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Transcript
0:00 · with a career spanning more than 30 years actor Rob Lowe is revered as one of Hollywood's Leading Men
0:07 · his breakout performance in The Outsiders launched a flourishing career in both film and television
0:14 · he received critical Acclaim for his portrayal of Sam Seaborn on the emmy-winning series The West Wing
0:20 · and currently plays the enthusiastic Chris Traeger on the sitcom Parks and Recreation
0:26 · he lives in Santa Barbara California with his wife Cheryl and their two sons John Owen and Matthew
0:33 · I grew up in the midwest I grew up in Dayton Ohio I always wanted to be an actor and when my parents divorced my
0:42 · mom remarried we found ourselves in Southern California in Malibu I was
0:47 · 12. so my teenage years were sort of formed in Malibu and trying to start my
0:52 · career in a very very cultural shift from from coming from the Midwest
0:58 · but family history was never really discussed growing up I'm not really sure why that was and as
1:04 · a kid I I didn't really care now as I get older I wonder and you start to think about
1:12 · who you are and and where you've come from I started thinking about what resonates
1:17 · for me why have I always been so in love with Americana patriotism and politics
1:24 · and then I end up on a show called The West Wing which plays to those themes
1:29 · every day and when I first read I felt I was literally born to play why am I interested in what I'm
1:35 · interested in when I was first thinking about going on this journey I was wondering well would
1:41 · I follow my father's side or would I follow the maternal side with my mother
1:47 · and I'm so blessed to still have my dad in my life but my mom passed away a number
1:53 · of years ago and it left me wishing I'd asked her more
1:58 · and she was really the last member of that wing
2:04 · of our family and it's all gone and and so I would really like to to know where
2:09 · we've come from so it's going to mean a lot to me to share this with the last connection to
2:16 · that side of my family and that's my brother I'm gonna meet my brother Chad to pick
2:22 · his brain about my mom's side of the family so I'm off on the uh
2:27 · this road trip is there anything that you know that I may have forgotten the only
2:34 · thing I have is this mom's scrapbook so let's see what we have in here
2:41 · that's Mom it's got to be high school graduation or something yeah
2:48 · wow look at this here's some MIM and Grandpa our mom's parents
2:55 · all right who is this I have no idea who these people are [Music]
3:01 · see if they're it's Oren Hepler and Bessie May East
3:09 · Oren Hepler says it's our great grandfather Yeah and his wife they're our great grandmother Bessie May East
3:16 · my mom's scrapbook has helped my brother Chad and me remember my great-grandparents Oren Hepler and
3:22 · Bessie May East I remember hearing the name East as a kid but what else can my mom's album tell me
3:29 · all right let's see here huh okay here's a this is a clipping from
3:34 · Ohio from the times Democrat of Lima Ohio 1906
3:41 · the East reunion it was the third annual for descendants of men and women who
3:48 · made up prosperous country what is that the descendants of
3:54 · Christopher East stand high in the culinary art
3:59 · Christopher East why is the East family reunion newsworthy and I think we better figure
4:06 · out who Christopher East was you want to hear it look it up yeah let's go to ancestry.com
4:12 · Christopher right yeah
4:19 · John Christopher East wait a minute what do you say
4:24 · abstract of graves of revolutionary Patriots
4:31 · wow this collection of abstract gravesites contains information originally
4:36 · published in the Senate documents of the National Society Daughters of the
4:42 · American Revolution veterans and Patriots of the Revolutionary War whose Graves were found between 1900 and
4:49 · 1987 are included in this first volume that sounds promising evolutionary
4:54 · Patriots so we know that Bessie May East our great-grandmother
5:01 · somewhere and her in a lineage has John Christopher East
5:07 · who turns up in conjunction with the Daughters of the American Revolution
5:13 · which means they've found a gravesite of his that they believed to be indicative of him serving in a revolutionary war
5:18 · but we don't know where he fits in so it looks like I need to go to Washington and I need to go to
5:25 · the DAR all right I have full report love you love you good luck thanks
5:32 · so I'm off to Washington D.C
5:38 · [Music] John Christopher East I learned today
5:43 · was a patriot I mean that's that's the stuff that I love I mean that's the word Patriot
5:51 · revolutionary that's my dream is is to have some connection to real
5:58 · American Heroes I don't know who John Christopher East
6:04 · is I don't even know his relationship to Bessie May East or how far back he goes
6:09 · in my family tree so I'm meeting with genealogist Josh Taylor the Daughters of the American
6:15 · Revolution headquarters I learned recently of a family member named John Christopher East okay and we
6:23 · have him in a revolutionary war Patriots grave a virtue of documents I found online okay so my question is how am I
6:31 · related to John Christopher East and what if anything did he do in the
6:38 · revolution well you're in the right place you are in the research library of the daughter's American Revolution and
6:44 · to be a member of the DIA you have to be a documented ascendant of a patriot right so they have an
6:50 · online database they're actually going to take a look at to see what records might be here great
6:57 · so if I type in John Christopher East here and it comes up what exactly is that going to tell us it means that
7:03 · someone has submitted an application on behalf of John Christopher East to be confirmed as a revolutionary Patriot the
7:10 · dir recognizes those who serve military and non-military service you had to support the Revolutionary college right
7:16 · right thank you John Christopher
