Christopher Meloni was brought to tears after learning his sixth great-grandfather's origin story while appearing on PBS' 'Finding Your Roots' during the show's seventh season.
to trace his family tree. He was shocked to learn that his sixth great-grandfather, Mathias Farnsworth, had been abducted as a teenager.
Native American troops, who were aligned with the French, captured Farnsworth and carried the 14-year-old north as a hostage. He soon found himself 300 miles from home as a prisoner of war. "Wow, that's just crazy. The stakes were so high back then. That is what I think as you turn these pages. That's the first thing I reflect upon," he told the show's host.Farnsworth was marched up to Canada and was soon listed in the records of a Catholic mission on the outskirts of what is now Montreal. He was purchased for ransom by a group of Roman Catholic priests.Farnsworth, who was most likely a Puritan beforehand, became a Catholic.
A nurse cared for Meloni until he was 12 years old but then he was on his own, a common practice for orphans in Italy.Meloni's ancestor would later come to America and find a career selling olive oil. While reflecting on this impressive journey, the actor got emotional and wiped tears away from his face.
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