I am of Melungeon descent. My maiden name is Epps. I grew up in Roanoke, VA. My more recent ancestors were known to be from Person County, NC, and they were a mix of Native American (Plains Indian’s, I’m told), African, “Free blacks,” among others. They were mostly Epps’s, Stuart’s, Martin’s and Shepherd’s. My father’s relatives all looked Hawaiian; dark/olive skin, Asian eye-folds. My grandfather had a 6th finger & vitiligo. (I have the “shovel-teeth” & mild vitiligo.) He passed for “white,” but his WWI draft card and census records of the early 1900’s document him as “mulatto.” His darker-skinned siblings moved to Philadelphia and established roots there where they passed as “olive-skinned whites.” I’m told that we have darker-skinned relatives that look more African in the Halifax Co area of VA on the NC border, but I’ve never met them. Don’t know if they’re still living or still in that area. Our family surname came from a free black man named John Epps, in the 1700’s, who was the mulatto son of a wealthy white, Daniel Epps & one of his African slaves named Sarah. Daniel Epps’ (Epps family intermarried with Martha Jefferson’s family) lineage goes back to John of Gaunt, son of King Edward III of England. So I am literally the descendant of British royalty, of African slaves, and of Native Americans. I was surprised and intrigued/fascinated when I first learned of our Melungeon heritage back in the 90s. It’s been a very fascinating journey learning about the Melungeons. Thanks for sharing this video.
Our family history could be the same. My father's maternal side is Quann Melugeouns also listed as mullato for many generations. They were always free and worked in the Shenandoah iron works. Once they came north the family split with some chosing to pass for white. My great grandfather chose not to pass.
Thank you so much for sharing, my family has a similar story. Isn't it fasinating to discover your family history and see where you surname comes from. It's so funny that you stated they looked Hawaiian because we were raised that we were Hawaiian until I did our ancestry this year.
I bet you have some Smith and Lawson Relatives from there as well....LOL I know that I Do. BTW, African slaves came late in North America the first Slaves for hundreds of years were Dark skinned Indians . That seems to be the part of the story that gets ignored as though all the People of colour were Africans that were enslaved. Look it up. A lot of the Free people of color where Aboriginal Americans that got reclassified in the Late 1700's and early 1800's. The slaves that were Black with Straight and Wavy hair didn't all come from the Europeans loving the 'Brown skinned Annies and The barrel chested studs'. American History and so called Black American History has a lot of ground to correct the lies. Truth hasn't been told much now a days eh?
I finished reading a South Carolina history recently. What I realized is that almost none of us have been taught of the true extent of the horrors that followed in the aftermath of the Civil War and the attempt to erase anyone from history that didn't fit the proverbial mould. I am of Cuban and Melungeon ancestry, but I was only told about my white ancestors. In fact, My father was lied to about his paternity due to racism. This has all been very hurtful, to say the least. It's time for us to tell the truth about America-remove the stigma and honor all of our ancestors.
It's a sad reality that attempts to fit in to avoid persecution have added to a whitewashed history presented as fact in educational settings. There is so much we don't know. So much to discover.
Hi my grandfather was born in Cuba my history of him is lost..this is my father father so its recent..then he came or ship to Jamaica where he had my dad etc?
I’m familiar with this pattern. I often thought of my grandmother as part Indian, but it turns out that her grandfather was Jacob Mooney (anglicized from the Italian “Muni”), who led a group of traders into Arkansas. This became The first people referred to as “Melungeon.” Mixed race, and they got negative attention because they “didn’t know their place.” Also, the Gibson/Freeman/Coleman part of her background were from the Clinch River area, which is well known for its Melungeon population. I had a DNA test done, and it falls in line with someone of Celtic/Scandinavian/Melungeon background. A lot of Latino and Asian/Native blood. Native input was difficult to say, since American tribes shy away from DNA testing. Native S. American and Puerto Rican, Spanish, Italian, Gitano. Sometimes when you turn over a rock, what’s underneath is more interesting than what’s on top.
Ms. Alther - until I found your presentation I had never heard the word "Melungeon". I thank you for the gift of our fascinating program and for showing me (at 78 years of age) something so intriguing, so exciting, that I can hardly wait for morning to begin another path of discovery.
Educated, articulate, humorous. Great speaker. Thank you for this information. I was raised to believe my heritage was German and Scotch Irish descent. DNA revealed Melungeon and Jewish. A great surprise to our whole Appalachian born family. We suspected the ancestors were afraid so covered up. I doubt that our parents know these truths.
how did the DNA reveal you were Melungeon when it only says American ancestry? or South American. I have lived in the Appalachian mountains and so my ancestors for many many generations. My DNA says Scottish, Irish, and British and a small amount of African DNA, but I am very pale skin, my mother was tan-looking skin with an olive tint to it. My great-grandmother was Cherokee and has papers from the Cherokee Nation. and my great-grandmother was a very small woman and had features of Cherokee, it was stated on the papers the children she had and what percent they were but I do not remember. she looked like the pictures of the Cherokee Indians, it was stated that her Cherokee ancestry came from her father and his father was supposed to of been full Cherokee, but I do not know for sure. I myself did not get any DNA of the native American in one DNA test and the other I did so who knows. came across this video and started watching it very interesting.
You do realize that DNA tests have no ethnicity category called Melungeon. To truly prove that you are a descendant of a Melungeon ancestor you must prove your tie to one of the known Melungeon families like Collins, Bennett, Osborne, Gibson, Goins, Powers, etc.; and to even prove this tie you must show traceability to a specific set of names in those families like Thomas Gibson Sr. and his wife Elizabeth Chavis Gibson. With this paper trail you then can see what ethnicities show up in your DNA like your ancestors were Sub-Saharan Africans, Native American, and west or Eastern European which shows a targeted area of Europe. Just like no DNA test has a ethnic category called Melungeon there is no breakdown on which specific Native American tribal/ nation affiliation that your ancestor is tied to. To truly determine NA tribal affiliation an ancestor, parent, or grandparent requires you to show a paper trail like their names listed on one the US recogonized NA rolls, or card membership thT your parent or grandparent has; or some other documented forn like history books, census, etc. as well as your own birth records traceability to them. And, no Federally recogonized Native American nation nation/ tribe accepts DNA, or census, or history books, etc. as the only way to receive a tribal card is showing traceability via one of the Native American recognized US Federally approved roll books or your parent or grandparent or great grandparent's card membership from the NA nation. And, even this may not enable you to become a card carrying NA for some nations like the Eastern Band Cherokee as they reject memberships if your parent is not a card carrying NA of their nation and your card carrying NA parent did not registered you before your 18th birthday.
I just discovered this video. So if you are still alive and read this. I wish the whole USA could see this now. Because you ending message is needed so badly now in 2021.
I’m from Lynchburg Virginia and I’m just now able to see that my third great grandmother was Melungeon. Thank you for the information about my hometown because I didn’t know that.
My mom and I are adopted and we found out her mama’s family was from West Virginia. Our dna test had so many races and ethnicities it left us stumped. Then we found out about the Melongeons. I am trying to learn more about this because I think we have finally hit the truth.
I legit got an 18% "other" before my genetics test database got more users and it dropped to about 5%. I'm from the west coast but my mom and dad hail from Appalachia, Cajun bayou country, and Indian land in Oklahoma. The lack of "direction" so to speak with the main Media's covering of the south and it's history irks me. American heritage you Google it seems all you hear about is anglo new England and blah blah. We have so much work to do to speak for ourselves.
Explains where the dark skin tones in my children came from as they are descendants of Samuel and Betty Reeves-Phipps through their son Jesse Phipps. Always wondered, now no more. My husbands great grandfather was nicknamed "Black Billie" as his skin was very dark but yet he had beautiful blue eyes. This is all very interesting. Seems we are related to the author.
I have blue green eyes copper skin shoveled teeth and the Melungeon bump on the back of my head. I have Cherokee Choctaw scot-irish and African ancestors.
You have a wonderful way of speaking & are quite funny.Thank you for Posting this was.. I am a PHIPPS & had my DNA tested when I saw the study has closed, I did the DNA anyway to see. My Grandfather moved to Maryland from the North Carolina Border/fries, VA. Line area. I tested positive for Melungeon, Native American, South American Native (2 types), Eskimo, Rare OLD Pure strain of Portuguese, and a slew of many many other cultures around the world. My dad always told me we were "DARK GERMAN" which I equate with the "Black Dutch" I saw when reading about Melungeons. I've asked Germans & they had no idea what I was talking about. LOL. I knew we had to be Native American, (Cherokee that moved down from Michigan [?] Area) cause me & my dad were reddish brown complexion. I have Green eyes with a blue line around the outside- my eyes were blue when young. My family has a sort of flat spot on top that I guess comes from the bump below it (?). I just found out about all this about a year or so when I stumbled upon a site that talked about "BLACK DUTCH" . We have Jewish, Middle Eastern ,Iberian Peninsula, Scottish, English , & more in my DNA testing. Family was from Southern Virginia,/North Carolina mountains, Tennessee & Northern Georgia when looking back on Ancestory.
