I'M HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.

WELCOME TO "FINDING YOUR ROOTS," A JOURNEY INTO THE ANCESTRAL PASTS OF SOME OF AMERICA'S MOST FASCINATING FIGURES.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'LL BE EXPLORING THE FAMILY TREES OF TWO CELEBRATED ACTORS -- MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL AND ROBERT DOWNEY JR. LIKE SO MANY AMERICANS, MAGGIE AND ROBERT'S ANCESTORS CAME FROM PLACES THROUGHOUT EUROPE.

BUT THEIR PARTICULAR MIXTURES ARE REMARKABLY SIMILAR.

BOTH HAVE JEWISH ANCESTORS FROM EASTERN EUROPE ON ONE SIDE, AND ON THE OTHER SIDE, NON-JEWISH ANCESTORS SCATTERED ACROSS THE OLD WORLD.

WE COULD TRACE MAGGIE AND ROBERT'S FAMILY LINES OVER CENTURIES, BACK TO ENGLISH KINGS AND MEDIEVAL PEASANTS.

BUT ALL THE DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF THEIR FAMILY TREES ENDED UP HERE IN AMERICA.

"NO ACRES, NO NEGROES" -- THANK THE LORD -- "NO HORSES, AND ONE CATTLE."

SO, YOU KNOW, HE WASN'T EXACTLY LIVING UP THERE WITH THE ROCKEFELLERS.

NEITHER OF THEM HAD ANY IDEA HOW DEEP THEIR AMERICAN ROOTS RUN.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET A FEW OF YOUR COUSINS?

OKAY.

[ LAUGHS ] THEY'RE NOT REALLY MY COUSINS.

THESE ARE YOUR COUSINS.

TO DISCOVER MAGGIE AND ROBERT'S LOST ANCESTORS, WE'VE ASKED GENEALOGISTS TO FOLLOW THE PAPER TRAIL AND HELP US STITCH TOGETHER THE PAST.

WE'VE DISTILLED EVERYTHING WE FOUND INTO A BOOK OF LIFE, A RECORD OF OUR DISCOVERIES.

THIS IS YOUR BOOK OF LIFE.

WOW!

SO THIS IS THE WHOLE OTHER SIDE.

THAT'S RIGHT.

OKAY.

AND WHEN THE PAPER TRAIL RUNS OUT, GENETICISTS TURN TO THE LATEST ADVANCES IN DNA ANALYSIS.

COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

OH, COME ON!

[ LAUGHS ] THAT IS NUTS!

WHEN WE INTERVIEWED ROBERT AND MAGGIE, BOTH WERE EXPECTING THEIR SECOND CHILD.

I CAN'T IMAGINE A BETTER TIME TO LEARN ABOUT YOUR ANCESTORS.

OURS IS A COUNTRY OF IMMIGRANTS, A PATCHWORK MADE UP OF VARIOUS HISTORIES AND CULTURES.

ALL AMERICANS ARE THE DESCENDANTS OF PEOPLE WHO CAME HERE FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE.

THE ONLY QUESTION IS, WHEN?

FAMILIES OFTEN HAVE SHORT MEMORIES, AND FEW OF US ARE ABLE TO TRACE OUR ANCESTRY BACK MORE THAN A HANDFUL OF GENERATIONS.

NOW, ROBERT, WE SPOKE WITH YOUR PARENTS, AND WE GOT THE SENSE THAT THERE WASN'T A LOT OF TALK ABOUT LINEAGE AND FAMILY TREES AND ANCESTORS WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP.

DID THEY TELL YOU ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR FAMILY TREE?

I MEAN, REALLY, PAST GRAND-- GREAT-GRANDPARENTS, WHICH WAS ALSO A LITTLE BIT FOGGY, NOT MUCH.

WELL, WHEN DID YOU GET INTERESTED?

I'VE ALWAYS KIND OF BEEN INTERESTED.

I'D SAY, "HEY, WHERE ARE WE FROM?"

AND I'D JUST GET VERY VAGUE ANSWERS, WHICH LEADS ME TO BELIEVE THAT, YOU KNOW, BOTH OF MY PARENTS BEING KIND OF... COUNTER-CULTURE, ARTIST TYPES, THAT THAT WAS JUST A VERY, YOU KNOW, LIKE, "WHO CARES?"

SORT OF DEAL.

ROBERT'S PARENTS WORKED IN THE FILM INDUSTRY.

HIS FATHER, ROBERT DOWNEY SR., DIRECTED AVANT-GARDE FILMS, AND HIS MOTHER, ELSIE, ACTED IN HER HUSBAND'S PROJECTS.

Downey: WE LIVED IN A LOFT NEAR GREENWICH VILLAGE.

I KNEW THAT WE WERE A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN MY...MY FRIENDS AT KINDERGARTEN.

I'M NOT SAYING THAT MY -- THAT MY FAMILY DOESN'T HAVE CLASS OF A SORT, BUT WE'RE -- WE'RE A LITTLE MORE, UH... RAGAMUFFIN-Y, TO BE HONEST.

ROBERT, OF COURSE, PICKED UP THE FAMILY BUSINESS AND WENT ON TO BECOME ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED ACTORS IN HOLLYWOOD, KNOWN FOR HIS ROLES IN "LESS THAN ZERO" AND "CHAPLIN," AS WELL AS IN BLOCKBUSTER FRANCHISES SUCH AS "SHERLOCK HOLMES" AND THE "IRON MAN" SERIES.

MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL HAS ALSO HAD A DIVERSE MOVIE CAREER.

SHE BECAME AN INDIE SENSATION AFTER HER PERFORMANCE IN THE FILM "SECRETARY" AND WAS NOMINATED FOR AN ACADEMY AWARD FOR HER ROLE IN "CRAZY HEART" IN 2010.

SHE'S ALSO STARRED IN HOLLYWOOD HITS, SUCH AS "THE DARK NIGHT."

AND, LIKE ROBERT, MAGGIE IS THE CHILD OF FILMMAKERS.

HER FATHER IS A DIRECTOR, HER MOTHER A SCREENWRITER.

MY PARENTS WEREN'T, YOU KNOW, MOVIE STARS, YOU KNOW, THEY WERE MAKING SMALL MOVIES AND -- SO IT DIDN'T FEEL LIKE A KIND OF FANTASY OF LIKE A GLAMOUR LIFE.

I MEAN, THEY BOTH HAD JOBS THAT SEEMED LIKE THEY FED THEM AND EXCITED THEM.

IN ADDITION TO THEIR SHOW-BUSINESS CHILDHOODS, MAGGIE AND ROBERT ALSO SHARE A SIMILAR PATCHWORK OF ETHNIC GROUPS SPREAD ACROSS EUROPE.

WHEN SOMEONE ASKS ABOUT YOUR ORIGINS, "MAGGIE, WHERE ARE YOU FROM," WHAT DO YOU SAY?

I SAY, "HALF SWEDISH, AND HALF RUSSIAN JEWISH."

MM-HMM?

WHICH ETHNICITIES DO YOU FEEL COURSING THROUGH YOUR VEINS?

OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, SCOTTISH, GERMAN, I'VE HEARD THERE'S SOME IRISH, I KNOW THERE'S SOME EASTERN EUROPEAN.

TODAY, BOTH ROBERT AND MAGGIE ARE EAGER TO LEARN ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO CAME BEFORE THEM.

YOU KNOW, I THINK, HAVING A DAUGHTER AND BEING PREGNANT WITH ANOTHER DAUGHTER, I WOULD -- I WOULD LIKE INFORMATION.

AND I LIKE THE STORIES, AND I LIKE THE FANTASY -- I MEAN, IT'S INTERESTING, BUT IT'S...

IT HOLDS LESS APPEAL TO ME RIGHT NOW THAN WHAT IS ACTUALLY TRUE.

SO WE APPROACHED YOU AT THE PERFECT TIME.

YEAH, I THINK YOU HAVE TO KNOW ABOUT WHAT YOU CAME FROM.

I REALL-- THAT'S WHY I WANTED TO DO THIS.

I THINK 'CAUSE IT'S BEEN ON MY MIND FOR A WHILE, AND I'M INTERESTED IN ALL THE COUNTRIES THAT -- THAT MY ANCESTORS WERE FROM, YOU KNOW?

MM-HMM.

I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW AS MUCH AS YOU CAN ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHERE YOU COME FROM.

WHEN YOU DON'T ASK THESE QUESTIONS, YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU ARE.

SINCE ROBERT AND MAGGIE BOTH DESCEND FROM JEWISH ROOTS ON ONE SIDE, WE STARTED BY TRYING TO TRACE THEIR JEWISH ANCESTORS.

