Brenda Collins Dillon – Reading Material

Examining Melungen History and Genealogy
Old Thomas Collins of Flatt River
History of Logan County, West Virginia
Early History of Old Orange County
The Graysville Melungeons
The Melungeon Tree and It’s Four Branches
Jarvis Interview – 1903

EXAMINING MELUNGEON HISTORY AND GENEALOGY

By: JACK GOINS

Having the advantage of living in and near the homeland of the Melungeons has helped me considerably in my search for the true history of the Melungeons and their kinfolks. I first became interested in the Melungeons when told that some authors and historians listed two of my Great Grandparents as Melungeon. My Grandfather Goins denied these allegations and personally told me “My grandma Minor was about 3/4 Indian and Grandpa Goins was about ˝”. This heritage has not been established as a fact, but Grandpa believed it. His Grandma Susan Minor’s mother was Aggy Sizemore and most of these families filed Cherokee Indian Application beginning in 1905.

In my research journey I backtracked the Melungeons from the Clinch River to the New River, to the Flat River and the Pamunkey. After locating the places where they lived before arriving on the Clinch, my wife and I traveled to those places. This factual research of the historical Melungeons helped me to personally dismiss many fables about the Melungeons. One major discovery was that they migrated with the other pioneer settlers and they owned land in all these places. They lived next door to white settlers and had adjoining farms. They went to the same churches and schools, intermarried with all their neighbors, fought in the same wars, including Lord Dunmore’s War; 1774 Militia of Fincastle County, Virginia. These men were to fight in the battle of Point Pleasant against the Shawnee Indians. John Collins served 35 days; Micager Bunch served 29 days (1774. Soldiers of Fincastle County, Virginia by Kegley).

Also, I have found no record where they were driven from their land, or driven to the mountains, etc., etc. This rumor may have started from the outdoor drama “Walk Toward the Sunset.” I also discovered that most of the story Calloway Collins told the reporter Will Allen Dromgoole in the 1890 interview on Newman Ridge was true. “The Collins and Gibsons were living as Indians in Virginia before they migrated to North Carolina.” The Indian tribe was not named and has not been factually proven, but the important part, moving from Virginia to North Carolina has been proven by deeds from all these areas, beginning on the Pamunkey River in Louisa County, Virginia.

Orange County, Virginia Order Book 3 record 1741-43 “Alexander Machartoon, John Bowling, Manincassa, Capt Tom, Isaac, Harry, blind tom, Foolish Jack, Charles Griffin, John Collins, Little Jack, Indians being bought before the court for stealing Hogs. , Ordered that their Guns be taken away from them till they are ready to depart of this county, they having declared their intentions to depart this colony within a week.”. On pages 309-312 of Court Record book the above named men individually put up security.4

This party of Saponia ( Monasukapanough) Indians left that county and some of these may have been the same group that formed the settlement near Hillsborough, North Carolina in 1750. It appears from Granville and Orange County tax records that a John Collins arrived in the area about this time. John Collins lived on the Flat River for about 17 years then moved to the New River circa 1767. Land and court records reveal they settled land on Peach Bottom Creek. This area became Grayson County, Virginia in 1793. Tax records from Grayson County, Virginia reveals that Lewis and James Collins were likely sons of John Collins.“James Collins, John Bolin, and Mike Bolin Indians from Blackwater, Newman Ridge, were named by Sneedville attorney Lewis M. Jarvis in 1903, as quite full blooded who fought in the War of 1812-1814″. 5 Another Indian family Moses and Mary , Ridley, Riddle are on these same Granville and Orange County, North Carolina tax lists, identified as mulattoes on the 1755 tax list in Orange County, North Carolina. Moses was closely associated with Charles Gibson, Thomas Gibson Sr & Jr, Thomas Collins and Joseph Collins. Several Collins, Bolling and others with related Melungeon names still live in this area today which is Person County, North Carolina.

Their migration journey began in the 1740’s and ended on Newman Ridge about 1790. I can only document a very small number of them who lived to make this complete journey. They were Thomas and Mary Gibson , their sons Charles and Thomas Gibson. Charles was the oldest living Melungeon on Newman Ridge when he filed his Revolutionary War Pension Application in 1839 stating that he was born in Louisa County, Virginia. He enlisted near Salisbury, North Carolina. Benjamin Collins, Jonathan Gibson and Jordan Gibson testified that Charles Gibson was reputed to be a Revolutionary War Soldier in their neighborhood. Charles Gibson was the son of Thomas Sr. and Mary Gibson. They sold their land on the Pamunkey River in 1749 to Thomas Mooreman. This land was located on the south side of the Pamunkey River adjoining Gilbert Gibson’s land. Gilbert was the father of Gedion, Jordan, and George Gibson. [Louisa County, Va., deeds and wills]

As previously noted my research journey includes actually locating and going to these above-mentioned areas. Several photos of these Rivers and Landmarks are in my book “Melungeons And Other Pioneer Families.” One of my most memorable discoveries was the Flat River Primitive Baptist Church established in 1750. The present church that stands in the same location was built circa 1930’s. The earliest minutes found to date begin in 1770. Unfortunately most of the Melungeons left that area for the New River beginning in 1767.

Living in the neighborhood also created a mystery for me concerning the Melungeons and has left me with two troubling questions, which I have not been able to solve, but one of the most important things I have learned from this research was the words, “perhaps and maybe.”

Mystery problem #1- Did the 1700 Melungeon forefathers refer to themselves as Melungeons? If the answer to this question is yes, no records have been found that actually call them by the name Melungeon. Also, to my knowledge no Melungeon tribe has been documented prior to the record in Tennessee.

Mystery problem #2- Was this name Melungeon coined by the local people? If the answer to this question is yes the name would only apply to those people. This is the message I got from living in the land of the Melungeons because during the early years of my life time no person in that neighborhood was actually identified as a Melungeon until after the Article “Sons of the Legend” was printed in the Oct 14, 1947 Saturday Evening Post. Those people in this time period told their children; “If you don’t be quiet the Melungeons will get you.” They would tell you the Melungeons lived somewhere else, or over on the next ridge, etc.

In conversations with several old-timers including two who’s pictures are in the Melungeon story Sons of the Legend they did not realize until the story was published in the Saturday Evening Post that they were the Melungeons the author was writing about.

William L. Warden, author of this Saturday Evening Post story, asked Asa Gibson who was then 75 years old if his ancestors were Welsh Warriors, Phoenicians or survivors of Roanoke his answer, “an Indian.”

One person in the Post story told me the whole Melungeon thing was a myth and laughed about it. She assured me there was no such thing as a Melungeon, but like Grandpa Goins, they also claimed to be of Indian descent. In conversations and letter from Melungeon descendants, including the Collins, Gibson and Bolin families they also claimed Indian descent.

Several authors have suggested that the Melungeons were lying about their Indian nationality just to hide their known African ancestors. I am convinced that old Asa Gibson told the author William Warden, (Saturday Evening Post 1947) story what he believed was the truth, that his ancestors were Indian. This does not exclude Asa from the possibility of having both white, and or black genes. Example; In colonial days if an indentured servant, regardless of their nationality married a Saponia Indian and was accepted in their said Indian tribe, their children would be recognized as Indians. In a few generations their original nationality would be lost to history if they remained in the tribe. If these children married whites, mulattoes, or other free blacks they would eventually lose their Indian identity and would not have a clue as to their original nationality.

Let us examine the historical Melungeons. The first known records that specifically identifies a group of people historically known as the (Melungins) and living in Tennessee. These records also pinpoint their location. Let us examine some of these written records.

Some of the Tennessee State Senators first denied that there was such a race living in Tennessee according to the reporter Will Allen Dromgoole who keep asking and was told by another senator (not named), that the (Malungeons) live in his district. “Only upon the records of the State of Tennessee does the name appear.”

This author discovered the word Melungin written in the 1813 Minutes of Stony Creek Church, which was from an accusation that a lady in the church was housing them “Melungins”, There is not enough written about this incident to actually determine anything factual. Some of the first Melungeon families migrated circa 1790’s from the New River area of Wilkes County, North Carolina to Fort Blackmore and joined the Stony Creek Church 1801-1802. The majority of these were from the old Thomas and Mary Gibson family who originally migrated from Louisa County, Virginia beginning in 1749. Most of these families were gone by 1810.

This term “Malungeons” sprang up again in “The Wig” a Jonesboro, Tennessee newspaper. This may have been during a political campaign October 7, 1840. (3) And again in the celebrated 1872 Chattanooga Melungeon trial of a Bolton girl represented by Attorney Lewis Shepard, of Chattanooga, Tennessee “She is related to a group of people living in the mountains of East Tennessee known as (Malungeons)” 1. This statement was made by attorney Lewis Shepard, describing his Melungeon client whose mother was a Bolton. Shepard presented the following argument; “The term “Melungeon” is an East Tennessee provincialism; it was coined by the people of that county to apply to these people and is derived from the word, melange, meaning mixture and has gotten into most modern dictionaries”. The argument presented in this trial was that this family was not Negro, but pure-blooded Carthaginians (2). In his personal memoirs Judge Lewis Shepard wrote, “this mysterious racial group descended from the Phoenicians of Ancient Carthage”. [2- Memoirs of Judge Lewis Shepard, Chattanooga, 1915 p, 88.] also [2-3-4-5-6 Melungeons: And Other Pioneer Families]

Several racial clans that existed in the Eastern United States in the 1940-50’s have been recognized. Some of these were the Redbones, Croatans, Brass Ankles, Ramps and Melungeons. According to my research of known Melungeon families, the Ramps of Fort Blackmore were related to the families that became known as Melungeons. Oddly the term Melungeon may have also began in Fort Blackmore and later the term Ramps were placed on their kinfolks who remained in Fort Blackmore. Ramptown, known by the locals is located between Fort Blackmore and Dungannon, in Scott County, Virginia.

About The Author:

Jack Goins Lives in Rogersville, Tennessee, Retired from AFG Industries, began family research at an early age.

(1)Articles includes; Zephaniah Goins Fought In Yorktown Campaign [Gowen Research Foundation Newsletter, Volume 5 number 3, 1993.]

(2)Melungeon Families-Sizemore, Minor, Goins, Fisher and Riddle Article in [1994 Families Of Hawkins County, Tennessee page 537 to 540]

(3 and 4)Arrington Family page 88 and co-authored Henry Fisher family page 126.[Hancock County, Tennessee And It’s People Volume II 1994]

(5)Sizemore Family, Jan 1999 Distant Crossroads Volume XVI, Number 1

(6)May 2000, Published a book “Melungeon And Other Pioneer Families” price $17.95

(7) Descendants of William F. And Margaret McCullough 1776-1781 (Distant Crossroads Volume 18, Number 3, 2001.)

OLD THOMAS COLLINS OF FLATT RIVER

Thomas Collins Sr. born 1710 & his descendants According to documented family research old Thomas Collins Sr. born before 1710 was the father and or grandfather of the historical Tennessee Melungeon Collins. At least one of Thomas Collins parents (unknown) was probably full blood Saponi Indian.
Collins family history handed down from father to son was; “The Collins were living in Virginia as Indians before they migrated to North Carolina, and they stole the name Collins from white settlers” ( Will Allen Dromgoole’s 1890 interview with Calloway Collins, (Melungeons And Other Pioneer Families.)

Other Collins men who were associated with Thomas Collins Sr. in New Kent, later Louisa County, Va. were probably his brothers. They were Samuel Collins, John Collins and William Collins.

25 Jan 1745 Louisa County, Virginia Court: William Hall, Samuel Collins, William Collins, Samuel Bunch, George Gibson, Benjamin Brannum, Thomas Gibson, & William Donothan appear to answer an indictment for concealing tithables. Plead not guilty, Case continued. (Louisa County, Va., Tithables and Census)

Although this John Collins may, or may not be a brother to Thomas the court record below establishes that some Collins were Saponia Indians. “Alexander Machartoon, John Bowling, Manincassa, Capt Tom, Isaac, Harry, blind tom, Foolish Jack, Charles Griffin, John Collins, Little Jack, Indians being bought before the court for stealing Hogs. , Ordered that their Guns be taken away from them till they are ready to depart of this county, they having declared their intentions to depart this colony within a week.”.11 On pages 309-312 of Orange County Court Record book the above named men individually put up security.11

This party of Saponia ( Monasukapanough) Indians left that county and some of these may have been the same group that formed the settlement near Hillsborough, North Carolina in 1750. Which was the same neck of the woods where old Thomas Collins migrated, as we follow him through land transactions.(Ref in Melungeons And other pioneer Families).

Old Thomas Collins land joined other families who were later to become known as the Melungeons of Newman Ridge, located in present day Hancock County, Tennessee.

1743 Saint Fredrick’s Parish Register (Published) Procession Gilbert Gibson, Thomas Gibson and 200 acres for Thomas Collings. (Louisa County, Virginia)

The following source Melungeon families lived in the same area of Virginia around 1730. John Bunch, Gilbert Gibson, Thomas Gibson and Thomas Collins. They begin selling their land in Louisa County. VA in 1747 and migrated to the Flatt River area of then Granville County, North Carolina this area became Orange County in 1753. 1747 Thomas Collins sells 184 acres of land on the south side of the Pamunkey River on Turkey Run Creek to John Dowell for 25 Ibs. (Louisa County, Va. ref..in Melungeons and Other Pioneer Families)

1748 Gilbert Gibson’s Will was probated in Louisa County, Va. Names of sons Gideon, Jordan and George Gibson. (Melungeons And Other pioneer Families) 1749 Thomas Gibson (alias Wilburn) and wife Mary sell land to Thomas Moreman on the South side of the Pamunkey River adjoining Gilbert Gibson’s land. Signed by his mark Thomas Gibson “T”.(Melungeon and Other Pioneer families) Thomas Gibson mark was a ‘T’ and George Gibson mark was “G” They used these marks when they eventually sold land in Orange county, NC.

