Roots Television | Megan's Roots World

Video re: James R. Fenwick, Sailor on USS Monitor

If you're like me and enjoy history mysteries -- or if you're a Civil War buff -- check out this video about the attempt to identify the skeletons found in the turret of the USS Monitor. You'll have to turn to BBC's timewatch to see the whole thing (look for the episode called The Iron Coffin), but you'll see a few highlights here.

The amazing thing to me is that -- with only about a month for research -- it was possible to learn some things about James R. Fenwick that had been missed all these years. I especially enjoyed speaking with his great-niece in Scotland who had heard of a family member who went to America, but had no clue what had become of him. With something on the order of 60,000 books on the Civil War, I didn't think there was much new to discover, but I was definitely wrong about that!

Talking Roots with Robin Roberts

I get to do a lot of fun sleuthing, such as the time I got to look into the roots of Robin Roberts of Good Morning America.

She wasn't that excited about the prospect until she walked in the footsteps of one of her ancestors, a woman who had lived in West Virginia back in the mid-to-late 1800s. It also surprised her to see her Roberts line traced back to the 1790s. If you've got a few minutes, check out this video.