AND WE DISCOVERED THAT THEIR ANCESTORS WERE PART OF THE SAME MASSIVE EXODUS FROM EASTERN EUROPE AT THE TURN OF THE 20th CENTURY.

FIRST, I WANTED TO FIND OUT WHAT ROBERT ALREADY KNEW.

DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WHERE YOUR GREAT-GRANDPARENTS CAME FROM?

I BELIEVE IT'S EASTERN EUROPE.

OKAY, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE FAMILY LORE SAID THEY'RE FROM?

I WOULD SAY RUSSIA OR POLAND.

RUSSIANS...

I WENT TO TALK WITH ROBERT'S FATHER AT HIS APARTMENT IN MANHATTAN TO FIND OUT IF HE MAYBE KNEW SOMETHING MORE.

THIS IS RIGHT AFTER THE ARMY.

YOU LOOK LIKE JAMES DEAN.

WELL, EVERYBODY THEN WANTED TO LOOK LIKE THAT.

YEAH.

AND THIS IS ME WITH ONE OF MY KIDS, I CAN'T TELL WHICH ONE.

IT'S GREAT -- FOR SOMEBODY NOT INTERESTED IN YOUR FAMILY TREE, YOU HAVE A LOT OF FAMILY PICTURES GOING BACK A LONG WAY.

SO, THAT'S YOUR MOM.

DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE YOUR GRANDPARENTS CAME FROM?

JUST THAT THEY WERE JEWISH, AND I HEARD THE WORD, "RUSSIA."

COULD YOU TURN THE PAGE, PLEASE?

IS THAT GUSSIE?

YEAH.

THAT'S JOSEPH AND GUSSIE, YOUR GRANDPARENTS AND ROBERT'S GREAT-GRANDPARENTS.

RIGHT.

AND GUSSIE WAS BORN JANUARY 20, 1872.

GUSSIE GOLDBERG, ROBERT SR.'S GRANDMOTHER, LANDED IN NEW YORK AT THE BEGINNING OF AN ENORMOUS WAVE OF JEWISH MIGRATION TO AMERICA.

SHE AND HER FAMILY DISEMBARKED AT CASTLE GARDEN, THE PREDECESSOR TO ELLIS ISLAND, AND IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS ADDED THEIR NAMES TO A LIST OF NEW ARRIVALS.

SHIP ARRIVAL RECORD, GOLDBERG FAMILY, 1892.

GUSSIE GOLDBERG, 18!

THIS IS THE SHIP REGISTRY, AND IT SAYS THAT YOUR GRANDMOTHER, GUSSIE GOLDBERG, ARRIVED IN NEW YORK WHEN SHE WAS 18 YEARS OLD.

SHE WAS SO TINY, SHE COULD HAVE BEEN IN SOMEBODY'S, WHO KNOWS, SUITCASE.

[ Laughs ] FREE PASSAGE.

[ LAUGHS ] GUSSIE GOLDBERG, AGE 18, LAST RESIDENCE, PREN.

YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE PREN IS, ROBERT?

I'M SORRY.

LET'S TURN THE PAGE.

THERE IT IS, BUDDY.

LITHUANIA?

THAT IS NUTS!

PREN TODAY IS IN LITHUANIA.

BUT WHEN THE GOLDBERGS LEFT IN 1892, IT WAS PART OF RUSSIA, JUST LIKE FAMILY LEGEND SAID.

AND THE POPULATION WAS AROUND 2,500.

AT THE TIME, ABOUT HALF THE POPULATION WAS JEWISH.

WOW, LITHUANIA.

EVER BEEN THERE?

NO.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO?

YEAH, NOW I DO.

NOW I WANT TO GO.

ACCORDING TO THE SHIP'S ARRIVAL RECORD, GUSSIE CAME TO AMERICA WITH HER MOTHER, IDA GOLDBERG.

THE TWO WOMEN SETTLED ON MANHATTAN'S LOWER EAST SIDE, WHERE SOME 135,000 OTHER EASTERN EUROPEAN JEWS HAD ALREADY PUT DOWN ROOTS.

WE ASKED JONATHAN SARNA, AN EXPERT IN JEWISH HISTORY AT BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY, JUST WHAT IDA AND GUSSIE WOULD HAVE ENCOUNTERED IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD THEY NOW CALLED HOME.

CHANCES ARE THAT THEY LIVED IN A RATHER POOR TENEMENT.

THERE WERE TREMENDOUS HOUSING SHORTAGES.

AND THE CROWDING LED TO INNUMERABLE HEALTH PROBLEMS.

PER SQUARE MILE, MORE PEOPLE LIVED ON THE LOWER EAST SIDE THAN ANYWHERE ELSE ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET.

IN THE CRUSH OF IMMIGRATION AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, THE LIVES OF THESE NEW AMERICANS OFTEN PROCEEDED WITHOUT MUCH OF A TRACE.

SOMETIMES THE SOLE RECORD OF AN IMMIGRANT'S EXISTENCE SURFACED ONLY WHEN HE OR SHE DIED.

WE FOUND JUST SUCH A RECORD FOR IDA GOLDBERG, GUSSIE'S MOTHER.

NEITHER ROBERT NOR HIS FATHER HAD EVER HEARD OF IDA GOLDBERG.

FOR THEM, THIS SLIP OF PAPER WAS AN INTRODUCTION TO A LONG-LOST FAMILY MEMBER.

Downey: CERTIFICATE AND RECORD OF DEATH, IDA GOLDBERG, DATE OF DEATH MAY 18, 1893.

AGE IN YEARS, 45.

SHE WAS YOUNG.

Downey Sr.: BIRTHPLACE, RUSSIA.

HOW LONG IN U.S., 10 MONTHS.

10 MONTHS.

SHE MADE IT ALL THAT WAY TO GAIN FREEDOM, FOR THE JEWS WERE BEING PERSECUTED, OF COURSE, AS ALWAYS.

SHE GETS TO THE PROMISED LAND, AND 10 MONTHS LATER, TRAGICALLY, SHE DIES.

I'D NEVER HEARD OF THIS.

YOU ARE MEETING YOUR GREAT-GRANDMOTHER, IDA GOLDBERG.

WOW.

45 YEARS OLD.

IN 1901, THE AVERAGE LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH FOR A WOMAN IN NEW YORK WAS 45 YEARS.

SO, WHILE IT SEEMS TO US THAT IDA DIED VERY YOUNG, HER LIFE SPAN WAS TYPICAL FOR THE TIME.

THE GIVEN CAUSE OF DEATH WAS PHTHISIS, A 19th-CENTURY WORD FOR TUBERCULOSIS.

NOW, HERE'S IDA'S DEATH CERTIFICATE AGAIN.

COULD YOU PLEASE READ THE HIGHLIGHTED SECTION?

OH, MY GOSH!

PLACE OF DEATH, 68 MOTT STREET.

68 MOTT STREET.

ISN'T THAT SOMETHING?

THAT'S THE BUILDING AT 68 MOTT STREET TODAY.

AND IT'S EXACTLY THE SAME BUILDING THAT STOOD THERE IN 1892 WHERE IDA LIVED IN THE 10 MONTHS UNTIL HER DEATH.

THIS IS BEFORE, AND AFTER.

WHEN I WAS GROWING UP, I JUST REMEMBER BEING AROUND THERE.

THAT'S INCREDIBLE.

[ WHISTLE BLOWS ] ABOUT A DECADE LATER, AT THE HEIGHT OF JEWISH MIGRATION TO AMERICA, MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL'S GREAT-GRANDFATHER, BENJAMIN SILBOWITZ, STEPPED OFF THE BOAT AT ELLIS ISLAND AND SETTLED JUST BLOCKS FROM 68 MOTT STREET.

ON THE LOWER EAST SIDE, INDUSTRY WAS THRIVING, AND JOBS WERE PLENTIFUL, ESPECIALLY IN THE GARMENT TRADE.

COULD YOU TURN THE PAGE?

YOUR GREAT-GRANDUNCLE LEFT BEHIND AN ORAL HISTORY THAT TELLS US ABOUT YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER, BENJAMIN.

COULD YOU PLEASE READ WHAT IT SAYS HERE?

"WHEN BENJAMIN FINALLY WAS LET OUT FROM ELLIS ISLAND, "HE WAS ON HIS OWN IN A STRANGE LAND, "STRANGE LANGUAGE, "SO BENJAMIN HAD TO SWIM OR SINK.