The 1750 tax list of Granville County, NC list the following: William Bowling 1 tithe, James Bowlin 1 tithe, Gideon Bunch 2 tithes (Micajer and William), Thomas Collins Sr. 1 tithe, Samuel Collins 1 tithe, John Collins 1 tithe, Thomas Gibson with tithes Charles and George Gibson.

Thomas Collins Sr. b 1710 , probable children were; Thomas Jr. b 1728, Joseph b 1730, Samuel b 1732, John b 1734, George b 1736, Elisha b 1738. They settled on the Flatt River as the following records reveal.

“Land Grants from the Earl of Granville to the earliest settlers, The Granville Dist. Of N.C. 1748-1763 Vols 2 & 4 by Hofman.” 29 Oct 1751 -Grant to William Churton, 640 acres on the south side of Flatt River joining John Collins on the Rocky Branch. Grant is for warrant issued to Thomas Gibson (#3775) 1752. 250 acres to Thomas Gibson on the Flatt River. 28 Oct 1752 640 acres to Joseph Collins on the South West side of the Flatt River Witness- Thomas Collins and James Lilkemper.

Flatt River

Orange County was formed from Granville in 1753 the Flatt River area was in the new county. A 1755 Tax list of Orange County, NC. ( ref. Melungeon and Other Pioneer Families) If a family had at least 1/16 Indian or black they were sometimes listed mulatto. Gedion Bunch 1 tithe(mulatto) Micajer Bunch 1 tithe (mulatto) Thomas Collins 3 tithes (mulatto) Samuel Collins 2 tithes (mulatto) John Collins 1 tithe (mulatto) Moses Ridley (Riddle) 1 tithe & wife Mary (mulattoes) Thomas Gibson 3 tithes (mulatto) Charles Gibson 1 tithe (mulatto) George Gibson 1 tithe (mulatto) Mager Gibson 1 tithe (mulatto)

Land Grants in Orange County, NC. 1756- To William Combs on Flatt River joins Thomas Gibson, Joseph Collins & John Wade. Chainbearers: Thomas Gibson Jr. and Moses Ridley.

1761-700 acres to Thomas Collins on Dials Creek of the Flatt River. Chainbearers: George Collins and Paul Collins (mulattoes)

Some of these old pioneers may not have known all the rules and did not obtain a deed, notice who lost their improvements in this deed. John Brown-Warrants 26 Dec 1760, 700 acres on the Flatt River, includes Bolins, Riddles and Collins Improvements. Surveyed 13 April 1761, deed 14 Oct 1761.

Wherever these people who’s children became known as Melungeons migrated, they always left a few behind. Although those left behind were never labeled Melungeon they were “kin to the people who later became known as the Melungeons of Newman Ridge”. A few stayed on the Flatt River, some migrated to the territory that became South Carolina, some to Pittsylvania County, Virginia. A Collins family along with Moses Riddle and some of the Bolen’s moved to Pittyslvania County, Virginia before 1767 and had land entries on the Sandy River. The 1767 Tax list of John Wilson, Pittsylvania County, Va. records: Moses Ridle (an Indian), William Ridle, Peter Perkins List records; Christopher Bowlin, and son William, Christopher Bowlin Jr. James Bowlin, Joseph Bowlin.

Caswell County was formed from the northern part of Orange County, North Carolina in 1777 it included part of the Flatt River and part of that river remained in Orange County. 1777 tax list. Paul Collins 1 tithe, Martin Collins 1 tithe, Middleston Collins 1 tithe, Obadiah Collins 1 tithe, John collins 1 tithe.

Thomas Collins Sr. may have died in Orange County around 1770 but, most of his children migrated to the New River area of Virginia and North Carolina. The Collins and Gibsons began selling their land on the Flatt River in 1767-70 and moved to the back woods sections of the New River where some were listed on tax records in Fincastle County, Va., as “living on Indian Lands”

The deed records of Thomas Gibson land sale in Orange County, establishes him as the same Thomas who sold his land on the Pamunkey River in Louisa County in 1749 when he made his mark “T”.

1770-Thomas Gibson to James Williams. Land on the Flatt River. Signed Thomas Gibson (his “T”mark), (Orange Co., N.C.. Deed Book 3, page 468.)

Thomas Gibson made a land entry on 9 June 1780 on Cranberry Path in Wilkes Co., N.C. This land was near the South Fork of New River in present day Ashe Co., N.C., entry # 1858.(Wilkes County, North Carolina, Land Entry Book 1778-1781) Thomas Gibson’s family migrated to Fort Blackmore before 1800. And Joined the Stony Creek Baptist Church beginning in 1801. Most of this family moved to Newman Ridge in Hawkins County, Tn.,beginning in 1804 and most were gone by 1808. The Church Minutes records them coming back for meetings and some were brought before the church for drinking and fighting, such as Charles Gibson. The first written record of the word Melungin is recorded in the 1813 Minutes of Stoney Creek Church.

“Then came forward sister Kitchens and complained to the church against Susanna Stallard for saying she harbored them Melungins”

According to the Stony Creek Church Minutes most of the Melungeons had left by 1813 and joined Blackwater and Mulberry Churches in Hawkins County, Tn. The minutes also records a few Gibson’s coming back and causing a disturbance by drinking and fighting. The Stony Creek Church again removed Gibson and wrote that the Mulberry church had also dismissed him, and they had been notified. It is most likely that one of these ladies was accusing the other of an affair with a Melungin and the church clerks choose these words to record this motion. Melungeons staying with other church members would not have been considered a sin; it would be the appearance of a given situation. She may have been letting some Melungeons from the Blackwater or Mulberry Church room at her home on Friday before the meeting, or on Saturday night. Church meetings were during the day and usually once a month on the 1st Saturday. The Melungeons were recorded white on tax records of lower Russell County and later Scott County, Virginia, when they were living in the Stony Creek area.(Melungeon and Other pioneer families)

1802 Tax List for the Lower District of Russell County, VA that became Scott County in 1815 and number of males 16 or over Collins, Valentine 1- Charles Gibson, 1- David Gibson 1- James Gibson 2- James Gibson 0 – Martin Gibson 1- Molly Gibson 2- Ruben Gibson 1- Samuel Gibson 1-Sharud Gibson 1- Thomas Gibson 1-William Gibson 1-Willis Gibson 1-Benjamin Bolin 1- William Bolin 1. Jesse Bolin became pastor of Stony Creek in 1802.

Charles Gibson son of Thomas and Mary filed a Revolutionary War Pension Application (R3995 Applied in Hawkins County, Tennessee 19 Jan 1839. He gave his age as 92 but, was 100 years old if 16 when he was listed as a tithe of Thomas on a Granville County, NC tax list. He gave his place of birth as Louisa County, Virginia, entered the service near Salisbury, North Carolina. Benjamin Collins, Jonothan Gibson, and Jordan Gibson swear that he is reputed to be a Revolutionary Soldier in their neighborhood..

The Thomas Collins children settled in what is today Grayson County, Va., and Ashe County, NC. George Collins testified in a land dispute in Grayson County, Virginia in 1808 that he settled on the land in 1767.

Their arrival on the New River is documented by a Botetourt County, Virginia tax list. (Kegleys Early adventures on Western Waters) Number of males over 16. Charles Collins 1, John Collins 4, Samuel Collins 2, Charles Sexton 1, Mckegar Bunch 1, William Sexton 1.

Fincastle County was formed from Botetourt in 1772, 1773 tax list includes: David Collins (Indian Lands), Ambrose Collins, John Collins, John Collins Jr., Charles Collins (Indian Land), Elisha Collins, Samuel Collins (Indian Land), Lewis Collins, George Collins (Indian Land), Micajer Bunch (Indian Land)

A 1778 tax list of the area of Wilkes County that became Ashe in 1778; Ambrose Collins, Charles Collins, Samuel Collins, David Gibson, Micajer Bunch, David Collins, George Collins, Julius Bunch. You may note some of these same people were on the Ficastle list, The reason for this is they may have been next door neighbors because they were in the area that became Ashe North Carolina and Grayson County, Virginia in 1790.

Montgomery County was formed from Fincastle in 1777.. 1782 tax list includes; Martin Collins 1, John Collins Sr. 1, John Collins Jr. 1, Lewis Collins 1, Milton Collins 1, Ambrose Collins 1, David Collins 1, David Gibson 1. The 1782 list of Wilkes County is the same as the 1778 list except for Thomas Gibson.

Lewis Collins above was the son of John Collins Sr. He Applied for a Rev. War Pension in Hawkins County, Tennessee while living in Granger County, Tn. on 16 Aug 1834 # (S2142). “First entered the service in 1778 while living on the Broad River in South Carolina. Moved back to the new River in Montgomery County, Virginia where his Father lived and enlisted there in 1780. Lewis did not tell the whole story, he was actually a Tory in 1780 and probably in William Riddle’s gang. According to the affidavit below he escaped, but his name is included with the group of Tories who raided Capt. John Cox home on the new River, some of these took the Oath of Allegiance to escape punishment. This affidavit by Joseph Collins was included in Selethiah Martin wife’s application “Was a small boy in 1780 when Captain Martin came to the New River in Virginia and captured a group of Tories camped at a Rock House on the river, two of those captured escaped the next night: David Gibson and Lewis Collins, I am intimately acquainted with both men and have heard them tell how they made their escape. John Speltz in his Revolutionary Pension Application told this almost identical event. He said there were nine captured and two Nichols and Riddle were hung on our return. William Riddle and his brother in-law William Nichols were both hung but not together, so this man Speltz was telling about an event that happened after these nine were captured, thus the hanging of Nichols and Riddle.

The majority of the Melungeon source families began to migrate to Hawkins County, Tennessee in the 1790’s, Vardy Collins was still in Ashe County, North Carolina as the 1800 census reveals. Thus the colony on Newman Ridge was established around 1800, the first recorded Melungeon settlers in the area were on the Lee County, Virginia Tax list 1795,97 but some had land entries in Hawkins County, they were Micajer Bunch, Isreal Bunch, Solomon Bunch, Claiborn Bunch, Jessee Bowlin and Zachariah Goins. The first Collins on the tax record 1798 was Daniel Collins with 4 titables.By 1801 a host of Collins, plus James Mullins. In this time frame, most settlers on the North Side of the Clinch River were listed in Lee County, Va., This was before the dividing line between Virginia and Tennessee was fully established. . Vardeman “Vardy” Collins one of the more famous Melungeons, according to tax records was perhaps the son of Samuel, who was the son of Thomas Collins Sr. According to a n outstanding research in the Vardeman family, Vardy Collins mother was the daughter of John Vardeman, Vardiman.. John Vardeman and Samuel Collins are both recorded on the 1771 Bontetourt County, VA tax list (William Herberts list)

Who were the Melungeons? Their fore parents were part of the original pioneer settlers. Living on Indian lands, this is as pioneer as it gets. Some where in the battle at Point Pleasant including Thomas Collin’s son John Collins who served 35 days. Their rifles were heard at Kings Mountain and in Yorktown, at the surrender of Cornwallis. Some made the 52 + year journey from the Pamunkey River in Virginia to Newman Ridge, such as Charles Gibson. Charles lived to be at least 110 years old. He was probably present when they first heard the word, “Melungin”.

Sneedville attorney Lewis M. Jarvis (born 1829) knew many of the first Melungeons including Vardy Collins. In an interview with Hancock County Times in 1902. Jarvis named James Collins, John Bolin and Mike Bolin as quite full-blooded Indians. Jarvis said the Melungeons were originally the friendly Indians who came with the whites as they moved west. They came from the Cumberland County and New River in VA, stopping at various points west of the Blue Ridge. Some of them stopped on Stony Creek, Scott Co, Virginia (Ref in Melungeons and Other Pioneer Families. from 1994 Hancock Co.,Tn..And It’s People Volume 2) What makes Lewis Jarvis testimony of more value than most, is because his migration pattern for the Melungeons can be and has been proven correct in Church, Land, Tax and Military Records. Compiled by Jack Goins Rogersville, Tennessee… jgoins@usit.net

History of Logan County, West Virgina

by Henry Clay Ragland

Chapters 13-22 – The Genealogical Section

The “History of Logan County” was originally written by Henry Clay Ragland about the year 1896. Chapters 13-22, the “genealogical” chapters, were reprinted by The Logan County Genealogical Society with the permission of the Logan Banner in 1978. This work was covered by the copyright law of 1909 which granted copyright protection for a period of 28 years, with the right to renew for an additional 47 years, for a total of 75 years. The law was changed in 1976, and copyrights are now granted for the life of the creator plus 50 years – however, copyrights issued prior to 1976 are still covered by the old law, meaning that anything published prior to 1923 is no longer protected and is now in the public domain. The same applies to the republication of old material unless additional material has been added, and then only the new material is protected. The following material, published online by Steele National Repository, is thought to be in the public domain, and is presented here for the benefit of all Steele family researchers.
A newer volume, The History of Logan County….Updated… is now available from the Logan County Chamber of Commerce, and notes by additional historians and genealogists have been added. All proceeds from the first printing of the book will be donated to the Logan County Historical Society and the Logan County Landmark Commission to purchase a statue in the likeness of Chief John Logan, for whom the city and county were named. First printing, 1996. “The History of Logan County” can be ordered from The Chamber of Commerce, 311 Hudgins St., Logan, WV 25601 – Phone (304) 752-1324 – Price is $12 plus $1.40 shipping. Please support this effort by ordering your copies today. Additional information can be found on the Logan County GenWeb page.