This is fascinating and you’re a beautiful teller of this history-plus your sense of humor is like medicine during the second summer of this pandemic-you are hilarious , thank you 😊
I'm Melungeon. Enrolled Eastern Band Cherokee, my father was a full-blood. My mother is from Ireland, and her father's family was from Hancock County and part African-American.
@@klmullins65 My Mother was a Collins, my Father was a Gibson, my great-great grandmother was a Bell, all from the southern Appalachian Mountains ending up in Pulaski County, KY. Wondering if we are related?
@@klmullins65 I made a comment (look for it above) that last Saturday I was at a church cookout with my pastor, last name of Mullins. I asked him if he was Irish (I am 60% Irish/ 10% scotch/30% English). He surprised me when he professed to be Melungeon. I asked what is that? He said that he descended from some who were black slaves. He pastors in Kingsport, TN. Two nights ago we had another cookout in Hancock County TN. My grandfather (by adoption, but my mother’s cousin once removed) founded the first “colored” trade school in the 1880s in Hampton, VA. It is Hampton Institute and is still teaching today.The mission was to get Americans of color educated with a working trade. No doubt some were Melungeons. Many people of color became literate in a time when many colored people were helplessly illiterate. My grandfather (Rev. Hollis Burke Frissell), a New York City Presbyterian minister, was respected, but was never really honored for what he accomplished. He had foresight at a time when even white women could not vote!
My Grandmother came from that part of the south. Had very dark eyes and hair, religiously stayed out of the sun. She had some family secret she would never share. She was big on practically inventing family history to famous English people. My Grandfather was always teasing her about it and I suspect he knew the truth. Wouldnt be surprised to find out she was part of your story. I need to do my own DNA test.
My pastor told me at a church cookout last Saturday at his house in Kingsport, Tennessee, that he was a Melungeon in response to my question as to whether he was Irish. His last name is Mullins. He replied that he believed he had black slave ancestry possibly. I am very interested in my own ancestry. Everyone on my father's side is Irish. In my mother's ancestry I have preachers - including a Revolutionary War chaplain named Stephen Grover (1758-1836). The 22nd president, Stephen Grover Cleveland, was named after my 4TH Great Grandfather!
My grandmother and grandfather are also from Clintwood.... and family all around Grundy & Wise county. I heard MANY times, about being part Cherokee and mixed in with the Melungeon people. It's all really starting to make sense now. Both my grandparents had dark skin and bright blue eyes. Time to solve this mystery!
There are still Darker skin Melugeouns just like their are fair skin. Many family lines broke off with some of the fairer skin folks choosing to pass for white and through marriage reduced the amount of African and native dna. Also because of the migrations many of the darker Melugeouns moved north for more opportunities. It's inaccurate to only discuss those bloodlines that still remained in the southern states.
I have many Melungeon DNA matches. When I first started my research I reached out to a Goins to see if he was related to the melungeons. He had never heard of the term. He was white but quickly was able to trace his line back to Africa after that because of the DNA study that had previously been done
LOL, I love her, she is hilarious, and just what we need in our troubling times. Laughter is said is the "Elixir of the Gods" and perhaps the source of their immortality. God bless her, this woman our dear sister Lisa Alther.
I would just like to say that I enjoyed the speech but would like to state that their are in fact many melungeons still on Newman’s ridge as well as at the bottom of Newman’s ridge. They are my family....Goins, Collins and Mullins all of my family ties. I’m not at all surprised that you had difficulty in getting any information from these people. I personally never lived there but that’s where my father grew up and I still have uncles and cousins there. I personally have been asked some odd and strange questions such as “do you have a knot on the back of your head (as they reach for my head to feel)” I myself was a bit offended by that even though I understood their curiosity but was completely offended by this action so I understood a little better about my father, uncles and grandparents never speaking or even saying the word Melungeon. Trust me I learned the hard way when I asked an uncle, who loved me dearly but gave me a look that chilled my blood. I only have one uncle still alive and my father for which my siblings and I have NO communication with and haven’t since we were small children. I have longed for years for him to do the DNA test or even have one of my brothers do one because I learned that the male DNA can be more specific and detailed. Thank you for not painting a horrible light upon my people. As I understand it, they have survived some horrific things and had to deal with being more of an outcast than African Americans. I know that this rang true back to my fathers generation.....had it not been for the Presbyterians providing a school, clothing and shoes for them they would have had even less. Most of my family down on and around Newman’s ridge couldn’t complete school because in order for the family to survive they had to work the land....land that no one else wanted. Which lead to them not being able to read and write....I still have Aunts and Uncles who can not. But they make up for that with their other magnificent talents....amazing artists as well as builders. The only living uncle I have left cut down trees and built hisself and wife a beautiful log cabin. He has also built every piece of furniture inside the home. Yes, it took him a while to build it but he did it and it’s gorgeous. So thank you once again. Your book is one that I do not have in my collection but plan on purchasing. Thank you. Robin Goins-Francisco
Hi Lori, I was always told that my great grandmother was Cherokee because of her high cheekbones and dark skin. My oldest brother is the only one of the three of us with blonde hair and blue eyes. Keep up the research and talk to your family to see if they will tell you anything about your heritage. Research is great but getting direct and honest information from your older family members is so much better. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if our family trees don’t cross paths somehow since you have Collins and Bowling in it even though mine was spelled Bowlin. Keep researching and asking questions.
Goins is in my family tree! We just may be distant cousins :) Martha Goins was my great++++ grandmother. Her father I believe was Michael “Leroy” Goins and mother was Hardinia Taylor.
Hi! Please read the reply that I made above. My pastor is David Mullins at CHCC (they are on Facebook). He told me last week that he is of Melungeon descent from black African slaves (he looks all white) We had a cookout on Miller’s Bluff Road in Hancock County two days ago!
My grandfather told me that he identified as being Croatan pronounced (Crow-it-tan) which he described being mixture of all 3 races. We are from the Cumberland county area of NC. His family are descendants of free people of color from Surry County VA. I found part of your presentation very interesting. Thank you
I live in San Pedro, CA, which boasts the largest Croatian population in the US, due to our rich fishing industry history (Starfish Tuna was founded here & every female member of my family, from my great-grandfather to my eldest aunt, worked at the cannery). In San Pedro, we have both a Croatian Hall & a Dalmatian Hall, representing the two ethnicities which came from modern day Croatia. I can attest to the diversity amongst the Croatian population here, & the tastiest fried chicken you'll ever have coming from Slavko's, our local Croatian eatery. One of our streets was named for a Croatian immigrant, Ante Perkov, who fed the hungry, whether they had money or not, at his now long-since closed restaurant, & gifted the City of Los Angeles a large piece of real estate, making the Port of Los Angeles, the busiest port in the entire Western Hemisphere, possible. Krist Novoselic, bass player for the band Nirvana is Croatian & was born & raised here before his family moved to Aberdeen, WA & a healthier fishing industry up there, & he met a young Kurt Cobain. I figured there must be other communities of Croatians around the US, most likely other fishing communities. Interesting to learn of one on the other side of the continent in VA.
@@nannettefreeman7331 I’m from San Pedro! I’m 71 years old and know the Croatian Hall. I attended Barrón Hill Elementary, Dana Junior High, and San Pedro High School for one year before attending boarding school. I’ll never forget taking the ferry to Terminal Island with all of the cannery workers, and especially the return trip! San Pedro was a great place to grow up. People from everywhere, Italians, Sicilians, Croats, Filipinos, African Americans etc.
I just had an amazing aha moment. When I was a child 8 or 9 years old. There was a Christian Pentecostal fundamentalist group building a new church in my neighborhood. These folks called themselves Appalachian. I could tell you some of the most bazaar stories about this group, not today however. Pastor Menna. "not sure if the spelling" I remember he had odd looking eyes. AND he had six fingers, To be more accurate he had two thumbs, one that appeared to coming from the joint nearest the thumbnail . it was short and stumpy looking with a long fingernail. Listening to this story has put a piece to a puzzle, I didn't know existed. Great story.
My husband’s family is Melungeon from Tennessee of course Interestingly I’ve been studying the giants of North America had 6 fingers and lighter skin red hair Yet others darker skin with Native American features
My parental grandparents are from TN. We are not of color and my brother's test came back some German. I knew of Irish, and very little Dutch, but I thought Cherokee, but apparently that didn't show up. It's confusing.
