| Melungeons |
 | | | Total population | | unknown; possibly ranging into the thousands
Image File history File links Goins. ...
| | Regions with significant populations | | Cumberland Gap and surrounding counties, eastern United States | | Languages | | English | | Religions | | Predominantly Baptist | | Related ethnic groups | | undetermined | Melungeon (mɛlʌndʒʌn) is a term traditionally applied to one of a number of "tri-racial isolate" groups of the Southeastern United States, mainly in the Cumberland Gap area of central Appalachia: east Tennessee, southwest Virginia, and east Kentucky. Tri-racial describes populations thought to be of mixed (1) European, (2) sub-Saharan African, and (3) Native American ancestry. [2] Although there is no consensus on how many such groups exist, estimates range as high as 200. [3] Some self-identifying Melungeons dislike the term tri-racial isolate, believing that it has pejorative connotations, although the term Melungeon was also considered pejorative until the late 20th century. Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers through the Cumberland Gap (George Caleb Bingham, oil on canvas, 1851–52) Cumberland Gap (el. ...
The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Coptic Orthodox Pope · Roman Catholic Pope Archbishop of Canterbury · Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box: Baptist...
Regional definitions vary from source to source. ...
Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers through the Cumberland Gap (George Caleb Bingham, oil on canvas, 1851–52) Cumberland Gap (el. ...
It has been suggested that Poverty in Appalachia be merged into this article or section. ...
East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the state of Tennessee. ...
This article is about the U.S. state. ...
Official language(s) English[1] Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area Ranked 37th - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²) - Width 140 miles (225 km) - Length 379 miles (610 km) - % water 1. ...
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This article is about the people indigenous to the United States. ...
Definition Melungeons are a highly controversial subject, and there is wide disagreement among secondary sources as to their ethnic, linguistic, cultural and geographic origins and identity. Whether Melungeons constitute a specific race or ethnicity at all is debatable, and they might more accurately be described as a loose collection of families of diverse origins who migrated and intermarried with one another. Melungeon is not a separate category on the U.S. census, but is tabulated under "SOME OTHER RACE 600-999" as a result of respondents writing it in. For the 2000 Census it was "662 Melungeons". [4] An ethnic group is a group of people who identify with one another, or are so identified by others, on the basis of a boundary that distinguishes them from other groups. ...
The term natural language is used to distinguish languages spoken and signed (by hand signals and facial expressions) by humans for general-purpose communication from constructs such as writing, computer-programming languages or the languages used in the study of formal logic, especially mathematical logic. ...
For other uses, see Race (disambiguation). ...
This article or section should be merged with ethnic group Ethnicity is the cultural characteristics that connect a particular group or groups of people to each other. ...
Melungeons are defined as having racially mixed ancestry, thus do not exhibit characteristics which can be classified incontrovertibly as being of a single racial phenotype. Most modern-day descendants of Appalachian families traditionally regarded as Melungeon are generally Caucasian in appearance, often, though not always, with dark hair and eyes, and a swarthy or olive complexion. Descriptions of Melungeons vary widely from observer to observer, from "Middle Eastern" to "Native American" to "light-skinned African American." Individuals in the mollusk species Donax variabilis show diverse coloration and patterning in their phenotypes. ...
A major factor in the wide variation in descriptions is the lack of a clear consensus on exactly who should be included under the term Melungeon. Almost every author on this subject gives a slightly different list of Melungeon-associated surnames, but the British surnames Collins and Gibson appear most frequently (genealogist Pat Elder calls them "core" surnames). Many researchers also include Bowling, Bunch, Goins, Goodman, Minor, Mise, Mullins, Wise, and several others (though not all families with these surnames are Melungeon). Not all of these families were necessarily of the same racial background, and each line should be examined individually. Ultimately, the answer to the question "Who or what are Melungeons?" depends largely on which families are included under that designation.
The original meaning of the word "Melungeon" is obscure (see Etymology below), but from about the mid-19th to the late 20th centuries, it referred exclusively to one tri-racial isolate group, the descendants of the multiracial Collins, Gibson, and a few other related families of Newman's Ridge, Vardy Valley and other settlements in and around Hancock County, Tennessee. Some researchers limited it even further to the descendants of two early 19th century settlers of that area, Vardy Collins and his brother-in-law Shepherd Gibson. Recently, however, some researchers have begun to use Melungeon to mean almost all traditionally recognized tri-racial isolate groups of the Eastern United States. Hancock County is a county located in the state of Tennessee. ...
While many genealogy researchers, hobbyist as well as professionals, still seem convinced that such a thing as a "redbone" or a "melungeon" or a "moor" does (or at least did) exist, none have ever proven it other than from the perspective of an individual of the dominant "white" caste. In fact, researchers often present the historically confirmed usages of these epithets and then proceed into the same theoretical speculations about mysterious ethnicities which were conjured by those who historically used the epithets. In an effort to define these terms based on their actual usage, Larry Keels has suggested this: (NOR)
"Redbone" is seemingly a term common in the Neutral Zone and East Texas among pre-Civil War era Euro-Americans and African Americans who thought they were referring to people of multi-ethnic genetics. Later generations of these two ethnicities seemingly continued to refer to the descendants of these racially obscure people to the extent that some of these descendants seemingly began to think of themselves as "redbone." A usage is also claimed for an isolated enclave in South Carolina whose complexions confounded their neighbors. Close scrutiny reveals only vaguely distinct differences between the culture of the those people and the culture of the dominant Euro-Americans surrounding them wherever the epithet is used.