CHAPTER XIII
Russell County was formed from Washington, in 1788; Wyeth from Montgomery, in 1790; Kanawha from Wythe and Greenbrier (which was formed from Montgomery in 1778), in 1792; Monroe from Montgomery and Greenbrier, in 1799; Tazewell from Wythe and Russell, in 1799; Giles from Montgomery, Tazewell and Monroe in 1898; and Cabell from Kanawha, in 1809. The territory of Logan, as it exists today, was part of Fincastle from 1738 to 1776, then a part of Montgomery until 1790, a part of Wythe until 1792, a part of Kanawha until 1809, when it became a part of Cabell and remained as such until it was organized into a county in 1823.

Upon the passage of the law in 1792, referred to in our last chapter, the owners of grants made before that time, saw the necessity of seeding and cultivating the lands which had been patented to them before the expiration of the period to which that right had been extended (1799), and at once went to work to get some one to take charge of their lands. In the company of John Breckenridge, at the time of the battle of the Islands, was one James Workman, who in addition to being a gallant soldier, was in every respect a trustworthy gentleman. Breckenridge, as soon as possible, employed him to take charge of his survey at the Islands (Logan C.H.) and in 1794, James Workman with his brothers Joseph and Nimrod, built a cabin on the Island and planted a few acres of corn. They planted the same land again in 1795 and 1796, and in the fall of the latter year. James Workman, who was a man of family, moved his wife and children from their old home in Wythe (now Tazewell), and settled on the Island, where the three brothers continued to live until the year 1800, when they moved upon the farm now occupied by Henry Mitchell. More will be said of this family in a future chapter.

The first permanent settlement of which we have any record was commenced by William Dingess, a son of Peter Dingess, a Montgomery county [?], in the year 1799. Peter Dingess was a German, but just when or under what circumstances he came to America, is shrouded in doubt, which will never be dispelled. One account given us by one of his prominent descendants, is, that he came to this country before the War of the Revolution and settled in Montgomery County, and in evidence of this, furniture etc., brought with him from the “Fader Land,” is pointed out; especially a finely finished bureau, which was, for a long time, an heirloom in the family, and a peculiar shaped gourd which was grown in Germany, and used by his son John Dingess as a powder gourd, within the memory of the present generation. Another account given us by William A. Dingess, one of his grandsons, is, that some time between the years 1750 and 1760, that his parents with their family embarked for America, that fell disease carried off his parents on the voyage, that he and a sister landed at Baltimore, neither of whom could speak a word of English, that from some cause they became separated, and that he never saw her or heard of her again. That wandering about the streets, homeless and alone, a merchant from Montgomery County, Virginia, took charge of him and brought him to Montgomery, where he grew up and married a wife, and afterwards served in the War of the Revolution. It is impossible to say which story is correct, but of one thing we are assured, and that is, that he lived in Montgomery County, Virginia, and raised a family of eleven children, four boys and seven girls and died there in 1800. The names of his sons were William, Peter, John and Charles A., and his daughters, Harriet, Betsy, Susan, Nancy, Sallie, Peggy and Polly, who intermarried with Sam Peck, John McClaugherty, William Henderson, David French, (who was, for a long while Clerk of the Courts of Giles County), Ezekiel Smith, William Smith and James Bright, who emigrated to Tennessee, and was the father of John Morgan Bright, who for twelve years represented Tennessee in Congress. Charles A., died unmarried in Mercer County, Col. Napoleon B. French, a son of David French, is still living in Mercer County, aged 96 years.

William Dingess, the oldest of the family, was born in Montgomery County in 1776, and married Nancy McNeeley, and purchasing of John Breckenridge the survey of 300 acres which covers the present site of Logan Courthouse, and a portion of the farm across the river where Mrs. J. W. Desking now lives, moved upon it in 1799, and built a residence where J. S. Miller now lives; the old chimney of which is still standing. John Dempsey came with him and build a cabin on the little island, but afterwards moved to Island Creek, near where Sam Jackson now lives. William Dingess was said to be almost a giant in strength, but so peaceable that no one could induce him to fight. While he was born at too late a date to engage in the Indian warfare on the border, he, on one occasion, joined in the pursuit of a band of Indian marauders and followed them as far as the Falls of Guyan, where, killing an Indian, he took off a part of his hide, out of which he made a razor strap, and kept it during his lifetime. He had no children by his wife, but was the reputed father of a child born to Katie McComas, who was always known as Peter Dingess, and was for a long time regarded as the best physician in Logan County. Katie McComas was also the mother of the late John Garrett, of Big Creek, one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Logan County.

In the year 1800, Peter Dingess and John Dingess, brothers of William Dingess, joined him and became permanent settlers, of whom more will be said hereafter.

Some time in the next year or two Captain Henry Farley, of Montgomery County, who had served with distinction in the War of the Revolution, and who has been heretofore mentioned as the leader of the whites in the pursuit of the Indians in 1792; with Garland Conley, who had married his eldest daughter, Bettie, settled at the mouth of Peach Creek. He brought with him three stalwart sons and five marriageable daughters, and as might have been expected, the big house at the mouth of Peach Creek, and it was said to have been the largest house in the country, was always full.

Of what tales that never grow old were told, we have no record, and the man in the moon has never divulged the vows which he witnessed, yet we know that enough was said to divide the happiness of Captain Farley’s home among five families.

The blushing Sallie became the wife of Peter Dingess during the year 1806, and they set up housekeeping just across the river where Mrs. John W. Deskins now lives, and to the happy couple there was born, on the 30th day of October 1806, William Anderson Dingess, who, during a long and useful life (dying December 13th, 1893, in his eighty-eighth year) bore the proud distinction of being the first white child born in Logan County. The other children born to this marriage were John, who intermarried with Sallie Moore; Guy, who married Rhoda Toney; Charles F., who married Betty Toney, both of these were the daughters of William and Polly (Caperton) Toney; Polly, who married Lewis Lawson; Matilda, who married James Lawson, both sons of Anthony Lawson; Julyantes, who married Charles Smoot; Minerva, who married W. W. McDonald; and Hattlett [Harriett?], who married John Justice.

Peter Dingess was a prominent citizen and was for a long while one of the justices of Cabell County.

Another one of the blooming daughters of Capt. Farley, (Chloe), intermarried with John Dingess, who then settled near his father-in-law, at the mouth of Peach Creek. His children were William, who married a daughter of Josiah Stollings; Julius, who married a daughter of Ben Smith; Harvey, who married a daughter of Joseph Adams; Henderson, who married a daughter of Joseph Adams; John and Peter, both of whom married daughters of Washington Adams; Sallie, who married James Butcher; Peggy, who married John Gore; and Nancy, who married William Chapman, all of whom are dead except Sallie and Henderson. All of them except David had a large off-spring.

The daughters of Captain Henry Farley were Judith, who married Thomas Thompson, and, who, after the death of Thompson, married Robert Hensley; Matilda, who married Carter T. Clark; and Mary, who first married Stephen Hensley, and afterwards married Pryyhus McGinnis. Of his three sons, John and Thomas, both married Miss Pinsons of Kentucky, and William was married four times, first marrying Bettie Phillips, second Phoebe Muncy, third Polly Williams, and fourth, Jane Jones. All of them left large families, and with the Dingesses constituted one of the largest family connections in Logan County, and more will be said of them hereafter.

At about the same time that Captain Farley settled at the mouth of Peach Creek, Richard Kezee, another hero of the Revolution, built a cabin near the present residence of Major William Stratton and the branch which flowed past the old homestead still bears the euphonious name of Kezee. His descendants all moved to the State of Kentucky, and many of them are now living in Pike County, of that state.

About the same time David McNeeley settled where Floyd Buchanan now lives, and afterwards moved upon the farm now owned by J. E. Robertson. For some reason he was nick-named “Jagger,” and the place, to which he removed on Robertson’s farm was called “Jaggerstown.” His descendants are quite numerous, and the name is familiar not only in Logan, but in all the surrounding counties, and many of them at an early day went with the “Course of Empire” westward. Among his descentants is Rev. John Green McNeeley, the present pastor of the Desciples Church of Aracoma.

CHAPTER XIV
John Dempsey, who is referred to as having come here with William Dingess, in 1799, was the father of seven sons and three daughters. His sons were William, who married Nancy, a daughter of John Vannatter, who, with his sons and daughters, came from the south branch of the Potomac about 1811; Jack, who married Minerva Vance; Thomas, who married Dicey Lucas; Joseph, who married Sena Vance; Andrew, who married Martha Starr; Mark, who married Lucinda Ward; and Lewis, who married Nancy Stepp. His daughters were Poll, who married John McNeely; Jane, who married Jerry Vernatter [sic], and Rachel, who married James Vannatter.

Richard Elkins, of Montgomery, also came with William Dingess and settled near the big island on Island Creek. The island was covered with a heavy growth of cane, and Elkins leased it from Dingess and cleared it out, and the first year that he cultivated it in corn he raised three thousand bushels, or about one hundred bushels to the acre. (a few acres of the Island had been cleared before that time by the Workman brothers heretofore mentioned, and cultivated in corn.) He was also the father of a large family his wife being a Miss Maguire, of Montgomery. His sons were Archibald, who married a Miss Gillaspie, of Tazewell, James, who married his cousin – a daughter of Zach Elkins, of Hewett; Robert, who married the widow of Edward McDonald and who was formerly a Miss Harvey; Israel, who married a daughter of William Browning; Richard, Jr., who married a Miss May, and Eddie and Harvey, whose wives are unknown. His daughters were Lucretia, who married James White; Martha, who married Elijah Elkins (son of Wm. Elkins, of Newett); Nancy, who married William Walls; Susannah, who married John White, (son of Jack), and Hannah, who married William Moore, of Tazewell. This last mentioned couple joined the Mormons and were with Joe Smith at Nauvoo. Zach and William Elkins, brothers of Richard Elkins, settled on Hewett and, like Richard, had numerous descendants, but we are unable to give their names. From these three brothers, however, are descended the Elkins family of Logan and adjoining counties.

David McNeely, who has been heretofore mentioned as sthe progenitor of the large McNeely family, was the father of four sons – John, who went to Illinois; Sam, Joe and William – and one daughter, who married Ben Cary, who is the progenitor of our Cary family in Logan and Mingo. No doubt there were other sons and daughters of David McNeely, but we have been unable to ascertain their names. The family is a large one and is scattered over several counties.

Isaac Cole, a native of England, who came to Montgomery County, just before the War of the Revolution, who was a gallant soldier for our independence and who was with the Clay brothers in following the Indians down Cole river as heretofore mentioned, settled near where Major Straton now lives, about the year 1800, where he lived for about one year, and buried one of his daughters; and then moved to Island Creek, and settled near the mouth of what is now known as Cole Branch. His wife was Kate Thompson, of Montgomery County, (Now Giles County) Virginia. After remaining on Island Creek for a year his family became tired of frontier life, and he returned to his old home near Pearlsburg where he died at an advanced age. Isaac Cole was a noted scout and a man of great force of character and will power. Hon. L. D. Chambers, of Rum Creek, is his grandson.

Thomas Childress, another Revolutionary soldier of Goochland County, and who married a Miss Parrish of the same county, settled about the same time near the forks of Island Creek, but after remaining a few years, went further down the river, and settled near the present site of Susenberry’s mill. The Childresses of Cabell County are his descendants.

Robert Lilly, of Fluvanna County, came to Montgomery while a boy, and married Miss Bridget Conley, a sister of Garland Conley, heretofore mentioned as a son-in-law of Henry Farley. In 1800 he purchased of William Ward ne [one?] of his surveys in the lower end of this county, and settled on it at or near the place where Andy Fowler now lives, near Chapmanville, in 1801. It is said that an Indian chief accompanied him from his old home in Montgomery to his new home in Logan and remained with him for some time. Lilly was the father of twelve children, six sons and six daughters. Of his sons, Thomas went wouth when a boy; Robert married married a daughter of Garland Conley; William was never married; John married a daughter of John Adkins of Kanawha and move to that county; James married a daughter of James Ferrell, and settled near the mouth of Big Creek; and Edward Bailey, who is still living, married Susan Butcher, a daughter of Joshua Butcher. Of his daughters, Elizabeth married William Thompson; Sarah married Garland B. Conley; Polly married Patton Thompson; Fannie married Simeon Payne of Cabell County; Dolly married Joseph Myer, and moved to Missouri; and Nancy died unmarried.

Garland Conley, who has been mentioned as a son-in-law of Henry Farley, first settled on Island Creek near where Mrs. J. W. Deskins now lives. He was the father of five sons and three daughters. His sons were Col. Henry Conley, who was born in Montgomery County, Virginia, and who first married a Miss Thompson, and after her death a widow named Dingess, who was the daughter of Washington Adams; Thomas Conley, Jr., who married a daughter of Thomas Conley; Garland B., who married a daughter of Robert Lilly, and afterward a daughter of William Farley (Hopping Bill); John, who married a Miss Ward, of Kentucky; and James, who married a Miss Cumby. The Thomas Conley mentioned above as the father of the wife of Thomas Conley, Jr., was a cousin of Garland Conley, and was better known as Thomas Hackett. He had one son – Gordon, who went to Ohio – he was also the reputed father of Manum Brumfield. Of the daughters of Garland Conley, Juliet, the oldest, who was born in Island Creek on the 25th day of December, 1806, and said to be the first white girl born in the limits of Logan County, married Robert Chambers. She is still living and is the mother of Rev. B. S. Chambers, one of the most eloquent divines of the M. E. Church, South. Judy, the second daughter, married Rob Lilly, Jr., and after his death, married George Hensley; and Dolly, the third daughter, married Wesley Stollings. She is still living.