"HE LANDED A JOB TO CUT FLOWERS FOR LADIES' HATS, $3 A WEEK.

"HE PERSEVERED HARD, AND AFTER MANY JOBS, HE BECAME A CUTTER IN THE LADIES' GARMENT TRADE."

IT SOUNDS LIKE IT WAS REALLY ROUGH.

BENJAMIN LIVED THROUGH SUCH HARDSHIP.

YEAH, I MEAN, HE, I THINK HE USED TO MAKE MY MOM COATS OUT OF LEFTOVER SCRAPS FROM WHERE HE WOULD WORK AS A CUTTER.

OH, REALLY?

OH, THAT'S COOL.

YEAH.

LIKE MANY OF HIS NEIGHBORS ON THE LOWER EAST SIDE, BENJAMIN SILBOWITZ'S JOURNEY TO NEW YORK HAD BEEN LONG AND ARDUOUS.

BORN IN WHAT'S NOW LATVIA AND WAS THEN RUSSIA, BENJAMIN GREW UP IN A TIME AND PLACE WHERE JEWISH ANCESTRY WAS A DISTINCT DISADVANTAGE.

Sarna: BY THE END OF THE 19th CENTURY, IN RUSSIA, THEY MADE LAWS THAT SEVERELY RESTRICT THE KINDS OF OCCUPATIONS JEWS CAN ENTER, WHERE JEWS CAN LIVE, WHETHER THEY CAN GET HIGHER EDUCATION, AND SO FORTH.

Woman: THE JEWS WEREN'T ALLOWED TO OWN LAND IN MY GRANDFATHER'S TIME IN RUSSIA.

MAGGIE'S MOM, NAOMI, REMEMBERS HER GRANDFATHER, BENJAMIN, WELL.

Naomi: HE WOULD TELL ME STORIES THAT THEY WERE VERY BADLY TREATED.

THE YOUNG JEWISH BOYS WERE GOING TO BE CONSCRIPTED INTO THE ARMY, AND A COUPLE OF THEM CUT OFF THEIR TOES AND RAN AWAY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND DID WHATEVER THEY COULD TO AVOID BEING IN THE TSAR'S ARMY.

THEY DID ALMOST ANYTHING.

AT THE TIME, RUSSIA WAS IN THE MIDST OF A BITTER WAR AGAINST THE JAPANESE -- [ CANNON FIRES ] A WAR THAT FUELED A SEEMINGLY INSATIABLE DEMAND FOR SOLDIERS.

Sarna: THOUSANDS OF JEWS ARE CONSCRIPTED.

THE RUSSIAN ARMY TENDED TO TREAT SOLDIERS LIKE CANNON FODDER.

AND IT'S NO GREAT SURPRISE THAT SOMEBODY WOULD HAVE DECIDED TO ESCAPE.

YOUR GREAT-GRANDUNCLE TELLS US WHAT HAPPENED NEXT, IF YOU'D PLEASE TURN THE PAGE.

COULD YOU READ THAT?

"THERE WAS A SECRET WAY TO LEAVE "AND CROSS THE RUSSIAN BORDER INTO GERMANY.

"THERE WERE CERTAIN AGENTS WHO OPERATED FOR MONEY "TO HELP THESE YOUNG MEN WHO DID NOT SERVE THE TSAR "TO CROSS INTO GERMANY.

FROM THERE ON, THEY WERE ON THEIR OWN."

DID YOU EVER HEAR THIS STORY?

YOUR FAMILY EVER TALK ABOUT IT?

MNH-MNH.

BENJAMIN FINALLY MADE IT TO AMERICA IN 1906.

AFTER SOME YEARS LIVING ON THE LOWER EAST SIDE, HE MOVED HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTERS UP TO THE BRONX, WHERE HE OPENED A SMALL FAMILY BUSINESS.

Naomi: THERE WAS A GAS STATION AND A LITTLE STORE ON A LITTLE CORNER STREET.

MY MOTHER AND HER SISTERS PUMPED GAS, AND THEY WENT TO SCHOOL.

THEY DID EXTREMELY WELL.

YOU KNOW, THEY WENT ON TO DO THESE THINGS THAT I DON'T THINK ANYBODY DREAMED OF.

WHILE VERY FEW WOMEN HAD PROFESSIONS AT THIS TIME, NAOMI'S MOTHER -- MAGGIE'S GRANDMOTHER -- GRADUATED FROM MEDICAL SCHOOL AND BECAME A RESPECTED PEDIATRICIAN.

NAOMI REMEMBERS HER MOTHER BEING ON CALL 18 HOURS A DAY, ALONGSIDE HER FATHER, WHO ALSO WORKED AT THE HOSPITAL.

Naomi: WE'RE PASSING THE BROOKLYN JEWISH HOSPITAL, WHICH I THINK IS NOW JUST AN APARTMENT BUILDING.

BUT IT WAS WHERE I WAS BORN AND WHERE MY PARENTS WERE INTERNS.

BEING A PROFESSIONAL WORKING PERSON AND BEING A MOTHER AT THAT TIME WAS REALLY, REALLY DIFFICULT.

Gyllenhaal: I THINK FOR MY GRANDMOTHER TO HAVE COME FROM THESE IMMIGRANT PARENTS FROM RUSSIA AND HER FATHER HAVING DONE WHAT HE DID, AND THEN TO HAVE BECOME A DOCTOR AND TO HAVE RAISED MY MOTHER -- THAT WAS AN INCREDIBLE THING TO DO.

RUTH SILBOWITZ MADE REMARKABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FIELD OF MEDICINE.

SHE INVENTED A METHOD OF TESTING NEWBORNS FOR BIRTH DEFECTS THAT RECEIVED NATIONAL RECOGNITION.

THIS IS WHAT I'VE HEARD A LOT ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THIS KIND OF THING, AND THESE WOMEN -- YOU KNOW, MY GRANDMOTHER AND MY AUNTS, WHO WERE PROFESSIONALS AND WOMEN SUCH A LONG TIME AGO, AT SUCH A DIFFERENT TIME.

DID YOU EVER WONDER HOW THE SILBOWITZ GIRLS GOT THEIR INCREDIBLE DRIVE?

I FEEL LIKE IT MUST HAVE HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THEIR PARENTS.

BUT I DON'T KNOW -- I MEAN, MAYBE IT'S IN THEIR BLOOD.

WE COULDN'T TRACE MAGGIE OR ROBERT'S JEWISH ANCESTORS MUCH FURTHER THAN THEIR GREAT-GRANDPARENTS, WHICH IS ACTUALLY QUITE COMMON AMONG EASTERN EUROPEAN JEWISH PEOPLE.

PERSECUTED FOR CENTURIES ACROSS EUROPE, JEWISH RECORDS WERE OFTEN BURNED IN VIOLENT POGROMS OR LOST IN FORCED MIGRATIONS FROM PLACE TO PLACE.

HOWEVER, ON THE OTHER SIDES OF MAGGIE AND ROBERT'S FAMILY TREES, THE GENEALOGICAL RECORDS ARE INTACT AND THOROUGH, WITH THE PAPER TRAIL LEADING ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE MIDDLE AGES.

THIS IS YOUR FAMILY TREE, DEAR.

YOU WANT TO UNDO THAT RIBBON?

YES.

SO THIS IS MY DAD'S SIDE?

OR NO?

YEAH, THIS IS YOUR DAD'S SIDE.

JUST YOUR FATHER'S SIDE.

OKAY.

WOW.

NOW, LOOK AT THAT!

OH, MY GOD!

UNBELIEVABLE.

WE SHOWED MAGGIE HER FAMILY TREE, WHICH STRETCHES BACK ALMOST 1,000 YEARS.

WHEN WE FOLLOW THESE LINES INTO THE PAST, THEY TRAVEL THROUGH MANY OF THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS IN EUROPEAN HISTORY.

IN THIS CASE, BACK TO THE TIME OF THE FIRST CRUSADE.

MAGGIE, YOU DESCEND FROM HENRY, THE KING OF ENGLAND.

WOW.

HENRY I. HENRY I.

IN WHAT YEAR?

BORN IN 1068.

WOW!

I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW YOU KNOW THAT.

[ LAUGHS ] WE WERE ABLE TO TRACE MAGGIE'S BLOOD LINE SO FAR BACK BECAUSE SHE DESCENDS FROM NOBILITY -- FROM KINGS AND QUEENS, EARLS AND DUKES IN ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND SWEDEN.

BEFORE THE PRINTED WORD, THE ARISTOCRACY WERE OFTEN THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO KEPT RECORDS OF THEIR EXISTENCE, IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH MONARCHIES AND DETERMINE INHERITANCE.