"Melungeon" is simply another epithet seemingly used in similar fashion with evidenced history to about the same era which produced the terms "redbone", "moor", "brass ankle", etc. All those terms have been associated with many of the same surnames. The term "melungeon" was seemingly common among "whites" in Tennessee and Kentucky before its use was expanded recently through tourism promotions and genealogy marketers. [citation needed].
Origins A common belief about the Melungeons of east Tennessee is that they are an indigenous people of Appalachia, existing there before the arrival of the first white settlers. However, as evidenced by a range of tax, court, census and other records, the ancestors of the Melungeons followed the same migration paths into the region as their English, Scots-Irish, and German neighbors [1]. Ulster-Scots is a term mainly used in Ireland and Britain (Scotch-Irish or Scots-Irishis commonly used in North America) primarily to refer to Presbyterian Scots, or their descendents, who migrated from the Scottish Lowlands to Ulster (the northern province of Ireland), largely across the 17th century. ...
The likely background to the mixed-race families later to be called "Melungeons" was the emergence in the Chesapeake Bay region in the 17th century of what historian Ira Berlin (1998) calls "Atlantic Creoles." These were freed slaves and indentured servants of European, West African, and Native American ancestry (and not just North American, but also Caribbean, Central and South American Indian: see Forbes (1993)). Some of these "Atlantic Creoles" were culturally what today might be called "Hispanic" or "Latino", bearing names such as "Chavez," "Rodriguez," and "Francisco." Many of them intermarried with their English neighbors, adopted English surnames, and even owned slaves. Early Colonial America was very much a "melting pot" of peoples, but not all of these early multiracial families were necessarily ancestral to the later Melungeons. The Chesapeake Bay - Landsat photo The Chesapeake Bay where the Susquehanna River empties into it. ...
Atlantic Creole is a term used to describe the early slaves during the European colonization of the Americas . ...
Hispanic flag, not widely used. ...
// The term Latino is a linguistic identity that refers to an individual that has significant ancestry from a nation-state where a Latin derived language is spoken or is the offical language of the government. ...
Genealogists Dr. Virginia E. DeMarce and Paul Heinegg, as well as Melungeon descendant Jack Goins, have traced the "core" Gibson and Collins families back to Louisa County, Virginia in the early 1700s. [5], [6] , [7] Those families were of mixed European and African, and possibly also of Native American, heritage, and are identified as "mulattos" and "blacks" in subsequent records. The Gibson family can be traced back even further to Charles City County, Virginia in the late 17th century. According to genealogist Paul Heinegg, the Gibson family probably derived from Elizabeth Chavis, whose descendants are called "mulattos" and "negros." [8] The Chavis family was an early and large mixed-race family in several Eastern Virginia and North Carolina counties. Today, Chavis and its variants (originally Chavez) is one of the most widespread of the surnames associated with "tri-racial isolate" groups in the Eastern U.S., though it is not a typical Melungeon surname. Doctor Virginia DeMarce, PhD, is an professional historian who specializes in 17th Century European History, currently residing in Arlington, Virginia. ...
Louisa County is a county located in the U.S. state — officially, Commonwealth — of Virginia. ...
Location in the state of Virginia Formed 1619 Seat Charles City Area - Total - Water 529 km² (204 mi²) 56 km² (21 mi²) 10. ...
Those families migrated in the first half of the 18th century from Virginia to North and South Carolina. The Collins, Gibson, and Ridley (Riddle) families owned land adjacent to one another in Orange County, North Carolina, where they and the Bunch family were "free Molatas (mulattos)" taxable on "Black" tithes in 1755. [9], [10] Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. ...
Mulatto (Spanish mulato, small mule, person of mixed race, mulatto, from mulo, mule, from Old Spanish, from Latin mūlus. ...
Beginning about 1767, the ancestors of the Melungeons moved northwest to the New River area of Virginia [11], where they are listed on tax lists of Montgomery County, Virginia, in the 1780s. From there they migrated south in the Appalachian Range to Wilkes County, North Carolina, where they are listed as "white" on the 1790 census. [12] They resided in a part of that county which became Ashe County, where they are designated as "other free" in 1800. [13] Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state — officially, Commonwealth — of Virginia. ...
Wilkes County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. ...
Ashe County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. ...
Not long after, Melungeon Collins and Gibson families were members of Stony Creek Primitive Baptist Church in nearby Scott County, Virginia, where they appear to have been treated as social equals of the white members. The earliest documented use of the term "Melungeon" is found in the minutes of this church (see Etymology below). [14] Scott County is a county located in the state of Virginia. ...
