Who Do You Think You Are? Episode 2.08 Ashley Judd

Ashley Judd is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated actress and humanitarian with over 20 film and Broadway credits. Currently, she makes her home outside of Nashville with her husband, Italian racecar driver Dario Franchitti. Her mother Naomi and sister Wynonna are the legendary country music duo The Judds, and Ashley is an eighth generation Kentuckian on her mother's side. She's steeped in lore regarding her mother's side of the family, so she's decided to explore her paternal heritage. As a child, Ashley spent summers with her grandparents, Mary Bernadine Dalton and Michael Ciminella, along with Mary's mother Effie Copley, whom Ashley called "Granny." She knows about the classic Sicilian immigration story of the Ciminella side, so she's curious to know how her grandmother's people got to Kentucky and what role faith, which is very important to her, played in their lives.

Curious to know whether anyone else in the family line has agitated for reform, or fought for human rights like herself, Ashley decides to start her journey in Louisville, Kentucky with a visit to her father, Michael Ciminella. He's got a family photo album with treasures Ashley hasn't seen before, and he recalls that his mother used to claim that one line of the family hailed back to New England. Another so-called myth was that Ashley's triple great grandfather, Elijah Hensley, fought in the Civil War on the Union side, lost a leg, and wound up in prison. Ashley and her dad decide to check out Ancestry.com, and quickly find Elijah listed with the 39th Kentucky Infantry.

The next stop on Ashely's journey is the Kentucky State Archives in Frankfurt to look at military records and meet with historian Brian McKnight. Ashley finds several muster rolls, which indicate that Elijah joined up at age 18 in 1862, and he was captured 32 days later. Brian thinks he would most likely have been imprisoned in Richmond, Virginia, until he was freed in a broad exchange of prisoners in May of 1863. But the records indicate Elijah may have been captured again in 1864. What happened? Records indicate Elijah was wounded in the Battle of Saltville. Muster rolls give his discharge date on June of 1865 by reason of disability, which may well have been the result of his injury. Curiously, his age remains the same as when he joined up four years earlier - 18. Brian explains that Elijah probably joined the army at age 15, which was not uncommon.

Ashley heads to Saltville, the location of the battle where her forebear was wounded, to meet with Civil War medical expert George Wunderlich at the Madam Russell cabin, a Civil War-era replica. George has medical records which show that Elijah was wounded on October 6, 1864, and was given an immediate battlefield amputation of the right thigh using the circular flap method. Luckily, George has Civil Ear-era tools on hand, so he can graphically illustrate the operation on Ashley. Even though the equipment wouldn't have been sterilized at the time, this was considered state-of-the-art medical practice, and it saved many lives. Ashley tears up, thinking about Elijah's resilience - to have withstood such an operation while a battle was raging around him, then waking up to find he'd been abandoned to the care of the Confederates, and taken prisoner for a second time?!

Ashley wants to know how Elijah dealt with life after the war with one leg, so she's thrilled when she finds a package from Brian McKnight back at her hotel. It contains material found in Elijah's pension file - not only a photograph, but a written record of his "Master's work" with the Methodist Church of Inez, Kentucky, where he also engaged in farming. Ashley can't fathom what kind of fortitude Elijah must have had to flourish as a one-legged farmer! But now it's time to leave Kentucky to explore the family rumors of New England heritage, so Ashley heads to Boston to visit with historian D. Joshua Taylor at the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

Joshua has traced Ashley's great-grandparents Effie and Bill Dalton with Effie's death certificate, which list her parents as Thomas Jefferson and Rebecca Dalton. Rebecca's death record shows her parents as E. and E. Bruster, which Ashley says means nothing to her. Brimming with excitement, Joshua hands Ashley a giant roll of paper - it's her family tree, tracing her New England roots back 12 generations to William Brewster, born 1566 or 7 in England. He lived in Scrooby, Nottingham, and was a gentleman, bailiff to the Archbishop of York. He emigrated to Massachusetts in 1620, and died there in 1644, after establishing one of the most historically well-known of the great New England families. Ashley's eyes widen upon hearing the date 1620. Is it possible her ancestor, William Brewster, came to America on the Mayflower?!

