[ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] im jamie colby. And today, im in kennebunkport, maine. Its renowned as the bush familys summer haven and also for its succulent lobster. But this story has a cast of characters that are up and down the atlantic seaboard. The heirs, they live here, a reclusive aunt from massachusetts and their gilded age ancestor once dubbed the father of greater new york. Im john green. And im lisa green buchanan. I think its fair to say that our aunt julie was a hoarder. And when she died in 2009, she left us a mountain of stuff to sort through. Oh, what a great house thank you welcome to kennebunkport i got a story. John and his sister lisa belong to a new england family whose history goes back to mayflower days but whose legacy had been largely forgotten. In 2005, that reclusive aunt i mentioned, julie green, is diagnosed with cancer, and john moves her from the boston area into a condo up here in maine, where the siblings can help care for her. Its a
Im jamie colby. And today, im driving in the badlands of eastern montana. Its rugged, bigsky, cattleranching country. Im on my way to meet a lifelong resident whose father left him a chunk of this land. Nice to have you here. Thanks for having us. My names Clayton Phipps. And in 1997, my father passed away, and i inherited from him a small portion of the family ranch. And along with that came a few pretty exciting surprises. 41yearold Clayton Phipps is like a character out of red river or lonesome dove. [ horse neighs ] most of the time, im on my own. Im happy that way. This ranch had been in our family since my greatgrandfather homesteaded here. And its a part of me that i just didnt feel like i wanted to ever part with. Clayton grew up and learned to cowboy here on the ranch his father shared with three brothers. He describes the operation as cashpoor but reasonably successful. My dad worked us hard, but that was a good thing, too. After claytons father dies in 1997, the ranch is spl
i m jamie colby, and i m in the berkshire mountains on my way to great barrington, massachusetts. i m meeting a woman whose ancestor played on one of the great teams in the early days of baseball. his picture is on her strange inheritance, which may just be the world s oldest baseball card. my name is florence sasso. my great-great-uncle archibald mcmahon was a member of the 1860s atlantic nine baseball team. i inherited this card from my mother when she passed away. hi. i m jamie. hi. i m florence. heard you have a great story and a very strange inheritance. also heard you re a new york girl. yes. i m from queens. i m a brooklyn girl. uh-oh. 75-year-old flo lives alone and runs an electrolysis business from her house. what a lovely home. she explains that fate has handed her a very unusual inheritance in the form of a 2 1/2-by-4-inch antique baseball card. oh, my goodness. is this what i think it is, florence? may i touch it? sure. look at the players.
strange, it takes years just to figure out what it is. my name is mike meister. my siblings and i inherited something that goes back to our great-uncle more than a hundred years ago. we d always been told that it came from the white house, but it was just a family story. hi, jamie. welcome to boston. thanks, mike. nice to meet you. yeah, nice to meet you, too. mike leads me inside, saying he has something amazing to show me. he keeps it in its own molded, air-tight protective case. can i take a look? sure can. you brought me all the way here, mike. this is. what is it? mike s strange inheritance is this piece of decorative pinewood. 30 inches long, 14 inches across, four inches thick. on the back is a faint signature and a date j.s. williamson, october 15, 1902. there s a real story behind it. family legend is that it s from the white house. could that be? the white house does have a colorful past. it s nearly completed at the end of john adams presidency.
who has an inheritance so strange, it takes years just to figure out what it is. my name is mike meister. my siblings and i inherited something that goes back to our great-uncle more than a hundred years ago. we d always been told that it came from the white house, but it was just a family story. hi, jamie. welcome to boston. thanks, mike. nice to meet you. yeah, nice to meet you, too. mike leads me inside, saying he has something amazing to show me. he keeps it in its own molded, air-tight protective case. can i take a look? sure can. you brought me all the way here, mike. this is. what is it? mike s strange inheritance is this piece of decorative pinewood. 30 inches long, 14 inches across, four inches thick. on the back is a faint signature and a date j.s. williamson, october 15, 1902. there s a real story behind it. family legend is that it s from the white house. could that be? the white house does have a colorful past. it s nearly completed at the end o