From Virginia and North Carolina they crossed into Kentucky and Tennessee. The earliest known Melungeon in Northeast Tennessee was Millington Collins, who executed a deed in Hawkins County in 1802. Hawkins County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. ...
Several Collins and Gibson households appear in Floyd County, Kentucky, in 1820, when they are listed as "free persons of color". [15] On the 1830 censuses of Hawkins and Grainger County, Tennessee, Melungeon families are listed as "free-colored." [16], [17] Melungeons were residents of the part of Hawkins that became Hancock County in 1844. [18] Floyd County is a county located in the state of Kentucky. ...
Grainger County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee known for its tomatoes. ...
Despite migrating alongside the early European settlers of Appalachia, it is obvious that the pre-20th century Melungeons were not of purely European ancestry themselves. Over the course of the 18th and early 19th centuries, they were most frequently designated as "mulatto," "other free," or as "free persons of color." Sometimes they were listed as "white," sometimes as "black" or "negro", but almost never as "Indian." One family described as "Indian" was the Melungeon-related Ridley family, listed as such on a 1767 Pittsylvania County, Virginia, tax list,[19] though they had been designated "mulattos" in 1755. [20] During the 19th century, the Melungeon families begin to be counted with increasing frequency as white on census records, and have largely continued to be so up to the present [21], but even in 1935, they were still being described as "mulattoes" with "straight hair." [22] Pittsylvania County is a county located in the state of Virginia. ...
Kennedy (1994) characterizes this gradual change of the Melungeons from a "mulatto" to a "white" population as an "ethnic cleansing." However, the historical evidence reveals that these families facilitated their own assimilation through voluntary intermarriage with whites, leading to an increasingly lighter appearance among descendants.
A second important factor in this shift from "mulatto" to "white" was the often imprecise and ambiguous definitions of the racial categories "mulatto" and "free person of color." In the British North American colonies and the United States at various times in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries "mulatto" could mean a mixture of African and European, African and Native American, European and Native American, or all three, as documented by historian Jack D. Forbes (1993). That loose terminology could sometimes lead to wholesale reclassifications of indigenous peoples, as in the case of the Indians of Delaware.[23] Mulatto (Spanish mulato, small mule, person of mixed race, mulatto, from mulo, mule, from Old Spanish, from Latin mūlus. ...
The families known as "Melungeons" in the 19th century were generally well integrated into the communities in which they lived, though this is not to say that racism was never a factor in their social interactions. However, records show that on the whole they enjoyed the same rights as whites. For example, they held property, voted, and served in the Army; some, such as the Gibsons, had even owned slaves in the 18th century. [24]
On the other hand, several Melungeon men were tried in Hawkins County, Tennessee, in 1846 for "illegal voting." They were acquitted, presumably by demonstrating to the court's satisfaction that they had no African ancestry. Melungeon ancestry was questioned again in an 1872 trial in Hamilton County, Tennessee. This case questioned the legitimacy of a marriage between a white man and a Melungeon woman, and once again a court decided that the Melungeons were not of African ancestry. [25] Hamilton County is a county located in the state of Tennessee. ...
Modern anthropological and sociological studies of Melungeon descendants in Appalachia have demonstrated that they are culturally indistinguishable from their "non-Melungeon" white neighbors, sharing their Baptist religious affiliation and other features. The descendants of the early Melungeon pioneer families are not confined to Appalachia, however[citation needed]. Today, many people throughout the United States can claim this ancestry. Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Coptic Orthodox Pope · Roman Catholic Pope Archbishop of Canterbury · Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box: Baptist...
Legends In spite of being culturally and linguistically identical to their white neighbors, these multiracial families were of a sufficiently different physical appearance to invite speculation as to their identity and origins. Sometime during the first half of the 19th century, the pejorative term "Melungeon" began to be applied to these families, thus effectively creating an ethnic group that did not previously exist. It would therefore be anachronistic to speak of "Melungeons" prior to that period. Local traditions soon began to arise about this "people" who lived in the hills of Eastern Tennessee. According to Pat Elder, the earliest of these was that they were "Indian" (often specifically "Cherokee"). Melungeon descendant Jack Goins states, however, that the Melungeons themselves claimed to be both Indian and "Portuguese." One early Melungeon was called "Spanish" ("Spanish Peggy" Gibson, wife of Vardy Collins). For other uses, see Cherokee (disambiguation). ...
Despite the scant evidence, Iberian (Spanish and/or Portuguese) and Native American ancestry are both possible, given the history of multiracial families in the Melungeons' time and place of origin (late 17th century-early 18th century Eastern Virginia). However, claims about such ancestry made by Melungeon descendants in the 19th century or later should not necessarily be taken at face value. Many Southern families with multiracial ancestry have claimed Portuguese and/or American Indian (specifically Cherokee) ancestry as a strategy for denying any African ancestry. The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar. ...
This article is about the people indigenous to the United States. ...
For other uses, see Cherokee (disambiguation). ...
