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One of Lisa Alther’s most critical insights is that America was a melting pot from the moment the very first European set foot on her shores. Historians have largely ignored this fact.
As Alther points out in her book, “The famous American melting pot that historians portray as commencing with the nineteenth-century immigration from Ireland and from southern and eastern Europe actually existed here right from the start. It’s a shame our founding fathers chose to portray the fledgling United States as an outpost for wayward Anglo Saxons, rather than as the panglobal mosaic it really was. Our resulting history might have been less grim.
It’s particularly ironic since, as one example from many, Thomas Jefferson’s Y chromosome has been classified as haplogroup K2, which is believed to have originated in the Levant. His political enemies taunted him with having a mulatto father and a half-breed mother. In fact, his mother was a Randolph, one of the families associated with descent from Pocahontas.
Several books have been written, accurate or not, tracing the genealogies of five American presidents to African and/or Native American ancestors — Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, Harding, and Coolidge. Some researchers maintain that Lincoln was of Melungeon descent via his mother, Nancy Hanks.”
The Levant is a geographical designation for the region at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, encompassing the countries of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
So, they’re saying Jefferson was Semitic. How reliable is that DNA marker, is that trait distributed throughout Europe to some degree, in non-Jewish families?
According to a website at http://www.geogene.com/news-2.html “the rare haplotype known as K2 is shared by only 1% of men worldwide. It is most prevalent in Africa and the Middle East but is also found scattered around Western Europe. Although researchers cannot be certain, some believe that the dispersal of this lineage is best explained by the Jewish Diaspora in which Jews expanded throughout large parts of Europe. It is this that has created excited speculation among both Jewish and Jeffersonian communities in the U.S.
The report, titled ‘Thomas Jefferson’s Y chromosome belongs to a rare European lineage,’ was published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.”
The above-referenced website also discusses another topic of great interest: “Did your ancestors live in Jamestown?” Quoting from this article, “This year is the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown in Virginia. . . To mark the occasion, the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Society (SMGF) is inviting people to search its free online database to discover if they had ancestors in Jamestown . . . We know by reviewing the Register of 17th Century Ancestors provided by the Jamestown Society that more than two-thirds of the family surnames in the register are also in our database.” The link for the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation is http://www.smgf.org/ According to their site, “The Sorenson Database is the foremost collection of genetic genealogy data in the world. Search by DNA results or surname in the worldwide genetic family tree.”
Some researchers maintain that Lincoln was of Melungeon descent via his mother, Nancy Hanks.
Interesting stuff. Here are a couple tidbits from my gatherings:
1. Nancy Hanks is claimed by a tribe in Virginia (Ani Stohini Unami).
2. One of Thomas Jefferson’s grandmothers was Mary Branch (also one of my grandmothers), which is another surname said to be related to Pocahontas. It was apparently a small world back then. ;~)
My great-great-great-great-grandmother was Jane Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson had a sister Jane but she never married and died in 1765. Still, there is speculation in my family that my ancestor Jane Jefferson may have been a cousin to Thomas Jefferson.
I didn’t know that Nancy Hanks was descended from a tribe in Virginia. I also didn’t know about Mary Branch. Thanks very much for this info!
by beeleaf: Nancy Hanks is claimed by a tribe in Virginia (Ani Stohini Unami).
Hey, beeleaf,
I was taught in IN in the 50’s that Abraham Lincoln was thought to be part Indian. IN claimed him as having spent a portion of his boyhood in southern IN. Both of these assertations are most often not written up or a part of general knowledge. This is the first I’ve seen regarding his Indian heritage. Can you elaborate on where that information is to be located regarding the tribal connection? It seems interesting to trace her birth, locations and marriage and how she came to be in IN. Perhaps this was part of a larger migration pattern or smaller one of certain Indian peoples.
Hey Wachinika,
I got that info from a paper entitled “Researching Native American Genealogy in Southwestern Virginia” by Charles Howard Thomas, Copyright 1998.
Years ago, the tribe had a decent web site with herbs (Charles is an N.D. & film-maker), the paper I mentioned, etc. But they don’t seem to have much of a web presence anymore.
There are several interesting points in his paper, many that contradict what has been written about Indians in that area. It may be of interest to folks looking at Saura or Tutelo or SW VA Cherokee clues, as these are names the tribe has been called by other people. They were also called the New River Indians.