There were Sephardic Jewish mining towns in N GA, NC and TN at around 1600. Obviously married into the Creek, Cusa, Chickasaw and Apalache peoples. Later some marrying escaped slaves as well. I understand that the Cherokee DNA is not identical to many other native peoples. They moved down the Appalachians around 1700 from the Great Lakes area.
@Joan Murphy Late 16th century I believe. Check out Americas Revealed / He's done incredible research on the SE Indians. The Apalache Kingdom was very interesting.
What a wonderful 45 minutes of captive interest, I hope been doing genealogy for over 10 years. My interest in the Melungeon came to be because I have so many ancestors who were in this area and I believe a McGill married a Goin in my tree. Thanks for all your hard work. I really hope that I am able to read the book.
Those free people of color were, the Moors, who had been captured by the Spanish and Portuguese, and enslaved in the Caribbean islands, who were hepled to Sir Francis Drake himself, to gain their freedoms. They were the first, to settle Roanoke, as a military English outpost, prior to the English settlements in north America. Were talking around the early 1500s down to the early 1600s
My family is here from the 1600s Bedford county and have a lot of family on the Miller side that are from Pennsylvania but my Tyree side is from Virginia
@@karenallen7064 These were all Quaker ancestors to me, Miller, Ballance, Smedley, Paschall/Pascoe, Buckman, etc. If you want to connect, I am in 23andme.
@@maryphillips3140 Quakers, Huguenots as well have been reported to have Moorish/Turkish ancestry en Pennsylvania ...the book "Jews and Muslims in British Colonial America" A Genealogical History By Elizabeth Caldwell Hirschman, Donald N. Yates · 2012
This is fascinating. Lord, how can I be so old and into genealogy and never heard of these folks. Based on where some of my kin originated and unexplained features, I could certainly have some Malungeon in me. With every generation, some our DNA disappears. My 3% Germanic European doesn’t even show up in my daughters. I was always told my mom’s great grandmother was half Cherokee, but my DNA doesn’t show it. I’m looking forward to doing more research on this people.
It’s been a real pleasure to listen to your presentation. It’s a very interesting topic. I’m going to look it up. We’ve been working on our genealogy for a long time. Thank you.
We are the 6th generation and I'm proud to know about the past others hid from society because of discrimination. Henry Dorton I'm glad to finally know you and your story.
THANK YOU... I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS LECTURE.... my great great great great great grandmother Jenny Stokes an African American slave from FarmVille, Virginia in 1743! i just love Lisa Alther... arthur burghardt
I played basketball against melungeons in Hancock county and those dudes can freaking ball! 4 of the best basketball players I ever met were melungeon. Dudes were athletic and Stout
Maybe the Mongolians, or Vikings!! They were big men, my gg grandfather was 6'9" and my grandfather was 6'6" and they wore sz19 shoes. Very stout, broad shouldered men. My son is 6'4" and my grandson is 6'8" with a 72" wing span ( arm span) my sons father is only 6' & is very short legged and small hands and feet, my sons feet looks like skis next to his. But, his fathers uncle knew my grt grandfather and grt, grt, grandfather and told me Thats where my son got his big head and big stature from. I guess some of the traits my grandson got also. It all came from my moms side. These were her grandfathers. She had a couple brothers that looked like big Mongolian men and one brother who had an afro naturally. Her sister were built like black women full butts and with the feet also. Her mom was was half Cherokee and its her dads side that we're not sure of, we know he had sort Indian blood but, the other we don't know. All the women have the Asian eye folds, so along with the Cherokee there must've been some form of Asian and black in there. Mom has documents to show Shes a member of the Cherokee nation from N.Carolina. we're from Eastern KY. Dad was English and irish, ????
My DNA on both sides is from East Africa L3 haplogroup ancestry... although mix race (Portuguese, native American & East African) my people are pre-1776 North Americans... lived in Rockingham County Virginia then into Madison County Kentucky then into Southwestern Ohio... we also have the six finger genetic marker... shovel teeth... extra teeth... Jewish blood type... and after the British & Irish arrived here we became DNA descendants of the Stone family... who Thomas Stone was one of the original signatures of the Declaration of Independence and his wife Elizabeth Jennifer was the daughter of Daniel Jenifer who signed the Constitution of the United States.
@@NazTaZanYaShaRahLa Correction: Elizabeth Jenifer was Thomas Stone's mother NOT his wife... so hopefully my earlier point was understood. Also recently discovered the Stone family of Maryland in question is also DNA connected to Gov. Wm Stone of colonial Virginia and the Delaney family which makes me related to Sally Hemings and Benjamin Banneker. I'm originally from Clark County, Ohio... as a child my mother lived in Longtown, Ohio & Richmond, Indiana.
I appreciated and enjoyed and down right loved this lecture on Melungeon history…and I do believe I have Melungeon in my linage right here in central Illinois! Thank you for your knowledge and I would love to hear more of your lectures and read anything you might suggest 🙏💖🙏
my family is From Southern Virginia/Northern NC mountains. I had my DNA done & I found out I am Melungiin. Cherokee, & South American Indian, Eskimo, & SO MANY other Cultures. MIDDLE Eastern, Jewish, Scottish, German, Mongolian, Italian, turkey, ROMA, SUB-Sahara African...
My ancestors were some of the first people into Tennessee as waves of Scots English Irish migrated across the mountains from the Carolinas into Indian Territory. Many people including my ancestors, moved South out of the mountains into north Alabama and continued down the Tombigbee and Warrior rivers and other rivers to other parts of south Alabama and east Mississippi in the early 1800's .These traverlers settied in Fort Towns along the rivers . You may google Fort St Stephens, Fort Mount Vernon , Fort Mims, Fort Stoddard.. read its long history .. Mississippi Alabama language is almost exactly like the Appalachian accents and dialects. People moved out of the mountains to the South seeking better farmland as Native Americans gave up their lands. I once met someone who said their ancestors were "Black Irish" which explained their lite Olive complexion brown eyes and long straight brown hair... Often heard my late grandmother who was born in north Mississippi 1911 speak about gypsies in passing comments .
I descend from one of the less minor Melungeon names, Rose. My great-great-great-great grandfather was Charles Rose who was married to Lydia Sizemore. Yes, the same Old Ned Sizemore, one of his daughters.
Lisa, I'm from Kingsport, one of those Highland girls. And yes, I can trace my melungeon lines back to Solomon Collins.your book was a hoot, and yes I still carry a small Swiss knife.
So much history we were not taught in school. We learned many lies, and only what our government allowed us to know. This is why we have so much mistrust in our government and why many are so divided. We are all humans, and I for one love to learn about other cultures and history. I embrace them all, and see beautiful things in each and every culture and people. This is why I have always wanted to travel to other countries. We are not exposed to their culture here in the US. We have to go to their country to learn much of who these people are.
Are there melungeons of any number in west Virginia? My husband's family has many of these qualities. Native American, Scottish, fair and very olive skin. Definitely getting this book.
I attended church in Akron, Ohio from birth until I was 18, Summer '85, with a family from W.V. . One Sunday when I was about 17 I ask them about their ancestry as they appeared to resemble dark Mexican people with thick straight hair. They happily replied that they where from the Appalachian mountains of W.V. and that when they were growing up there they almost never saw white people like me unless they went to a major town or city. Also I know of Melungeon's who lived in southern Ohio at one time but of course many are no longer identifiable. If you google common Melungeon surnames you'll see names like Kennedy, Keating and other common Anglo-European names attributed to Melungeon families. Hope this helps.
@@11UncleBooker22 Thanks. This really interests me. I found native American in my ancestry in IN with names linked back to OH and WV. My husband's family mainly WV. Will be looking this up. Thank you again
There is a community called Chestnut Ridge near Philippi West Virginia that are melungeon. They are known as Chestnut Ridge People. Dr Lewis Gates discovered he is related to them in a “ Finding Your Roots” episode. He had no idea, though he had grown up only about 50 miles away. I suspect my friend may be related to them through her grandmother. They were from that area with dark very curly hair and very dark tanning ability. I haven’t had the nerve to ask and they might not even know. They are very careful to only be seen with straightened hair. As someone with very straight hair who would love to have curls, I couldn’t understand why. Once I saw the episode about Chestnut Ridge I thought perhaps that explained it.
My family appears to be related to the Collins clan. However the connection is way back in early 1700s long before the Collins moved down to North Carolina.
I haven't read your book yet but I will. I first heard of the Melungeons whilst researching the Khumric settlements of the 6th century ad from Britain into America and the Welsh speaking 'Indians' . They were agnostic christians ? Jim Michael Ref.
Do your ancestry because the list of names is incomplete. My father's maternal side is melungeon from Virginia and their last name is Quann. There was only one family so it doesn't come up in a list common last names.
