Hold onto your cowboy hats! Belle Grove, a National Trust Historic Site in Virginia, recently discovered its personal connection to a modern day celebrity. Director Elizabeth McClung shares the news:
Tim McGraw on NBC's "Who Do You Think You Are?"
Last summer we were approached by a researcher from NBC’s “Who Do You Think You Are?” asking for assistance to track the ancestry of “a famous person.” We involved Richard Hite, President of the Hite Family Association, Becky Ebert, Archivist at the Handley Regional Library in Winchester, VA, and Dr. Warren Hofstra of Shenandoah University, and we were all sworn to secrecy. We didn’t know the “famous person” would be Tim McGraw until he walked in the door to be filmed at Belle Grove, and we were asked to stay “mum” until just before the show aired.
Early last fall, Belle Grove’s staff helped the show’s researchers find their way through the Hite family tree, then helped the film and production crew scout shooting locations in our region. In October, the film crew used Belle Grove as its base during the shoot.
As it turns out, country music star Tim McGraw is a descendant of Jost Hite and Jacob Chrisman, Isaac Hite’s grandfather and uncle. They filmed him in October at locations around Frederick and Shenandoah County, and briefly at Belle Grove. The show, “Who Do You Think You Are?” with Tim McGraw will air this Friday evening, February 11 on NBC at 8 a.m. Eastern time but you can watch a preview now.
This project produced some rental income for Belle Grove, plus an unexpected bonus: financial assistance for professional conservation of three important historic documents in Belle Grove’s collection. Although we’re not sure they used the footage, the researchers wanted to shoot our Jost Hite documents: 1) Deed: Joseph Kirkbridge to Hans Jost Height, 1718; 2) Hans Yost Hite Release from Indenture, 1730; and 3) Lease: Hans Yost Height, 1730. All of these documents are housed in Belle Grove’s Collection at the Handley Archives; all were folded and all needed conservation. Rachel Ray Cleveland, paper conservator, carefully humidified and flattened the documents, did some basic conservation work, and created custom acid-free folders for their storage. The conservator also prepared a condition report on each and a treatment proposal. This is a project we’ve long wanted to undertake, and we were so pleased that the TV show covered a large portion of the cost.
We haven’t yet seen the show, but know there are no exterior shots of Belle Grove, so don’t be disappointed in that. It apparently showcases the beauty of the Shenandoah Valley, and we applaud the popularizing of our history and genealogy in general. We hope they did a good job.
