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♪

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(narrator) 
The search for our ancestry

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has never been easier.

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With the advent 
of massive databases,

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the digitizing 
of millions of records

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both public and private,

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and even the widespread 
availability of DNA testing,

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someone with enough gumption 
can find out

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just about anything 
about their distant past.

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But what if the cold glow 
of a computer screen

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or the musty smell 
of old documents

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isn't enough to satisfy you?

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What if you find out 
that part of your past

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is hidden in a tomb 
and it's out there somewhere?

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Meet J.R. Robinson

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and his cousin 
Alan Matthews,

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descendants of a family

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long gone from this 
southern tip of our state

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near Ocean Isle, 
the remarkable Gause Family.

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Uh, William Gause, Sr., uh,

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started off in Horry County, 
South Carolina.

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He was the patriarch 
of the Gause family.

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It all began with him.

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He moved to Brunswick County 
and bought a--

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thousands of acres 
of land, uh,

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and started 
a turpentine business.

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Of course, 
they had plantations, and, uh,

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the roads here, uh-- 
Brick Landing

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was where they imported 
brick from England

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to build their homes

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and as well as this tomb 
behind us, uh.

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William Gause, Jr., uh--

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he, uh, fought 
with George Washington

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in the Revolutionary War, 
and, uh,

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George Washington 
went on a southern tour

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that went through here,

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and he went 
14 miles out of his way

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to spend the night 
and have breakfast

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with our grandfather, 
William Gause, Jr.

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(narrator) 
J.R.'s cousin Bobby Matthews

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was the original 
family historian,

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and he found evidence 
of a lost tomb.

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(J.R.) 
My cousin Bobby told me.

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He said, "There's a tomb; 
the tomb is out there.

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You know, 
it's hard to find."

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We searched 
and searched and searched,

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and our other cousin 
Dickie Carmichael was with him,

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and they were about to give up 
tryin' to find the tomb,

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and Dickie said, 
"I found it."

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And he went over, 
and they looked it over,

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and he told me, 
he said, you know,

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"You really 
gotta see this."

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He says, 
"This thing is a--

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it's a work of art," 
you know.

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"It's something 
that you're never--

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you're not gonna see 
another, uh--uh,

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structure like this."

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I saw this.

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I knew it was 
something special.

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I knew it was 
one of a kind.

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We didn't actually find it 
the first time we were here.

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It was so thick,

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and everybody's, 
"Don't go out there.

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The snakes 
are gonna bite you."

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To be honest, I stood 
at the adjacent field,

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and I looked this way.

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I said, 
"I bet it's right there.

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"From what I been told 
and reading maps

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and the marks, 
it's right there."

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And I was right.

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You could stand...

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right here 
and not see the tomb.

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It was that thick.

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Uncle Bob, 
when he saw it,

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actually said to me 
that he was standing--

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and I surmise 
this was in the '70s--

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he said to me that he was 
12 feet from the tomb

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and did not know it.

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(J.R.) 
And was on his hands 
and knees.

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And was on his hands 
and knees penetrating 
the brush.

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It was definitely 
hidden away 
and forgotten.

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[piano chords 
playing in background]

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(narrator) 
Now, this was not the tomb 
of William Gause

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or his son, 
William Gause, Jr.

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No one is sure 
where they rest,

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but it could be near

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the massive 
George Washington Tree

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that stands guard 
over the probable site

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of the Gause home.

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[strings support 
gentle piano melody]

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What J.R. and Alan discovered

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was the tomb of William's 
direct descendants,

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John Julius Gause 
and his extended family.

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(J.R.) 
And John Julius Gause

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was a public servant 
here in Brunswick County.

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He was the, uh, 
county clerk

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for Brunswick County, uh, 
as well as, he served

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in the North Carolina 
House o' Commons.

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Today we call it 
the House of Representatives,

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I think, 
in most states, um.

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John Julius Jr.'s father, 
John Julius Sr.,

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also was the sheriff 
here in Brunswick County,

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and because of his age-- 
he was very young.

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Actually, on record, 
he's the--

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he is the youngest sheriff 
on record

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to ever serve that position 
here in Brunswick County.

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So there was concern

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whether he would do a good job 
because of his age.

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And he wound up doin' 
an excellent job as sheriff.

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(narrator) 
So J.R. had work to do.

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First of all, 
the tomb was in bad shape,

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and more importantly,

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he didn't own the land 
it rested on.