THE HOUSE OF NOBILITY IN STOCKHOLM COLLECTS THE NAMES OF ALL THE SWEDISH NOBLES... OUTSIDE OF PHILADELPHIA, WE TRACKED DOWN A MEMBER OF THE GYLLENHAAL FAMILY WHO'S DONE EXTENSIVE RESEARCH ON THE FAMILY'S NOBLE LINES.

HE ALSO HAPPENS TO BE MAGGIE'S COUSIN, ALTHOUGH THEY'VE NEVER MET.

WE TALKED TO ED GYLLENHAAL AND HIS WIFE IN THE GREAT ROOM OF THE GLENCAIRN MUSEUM WHERE HE WORKS.

ALL OF THE SWEDISH NOBLES, WHETHER THEY LIVE IN SWEDEN OR ABROAD, ARE LISTED IN THE SWEDISH PEERAGE BOOK.

WE CAN SEE HERE THAT MAGGIE'S FATHER, STEPHEN GYLLENHAAL, IS LISTED, AS ARE MAGGIE AND JAKE.

AND, OF COURSE, ED'S LINEAGE IS NOT LOST ON HIS WIFE.

YOU KNOW, I'LL TEASE HIM ABOUT, "AH, YES, YOU THINK "YOU DON'T HAVE TO CLEAN THAT UP BECAUSE YOU'RE A NOBLE, "YOU KNOW, YOU NEED THE PEASANTRY TO TAKE CARE OF THESE THINGS."

I'LL TAKE ANY EXCUSE I CAN GET.

I WONDERED WHAT MAGGIE HAD HEARD ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF HER FAMILY'S NOBILITY.

DID YOU GROW UP HEARING A LOT OF STORIES ABOUT YOUR FAMILY?

I HEARD THIS STORY THAT I KIND OF ALWAYS THOUGHT WAS SORT OF A MYTH ABOUT GYLLENHAAL.

THAT MY GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT- SOMEBODY OR OTHER ON MY DAD'S SIDE STUDIED BUTTERFLIES AND THAT HE'D MADE SUCH A BEAUTIFUL BOOK ABOUT BUTTERFLIES THAT THE KING OF SWEDEN SENT ALL OF HIS MINIONS OUT TO FIND THIS POOR FARMER OR WHATEVER HE WAS, WHO HAPPENED TO HAVE MADE THIS BEAUTIFUL BOOK, AND BROUGHT HIM BACK TO THE PALACE TO TALK TO HIM, AND ENDED UP MAKING HIM SOME KIND OF SWEDISH ROYALTY AND PUTTING HIM UP TO LIVE IN A GOLDEN HALL, AND THAT "GYLLENHAAL" MEANT "GOLDEN HALL."

OH, WHAT A SWEET STORY.

YOU SHOULD WRITE THAT STORY.

IT'S A TOTAL MYTH, BUT -- [ BOTH LAUGH ] THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE GYLLENHAALS' ELEVATION TO NOBILITY ISN'T QUITE WHAT MAGGIE HAD HEARD.

"WE WISH" -- THIS IS QUEEN CHRISTINA SPEAKING -- ED GYLLENHAAL SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT FOR US.

"LEGITIMATE DESCENDANTS, MALE AS WELL AS FEMALE, THOSE BORN AS WELL AS..." THE GYLLENHAALS BECAME NOBLE IN 1652, WHEN NILS GUNNARSSON HAAL WAS KNIGHTED BY QUEEN CHRISTINA FOR BRAVERY IN THE 30 YEARS' WAR.

AND IT WAS THE TRADITION AT THAT TIME WHEN A SOLDIER WAS KNIGHTED THAT HE COULD CHANGE HIS NAME.

AND SO HIS LAST NAME, WHICH HAD BEEN HAAL, WAS CHANGED TO GYLLENHAAL, "GYLLEN" MEANING "GOLDEN" IN SWEDISH, SO "GOLDEN HALL."

BUT MAGGIE DID HAVE ONE PIECE OF THE FAMILY LEGEND ALMOST RIGHT.

COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

THAT'S YOUR FOURTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER, LEONARD GYLLENHAAL, AND HE WAS BORN DECEMBER 3, 1752.

MAGGIE'S FOURTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER, LEONARD GYLLENHAAL, HAD A PARTICULAR PASSION, COLLECTING BEETLES.

OH, MY GOD!

WOW!

LEONARD'S COLLECTION OF INSECT SPECIES IS STILL USED TODAY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UPPSALA.

I LOVE HOW IT TURNED INTO BUTTERFLIES WHEN REALLY IT WAS BEETLES.

[ Laughs ] THE MYTH OF YOUR FAMILY ORIGINS WAS ALL TRUE, EXCEPT IT WAS REARRANGED.

I HAD NO IDEA.

I THINK IT'S COOL!

NO, IT IS, IT IS COOL TO SEE IT.

YOU KNOW, TO HAVE EVIDENCE THAT THE THINGS I'VE HEARD ARE TRUE.

YEAH.

MAGGIE KNEW SOMETHING ABOUT HER NOBLE ANCESTORS FROM SWEDEN, AND SHE KNEW SOMETHING ABOUT HER RUSSIAN JEWISH FAMILY LINES.

BUT SHE DID NOT KNOW THAT SHE ALSO DESCENDS FROM SOME OF THE EARLIEST AMERICAN IMMIGRANTS.

THROUGH HER PATERNAL GRANDMOTHER, MAGGIE'S FAMILY TREE STRETCHES BACK TO THE PILGRIMS OF NEW ENGLAND.

NOW, MAGGIE, AS WE'VE RESEARCHED YOUR FATHER'S FAMILY, WE DISCOVERED A VAST NUMBER OF ANCESTORS, NOT ONLY IN SWEDEN.

WOW.

LOOK AT THAT -- CAN YOU READ THAT NAME?

YEAH, WITH MY PREGNANT BELLY, TOO, IT'S GOING TO BE HARD -- LET'S SEE.

JOHN LOTHROP.

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF JOHN LOTHROP?

NO.

OKAY, JOHN LOTHROP IS YOUR 10th GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

AND HE WAS BORN IN ENGLAND IN THE YEAR 1584.

YOU KNOW, JUST THINK, HE WAS ALIVE WHEN SHAKESPEARE WAS LIVING.

YEAH, YEAH, HOW INTERESTING!

JOHN LOTHROP WAS A PREACHER IN THE INDEPENDENT CHURCH OF LONDON, AN UNDERGROUND CONGREGATION ORGANIZED IN THE EARLY 1600s.

AT THAT TIME, THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, THE SEAT OF RELIGIOUS POWER IN THE COUNTRY, CONTROLLED ALL RELIGIOUS PRACTICE AND ALLOWED NO DISSENTERS.

TO THE CHURCH, LOTHROP AND HIS FOLLOWERS WERE HERETICS.

AND IN 1632, LOTHROP WAS ARRESTED AND JAILED FOR HIS BELIEFS.

MAGGIE, YOUR ANCESTOR SAT IN PRISON FOR TWO YEARS.

HE WAS SUBJECTED TO INTENSE PRESSURE AND INTERROGATION.

AND YET HE NEVER BACKED DOWN.

HE NEVER RELENTED, HE NEVER ACCEPTED THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND'S AUTHORITY.

THEY FINALLY LET HIM OUT OF THE JAIL, THEY SAID, "LOOK, YOU GOT TO GET RID "OF THESE REBELS -- LET'S ROUND UP THE CONGREGATION AND SEND THEM TO THE WILDS OF MASSACHUSETTS.

MUST HAVE BEEN PRETTY BAD, THOUGH, I THINK, IN ENGLAND, ALL THESE PEOPLE COMING OVER HERE FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

YOU LEARN ABOUT IT IN FOURTH GRADE OR WHENEVER IT IS, AND IT SEEMS LIKE, "RELIGIOUS FREEDOM?"

I MEAN, THAT'S -- THAT'S SOMETHING WE DEFINITELY TAKE FOR GRANTED HERE.

UNWELCOME IN ENGLAND, LOTHROP AND SOME OF HIS FOLLOWERS SET SAIL FOR THE NEW WORLD IN 1634.

THEY SETTLED ON CAPE COD, WHERE THE LOTHROP NAME IS STILL WELL KNOWN TODAY.

I VISITED THE TOWN OF BARNSTABLE TO MEET WITH HELEN TABER, ANOTHER DESCENDANT OF JOHN LOTHROP.