Jacob Stollings, who settled on the farm now owned by W. F. Butcher, opposite the mouth of Crawley Creek, was the father of four sons and one daughter. His sons were Josiah, the father of Wesley, William, Nelson, Lorenzo, and Griffin, and two daughters, one whom married William Dingess, and the other James Hill; Griffin, who is the father of Col. J. E. Stollings, a prominent attorney of Boone county, and twice a member of the Senate of West Virginia; Isaac, who is the father of Granville Stollings, of Coal River; and Jacob, who went to the interior of the State. His daughter married William Hinchman, of Rich Creek.

Edward Chapman, who settled at the present site of Chapmanville, married Mary Godby, a daughter of William Godby of Big Creek, and was the father of three sons – Burgess S., who married a daughter of Henry Farley, of Pigeon; William B., who married a daughter of John Dingess, of Peach Creek; and John R., who married a daughter of Washington Adams of Crawley. John Stone, who settled at the old Stone farm in 1809 was also represented in the county. He was from Pittsylvania County, where he married a Miss Jennie Shelton. Among his sons are Crispin I., who was born in Pittsylvania County in 1807. He married Miss Mildred Workman and died in January, 1892, in the 85th year of his age. He was one of the best and most useful men in Logan County, and during a long and honorable life, served the people well and faithfully in several official positions among which were Justice of the Peace, Surveyor, Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Superintendent of Free Schools. He left three sons, Edwion, Charles I., amd M. Dyke, and several daughters. Samuel S., another son of John Stone, married a Miss Hatfield, of Cabell; he also left a large family of sons and daughters. John Stone’s daughters were Dolly, who married Isaac Morgan, for a long time a member of a member of the County Court of Logan County, and for one term a member of the Virginia Legislature; Mary, who married Dr. Peter Dingess, who was also a member of the Virginia Legislature; and Chloe, who married Edwin Robertson, who was, up to the time of his death, Clerk of the Courts of Logan County. Of the children of Edwin Robertson, John Edwin and Chloe, who married Dr. George W. Lawson, and Sidney B. Robertson, are still living. We will have more to say of this family in another chapter.

Transcribed by Tom Steele, June 30, 1998

Early History of Old Orange County

The source of this information is Orange County – 1752-1952 edited by Hugh Lefler and Paul Wager, published in 1953, copied with permission.

Before Orange County – The Indians

When the curtain rose for the drama of history to begin, the land
that is now Orange county was occupied by small tribes of Siouan origin.
The great Trading Path from Virginia to the Catawba nation led through
the region of present Hillsboro and Mebane to Haw river. The first
description of this famous Indian trail was given by John LEDERER, a
German doctor, in June, 1670. He told of his visit to the Eno Indians
along the Eno river near present Hillsboro. His narrative read:

*****Dr. Lederer’s comments****

The county here, by the industry of these Indians, is very open and clear
of wood. Their town is built round a field where in their sports they
exercise with so much labour and violence, and in so great numbers that
I have seen the ground wet with sweat that dropped from their bodies:
their chief recreation is slinging of stones. They are of mean stature and
courage, covetous and thievish, industrious to earn a penny; and therefore
hire themselves out to their neighbours, who employ them as carryers or
porters. They plant abundance of grain, reap three crops in a summer,
and out of their granary supply all the adjacent parts. These and the
mountain-Indians build not their houses of bark, but of watling and
plaister. . . .Some houses they have of reed or bark; they build them
generally round: to each house belongs a little hovel made like an oven,
where they lay up their corn and mast, and keep it dry. They parch their
nuts and acorns over a fire, to take away their rank oyliness; which
afterwards pressed, yield a milky liquor, and the acorns an amber-colour’d
oyl. In these, mingled together, they dip their cakes at great
entertainments, and so serve them up to their guests as an extraordinary
dainty. Their government is democratick; and the sentences of their old
men are received as laws, or rather oracles, by them.
****end of Dr. Lederer’s comments****

The author goes on to say that more than two centuries later the following
comment was written. He does not say who wrote this comment.

**********************
Not far from Eno Town the young braves of North Carolina and Duke
universities still carry on their ball play with much labour and violence,
the government of the county is still democratic, and the three crops a
year are possible for farmers who space their corn plantings properly.
**********************

Fourteen miles west-southwest from his visit to the Eno Village Lederer
found the Shackory Indians dwelling upon a rich soil. These seem to tally
with the Shakori (Shoccoree), or Saxapahaw, sometimes called Sissipihaw,
dwelling Haw river in the neighborhood of Haw fields.

Another traveler, John LAWSON, came along the trading path from
the south in 1701. The trail was followed across “three Great Rivers”,
identified as Little and Big Alamance rivers and Haw river. The Haw
river ford, which was crossed “with great Difficulty, (by God’s Assistance),”
was in the neighborhood of the present village of Swepsonville, and bordered
lands which Lawson described as “extraordinary Rich”.

As he traveled through Haw fields, he met a trading caravan of
thirty horses led by several horsemen. The leader, a man named MASSEY,
from Leeds in Yorkshire, England, advised Lawson to secure ENO-WILL, a
faithful Indian guide, who was to be found at one of the villages in the
Occoneechee neighborhood. This Indian was a Shakori by birth, whose people
had been met by Lederer at Haw river and who had since joined the Eno and
another tribe known as Adshusheer.

The Occoneechee Indians had fled from their island home at the
confluence of Dan and Staunton rivers and were then n the region of the
Eno river, where they left their name in the “Occoneechee Hills”, not far
from present Hillsboro.

The Occoneechee (Occaneechee) Indians provided Lawson with a feast of
“good fat Bear, and Venison.” The Indians’ cabins, or lodges, were
festooned with dried bear and dear meat, “a good sort of Tapestry,” which
caused Lawson to declare that the Indians possessed “the Flower of Carolina;
the English enjoying only the Fag-end of that fine Country.”

Eno-Will agreed to guide Lawson to eastern Carolina. A halt was
made at Eno town, located on a “Pretty Rivulet”, fourteen miles east of
the Occoneechee, and northwest of the present city of Durham. Here Lawson
wrote this character sketch of his Indian friend:

****Lawson’s sketch****
Our Guide and Landlord, Enoe-Will, was of the best and most agreeable Temper
that I ever met with in an Indian, being always ready to serve the English,
not out of Gain, but real Affection; which makes him apprehensive of being
poisoned by some wicked Indians, and was therefore very earnest with me,
to promise him to avenge his Death if it should so happen. He brought some
of his chief Men into his Cabin, and two of them having a Drum and Rattle,
sung by us as we lay in Bed, and struck up their Music to serenade and welcome
us into their Town. And though at last, we fell asleep, yet they continued
their Concert till Morning.
****End of Lawson’s sketch****

Soon after this visit of John Lawson, the Siouan tribes of the
Piedmont departed for eastern Carolina. Apparently all of the Indians in
the region later included in Orange county had disappeared by the time that the
white settlement of the area began.

The First Settlers

There were few white families in the 1740’s in the area that was to
become Orange County. But, by 1751 Governor Gabriel JOHNSTON reported
that settlers were flocking in, mostly from PA. At the time it was
formed Orange County had an estimated population of 4,000. By 1767 it
had the largest population of any county in NC.

The migration along the “Great Wagon Road” from PA through Shenandoah
valley to Carolina was made up largely of Scotch-Irish and German
immigrants. “Scotch-Irish” is the term used in the
reference book. German refers to the area that was later to become
Germany.

The most distinctly Scotch-Irish settlement in the county was Eno, about
7 miles north of Hillsborough. They also settled in the area east of
the Haw river adn in the Little river and New Hope creek sections. The
Scotch-Irish, in what is now Guilford County, organized Buffalo
Presbyterian Church in 1756. The Scotch were said to have been most prevelant
in Cumberland County, but there were some that settled in southern Orange
in the area that is now Chatham County.

Germans held the land west of the Haw River. There were Lutherans
and German Reformed. Ludwig CLAPP had a grant of 640 acres on the
Alamance. Michael HOLT had large acreage along the Great and Little
Alamance. John FAUST had land on Cain Creek. Adam TROLINGER had land
on the west bank of the Haw River, near the present railroad crossing.
Other German pioneers were Christian FAUST, Jacob ALBRIGHT, Peter SHARP,
Philip SNOTHERLY and David EFLAND. Quoting from the book: “By 1773
there were so many Germans in western Orange that J.F.D. SMYTHE, an
English traveler, experienced difficulty in finding anyone who
understood his language in some areas west of Hillsboro.”

Some of the names of these early German settlers include:
ALBRECHT/ALBRIGHT, BASON, KLAPP/CLAPP, EPHLAND/EFLAND, FAUST/FOUST,
GERHARD, GOERTNER/COURTNER/CURTNER, GRAFF/GRAVES, HOLT/HOLD,
KIMBRO/KIMBROUGH, LEINBERGER/LINEBERRY, LONG, LOY, MAY, MOSER,
NEASE/NEESE/NEESE, RICH/RIDGE, SCHADE/SHADDIE,
SCHEAFER/SHAVER/SHEPHERD, SCHWENCK/SWING, SHARP/SHAEBE, TROLLINGER,
STEINER/STONER, WEITZEL/WHITESELL,

English immigrants from VA settled in northern Orange along the Hico
River and County Line Creek. There was a settlement of Irish near Stoney
Creek in what is now Alamance County. The Welsh, including Thomas LLOYD
settled between Hillsborough and what is now Chatham County.

Quakers were very prominent in early Orange County. There were some
north of Hillsborough. There were more in the Cain Creek and Stinking
Quarter Creek areas that are now part of Alamance, Chatham and
Randolph. Two prominent Quaker pioneers were Jonathan LINDLEY of the
Cain Creek section and William COURTNEY of Hillsborough..

Land Ownership in Orange County

From its beginning Orange County was the home of farmers. It has
been said that in 18th century Orange county more than 75% of the land
owners owned between 100 and 500 acres. This was at a time that large land
grants were common, but only 5% of the land owners had 1,000 acres or more.

The three largest landowners in 1800 were William CAIN who had 4,417
acres, Richard BENNEHAN with 4,065 acres, and William STRUDWICK with 4,000.
By 1860 77% of the land owners had 100 acres or less with only about 1%
having 1,000 acres or more.

Slavery in Orange County

Slavery was well established in the colony of North Carolina long
before Orange County came into being. Slavery was not as important an
institution in Orange County as other places. At no time did slaves
constitute more than 31 percent of the total population of the county.

In 1755 (3 years after its founding) only 8 percent of the families
owned slaves. The largest slaveholder at that time, Mark MORGAN, had only 6
slaves. By 1780, however, 3 percent of Orange Co slaveholders had more than
20 slaves.

The 1790 census showed 10,055 whites, 2,060 Negro slaves, and 101
other free persons. At that time there were 14 slaveholders who had 10
slaves or more. 4 of these 14 lived in Hillsboro. William COOPER was the
largest slaveholder in Hillsboro with 22 and Richard BENNEHAN, a planter,
was the largest slaveholder in the county with 24. Others who had 10 or
more were George ALLEN, John TAYLOR, Matthew McCAULEY, John HOGAN, Thomas H
PERKINS with 10 each; Walter ALVES with 11; William SHEPPARD and William
O’NEAL with 12 each; Hardy MORGAN with 14; Alexander MEBANE with 16; and a
person whose name is not known with 20.

In 1860 less than half of all landowners in the county had slaves.
Over 40 percent of those had only one slave. The following is a direct
quote: “Most slaveholders owned a small number of slaves, hence the
relationship between master and slave was very close. The master knew his
slaves by name, took a personal interest in them individually, and looked
upon them almost as members of his family”

In 1860 the 3 largest slaveholders were I. N. PATTERSON with 106,
Paul CAMERON with 98, and Henry WHITTED with 78.

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The Graysville Melungeons

TENNESSEE ANTHROPLOGIST
VOL:IV,NUMBER1 1979

THE GRAYSVILLE MELUNGEONS

(A TRI-RACIAL PEOPLE IN LOWER EAST TENNESSEE )

By Raymond Evans

abstract and transcribed by Brenda Collins Dillon

Located approximately 30 miles north of Chattanooga, the community of Graysville,

Tennessee contains one of the most stable Melungeon settlements in the state. Field work in the community conducted in conjunction with archival research demonstrates that the Melungeons, who now compose more than half of the local population, came from Hamilton County durning the latter half of the nineteenth century. Census records and other archival sources indicate that prior to comming to Hamilton County they had lived in Virginia and North Carolina. In Graysville, theMelungeons strongly deney their Black heritage andexplain their genetic differences by claiming to have Cherokee grandmothers. Many of the local Whites also claim Cherokee ancestry and apper to accept the Melungeon claim.The recist discrimination common in Hancock County and in other Melungeon communities is absent in Graysville. Here, the Melungeons interact in all phases of mommunity life,and exogamy with local Whites is common practice.- Goins- and the term “Melungeon” is not used by the people or by their neighbors. Recent field observations of the Graysville Melungeons differ in no way from that of any other small

southern Appalachian community.

