Melungeon, (from melange a 1653 french word meaning mixture) Who are the Melungeons? That is a good question!!!! Many websites related to the subject are listed below Each agree that the Melungeons exist and that they are a mixed heritage group of people. Roots go deep in the Cumberland Mountain area of the Central Appalachian region and are centered around Dickenson, Wise and Russell Counties in Southwestern Virginia and Pike and Letcher Counties in Eastern Kentucky. In the early 1800's many families moved to this area from Western North Carolina. Some of these families are closely associated with a group of people known as Melungeons. Traditionally thought to be White Northern American, Red Indian, and Black African. In recent years many people think they are also mixed with Portuguese, Spanish, Turks, Moors, Jews, and other Mediterranean people. Many Ships came to early America, the territory of the Spanish from Florida reached all the way to Knoxville Tennessee.. After years of mixing and blending each Melungeon family has its own unique culture and history. Some closely identify with Tennesse, Virginia, North Carolina or southern Florida groups, some being lighter even white skinned, some darker It is a topic about which there are many theories, many viewpoints, and many strong opinions, but no general proof or documentation of who they were. They are related in many ways to other mixed race groups such as the Lumbees, Brass Ankles, Redbones, Jackson Whites, and Wesorts. When you find your ancestors in the census records you may look twice when you find one listed as colored in one census and white in another. The word colored did not only refer to African-Americans it also included Native Americans and sometimes Europeans of darker skin. FC in the census stands for free colored person; even and M or FP is also listed sometimes. You may see an old photo and think their skin was not quite white. Many people have an "indian grandparent" theory in their genealogy lines. A theory of the Lost colony mixed with Indians may have been the start of this group of people, other theories that sailors were shipwrecked here and the groups started this way. There is a Welsh legend of a Prince Madoc who came to America and founded a Welsh colony in late Pre-Columbian times. The site of his landing has been set as Mobile Bay (a very long ways from Wales for small boats) and three Pre-Columbian stone wall sites in the Southeast (Old Stone Fort in Tennessee, Fort Mountain in Georgia and the Welsh Caves at Desoto Falls in Alabama, all within 100 miles of Chattanooga) were all traditionally attributed to these Welsh. Welsh people are typically dark hair and medium to light skin with dark eyes, not blue Many Melungeons themselves claim they were descended from Portuguese sailors shipwrecked on the Carolina Coast and married Cherokee women. The Appalachian whites around them also have a legend to explain their origin, that the devil was expelled from Hell for a time by his wife and came to the Smoky Mountains where he took a Cherokee girlfriend and fathered the Melungeons. Ellen Rector of Sneedville opened a chapter of Hillbilly Women titled What aint called Melungeons is called hillbillies Many Melungeons will adamantly deny their origin asserting that they are simply white mountain people with a little indian mix. Melungeon graves sometimes have small wooden houses built over them (which has reminded some observers of a similar trait among Eskimo members of the Russian Orthodox church), but this is no longer done and no explanation has been given for the practice. Many Indian groups were no longer mostly Indian, the Indian people were being wiped out from suceptibility to diseases which were brought when the Europeans came to America. The children of half Non-Indian ancestry were surviving better. A child with one Indian and one non-indian parent was more likely to survive. Mixing with non-Indians made for better disease immunity. The Indians mixed with many groups very early in Virginia. English and Mediterranean settlers, soldiers and seamen contributed a large part, and, with the Tidewater Algonquians, were a major factor. When the Spanish withdrew from North and South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia under British pressure, they left behind many part Indian children and probably quite a few Jews, Moors and Muslim slaves. Many think the Appalachian Mountains are the only Melungeon groups this is quite wrong. Of course, many Melungeons did and do live in the Appalachians, and that is where the word Melungeon was started. Of the eleven separate groups identified as Melungeon, five are in the Appalachians and six are not. We have come to the conclusion that no firm idea of who these people were or are is anywhere near complete. All we need to know is that the explanation of who we are , as a region is not as simple as isolated Scotch -Irish with a dab of Cherokee. It will take a lot of looking and studying your family lines. Melungeon Research Melungeon Genealogy Forum Melungeon Exchange Melungeon Native American Research Meluneon Research Melungeon Research Melungeon Heritage Association, Wise Va Melungeon American History Network Melungeon health Issues A list of so called Melungeon surnames is below: Having one of these surnames in your line does not necessarily mean that you are or are not of Melungeon descent. There may be 8 or 10 lines of your surname and only 1 might be Melungeon ADAMS ADKINS ALLEN ALLMOND ASHWORTH BARKER BARNES BASS BECKLER BELCHER BEDGOOD BELL BENNETT BERRY BEVERLY BIGGS BOLEN BOLLING BOLTON BOONE BOWLIN BOWLING BOWMAN BRADBY BRANHAM BRAVBOY BRIGER BRIDGER BROGAN BROOKS BROWN BUNCH BULLION BURTON BUTLER BUTTERS BUXTON BYRD CAMPBELL CARRICO CARTER CASTEEL CAUDILL CHAPMAN CHAVIS CLARK CLOUD COAL COFFEY COLE COLEMAN COLES COLLEY COLLIER COLLINS COLLINSWORTH COLYER COOPER CORMAN COUNTS COX COXE CRIEL CROSTON CROW CUMBA CUMBO CUMBOW CURRY CUSTALOW DALTON DARE DAVIS DENHAM DENNIS DIAL DOOLEY DORTON DOYLE DRIGGERS DULA DYE DYESS ELY EPPS EVANS FIELDS FREEMAN FRENCH GALLAGHER GANN GARLAND GIBSON GIPSON GOINS GOINGS GORVENS GOWAN GOWEN GRAHAM GREEN(E) GWINN HALL HAMMON(D) HARMON HARRIS HARVIE HARVEY HAWKES HENDRICKS HENDRIX HILL HILLMAN HOGGE HOLMES HOPKINS HOWE HYATT JACKSON JAMES JOHNSON JONES KEITH(E) KENNEDY KISER LANGSTON LASIE LAWSON LOCKLEAR LOPES LOWRY LUCAS MADDOX MAGGARD MAJOR MALE MALONE(Y) MARSH MARTIN MAYLE MINARD MINER MINOR MIZER MOORE MORLEY MOSELY MOZINGO MULLINS NASH NELSON NEWMAN NICCANS NICHOLS NOEL NORRIS ORR OSBORN OSBORNE OXENDINE PAGE PAINE PATTERSON PERKINS PERRY PHELPS PHIPPS PRINDER POLLY POWELL POWERS PRITCHARD PRUITT RAMEY RASNICK REAVES REVELS REEVES RICE RICHARDSON RIDDLE RIVERS ROBERSON ROBERTSON ROBINSON RUSSELL SAMMONS SAMPSON SAWYER SCOTT SEXTON SHAVIS SHEPHARD SHEPHERD SHORT SHORTT SIZEMORE SMILING SMITH STALLARD STANLEY STEEL STEVENS STEWART STROTHER SWEATT SWETT SWINDALL TALLY TACKETT TAYLOR THOMPSON TIPTON TOLLIVER TUPPANCE TURNER VANOVER VICARS VICARS VICKERS WARE WATTS WEAVER WHITE WHITED WILKINS WILLIAMS WILLIAMSON WILLIS WILSON WISBY WISE WOOD WRIGHT WYATT WYNN |