History of the Banjo May Shed Light on Melungeon Origins

 Hat Tip: Don Collins

Mellungeons and Myth

- 10/01/2002 -

INTRODUCTION

This article was published originally in the December 2002 issue of the Appalachian Quarterly, a genealogical magazine in southwest Virginia. Mountain people were at one time described as pure Anglo-Saxon. This was, of course, pure nonsense. Today some writers seem obsessed with describing mountaineers as mostly Celtic or Scots-Irish. The truth is that the mountain people have a varied ancestry, as do many people in America. I grew up among Gibson and Collins families in Knott County, Kentucky. Some members of a few families were very dark, with a distinctive Indian appearance, while some members had a more African American appearance. There were other local families that were said to have African American or Indian ancestry. Through genealogical research I have established that a very talented Knott County family of banjo players had a grandfather that was described as Mulatto in census records.

Gibson and Collins are common surnames among some remnant Indian populations. They are also the most common surnames among mountain families that are today described as “Melungeon.” There has been a lot of romantic nonsense written about Melungeons in various places, including the Internet. The Gibson and Collins families described today as Melungeon came originally from east Virginia to the border counties of Virginia and North Carolina. From there they migrated to southwest Virginia, northeast Tennessee, eastern Kentucky and to other areas. I have found that several other families in eastern Kentucky also followed this general migration path. It was through this migration path, I believe, that banjos and banjo songs entered Knott County.

MELUNGEONS AND MYTH

 Cont. here:

 http://www.banjohistory.com/article/detail/2_mellungeons_and_myth

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Walk Toward the Sunset Again

 I'm glad to see this play running once again, but would like some documentation for the statement that Melungeons couldn't own land or get an education in the mid-1900's. And for the statement that Chief Atakullakulla was a good friend to the Melungeons. JC

 

Emily Myers and Jesse Reed struggle with life in post-Civil War

Hancock County during “Walk Toward the Sunset.”

Walters State Community College brings a regional favorite to a new generation with the drama “Walk Towards the Sunset.” The play, written by Kermit Hunter, tells the story of the Melungeon people, a disenfranchised group centered in Hancock County.

Melungeons are a mixed-race group, which, even in the mid-1900s, were denied the right to own property or obtain an education.

The play ran as an outdoor drama for from 1969-1975 in Sneedville. Historian and author Wayne Winkler credits the play with creating a sense of pride among the Melungeon people.

“Even today, there are Melungeons who don’t want to admit or discuss their heritage. But those who do talk, do so openly and often loudly,” Winkler said.

Bringing the play back to life has been a welcome challenge for Walters State students, according to director Jerry Maloy, associate professor of music and theatre at Walters State. The cast includes several proud Melungeons (some of whom are cast as an angry mob) and many students have embraced the mystery surrounding the people.

“Every day, a student comes into class eager to share something new learned about the group or that someone they know has Melungeon roots,” Maloy shared. Maloy also has special praise for Adele McDonald, music director of the “Walk Toward the Sunset.”

The play has exposed students to the Melungeon world, but it has also given them a glimpse into the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indian Nation. Native American Fred Bradley appears as Chief Atakullakulla, a friend of the Melungeon people.

The play is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 3, 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 5 and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 6. Saturday night’s performance is part of “The Mildred Haun Festival: A Celebration of Appalachian Literature, Culture and Scholarship.” Hunter and Winkler, author of “Walking Toward the Sunset” will both be part of a panel discussion following this performance and tickets will be on a space-available basis. That performance begins at 8 p.m.

Tickets for other performances are $5. Reservations may be made by calling the Division of Humanities at (423) 585-6947.

http://www.ws.edu/frontstories/web-walk.asp
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1996 DeMarce Review Essay: The Melungeons

Review Essay: The Melungeons

by Virginia Easley DeMarce, Ph.D.