INTRODUCTION

No people in Tennessee havebeen subjected to more romantic speculation than have the so-call “Melungeons” These dark-skinned people, living in a White world,strongly denied their Black ancestry and attempted to explain their color by saying they were of Portuguese decent (Burnett 1889:347-349) Popular writters have elaborated on this theme (c.f.Willis 1971:2-8;Zuber n.d.)They have been claimed to be descendants of the “Lost Tribes of Isreal(Bible1975:74-80),old world Gypsies(Bell1975:21),mythical “Welsh Indians”(Bible 1975:81-82; Willia 1971: 5) or Arabs ( Ball 1945: 5-7;1975 22) others

have attempted to link their origin with established historical events. Raleigh’s “Lost Colony” and the DeSoto expedition are two examples(c.f.Peters 1970) In what is possibly the least plausible claim, it is a matter of legal record that the Tennessee courts have excepted “proof” that Melungeons are descendants of settlers from ancient Carthage(Shepherd 1915)

The actual ethnic background of the Melungeons and their place of origin is far less dramic.Modern genetic studies (c.f.Gilbert 1946:438-477; Pollitzer and Brown 1969:388-400;Pollitzer 1972: 719-734 ) have demonstrated that Melungeons are a tri-racial people with Indian,African,and European ancestry. Similarly, there is no mystry as to their origin.In a momumental study of tri-racial peoples of eastern United States,(Price 1950a:182-190) has used census records and other archival sources to demonstrate that the Melungeons are but one of many groups of loose societies of marginal mixed- bloods which came into being durning the latter part of the eighteenth century.Far from beingunique, the Melungeons are but one of the some of two hundred documentedtri-racial peoples (Beal1957:187-196;Berry 1963: 15)

In Tennessee, public attention has usually focused on the Melungeon communities of the upper East Tennessee. In particular, Hancock and Hawkins Counties are usually reguarded as the Melungeon homeland. There are, however, well documented Melungeon communities in Virginia(Bell1975) and Kentucky (Price1950) as well as other parts of Tennessee (Walraven n.d.);Brazelton.Roan County,Tennessee; in the Bell’s Bend area of the Cummberland River west of Nashville(Price1950; and in Werner 1973:44-45)

Regarding the Graysville community, a recent researcher (Bible 1975:29)has observed:”The Graysville aggregate is probably one of the most stable of all Melungeon communities today.” This community is the subject of the present study. The purpose of this paper is not to perpetuate the popular myth of an exotic Melungeon race, but rather to provide an ethnographic description of the culture background and contemporary lifeof the Graysville Melungeons.The term”Melungeon” is used solely for the purpose of defining the study group and is not intended asa negitive reflection onthe ethnic background of any member of the community. The data presented herein were obtained by the author durning an extended study of the community from November 1976 through August 1977, and are based on personal observations,83 informal interviews with 36 residents of the community and surrounding areas, and a review of available documentry and published material.

GEOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND

Graysville is a small semi-urban community similar to the hundreds of other country towns characteristic of the Appalachian area. As is often the case in thesouthern Appalachians, Graysville has no clearly defined boundary between the urban and therural. There are no paved streets and there is no real busness district. Sprinkled haphazardly among the fading frame dwelling houses are two general purpose “grocery” stores, a TV repair shop, a small communitylibrary, a barber shop, three automotive repair shops, and oneservice station. The cummunity has a school and eightprotestantchurches—-four of which are Baptist.There is no local industry. The economy of the area is geared toward small scale farming, minning, and pulp-wood cutting, supplemented with sporadic industrial employment outside the area.

The community is located in the southern part of Rhea County, Tennessee approximately twomiles north of Hamilton County line and one mile west of US Highway 27, rugged ridges, typical of eastern Tennessee Valley(Burchard 1913:16-17) surround the town.Lone Mountain in the north, and Black Oak Ridge to the east from two sides of a rough triangle in which Graysville is located. The third side of the triangle is formed by Walden’s Ridge on the west.The Cumberland escarpment, which forms the eastern edge of the ridge , is cut by many streams heading directly against the rim(Nelson1925:18). One of these, Roaring Creek, flows along the southwestern side of Graysville.The central portionof the community sprawls between the base of Walden’s Ridge on the west and the tracks of the Cincinnati, New Orleans, and Texas Railroad to the east.

The town takes it’s name from William GRAY, one of it’s earliest and best known residents, who arrived there after the Civil War.The real beginning of the community was marked when by the comming of the railroad.It then experienced an influx of population from all directions. The post officewas established in 1875 with William Gray as the postmaster. In 1884 Henry and William FOX organized the Fox Coal Company, which opened it;s mines in the side of Walden’s Ridge west of town.In addition to coal, a large deposit of tile clay was also mined from an adjoining range of hills and shipped to markets in other areas.A bank was organized and two hotels were established (c.f.Campbell 1940:78-79)In 1835 , an additional demandfor coal wascreated in the areaby the establishment the Dayton Coal and Iron Company a few miles to the north. Funded by European investors, the Dayton Coal and Iron operated 375 coke ovens in which coke was made from coal to fuel two large blast furnaces with an annualproduction capacity of 90,000 tons of foundry and forge pig iron.(anonymous 1889:46) After 1900 the Fox Coal Company at Graysville was acquired and expanded by the Durham Coal and Iron Company, and a large coke oven complex was established near Roaring Creek. After an

initial period of intense prosperity, the industrial development of Graysville entered a decline following World War 1 and wascompletely crushed by the economic depression of the 1930’s. Most of the mines wereclosed. The bank was consolidated with the Dayton Bank, the hotels were closed, and the people began to leave.The present population is less than one thousand persons.

Ethnicly, wit the exception of the Melungeons component, the community is largly composed of persons of Anglo-Scotch-Irish-descent who have lived in the area for at least three generations. There are no Blacks in the community,and most of theresidents, including the Melungeons, tend to expressstrong racist attitudes in their conversation.

Social cleavage is alongreligious rather than ethnic lines in Graysville. In 1891, several families of Seventh Day Adventists settled in Graysville. A year later a relogious academy was established by the group. A sanitarium was also set up and enjoyed a wide patronage.While these facilities were later moved to Collegedale in Hamilton County, Tennessee, many of the people remain in Graysville and still tend to hold themselves apart of the rest of the community.

The most common surname among the Graysville Melungeons is Goins, being prevalent that the Whites in the surrounding area call all the Graysville Melungeons “Goinses”.rather than Melungeons. In fact, the term “Melungeons”is rarely used anywhere in lower East Tennessee.(c.f.Fort 1971) The Goins family are so well known in Rhes County that any darkskinned person, not reguarded as Black ,issaid to look like a Goins. Researcher has demonstrated that Goins is also the most common surname found among many tri-racial groups other than Melungeons.(Price1951: 263 and 1953 : 150 )has observed.

The name Goins seems to be a peculiar marker of these mixed-bloods.

It has already been mentioned in connection with the Melungeons and

certain strains in North Carolins. It is prominent among the mixed-bloods

of Darke Co. Ohio, and was associated with the Redbones in what is

now Calcasieu Parish. It is a monor name among the Croatans and is the

chief name among a mixed -blood group with a special school in Williams-

burg County South,Carolina.Further, Goins is a unusual name;though many

whites are named Goins, it occurred with much greater frequencyamong

“free persons of Color” on 1830 than among the population at large in

1790 in six populous Southern and middle states..Over a hundred free

colored families named Goins were well scattered in 1830 through the

South and southern parts of the Northern border states. The two greatest

concentrations occured in the Melungeon area and the north Carolina-

Virginia Piedmont where so many are found today.

Dromgoole (1891:749) states that among the Hancock/Hawkins County Melungeons

the “African branch” of ancestry was introduced by a man named Goins who entered

the area shortly after the formation of the state of Tennessee. While she called him a “negro”, it is more likely that he was of mixed black/white ancestry and termed in the language of the day a “mulatto”This contention is somewhat substantiated by early land records (Werner 1970: 60). Dromgoole indicates that the Goins mentioned came from North Carolina. Both North Carolina and Virginia had several mullatto’s named Goins (spelled Gowen and Goin) , who were vetrans of the American Revolution, and it is possible that the individual in question came to Tennessee as the recipient of a land grant for his military service. Colonial records show three men named Gowen serving in a mullato militia unit in 1754, and land records from 1718 show Mihill Gowen as a property owner in James County , Virginia. The same unusual name, Mihill Gowen, was born by a color servant who gained his freedom in 1657 (Price1953:151) Going back futher, we find the first person named Goins/Gowen is a Thomas Gowne, arriving in Virginia as a passenger on the “Globe” in 1635 ( Hotten:1953:151) The spelling of the name suggests that Thomas probably was of Welch origin . Presumably he founded the Goins family in the new world by fathering children with a Black slave or bond servant.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Both local tradition and documentry sources agree that the Graysville Melungeons entered

the community from Hamilton County, Tennessee sometime after 1880. Census reords showthat priot to 1880 there were no perons with Melungeon surnames living in Rhea County(Price1950:183). There were, however, such persons among the earliest non-Indiansettlers in Hamilton County. In 1830, when Hamilton County reported less than 400 families total in the census records, there were four Goins(spelled Gowan,Gowin,or Goens) families present. Each of these families listed colored members (total of 13) and three of them also had white members(totalof 6) The most prominent of these first Melungeon settlers in Hamilton County was David Goens, a vetran of the American Revolution. David Goens was born in Hanover County, Virginia. Durning the war he served in the company commanded by acaptain Rodgers of Halifax County ,Virginia.After moving to Grainger Co. Tennessee. From Grainger County he moved to Hamilton County Tennesseewhere he died in 1834. His younger brother, Laban Goesn, came to Hamilton County with him(c.f.Armstrong1931:195-196).

The Hamilton County census of 1840 listed 13 “free Persons of Color” families as residents of the county,8 of which were named Gowin with a total of 53 persons. in 1850 , there were 16 “Mullatto”families named Goins( spelled Goins,Gozen,or Gowens) Of this group two members were bornin Virginiaand one in North Carolina. The rest ,some as old as 50 , were born in Tennessee.

After the 1850 census the Melungeons in Hamilton County are no longer listed as :free persons of color” or “mullato’s”. A few were reguarded as Black but most were listed as white. Other Melungeon surnames present in the early records are Bolden,Bolin,or Bolton

and Collins. Following 1880 there is a decrease in Melungeon names listed for Hamilton County,accompanied by the appearance of them on list from Rhea CountY(Price1950:

182-183)

With the exception of David and Leban Goens, there is no record of where the individual Melungeons who moved to Hamilton County originated. It is probable, however, thatmost of them came from the upper East Tennessee area where Melungeons were numerousby the end of the eighteenth century. While unable to directly trace individuals,(Price 1850: 190) has established that the Melungeons came into being around that time as one of several loose societies of marginal mixed bloods, with most of their members entering Tennessee from the Virginia-North Carolina Piedmont area.

There is no record that the early Melungeon settlers in Hamilton County formed a separate community or reguarded themselves as a distinct ethnic group. Many of them settled in the northern end of the county in the Sale Creek area, only about 5 miles from the present town of Graysville. Here there was some intermarriage with the HICKS and FIELDS families who were a European-Cherokee mixed blood group(Werner1973:39-41) Today Sale Creek has few families who call themselves “Black Cherokee” but are reguarded as Blacks by their White neighbors. The Graysville Melungeons emphatically deny any relationship withthis group, but it is probable that such a relationship does, in fact , exist.

Some of the Hamilton County Melungeons seem to have been reported as Indians. A newspaper article, appearing in the Chattanooga Times, March 31, 1894, relates to a man names William Bowlin described in the sub-heading as a “half witted Melungeon” and in the text as a ” half witted Indian”. Further in the text he is reffered to as “belonging to that peculiar people called the Melungeons”.

Also in Chattanooga, in 1872, there was a widely publicized court case involving a Melungeon. The case involved a lawsuit challenging the inheritance of some property by a girl whose mother had been a Melungeon named Bolton. The contention was that the girl could not legally inherit the land due to the fact, asshe was a Melungeon, her mother had been part Black and since interracial marriages was illegal in Tennessee, the girl was therefore illegitimate.Her attorney, S.L.Shepherd,won the case by convincing the court that Melungeons have no Black ancestry,but arerather derived from ancient Carthaginians

who come from North America by way of Pourtugal(Shepheard1915: 89-90;Rodgers

1936 and 1941; Mynder 1945)

The first Melungeon to settle in the Graysville Community was George Goins who has

children still living in the area . He was born in Hamilton County around 1865. His wife,Cordie, was born in 1876. Her maiden name and place of birth are not known, but her children recall that she claimed to be Cherokee. The children of George and Cordie Goins, Alvin(also known as Albert) and Gracie Goins Patton are the oldest Melungeons living in the community today. Alvin was born in 1903 and his sister was born a few years earlier.

In Graysville, the Melungeons are fully accepted and participate fully in all phases of community life. When schools were segregated, their children attended White schools without question. Intermarriage between Melungeon and White non Melungeons individuals in the community is a common pattern.

A less tolerant attitude was reported by an earlier observer (Price 1950: 157-158, who states:

The Melungeons here are characterized by a single surname, GOINS, though several others have been aquired, apparently by intermarriage with the Goins. The group consists mostly of miners and farm laborers and form 30-40 percent of the population of the town.

These people are grouped under the general term “the Goins” and the better known term “Melungeon” is applied by the relatively few who link them with the broader group. Some of these people are distinctly dark in skin and claim to be Cherokee Indian ancestry; probably more appear White and belong tothe sort of hereditary proletariat elsewhere described. The fiinges of Graysville are frayed with small painted and unpainted houses and shacks which are occupied by this class of people.