HELEN IS 90 YEARS OLD, AND SHE'S BEEN FASCINATED BY HER ANCESTOR FOR HER ENTIRE LIFE.

REVERED JOHN WAS ONE OF THE EARLY FOUNDERS OF THIS TOWN OF BARNSTABLE.

THIS HOUSE WHERE WE ARE NOW WAS BUILT FOR HIM.

IT'S A GREAT HOUSE.

I WANT TO SHOW YOU THE REAL TREASURE.

HELEN SHOWED ME ONE OF THE COMMUNITY'S MOST PRIZED POSSESSIONS, KEPT AT THE LIBRARY THAT WAS ONCE REVEREND LOTHROP'S HOME.

THIS IS REVEREND JOHN'S BIBLE, WHICH HE BROUGHT WITH HIM TO AMERICA.

YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THERE ARE PATCHES ON THE PAGES.

YEAH, RIGHT THERE.

THE STORY IS, ONE NIGHT, WHEN HE BLEW OUT HIS CANDLE, A SPARK BURNED THROUGH SEVERAL PAGES.

YOU CAN EVEN SEE ONE OF THE HOLES, STILL THERE.

RIGHT BY CHAPTER 13.

THAT'S RIGHT, HE DIDN'T GET TO THAT ONE.

HE PATCHED UP THE HOLES AND, FROM MEMORY, WROTE THE WORDS THAT HAD BEEN BURNED AWAY.

MM!

AMAZING.

ISN'T THAT WONDERFUL?

WHAT A TREASURE.

HE BROUGHT THAT CONGREGATION OVER HERE, AND THEY FLOURISHED.

HE HAD THE COURAGE OF HIS CONVICTIONS.

HE WAS WILLING TO SACRIFICE HIS LIFE.

SO JOHN WAS THE MAN OF BARNSTABLE.

HE WAS WAS THE MAN OF BARNSTABLE.

HE CERTAINLY WAS.

I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE KNOWN HIM.

AS A DIRECT DESCENDANT OF JOHN LOTHROP, MAGGIE CAN TRACE HER ROOTS ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE PILGRIMS AND TO THE FAMILY LINES THAT WOULD BECOME A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE AMERICAN ESTABLISHMENT.

SO, THEY'RE IN AMERICA FROM 1634.

I MEAN, IT'S HARD TO BEAT THAT.

THE MAYFLOWE R IS 1620.

SO YOU'RE ABOUT AS AMERICAN AS AMERICAN GETS.

I MEAN, YOUR ANCESTORS IN THIS BRANCH HAVE BEEN IN AMERICA SINCE 1634.

THAT IS SO INTERESTING, BECAUSE I SO DON'T IDENTIFY THAT WAY, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?

LIKE, I DEFINITELY FE-- YOU KNOW, GO WITH THE OTHER SIDE.

LIKE, YOU KNOW, NEW YORK, I DON'T KNOW, INTELLECTUAL, JEWISH CULTURE.

I MEAN, IT'S NEVER HOW I IDENTIFIED, AS LIKE A PART OF THE ROOTS OF AMERICA.

IT'S NEVER HOW I'VE -- I NEVER THOUGHT OF MYSELF THAT WAY.

WELL, WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET A FEW OF YOUR COUSINS THROUGH THE REVEREND JOHN LOTHROP?

OKAY.

COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

OH!

[ Laughs ] THEY'RE NOT REALLY MY COUSINS.

THESE ARE YOUR COUSINS FROM JOHN LOTHROP.

WOW, I'M SPEECHLESS.

GEORGE W. BUSH, GEORGE H.W.

BUSH, FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT -- YES, WOW!

AND ULYSSES S. GRANT.

THEY'RE ALL DESCENDANTS OF JOHN LOTHROP, TOO.

WOW, BUT I'M CLOSER TO GEORGE BUSH THAN ROOSEVELT.

YEP, YOU ARE, BUT THERE IS ONE MORE OF YOUR COUSINS THAT I WOULD LIKE YOU TO SEE.

WOULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

OH!

WOW!

[ LAUGHS ] THAT'S SO SWEET!

THIS IS HOW YOU'RE RELATED TO SHIRLEY TEMPLE.

TO SHIRLEY TEMPLE, WOW.

SHIRLEY TEMPLE IS YOUR NINTH COUSIN, TWICE REMOVED.

MY DAUGHTER'S GOING TO REALLY FLIP OUT ABOUT THAT.

IT'S A VERY UNIQUE LINEAGE.

YOU JUST HAVE A LOT OF COUSINS WHO ARE VERY DISTINGUISHED, FROM THIS ONE BRANCH OF JOHN LOTHROP.

RIGHT.

IT'S FASCINATING.

YEAH, BUT I -- THAT ISN'T HOW I, LIKE, I FEEL.

[ Laughs ] YOU KNOW?

FOR JOHN LOTHROP, AMERICA WAS NOT ONLY A RELIGIOUS HAVEN, IT WAS ALSO A PLACE WHERE HIS DESCENDANTS COULD PURSUE PROSPERITY, A PLACE WHERE THEY COULD FLOURISH.

AMERICA OFFERED THE SAME REFUGE FOR HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF EUROPEANS DURING THIS TIME -- MEN AND WOMEN DISPLACED BY PLAGUE, WAR, AND RELIGIOUS STRIFE; REFUGEES FROM PERSECUTION AND POVERTY.

THESE WERE THE LONG-AGO ANCESTORS THAT ROBERT HAD CHALLENGED US TO FIND.

ROBERT, ONE OF YOUR ASSISTANTS TOLD US YOU WERE REALLY ONLY INTERESTED IN THIS IF WE COULD TAKE YOUR FAMILY BACK VERY FAR, LIKE TO THE 15th CENTURY -- IS THAT TRUE?

OH, NOT ONLY, BUT, I MEAN, IT WOULD BE NICE.

GUILTY.

YEAH, PROBABLY.

WELL, I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU THE FAMILY TREE THAT WE'VE ASSEMBLED FOR YOU.

PICK THAT UP, MY BROTHER.

OH, MY GOD, THIS IS LARGE.

COULD YOU UNWRAP THAT?

OH, MY GOSH.

[ LAUGHS ] COME ON!

CALL THE FRAMER.

WOW.

LOOK AT THAT.

THIS, ROBERT DOWNEY JR., IS YOUR FAMILY TREE.

OH, BOY.

YOUR MOTHER'S MOTHER'S LINE GOES BACK 600 YEARS.

WOW.

ALL THE WAY TO THE 1300s.

OH, WOW.

OH, MY GOD, THE MISSUS IS GOING TO LOVE THIS.

I WANT YOU TO LOOK AT THE TOP OF THE TREE.

THAT'S YOUR OLDEST ANCESTOR WE WERE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THROUGH PAPER TRAIL ALONE.

HIS NAME WAS RUOLPH GUTH.

THAT IS GREAT.

ROBERT, THAT IS YOUR 16th GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

WOW.

RUOLPH.

RUOLPH.

THE OLDEST ANCESTOR ON ROBERT'S FAMILY TREE, RUOLPH GUTH, WAS BORN IN SWITZERLAND DURING THE MIDDLE AGES.

WE WERE VERY LUCKY TO HAVE FOUND THE RECORD OF HIM AT ALL, BECAUSE, UNLIKE MAGGIE'S NOBLE FOREBEARS, RUOLPH WAS A PEASANT AND THEREFORE THE SORT OF PERSON WHO TENDED TO LIVE AND DIE WITHOUT LEAVING A WRITTEN TRACE.

BUT THIS WAS A SPECIAL CASE.

SWITZERLAND, WHERE RUOLPH LIVED, STARTED PRESERVING CHURCH RECORDS EARLIER THAN MOST OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.

SO, ON RUOLPH'S LINE, THE PAPER TRAIL CONTINUED.

WE FOUND THAT, SEVEN GENERATIONS LATER, IN THE EARLY 18th CENTURY, MANY OF HIS DESCENDANTS WERE LIVING IN WHAT WOULD BECOME GERMANY.

BUT THEY DIDN'T STAY THERE FOR LONG.

LOOK AT YOU ON THE BOTTOM.

SEE, AND WE'RE JUST GOING UP YOUR ANCESTORS.

LOOK AT WHERE THEY WERE BORN AND WHERE THEY DIED.

BORN HESSEN, GERMANY; NASSAU, PRUSSIA; AND THEN RHEINLAND-PFALZ, GERMANY; AND, OH, MY GOSH, PENNSYLVANIA.

YOU HAVE QUITE A FEW ANCESTORS OF THE SAME GENERATION WHO WERE BORN IN GERMANY, AND THEY DIED IN PENNSYLVANIA.