Originally printed in the National Genealogy Society Quarterly Vol. 84, No. 2, June 1996 The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People. An Untold Story of Ethnic Cleansing in America by N. Brent Kennedy, with Robyn Vaughan Kennedy. Published by Mercer University Press; Macon, GA 31210; 1994. xviii, 156 pp. Appendix, illustrations index. Mercer University Press has placed its imprimatur on a book that attempts to cross the disciplines of anthropology, genealogy, and history with genetics as a periodic refrain. However, the author does not apply the standard methodology of any of these disciplines. Racial prejudice and persecution, as the title implies, are the themes that meld all this together. A chronological leap over several centuries enables the author to propose an exotic ancestry for "200,000 individuals, perhaps.' far more" (p xv)-an ancestry that sweeps in virtually every olive, ruddy, and brown-tinged ethnicity known or alleged to have appeared anywhere in the pre-Civil War Southeastern United States. Beginning with an account of his diagnosis with erythema nodosum sarcoidosis, a rare, serious medical problem to which certain ethnic groups are prone-Kennedy presents a deeply felt account of his immediate family. However, nothing indicates that he investigated whether this medical problem has appeared elsewhere in the extended families who descend from his ancestors or, if it does occur in a pattern, in which line(s).1 Any study centered upon genetics and ethnicity should solidly document all genealogical data and links. Yet Kennedy offers no evidence, not even census records. He outlines an ancestry that centers in the Virginia counties of Wise, Russell, and Scott, and the Kentucky counties of Floyd and Pike. Beyond that, he implies that his forebears are traceable only to the mid-to-late eighteenth century. at which time they were primarily in northwestern North Carolina, (particularly modern Ashe and Yancey Counties) and the region that became Greenbrier and Franklin Counties, Virginia. He arranges his pedigree in a series of "family lines," including (pp. 137-38) one claimed ascent to Pocahontas (which, if accurate, certainly would not have been a basis for social persecution) . 2 The failure to provide documentation makes it difficult to retrace the path by which the author determined his generational links and sorted forebears from others of the same name. This difficulty will deter many readers from the fact checking that good genealogists always perform. Those who do seek actual evidence and those who already have conducted solid research on these lines will be dismayed at the extent of the genealogical errors set forth in so few pages. Similarly, a great deal of unearned trust is expected of students and scholars in other disciplines. This review essay covers four major areas of concern: ethnic identification, prejudice, genealogy, and historical origins. 3

ETHNIC IDENTIFICATION

Kennedy does not use the term Melungeon in its anthropological sense-that is, the interlocking families who moved into, existed in, and dispersed from Hawkins and Hancock Counties, Tennessee. Rather, he coins a very loose definition, expanding it to cover essentially all colonial-era Virginians and Carolinians who (in whatever records he consulted) are not clearly stated to be European American or African American. Melungeon thus becomes a catchall description for dark- skinned individuals whose ancestry does not seem to be sub-Saharan African-as well as their lighter-skinned relatives and descendants, whom he presents as subjects of racial prejudice. The manner in which numerous individuals are "deduced" to be Melungeon is troubling. By surmising a connection when he cannot show it, he makes "Melungeons" of numerous frontier families whose ancestry appears to be wholly northern European, including those whose known origin is Scotch-Irish or German. Typical cases are the Ritchies (pp.23-24), Hutchinsons (p.27), Kennedys and Hornes (pp. 66-68), Powerses and Alleys (pp.69-70), and Counts, Jessees, and Kisers (pp.77-79). In discussing an unproved line of descent from Edward "Ned" Sizemore, a central figure in the famous attempt to cash in on early-twentieth-century Eastern Cherokee claims awards (p.56), Kennedy ignores extensive testimony indicating that Sizemore descendants were, for social and legal purposes, a white family claiming Indian ancestry not Melungeons or free nonwhites. 4 Illustrative of the problem is Kennedy's analysis of William Roberson's ethnicity, which strongly suggests inexperience in genealogical and historical research. Because this Revolutionary War veteran supposedly said he was Scotch-Irish and from London, and because his name is variously spelled as Robertson, Robinson, and Robeson, Kennedy concludes the man was a Melungeon who purposefully obscured his true origins. "Surely, if William . . . really did come from England, Scotland, or Ireland, he would have known how to spell his last name.... [His] early meandering in [the Carolinas] undoubtedly plac[ed] him within the geographical region ... known as 'Robeson' county. Could William I have 'borrowed' his surname from the name of the county?" (pp.25-26). Coincidentally, Kennedy proceeds to state that Roberson's son married the first cousin of President Andrew Jackson. Obviously, in his historical studies, Kennedy has not encountered Jackson's declaration that he "could never respect a man who knew only one way to spell a word." 5 Kennedy often refers to the labels fpc (free person of color) and fc (free colored) informing readers that these were maliciously applied by the Scotch-Irish to their Melungeon neighbors in order to "strip the Melungeons of their lands" (p.12), and that "American antebellum census records consistently described those with Indian blood" as fpc (p. 89, italics added). Placing his family into this context, he says "they and we were 'free persons of color"' (p.5). In checking Kennedy's family lines, this reviewer consistently found the opposite-not a single instance in which his named ancestors, from 1790 through 1900, appear in public documents as anything but white. The legal acceptance of these lines as white by local officials contrasts curiously with the author's repeated statements that they were routinely labeled fpc. 6 As frontiersmen and mountaineers, his named ancestors repeatedly appear as white on federal censuses. Their marriages, where separate books were maintained for "white" and "colored," are entered in "white" books.7 In one case, when identifying the father of an out-of-wedlock child as "Melungeon" and "free person of color" (pp. 70-71), Kennedy does refer to a source-but misquotes the work he cites. The book is subtitled Free Black Population of Amherst County, Virginia, and it does mention (in other contexts) Kennedy's claimed ancestor, David S. Garland; but it does not identify' Garland as either Melungeon or fpc. In fact, it specifically indicates that he was white. 8