The Graysville residents make it clear that the Goins people are shiftless and thriftless, slow and unambitious, but not objectionable. If they fight, they fight with each other; when they are put in jail, it is usually for drunkeness, never for serious social crimes. They form a rather docile laboring group, never making trouble or trying to push their own cause. This lack of interest, noticeable even in the children, irritates their teachers, and their lack to thrift, as usual, justifies those who would say”You can’t do anything to help people like that.”

Occasional familiesare found in Dayton ir in otherparts of the county.Their residence in Graysville goes back as far as anyone can remember. There is no obvious reason for this concentraction, though some of the Goins have given the local welfare office the report that they moved from Hamilton County because they were excluded from white schools there. Right to attend white schools in Rhea County is said to have been established in a lawsuit of the 1890’s when a Melungeon ancestry was shown not to be negro. Some have been employed on farms for a long time, and some of the older people remember certain Goinges as mountain-dwellers and expert hunters.

Additional observations on the Graysville community were made by Warner 1973:44-45

as followed:

Oral tradition in Rhea County holds that the Melungeons first came there because in Hamilton County they were classified as non – White and were not allowed to attend white schools. Another story, which may variation of this one, states that they came there,not from Hamilton County but from North Carolina and South Carolina,because they were not allowed to vote. The first of these stories is partly supported by the fact that the town of Graysville, which once had a very large Melungeon population (30-40 percent at the time of E.T.Price’s writting) is extremely close to the county line dividing Hamilton from Rhea County,as if the people had moved no farther than absolutely necessary. The dates,however, are inconsistant. If the Goins in Hamilton County ceased to be classified as non whitein 1850, that would not give them a reason to move to Rhea County shortly before 1880. A possible explanation is that the census classification did not conform to every day practice, or that Melungeons were present in Rhea County before 1850 but for some reason were not recorded in the census.

The most resent researcher to comment on the community (Bible 1975:29-30)

Still others settled in Hamilton County, Tennessee, but mainly today have intermingled with the non Melungeon population to such extent that theycan no longer be identified. A sizable number moved from there several generations ago to Graysville, a small village in Rhea County at the foot of Walden Ridge, reportedly because they did not want their children to go to school with negroes.

Largely Goinses sprinkled through with a few additional names from intermarriage, they are generally considered Melungeons, although they do not refer to themselves by the name. Usually they speak of their mixed Indian and white ancestry. Even though smaller than it formerly was, the Graysville aggregate is probably one of the mosy stable of all Melungeon communities today. While a number go from time to time to the North and East in search of better paying jobs in industry, quite a few have returned to Graysville to settle down when they reashed retirment age.

Eacvh of the above quoted writters included the comment onthe Graysville Melungeons as a part of their broad study on Melungeons, or Triracial groups in general. While they briefly visited the community, they derived most of their data from non white Melungeons, many of whom were not residents of the community and whose personal contact with Melungeons was limited to social work, teaching, etc. This over reliance on indirect sources has resulted in a few misconceptions which will be considered below.

While the Goins families, as noted by Price, do in fact make up the majority of the easily recognized Melungeons in the community, they do not have the single traditional Melungeon surname. In addition to the Goins families, well established Melungeon surnames gained through exogamous marriage include HAMBRICK LEFFEW PATTON

and HENDERSON

Althogh Price and Bible appear to feel that the Graysville Melungeons are declining in numbers through migeration and assimilation, this is not altogether an accurate picture. While the community is affected by out-migration, largely for economic reasons, the numbers of people leaving are consistent with that found in any other Appalachian group.Furthermore, most of those who leave Graysville eventually return. Neither does the well established practice of exgamy diminish the population.If, for emample, a Goins brother and sister each have children, the off-spring of both will be equally Melungeon even tho her’s will have a non-Melungeon surname, while his retain the name Goins. This being the case, it is presently estimated that approximately two-thirds ofthe populationof Graysville have some degree of Melungeon ancestry, or are related to the Melungeons through marriage.

The physocal characteristics noted among the Graysville Melungeons vary greatly. While precise ethnic categorization isbeyound the capabilities of theauthor, a few general observationsmay be noted. Based on appearance, it appears that the strongest genetic factor in the background of the Graysville Melungeonsis northernEuropean. About half of them havevery fair skin, with light brown hair or blond hair. Some have blue eyes. This is particularly true of the younger members of the community. Some have dark skin, but no more so than many non Melungeonswho spend much of their time outdoors. There are a few with slight negroid features such as wide nose,thick lips, etc., and some who have a somewhat similar appearance to Cherokee-White mixed bloods. Two women in the community exhibit Cherokee-like features. As a general statement, however, it may be said that fewof the Graysville Melungeons would be noticably different from residents of any Appalachian community.

The Graysville Melungeons apparently feel no special kinship with other Mlungeon communities in the state. When asked directly if they had relatives in Hancock or Hawkins Counties most responded that they did not. One, however, did state that she had heard of some people up thar with the same name as us, Goins but was unaware of the degree of relationship. None of the people in the surrounding area associate the Graysville Melungeonswith any other older Melungeon communities.

Most of the Graysville Melungeons interviewed by the author, including those who are currently “on the welfare” , have preformed exceedingly hard manual labor most of their lives. Furthermore, they ususally express a willingness to do so again if job opportunities

with decent pay present themselves. those who are currently employed in regular jobs in instudtry have a remarkable record of low absenteeism. One man interviewed remarked he had worked at a particular manufactoring plant in Chattanooga for more than ten years without missing a single schuduled workday,and had been late for work only two times. This record is made even more remarkable by the fact that this man did not own a car and depended on” hitching a ride or walking” to make the daily round trip of sixty miles.

Regardless of their source of income, most Melungeons are unable to follow any form of savings program. Food is a major expense item. Food items purchased on a routine basis include such staples as flour, meal, diied beans of the pinto variety, chunks of pork fat called “sowbelly”or “fat back” processed animal fats called lard, potatoes, and commercially canned foods –ususally corn and beans. In season they grow numerous vegetables and mellons for their own consumption and also supplement purchased foods with a variety of wild plants.

Threr are three other types of regulary purchased items which, while not food, are reguarded as essential by most Melungeons. These are Tobacco, coffee, and alcoholic beverages.In the nineteenth century it was noted that they were addicated to “their filty habit of chewing tobacco” Dramgoole 1891: 474) and a more recent writter Varbough 1972) quoted a melungeon woman as saying” We both chew tobacco. I do because I don’t what to smell his(her husband’s) breath.” Among the Melungeons the use of tobacco is almost universal. One one occasion, while visiting a family, the author was asked for a cigarette by a nine year old child. Both parents were present and assured me it was alright, adding that he had been smoking for two to three years. While the younger melungeons smoke cigaretts, the older people prefer to take theor tobacco orally. Powered tobacco called “snuff” is favored by most women, and is considered to be more refinded and “lady-like” Men usually use chewing tobaccowhich has been pressed into a compact, rectangular cake called a “plug”, or a few leaves of tobacco twisted together called a
twist”. Most homes have an assh-filled containter for spitting location in the room where guests are recieved It is also a common practice for individuals to carry a small tin can

filled with ashes with them for the same purpose. It is a sure sign of social acceptance when a Melungeon man produces his “plug” or “Twist” and ask” Wud ye keer fer a chew?”

All Melungeons regardless of sex or age are fond of coffee.(Dramgoole 1891: 476) observed that:”Coffee is quite common among the Melungeons, they drink it without sweetening, and drink ir cold at all hours of the day or night. “In Graysville is is still the case. Every home has a large coffee pot which is filled in the morning and kept on the stove all day. Neither cream or sugar is used.

Many earlier writters have stressed the Melungeons fondness for alcholic beverages(c.f.Dromgoole 1891:474;Ball1975:68;Cole and Looney 1934:25;Peters 1970) and they are frequently described as being involved in the distilling or selling of illegal whiskey commonly refered to as “moonshine”(c.f.Hale and Merritt 1913:182; Dabney 1974 :138-139; Price 1951:258;Ivey 1975:1-8) In the Graysville community the use of alchol has somewhat ambiguous position.On the other hand, most of the melungeons are members of religious sects which strongly damn any use of alchol as a heinous “sin” , and the term “drunkard” or “sot” is considered hightly derogatory

In the purchase of clothing the Melungeons patronize the lower priced discount stores that specialize in cheap material or factory seconds. The most common costume for a woman is a cotton print dress. The men prefer trousers made of denim material or bibed overalls

with a brightly colored shirt. Woman and children frequently do not wear shoes, especially in their home areas durning summer.

Major electric items such as stoves, refrigators, wash machines and television sets are usually gotten used.Automobiles are usually used when purchased. Most Melungeons have learned to be fix-er-upers

For understandable reason few melungeons have bank accounts and even fewer are eligible for conventional loans.Nevertheless, most have a charge account at the local store for grocerys. On several occasions after becoming familiar with the community, the author was asked for the loan of a dollar er two. On each of these occasions a particular date was suggested for repayment and in every instance the loan was repayed.

FAMILY STRUCTURE

Melungeon families, as have been observed in other areas, are commonly rather large. In Hancock County it has been said that Melungeons start having sexual relations as soon as they are old enough, regardless of blood kinship, marry at an early age, bring into the world as children as nature allowes, then in the end to die no better off than their parents who lived before them .

Melungeons are extremely fond of children and there is no such thing as an unwanted child among them. Many regard their children as their hope for security when they grow old. One Melungeon woman has been quoted as saying” I have 6 living children and I had ten mishaps….It don’t hurt me much anymore. Well. a body just has to have children and say nothin about it. Why I don’t care if I have that many more. If you have a lot of children when you get old you have somebody to take care of you.” (Cole and Looney 1934:22-23)

Relationships between extended family members and in-laws are friendly. A typical house-

hold may contain the husband and wife with 5-6 children, the the husbands mother; the wife’s younger sister with two illegitimate children, and one to two of the wife’s brothers who stay from time to time.

The Melungeon male is quick to announce that he is the “boss” of his household. He is customarily served first at meal times and frequently has a special chair which otherfamily members relinguish when he is present.Im most cases, however, when it comes to practical matters, it is the wife who primarily controls the family.

Melungeon children recieve little to no encouragement from their parents in reguard to their school work. The parents ate functionallu illiterate in many cases. Fre home subscribe to publications of any kind, and in most homes the only book will be the ever-present bible,and it is reguarded more as a cult object than an example of literature. The young

child is praised when he learns to count toone hundred and write his name, but beyond

that theparents show little interest.This lack of interest in deucation is similar to that mentioned by other observers of mother Melungeon communityies (c.f.Ball 1975:68; Dromgoole 1891:477)

Popular writters like to dwell on the gross sexual immorlity of the Melungeons. In a typical example,Cole and Looney (1934:24) state: “Euraka, the oldest daughter of Amos Gibson is pregrant. Her brother who is a year older than she is is supposely the father of the child.” Similar stories are told reguarding some of the Graysville Melungeons by persons outside the community. However, none of the stories can be substantiated. A check with the county authorities in Dayton reveals the fact that in the past five years there have been five criminal prosecutions for incest in the county. None of these cases involved the Melungeons and none occured in Graysville.

There is ,hovever, a somewhat casual attitude toward marriage on the part of some of the Melungeons, and illegitimate births are fairly common.In these incidents there is no social stigma attached to either the mother or child. As she grows older, it is customery for the neighbors of the woman with a illegitimate children to call her a “widow” without reguard to wheather or not she has been previously married. In addition to the universal reason for extra-marital sex. The sisuation in Graysville is further complicated by the fact that in the past years many males were forced to spend a great deal of time outside the comminity for economic reasons . The great love Melungeon women have for children is another factor.

(Cole and Looney 1934:23) quotethe neighbors of one such woman as saying” she never had no husband–she had to get her young’ums the best way she could.”

TRANDITION TO ORAL CULTURE

VOCAL TRAITS…..The eariliest writer to publish personal observations on Melungeon speech(Dromgoole1891:475) remarks that “they do not drawl like the mountaineers but , on the contrary, speak rapidly and talk a great deal” she futher added”the laugh of the Melungeon women is most exquisitely musical jingle, a perfect ripple of sweet sound”.

These traits are present, at least to a degree, in the Graysville Melungeons.There is considerable difference in vocal habits used by indiv idual Melungeons– in particular those who have lived in other parts of the country.Most have a tendency to be somewhat laconic in the presence of strangers. However, when this natural reserve is broken down, or when the individual becomes excited or emotional, the speech becomes very rapid.The “musicial” quality of female laughter as noted by
Dromgoole is also present among the Melungeons of Graysville Melungeons. It is , however, more usually found among the younger women. The laughter of some of the older ones could better be described as a harsh ceckle.

PRONOUNCIATION

In Melungeon folkspeech vowel substitution is common. This trait has been noted among the upper TennesseeMelungeons by a resent writer ( Davis 1976:172) who observed:

They was always three in her vocabulary, and yonder was Yander. Patatoes was taters, and Maryland, where one of her daughters lives was Murland.

These, as well as numberous other examples of vowel substitution, are to be found among the Graysville Melungons. Thus far”Fer” or”Fur” , while fire becomes “far”. Had is pronounced “hed”; Just becomes “jist”; itch becomes “eetch” , come is “cum”; iron is “arn”;whip is “whup”; brush is “brash”; etc.

When two vowels sound are joined in a single syllable to form what is called a diphthong, the Melungeons will usually drop one of the sounds all together.Thus pronouncing hair as “hear”; bear as “bar”; boil as”bile”; chair as “cheer”; etc

While not as common as vowel substitution, consonant sounds are also frequently interchangedwith others. For some reason the “th”sound is occasionally replaced with “f”. Thus, thunder becomes “funder”; teeth is teef”; three is “free”etc.