7:23 · are all my just taking in
7:30 · service Pennsylvania rank private I am actually going to go have the DAR genealogists here pull the application
7:37 · that have to do with John Christopher East and they're incredible because they contain family Bibles letters diary
7:43 · entries that you might not see anywhere else but here good excellent all right
7:51 · John Christopher East born in
7:56 · 1754. jumping if we're starting here where are we
8:02 · going to end up Rob Lowe is at the Daughters of the American Revolution headquarters in
8:08 · Washington DC and has just located his ancestor John Christopher East in the
8:14 · dar's genealogical database Rob is hoping to find more information about his relationship to John
8:20 · Christopher East and east's involvement in the Revolutionary War what do you
8:25 · have there I have Treasures oh my goodness here are the original files
8:31 · wow here's a family tree for John Christopher East
8:41 · Bessie May Bessie May there she is absolutely Toledo and it's
8:47 · already the family tree yep [Music] gosh look at this
8:54 · so John Cooper's Reese is going to be your great great
8:59 · how many grades are we dealing with Rebecca how great is this
9:04 · so is your five times great grandfather wow
9:13 · that is unbelievable [Music] did you go to the next document yeah
9:19 · let's see we have here 1793 it's a tax bill it's a tax list
9:26 · so it's everyone in the town who is paying taxes what town so the town of Newton up here
9:31 · so this is actually in Pennsylvania because remember from the service record he served from Pennsylvania
9:38 · well here's East okay Stephen what is it what is that word
9:45 · stoffel s-t-o-p-h-e-l
9:51 · that is actually John Christopher East but how do you know that theoretically the tax list says that there's a man
9:57 · with the name that sounds like John Christopher East particularly in a town that's this small absolutely it's a process of elimination and so oftentimes
10:04 · you'll find nicknames that enter in you'll find just however they thought they could spell it phonetically okay so
10:09 · with all of this documentation is there anything that signifies that he is an
10:16 · accepted Patriot well I actually I have some bad news for you when I was back talking to the
10:21 · aerogeneologist they informed me this line has actually been closed there is no documentation in here that actually
10:27 · says that John Christopher East was a patriot so the first one we have of
10:33 · private we don't know where that there was a man in the same area who was named
10:38 · Christian ish right and so originally when all the applications were submitted they'd confused the two
10:46 · so whether my ancestor served in the Revolutionary War at this moment we have no proof nope
10:53 · that's the big question basically so that's it well where one door closes another one always opens in genealogy
10:59 · I'm going to look at some of the non-military Avenues to see if we can figure out a way that he might have served and I'm going to send you off to
11:06 · look for the military Avenues where would I go next I'm actually going to recommend that you go to the Library of Congress they have over 151 million
11:13 · items so the largest library in the world part of their collections include some significant materials on the Revolutionary War great thank you good
11:19 · luck I know today that John Christopher East is my five times great grandfather
11:25 · but I have no evidence that he was involved in the Revolutionary War
11:30 · I'm going to keep digging at the Library of Congress I'm meeting with Revolutionary War
11:36 · historian Scott Stevenson he's asked Julie Miller from the Library of Congress to pull documents pertaining to
11:42 · my five times great grandfather John Christopher East so this is an original document from the Revolutionary War how
11:50 · did this come to the Library of Congress do we know Peter force was a collector
11:56 · of all kinds of documents and so those materials were gathered together and
12:02 · acquired by the Library of Congress along with the Jefferson papers the Washington papers the other founding
12:08 · collections is a real pillar of their Holdings about the revolution okay well
12:13 · it's a list of people in the military see Corporal Corporal Corporal Sergeant I know that looks like something German
12:20 · to me heinhauer sergeant all over
12:27 · oh Christopher OST Christoph OST is pretty close to Kristoff East
12:33 · am I right about that that's right and what is what is what is this
12:39 · grouping of of men well it's take a shot at the um at the heading here so
12:45 · it's radish and Grenadier regiment this is a Grenadier regiment they were sort
12:51 · of assault troops commanded by a man named Raul Raul
12:57 · so what we have is an original document that proves my
13:02 · five times great grandfather served in an assault regiment
13:08 · in the Revolutionary War yes fantastic so this is a list of
13:14 · anganin this is the word that's most significant it's a list of prisoners can
13:20 · we find out where this was or or what it what it's in relationship to well I think a Next Step would be to try the
13:27 · papers of George Washington literally his personal papers yes indeed
13:34 · that'd be amazing those are here they've been digitized at the Library of Congress so anyone with internet access
13:41 · essentially can do searches but I think as a special treat maybe we'll pull the
13:46 · original for us to look at in June of 1775 George Washington took command of
13:52 · the Continental Army in an effort to organize rebelling colonists outraged at the British crown for unfairly
13:59 · implementing taxation without representation Washington knew he was at the Forefront
14:04 · of one of the greatest acts of treason against Great Britain and was careful to document his every move
14:11 · today his letters are an invaluable resource for understanding the Revolutionary War including what they
14:18 · reveal about rawl's regiment to Congress 27th of December 1776.