PREJUDICE

Kennedy alleges, but does not document, systematic, population-wide, race-based persecution of his ancestral families. His introductory assertion that Melungeons were "a people ravaged, and nearly destroyed, by the senseless excesses of racism and genocide" (p. xiii) begs for supporting evidence-as does his contention that Melungeon families were originally large landowners, deprived and marginalized by Scotch-Irish and other northern-European settlers (p.4). Similarly, the author offers no evidence for his statement that "being legally declared a 'Melungeon' meant losing one's land" (p. 125). He does not present one land grant, deed, or court case to show that his claimed Melungeon ancestral lines ever held large tracts of land or that they were deprived of them by whiter settlers. William Roberson is said to have "left Greenbriar County Virginia] at the same time the Melungeons were being 'evicted' "(p.25). No evidence of any Melungeon eviction is offered In Wise County, Virginia, supposedly, "undesirable land [was] ceded to the Melungeons in exchange for the prime property they had originally held. .... land where the town of Wise now sits (and) the beautiful farm country of the Powell Valley were territories well worth stealing" (p.39). Yet no court suits, deed’s, tax rolls, or land grants are cited. In repeating the family legend that "William Nash III had once owned some 6,000 acres of land, but gambled it away,"9 Kennedy's opinion that it was, instead, "probably taken [from ..... But to cover the truth [of their persecution] the family had to turn William III into an irresponsible reprobate" (pp. 39-40). Again, the author offers none of the court or land records or newspaper notices of public sales that genealogists routinely cite in cases such as this. Echoing a theme popular with some writers on Southern minorities, Kennedy contends (p.14 and elsewhere) that records are scarce because persecution caused Melungeon families to "avoid" census takers and other public officials. 10 That assertion is difficult to support in this instance, because many records concerning his ancestral families are readily available. Genealogists of all families suffer lacunae in the records, but most failures to find evidence can be overcome by applying improved research skills. Kennedy is not precise in his discussion of public laws. For example, he states that "by 1834 Melungeons had been stripped of most rights of citizenship in both Tennessee and North Carolina" (p.15) and that "Sarah [Adkins] and husband John Bennett left North Carolina with their children in the late 1830's, about the time that North Carolina declared Melungeons to be 'free persons of color"' (p.46, italics added). North Carolina never "declared Melungeons" to be free persons of color; nor did a Tennessee statute single out Melungeons for persecution. Statutes did restrict the rights of persons who were legally classed as free persons of color; but the 1830s definition of that class, in both states, was the same definition established in the 1700s. In Tennessee, state law limited the term to those whose parent or grand-parent was a full-blooded Indian or Negro (i.e., descent to the third degree). North Carolina's law extended it to "all Negroes, Indians, and mulattos.... to the fourth generation, inclusive" (i.e., individuals with one-eighth-degree Negro or Indian ancestry). The laws of the 1830s did not affect farnilies who were legally white, they did not change anyone's classification, and they did not mandate anyone to be legally nonwhite once they passed the point that had been defined in the 1700’s. 11 Similarly, Kennedy reinterprets voting laws. "By a sweep of the judicial pen,,, readers are told, census takers arbitrarily ruled Melungeons to be fpc "and, presto! [they] became legally disenfranchised" (p, 12). 12 Returning later to that theme, Kennedy states that his ancestor Alexander Hall, son of Isham, rose to the rank of captain in the Confederate army but was not permitted to vote because of his status as a "free person of color" (p.33). Yet the 1830 census of Russell County, Virginia, labels Isham Hall white. 13 By the 1850 enumeration, Alexander had become a head of household-white, as were his wife, children, father, and father's family. 14 Alexander's future son-in-law, Wickliffe Hendricks Nash, who also saw Confederate service (p.33), was similarly counted as white, both in his father's household in 1860 and in his own household in 1880. 15 Kennedy provides no documentation for his statement that "well into the 1900s, the Nashes and Halls were not permitted to vote" (p. 40). If this was the case, the cause needs to be documented, because it does not appear to have been based on their racial classification in the census. 16