MY GOSH.

SO, ROBERT, MOST OF YOUR GERMAN ANCESTORS MADE IT HERE TO AMERICA WELL BEFORE THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

THAT'S WILD.

LIKE THOUSANDS OF OTHERS IN THE EARLY 1700s, ROBERT'S ANCESTORS FLED A REGION THAT WAS COMING APART AT THE SEAMS.

THE 30 YEARS' WAR, ONE OF THE LONGEST CONTINUOUS WARS OF MODERN HISTORY, STARTED AS A CONFLICT BETWEEN CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS.

THE WAR DEVASTATED WHAT IS NOW GERMANY, LEAVING RUINS WHERE TOWNS ONCE STOOD AND LAWLESSNESS IN PLACE OF ORDER.

WHERE CATHOLICS HELD POWER, PROTESTANTS FOUND THEMSELVES IN PERIL.

SO, FLEEING PERSECUTION, ROBERT'S PROTESTANT ANCESTORS JOINED WHAT BECAME AN EXODUS AS ENTIRE COMMUNITIES PICKED UP AND LEFT THE GERMAN STATES BEHIND.

PENNSYLVANIA BECKONED AS A RELIGIOUS AND ECONOMIC HAVEN, MOSTLY COURTESY OF PAMPHLETS CIRCULATED BY THE COLONY'S FOUNDER, WILLIAM PENN.

WILLIAM PENN FOUNDED PENNSYLVANIA.

PROMISED LAND AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM TO EUROPEANS.

AND GERMAN-SPEAKING IMMIGRANTS RUSHED TO PHILADELPHIA IN THE DECADES BEFORE 1776.

INTERESTING.

INTERESTING.

THE PROMISE OF AMERICA WAS LAND.

THAT'S WHY EUROPEANS CAME.

THEY NEVER COULD HAVE OWNED LAND IN EUROPE.

BUT IN AMERICA, THEY COULD.

THAT MAKES SENSE.

I MEAN, DID YOU -- IF I HAD ASKED YOU WHEN YOU THOUGHT YOUR FAMILY FIRST CAME TO THE UNITED STATES, WHEN WOULD YOU HAVE SAID?

I'D HAVE THOUGHT, LIKE, MID-19th CENTURY OR MAYBE EARLY 19th CENTURY.

BUT THIS IS SIGNIFICANTLY EARLIER.

IT'S REALLY COOL.

IN EXCHANGE FOR THE PROMISE OF A BETTER LIFE, THE NEW PENNSYLVANIA COLONISTS WERE REQUIRED TO SWEAR ALLEGIANCE TO THE BRITISH KING.

BUT IN JUST A GENERATION, THAT LOYALTY TO THE CROWN WOULD BE PROFOUNDLY TESTED.

COULD YOU TURN THE PAGE?

SURE.

OH, COME ON!

[ Laughs ] APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP TO THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

MY GOSH.

OH, AND IT WAS MY GRANDMOTHER WHO RENDERED THIS APPLICATION.

TO BE ADMITTED INTO THE D.A.R., A PERSON HAS TO BE CERTIFIED AS A DIRECT DESCENDANT OF SOMEONE WHO SERVED DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

SO THIS APPLICATION TELLS US THAT ROBERT HAS A PATRIOT ANCESTOR.

Downey: FAY SCHOCH FORD.

MM-HMM, DESCENDANT OF...?

TOBIAS SCHUCKER.

RIGHT.

MY GOD.

YOUR FIFTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER, TOBIAS, WAS BORN IN THE YEAR 1747 IN PENNSYLVANIA.

MY GOSH.

AND HE FOUGHT IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.

GOOD GOLLY, TOBY.

IT ALSO MEANS THAT YOU COULD BE A MEMBER, JUST BY APPLYING, OF THE SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

YES!

UM, THAT'S THRILLING.

THAT'S REALLY, REALLY COOL.

TOBIAS SCHUCKER WAS ROBERT'S FIFTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

HE JOINED THE BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, MILITIA IN 1780 AND SERVED AS A PRIVATE, THE MILITARY'S LOWEST RANK.

LET'S SEE WHAT ELSE WE CAN FIND OUT ABOUT OLD TOBIAS.

COULD YOU TURN THE PAGE?

WE WERE ABLE TO FIND TOBIAS IN THE TAX RECORDS OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

COULD YOU READ THE TRANSCRIBED SECTION?

"NO ACRES, NO NEGROES" -- THANK THE LORD -- "NO HORSES" -- COULD HAVE DONE BETTER -- "AND ONE CATTLE."

ONE COW.

ONE CATTLE.

ONE COW, INDEED.

SO, YOU KNOW, HE WASN'T EXACTLY LIVING UP THERE WITH THE ROCKEFELLERS.

NO, THESE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT I WAS -- I WAS EXPECTING NOTHING BUT THIS.

YEAH, ONE-COW LABORERS.

YEAH, YOU GOT IT.

[ COW MOOING ] BUT AROUND TOBIAS, PENNSYLVANIA WAS CHANGING FROM A PLACE OF SUBSISTENCE FARMERS WHO PRODUCED ONLY ENOUGH FOR THEIR FAMILIES TO A BOOMING AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY AFTER THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.

IN THE 1800s, PENNSYLVANIA GREW MORE WHEAT THAN ANYWHERE ELSE IN AMERICA, MAKING IT THE COUNTRY'S BREAD BASKET.

AND TOBIAS'S FORTUNE CHANGED, TOO.

BY THE TIME HE DIED, TOBIAS HAD GONE FROM OWNING NO LAND AS A YOUNGER MAN TO THE PROUD PROPRIETOR OF 100 ACRES.

A CLASSIC AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY.

BUT ALTHOUGH HE PROSPERED IN THIS COUNTRY, TOBIAS NEVER ABANDONED HIS GERMAN ROOTS.

WE FOUND SOMETHING I'D LIKE TO SHOW YOU.

COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

GREAT.

SURE.

THIS IS TOBIAS'S WILL.

NOW, ROBERT, TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT THAT WILL.

PUT THOSE READING GLASSES ON.

SEE WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT.

OH, BOY, I CAN BARELY SEE IT.

1813 -- CAN YOU DECIPHER ANY OF THE WORDS?

LET'S SEE.

IS IT IN GERMAN?

YEP, ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.

EVEN THOUGH YOUR FIFTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER, TOBIAS, WAS BORN IN AMERICA, TOBIAS STILL WROTE HIS WILL IN GERMAN.

WOW.

OKAY.

A LITTLE TRADITION THERE.

YEAH, IT WAS A TIGHT-KNIT GERMAN IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY.

THEY DIDN'T WANT TO GIVE UP THEIR LANGUAGE AND THEIR TRADITIONS.

THEY DIDN'T WANT TO ASSIMILATE.

TOBIAS WAS BORN IN AMERICA.

HE WENT TO WAR FOR AMERICA.

AND HE ACHIEVED HIS SUCCESS IN AMERICA.

BUT MOST LIKELY, HE GREW UP SPEAKING AND READING GERMAN, AND HE RECORDED HIS FINAL WORDS IN HIS MOTHER TONGUE.

THIS TENSION BETWEEN THE NEW WORLD AND THE OLD, BETWEEN ASSIMILATION AND ETHNIC IDENTITY EVENTUALLY WOULD BECOME ONE OF THE HALLMARKS OF AMERICAN CULTURE, AS NEWCOMERS CREATED COMMUNITIES THAT FELT TO THEM LIKE HOME.

A GENERATION AFTER TOBIAS LEFT HIS WILL IN GERMAN, AN IMMIGRANT ANCESTOR OF MAGGIE'S ARRIVED IN THIS COUNTRY.

HE, TOO, BROUGHT WITH HIM HIS OWN TRADITIONS AND LANGUAGE.

BUT, DESPITE THESE CULTURAL BARRIERS, HE WOULD SOON FIND SUCCESS.

COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

SWAIN NELSON, SEATED IN THE CENTER, WITH THE BEARD.

HE'S YOUR THIRD GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THIS GUY, OR ANY STORIES ABOUT HIM?

NO.

SWAIN NELSON WAS BORN ON JANUARY 30, 1828, IN THE SOUTHERNMOST PROVINCE OF SWEDEN.

AT THE AGE OF 24, HE DECIDED TO STRIKE OUT FOR AMERICA.

COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

NOW, THIS IS WHAT'S CALLED A MOVING-OUT RECORD.

AND IT'S KEPT BY SWAIN'S PARISH.

