Exactly. Just a browse online will show that this whole thing has got completely out of hand. Just look at the ever-growing list of surnames and think to yourself “Now how can that be?” It is encompassing the entire U.S. which is just not possible. If that were the case, then everyone would be every nationality known to man.
Now I could list a slew of names of people who have contacted me about this either on forum or by spam looking for support. But I am not going to go into all that, but it has become too widespread. Upon my first “approach” by these people, I began to dig around on the subject and found little to support the claims. Then later was in contact with someone shooting me emails about certain things, followed by another later on, basically asking me if I could “logically” shoot down the latest “straw-graspings” these, as I call them, “Melungeon Theorists” were tossing out as proof of Melungeon ancestry. I successfully shot every single one down. I think the people involved in ontacting me were either shocked or amused by this. All it took was a bit of research to dispell it all.
Now the Highland County Ohio Gibsons, all the ones I know…and I know quite a bit of them, are what I call “whiter than I am” because I am dark complected and they are all “white”, fair complected, blonde hair, blue eyed.
The Jacksons are African American, as are the Curtis. The Carters moved in later, around 20 some odd years ago, from another state and the family and I are good friends. All white, mostly blonde. The Elams are white. The Frymans are white, Losey…white, etc. Now there may be Native American blood in these families, but none look Mediterrainian (sic).
I have an old photgraph of my great great grandfather and his family, including my great grandfather in the picture, and the same applies. My Myers/great great grandmother is darker, could be of NA descent, but definitely nothing that looks Mediterrainian (sic). This is where alot of the Caplinger, Courtney, my Douglas (grandmother), Turner, Tatman, Montgomery, Bloom, Deleplaine, DeWilde, Wainwright, Havens, Stannard, Ferren, Bumgarner, Beard, and Cropper lines fall in. None found in the vital records office, birth/death records, and various Highland County record books indicate anything other than white. I have researched, and have an uncle who has as well, and nothing outside of white can be found. From old photographs to the items mentioned.
When you get into Adams County Ohio I find that my Swearingen ancestor’s descendants (from my mother’s line from W.V.) are presently residing there, noted for the connection to Marmaduke Van Swearingen who many believe was Blue Jacket, though I feel he was another Shawnee adoptee entirely and confused with Blue Jacket. But the Douglas, Kerfott/Kearfoot, etc. all were white from the research I have done on them.
The problem most people have nowadays is that nothing has been passed down to them in oral histories, or in the form of records/paperwork. My mother gave me the stories and everyting she had, including my grandparents’ funeral registries and all my grandmother’s photographs. Which leads me to another Melungeon family name debunked.
My grandmother in Wayne County W.V. was friends with a lady with the last name of Steele (born around 1905). The Steele family was one who changed their name from Casteele (also found in Wayne County) and are both related. The Steele/Casteele name can be traced back to Castle which has it’s descendancy from a Shawnee lady named Sowege. Now in my tracing of this family I find that my grandmother was 2nd cousin to her friend. Her surname of Osburn is found in there as well as my Adkins line. Her maiden name was Fry. Her husband who was a Steele traces back to the Adkins and to the Castle family, thus to Shawnee Sowege. I find defite links to the Shawnee, but nothing Melungeon. The Castles came across the sea to Virginia, then one of their offspring married Shawnee, then every name found is from white families in Virginia. Yet the Steele family is listed as Melungeon.
In closing I am very luckyto have what my mother gave me, and even more lucky that her side of the family was so well recorded because of their historical significance. So it has been very easy for me to debunk the Kennedy Bandwagon because of this. The problem lies, again, in the fact that most people today could care less about their ancestry, have nothing to pass along, etc. My research tells me I am Shawnee on my mother’s side (to a great degree of research too lengthy to add to this lengthy response), and my research has even been forwarded to the Shawnee out west. I am slowly unearthing Powhatan ancestry as well in my Adkins line, which has been discussed here some time ago. And unfortunately there has been books written about my mother’s side that were well intentioned, but off base, that lead researchers today to dispute my claims. But I have been in contact with two Shawnee divisions that have both said my research is right on track with what they have. I have worked hard for years to unearth these things, with alot more work to go, but I can assure you that the Melungeon wrtitings on my ancestry is, to put it bluntly, a load of crap.
Steve-O
