Who Do You Think You Are? Episode 3.04 Reba Mcentire

Beloved as the queen of country, singer Reba McEntire is the best-selling country music artist of all time. Reba's talents have taken her far beyond the world of music, most notably in her award-winning hit sitcom "Reba." Reba and her husband Narvel Blackstock live in Nashville, Tennessee with their son Shelby. Reba credits her upbringing amongst the cowboys of Oklahoma for her success in the music industry; she spent the early part of her life in the rodeo as one of her father's hired hands and learned the value of hard work and performance. "I want to know where we came from. I want to know what makes me tick. I would love to go far back as possible. I am very interested in knowing who the first of my ancestors were to step on the United States of America," Reba says.

Reba starts her journey in Stringtown, Oklahoma, where she hopes to learn more about her mother's side of the family. Reba and her mother view old photographs of the family and talk about her grandmother, Reba Estelle Brassfield, who Reba is named after. With her mother by her side, Reba goes on ancestry.com to search for details on her family tree. She finds online the 1910 census that has Reba Estelle Brassfield listed with her mother, Susan Roper, and father, B.W. Brassfield. To find out more information on the Brassfields, Reba heads to Aberdeen, Mississippi, where her great-grandparents lived.

Reba arrives in Aberdeen where she meets with genealogist Josh Taylor. He shows her the Brassfield family tree that he was able to make after looking through the county's local records. Josh found that the name "Brassfield" was actually spelled with one "s" from the early 1900s to earlier; someone along the line inadvertently started spelling it with two "s"s and it stuck from there on out. "I wasn't expecting this," Reba says ecstatically as she looks at the family tree that goes all the way back to her 4x great-grandfather George Brasfield. Josh tells Reba that George was born in Wade County, North Carolina around 1765, meaning he was a child during America's War of Independence. "I feel really tickled about knowing who my 4x great-grandfather is... I'm the first one of my family to know that," Reba says as she heads to North Carolina to delve deeper into the Brasfield history.

Reba arrives in Raleigh, North Carolina at the State Archives to meet with Prof. Otterness to find out what type of man George Brasfield was. Otterness explains that the area George grew up in was barren and new; there was no city of Raleigh established yet. He shows Reba the original "Plan of the City of Raleigh." Reba is fascinated as she looks at the city's original blueprints; then she finds a small parcel of land towards the end of town with George's name on it. Lot 15 was designated for George Brasfield, to be used as a tavern/bar. "No wonder I'm so comfortable singing in honky-tonks all the time," Reba laughs. Prof. Otterness also shows Reba a list of taxable property from 1810 that shows George owned around 1,615 acres of land and 10 slaves.

Reba is shocked by yet understanding of the fact that her 4x great-grandfather owned slaves. Now she would like to discover if he treated them fair and justly. Reba heads to the Granville County Courthouse to find any documentation that will help her understand George Brasfield's role as a slave owner. Prof. Harry Watson helps Reba search through the historical records and finds a newspaper article from 1820 relating to George. The article states that George unsuccessfully tried to stop a runaway slave and that others in the area should take notice if they happen to see this runaway slave as well. Prof. Watson then shows Reba various records-of-sell showing that George Brasfield was a slave trader all throughout the 1800s, including selling African-American children. "That's pretty sobering," Reba says as she learns about her ancestor. Prof. Watson explains to Reba that it's okay to learn and openly talk about our ancestors as slave owners, "because we can't have healing without acknowledgement."

Reba now heads to Tappahannock, Virginia, to see if she can discover which ancestor was the first to immigrate to America. With the help of Prof. Warren Hofstra, Reba learns that her 6x great-grandfather, also named George Brasfield, was the one that made the treacherous journey from England to America. Viewing records from 1695 - 1699, Reba discovers that George was just nine years old when he made the journey, and he was also an indentured servant to a man named Bernard Gains to help him get established in the new world. Many indentured servants were young boys or girls contracted to serve a set number of years, often until they turned 21, after which they would be awarded their independence.

Now that Reba has discovered that her 6x great-grandfather came to America to be an indentured servant, she wants to find out the reason why a 9 year old would make such a treacherous journey. With Prof. Hofstra's help, Reba finds a ship manifest with George Brasfield's name listed that has him traveling from Chester, England to America on October 19, 1698. Reba travels to Chester to see if she can unravel the mystery of why George left his homeland. Reba meets with research consultant Brett Langston at the Cheshire Archives and finds George's baptism record from 1688. The document show's George's mother, Abigail, passed away when George was around seven, leaving Thomas the father and his son all alone to take care of each other in a time when the mother was the true caretaker of the family.

James Horn, a historian, tells Reba that it was not an uncommon thing for a father to send his child off to America for the chance of a better life. Chances are Thomas couldn't afford to keep George around, and America represented a better opportunity for his son's future. There would've been zero chance for George to own land in England, and even though he had to work through being an indentured servant, George eventually did succeed in owning land and surpassing anything he could've become if he stayed in England. Reba realizes that George's journey might've been tough, but if it weren't for his success in early America, her branches on the family tree would not have existed. Reba walks to the back of the church where her ancestors were buried and proudly looks out. "I can't imagine... losing your wife and sending your son off to a strange place... what a strong man. Thank you, Thomas," Reba thankfully says.

Reba arrives back home in Stringtown, Oklahoma to share with her mother all the information she has discovered. "This journey has been one of the highlights of my life because it told me so much about myself and who I am, where I came from, and the kind of people I came from...," Reba explains as her mother proudly looks on, now knowing the history of her lineage.