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That land belonged 
to the charming Mrs. Rae Cox,

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who was the first woman 
to live on Ocean Isle Beach

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almost 50 years ago.

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(Rae) There was nobody 
over there but us.

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We were the only 
permanent family for 16 years.

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We were 
in the Encyclopadia Britannica

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'cause I bought those 
for my children then

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'cause they didn't have 
Internet and everything then.

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One year was smallest town 
in the United States

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with four people-- 
that was my family.

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And the next year 
it came out--

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well, about five years later, 
it came out five--

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I had another baby-- 
heh, heh, heh!

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(J.R.) 
But she was not aware 
of a lot of how--

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how much was here, you know?

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I mean, who would?

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If you can't walk--

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You don't know 
what you can't see.

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(Rae) 
J.R. came to Brunswick County.

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Went to the county and found 
who owned this land.

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He called me and wanted 
to do somethin' with it.

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So we met; 
we shook hands.

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We talked; 
we liked each other.

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I told him, 
"Do whatever you wanna do."

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That was it, 
and he's done it!

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And he's done a good job; 
it looks wonderful!

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(J.R.) 
I was wanting to bring, 
before the tomb,

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the first thing I needed to do

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was bring the cemetery 
back to life, so to say,

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and that's to get it 
cleared out.

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Let's recognize 
that there's graves here.

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Let's recognize 
that there's people

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buried all around this tomb,

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and--and then, uh-- 
but she--she was--

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has been phenomenal--

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phenomenal 
of our relationship.

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(narrator) 
Scattered around the tomb

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were the fragmented remains 
of several gravestones.

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This was an active 
burial ground.

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But who was buried here?

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Anthony Clemmons 
is a well-known historian

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of this part 
of North Carolina.

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(Anthony) 
Oh, years ago, um,

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family cemeteries 
were private.

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And we were surprised to find 
some, uh, tombstones, uh,

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located here 
whose names was Frierson,

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which is really foreign 
to Brunswick County,

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and, uh, also, the-- 
the Russ.

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And with a little bit 
of research,

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I traced the Friersons 
back to Charleston

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and found out that the--

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the Russes had a, uh--

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large plantations, uh, 
to the east of here

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that adjoined 
the Gauses' plantation.

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And there's a pattern 
back then of, uh,

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joinin' plantations, uh,

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the children intermarryin', um.

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A lot of 'em 
went to the same church, uh.

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There's an old sayin' 
back then, uh--uh,

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when you visit somebody.

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It says, we'll see you 
if the good Lord's willin'

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and the creek don't rise.

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So believe it or not, uh,

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the swamps 
and the water bein' impassable

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[chuckling] 
had a lot to do 
with intermarriage back then.

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(narrator) 
There had long been 
rumors in these parts

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that almost a century back,

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grave robbers 
had entered the tomb.

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To their dismay,

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J.R. and Alan 
found this to be true.

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(J.R.) 
But in the back corner 
of the tomb,

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there was a vent, 
and then--

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and the robbers 
chose to bust the vent out

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and attempt to go through 
what they--

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what they had nicknamed 
the robber's hole.

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And, uh, so a-- 
a lot of the damage

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and vandalism 
and theft and desecration

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had already been done 
back in the 1920s.

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(narrator) 
Who can say 
what the grave robbers stole?

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But J.R. and Alan did make 
an amazing discovery--bones.

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And so another mystery 
presented itself:

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Just who was buried 
in the Gause Tomb?

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(J.R.) 
When John Julius 
died in 1836, uh,

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this was not built.

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It was ordered 
to be built.

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It--while it was being built, 
John was entombed in a--

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in a vault somewhere here 
in Brunswick County, uh,

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maybe very close from here-- 
maybe even on these grounds--

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we're not sure-- 
along with two deceased wives,

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two deceased children.

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He also invited the in-laws 
from his second wife

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to be entombed here.

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So I would have to say, uh,

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it would have been 
John Julius Gause, two wives,

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two of his children 
that died of a disease, and--

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and two in-laws-- 
at least that many people.

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(narrator) 
J.R. hired local brickmason 
Ricky Clemmons

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to repair the tomb, 
and Clemmons expertly matched

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the vaulted brickwork style 
of nearby Fort Caswell.

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Other members of this 
Brunswick County community

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pitched in to help, 
even using a dowsing rod

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to find more graves.