Too, my cheekbones are prominently high, but the Grandmother on my maternal side was Native American. The one who married and had children with my Grandfather w the last name Sawyer, was Irish. I have no idea what ethnicity I am exactly, or where my ancestry comes from. It's intriguing tho, as people have a tendency to ask. That, but it's important to know for Health reasons as I have children of my own now. I think it's important for the upcoming generation to know where they come from and to embrace it.
We would be interested to know what your results percentages say, if you wouldn't be adverse to letting us share your joy, or confusion. Thank you. Good luck on the great power you have in leaving a tradition for your children.
The Melungeons and the Lumbee's are the Converted Moors, of Al Andalusia (Granada) who's conversion to Christianity under Ferdinand and Isabella earned them the name "Moriscoe and if they were Jewish, they were called Murano's. This is clearly illustrated in the Journals and writing of Sir Francis Drake, especially in connection with the first British military secret outpost, Roanoke, which doubled as a spying and work colony. Sir Francis Drake, perhaps the most famous of the British privateers renown for raiding and sinking Spanish and Portuguese ships, in the Caribbean islands and off of the eastern shorelines' of the Carolinas and Virginia. They are the combination of multiple ethnic nationalities including the Tuscarora, (Croat Tribes) Iroquois, Cherokee, West African (Moroccan) and the Spanish and Portuguese. There are also Arabic manuscripts, of this period, that highlights these facts. There is a great paper authored by Dr. Umar Abdallah Farouk, called "Turks Moors and Moriscos in the early Americas".
Your speech was very entertaining and informative. I can trace my family tree back to Milton Bell (1856 Rosehill, Tennessee - 7 Mar 1925 Sneedville, Hancock, Tennessee) and Nancy Denham (July 1853 Sneedville), through my 2nd great grandmother, Martha Jane Bell (1883 Tennessee - 15 Feb 1945 Rose Hill, Lee, Virginia). And I am also pretty sure that my 2nd great grandfather, the husband of Martha Jane Bell, Charles Henry Hamlin (1868 • 5 APRIL 1868 • Hancock County, Tennessee - 7 FEBRUARY 1913 • Rose Hill, Lee, Virginia), was Melungeon as well. I think that it conjecture that Charles Hambln's inferred parents were actually his biological parents. Note, I am also have DNA matches who are members of the the Goins family from TN and the Owens families who identify as Melungeons. By the way, were can I get information on participating in the Melungeon DNA project?
Well as far as my family my grand parents told us the stories growin up an I have the knot in the back of my head an shovel teeth. My dad is Alot darker an sveny sisters an he's 52 I'm 28 ok can't believe I'm just now finding out all the stuff I am on the internet
In the 1970's in church hill/ mount carmel,TN area i grew up playing baseball with a Tracey Vanoey/ vanhouy (spelling?) boy. He was of very olive complexion. Back then I didn't know what a melungeon was. I just thought he was part cherokee bloodlines.
I suspect that some of my ancestors were Mulengeon, again the Cherokee connection has been passed down, but I have come to think otherwise. Our family has a rare blood disorder, Thalassemia, which I have read can be passed down from Mulengeons. I have been told by Dr.s that I couldn’t have Thalassemia because of my fair hair and skin and our family’s blue eyes. I have so much research to do!
I am Melungeon...( 50% ). My Grandfather who is 100% Melungeon is buried in Vardy Cemetery on Newman's Ridge. My Grandmother ( nee Goins ) who is also 100% Melungeon is not buried in Vardy Cemetery but in a cemetery in Sneedville, TN. It could be bc maybe they no longer were accepting dead Melungeons in Vardy Cemetery. My Mother was 100% Melungeon and was 6ft tall.
That was very interesting! I often wonder me bring a women of color had four children in with their complexion is four different shades from dark to very light..with make me want to Check out my ancestor I know my grandmother was native American but from what tribe I dont know becuz my mother was adopted.so, Thank you for that wonderful story.
I had never even heard of Melungeon peoples until I did a DNA test...I always knew we had some native american and some sub-subharian African but I had no idea about this ethnicity until my results came back as #1 Mulengeon...which makes a lot of sense to me now. I am brown haired blue eyed but have a large set of siblings, some of which look Native American and Mexican (another type of Native from the America's) my sibs and I range from black hair (truely black not dark brown) with dark brown eyes to light brown hair and grey/hazel eyes..so we are all over...we do have relatives from OK and TN however none of the traditional "Melungeon names fit". That all said I'm just wondering if we should start adding in "mulengeon" under Ethnicity on forms rather than "Caucation" or is that even appropriate?
This is most interesting. I have not identified any of my ancestors being melungeon so far, but searching. But, I highly suspect there might have been since my ancestry on one side goes all they way back to early 1600s at Jamestown. My mother never let herself be in the sun. She tanned really easily. But she was a typical Southern white racists of her generation as were both my parents and grand parents. Lucky for me we moved out of the South. It would have killed my folks to find out they were mixed race. And in that part of Texas, I remember seeing many people with the darkest skin but with white features and blue eyes who usually had jobs like janitors and such. They were so very unusual looking and spoke like white people. You wonder how much they suffered from oppression.
My family is from Lynchburg and they told me about what Plecker did to them. He messed my family up. All of my mom's children had blue backs when they were born.
I have Mullins,Mullin,and my granfather Mullen. In doing my ancestry I have a 3-4 times great grandfather that claimed he was melungeon. My grandfather was olive complected 2 out if his 6 kids were too and several grandkids.
This lady has a sense of humor that just shines! Now I have to look up her other books. She's terrific!
I would love to buy her books "on tape" if she is the one reading them.
I am of Melungeon descent. My maiden name is Epps. I grew up in Roanoke, VA. My more recent ancestors were known to be from Person County, NC, and they were a mix of Native American (Plains Indian’s, I’m told), African, “Free blacks,” among others. They were mostly Epps’s, Stuart’s, Martin’s and Shepherd’s.
My father’s relatives all looked Hawaiian; dark/olive skin, Asian eye-folds. My grandfather had a 6th finger & vitiligo. (I have the “shovel-teeth” & mild vitiligo.) He passed for “white,” but his WWI draft card and census records of the early 1900’s document him as “mulatto.”
His darker-skinned siblings moved to Philadelphia and established roots there where they passed as “olive-skinned whites.” I’m told that we have darker-skinned relatives that look more African in the Halifax Co area of VA on the NC border, but I’ve never met them. Don’t know if they’re still living or still in that area.
Our family surname came from a free black man named John Epps, in the 1700’s, who was the mulatto son of a wealthy white, Daniel Epps & one of his African slaves named Sarah. Daniel Epps’ (Epps family intermarried with Martha Jefferson’s family) lineage goes back to John of Gaunt, son of King Edward III of England. So I am literally the descendant of British royalty, of African slaves, and of Native Americans.
I was surprised and intrigued/fascinated when I first learned of our Melungeon heritage back in the 90s. It’s been a very fascinating journey learning about the Melungeons.
Thanks for sharing this video.
Our family history could be the same. My father's maternal side is Quann Melugeouns also listed as mullato for many generations. They were always free and worked in the Shenandoah iron works. Once they came north the family split with some chosing to pass for white. My great grandfather chose not to pass.
Andrew Jackson is A GGGG Cousin
Thank you so much for sharing, my family has a similar story. Isn't it fasinating to discover your family history and see where you surname comes from. It's so funny that you stated they looked Hawaiian because we were raised that we were Hawaiian until I did our ancestry this year.
I bet you have some Smith and Lawson Relatives from there as well....LOL I know that I Do. BTW, African slaves came late in North America the first Slaves for hundreds of years were Dark skinned Indians . That seems to be the part of the story that gets ignored as though all the People of colour were Africans that were enslaved. Look it up. A lot of the Free people of color where Aboriginal Americans that got reclassified in the Late 1700's and early 1800's. The slaves that were Black with Straight and Wavy hair didn't all come from the Europeans loving the 'Brown skinned Annies and The barrel chested studs'. American History and so called Black American History has a lot of ground to correct the lies. Truth hasn't been told much now a days eh?
Epps is my great great grandfather’s last name. Born in Virginia.
Dear sister your humanity is a true blessings. Your humor is so refreshing. You are a delicious and delightful gift.
I finished reading a South Carolina history recently. What I realized is that almost none of us have been taught of the true extent of the horrors that followed in the aftermath of the Civil War and the attempt to erase anyone from history that didn't fit the proverbial mould. I am of Cuban and Melungeon ancestry, but I was only told about my white ancestors. In fact, My father was lied to about his paternity due to racism. This has all been very hurtful, to say the least. It's time for us to tell the truth about America-remove the stigma and honor all of our ancestors.
It's a sad reality that attempts to fit in to avoid persecution have added to a whitewashed history presented as fact in educational settings. There is so much we don't know. So much to discover.