GENEALOGY

Two sections, headed "No Place to Hide," briefly sketch Kennedy's maternal and paternal lines. Some genealogical problems are obvious, even without documentation. Other links, relationships, and conclusions do not withstand fact checking. The following illustrates the types of concerns that genealogists must address before deciding whether to add the author's conclusions to their family records. Mullin While writing of his multiple "shot[s] of Old Booker Mullins' genes" (p.73), Kennedy says next to nothing about the man, only that he was born 1762, died .1864, and was "apparently from Franklin County, Virginia" (p 47), 17 a county created in 1785. A variety of records actually exists to track this man and to sort him from numerous other contemporaries of the same name. Tax records that have been conveniently published since 1972 show this Booker to be a 1789 settler of Burks Fork and Greasy Creek of Indian Ridge, in Montgomery County, Virginia 18 (now the county-boundary area between Floyd and Carroll Counties, slightly above the North Carolina line). From here, Booker apparently moved south, as a subsequent census attributes to his son David a circa 1800 birth in North Carolina. 19 From there, they trekked westward into Floyd County, Kentucky, where Booker's household is enumerated-as white-in l8l0. 20 Other early-nineteenth-century censuses and land records (not discussed by Kennedy) place Booker and his grown children in both Floyd and its offshoot counties, Pike and Lawrence. 21 By 1830, this Mullins family had backwashed from eastern Kentucky into southwestern Virginia’s Russell County, where Booker is recorded as a free white male, aged sixty to seventy. 22 He last appears, 1860, in Wise County-aged ninety-six, of Virginia birth, and still white. 23 A more-serious genealogical problem, for which the evidence apparently confused Kennedy, is the identification of Booker's wife. She is said by Kennedy (without documentation) to be "Nancy Judith Stanley" in each of the four tables presented on pages 48, 49, 50, and 51. However, the text at page 48 discusses her as "Booker's wife, Nancy Stanley." At page 49, the text comments: "Old Booker may have had a previous marriage, possibly before his marriage to Nancy Stanley. The name Judith Bunch, or Bench, has occasionally been tied to Booker." Virginia's eighteenth- and nineteenth-century marriage records are highly incomplete. 24 Surviving records show that Judith Stanley married one of the several contemporary Booker Mullinses during 1803 in Franklin County, Virginia. However, this is not Kennedy's ancestral couple, because this Booker Mullins is shown consistently on the Franklin County censuses from 1810 through 1860. 25 Meanwhile, the Booker Mullins from whom Kennedy descends obviously had married by 1790 or so, because he had a son James) who wed in 1812 and another (Sherwood) who married in 1813. 26 The only evidence this reviewer has found of a Booker Mullins to Nancy {-} marriage is the 1835 union of Booker Mullins, son Sherwood and grandson of "Old Booker," to Nancy Potter in Pike County, Kentucky. 27 Chronology suggests that Kennedy attributed to "Old Booker" born circa 1764 some of the post-1835 children of this younger Booker and Nancy Mullins. 28 There were also at least two, possibly three, other men named Booker Mullins in the area of eastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia between 1790 and 1860 - classed as white, Yet another problem relating to the author's genealogical reconstruction of the Mullins family is his statement that the famed Mahala "Big Haley" (Collins) Mullins, of the Hancock County, Tennessee, Melungeons, "married into" the family of his own ancestor's son, Wilson Mullins; and he cited Wilson's birth in 1824 (p.48). Mahala herself was born in 1824; and the 1880 census shows that her husband, John Mullins (whose identity Kennedy appears not to know), was born about 1815. Kennedy does not show a relationship between her husband and his own family line. In