The dialect of the Melungeon is a cross between that of the mountaineer and the negro–a corruption, perhaps of both. The letter R occupies but small space in their speech, and they have a pecular habit of omitting the last letter, sometimes the last syllable of their words. For instance “good night is ” goo night” give is “gi” ect. Their dialect is exceedingly difficult to write, owning to their habit of curtailing their words.

In addition to this obmission of final sounds in words, the Graysville Melungeons are also prone to omitting the beginning sounds. For example despise is ofen pronounced “spise”;

except becomes “cept” ; examine becomes “zamine: etc.

It should be emphasized that the above peculiarities in pronounciation are uniformally used by the Graysville Melungeons. In fact, most melungeons are perfectly aware of the conventional pronounciation of any given word. It is possible to hear the same individual, at different times, pronounce the word “just” as “jest”, “jus”, “jist” or correctly as “just” There is an apparent unconcious attempt to modify one’s speech to conform to that of a particular listener, in much the same manner that an American-born child of Italian parents will speak correctly in English in school, mixed Italian and English slang in the streets, and broken English with many Italians words in the home.

GRAMMER

The grammer of the Melungeon folksspeech is especially rich in verbs. Many of these are created directly from nouns or adjectives. Thus, when a man is going hunting he will frequently announce that he is going “squirrelin”. A girl who is developing promiscuous habits is said to be “manin”, and when a man puts away his money , he “pockets ” it. When a man takes a woman to bed , it may be said that he has “beded “her. Going to shop for food is called “marketin”.

Many verbs taken on an unusual form in the past tense. Thus drank becomes “drunk”; stank is “stunk”; swan is “swum”; dropped is “drapt”etc.

The use of double negatives or triple negatives are very common. When one is short of funds, he would say”I ain’t got no money” A girl who is chaste is said to be one who “ain’t never done nothin yet”

VOCABULARY

The claim has been made that the Melungeons speak with Elizabethian English (Ball1975:70), and while this is an obvious exaggeration, there are numerous archaisms to be found in Melungeon speech. Some of these are recognizable as Elizabethian or Chaucerian ir even pre-Chaucertain words or terms. For example the pronound “hit”(it) dates English itself, being defined as early Anglo-Saxon neuter of “he” ( Kephart 1976:

687). Other early English words include “ax” (ask) and “Kag” (keg). A few additional words or expressions in everyday life of the Graysville Melungeons that were also used by Chaucer are “afore”(before), “atwixt” (between), “awar”(aware) , “heap” ( large quanity)

“peart”( lively) and “stout” (strong).

The author encountered only two words in use among the Graysville Melungeons which are of non English origin. Both of these words relate to foods. The first of these is “Kraut” which is German and applies to a concoction made from cabbage. The second one os “okra” which is the name of a vetable and is of African in origin.

Some common words take on a different meaning when used by Melungeons, as “ruin” for injure, “sorry” for bad, “favor” for resemble, or “stump” for stumble. When a Melungeon ask to be “carried” somewhere, a ride in your car is what he desires.

TRADITIONAL MATERIAL CULTURE

Melungeons are a very practical people, and as such see no value in preserving traditional crafts when there is an easier way to obtain the desired results. The home making of clothing is an excellent example to make all of her clothing in the home. This was usually done entirely by hand with nothing but needle, thread, and scissors. It was necessary to purchase the cloth, since even among the oldest women now living there is no tradition for spinning and weaving. A favorable source of cloth was “flour sacks”. It seems that at that time a company which processed four sold their products in bags made of brightly colored

“print”material designed for the use of clothing.

In making the dresses, formal patterns were not used. The woman simply estimated the desire size as she cut the material and sewed it together. Then additional folds were adjusted and sewed to make it fit snugly. In addition to dresses for herself and her daughters, the woman frequently made shirts for the men of the family out of the same material. As sewing accessories, every woman kept a button-box and a cloth -box for future use.The larger cloth box contained discarded clothing, scraps left over from dress makingand any other bits and pieces that could be found. This also served the women as sources of rags to be used for towels, wash cloths, and sanitary napkins. In another respect of home crafts, the scraps from the cloth-box were also used to make quilt tops. The quilts did not have decorative designs or geometric patterns. Scraps of cloths of various sizes and colors were merely sewed together til a rectangular section big enough to cover the bed was achieved. This was the quilt top which was then placed over a plain cloth bottom, usually made by sewing plain white flour sacks together, with a layer of cotton between. This was then streched over a rectangular wooden frame held in place with wooden pins. The frame was commonly suspended by cords from hooks in the cieling of the room.When she had time she would lower the frame and “qilit” it together by sewing through the three layers. When other duties demanded her attention, she would raise the frame and have it out of the way.Completion of the quilt usually took several weeks.

TRADITIONAL SUBSISTENCE AND MEDICAL PATTERNS

One form of tradition culture still unchanged in the Graysville Melungeons is the family vegetable garden. Almost every family, even those in a highly urban setting, is able to find space somewhere for a garden in which they grow corn, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, squash, cabbage, and other vegetables and fruits for home use. All the work is done by hand. A heavy digging implement called a ” mattock” is used to break up the soil in preparation for planting. This is done in the late winter, ususally by the men of the family. Once the garden has been dug-up, most men leave the actual work of planting and harvesting to the women and children. Planting occurs in early spring and is dictated by the phases of the moon.Durning the growing season, hoes are used to remove grass and weeds from around the plants. If the garden is large, there will usually be a hoe for each member of the family.Some of the food grown in this matter is preserved for future use in glass jars, but most is consumed fresh as it is harvested. It is costomery to schedule the plantings in such a manner as to have small amounts of each item becomming ready for use throughout the summer.

Another traditional activity centers around the collection of wild plants for food and medicial purposes. The food plants consists of several varieties of wild greens, berries, and nuts.Durning the summer the Melungeons gather blackberries, raspberries, dewberries, and huckleberries. In the fall , they gather wild grapes,(often called fox-grapes) hickory nuts and black walnuts. These foods, with the vegetables from the family garden, make up the bulk of the diet durning four or five months of each year. Most of the wild plants are collected from the uninhabited slopes of Walden’s Ridge. Typically,each family has a particular area on the mountain to which they return year after year,sometimes for generations, to collect these foods. These areas are not secret, since most of the members of the community know where each family goes to gather. It is , however, considered a matter of ethics not to collect foods from an area known to be used by another family.

Medical plants are available for almost every complaint. They are used with as much regularity, and probably with about the same success, as are non prescription drugs used in contemporary urban society. Most of the plants used produce a tea or tonic, but some are simply chewed in the natural state. Most babies are given a tea made from boiling catnip leaves as a general purpose tonic and to induce better sleep habits. Two infants ailments,called “thrash” and “hives” are treated with teas made from ground ivy leaves and “wahoobark”, respectively.There is a wide variety of remedies for stomach trouble,including teas made from boiling ginsing roots,butterfly roots,or leaves of the golden seal plant. Similar results are said to be obtained by simply chewing dogwood bark

or the leaves of the wintergreen plant. Colds are treated with a tonic made from the boneset plant;and pneumonia is said to respond to tea made from elderberries. Cuts and burns are treated very effectively with a salve made by crushing the buds of the Balm of Gilead tree. Chewing pine bark relieves diarrhea,while peppermint leaves pervent vomiting and popular bark gives one a better appetite.Sassafras barkis chewed to help “stomach trouble” ,and the roots of the plant are boiled to produce a popular “blood tonic”. It is felt that the blood of a person becomes thick durning the winter due to cold weather. This in turns , produces a lazy,sluggish feeling in the spring.Drinking the “blood tonic” made from sassafrass root will thin the blood and return the patient to his or her former self.

References sited:

Armstrong, Zella 1931 “The history of Hamilton Co. and Chattanooga, Tennessee”

Lookout publishing Co. Chattanooga

Bell, Bonnie S. “Who are the Melungeons ” “The Southern Literacy Messenger” 1945

“The Melungeons” privately published 1975

Ball, Donald B. 1977 ” Observations on the Form and Function of Middle Tennessee

Gravehouses” Tennessee Anthropologist

Barr, Phillis Cox 1965 “The Melungeon’s of Newman’s Ridge”

Beal,Calvin L. 1957 “American Tri-Racial Isolates

Berry, Brewton 1963 “Almost White” Collier Books, London

Bible, Jean Patterson 1975 “Melungeons of Yesterday and Today” E Tn Printing Co.

Botkin B.A. (editor) 1949 ” A Tresurery of Southern Folk-Lore” Crown Plublishing

Burchard,Ernest E. 1913 “The Red Irons of East Tennessee”

Burnett, Swan M. “A note on the Melungeon” American Anthropologist

Cambell,Thomas J. 1940 ” Records of Rhea County” Rhea Publishing Dayton,

Case,Earl C. 1925 ” The Valley of East Tennessee”

Caudill,Harry M 1963 “Night Comes to the Cumberlands” Little-Brown, Boston

Cole,William E. and Joe Stephenson Looney 1934

“The Melungeons of Hancock County” Chattanooga Public Library

Dabney, Louisa 1963 “The Mysteries of the Melungeons”

1972 reprint of above

1975 reprint of above Pelican Publishing

Dromgoole,Will Allen 1891 ” The Melungeons the arena

1891 ” The Melungeon Family Tree and it’s Four Branches”

Fetterson, John 1967 ” Stinking Creek ” Dutton, New York

Fort, John 1941 “Ancestry of Melungeon Ferry Pilot May go Back to the Fall of

Carthage” Chattanooga Times Mon Feb 10 , 1941

Gilbert, William Harlen Jr. ” Characteristics of the Larger Mixed Blood Racial Islands

Hale, Will T. and Dixon L. Merritt 1913 ” The Melungeons of East Tennessee”

A History of Tennessee and Tennesseeans Lewis Publishing chicago &NY

Hatfield, John M. 1941 ” The Melungeon Race ” Chattanooga Times March 5, 1941

Hicks,George L. 1976 “Appalachia Valley ” Holt,Rinehart,and Winston NY

Hotten, John Camden 1874 “The original lists of persons of Quality and Others Who

Went From Great Britian to the American Plantations, 1600-1700 , privately

published in London

Hunt, Raymond F. 1966 “The Pactolus Iron Works”

Ivey, Sanders 1975 “Aunt Mahala in Folklore”

Johnson, Guy G.1930 “The Speech of the Negro”University of Okla. Press

1939 ” personality in a White-Indian-Negro Community”

Kephart,Horance 1976 “Our Southern Highlanders” University of Tennessee Press

Nordheimer,Jon 1971″ Mysterious Hill Folk Vanishing” NY Times Feb,4, 1971

Pearsall, Marion 1959″ Little Smokey Ridge”U of Al. Press,

Pollitzer, William S. 1969 ” The phyical and Genetics of Marginal People of the

Southeastern United States”

Price, Edward T. 1950 “Mixed Blood Racial Islands of Eastern US” U of Berkley Ca.

1950 “The Mixed Blood Strain of Carmel,Ohio&Magoffin

County, Kentucky

1951 ” The Melungeons”

1953 Analysis of White-Negro-Indian Racial Mixture”

Rogers, T.A. 1936 “A Romance of the Melungeons”

Shepherd, Lewis 1915 Romantic Account of the Celebrated Melungeon Case”

Stephenson, John B. “A Mountain Community” U of Kentucky , Lexington

Weller, Jack E. Yesterday’s People” U of Kentucky, Lexington

Werner, Diana 1970 “The Melungeons”

Wheelock,Amanda Neal 1941 “Melungeons Recalled” Chattanooga Times

Yarbough,Willard 1972 ” Hancock County Melungeons Disappearing, still a mystery”

THE MELUNGEON TREE AND IT’S FOUR BRANCHES

By Will Allen Dromgoole
Copy of this provided by Kathy Lyday-Lee
Somewhere in the eighteenth century, before the year 1797, there appeared in the eastern portion of Tennessee, at that time the Territory of North Carolina, two strange-looking men calling themselves “Collins” and “Gibson”. They had a reddish brown complexion, long , straight , black hair, keen, black eyes, and sharp, clear-cut features. They spoke in broken English, a dialect distinct from anything ever heard in that section of the country.
They claimed to have come from Virginia and many years after emigrating, themselves told the story of their past.

These two, Vardy Collins and Buck Gibson, were the had and source of the Melungeons in Tennessee. With the cunning of their Cherokee Ancaster, they planned and executed a scheme by which they were enabled to “set up for themselves” in the almost unbroken Territory of North Carolina.

Old Buck, as he was called, was disguised by a wash of some dark description, and taken to Virginia by Vardy where he was sold as a slave. He was a magnificent specimen of physical strength, and brought a fine price, a wagon and mules, a lot of goods, and three hundred dollars in money being paid to old Vardy for his “likely n—–“. Once out of Richmond, Vardy turned his mules shoes and stuck out for the wilderness of North Carolina, as previously planned. Buck lost little time ridding himself of his Negro disguise, swore he was not the man bought of Collins , and followed in the wake of his fellow thief to the Territory.

The proceeds of the sale were divided and each chose his habitation; old Vardy choosing Newman’s Ridge, where he was soon joined by others of his race, and so the Melungeons became a part of the inhabitants of Tennessee.

This story I know is true. There are reliable parties still living who received it from old Vardy himself, who came here as young men and lived, as the Melungeons generally did to a ripe old age.

The names “Collins” and “Gibson” were also stolen from the white settlers in Virginia where the men had lived previous to emigrating to North Carolina.

There is, perhaps, no more satisfactory method of illustrating this peculiar race, it’s origin and blood, than by the familiar tree. Old Vardy Collins, then, must be regarded as the body, or main stem, in this state, at all events.

