Who are the Melungeons?
Where did they come from? There are as many theories as there are researchers concerning these questions. The writer has done much study concerning the Melungeons and has come to the conclusion, that there is no “absolute” proof where this mysterious group has immigrated from. (The writer of this article became interested in the Melungeons when he discovered that his wife was a descendant, through the Goins family, of these mysterious people.) There were tales of a tri-racial group of people in Virginia in the 1700s. This mysterious assemblage was shoved higher in the mountains as the Scotch, Irish, English and other settlers moved into the area where the mystifying people had been living for centuries. While being pushed up into the mountains, these undemanding people lost their rights and lands, and were forced to leave the area where they had lived for centuries; thus, a new life was to begin. No one seems to know the exact origins of the Melungeons. They seemingly spoke an earlier
These mysterious inhabitants of Hancock County, Tennessee and environs are one of a number of “tri-racial isolate”* groups living in southern Appalachia. Like other mixed-race groups, they were the targets of legal and social restrictions enacted during the 19th — and even the early 20th — century. The historical origins of the Melungeons are the subject of many conflicting theories. Are they of Gypsy or Turkish ancestry? The descendants of shipwrecked sailors? A longstanding myth even proclaimed them an indigenous people, inhabiting Appalachia before the arrival of the first white settlers. And present-day genetic studies have not provided a conclusive answer to the question of their origins. To learn more about the Melungeons, join us to hear Wayne Winkler on Tuesday, March 11, 11:00 am, in 605 Hodges Library. Winkler, himself of Melungeon ancestry, is the former president of the Melungeon Heritage Association and author of Walking Toward the Sunset: The Melungeons of Appalachia. A
The Melungeons are a group of racially mixed people who can be found in Southeastern Kentucky, Southwestern Virginia, and Northeastern Tennessee, in a region called the Cumberland Gap. A number of myths surround the origins and history of the Melungeons, and it can be difficult to find verifiable information about them. The group has been a topic of widespread interest and discussion since the mid-1800s, and in the late 20th century, many genealogists became interested in tracing the genetic and cultural history of the Melungeons. Different people have different explanations for who exactly the Melungeons are and where they came from. As a general rule, it is agreed that members of the group are of mixed ancestry, probably combining European, Native American, and African genes. The dark complexion, hair, and eyes of many Melungeons suggests that they may have a high proportion of Hispanic or Middle Eastern ancestors. Genetic testing has strongly supported the idea that Melungeons have
The adjective most often attached to them is mysterious. The mysterious Melungeons, with their dark, Mediterranean skin setting off startling blue eyes; fine, European features; their high cheekbones and straight, black hair. The French found them in 1690 in the western Carolina mountains, puzzling at their claim to be “Portyghee.” And the Scotch-Irish settlers who moved down the Shenandoah Valley in the 1750s found them in the far reaches of southwestern Virginia and northeast Tennessee, pushing them farther into the Appalachians of northeast Tennessee and northwest North Carolina and laying claim to the fertile Melungeon valley land. The Melungeons — clearly not Anglo, or Indian, or Negro — were labeled in early 19th-century censuses as “free persons of color” or “mulatto,” thereby denied the right to vote, attend school or own property. Mysterious became a lifestyle: In an effort to avoid racial discrimination, they stayed to themselves, taking on English and Scotch-Irish surnames
” you are like most people. If you have been researching your family in the Cumberland Plateau of Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Tennessee, during the early migration years, you may be able to find them through a connection to this group of people who are only now being researched with unbiased eyes. The Melungeons are a people of apparent Mediterranean descent who may have settled in the Appalachian wilderness as early or possibly earlier than 1567. (The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People; N. Brent Kennedy, Mercer University Press,Macon, GA, USA, 1997; introduction, p. xiii) The Mediterrean includes areas of North Africa, southern Europe and Central Asia.