Although the available historical evidence makes a specific tribal origin such as Cherokee highly unlikely for the original Melungeon families, some of their descendants may have later intermarried with families of Cherokee ancestry in Eastern Tennessee. Anthropologist E. Raymond Evans (1979), regarding the Cherokee claims of the Melungeons of Graysville, Tennessee, writes: Graysville is a town located in Rhea County, Tennessee. ...
- "In Graysville, the Melungeons strongly deny their Black heritage and explain their genetic differences by claiming to have had Cherokee grandmothers. Many of the local whites also claim Cherokee ancestry and appear to accept the Melungeon claim...." [26]
A much more recent claim of a specific tribal origin for Melungeons is Saponi, an early Virginia Siouan tribe. Elder (1999) suggests that the Saponi and other tribes who resided for a time at Fort Christanna in Virginia may have been a component of Melungeon ancestry. Historian C. S. Everett initially hypothesized that John Collins the Sapony Indian, who was expelled from Orange County, Virginia, about January 1743 for firing at a white planter, might be the same man as the Melungeon ancestor John Collins, called a "mulatto" in 1755 North Carolina. However, Everett has subsequently revised that position. These were two different men, and only the latter has any proven connection to the Melungeons (see also [27]). Another frequently suggested source of Melungeon ancestry is Powhatan, a group of tribes inhabiting Eastern Virginia when the English arrived. Saponi is the name of one of the eastern Siouan tribes, related to the Tutelo, Occaneechi, Monacan and other eastern Siouan peoples, whose original homeland is in North Carolina and Virginia. ...
Siouan is a family of related Native American languages in North America. ...
Location in the state of Virginia Formed 1734 Seat Orange Area - Total - Water 889 km² (343 mi²) 4 km² (2 mi²) 0. ...
This article is about the Algonquian tribe. ...
During the 19th and 20th centuries, speculation on Melungeon origins continued, producing tales of shipwrecked sailors, lost colonists, hoards of silver, and ancient peoples such as the Carthaginians. With each author, more elements were added to the mythology surrounding this group, and more peoples were added to the list of possible Melungeon ancestors. The most influential of these early authors was probably Will Allen Dromgoole, who wrote several articles on the Melungeons in the 1890s. [28] More recent suggestions by amateur researchers as to the Melungeons' ethnic identity include Gypsy, Turkish, and Jewish, but there is no evidence that Melungeons themselves ever claimed any of those ancestries. Roman Carthage with former military harbor Carthage (Greek: , Latin: , from the Phoenician meaning new town; Arabic: ) refers both to an ancient city in Tunisia and to the civilization that developed within the citys sphere of influence. ...
In addition, there is also a theory that the Melungeons are descendants of the members of the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island, North Carolina, which was established in 1587. Lost Colony is a new MMOFPS (Massivly Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter Game) developed by Red Planet, LLC. It is currently in Beta Testing and will be released early January. ...
, Roanoke Island is an island in Dare County near the coast of North Carolina, United States. ...
1587 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ...
Currently, a casual reader of Internet sources on this group might be left with the impression that there exists in the hills of Eastern Tennessee an enclave of people, probably of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern origin, who have been in the area since before the arrival of the first white settlers. Such romantic fictions find no support among academic historians and genealogists, however. Virginia E. DeMarce, former president of the National Genealogical Society, and author of several articles on the Melungeons, said in a 1997 interview: "It's not that mysterious once you...do the nitty gritty research one family at a time...basically the answer to the question of where did Tennessee's mysterious Melungeons come from is three words. And the three words are Louisa County, Virginia."
Etymology There are many hypotheses about the etymology of the term "Melungeon". Kennedy (1994) speculates that it derives from the Turkish melun can (from Arabic "mal`un jinn" ملعون جنّ) which means "damned soul". Another theory traces the word to malungu, a Luso-African root from Angola meaning "shipmate." [29] One theory, long favored by linguists and many researchers on the topic and found in several dictionaries, is that it derives from the French mélange, or mixture. An underlying assumption in many suggested etymologies seems to be that "Melungeon" and the people designated by that term have a common origin. For example, Kennedy believes this group to be at least partly of Turkish origin; thus, for him, their name must also be Turkish. Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ...
A Lusophone is someone who speaks the Portuguese language natively or by adoption. ...
The earliest known written use of the word "Melungeon" is in an 1813 Scott County, Virginia Stony Creek Primitive Baptist Church record: Scott County is a county located in the state of Virginia. ...
- "Then came forward Sister Kitchen and complained to the church against Susanna Stallard for saying she harbored them Melungins. Sister Sook said she was hurt with her for believing her child and not believing her, and she won't talk to her to get satisfaction, and both is 'pigedish', one against the other. Sister Sook lays it down and the church forgives her."
