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Archiver > Melungeon > 2003-02 > 1044940925
From:
Subject: Re: [Melungeon] Swan Burnett
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 00:22:11 EST
In a message dated 2/10/2003 5:50:07 AM Pacific Standard Time,
writes:
> Swan Burnett is often quoted as a key source regarding the earliest known
> Melungeons and as a strong piece of the evidence placing them in, and
> supposedly limiting them to, Newman’s Ridge
Oh Thanks for this article. I enjoyed it a lot and sent it on out to the
parental units and siblings and cousins and all that such.
I like reading historical articles very much as does my Ma. You know
stories and all that.
My Ma did not know so much about her own history. Her own ma died when
she was a toddler and her Daddy did not know what to do with her so she was
sent to school with her sister Alberta, who was in high school, and the
school sent both of them right back home again. I guess in the 1920s single
fathers was an oxymoron. Grandpa was not so good at fathering I guess.
No worries however Grandpa had his middle daughter and her husband move
back home to help care for ma, until grandpa went off and married his
melungeon cousin, Carter Jones, fresh from Tennessee. Guess the family pretty
well went to hell after that, in my mother's memories.
Ma and Carter did not get along. I only have one or two memories of
Carter, one of her laying on the couch cause she was sick, and once when I
got to sit at the big peoples table and spilled my milk and was sent back
down with the twins, and assorted baby cousins. I think she was like a
flapper or something.
The weird thing is, in doing this genealogy, I have not located any Jones
in my Grandpa's family line. I will have to look closer into Carter I guess.
I have a lot of footage of Carter and Grandpa and my Ma and Pa as teenagers
on up. What I noticed in the footage was she ( Grandma/cousin Carter ) was
always picking me up and holding me and rocking me and I do not remember
that, but have it to look at when I wish. As a baby I seemed to respond to
her with a smile and a giggle, so I must have loved her.
Going Back a generation further, William Simpson Married Rhoda Crosswhite
/ Crosswaite. She was way big into the Brethen and Dunkards so I would sure
like to see a church meeting list of the Brethern church in Sneedville area.
Her parents were a Kraus and a Thomas, Germans I think, from Germany
certainly. How all these people ended up in Sneedville I do not know. And did
the intermarry with the Melungeons ? Well some of them did, The Simpsons
married into the Iveys up on the ridge. Are these the common known surnames
of Sneedville Melungeons? Not that I know of. However I have read the
Melungeons were good Blacksmiths and the first 3 Solomons in my Simpson genera
tions were all listed at Blacksmiths.
It would be cool to look at the ying yang side of this coin. Too look at
the population of Hancock county and map it out. Where did the Brethen live?
Who were the WA's the NA's, and the AA's ?
I know from looking at early slave records that a John Simpson and a Mrs
Tucker owned more slaves than anyone in Hancock county. While I am not a
direct desendant of John Simpson, we are both direct desendants of Solomon
Simpson and Margret Elliot, who owned a slave named Ester. Of course John
Simpson and I are also both desendants of their child Solomon Simpson Jr. and
his wife Elizabeth Lantern whose father is Ruben Lantern and perhaps the same
Lantern mentioned in Paul Hiengees papers as a mulatto.
I would like to look deeper into the people of Sneedville and who they all
were and where they all came from. I know I am mixed, and I know I look
Melungeon so they say. But how, who etc remains to be answered.
Ah but enough about me. How bout you? What do you think of me? <--- Ha
Ha that's a joke. ;-P
Kelly Pritchard
Isla Vista, California
http://melungeon_music.tripod.com/melungeonmusic/
<A HREF="http://melungeon_music.tripod.com/melungeonmusic/">Melungeon Music</A>
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