any case, John was too old to have been a son of Wilson. Mullins-Adkins-Hall Pursuing the Mullinses through the federal censuses also yields evidence that Kennedy did not fully exploit the available sources. His genealogical table for the Hall family (p.36) cites two consecutive Hall-Mullins marriages: Isham Hall I (dates unknown) to Mary Mullins and Isham Hall II (1785-1856) to Jane Mullins. His only statement regarding the origins of either Isham is that the one born 1785 "claimed to be from Greenbriar County, Virginia" (p.30). For ancestor Henry Clyde Runyon, comp., Marriage Bonds of Pike County, Kentucky, 1822-1865 (Belfry, Ky: p.p., 1984), 78, citing file no. 431. Kennedy apparently confused the 26-year-old Sherrard [Sherwood] Mullins (wife Anna i.e., Nancy-aged 22), in Booker's 1860 household, with the much-older Sherwood who was Booker's son. Certainly Sherrard and Anna cannot have been the parents of Andrew Jackson "BrandyJack" Mullins, who was born in 1834 (Kennedy, p.50) 29 Two were heads of households on the 1840 census of Pike Co., Ky; one, age 40-50; another, 20- 30. See Jesse Stewart and Leah Stewart, comps., 1840 Federal Census of Pike County, Kentucky (n.p. n.p., Ca. 1990), 3. The 1850 census more fully identifies them as Booker Mullins (age 55, wife Mary; Floyd Co.) and Booker Mullens (age 31, wife Nancy; adjacent Pike Co.). See Barbara, Byron, and Samuel Sistle; 1850 Census, Eastern Ky. Counties of Breathitt, Caner, Floyd, Greenup, Johnson, Lawrence, Letcher, Morgan, Perry, and Pike (Nashville: Byron Sistler and Associates, 1994, 68, 301. One Booker Mullins married Polly Johnson, daughter of William Johnson, 16 Apffl 1821; see Skeens, Floyd Kentucky, Consent and Marriage Book, p.136. A second Booker wed Polly Newsom, daughter of Harrison Newsom, 5 December 1829; see Runyon, Marriage Bonds of Pike County, 43, file no.235. Subsequently, there appears Booker Mullins Sr., age 68, b. Va., with wife Polly, age 60, b. N.C., on the 1870 U.S. cens., Pike Co., Ky., dist. 9, Robinson Creek, dwell. 26, fam. 26; and Booker Mullins, age 70, with wife Polly, 65, both born in Va., on the 1880 U.S. cens., Pike Co., Ky., 9th precinct, Upper Elkhorn Creek, dwell 16, fam. 16. All listings identify them as white. 30 Gowen Research Foundation, Electronic Library, file GOWENMS.OO2, closed stacks, printout dated 30 March 1996, unpaginated. Available to foundation members via sysop, 806-796-0456. For the foundation, contact Arlee Gowen, 5708 Gary Ave., Lubbock, TX 79413. Mahala Collins was the daughter of Solomon and Virginia Jane "Gincie" (Goins) Collins. Adkins, whose granddaughter married in 18511 the only stated origin is "1700s, North Carolina" (p. 70). Yet the 1850 census of Russell County, Virginia, is more explicit. It is one of the serendipitous enumerations on which the marshal recorded the county of birth for all persons born within the Cornmonwealth. Both Isham Hall and Henry Adkins are assigned a birth in Franklin County, Virginia-the place Kennedy speculates for Booker Mullins. FOOTNOTES 1. This omission contrasts strikingly with T. Tipton Biggs, Knowing Mama: The Discovery of a Family (Omaha, Neb: privately printed, ca.1980), which painstakingly tracks the progress of Huntington. disease through an extended family from the 1820s until the present. 2. The claimed line from Pocahontas is said to have come through Benjamin Bowling born 1734)and wife Martha "Patsy" Phelps. This couple (although Kennedy does not state so) married 1751-53 in Albemarle Co., Va. See Families of Yancey County, North Carolina 5 (March 1988): 5; and "Osborne and Related Families," Pike County, Kentucky, 1821-1983; Historical Papers, no.5 (Pikeville: Pike Co. Hist. Soc., 1983), 61. Kennedy's connection depends on an assumption that the Benjamin who married Martha is the same one who later wed Charity Larrimore. This assertion was published in 1985 by W. W .Lake, "The Pocahontas Connection," The Mountain Empire Genealogical Quarterly 4 (Winter 1985): 214-7; but it has been challenged