The usage of this word in the minutes without definition suggests it was a word familiar to the congregation, and appears at first glance to refer to a group of people: this is how Goins (2000) and others read it. However, such a reading seems at odds with the fact that several Melungeons were at the time members of the church, namely Thomas and Charles Gibson and Valentine Collins. Also, there is no record of any group called "Melungeons" prior to this time. As suggested by Joanne Pezzullo and Karlton Douglas, [30] a more likely derivation for "Melungeon" could be from the now obsolete English word "malengin" (also spelled "mal engine") meaning "guile," "deceit," or "ill intent," and used as the name of a trickster figure by Edmund Spenser in his epic poem The Faerie Queene. Thus, the phrase "harbored them Melungins" would be equivalent to "harbored someone ill will," or could mean "harbored evil people" without reference to ethnicity. Judging by these church minutes, then, it appears that the families who would later be called "Melungeons" in Tennessee were not yet known by that term in 1813 Virginia. [31] This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...
Una and the Lion by Briton Rivière The Faerie Queene is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser, published first in three books in 1590, and later in six books in 1596. ...
By 1840 "Melungeon" had apparently become a racial pejorative, at least in Tennessee: a Jonesborough, Tennessee, newspaper article of that year entitled "Negro Speaking!" refers to a competing politician in derogatory fashion first as "an impudent Malungeon from Washington Cty, a scoundrel who is half Negro and half Indian," then as a "free negroe". [32]. Since Washington County borders Hawkins, the term "Melungeon" was presumably already associated by that time with Northeast Tennessee. However, it is unclear whether the word referred to a specific set of families or was just a generic label for a certain category of African American. The article does not provide the politician's name, but the 1830 census for Washington County, Tennessee lists the names of several free colored families, including several surnamed Hale. [33] Hale is listed by DeMarce (1992) as a Melungeon surname, but Elder (1999) finds no evidence that they were connected to the core Collins and Gibson families. By the mid-to-late 19th century, at least, it seems clear the term referred specifically to the multiracial families of Hancock County and neighboring areas. Jonesborough is a town located in Washington County, Tennessee. ...
Washington County is a county located in the state of Tennessee. ...
There seems to be no written evidence to demonstrate the process whereby a word meaning "ill will" in 1813 had come to mean a "half Negro ... half Indian" or "free negroe" by 1840. Even today, though, some people in Eastern Tennessee still use the term to mean something like "boogeyman," suggesting a possible intermediate stage.
Several other uses of the term from mid-19th to early 20th century print media have been collected at this Website. As can be seen, the spelling of the term varied somewhat from author to author, until eventually the form "Melungeon" became standard.
Modern identity The term "Melungeon" was traditionally considered an insult, a label applied to Appalachian whites who were by appearance or reputation of mixed-race ancestry, though who were not clearly either "black" or "Indian". In Southwest Virginia, the roughly synonymous term "Ramp" was also used, though this term has never shed its pejorative character.[2] Thanks to a play, however, "Melungeon" began about the late 1960s to lose this negative connotation, and become a self-applied designation of ethnicity.
This shift in meaning was probably due largely to the presentation of playwright Kermit Hunter's outdoor drama Walk Toward the Sunset.[3] This play about Melungeons was first presented in 1969 in Sneedville, Tennessee, the county seat of Hancock County. It makes no claims to historical accuracy, and portrays the Melungeons as an indigenous people of uncertain race who are wrongly perceived as black by the white settlers. Thanks to the increased interest in Melungeon history that this drama sparked, as well as its painting of Melungeons in a positive, even romantic, light, many individuals began for the first time to self-identify as Melungeons. As the newspaper article relates, the purpose of the drama was "to improve the socio-economic climate" of Hancock County, and to "lift the Melungeon name 'from shame to the hall of fame'". The increasing acceptance of non-white minority groups by white Americans in the wake of the social changes of the 1960s was also likely a factor in this shift. Sneedville is a town located in Hancock County, Tennessee. ...
Official language(s) English Capital Nashville Largest city Memphis Largest metro area Nashville Area Ranked 36th - Total 42,169 sq mi (109,247 km²) - Width 120 miles (195 km) - Length 440 miles (710 km) - % water 2. ...
Interest in the group has grown tremendously since the mid-1990s due to the publication of a short chapter in Bill Bryson's The Lost Continent, N. Brent Kennedy's popular book on his claimed Melungeon roots, as well as to the Internet, where numerous websites devoted to the "mysterious" Melungeons may be found. Together with this growth in interest, and perhaps because of it, the number of individuals claiming Melungeon heritage has vastly increased. Many newly self-identifying Melungeons have no demonstrable connections to families who may have been historically known by that term, and often had been completely unaware of either the term or the group until encountering them on the Internet.
Some individuals begin to self-identity as Melungeons only after reading about this group on a website, and finding that their surname is on an ever-growing list of "Melungeon-associated" surnames, or they have certain physical traits or conditions purportedly indicative of such ancestry. [34] For example, Melungeons are allegedly identifiable by "shovelled incisors," a dental feature very common among, but not restricted to, Native Americans and Northeast Asians. [35] A second feature attributed to Melungeons is an enlarged external occipital protuberance, dubbed an "Anatolian bump" after the unsubstantiated claim that this feature appears among Anatolian Turks with higher frequency than in other populations. This latter notion stems from the hypothesis, popularized by N. Brent Kennedy, that Melungeons are of Turkish origin. An Anatolian bump is a protuberance on the back of the skull said to be related to Asian, Central-Asian & Melungeon ancestry, not to be confused with an external occipital protuberance. ...