14:27 · I have the pleasure of congratulating you upon the success of an Enterprise which I had formed against an attachment
14:35 · of enemy lying in Trenton I find that the Detachment of enemy
14:42 · consisted of three Hessian regiments okay so Hessian soldiers would I know
14:48 · them to be and you tell me if I'm right is they were they're mercenaries technically not mercenaries trained
14:56 · soldiers yes Hesse Castle is a region in Germany the central part of Germany that supplied the largest group of troops
15:03 · that were literally rented out by their princes During the Revolution to fight with the British
15:09 · so three Hessian regiments of lanspatch
15:16 · nip housing and roll there he is so those were the German Hessian commanders with the
15:22 · battle Trenton yes so let me ask you if Kristoff OST is on a list of
15:30 · prisoners in a regiment commanded by Colonel Raul
15:36 · I guess he's he's playing the Hessian side
15:41 · so you mean to tell me my five times
15:48 · great grandfather was trying to stick it to George Washington yes
15:56 · oh my God Rob Lowe is at the Library of Congress
16:02 · in Washington D.C he just found out his five times great-grandfather was a
16:07 · Hessian Soldier part of a German Force hired by Britain to help fight the Americans during the Revolutionary War
16:13 · it just never would occur to me that my guys out there trying to kill George
16:19 · Washington yes that would explain why he's not in the Daughters of the American Revolution
16:25 · grave site so we know my fifth great-grandfather is a Hessian
16:34 · Soldier he's an he's a a veteran of the Battle of Trenton absolutely
16:39 · well it's a big Time battle too and I don't know enough about it sure
16:45 · most people might know the famous painting Washington Crossing the Delaware but that's the extent of their
16:51 · Association so Washington Crossing the Delaware is affiliated with the Battle of Trenton clearly I need to go
16:59 · to Trenton who should I talk to so I think you should start with the old Barracks
17:06 · Museum in Trenton and all range for you to meet a colleague up there thank you for everything I'm on my way so I'm off
17:13 · to Trenton to find out about my five times great grandfather's imprisonment during the Revolutionary War
17:21 · [Music] I've always so identified with this country now I'm learning that I need to
17:28 · spend some time thinking about the people that fought against this country and why they did it and what are their stories and where's the meaning in that
17:36 · so I'm meeting with Hessian prisoner expert Daniel Krebs in hopes of uncovering the story behind my ancestors
17:43 · capture at the Battle of Trenton where we're seated are the old Barracks the actual these are the actual Barracks the
17:51 · actual bearings in Trenton taken over by Hessians during the campaign of 1776.