Relatable
Interesting
Hi my grandfather was born in Cuba my history of him is lost..this is my father father so its recent..then he came or ship to Jamaica where he had my dad etc?
I’m familiar with this pattern. I often thought of my grandmother as part Indian, but it turns out that her grandfather was Jacob Mooney (anglicized from the Italian “Muni”), who led a group of traders into Arkansas. This became The first people referred to as “Melungeon.” Mixed race, and they got negative attention because they “didn’t know their place.”
Also, the Gibson/Freeman/Coleman part of her background were from the Clinch River area, which is well known for its Melungeon population.
I had a DNA test done, and it falls in line with someone of Celtic/Scandinavian/Melungeon background. A lot of Latino and Asian/Native blood. Native input was difficult to say, since American tribes shy away from DNA testing. Native S. American and Puerto Rican, Spanish, Italian, Gitano.
Sometimes when you turn over a rock, what’s underneath is more interesting than what’s on top.
Ms. Alther - until I found your presentation I had never heard the word "Melungeon". I thank you for the gift of our fascinating program and for showing me (at 78 years of age) something so intriguing, so exciting, that I can hardly wait for morning to begin another path of discovery.
Educated, articulate, humorous. Great speaker. Thank you for this information. I was raised to believe my heritage was German and Scotch Irish descent. DNA revealed Melungeon and Jewish. A great surprise to our whole Appalachian born family. We suspected the ancestors were afraid so covered up. I doubt that our parents know these truths.
So what does the melangeon as?
What does it show up as in the DNA testing
how did the DNA reveal you were Melungeon when it only says American ancestry? or South American. I have lived in the Appalachian mountains and so my ancestors for many many generations. My DNA says Scottish, Irish, and British and a small amount of African DNA, but I am very pale skin, my mother was tan-looking skin with an olive tint to it. My great-grandmother was Cherokee and has papers from the Cherokee Nation. and my great-grandmother was a very small woman and had features of Cherokee, it was stated on the papers the children she had and what percent they were but I do not remember. she looked like the pictures of the Cherokee Indians, it was stated that her Cherokee ancestry came from her father and his father was supposed to of been full Cherokee, but I do not know for sure. I myself did not get any DNA of the native American in one DNA test and the other I did so who knows. came across this video and started watching it very interesting.
@joan murphy Judaism is a religion. Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Mizrahi, and other Jewish groups are genetically identifiable.
You do realize that DNA tests have no ethnicity category called Melungeon. To truly prove that you are a descendant of a Melungeon ancestor you must prove your tie to one of the known Melungeon families like Collins, Bennett, Osborne, Gibson, Goins, Powers, etc.; and to even prove this tie you must show traceability to a specific set of names in those families like Thomas Gibson Sr. and his wife Elizabeth Chavis Gibson. With this paper trail you then can see what ethnicities show up in your DNA like your ancestors were Sub-Saharan Africans, Native American, and west or Eastern European which shows a targeted area of Europe. Just like no DNA test has a ethnic category called Melungeon there is no breakdown on which specific Native American tribal/ nation affiliation that your ancestor is tied to. To truly determine NA tribal affiliation an ancestor, parent, or grandparent requires you to show a paper trail like their names listed on one the US recogonized NA rolls, or card membership thT your parent or grandparent has; or some other documented forn like history books, census, etc. as well as your own birth records traceability to them. And, no Federally recogonized Native American nation nation/ tribe accepts DNA, or census, or history books, etc. as the only way to receive a tribal card is showing traceability via one of the Native American recognized US Federally approved roll books or your parent or grandparent or great grandparent's card membership from the NA nation. And, even this may not enable you to become a card carrying NA for some nations like the Eastern Band Cherokee as they reject memberships if your parent is not a card carrying NA of their nation and your card carrying NA parent did not registered you before your 18th birthday.
I just discovered this video. So if you are still alive and read this. I wish the whole USA could see this now. Because you ending message is needed so badly now in 2021.
Best speaker I've heard in a long time. Revealingly interesting topic. Thank you!
What a wonderful woman. As a genealogist, she had me right from the beginning and I am now ordering her book.
I’m from Lynchburg Virginia and I’m just now able to see that my third great grandmother was Melungeon. Thank you for the information about my hometown because I didn’t know that.
My mom and I are adopted and we found out her mama’s family was from West Virginia. Our dna test had so many races and ethnicities it left us stumped. Then we found out about the Melongeons. I am trying to learn more about this because I think we have finally hit the truth.
I legit got an 18% "other" before my genetics test database got more users and it dropped to about 5%. I'm from the west coast but my mom and dad hail from Appalachia, Cajun bayou country, and Indian land in Oklahoma. The lack of "direction" so to speak with the main Media's covering of the south and it's history irks me.
American heritage you Google it seems all you hear about is anglo new England and blah blah.
We have so much work to do to speak for ourselves.
Explains where the dark skin tones in my children came from as they are descendants of Samuel and Betty Reeves-Phipps through their son Jesse Phipps. Always wondered, now no more. My husbands great grandfather was nicknamed "Black Billie" as his skin was very dark but yet he had beautiful blue eyes. This is all very interesting. Seems we are related to the author.
I bet his dark skin was flawless, and equally as beautiful as his blue eyes. :-)
I have blue green eyes copper skin shoveled teeth and the Melungeon bump on the back of my head. I have Cherokee Choctaw scot-irish and African ancestors.
@@nadinemcmillon8659 o
You have a wonderful way of speaking & are quite funny.Thank you for Posting this was.. I am a PHIPPS & had my DNA tested when I saw the study has closed, I did the DNA anyway to see. My Grandfather moved to Maryland from the North Carolina Border/fries, VA. Line area. I tested positive for Melungeon, Native American, South American Native (2 types), Eskimo, Rare OLD Pure strain of Portuguese, and a slew of many many other cultures around the world. My dad always told me we were "DARK GERMAN" which I equate with the "Black Dutch" I saw when reading about Melungeons. I've asked Germans & they had no idea what I was talking about. LOL. I knew we had to be Native American, (Cherokee that moved down from Michigan [?] Area) cause me & my dad were reddish brown complexion. I have Green eyes with a blue line around the outside- my eyes were blue when young. My family has a sort of flat spot on top that I guess comes from the bump below it (?). I just found out about all this about a year or so when I stumbled upon a site that talked about "BLACK DUTCH" . We have Jewish, Middle Eastern ,Iberian Peninsula, Scottish, English , & more in my DNA testing. Family was from Southern Virginia,/North Carolina mountains, Tennessee & Northern Georgia when looking back on Ancestory.
Excellent program! Gimme six 😄
This is fascinating and you’re a beautiful teller of this history-plus your sense of humor is like medicine during the second summer of this pandemic-you are hilarious , thank you 😊
Watching August 2023. I found this to be fascinating. Thank you to this awesome woman for sharing with all of us.
I'm Melungeon. Enrolled Eastern Band Cherokee, my father was a full-blood. My mother is from Ireland, and her father's family was from Hancock County and part African-American.
Hargis Eastern Cherokee on 1928 Baker Rolls also at least one Hargis was adopted by the Shawnee.
Who were your Hancock Co ancestors? Im a Mullins, descended from Collins, Gibson, Bell, and other families from Newman's Ridge/Blackwater area
@@klmullins65 My Mother was a Collins, my Father was a Gibson, my great-great grandmother was a Bell, all from the southern Appalachian Mountains ending up in Pulaski County, KY. Wondering if we are related?
@@klmullins65 I made a comment (look for it above) that last Saturday I was at a church cookout with my pastor, last name of Mullins. I asked him if he was Irish (I am 60% Irish/ 10% scotch/30% English). He surprised me when he professed to be Melungeon. I asked what is that?
He said that he descended from some who were black slaves. He pastors in Kingsport, TN. Two nights ago we had another cookout in Hancock County TN.
My grandfather (by adoption, but my mother’s cousin once removed) founded the first “colored” trade school in the 1880s in Hampton, VA. It is Hampton Institute and is still teaching today.The mission was to get Americans of color educated with a working trade. No doubt some were Melungeons.
Many people of color became literate in a time when many colored people were helplessly illiterate. My grandfather (Rev. Hollis Burke Frissell), a New York City Presbyterian minister, was respected, but was never really honored for what he accomplished. He had foresight at a time when even white women could not vote!
Yers this mixture
My Grandmother came from that part of the south. Had very dark eyes and hair, religiously stayed out of the sun. She had some family secret she would never share. She was big on practically inventing family history to famous English people. My Grandfather was always teasing her about it and I suspect he knew the truth. Wouldnt be surprised to find out she was part of your story. I need to do my own DNA test.