Anatolia and Europe Anatolia (Turkish: from Greek: Ανατολία - Anatolia) is a peninsula of Western Asia which forms the greater part of the Asian portion of Turkey, as opposed to the European portion (Thrace, or traditionally Rumelia). ...
Another claim found often on the Internet is that Melungeons are more prone to certain diseases, such as sarcoidosis or familial Mediterranean fever. [36] The ostensible prevalence of such diseases among Melungeons is presented by some as proof that they are of Mediterranean ancestry, though neither of those diseases is confined to a single population. [37], [38] The "disease" claim originated with N. Brent Kennedy, who began his quest into Melungeon origins after himself being diagnosed with sarcoidosis, though his own connections to this group are a matter of debate. In her review of his 1994 book, genealogist Virginia E. DeMarce finds no evidence that Kennedy is actually of Melungeon ancestry: [39]. Kennedy responds to her critique in this article: [40]. Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a hereditary inflammatory disorder that affects groups of patients originating from around the Mediterranean Sea (hence its name). ...
Claims that certain physical traits and conditions are more prevalent among Melungeon families rest on anecdotal evidence, however, and are not supported by any scientific research.
DNA testing At the suggestion of N. Brent Kennedy, a DNA study on Melungeons was carried out in 2000 by Dr. Kevin Jones, using 130 hair and cheek cell samples. These samples were taken from subjects who were largely chosen by Kennedy himself as representative of Melungeon lines. McGowan (2003) describes Dr Jones' apparent frustration with the study, which caused disappointment among some observers. "...Jones concluded that the Melungeons are mostly Eurasian, a catchall category spanning people from Scandinavia to the Middle East. They are also a little bit black and a little bit American Indian."[41] This study has to date not been submitted to a peer-reviewed scientific journal, nor has a list of those contributing samples been published; thus, it is unclear to what extent the subjects were actually descendants of families historically designated as "Melungeon." A genealogical DNA test examines the nucleotides at specific locations on a persons DNA for genetic genealogy purposes. ...
More recently, Jack Goins has started a Melungeon DNA Project, with the goal of studying the ancestry of hypothesized Melungeon lines. Y chromosomal DNA testing [42] of male subjects with the Melungeon surnames Collins, Gibson, Goins, Bunch, Bolin, Goodman, Williams, Minor and Moore has revealed evidence of European and sub-Saharan African ancestry: Y haplogroups R1b, R1a, J2; and E3a, respectively.[43] One Goins line looks likely to be a variety of Y haplogroup L with roots in Portugal, Spain and Italy. Taken as a whole, such findings appear to verify the early designation of Melungeon ancestors as "mulattos." [citation needed]. The Melungeon DNA Project was created as a genetic study of males and females who claim to have Melungeon ancestry. ...
In the study of molecular evolution, a haplogroup is a large group of haplotypes, which are series of alleles at specific locations on a chromosome. ...
Haplogroup R1b (M343) is the most frequent Y-Chromosome haplogroup in Europe. ...
Haplogroup R1a (M17) is a Y-Chromosome haplogroup that is spread across Eurasia. ...
J2 is a Y-chromosome haplogroup defined by the M172 genetic marker. ...
In human genetics, Haplogroup E3a (M2) is a Y-chromosome haplogroup. ...
Similar groups Other so-called "tri-racial isolate" populations include the: Each of these groupings of mixed-race populations has a particular history, and there is evidence for connections between some of them. The Goins group has long been identified as Melungeons by people from the rest of Tennessee, and the surname Goins is also found among the Lumbees. The Lumbee are a Native American tribe of North Carolina, though their origins are disputed. ...
Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Area Ranked 28th - Total 53,865 sq mi (139,509 km²) - Width 150 miles (240 km) - Length 560[1] miles (901 km) - % water 9. ...
Person County is a county located in the state of North Carolina. ...
Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Area Ranked 28th - Total 53,865 sq mi (139,509 km²) - Width 150 miles (240 km) - Length 560[1] miles (901 km) - % water 9. ...
Rockingham County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. ...
Stokes County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. ...
Surry County is a county located in the state of North Carolina. ...
Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Area Ranked 28th - Total 53,865 sq mi (139,509 km²) - Width 150 miles (240 km) - Length 560[1] miles (901 km) - % water 9. ...
Rhea County is a county located in the state of Tennessee. ...
Roane County is a county located in the state of Tennessee. ...
Hamilton County is a county located in the state of Tennessee. ...
Official language(s) English Capital Nashville Largest city Memphis Largest metro area Nashville Area Ranked 36th - Total 42,169 sq mi (109,247 km²) - Width 120 miles (195 km) - Length 440 miles (710 km) - % water 2. ...
Magoffin County is a county located in the state of Kentucky. ...
Floyd County is a county located in the state of Kentucky. ...
This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ...
Highland County is a county located in the state of Ohio. ...
