Im jamie colby, and today im on the road in lawrence, kansas, on my way to the university of kansas home of the jayhawks, one of the most storied teams in all of basketball. Now, kansas is actually not where the tale of this strange inheritance begins, but through a turn of events, it does wind up here. In 1939, my grandfather, dr. James naismith passed away and left us an artifact that dates back to 1891. He was my greatgrandfather, and what he left us was the magna carta of basketball. Naismiths. Jamie. Im jim. Good to meet you. Hi, jim. How are you . Jamie, im sean naismith. Great to meet you both. Likewise. I am interested to hear about your strange inheritance. Im awfully curious what the connection is to k. U. Wed love to show you. My greatgrandfather, dr. James naismith, started the first basketball teams here at k. U. [ whistle blows ] but time out lets reset the clock. The boy who would grow up to invent basketball, James Naismith, is born in ontario, canada, in 1861. At age 9
, ranger at Petersburg National battlefield, where we first met as park rangers many, many years ago. He is worked in manassas, vicksburg, and gettysburg. He will tackle the elephant in the room about gettysburg versus vicksburg, which one of these two battles he considers being a native mississippian and having worked at both parks, which he considers to be the biggest turning point. Gettysburg or vicksburg . I will let matt get up here and explain. Matt atkinson. [applause] matt thats what it is. I understand you all had a row last night about something. Right there, right . The most important battle, a top the top 10 battles in the american civil war, and gettysburg was left off. Can you believe that . I want to tell you a quick story. I was invited down to a richmond roundtable. We were at the willow oaks country club. We had virginia ham. That is the only time they go out there. Anyway, i was having a great time. I was in richmond and the man who did the top 10 last night lives th
Vicksburg, which battle he considers being a native mississippian and having worked at both parks, which he considers to be the biggest turning point. Gettysburg or vicksburg . I will let matt get up here and explain. Matt atkinson. [applause] matt that is what it is. I understand you all had a role last night about something. Right there, right . The most important battle, a top 10 battles in the american civil war, gettysburg was left off. Can you believe that . I want to tell you a quick story. I was invited down to a roundtable in richmond. We were at the willow oaks country club. We had virginia ham. The only time they go out there. Anyway i was having a great , time, i was in richmond and the man who did the top 10 last night lives there and he did not show. So here is what you call poetic justice. [laughter] a slight i have not forgotten right there. [laughter] the top 10 battles in the american civil war. Im sure he knows more about the civil war than i do, im sure he did not l
[ bird caws ] im jamie colby in southampton county, virginia. Im here to visit a family, some of whose ancestors were murdered in the nat turner slave revolt. Their strange inheritance . A powerful and some would say holy relic of that bloody and historic rampage. My name is wendy creekmoreporter. My stepfather inherited a bible with a controversial past. Hes 88, and his memorys going, so he asked me to tell our familys story. Hi, wendy. Im jamie colby. So nice to meet you. I meet wendy at persons methodist church. The forebearers of her stepfather, maurice person, started the church in 1838, seven years after the family is nearly decimated in nat turners slave rebellion. I cant think of a more appropriate place to learn about an old bible that survives from that bloody day. What did the bible look like . Tattered. Its missing the cover, very small. It was obviously something that you could carry on you. And, according to person family lore, the centuries old book belonged to the upris
[ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] im jamie colby, and today im driving into the oldest settlement in louisiana. Its called natchitoches. Its rich in Southern Charm and civil war history. Battles raged nearby, both along and on the red river. Well, that history inspired one mans remarkable craftsmanship. But it left his son wondering what the heck to do with all the crafts. My name is Larry Atteridge. In 2008, my father passed away and left behind his lifes work a massive fleet of amazingly detailed model ships he built from scratch. Hi, larry. Im jamie. Well, hi, jamie. Nice to meet you. Great to meet you. Thanks for inviting me deep into louisiana. It sure is pretty. Well, ive got a lot to show you. Come this way. Larry invites me in to see some of his fathers civil war ships. This is one cool viewer submission. Which one is that . This is the eastport, which was on the red river here in natchitoches parish. It was one of the largest ironclads of the civ