17:58 · I'd love to know how did he get here what went on well we are actually very
18:04 · lucky that we have a very rare document here this is a replica of a diary
18:10 · written by a young common soldier in the same regiment as your five times great
18:16 · grandfather Christopher his name was Johannes royber who came home with Christopher they probably knew each
18:22 · other so ruber Roy wrote this diary about his
18:28 · experiences it's also amazing to think that he and his fellow soldiers are not fighting for for
18:34 · their country they're doing their duty to their prince who has an agreement
18:43 · with the crown of Britain that's unbelievable 18 August
18:50 · the remaining Hessian regiments were landed and also entered our camp on Staten Island near the Hessian Jaegers
18:58 · and English troops in the summer of 1776 approximately 18
19:04 · 000 Hessian troops landed at Staten Island and began fighting the American Continental Army in a matter of days
19:11 · The Fearsome disciplined German soldiers provided the British with the needed manpower to drive George Washington's
19:18 · Army out of New York through New Jersey and across the Delaware into Pennsylvania
19:23 · Christoph ost's regiment set up camp in Trenton preparing to attack Philadelphia and overtake the capital in hopes of
19:30 · ending the Revolutionary War my family ancestor is here in Trenton
19:37 · he's been kicking ass all through America
19:42 · George Washington is on the other side of the Delaware with his demoralized troops and he's
19:50 · hoping for some kind of a Hail Mary exactly
19:55 · Washington knew the redcoat's plan to march across the Delaware as soon as it was frozen and take over the American
20:02 · capital of Philadelphia Congress had fled the city in panic and
20:07 · many thought the war was already lost for America to survive there was just
20:12 · one Thin hope a stealth attack on Christmas night 1776 in what was to
20:20 · become one of the most defining moments in American history Washington steered his continental army across the
20:27 · ice-choked Delaware River the next morning at dawn the tide of the Revolutionary War turned after
20:33 · Washington attacked the Hessian stronghold at Trenton taking Kristoff and the raw regiment by surprise
20:40 · so Christopher and his men were surprised in the fog in the weather it
20:48 · must have seemed as if this wave of soldiers Came Upon them
20:54 · now the Americans charge rawl's quarters overran it and took the cannon from the
21:00 · regiment then Colonel Raul charged with his grenadiers
21:07 · we retook our Canon and retired from the city into the fields
21:12 · The Bravery of it is amazing Christopher in his
21:19 · fellow soldiers mounted you know desperate desperate counter-attack they're outnumbered with
21:25 · cannon fire they took a cannon but it were eventually beaten back
21:31 · this was not the Hessian battle where they could deploy their bad lines in many ways this was a street brawl a
21:38 · battle in the middle of a city and that is something that makes it even more difficult and more brutal and
21:45 · vicious now Colonel Rawl commanded
21:50 · all those who are migrant years charge however
21:57 · after we had entered the city the rebels in three lines marched around us
22:03 · and as we again tried to retreat they again brought even Canon into the Main
22:09 · Street we had to go past them
22:16 · but things went badly for us if the colonel had not been so seriously
22:22 · wounded they would not have taken us alive we were too weak
22:28 · and in the end all was lost
22:33 · Rob Lowe is in Trenton New Jersey having just uncovered the events leading to his Hessian ancestors capture by the
22:40 · Americans during the Revolutionary War now that I know more about my five times
22:45 · great-grandfather Christoph ost's role in the Battle of Trenton I want to know what happened after he was taken
22:51 · prisoner I'm traveling west following the same path my ancestor was marched on his way
22:57 · to prison I was very conflicted knowing that my Revolutionary War story ends up with
23:05 · my ancestor fighting the revolutionaries but as I learn about the Hessians it's a
23:13 · very compelling human story I feel like I know under what circumstances he got here
23:18 · but one of the things going forward I'm interested in is how do you come to a Strange Land to
23:23 · fight and end up wanting to stay Daniel is taking me to the old
23:29 · Presbyterian Church in Newtown Pennsylvania where records show that Hessian soldiers spent their first night
23:35 · in captivity on their forced march to prison near Philadelphia
23:40 · christopherster and his group on the 4th March this is the
23:45 · destination that is their first stop was is this actual church this actual Church
23:52 · and I have a diary entry generalized entry that I would like you to read from royber
23:58 · about their entrance in Philadelphia after the night here January 1777 the American Guard which
24:06 · escorted us had orders from General Washington to lead us through the entire city so that we could be seen by
24:13 · everyone in the city the old women who were present screamed and scolded us in a terrible
24:20 · manner and wanted to strangle us because we had come to America to steal
24:26 · a freedom you know parading the Vanquish through the city is as old as time itself
24:34 · and it's always a March of domination and humiliation
24:40 · then General Washington had a broadside posted in the City and surrounding Countryside
24:46 · that we were innocent people in this war and were not volunteers
24:52 · but forced into this war and a broadside is a paper is a paper
24:57 · that was posted around the city I brought you one of those broad signs
25:02 · that were posted and we're addressing those Hashem prisoners
25:08 · it's in German obviously so they can read it to make it a little bit easier we have here an English translation of
25:15 · that broadside the resolution has passed that the states will accept all
25:21 · foreigners that choose to become part of these states and who are willing to leave the army of
25:27 · his British Majesty in America one can imagine that these foreigners prefer land tenure Freedom security
25:35 · and the benefit of good laws and Mild government in a country where already many of their