Official language(s) English[1] Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area Ranked 37th - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²) - Width 140 miles (225 km) - Length 379 miles (610 km) - % water 1. ...
The Guineas are a Melungeon related group living in West Virginia. ...
Official language(s) English Capital Charleston Largest city Charleston Area Ranked 41st - Total 24,244 sq mi (62,809 km²) - Width 130 miles (210 km) - Length 240 miles (385 km) - % water 0. ...
The Chestnut Ridge people are a Melungeon community residing just northeast of Philippi, West Virginia, USA. The local West Virginia historian Hu Maxwell was bemused by these people when he investigated Barbour County history in the late 1890s: There is a clan of partly-colored people in Barbour County often...
Philippi (pronounced FILL-uh-pea) is a city located in Barbour County, West Virginia, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 2,870. ...
Official language(s) English Capital Charleston Largest city Charleston Area Ranked 41st - Total 24,244 sq mi (62,809 km²) - Width 130 miles (210 km) - Length 240 miles (385 km) - % water 0. ...
We-Sorts is an archaic nickname for people of mixed-race origins who currently claim descent from the Piscataway Native American population in Charles County, Maryland. ...
Official language(s) None (English, de facto) Capital Annapolis Largest city Baltimore Area Ranked 42nd - Total 12,407 sq mi (32,133 km²) - Width 101 miles (145 km) - Length 249 miles (400 km) - % water 21 - Latitude 37° 53′ N to 39° 43′ N - Longitude 75° 03′ W to 79° 29...
See Haliwa-saponi ...
Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Area Ranked 28th - Total 53,865 sq mi (139,509 km²) - Width 150 miles (240 km) - Length 560[1] miles (901 km) - % water 9. ...
This article is about the U.S. State of Delaware. ...
Official language(s) English Capital Charleston(1670-1789) Columbia(1790-present) Largest city Columbia Largest metro area Columbia Area Ranked 40th - Total 34,726 sq mi (82,965 km²) - Width 200 miles (320 km) - Length 260 miles (420 km) - % water 6 - Latitude 32° 2′ N to 35° 13′ N - Longitude...
Redbones are a mixed blood group of people of unknown ancestry. ...
Official language(s) English Capital Charleston(1670-1789) Columbia(1790-present) Largest city Columbia Largest metro area Columbia Area Ranked 40th - Total 34,726 sq mi (82,965 km²) - Width 200 miles (320 km) - Length 260 miles (420 km) - % water 6 - Latitude 32° 2′ N to 35° 13′ N - Longitude...
Gulf County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. ...
Calhoun County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. ...
The Ramapough Mountain Indians (also known as Ramapo Mountain Indians or the Ramapough Lenape Nation) are a group of approximately 5,000 [1] people living around the Ramapo Mountains of northern New Jersey and southern New York. ...
Ramapo Torne in Harriman State Park, part of the Ramapo Mountains The Ramapo Mountains are a forested chain of the Appalachian mountains in northeastern New Jersey and southeastern New York in the United States. ...
“NY†redirects here. ...
Official language(s) English de facto Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Area Ranked 47th - Total 8,729 sq mi (22,608 km²) - Width 70 miles (110 km) - Length 150 miles (240 km) - % water 14. ...
Pupils and teacher at the Mt. ...
Holmes County is the name of several counties in the United States: Holmes County, Florida Holmes County, Mississippi Holmes County, Ohio This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...
The Florida Panhandle is the region of the state of Florida which includes the westernmost 16 counties in the state. ...
Sociologist Brewton Berry (1963) used the term "Mestizo" for these groups, but that alternative has not been generally adopted. Languages Predominantly Spanish, (with a minority of other languages), while Mestizos speaks Portuguese Religions Christianity (Predominantly Roman Catholic, with a minority of Protestant and other Religions) Related ethnic groups Other Spanish people, Italian people, French people, Portuguese people, Amerindian, African people, Austronesian people, Hispanics and Latinos Mestizo (Portuguese, Mestiço...
In his Foreword to the section on Virginia, North, and South Carolina in Heinegg's work on free African Americans, historian Ira Berlin sums up the history of such groups thus: An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ...
- "Heinegg's genealogical excavations reveal that many free people of color passed as whites--sometimes by choosing ever lighter spouses over succeeding generations. Even more commonly, they claimed Indian ancestry. Some free people of color invented tribal designations out of whole cloth. Here Heinegg, entering into an area of considerable controversy, explodes what he declares the "fantastic" claims of many so-called tri-racial isolates." [44]
References - ^ see Demarce, Henige
- ^ Sovine, Melanie L. "The mysterious Melungeons: a critique of the mythical image." U. KY dissertation, 1982.
- ^ Ivey, Saundra K. "Oral, Printed & Popular Culture Traditions Related to the Melungeons of Hancock County, TN." Indiana U. dissertation, 1976; [1]
- Ball, Bonnie (1992). The Melungeons (Notes on the Origin of a Race). Johnson City, Tennessee: Overmountain Press.
- Berlin, Ira (1998). Many Thousands Gone : The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
- Berry, Brewton (1963). Almost White: A Study of Certain Racial Hybrids in the Eastern United States. New York: Macmillan Press.