I’ll type more about this if anyone is interested.
Several researchers online have Nancy Hanks’ birthplace as being Campbell Co., VA (or that area). Think she lived in West VA later (or where she lived became West VA). Here’s a Google book that has info about the Lincoln side:
Hmm. Charles’ paper states that Nancy Hanks was born “either in the Hanks family home place in what is now called Pipers Gap in Carroll County or on a creek in what is now Grayson County, VA.”
However, here is yet another idea:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvminera/nancyhanksmem.htm
Ahh, don’t ya just love research?
:~O
Here’s a little bit about the tribe (some of which reflects what is in the paper):
http://www.answers.com/topic/ani-stohini-unami
Will post some more as we go. One of the most interesting things to me is that the language (Tla Wilano) is still spoken. According to the tribe, they have never migrated to or from anywhere else. This would mean they have lived in the area of present day Patrick, Grayson, Floyd, Carroll, Wythe, Smyth, & Washington Counties in VA and Surry County, NC for about 14 thousand years, give or take 50. But no recognition, not even from the state of VA, despite trying for many years.
There is a story about the deliberate burning of tribal records by the War Department, aka Bureau of Ethnology.
for about 14 thousand years, give or take 50.
😀 I chuckle at your humor.
But no recognition, not even from the state of VA, despite trying for many years.
🙁
I’m afraid that age old Manifest Destiny, deluded into saving First Nations from themselves and thus justification in possessing their land when they defend themselves goes on with each continuing generation. “The Powers That Were” had no foresight that Indians would remain Indians, that slavery would end and racial equallity begin, that all would vote. Conciously or not it appeared they had successfully swindled First Nations out of their land. If all races are now equal; how can it be that all Indians are not equal? America is an experiment and sometimes the mistakes spring up and bite them like a cornered Black Snake, that not enough for amends the slow constriction option kicks in. Since we’re all voters what are we going to do?
Could the US afford to give benefits to all Indians? Right now they have Indian against Indian, Black against White and Whites against everyone fighting for material survival. Actually that grapic would go in all directions, everyone against everyone else makes us all easy to control and take advantage of…powerless in our grapppling and poverty. If basic needs were provided everyone and minimum wage increased and corporate execs wages lowered, well, people could quit this darn bickering.
Could there be a way to eliminate all of this keeping track of and classifying race without losing ethnic identity????? If everything were equal and fair everywhere why would we need to keep track. How many billions of $$ could be saved if we stopped this counting?
Now we all know the value of census records. Could it be okay for that but nothing else? They are so inaccurate and non-inclusive anyway. If they take our personal word for race now, future generations won’t have a need for it. They’ll say, “Oh, GGGGrandma looked European, had blonde hair, and blue eyes but she self-identified as a black person, Blackfoot to be exact.” Which would probably be easier to figure out than the Melungeon question, huh? 🙂 :p
I just read Melungeon’s Pee Dee links over on another thread. They seem right. They say they are determining tribal membership based solely on tracable links to families they know are Pee Dee even if your ancestors moved away and not to blood %. They seem nice. Because, you guys have me thinking our only hope of pow-wowing in the SE will be by having an ornamented pouch with our regalia in which to carry our DNA% papers.:)
Blake,
There is so much mis-information about Melungeons on the internet that it is hard to determine just who is or what is a Melungeon. A good book with lots of documentation was written by Jack Goins. Google his name and you will be able to see his web page. Certain descriptions you have made can very well be used to describe some American Indians. Gibsons, Collins, Bunchs, & Sextons are some good Melungeon names but FPC (free people of Color) in the census, especially in Hawkins Co. Tennessee is a pretty good indication.
Because, you guys have me thinking our only hope of pow-wowing in the SE will be by having an ornamented pouch with our regalia in which to carry our DNA% papers.
Hehe. Thankfully, that would apparently only be the case at a small number of places. Come on over!
I enjoyed reading your insight.
Oh, and too bad I have not found a Pee Dee link in my family…yet.
There’s another little remnant incorporated “tribe” in Patrick Co. that has very lenient tribal requirements. Well, they took me in easily enough. ;~) I know that can veer into sticky subject area, though, so that may be all I should say here. I think it would be quite possible to show an unbroken history in that area (my own family has lived there over 200 yrs), but it seems to be a long history of intertribal dancing. ;~)
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