are your people from? - The purest form, yes. -While Viola may feel close to her mother's people, she knew very little about her mother's lives.

First we focus on her mother's parents, Henry and Mozell Logan. Both were born in St. Matthews, South Carolina. And we find them in the town archives, in 1942, making a very significant decision. - Signatures of the contracting parties. Henry Logan, Mozell Howell: That's your grandparents' marriage certificate. What's it like to see that? - Awesome. I mean, you know, the people who made you who you are, like you weren't born, - Yeah. - If it weren't for them. - That's how it is. - And yet, you don't really know them. Then, suddenly, you're seeing it, right there. It's pretty incredible. - They were married on September 19, 1942.

Henry was 22 years old, your grandmother, Mozell, was only 15. - The same age as my mom and dad. - Yes. - When they got married. - That's how it is. Same diffusion. - Wow. - The Logans were married for 37 years and had at least 18 children together. But as we scrolled through the records they left behind, we noticed something unusual, a secret that Viola's grandfather, Henry, had largely kept to himself. On his social security application, filed in the early 1940s, Henry's father is listed as a man named Gable Logan. But when Henry died in 1979, his obituary said something very different. -He was the son of the late John Young and Mrs.

Corine Ravenel Logan. Ooh. - Mm-hmm. - Oh. - Well, according to this obituary, Henry's father was a man named John Young, not Gable Logan. Did your mom ever talk about this? - Never. - Hmm. Isn't that silence interesting? - Silence is always interesting to me. - Records show that Henry's mother, Corinne, married Gable Logan in 1912, and that they were still married when Henry was born in May 1920. But of course, that doesn't prove that Gable was Henry's father . So we set out to see what else we could learn about Gable and Corine, and we found a surprise.

Could you turn the page? - Oh, Corine, what are you doing? - Viola? This record is dated July 18, 1919. Could you please read the transcribed section? - List of Casual Colored Passengers Returning to the United States, Port of Departure, Brest, France, to Camp Mills, New York. Arrived July 18, 1919. Name: Logan, Gable. Address: St. Matthews, South Carolina. - Any idea what you're looking at? - He must have served during, this would be World War I, right? - That's how it is. That's a list of black soldiers who returned from serving in France during World War I, and Gable Logan was on that ship, did you know that? - No.

Nobody talks about that. - Good. -Yes.-Well, it's certainly possible that Gable got off the ship, returned home to his wife, and conceived his grandfather. However, there is just one problem. Do you see where the men on this ship were going? They will return to Camp Mills. - Camp Mills? Yeah. I see it right there, Camp Mills, yeah. - Gable got off his ship and headed to a military base on Long Island, New York. - Oh. -And we found no evidence that he ever returned to South Carolina. - Wow. - So what do you think happened? -I think Corine, uh, I don't know, got bored, had a disconnection and, um, she went with someone else while he was away, and...

I think it was a very short-lived relationship. -Viola's theory was apparently supported by the 1920 South Carolina census, where we saw Corine living with her parents, just four doors away from a familiar name. - John Young, bing! Head, black, age: 35 years, married. Oh. Occupation: farmer. Josephine: wife, black, age: 27 years. - Do you recognize any names there? - Yes. Young Juan. - What's it like to see that? - It's like life, you know? They are people who get together with other people who are married. It's the mess of relationships and the mess of, you know, love, sex... Mm-hmm. - Um, yes, it's true. - Lu- lust. - Yes.

Lust, desire. - Yes. - At this point, it seemed quite likely that Henry's father was John Young and not Gable Logan. But we had to be sure. So, we turn to DNA. Since Viola's mother is a generation closer to Henry, we asked her to take a DNA test. We then compared her genetic profile to millions of other profiles in publicly available databases. And we saw that she had no matches with anyone in the extended Logan family. Which means Henry was definitely not Gable's son. But that still left us with a question. Now, of course, just because Gable wasn't Henry's father doesn't mean John Young was. - Exactly. - So we went back to the DNA databases and immediately noticed a group of matches that were all related to your mother, through a couple.

And based on the amount of DNA that her mother shares with the descendants of that couple, we confirmed that they were her mother's great-grandparents, biologically, genetically linked to her mother, through one of her children. . In fact, a son, to be exact. - Wow. - That son is Henry's father. And that son is your mother's biological grandfather. Do you want to meet him? - Yes absolutely. - Could you please turn the page? Viola, could you read the name in the box, with a yellow border, on the chart in front of you? - Young John. - Young John. - Yes.

Wow. It lets me know that I entered this world with a great burden, from the moment I came out of my mother's womb. - Good. - I am the fusion of many stories and many secrets. - The

truth

about Henry's paternity probably remained

hidden

, largely due to the events that followed. His mother, Corine, died of tuberculosis in 1926, when Henry was only six years old. And when we looked for his father, John Young, we found him in the 1930 census, living away from St. Matthews. - City of Charlotte, North Carolina. John Young, director, age: 46 years. Occupation: janitor, apartment, house.

Josefina: wife. Age: 37. John Junior: son. Age: eight. Place of birth: South Carolina. Julius: son, age: four. Place of birth: South Carolina. - Hmm. Sometime between 1926 and 1930, John Young, his wife Josephine, and his two young children, his grandfather's half-siblings...Yes.-Moved from St. Matthews to Charlotte, Carolina from North. Do you think John's relationship with Corine may have had something to do with this move? - Oh, absolutely. You know, you have to bury your secrets. - That's how it is. I can't live four doors away from that heifer. I can hear that conversation. "Huh? You don't think I know?

Look at that baby, that baby looks like you!" How do you imagine Henry felt? His mother dies and then his father, his biological father, walks away. - Abandoned. - Yes. - And it was probably labeled as spam. - That's how it is. - Yes. - What is it like to learn all this? To see all this? - I think we all want to create a past that benefits us and our fantasies. - Yes. - I think because the other one is too difficult to process. MMM. We like stories that will elevate us. - Good. - You know, we're not so good with the confusing

truth

. - No. - And, uh, this is a confusing truth.