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Archiver > Melungeon > 2002-12 > 1040958004


From: Steve & Cindy Hartman <>
Subject: Re: [Melungeon] I think I got it
Date: Thu, 26 Dec 2002 21:00:04 -0600
References: <20021226154454.46030.qmail@web41406.mail.yahoo.com><003401c2ad29$3c10e600$979250d8@main>


> #who were the Melungeons? And where did they live ? The Melungeon, was
> first defined in a dictionary in 1892. "One of a very dark people living
in
> the Mountains of Tennessee.
> ## 1-Brent do you agree that these records establish the beginning of the
> Melungeons, if not by what records do you impeach them?
> ## 2-I think we all agree that Vardy Collins was a Melungeons, was his
> parents Melungeeon? Grandparents, great grandparents, etc. where do we
stop?
>
> My answer is: These above named Melungeon family migrated from Virginia
to
> NC. and can be located in court, church, land, and tax records are
available
> from those areas where they formerly lived and I find them enumerated as
> mulatto, free person of color. I have seen no records that identify them
as
> Melungeon prior to 1813. My answer was no because you cannot be a
Melungeon
> before they were given the name Melungeon. There is a possibility that
> records exist which could establish them as a race even in 1600-1400, but
I
> doubt it because historical written records establish who and where they
> were located and unless they are proven wrong, I will use the old written
> records, but this don't mean we should stop looking.
>
> ## John Going born 1730-died 1801 in Henry County, Virginia, 3 children
came
> to the Clinch Area and were labeled Melungeons, 2 sons migrated to
Indiana,
> 2 remained in Henry County.
> ## Brent answered this one and said they were all Melungeons, if this is
> true then their parents would be Melungeon , their grandparents, they were
> born 1690's --
> ## Question--. How far back in history do you classify them Melungeon ? .
> Also I will add several Goins were enumerated on Cherokee Indian census
> rolls,and we find them as Melungeon Also, they can be found in several
other
> clans.
>

My reply after you waded through all those quotes :-) :

Not necessarily. If the father was directly from, let's say, Ireland, then
he would not be Melungeon. But if he married a mixed Indian/black woman,
their children would be Melungeon (or mixed race, if you prefer-I use
Melungeon to mean mixed). If the mother was already Melungeon, she could be
called that, but not the father. If you bred a dog and a cat and got a
"dat", you could not call the parents dats. They were either dog or cat. But
if the
father was already a dog/cat mixture, then you could call him a dat, but not
the mom. (Yes, I know it sounds silly, but it was an easy way to make my
point). And if a man wrote down that "dats" came into being in 2002, but he
did not know the father was already a dat (because nobody wrote it down),
then they still existed prior to their naming. They just didn't have a name.
What was the tallest mountain before Mt. Everest was named the tallest
mountain? It was still Mt. Everest - they just didn't know it :-)

I don't believe the Melungeons "began" in 1813. Did they pull the term out
of the air in 1813 (?) - "I thiiiiiiiiinnnnnnk, I'll call you a Melungeon!
That's it!" :-) Of course not. The term must
have been used earlier, but not written down. Or maybe it was written down,
but not preserved. There were sure lots of people that could not write at
that time. That's not documentation, but my grandmother's birth was not
documented, either. She had no birth certificate, and there was no family
Bible that I know of. But she existed. She may have existed in doctor's
records, but what if those records were destroyed, and there was no written
record?

Do you believe that all people referred to as FPC were Melungeon? What if
they were not in the named "Melungeon" counties, Lee or Scott in VA, or
Hawkins and Hancock in TN? In researching my Guinns/Gwins, I found Anne,
Sally, Polly, Viney, Fanny and
William Guinn listed as FPC on the 1838 Tax list for Smythe Co., VA. Were
they Melungeon, in your opinion?

Cindy


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