COULD YOU READ THE TRANSLATED SECTION?

OCCUPATION AND NAME -- GARDENER, SVEN NELSON, GOING TO NORTH AMERICA.

SWAIN ENDED UP IN A TOWN CALLED DEFIANCE, OHIO.

MAGGIE'S THIRD GREAT-GRANDFATHER STRUGGLED IN THOSE EARLY YEARS, POVERTY-STRICKEN AND AFFLICTED WITH ILLNESS.

BUT SOON HE MOVED TO CHICAGO, WHERE EVENTUALLY HE ESTABLISHED HIMSELF AS A SUCCESSFUL LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT.

IN 1865, HE WAS COMMISSIONED TO DESIGN LINCOLN PARK, ONE OF CHICAGO'S MOST BELOVED PUBLIC SPACES.

THAT'S HIS PLAN OF LINCOLN PARK ON THE RIGHT-HAND PAGE.

WOW.

I'VE BEEN TO LINCOLN PARK.

THAT'S CRAZY -- I HAD NO IDEA.

BUT IN ADDITION TO HIS CAREER, THERE WAS ANOTHER DEFINING CHARACTERISTIC OF SWAIN'S LIFE -- HIS RELIGION.

SWAIN AND HIS FAMILY WERE ADHERENTS OF A FAIRLY OBSCURE BRANCH OF CHRISTIANITY, CALLED SWEDENBORGIANISM, THE SAME RELIGION THE FAMILY HAD PRACTICED BACK IN SWEDEN.

SWAIN'S GRANDSON, LEONARD GYLLENHAAL, BROUGHT THE FAMILY RELIGION WITH HIM WHEN HE MOVED TO PENNSYLVANIA IN THE 1890s.

HE HELPED BUILD A TOWN CALLED BRYN ATHYN, JUST NORTH OF PHILADELPHIA.

THE FOUNDERS OF BRYN ATHYN WANTED TO CREATE AN INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY BASED ON THEIR SHARED FAITH.

THEIR DESCENDANTS LIVE THERE TO THIS DAY, AND IT'S WHERE MAGGIE'S FATHER GREW UP.

NOW, MY DAD -- I MEAN, WHAT I KNOW ABOUT IT IS, HE GREW UP IN THIS TOWN IN PENNSYLVANIA, BRYN ATHYN, WHERE EVERYONE WAS SWEDENBORGIAN.

THIS CHRISTIAN MYTHIC RELIGION.

YOU'RE THE FIRST SWEDENBORGIAN PERSON -- I MEAN, OF SWEDENBORGIAN DESCENT -- THAT I'VE EVER MET, I THINK.

YEAH.

I BELIEVE YOU.

[ Laughs ] [ BELL RINGING ] SWEDENBORGIANISM IS BASED ON THE TEACHINGS OF AN 18th-CENTURY SWEDISH SCIENTIST AND PHILOSOPHER NAMED EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.

ABOUT 8,000 AMERICANS PRACTICE THE RELIGION TODAY.

♪ WE TALKED TO THANE GLENN, A PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY, ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE RELIGION.

Glenn: SWEDENBORG HIMSELF NEVER INTENDED TO START A RELIGIOUS SECT.

HE SIMPLY PUBLISHED HIS THEOLOGY WITH THE IDEA THAT THIS WOULD BRING A NEW LIGHT, A NEW WAY OF LIFE, TO CHRISTIANITY.

THE HEART OF HIS THEOLOGY IS THIS IDEA THAT PEOPLE OF ALL FAITHS HAVE PATHWAYS TO GOD AND TO HEAVEN AND TO A HEAVENLY LIFE.

AND SWEDENBORGIANISM CALLS US TO LIVE LIVES OF SERVICE TO OTHERS.

MAGGIE'S GRANDPARENTS RAISED HER FATHER, STEPHEN, AS A SWEDENBORGIAN, AND THE FAMILY WAS ACTIVE IN THE CHURCH IN BRYN ATHYN.

RIGHT NOW, WE'RE GOING BY THE ORIGINAL GYLLENHAAL HOME.

MAGGIE'S COUSIN ED SHOWED US AROUND TOWN.

THAT'S WHERE MAGGIE'S GRANDFATHER AND MY FATHER ALSO GREW UP.

Gyllenhaal: MY DAD WOULD TELL ME STORIES ABOUT HOW, LIKE, NOBODY HAD HEARD THE BEATLES, AND HE WOULD GET OUT OF TOWN AND GET A RECORD, AND SIT AROUND WITH HIS FRIENDS AND LISTEN TO THIS MUSIC.

YOU KNOW, IT'S FUNNY -- I THINK A LOT OF MY FEELINGS ABOUT BRYN ATHYN COME FROM THE FACT THAT MY DAD KIND OF RAN AWAY FROM THERE, BECAUSE MY DAD REALLY REBELLED AGAINST IT.

AND SO HE KIND OF PUSHED IT OUT OF OUR LIFE.

WHEN MAGGIE'S FATHER, STEPHEN, LEFT BRYN ATHYN AND THE SWEDENBORGIAN FAITH, HE WAS REBELLING AGAINST THE BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS OF GENERATIONS OF HIS ANCESTORS.

BUT HE WAS ALSO TAKING PART IN A VAST SOCIAL UPHEAVAL THAT WOULD ULTIMATELY TRANSFORM AMERICAN CULTURE.

IN THE 1950s AND '60s, THE ETHNIC ENCLAVES THAT HAD DEFINED THIS COUNTRY FOR CENTURIES BEGAN TO SPLINTER.

IN THE PROCESS, OLD-WORLD IDENTITIES BEGAN TO FADE, AND PEOPLE INCREASINGLY THOUGHT OF THEMSELVES AS AMERICANS ABOVE ALL ELSE.

BOTH MAGGIE AND ROBERT ARE A PRODUCT OF THIS TRANSITION.

THEIR PARENTS' GENERATION MIXED AND INTERMARRIED UNLIKE ANY BEFORE, STARTING NEW FAMILIES THAT CREATED THEIR OWN IDENTITIES.

BUT TODAY, THANKS TO SCIENCE, WE CAN CONTINUE THE SEARCH FOR MAGGIE AND ROBERT'S ROOTS WELL BEYOND THE END OF THE PAPER TRAIL AND BACK OVER MANY THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

LIKE ALL MY GUESTS, ROBERT AND MAGGIE TOOK SOME GENETIC TESTS THAT COULD EXPAND THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR ANCESTRAL PASTS.

NOW, YOU WANT TO TAKE A GUESS AT YOUR PERCENTAGE OF NATIVE AMERICAN, AFRICAN, AND EUROPEAN ANCESTRY?

I'D SAY 85, 10, AND 5 WHITE, BLACK, AND NATIVE.

THAT'S A PRETTY GOOD, SPECIFIC GUESS.

LET'S SEE.

BET YOU DINNER.

DINNER.

DINNER, MOTT STREET.

YES, EXACTLY.

REALLY?

100%?

SORRY, WHITE MAN.

[ Sighs ] WOW.

WHEN YOU WERE ACTING IN "TROPIC THUNDER," YOU WERE ACTING.

YES, I WAS ACTING.

I MEAN, THAT'S A PIE WITH NO SLICE MISSING.

THAT IS A PIE WITH NO SLICE MISSING.

ALL RIGHT, I HAVE TO ADMIT, I'M A LITTLE BIT DISAPPOINTED, BECAUSE I THOUGHT I HAD SOME AFRICAN AMERICAN INFLUENCE IN MY BLOOD, BUT I'LL TAKE WHAT I CAN.

USING A DIFFERENT TEST THAT CAN REVEAL JEWISH ANCESTRY, WE WERE ABLE TO ZERO IN ON ONE PARTICULAR ASPECT OF ROBERT'S GENOME.

COULD YOU TURN THE PAGE, PLEASE?

SURE.

WOW.

YOU ARE 79.89% EUROPEAN AND 20.11% MIDDLE EASTERN.

IN YOUR CASE, OBVIOUSLY, THE DNA OVERLAPS WITH YOUR FAMILY TREE, AND THAT IS THE PERCENTAGE OF JEWISH ANCESTRY THAT YOU HAVE -- YOU ARE 20% JEWISH.

OKAY, ALL RIGHT, 20.11.

WOW.

THE PART OF ROBERT'S DNA THAT POINTS TO JEWISH ANCESTRY WAS PASSED DOWN THROUGH HIS FATHER, WHO IS HALF JEWISH.

ON THE OTHER HAND, MAGGIE'S JEWISH ANCESTRY COMES FROM HER MOTHER, WHO IS 100% JEWISH.