My pastor told me at a church cookout last Saturday at his house in Kingsport, Tennessee, that he was a Melungeon in response to my question as to whether he was Irish. His last name is Mullins. He replied that he believed he had black slave ancestry possibly.
I am very interested in my own ancestry. Everyone on my father's side is Irish. In my mother's ancestry I have preachers - including a Revolutionary War chaplain named Stephen Grover (1758-1836). The 22nd president, Stephen Grover Cleveland, was named after my 4TH Great Grandfather!
I am also a Mullins. My family was from Jenkins KY and Pound Virginia!
Both of my maternal great-grandmothers were melungeon. One was Mullins.
My grandmother and grandfather are also from Clintwood.... and family all around Grundy & Wise county. I heard MANY times, about being part Cherokee and mixed in with the Melungeon people. It's all really starting to make sense now. Both my grandparents had dark skin and bright blue eyes. Time to solve this mystery!
Good luck. Let us know if you choose.
She is a very uniquely beautiful and wonderful soul. She is an incredibly funny, and wonderful human being 💖
This was wonderful in every sense. Thank you.
One of the most interesting and informative talks I have ever listened to.
There are still Darker skin Melugeouns just like their are fair skin. Many family lines broke off with some of the fairer skin folks choosing to pass for white and through marriage reduced the amount of African and native dna. Also because of the migrations many of the darker Melugeouns moved north for more opportunities. It's inaccurate to only discuss those bloodlines that still remained in the southern states.
I have many Melungeon DNA matches. When I first started my research I reached out to a Goins to see if he was related to the melungeons. He had never heard of the term. He was white but quickly was able to trace his line back to Africa after that because of the DNA study that had previously been done
LOL, I love her, she is hilarious, and just what we need in our troubling times. Laughter is said is the "Elixir of the Gods" and perhaps the source of their immortality. God bless her, this woman our dear sister Lisa Alther.
Just beginning to do a search,no dna testing,will it always show up in dna testing
I would just like to say that I enjoyed the speech but would like to state that their are in fact many melungeons still on Newman’s ridge as well as at the bottom of Newman’s ridge. They are my family....Goins, Collins and Mullins all of my family ties. I’m not at all surprised that you had difficulty in getting any information from these people. I personally never lived there but that’s where my father grew up and I still have uncles and cousins there. I personally have been asked some odd and strange questions such as “do you have a knot on the back of your head (as they reach for my head to feel)” I myself was a bit offended by that even though I understood their curiosity but was completely offended by this action so I understood a little better about my father, uncles and grandparents never speaking or even saying the word Melungeon. Trust me I learned the hard way when I asked an uncle, who loved me dearly but gave me a look that chilled my blood. I only have one uncle still alive and my father for which my siblings and I have NO communication with and haven’t since we were small children. I have longed for years for him to do the DNA test or even have one of my brothers do one because I learned that the male DNA can be more specific and detailed. Thank you for not painting a horrible light upon my people. As I understand it, they have survived some horrific things and had to deal with being more of an outcast than African Americans. I know that this rang true back to my fathers generation.....had it not been for the Presbyterians providing a school, clothing and shoes for them they would have had even less. Most of my family down on and around Newman’s ridge couldn’t complete school because in order for the family to survive they had to work the land....land that no one else wanted. Which lead to them not being able to read and write....I still have Aunts and Uncles who can not. But they make up for that with their other magnificent talents....amazing artists as well as builders. The only living uncle I have left cut down trees and built hisself and wife a beautiful log cabin. He has also built every piece of furniture inside the home. Yes, it took him a while to build it but he did it and it’s gorgeous. So thank you once again. Your book is one that I do not have in my collection but plan on purchasing. Thank you. Robin Goins-Francisco
Hi Lori, I was always told that my great grandmother was Cherokee because of her high cheekbones and dark skin. My oldest brother is the only one of the three of us with blonde hair and blue eyes. Keep up the research and talk to your family to see if they will tell you anything about your heritage. Research is great but getting direct and honest information from your older family members is so much better. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if our family trees don’t cross paths somehow since you have Collins and Bowling in it even though mine was spelled Bowlin. Keep researching and asking questions.
Goins is in my family tree! We just may be distant cousins :) Martha Goins was my great++++ grandmother. Her father I believe was Michael “Leroy” Goins and mother was Hardinia Taylor.
We are cousins. Kissing Cousin's
Can I ask you where the knot is located on their heads. My grandfather had one and I do, too. Thanks for any response.🙂
Hi! Please read the reply that I made above. My pastor is David Mullins at CHCC (they are on Facebook). He told me last week that he is of Melungeon descent from black African slaves (he looks all white) We had a cookout on Miller’s Bluff Road in Hancock County two days ago!
My grandfather told me that he identified as being Croatan pronounced (Crow-it-tan) which he described being mixture of all 3 races. We are from the Cumberland county area of NC. His family are descendants of free people of color from Surry County VA. I found part of your presentation very interesting. Thank you
I live in San Pedro, CA, which boasts the largest Croatian population in the US, due to our rich fishing industry history (Starfish Tuna was founded here & every female member of my family, from my great-grandfather to my eldest aunt, worked at the cannery). In San Pedro, we have both a Croatian Hall & a Dalmatian Hall, representing the two ethnicities which came from modern day Croatia. I can attest to the diversity amongst the Croatian population here, & the tastiest fried chicken you'll ever have coming from Slavko's, our local Croatian eatery. One of our streets was named for a Croatian immigrant, Ante Perkov, who fed the hungry, whether they had money or not, at his now long-since closed restaurant, & gifted the City of Los Angeles a large piece of real estate, making the Port of Los Angeles, the busiest port in the entire Western Hemisphere, possible. Krist Novoselic, bass player for the band Nirvana is Croatian & was born & raised here before his family moved to Aberdeen, WA & a healthier fishing industry up there, & he met a young Kurt Cobain. I figured there must be other communities of Croatians around the US, most likely other fishing communities. Interesting to learn of one on the other side of the continent in VA.
@@nannettefreeman7331 I’m from San Pedro! I’m 71 years old and know the Croatian Hall. I attended Barrón Hill Elementary, Dana Junior High, and San Pedro High School for one year before attending boarding school.
I’ll never forget taking the ferry to Terminal Island with all of the cannery workers, and especially the return trip!
San Pedro was a great place to grow up. People from everywhere, Italians, Sicilians, Croats, Filipinos, African Americans etc.
@@nannettefreeman7331 Croatan is different than CroatIAN.
Sounds like the whole U.S. is Melungeon. so why such hate of different races🤔🤔😬 😲😳😄🙋🧛💙🕊️🕊️🕊️🤪
@@cyndiborden6854 That’s a honest and good question.
I just had an amazing aha moment. When I was a child 8 or 9 years old. There was a Christian Pentecostal fundamentalist group building a new church in my neighborhood. These folks called themselves Appalachian. I could tell you some of the most bazaar stories about this group, not today however. Pastor Menna.
"not sure if the spelling" I remember he had odd looking eyes. AND he had six fingers, To be more accurate he had two thumbs, one that appeared to coming from the joint nearest the thumbnail . it was short and stumpy looking with a long fingernail. Listening to this story has put a piece to a puzzle, I didn't know existed.
Great story.
8 years after this video I ran across it, Very interesting topic! ❤
My husband’s family is Melungeon from Tennessee of course
Interestingly I’ve been studying the giants of North America had 6 fingers and lighter skin red hair Yet others darker skin with Native American features
And what would be Native American features?
My parental grandparents are from TN. We are not of color and my brother's test came back some German. I knew of Irish, and very little Dutch, but I thought Cherokee, but apparently that didn't show up. It's confusing.
There were Sephardic Jewish mining towns in N GA, NC and TN at around 1600. Obviously married into the Creek, Cusa, Chickasaw and Apalache peoples. Later some marrying escaped slaves as well. I understand that the Cherokee DNA is not identical to many other native peoples. They moved down the Appalachians around 1700 from the Great Lakes area.
@Joan Murphy If I remember correctly, Portugal and Spain.
@Joan Murphy Late 16th century I believe. Check out Americas Revealed / He's done incredible research on the SE Indians. The Apalache Kingdom was very interesting.
What a wonderful 45 minutes of captive interest, I hope been doing genealogy for over 10 years. My interest in the Melungeon came to be because I have so many ancestors who were in this area and I believe a McGill married a Goin in my tree. Thanks for all your hard work. I really hope that I am able to read the book.
Those free people of color were, the Moors, who had been captured by the Spanish and Portuguese, and enslaved in the Caribbean islands, who were hepled to Sir Francis Drake himself, to gain their freedoms. They were the first, to settle Roanoke, as a military English outpost, prior to the English settlements in north America. Were talking around the early 1500s down to the early 1600s
My family is here from the 1600s Bedford county and have a lot of family on the Miller side that are from Pennsylvania but my Tyree side is from Virginia
@@babygirl5299 You and I must be cousins. The Bedford county and Millers from Pennsylvania are part of my history, too.