by David Risner, "Bolling Family Information," The Mountain Empire Genealogical Quarterly 7 (Winter 1988): 273-74, who presents contrary evidence. Kennedy points out that the ascending line of the Benjamin who married Martha Phelps is itself unproved, although often claimed-as in R. Marshall Shepherd, "John Rolfe Lineage," The East Kentuckian: A Journal of Genealogy and History 25 (September 1989): 34-35. For a general pro-and-con discussion of the limited evidence available, see Alexander R. Bolling Jr., The Bolling Family: Eight Centuries of Growth (Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1990), 114-17. 3. Because this essay is a book review rather than a full-fledged genealogical study, all of the author's families have not been comprehensively reconstructed. The present analysis is designed to indicate the direction that future research should take. 4. For a synopsis of this rich body of Sizemore oral history, see Jerry Wright Jordan, comp., Cherokee by Blood: Records of Eastern Cherokee Ancestry in the U.S. Court of Claims, 1906-1910, vol.1, Application’s to 1550 (Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, 1987), 126-81 Kennedy (p.24) cites 1725 as the date of Sizemore's birth. This is incompatible with the claims-case testimony, which holds that Ned's father fought in the Revolution and that two of his brothers were in the War of 1812. The oral histories may have been confused, but Kennedy does not cite corrective evidence or address the conflict. The testimony also does not document Kennedy's stated Sizemore connection to his Phipps family. Jeffrey C. Weaver, Eastern Cherokee Applications, Southwest Virginia Ancestors 4 (Winter 1990): 33, indicates that Edward ("Old Ned") Sizemore was a Loyalist, "hung by Col. Ben Cleveland on the Tory Oak in Wilkesboro NC." This must be a different generation from the "Old Ned" in the Sizemore testimony, who died in the 1850s. Regarding the ethnicity of this family and their census labels, consider for example, George and Owen Sizemore and their household members who are all considered white on the 1800 Ashe Co., N. C., census. See Eleanor Baker Reeves, A Factual History of Early Ashe County, North Carolina: Its People, Places and Events (Tex.: Taylor Publishing Co., 1986), 67. The 1820 census. of Ashe Co. similarly cites the households of George (Sr and Jr), Edward, and Owen as white. See Dorothy Williams Potter, 1820 Federal Census of North Carolina, vol. 2, Ashe County (Tullahoma, Tenn.: privately printed, 1970), 13. (ASHE COUNTY NC ONLINE CENSUS DATA ) 5. Quoted by David Hackett Fischer, Albion's Seed: Fou, British Folkways in America (N.Y: Oxford Univ. Press, 1989), 718. Kennedy (p.67) also proposes a deliberate fabrication of origins to explain another common type of genealogical carelessness-- an alleged birthdate of 1781 for Pleasant Home, said to be the son of Jesse Home, born 1777. 6. As previously noted, this reviewer has not retraced the author's lines through every available record. However, for all sources consulted and all lines traced, results were consistent. As representative examples: (1) The author repeatedly applies the term fpc to ancestral lines in Ashe Co., N.C. (pp.46.55-56. 69-70). While antebellum Ashe certainly had free persons of color, Kennedy's named ancestors were not among them. The 1820 census of Ashe (as a specific) lists six fpc house hold but Kennedy's Phipps, Swindle, White, Tolliver, and Osborn families were all classed there on as white. See Potter, 1820 Federal Census of North Carolina. . - Ashe County, 6, 11-12, 14-l6, 18-19. (2) As late as 1860, Kennedy's Swindle line was classified as white in Western Virginia; see 1860 U.S. cens., Wise Co., Va., pp. 28O~1, dwelling 110, family 110. (3) For 1870, Kennedy's lines of Kennedy, Kiser, Mullins, Nash, Powers, and Swindle (Russell and Wise Cos., Va.), were all considered white; the Hopkinses (found by the reviewer in Pike Co., Ky.), were deemed white there also. 7. For example, see Larry and Pat Taylor, eds., