Michael Douglas learns that one of his ancestors knew George Washington personally during an appearance on "Finding Your Roots."
The actor traces his family's ancestry in the latest episode of the PBS show and discovers that he's related to a man named John Neilson, who provided military intelligence to Washington during the Revolutionary War.
Neilson is Douglas' fourth great-grandfather and was working as a merchant when the war broke out. Rather than stay loyal to England, which many merchants did out of fear that they'd lose their business or life, Neilson supported the Continental Army's cause. There's even a statue of him in downtown New Brunswick, New Jersey.
"On July 9, 1776, John stood on a table in front of a tavern in New Brunswick and read the Declaration of Independence out loud," Henry Louis Gates Jr., the show's host, tells Douglas.
The actor is immediately filled with pride and says, “I love him already. God bless him.”
At the time, the Declaration of Independence was only five days old and this was only the third official public reading of the document.
Neilson's role in the war would soon intensify. In a few weeks, he was appointed colonel of a battalion of a New Jersey militia. In February 1777, his militia raided a British stronghold in the well-known Battle of Bennett's Island.
After hearing about his ancestor's accomplishments, Douglas says, "It's just very impressive."
Washington was also impressed with the battle and wrote a letter to the Continental Congress to update them on Neilson’s accomplishments.
"How does that make you feel?" Gates asks Douglas.
"Proud, to say the least, proud. But (it's great) just to know what an integral part he played in helping start our new country," the actor says.
In 1778, Washington wrote a personal letter to Neilson thanking him for providing him military intelligence.
Douglas finds it "hard to articulate" what this means to him but says it's "cool" to think that "you're a direct descendent of somebody (of) that heroic proportion."
Gates then delivers a sobering piece of news about the same ancestor. Neilson's will revealed he had owned enslaved people.
When asked how he reconciles this news with his ancestor's accomplishments, Douglas said, "I mean, he's inspirational other than the fact that he was still a slave owner."
"I think the overwhelming feeling for me is for him to risk as early as he did reading that Declaration of Independence is a very courageous act. And his war record is amazing," he continues. "And you just try to equalize that with having slaves 40 years later."
Douglas then shares a Hebrew saying that he says applies here.
"We have in Hebrew this expression tikkun olam, which means to make the world a better place or to try to repair the world. You just, you feel that obligation or that sense much more when you see something like (this). It makes you want to be a better person," he says.