It is only of very late years the Melungeons have been classed as families. Originally they were tribes, afterward clans and at last families. From Old Vardy the first tribe took it’s first name Collins. Others who followed Vardy took the Collins name also.

Old Benjamin Collins, one of the pioneers, was older than Vardy, but came to Tennessee a trifle later. He had quite a large family of children, among them Edmond ,Mileyton, Marler, Harry, Andrew, Zeke, Jordon. From Jordan Collins descended Calloway Collins who is still living today and from whom I obtained some valuable information.

But…..go back a step. Benjamin Collins was known as old Ben, and became the head of the Ben’s tribe. Old Solomon Collins was the head of Sol’s tribe. The race was increasing so rapidly, by emigration and otherwise, that it became necessary to adopt other names than Collins. They fell ,curiously enough, upon the first or Christian name of the head of a large family connection or tribe. Emigrants arriving attached themselves as they chose to the several tribes. After a while, with an eye to brevity, doubtless, the word “tribe” was dropped from ordinary, everyday use. The “Bens” the “Sols” meant the Ben and Sols Tribes. It appeared that no tribe was ever called for Old Vary, although as long as he lived he was recognized as head and leader of the entire people.

This is doubtless due to the fact that in his day the settlement was new, and the people, and the one name Collins covered the entire population. The original Collins people were Indian, there is no doubt about that, and they lived as the Indians lived until sometime after the first white man appeared among them. All would huddle together in one room, sleep in one common bed of leaves, make themselves such necessary clothing as nature demanded, smoke, and dream away the good long days that were so dreamily delightful nowhere as they were on Newman’s Ridge.

The Collins tribe multiplied more and more; it became necessary to have names, and a most peculiar method was hit upon for obtaining them.

Ben Collins children were distinguished from the children of Sol and Vary by prefixing the Christian name either of the father or mother to the Christian name of the child. For instance; Edmund Ben, Singleton Ben; Andrew Ben; Zeke Ben, meant that Edmund Singleton, Andrew, and Zeke were the sons of Ben Collins. Singleton Mitch; Levi Mitch, and Morris Mitch , meant that these men were the sons of Mitchel Collins.

In the next generation there was a Jordan Ben who married Abbie Sol, had a son, who is called ( he is still living, as before stated) Calloway Abby for his mother. The wife before marriage takes her father’s Christian name; after marriage that of her husband. Calloway ‘s wife, for instance, is Ann Collaway. It is not known, and cannot by any possibility be ascertained at what precise period other races appeared among the Collins.

For many years they occupied the Ridge without disturbance. The country was new, wild, and few straggling settlements were glad of almost any new neighbors. Moreover, these strange people, who were then called the “Ridgemanites”, the “Indians”, and the “Black Waterites”(because of a stream called Black Water, which flows through their territory, the bed of which was, and is, covered with a peculiar dark slate rock which gives the black appearance to the stream), had chosen the rocky and inaccessible Ridge, while the fertile and beautiful valley of the Clinch lay open and inviting to the white settler.

The Ridgemanites were not striving for wealth evidently, and as land was plentiful and neighbors few, they held their bit in the creation without molestation or interruption for many years. They were the Collins, as I sais; those who followed the first-comers accepting the name already provided them. There was no mixture of blood: they claimed to be Indians and no man disputed it. They were called the “Collins Tribe” until having multiplied to the extent it was necessary to divide, when the descendants of the several pioneers were separated, or divided into clans.

Then came the Ben clan, the Sol clan, the Mitch clan, and indeed every prominent head of a large relationship was recognized as the leader of his clan, which always bore his name. There was, to be sure, no set form or time at which this division was made. It was only one of those natural splits, gradual and necessary, which is the sure result of increasing strength.

They were still, however, we must observe, all COLLINSES, The main tree had not been disturbed by foreign grafting, and while all were not blood descendants of old Vary they, at all events, had all fallen under his banner and appropriated his name.

The tree at last began to put forth branches, or rather three foreign shoots were grafted into the body of it; the English…or whites….Portuguese….and African.

The English branch began with the MULLINS tribe, a very powerful tribe, next indeed for a long time to the Collins tribe, and at present the strongest of all the several branches, as well as the most daring and obstinate.

Old Jim Mullins, the father of the branch, was an Englishman, a trader, it is supposed, with Indians. He was of a roving, daring disposition, and rather fond of the free abandon which characterized the Indian. He was much given to sports, and was always “cheek to fowl” with the Cherokees and other Indian tribes he like to mingle. What brought him to Newman’s Ridge must have been, as it is said, his love for freedom and sport, and that careless existence known only to the Indians.

He stumbled upon the Ridge settlement, fell in with the Ridgemanites, and never left them. He took for a wife one of their women, a descendant of old Sol Collins, and reared a family known as the MULLINS tribe. This is said to be the first white blood that mingled with the blood of the dusky Ridgemanites.

By marriage I mean to say(in their own language) they “took up together” having no set form of marriage service. So old Jim Mullins took up with a Melungeon woman Collins, by whom he had a large family of children. Sometime after he exchanged wives with one Wyatt Collins, and proceeded to cultivate a second family. Wyatt Collins also had a large family by his first wife, and equally fortunate with the one whom he traded her for.

After the forming of Hancock County, old Mullins and Collins were forced to marry their wives according to the law of the land, but all had children and grandchildren before they were lawfully wed.

The Mullins tribe became exceedingly strong, and remains today the head of the Ridge people. The African branch was introduced by one Goins who emigrated from North Carolina after the formation of the state of Tenn. Goins was a Negro, and did not settle upon the Ridge, but lower down the Big Sycamore Creek in Powell’s Valley.

He took a Melungeon woman for his wife (took up with her),and reared a family or tribe. The Goins family may be easily recognized by their kinky hair ,flat nose and foot, thick lips, and a complexion totally unlike the Collins and Mullins tribes. They possess many Negro traits, too, which are wanting to the other tribes.

The Malungeons repudiate the idea of Negro blood, yet some of the shiftless stragglers among them have married among the Goins people. They evade slight, snubs, censure, and the law, by claiming to have married Portuguese, there really being a Portuguese branch among the tribes.

The Goins tribe, however, was always looked upon with touch of contempt , and was held in a kind of subjection, socially and politically, by the others.

The Mullins and Collins tribes will fight for their Indian blood. The Melungeons are not brave; indeed, they are great cowards and easily brow-beaten, accustomed to receiving all manners of insults which it never occurs to them to resent..Only in this matter of blood will they “show fight”

The Portugese branch was for a long time a riddle, the existence of it being stoutly denied. It has at last, however, been traced to one “Denham”,a Portuguese who married a Collins woman.

It seems that every runaway or straggler of any kind whatever, passing through the country took up with abode temporarily or permanently, with the Melungeons, or as they were then called the Ridgemanites. They were harmless, social, and good-natured when well acquainted with one–although at first suspicious, distant, and morose. While they have never encouraged emigration to the Ridge they have sometimes been unable to prevent it.

Denham, it is supposed, came from one of the Spanish settlements lying further to the south. He settled on Mulberry Creek, and married a sister of Old Sol Collins.

There is another story ,however, about Denham. It is said that the first Denham came as did the first Collins from North Carolina, and that he (or his ancestors) had been left upon the Carolina coast by some Portugese pirate vessel plying along the shore. When the English wrested the island of Jamaica from Spain in 1655, some fifteen hundred Spanish slaves fled to the mountains. Their number grew and their strength multiplied.

For more than a hundred years they kept up a kind of guerilla warfare, for they were both savage and warlike. They were called “mountain negroes” or “maroons”. The West Indian waters swarmed with piratical vessels at that time, the Portugese being the most terrible and daring. The crews of these vessels were composed for the most part of these mountain Negroes.

When they became insubordinate, or in any way useless, they were put ashore and left to take care of themselves. It is said the Denhans were put ashore on the Carolina coast. Their instincts carried them to the mountains, from which one emigrated to Newman’s Ridge, then a part of North Carolina territory.

So we have the four races or representatives among, as they then began to be called, the Melungeons; namely, the Indians, the English, the Portuguese, and the African. Each is clearly distinct and easily recognized even to the present day.

The Portugese blood has been a misfortune to the first Melungeons inasmuch as it has been a shield to the Goins clan under which they have sought to shelter themselves and repudiate the African streak.

There is a very marked difference between the two, however. There is an old blacksmith, a Portugese, on Black Water Creek, as dark as a genuine African. Yet, there is a peculiar tinge to his complexion that is totally foreign to the Negro. He has a white wife, a Mullins woman, a descendant of English and Indian. If Melungeons does indeed mean mixture, the children of this couple are certainly Melungeons. The blacksmith himself is a Dunham, grandson of the old Portugese emigrant and a Collins woman.

This , then, is the account of the Melungeons from their first appearance in that part of the country where they are still found, Tennessee.

It will be a matter of some interest to follow them down to the present day. Unlike the rest of the world they have progressed slowly. Their huts are still huts, their characteristics and instincts are still Indian, and their customs have lost but little of the old primitive exclusive and seclusive abandon characteristic of the sons of the forest.

.

Lewis M. Jarvis – 1903 Interview

Hancock County Times
(Mr. Jarvis was born in 1829 and lived with the “Melungeons” in Hancock County. In the census records you will find him living just doors away from the Gibsons, Collins and other families called Melungeon. He was a schoolteacher in 1850 and knew Vardy Collins and wife Peggy Gibson.)
Much has been said and written about the inhabitants of Newman’s Ridge and Blackwater in Hancock County, Tenn. They have been derisively dubbed with the name “Melungeons” by the local white people who have lived here with them. It is not a traditional name or tribe of Indians.
Some have said these people were here when the white people first explored this country. Others say they are a lost tribe of the Indians having no date of their existence here, traditionally or otherwise.
All of this however, is erroneous and cannot be sustained. These people, not any of them were here at the time the first white hunting party came from Virginia and North Carolina in the year 1761– the noted Daniel Boone was at the head of one of these hunting parties and went on through Cumberland Gap. Wallen was at the head of another hunting party from Cumberland County, Virginia and called the river beyond North Cumberland Wallen’s Ridge and Wallen’s Creek for himself. In fact these hunting parties gave all the historic names to the mountain ridges and valleys and streams and these names are now historical names.
Wallen pitched his first camp on Wallen’s Creek near Hunter’s gap in Powell’s Mountain, now Lee County, Virginia. Here they found the name of Ambrose Powell carved in the bark of a beech tree; from this name they named the mountain, river and valley for Powell, Newman’s Ridge was named for a man of the party called Newman. Clinch River and Clinch valley–these names came at the expense of an Irish man of the party in crossing the Clinch River, he fill off the raft they were crossing on and cried aloud for his companions to “Clench me”, “Clench me,’ and from this incident the name has become a historic name.
About the time the first white settlement west of the Blue Ridge was made at Watauga River in Carter County, Tennessee, another white party was then working the lead mines in part of Virginia west of the Blue Ridge. In the year 1762 these hunters turned, coming through Elk Garden, now Russell County, Virginia. They then headed down a valley north of Clinch River and named it Hunter’s Valley and buy this name it goes today. These hunters pitched their tent near Hunter’s gap in Powell’s mountain, nineteen mile from Rogersville, Tennessee on the Jonesville, Virginia road. Some of the party of hunter went on down the country to where Sneedville, Hancock County, now stands and hunted there during that season.
Bear were plentiful here and they killed many, their clothing became greasy and near the camp was a projecting rock on which they would lie down and drink and the rock became very greasy and they called it Greasy Rock and named the creek Greasy Rock Creek, a name by which it has ever since been known and called since, and here is the very place where these Melungeons settled, long after this, on Newman’s Ridge and Blackwater.
“Vardy Collins, Shepherd Gibson, Benjamin Collins, Solomon Collins, Paul Bunch and the Goodmans, chiefs and the rest of them settled here about the year 1804, possibly about the year 1795, but al these men above named, who are called Melungeons, obtained land grants and muniments of title to the land they settled on and they were the friendly Indians who came with the whites as they moved west. They came from the Cumberland County and New River, Va., stopping at various points west of the Blue Ridge. Some of them stopped on Stony Creek, Scott County, and Virginia, where Stoney Creek runs into Clinch River.
The white emigrants with the friendly Indians erected a fort on the bank of the river and called it Fort Blackmore and here yet many of these friendly “Indians” live in the mountains of Stony creek, but they have married among the whites until the race has almost become extinct. A few of the half bloods may be found-none darker- but they still retain the name of Collins and Gibson, &c. From here they came to Newman’s Ridge and Blackwater and many of them are here yet; but the amalgamations of the whites and Indians has about washed the red tawny from their appearance, the white faces predominating, so now you scarcely find one of the original Indians; a few half-bloods and quarter-bloods-balance white or past the third generation.
The old pure blood were finer featured, straight and erect in form, more so than the whites and when mixed with whites made beautiful women and the men very fair looking men. These Indians came to Newman’s Ridge and Blackwater. Some of them went into the War of 1812-1914 whose names are here given; James Collins, John Bolin and Mike Bolin and some others not remembered; those were quite full blooded. These were like the white people; there were good and bad among them, but the great majority were upright, good citizens and accumulated good property and many of them are among our best property owners and as good as Hancock County, Tennessee affords. Their word is their bond and most of them that ever came to Hancock county, Tennessee, then Hawkins County and Claiborne, are well remembered by some of the present generation here and now and they have left records to show these facts.
They all came here simultaneously with the whites from the State of Virginia, between the years 1795 and 1812 and about this there is no mistake, except in the dates these Indians came here from Stoney Creek.