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[choral vocalizations 
support chiming vibraphone]

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(J.R.) 
We put in the flagpoles today,

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and you noticed earlier, 
we put in two flagpoles.

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One flagpole was, uh--uh, 
of the United States flag

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because, you know, 
John Julius Jr.

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was a public servant.

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He was 
a government official, uh.

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The other flag 
is a United States flag of--

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they call it 
the 25-star flag, uh.

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It was the flag of 1836 
because that was the year

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the tomb was built, 
and, of course,

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under that flag,

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it's the state flag 
of North Carolina.

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(narrator) 
News of J.R.'s efforts 
made its way

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to other members 
of the Gause family,

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and the clan 
gathered at the site

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in late June of 2016, 
traveling from South Carolina,

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Texas, and Tennessee.

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One special guest

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is a direct descendant 
of John Julius Gause.

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(man) 
John Julius Gause, 
who died and is buried--

237
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was buried in that tomb, uh, 
died in 1836,

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and he was my great- 
great-great-grandfather.

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And his children,

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including 
my great-great-grandfather,

241
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Samuel Sidney Gause,

242
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picked up 
and sold their lands here

243
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and moved 
to west Tennessee.

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I have Samuel Sidney Gause's 
family Bible in my house.

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[harp leads]

246
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And that... 
you know, that goes

247
00:10:20,953 --> 00:10:23,789
all the way back to his father, 
John Julius Gause.

248
00:10:23,889 --> 00:10:25,558
Well, Alan, 
here we go.

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00:10:25,658 --> 00:10:26,826
Beautiful day.

250
00:10:26,926 --> 00:10:28,828
It is, and 
we're heading

251
00:10:28,928 --> 00:10:31,597
to the UNC at 
Wilmington, uh,

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00:10:31,697 --> 00:10:34,333
to take, uh, 
our human remains

253
00:10:34,433 --> 00:10:38,304
of those we found 
in the floor of the tomb.

254
00:10:38,404 --> 00:10:41,007
Today's a big day.

255
00:10:41,107 --> 00:10:45,511
These bones were 
all in the floor 
of the tomb.

256
00:10:45,611 --> 00:10:48,614
Found something that looked 
to be part of the--

257
00:10:48,714 --> 00:10:51,517
a foot bone...

258
00:10:51,617 --> 00:10:54,620
part of the, uh, 
calcaneus there.

259
00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:57,823
Sometimes, the fragments 
are kinda small,

260
00:10:57,923 --> 00:10:59,859
so it's difficult 
to get an idea

261
00:10:59,959 --> 00:11:01,861
of exactly 
what part of a bone,

262
00:11:01,961 --> 00:11:05,197
but what I'm pullin' here 
is a child's vertebra.

263
00:11:05,297 --> 00:11:09,201
So we have two adults, um, 
a male and a female,

264
00:11:09,301 --> 00:11:13,539
and two children based on 
some of these fragments

265
00:11:13,639 --> 00:11:16,175
of hip bone and the ulna

266
00:11:16,275 --> 00:11:18,310
and two vertebrae right here

267
00:11:18,411 --> 00:11:22,815
at different 
developmental stages.

268
00:11:22,915 --> 00:11:25,584
I'm glad we're able to provide 
that sense of connection.

269
00:11:25,685 --> 00:11:27,453
(narrator) 
More work remains to be done

270
00:11:27,553 --> 00:11:29,689
on the bones 
found in the tomb,

271
00:11:29,789 --> 00:11:32,391
and yet, for his prodigious 
efforts to date,

272
00:11:32,491 --> 00:11:33,926
J.R. was honored

273
00:11:34,026 --> 00:11:35,961
by the Wilmington 
historical foundation.

274
00:11:36,062 --> 00:11:38,831
(woman) 
To undertake the preservation 
and restoration

275
00:11:38,931 --> 00:11:41,867
of this one-of-a-kind 
family resting place.

276
00:11:41,967 --> 00:11:43,703
(narrator) 
But perhaps the real honor

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00:11:43,803 --> 00:11:46,072
was found among 
the pine needles and thorns

278
00:11:46,172 --> 00:11:47,773
of this forgotten cemetery,

279
00:11:47,873 --> 00:11:50,142
where a family's legacy 
has been restored...

280
00:11:50,242 --> 00:11:51,644
for good.

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00:11:51,744 --> 00:11:53,646
[vibraphone leads 
sustained strings]

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00:11:53,746 --> 00:11:59,618
♪