Wow! My MIL was a Miller from Butler, PA.
@@karenallen7064 These were all Quaker ancestors to me, Miller, Ballance, Smedley, Paschall/Pascoe, Buckman, etc. If you want to connect, I am in 23andme.
@@maryphillips3140 Quakers, Huguenots as well have been reported to have Moorish/Turkish ancestry en Pennsylvania ...the book "Jews and Muslims in British Colonial America" A Genealogical History
By Elizabeth Caldwell Hirschman, Donald N. Yates · 2012
This is fascinating. Lord, how can I be so old and into genealogy and never heard of these folks. Based on where some of my kin originated and unexplained features, I could certainly have some Malungeon in me. With every generation, some our DNA disappears. My 3% Germanic European doesn’t even show up in my daughters. I was always told my mom’s great grandmother was half Cherokee, but my DNA doesn’t show it. I’m looking forward to doing more research on this people.
It’s been a real pleasure to listen to your presentation. It’s a very interesting topic. I’m going to look it up. We’ve been working on our genealogy for a long time. Thank you.
Hello Lisa,
Thank you for your dedication of our people, the Melungeons. Your works are so important
I loved every minute of this.
We are the 6th generation and I'm proud to know about the past others hid from society because of discrimination. Henry Dorton I'm glad to finally know you and your story.
I have Melungeon-type ancestors on both sides of my family.
Thank you so much for this. Very well read and, yes, very articulate. I want to find this book. Excellent!!
I enjoyed the video. I am just now getting familiar with the term melungeon. Thank you
Greetings from Canada. Fascinating. Thank you!
THANK YOU... I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS LECTURE.... my great great great great great grandmother Jenny Stokes an African American slave from FarmVille, Virginia in 1743! i just love Lisa Alther... arthur burghardt
I played basketball against melungeons in Hancock county and those dudes can freaking ball! 4 of the best basketball players I ever met were melungeon. Dudes were athletic and Stout
I wonder where the tall height comes from, Spaniards having been shorter smaller generally.
Also Portuguese being small.
Maybe the Mongolians, or Vikings!! They were big men, my gg grandfather was 6'9" and my grandfather was 6'6" and they wore sz19 shoes. Very stout, broad shouldered men. My son is 6'4" and my grandson is 6'8" with a 72" wing span ( arm span) my sons father is only 6' & is very short legged and small hands and feet, my sons feet looks like skis next to his. But, his fathers uncle knew my grt grandfather and grt, grt, grandfather and told me Thats where my son got his big head and big stature from. I guess some of the traits my grandson got also. It all came from my moms side. These were her grandfathers. She had a couple brothers that looked like big Mongolian men and one brother who had an afro naturally. Her sister were built like black women full butts and with the feet also. Her mom was was half Cherokee and its her dads side that we're not sure of, we know he had sort Indian blood but, the other we don't know. All the women have the Asian eye folds, so along with the Cherokee there must've been some form of Asian and black in there. Mom has documents to show Shes a member of the Cherokee nation from N.Carolina. we're from Eastern KY. Dad was English and irish, ????
My DNA on both sides is from East Africa L3 haplogroup ancestry... although mix race (Portuguese, native American & East African) my people are pre-1776 North Americans... lived in Rockingham County Virginia then into Madison County Kentucky then into Southwestern Ohio... we also have the six finger genetic marker... shovel teeth... extra teeth... Jewish blood type... and after the British & Irish arrived here we became DNA descendants of the Stone family... who Thomas Stone was one of the original signatures of the Declaration of Independence and his wife Elizabeth Jennifer was the daughter of Daniel Jenifer who signed the Constitution of the United States.
FET Engineer smart!!!
@@NazTaZanYaShaRahLa
Correction: Elizabeth Jenifer was Thomas Stone's mother NOT his wife... so hopefully my earlier point was understood.
Also recently discovered the Stone family of Maryland in question is also DNA connected to Gov. Wm Stone of colonial Virginia and the Delaney family which makes me related to Sally Hemings and Benjamin Banneker. I'm originally from Clark County, Ohio... as a child my mother lived in Longtown, Ohio & Richmond, Indiana.
@JPS JPS well put my brother!
Is the Jewish DNA Askenazi? If so, is there a more than usual percentage of female and male breast cancer?
This is a remarkable talk. Thank you.
I appreciated and enjoyed and down right loved this lecture on Melungeon history…and I do believe I have Melungeon in my linage right here in central Illinois! Thank you for your knowledge and I would love to hear more of your lectures and read anything you might suggest 🙏💖🙏
Melungeon Grove previous to Compton ILL in north .. my people came from there
I am Melungeon by ancestry, Algonquin, English and Algerian from 1659. We are Nickens, originally changed from the family name of Yoconohawcon .
I has no idea Algerians were a North African group that came to the Americas in 1659.
my family is From Southern Virginia/Northern NC mountains. I had my DNA done & I found out I am Melungiin. Cherokee, & South American Indian, Eskimo, & SO MANY other Cultures. MIDDLE Eastern, Jewish, Scottish, German, Mongolian, Italian, turkey, ROMA, SUB-Sahara African...
My ancestors were some of the first people into Tennessee as waves of Scots English Irish migrated across the mountains from the Carolinas into Indian Territory. Many people including my ancestors, moved South out of the mountains into north Alabama and continued down the Tombigbee and Warrior rivers and other rivers to other parts of south Alabama and east Mississippi in the early 1800's .These traverlers settied in Fort Towns along the rivers . You may google Fort St Stephens, Fort Mount Vernon , Fort Mims, Fort Stoddard.. read its long history ..
Mississippi Alabama language is almost exactly like the Appalachian accents and dialects. People moved out of the mountains to the South seeking better farmland as Native Americans gave up their lands.
I once met someone who said their ancestors were "Black Irish" which explained their lite Olive complexion brown eyes and long straight brown hair...
Often heard my late grandmother who was born in north Mississippi 1911 speak about gypsies in passing comments .
I am looking forward to the 27th Union this year, 2022 ! 🤗Your book, " Kinfolk Falling Off The Tree, " is outstanding, my friend ☺
I descend from one of the less minor Melungeon names, Rose. My great-great-great-great grandfather was Charles Rose who was married to Lydia Sizemore. Yes, the same Old Ned Sizemore, one of his daughters.
Lisa, I'm from Kingsport, one of those Highland girls. And yes, I can trace my melungeon lines back to Solomon Collins.your book was a hoot, and yes I still carry a small Swiss knife.
Can’t find the like button-however it was very interesting. I never heard of this people before today!
So much history we were not taught in school. We learned many lies, and only what our government allowed us to know. This is why we have so much mistrust in our government and why many are so divided. We are all humans, and I for one love to learn about other cultures and history. I embrace them all, and see beautiful things in each and every culture and people. This is why I have always wanted to travel to other countries. We are not exposed to their culture here in the US. We have to go to their country to learn much of who these people are.
A great speaker and wit ,loved just listening. xxJanieDundee
I love her presentation style
I enjoyed your story, and it ended too soon. I will follow up on my own and read more about these people. Very interesting.
I adore this woman she was fantastic💞
Apparently 6 fingers is a dominant trait. However, most populations don't have the genes so 5 fingers are what's common.
Are there melungeons of any number in west Virginia? My husband's family has many of these qualities. Native American, Scottish, fair and very olive skin. Definitely getting this book.
I attended church in Akron, Ohio from birth until I was 18, Summer '85, with a family from W.V. . One Sunday when I was about 17 I ask them about their ancestry as they appeared to resemble dark Mexican people with thick straight hair. They happily replied that they where from the Appalachian mountains of W.V. and that when they were growing up there they almost never saw white people like me unless they went to a major town or city. Also I know of Melungeon's who lived in southern Ohio at one time but of course many are no longer identifiable.
If you google common Melungeon surnames you'll see names like Kennedy, Keating and other common Anglo-European names attributed to Melungeon families.
Hope this helps.
@@11UncleBooker22 Thanks. This really interests me. I found native American in my ancestry in IN with names linked back to OH and WV. My husband's family mainly WV. Will be looking this up. Thank you again
There is a community called Chestnut Ridge near Philippi West Virginia that are melungeon. They are known as Chestnut Ridge People.
Dr Lewis Gates discovered he is related to them in a “ Finding Your Roots” episode. He had no idea, though he had grown up only about 50 miles away.
I suspect my friend may be related to them through her grandmother. They were from that area with dark very curly hair and very dark tanning ability.
I haven’t had the nerve to ask and they might not even know.
