Finding Your Roots

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Professor Gates

Washington was one of four generations of Lithgows who lived and worked in the Dominican Republic, a trading hub of the Caribbean. And while we don't tend to think of businessmen as leading dramatic lives, our research soon uncovered stories that might well have been dreamed up in Hollywood. In the summer of 1863, war broke out in the Dominican Republic as Spain, its former colonizer, attempted to reclaim the young nation. Within months, Spanish troops reached Puerto Plata where John's great-great-grandfather was living with his wife and children. Suddenly, the Lithgows were on the front line of the war. They pillaged-- Oh my god. - The town. And so what do you think happened to the Americans like your great-great-grandfather when the Spanish arrived? I don't know, I want to find out. Would you please turn the page? This was published in the Philadelphia Inquirer. It describes in detail what happened in Puerto Plata in early October of 1863. Would you please read the transcribed section? How shamefully all strangers, among whom were many Americans, were treated by the Spanish authorities. No notice whatever was given to anybody when the town was abandoned and set on fire by their troops, and no protection was offered, not even to the foreign consults in town. The night we left Puerto Plata, the town was almost entirely burned, only a few buildings having been spared. Did you know any of this history? No, no, not any. Can you imagine that experience? My god, what happened to them? (mysterious music)