25:42 · friends and relatives have happily settled down rather than being exposed to the strains and dangers of a long and
25:48 · bloody war taken against a people that has not committed any crime
25:54 · other than the refusal to exchange its freedom for slavery
26:00 · decree by Congress John Hancock president that's amazing
26:07 · I mean it's so extraordinary I mean
26:13 · we take it for granted because of it it's it's so much a part of our national
26:18 · idealized version of ourselves as Americans
26:23 · but at the time it was so revolutionary and to be
26:30 · vanquished and in a prison and reading something like this
26:40 · it must have it must have blown their minds
26:45 · well how many of them returned home when they could what we know about the Hessians is 15 percent
26:52 · roughly staying 85 percent went home somebody like
26:57 · Kristoff took a huge huge risk they knew what
27:02 · they had at home but they knew only here a piece of paper
27:08 · with some promises they had to jump into the unknown
27:14 · take that risk and that is christoph's story
27:20 · so does it mean that if they wanted to take this offer
27:25 · that he could go free unfortunately we don't have a military record that he he went to one of the guards and said I saw
27:32 · this pamphlet what we do know is the Americans didn't have the resources to
27:38 · keep them confined in long-term prisons most of these prisoners are loaned out
27:43 · by the Americans and worked there on farms on shops what we do know is he
27:49 · disappears from prison if he's disappeared now has gone cold and he's disappeared
27:55 · how in 1909 are they celebrating him in Lima Ohio something must have told him
28:04 · it's better here than there than there I would love to know what he left behind
28:12 · to find out more to answer these questions I think you'll have to go to
28:17 · Germany to the state archives in Marburg with a Hessian military records are kept
28:23 · I'll do it Barbara here I come thank you now I want to find out more about
28:30 · Christoph ost's life before he came to America so I'm headed to Marburg Germany
28:36 · [Music] such an inspiring thought to think of everything that
28:44 · Christoph left behind for the promise of something great
28:50 · he had a life he would have had friends he would have had family but he had to take a leap of
28:56 · faith to give up all he knew in Germany and he never went back
29:02 · why that's what we're going to find out so I'm meeting with Professor Holger
29:08 · Groff at the Marburg State archives with his help I want to find out where are my five times great-grandfather was born
29:15 · and gain an insight into Kristoff's life in Germany I was wondering if you had any records
29:21 · here that could help me as I try to learn more about him best is if we look up in this list do you know the regiment
29:29 · where he's uh yes in Rawls regiment this is helpful now this is a compiled list called hetrina which is a short form for
29:37 · the Hessian troops in the American war of independence it's alphabetical it's an alphabetical
29:44 · order oh b o c we're looking for o e OST Adam
29:51 · UST George Christoph unbelievable there he is
29:56 · but it doesn't say as far as I can see anything else about him I'm afraid
30:04 · when I see that a lot of the men have the town that they're from but there's nothing for Kristoff no I'm afraid not
30:11 · at this point from this records I think it looks a bit like a dead end well I
30:16 · didn't come all the way to Germany for a dead end I can tell you that Rob Lowe is in Germany at the Marburg
30:22 · State archives but his search for Christoph ost's Roots has gone cold now
30:28 · Rob is hoping to find out where his five times great-grandfather was born and why he left Germany what would you recommend
30:36 · would be my next step what we have seen inside Estes because Christopher's is not a
30:43 · very common name it's not very spread like Miller or brown also and we probably find other Earths
30:51 · in the herena list and look up where they came from so this is a list of towns what village
30:59 · should I should I maybe go to I would start I think in firstenhag it's the
31:05 · closest from here okay see if I can find something yes so we're off in the countryside all right
31:14 · I still want to know about christoph's life anything that I could find helped frame who he was
31:22 · Holger is taking me to the Village of fierstenhagen where the parish preacher has pulled any Parish records that might
31:28 · help me in my search thank you thank you so these are our Parish records yeah baptisms marriages
31:37 · and burials so we can start here the first entry
31:43 · 1754 in the month of August in English is
31:51 · that's his dad this is Dad his dad was John as well nurse as well yeah in the
31:57 · evening at 10 o'clock born and the 18s he was baptized and he named
32:03 · it John Christoff so now we have John Christopher East
32:09 · yeah so he was born here in this Village in this Village so this is where it all
32:15 · began for me he would have adapted us here in this church Yes somewhere here must have been the baptism of on
32:24 · wow but there are some more books what I don't know what we're going to
32:30 · get that's going to top that well to be born you need parents don't you
32:36 · yes so let's see the copulations from the year 1689 onwards marriages
32:42 · marriages 1728 yeah
32:48 · so there's a marriage of Johannes OST and Laura Laura short name for Eleanor
32:53 · Laura no that's the first I've heard of that yes I've actually gotten another generation
33:00 · I've located Christoph OST parents my six times great-grandparents Laura Noll
33:06 · and Johannes OST digging further into the parish records I've discovered that Christoph OST is
33:13 · the youngest of eight brothers and sisters wow that is a big that's a big family is
33:20 · it would that have been a normal sized family in this time it's quite normal quite normal five seven
33:27 · eight ten children wow so there's other entries then they start here
33:33 · some informations on the parents of Christoph Johannes Ester was buried in his age of
33:41 · 62 years seven months so christoph's father dies in April
33:48 · of 1766. yeah and when Christoph was 12
33:54 · years old 1770.