They are very careful to only be seen with straightened hair.
As someone with very straight hair who would love to have curls, I couldn’t understand why.
Once I saw the episode about Chestnut Ridge I thought perhaps that explained it.
My family appears to be related to the Collins clan. However the connection is way back in early 1700s long before the Collins moved down to North Carolina.
I haven't read your book yet but I will. I first heard of the Melungeons whilst researching the Khumric settlements of the 6th century ad from Britain into America and the Welsh speaking 'Indians' . They were agnostic christians ? Jim Michael Ref.
Absolutely fascinating !
Are you aware of any Melungeon with the surname of Smith, from Kentucky or Virginia?
Do your ancestry because the list of names is incomplete. My father's maternal side is melungeon from Virginia and their last name is Quann. There was only one family so it doesn't come up in a list common last names.
Brown and Brock, ky not any smith so far
Too, my cheekbones are prominently high, but the Grandmother on my maternal side was Native American. The one who married and had children with my Grandfather w the last name Sawyer, was Irish. I have no idea what ethnicity I am exactly, or where my ancestry comes from. It's intriguing tho, as people have a tendency to ask. That, but it's important to know for Health reasons as I have children of my own now. I think it's important for the upcoming generation to know where they come from and to embrace it.
We would be interested to know what your results percentages say, if you wouldn't be adverse to letting us share your joy, or confusion. Thank you. Good luck on the great power you have in leaving a tradition for your children.
The Melungeons and the Lumbee's are the Converted Moors, of Al Andalusia (Granada) who's conversion to Christianity under Ferdinand and Isabella earned them the name "Moriscoe and if they were Jewish, they were called Murano's. This is clearly illustrated in the Journals and writing of Sir Francis Drake, especially in connection with the first British military secret outpost, Roanoke, which doubled as a spying and work colony. Sir Francis Drake, perhaps the most famous of the British privateers renown for raiding and sinking Spanish and Portuguese ships, in the Caribbean islands and off of the eastern shorelines' of the Carolinas and Virginia. They are the combination of multiple ethnic nationalities including the Tuscarora, (Croat Tribes) Iroquois, Cherokee, West African (Moroccan) and the Spanish and Portuguese. There are also Arabic manuscripts, of this period, that highlights these facts. There is a great paper authored by Dr. Umar Abdallah Farouk, called "Turks Moors and Moriscos in the early Americas".
Sounds interesting. Where did you get your information from? I want to learn more. 😀
wow
No, that theory has been disproven many times. We have no actual relation to Portuguese or turks whatsoever.
@@goldcherry103 n. brent kennedy melungeons
I believe that the Croatian element is more prominent than people think
I totally agree we are all related one to another! God created all of us equal male and female!!
Absolutely love this!
She really takes a rather serious subject and is able to poke fun.
Your speech was very entertaining and informative. I can trace my family tree back to Milton Bell (1856 Rosehill, Tennessee - 7 Mar 1925 Sneedville, Hancock, Tennessee) and Nancy Denham (July 1853 Sneedville), through my 2nd great grandmother, Martha Jane Bell (1883 Tennessee - 15 Feb 1945 Rose Hill, Lee, Virginia). And I am also pretty sure that my 2nd great grandfather, the husband of Martha Jane Bell, Charles Henry Hamlin (1868 • 5 APRIL 1868 • Hancock County, Tennessee - 7 FEBRUARY 1913 • Rose Hill, Lee, Virginia), was Melungeon as well. I think that it conjecture that Charles Hambln's inferred parents were actually his biological parents. Note, I am also have DNA matches who are members of the the Goins family from TN and the Owens families who identify as Melungeons. By the way, were can I get information on participating in the Melungeon DNA project?
So interesting I just purchased 3 copies of her book.
Fascinating. It would seem with the new DNA capabilities you could discover some very interesting new information!
I have Hughes in my family tree, I am wondering if they belong to this group. It is like the drop out of nowhere in southern TN and NC.
Can you tell me more about your Hughes ancestors? Did they have any connections to Dorchester County Maryland?
@@gaylepinderhughes7166 I have no idea. I haven no information on the parents.
we all mixed some where
Fascinating.
My son Quinton six fingers. Thank you so much
Well as far as my family my grand parents told us the stories growin up an I have the knot in the back of my head an shovel teeth. My dad is Alot darker an sveny sisters an he's 52 I'm 28 ok can't believe I'm just now finding out all the stuff I am on the internet
Wonderful story! My g.grandmother's madien name was Gibson, and from.that area! Ill.dig deeper now, to find my roots!
I also have Gibson
Job well done, My Lady
Very informative thanks for posting
In the 1970's in church hill/ mount carmel,TN area i grew up playing baseball with a Tracey Vanoey/ vanhouy (spelling?) boy. He was of very olive complexion. Back then I didn't know what a melungeon was. I just thought he was part cherokee bloodlines.
My grandpa was also Melungeon from eastern Kentucky and his last name was Goins.
I come from Melungeon roots as well. Sizemore, Tackett, Collins. Family is from KY, NC and Virginia mainly.
My family originated from Grayson County, Virginia. Their last name was Phipps. Are the Phipps related to the Melungeons? Thanks in advance.
My family originated from Grayson County, Virginia as well and I have Phipps in my ancestry as well.
My brother, from NYS, retired & moved to Jonesville, Lee County, VA...center to the Melungeons' area.
Crazy! My family is from that part of Tennessee and my grandmother’s sur name was Gibson! I also know very little about any of my family history.
I suspect that some of my ancestors were Mulengeon, again the Cherokee connection has been passed down, but I have come to think otherwise. Our family has a rare blood disorder, Thalassemia, which I have read can be passed down from Mulengeons. I have been told by Dr.s that I couldn’t have Thalassemia because of my fair hair and skin and our family’s blue eyes. I have so much research to do!
Those are usually only found in African or Mediterranean peoples.
I, too have always been a blue-eyed blonde. Supposed to have Cherokee, but could never really find it.
@@patriciajrs46There are Blue eyed Blondes in Osage Nation. My husband and his cousin both.
I am Melungeon...( 50% ). My Grandfather who is 100% Melungeon is buried in Vardy Cemetery on Newman's Ridge. My Grandmother ( nee Goins ) who is also 100% Melungeon is not buried in Vardy Cemetery but in a cemetery in Sneedville, TN. It could be bc maybe they no longer were accepting dead Melungeons in Vardy Cemetery. My Mother was 100% Melungeon and was 6ft tall.
Seems it takes a lifetime to find all that's been so carefully hidden over the generations. (I'm a Bolling)
Great job 👏
That was very interesting! I often wonder me bring a women of color had four children in with their complexion is four different shades from dark to very light..with make me want to Check out my ancestor I know my grandmother was native American but from what tribe I dont know becuz my mother was adopted.so, Thank you for that wonderful story.
I had never even heard of Melungeon peoples until I did a DNA test...I always knew we had some native american and some sub-subharian African but I had no idea about this ethnicity until my results came back as #1 Mulengeon...which makes a lot of sense to me now. I am brown haired blue eyed but have a large set of siblings, some of which look Native American and Mexican (another type of Native from the America's) my sibs and I range from black hair (truely black not dark brown) with dark brown eyes to light brown hair and grey/hazel eyes..so we are all over...we do have relatives from OK and TN however none of the traditional "Melungeon names fit". That all said I'm just wondering if we should start adding in "mulengeon" under Ethnicity on forms rather than "Caucation" or is that even appropriate?
This is most interesting. I have not identified any of my ancestors being melungeon so far, but searching. But, I highly suspect there might have been since my ancestry on one side goes all they way back to early 1600s at Jamestown. My mother never let herself be in the sun. She tanned really easily. But she was a typical Southern white racists of her generation as were both my parents and grand parents. Lucky for me we moved out of the South. It would have killed my folks to find out they were mixed race. And in that part of Texas, I remember seeing many people with the darkest skin but with white features and blue eyes who usually had jobs like janitors and such. They were so very unusual looking and spoke like white people. You wonder how much they suffered from oppression.
Love and cherish your family
French word for mixture is melange....any connection?
Thank you. This Was so interesting and funny.
I remember Collins' in Hancock County looking like they swept chimneys... Never heard anyone else say that.
That’s the reason some are afraid of teaching the truth of American history. Critical race theory. Some are ashamed and afraid.
Love all of this
My family is from Lynchburg and they told me about what Plecker did to them. He messed my family up. All of my mom's children had blue backs when they were born.
I have Mullins,Mullin,and my granfather Mullen. In doing my ancestry I have a 3-4 times great grandfather that claimed he was melungeon. My grandfather was olive complected 2 out if his 6 kids were too and several grandkids.
At first she says her cousins mocked her speech, then late says mom and dad had 14 siblings but she never new them?