- Bible, Jean Patterson (1975). Melungeons Yesterday and Today. Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press.
- Bryson, Bill. (1989). The Lost Continent : Travels in Small Town America.
- DeMarce, Virginia E. (1992). "Verry Slitly Mixt': Tri-Racial Isolate Families of the Upper South - A Genealogical Study." National Genealogical Society Quarterly 80 (March 1992): 5-35.
- DeMarce, Virginia E. (1993). "Looking at Legends - Lumbee and Melungeon: Applied Genealogy and the Origins of Tri-Racial Isolate Settlements." National Genealogical Society Quarterly 81 (March 1993): 24-45.
- DeMarce, Virginia E. (1996). Review of The Melungeons: Resurrection of a Proud People. National Genealogical Society Quarterly 84 (June 1996): 134-149.
- Dromgoole, Will Allen (1890). "Land of the Malungeons" Nashville Daily American, newspaper, writing under the name Will Allen, August 31, 1890: 10. Article available at: [45]
- Elder, Pat Spurlock (1999). Melungeons: Examining an Appalachian Legend. Blountville, Tennessee: Continuity Press.
- Evans, E. Raymond (1979). "The Graysville Melungeons: A Tri-racial People in Lower East Tennessee." Tennessee Anthropologist IV(1): 1-31.
- Everett, Christopher (1998). "Melungeon Historical Realities: Reexamining a Mythopoeia of the Southern United States". Conference paper, Conference on Innovative Perspectives in History. Blacksburg, Virginia: Graduate Program, Department of History, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, April 17-18, 1998.
- Forbes, Jack D. (1993). Africans and Native Americans The Language of Race and the Evolution of Red-Black Peoples. University of Illinois Press.
- Goins, Jack H. (2000). Melungeons: And Other Pioneer Families. Blountville, Tennessee: Continuity Press.
- Heinegg, Paul (2005). FREE AFRICAN AMERICANS OF VIRGINIA, NORTH CAROLINA, SOUTH CAROLINA, MARYLAND AND DELAWARE Including the family histories of more than 80% of those counted as "all other free persons" in the 1790 and 1800 census. Available in its entirety online at freeafricanamericans.com
- Johnson, Mattie Ruth (1997). My Melungeon Heritage: A Story of Life on Newman’s Ridge. Johnson City, Tennessee: Overmountain Press.
- Kennedy, N. Brent, with Robyn Vaughan Kennedy (1994). The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press.
- Langdon, Barbara Tracy (1998). The Melungeons: An Annotated Bibliography: References in both Fiction and Nonfiction. Hemphill, Texas: Dogwood Press.
- McGowan, Kathleen (2003). "Where do we really come from?" DISCOVER 24 (5, May 2003). Available at [46]
- Offutt, Chris. (1999) "Melungeons." Italic textOut of the WoodsItalic text" Simon & Schuester.
- Price, Edward T. (1953). "A Geographic Analysis of White-Negro-Indian Racial Mixtures in Eastern United States." The Association of American Geographers. Annals 43 (June 1953): 138-155. [47]
- Price, Henry R. (1966). "Melungeons: The Vanishing Colony of Newman's Ridge." Conference paper. American Studies Association of Kentucky and Tennessee. March 25-26, 1966.
- Vande Brake, Katherine (2001). How They Shine: Melungeon Characters in the Fiction of Appalachia. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press.
- Williamson, Joel (1980). New People: Miscegenation and Mulattoes in the United States. New York: Free Press.
- Winkler, Wayne (2004). "Walking Toward the Sunset: The Melungeons of Appalachia." Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press. [48]
- Winkler, Wayne (1997). "The Melungeons." All Things Considered. National Public Radio. 21 Sept. 1997.
See also This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...
The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ...
Pupils and teacher at the Mt. ...
A genealogical DNA test examines the nucleotides at specific locations on a persons DNA for genetic genealogy purposes. ...
This article is about an ethnic culture in Louisiana, USA. For uses of the term Creole in other countries and cultures, see Creole (disambiguation). ...
The Lumbee are a Native American tribe of North Carolina, though their origins are disputed. ...
Mulatto (Spanish mulato, small mule, person of mixed race, mulatto, from mulo, mule, from Old Spanish, from Latin mūlus. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
Plaçage was an recognized extralegal system by which predominantly wealthy and white Creole men in Louisiana entered into the equivalent of common-law marriages with women of both African and white Creole descent known as placées (from the French word placer which means to place with). ...
The name or term Redbone has several meanings: A redbone is a swift, dark-red or tan coonhound (a dog bred to chase raccoons). ...
The Sabine Free State, also known as the Neutral Strip, Neutral Territory, Neutral Ground or No Mans Land of Louisiana, was a strip of land between Americas Louisiana Purchase and Spanish Texas. ...
The State of Franklin The State of Franklin was an autonomous, secessionist territory of the United States created, not long after the end of the American Revolution, from territory that had been ceded by North Carolina to the federal government. ...
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