33:59 · February the 18th so is Johannes urson his widow
34:06 · eleonor was buried old 61 years
34:11 · basically five years before he goes to America
34:17 · of course he will not inherit any property from his parents really because only the eldest son will inherit
34:26 · the land and the family property so I was also wondering at 22 years old when he left he could
34:33 · have easily have been married and we have no record of that younger Sons with no
34:39 · occupation or Fortune they had to stay more or less single and work as a groom
34:44 · on a farm or as a day laborer or go to the Army I'm starting to put a picture
34:49 · together that he really has nothing here yeah a different time very
34:57 · different an amazingly different time [Music] so no Dead End
35:05 · no dead ass thank you so much thank you thank you it all makes sense to me now that
35:13 · Christopher Foster would choose America based on what his life would have been
35:18 · here it isn't just that he served as a Hessian
35:24 · he was of Germany and that's a perspective I would never have
35:30 · gotten from the name John Christopher East
35:36 · puzzle solved [Music]
35:41 · but there may be more to the story back at the hotel I received a letter from Josh Taylor
35:54 · Rob I found something that I think will make you very happy I have submitted it to the DAR and have
36:01 · included their response Josh Rob Lowe is in Germany where he just
36:06 · learned that genealogist Josh Taylor submitted new research about his ancestor John Christopher East to the
36:13 · Daughters of the American Revolution Lowe
36:19 · congratulations your ancestor John Christopher East
36:25 · has officially been accepted as a patriot
36:31 · for the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution the documents submitted on behalf of
36:38 · your ancestor a 1782 Supply tax list shows estofl
36:45 · Hessian paying taxes that were specifically raised to pay for material supplied to
36:52 · the Revolutionary War effort this document was checked and cross-checked by our staff genealogist
37:00 · to make sure that it was your ancestor and we were able to confirm this
37:05 · combined with the knowledge that John Christopher East stayed in America
37:10 · became an American citizen and did not return to Germany shows that he contributed to the
37:16 · Revolutionary War and is considered a patriot in addition
37:23 · we are providing you with the necessary documentation to verify John Christopher
37:28 · east's Revolutionary War service should you be interested in applying to
37:33 · the sons of the American Revolution you should provide them with copies
37:41 · thank you
38:05 · [Music] Mr Lowe
38:11 · congratulations on having a good fortune of being able to prove with historical
38:17 · documentation that you are descended from a patriot of the American
38:22 · Revolution John Christopher East I extend to you my personal invitation
38:28 · to join the National Society of the sons of the American Revolution wow John Christopher East served on both
38:37 · sides of the American Revolution
38:44 · I really did want my five times great grandfather to be an American Patriot
38:50 · but I think the way he came to be authenticated is much more powerful I
38:56 · think than I was expecting in spite of having thought against the
39:02 · revolutionaries he chose America to choose that ideal
39:08 · is heroic I'm glad I came on this journey because
39:14 · John Christopher East became more than a name on a newspaper clipping
39:20 · in the Lima Ohio newspaper so much of what I am about
39:27 · my love of politics my patriotism I can't help but think that
39:33 · some of his dreams and aspirations
39:38 · were passed down and I feel them there's a story of people leaving behind
39:44 · what was safe to embrace what is promised
39:52 · that's a happy ending [Music]
40:00 · [Applause]