IT'S GREAT TO SEE YOU AGAIN.

NICE TO SEE YOU, TOO.

WE WENT BACK TO SEE MAGGIE TO TALK ABOUT THIS PART OF HER GENOME.

NOW, IN ORDER TO GO FURTHER USING DNA, WE TESTED YOUR MITOCHONDRIAL DNA, AND WE TRACED YOUR MOTHER'S MOTHER'S MOTHER'S LINE ABOUT 35,000 YEARS AGO IN THE NEAR EAST.

THAT'S A LONG TIME AGO.

AND INTERESTING, ALSO, BECAUSE ON MY MOM'S SIDE, BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT THE ESTABLISHMENT.

THE PAPER TRAIL IS SO MUCH SHORTER.

BUT THE DNA TRAIL -- CAN GO BACK AS FAR AS YOU CAN THINK.

RIGHT, SO THIS IS SPECIFIC TO JEWISH POPULATIONS.

THE JEWISH DNA PASSED DOWN BY MAGGIE AND ROBERT'S ANCESTORS HOLDS A UNIQUE WEALTH OF GENETIC INFORMATION.

TO UNDERSTAND WHY, WE TALKED TO BENNETT GREENSPAN, PRESIDENT OF FAMILY TREE DNA.

FOR THE LAST 1,000, 1,500 YEARS, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF CULTURAL PRESSURE WITHIN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY TO MARRY WITHIN, ESPECIALLY FOR THE HUNDREDS OF YEARS WHERE JEWS WERE LIVING IN EUROPE IN THE GHETTOES -- THE ONLY CHOICE FOR A JEW TO MARRY WAS ANOTHER JEW.

SO, IN EFFECT, EXTENDED COUSINS ARE MARRYING EXTENDED COUSINS.

ABSOLUTELY.

AND THEY ALL SHARE A COMMON GENE POOL.

AND THEY ALL SHARE A RESTRICTED COMMON GENE POOL, GOING BACK 600 OR 700 YEARS.

MAGGIE IS PART OF THIS GENETICALLY ISOLATED GROUP OF JEWISH PEOPLE.

AND THIS PORTION OF HER DNA UNLOCKS A WINDOW ONTO TRULY ANCIENT HISTORY.

SCIENTISTS HAVE CONCLUDED THAT 40% OF EASTERN EUROPEAN JEWS SHARE GENETIC LINEAGES THAT REACH BACK 2,000 OR 3,000 YEARS, REMARKABLY, TO JUST FOUR WOMEN.

THEIR BIRTHPLACES AND FAMILY NAMES HAVE BEEN LOST TO TIME, BUT THEIR GENETIC LEGACY HAS ENDURED.

TODAY, ABOUT 3.5 MILLION JEWISH PEOPLE DESCEND FROM ONE OF THESE FOUR MATERNAL ANCESTORS.

COULD MAGGIE HAVE DESCENDED FROM ONE OF THESE FOUR FOUNDING MOTHERS?

MAGGIE DOES DESCEND FROM ONE OF THESE FOUR FOUNDING MOTHERS.

SHE HAS SOMETHING ON THE ORDER OF 150 EXACT MATCHES IN OUR SYSTEM.

FROM A GENEALOGICAL AND GENETIC STANDPOINT, YOU KIND OF HIT THE JACKPOT.

WE SHOWED YOUR DNA TO THE GENETICISTS AT familytreedna.com, AND THEY CONCURRED THAT YOU ARE, INDEED, ONE OF THESE 40% DESCENDED FROM JUST FOUR WOMEN.

WOW.

THIS MEANS THAT YOU ARE GENETICALLY JEWISH, ALL THE WAY BACK TO JUDEA IN THE BIBLE.

SO I'M REALLY JEWISH.

YOU ARE AS JEWISH AS JEWISH CAN GET.

I'M NOT SURPRISED -- I MEAN, I -- I FEEL -- I FEEL JEWISH.

YOU KNOW, I FEEL AT LEAST HALF JEWISH.

RECENTLY, I WENT TO THIS GREAT RUSSIAN RESTAURANT, AND IT JUST, LIKE, COMPLETELY APPEALS TO ME.

I WANTED TO EAT THE RED CAVIAR AND BLINIS, AND I JUST WANT IT, YOU KNOW?

I WONDER, IS IT THE CULTURE THAT I'M RESPONDING TO?

IS IT HOW I WAS BROUGHT UP?

OR IS IT SOMETHING IN MY GENES, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW.

WHAT DO YOU THINK MAKES US WHO WE ARE?

ENVIRONMENT/GENES?

NATURE/NURTURE?

I THINK IT'S BOTH.

I REALLY DO, I THINK IT'S BOTH, BUT I THINK WE HAVE A LOT OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR CHILDREN.

I MEAN, I DON'T THINK YOU JUST GO, LIKE, "THAT'S WHO SHE WAS.

SORRY, YOU KNOW."

I THINK A LOT COMES FROM WHERE YOU COME FROM, AND THEN I THINK IT'S A BIG JOB OF TRYING TO SORT OUT EVEN A LITTLE BIT OF IT.

WHAT IS ABSOLUTELY THE MOST SURPRISING THING THAT YOU'VE LEARNED ABOUT YOUR ANCESTORS?

THAT I HAVE ANY RELATION WHATSOEVER TO GEORGE BUSH.

[ LAUGHS ] YEAH, THAT'S THE MOST SURPRISING.

Gates: WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND THE MOST SURPRISING THING THAT WE'VE INTRODUCED YOU TO TODAY?

WELL, I THINK THE VERY DEEPLY ROOTED AMERICAN KIND OF, YOU KNOW, LINEAGE IS REALLY KIND OF COMFORTING AND COOL.

I LOVE AMERICA, AND I'M GLAD I'VE BEEN AROUND HERE IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER FOR A LONG TIME.

DO YOU THINK THAT WHAT HAPPENED ON YOUR FAMILY TREE BETWEEN 1300 AND 1965 SOMEHOW IS PRESENT?

YOU KNOW, SOMEHOW SHAPES -- HAS SHAPED WHO YOU ARE UNWITTINGLY, UNKNOWINGLY?

WELL, YEAH, I DON'T SEE HOW IT COULDN'T.

I MEAN, YOU KNOW, IT'S NATURE AND NURTURE.

AND IT'S INFORMING YOU, WHETHER YOU'RE CONSCIOUS OF IT OR NOT, SO PROBABLY BETTER TO BE CONSCIOUS.

THERE JUST, YOU KNOW, IS A LOT TO EXPLORE.

I FEEL LIKE, AS MUCH AS TODAY HAS BEEN A DISCOVERY OF SORTS, IT'S ALSO AN INVITATION TO REALLY BEGIN MY OWN -- MY OWN REEDUCATION, YOU KNOW, NOW, WITH THE REAL INFORMATION.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR., THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO INTRODUCE YOU TO YOUR ANCESTORS.

IT WAS AWESOME.

PROFESSOR, INDEED.

VERY, VERY, VERY WELL DONE.

THANK YOU.

THE SEARCH FOR ROBERT AND MAGGIE'S ANCESTRAL ROOTS TOOK US TO RUSSIA, ACROSS EUROPE, AND UP AND DOWN THE EASTERN SEABOARD.

BUT IT KEPT PULLING US BACK TO NEW YORK CITY, THE PLACE WHERE SO MANY IMMIGRANTS HAVE BECOME AMERICAN.

100 YEARS AGO, THE NEWCOMERS WERE PEOPLE LIKE ROBERT AND MAGGIE'S ANCESTORS -- JEWS FROM RUSSIA -- LIVING ALONGSIDE PEOPLE FROM IRELAND AND ITALY.

TODAY, THE CITY STREETS ARE FULL OF PEOPLE FROM LATIN AMERICA, ASIA, AFRICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN.

THE UNITED STATES ADMITS ONE MILLION LEGAL IMMIGRANTS EACH YEAR, A NUMBER THAT IS ROUGHLY THE SAME AS IT WAS IN 1906, THE YEAR MAGGIE'S GREAT-GRANDFATHER GOT OFF A BOAT AT ELLIS ISLAND.

AND EACH OF THEM EVERY DAY CONTRIBUTES SOMETHING NEW TO WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN AMERICAN.

WE'VE COME TO THE END OF OUR JOURNEY THROUGH MAGGIE AND ROBERT'S FAMILY TREES.

JOIN ME NEXT TIME AS I EXPLORE THE FASCINATING PASTS OF MORE GUESTS ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF "FINDING YOUR ROOTS."