Joshua suggests checking the Mayflower Compact, the governance agreement signed by the Mayflower passengers when they reached the New World. Although the original was lost, there's still an extant copy from 1722, which they just happen to have in front of them. Donning gloves, Ashley admits her mind is thoroughly blown. She always called herself a Sicilian hillbilly rabble-rouser, and now she'll have to front that descriptive with this Mayflower business. And in fact, she's dumbfounded to learn that William Brewster did indeed sign the Mayflower Compact. Joshua explains that only 60% of the ship's passengers - who were primarily seeking religious freedom - survived their first year in America. Now Ashley wants to know what led Brewster to emigrate, so Joshua suggests she travel to York, England to find out.

Ashley proceeds to King's Manor at York University to meet with Professor Bill Shiels, who explains that Brewster's job as bailiff to the Archbishop would have been very important indeed. Brewster went to Cambridge. Though he didn't graduate, he was well connected in Scrooby, a place known for religious radicalism, and started working for the Archbishop in 1590. Apparently, Brewster began preaching, and eventually became quite disruptive - religiously, politically and socially. Ashley smiles, not surprised to learn she had a socially disruptive ancestor. By around 1607, Brewster was in trouble with the law according to court records - a court headed by his former boss, the Archbishop. In a court summons, Brewster is listed as a disobedient Brownist - a type of Puritan who thought the Church of England, created by Henry VIII in 1534, was irredeemable, and wanted complete separation.Brewster didn't answer the court summons, which resulted in a huge price of 20 pounds to be offered for his apprehension. It would seem that he went into hiding, as he was never seen nor heard from in Scrooby again. Professor Shiels suggests that Ashley travel to Boston, Lincolnshire, which was another hotbed of religious radicalism at the time. Wanting to learn what happened between 1607 and 1620 when Brewster boarded the Mayflower, Ashley proceeds to Boston Lincolnshire Hall, only to find a plaque on the wall over a jail cell - indicating that "Pilgrim Father" William Brewster and his cellmate William Bradford were imprisoned there in 1607. Flabbergasted, Ashley sits in the bare cell, figuring that Brewster was imprisoned in Lincolnshire for his beliefs, at the same time he was being sought in Scrooby!Ashley meets with pilgrim expert Nick Bunker, who has a copy of the book "History of the Plimoth Plantation," written by Brewster's cellmate William Bradford to describe their plight. After seven months of incarceration in Lincolnshire's Jacobean-era prison, the men went into hiding in Holland, which allowed them some degree of religious freedom. At the time, they would have had to apply for permission to leave England, but since they were already fugitives, they couldn't. It would seem that Ashley's ten-times-great-grandfather may have been radicalized while at Cambridge University, and his new beliefs caused him to put his life on the line for his faith. Since religious tolerance is incredibly important to Ashley, she wants to know more. Luckily, Nick tells her she can forgo a trip to Holland, and find her answers at Cambridge instead.

Once at Cambridge, Ashley sits down with Professor Anthony Milton, who has a collection of letters from the English to the Dutch Ambassador in 1619. Apparently, Brewster was engaged in distributing a censored book called "Perth Assembly" from Holland to England and Scotland. An attempt was made to seize Brewster at this time, but once again, he disappeared. The next time he pops up in records, he has somehow managed to win approval from King James for his emigration to America, presumably a very relieved man. Ashley reflects on Brewster's story, which she believes inheres all the basic freedoms Americans value so highly and take for granted, like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the separation of church and state. She started off her trip to England thinking herself to be so American she's English, but now she's learned that it's really the other way round - she's so English, she's American.

On the final leg of her journey, Ashley heads to Plymouth, the point where Brewster set out for America on the Mayflower, to meet her father and tell him all she's learned. Knowing these stories of her ancestors validates Ashley's experience of herself. Those who came before her on both sides of the family had such extraordinary faith that it seems they imprinted it on the narrative of her family. Perhaps it's part of what's informs her furious, passionate need for social justice...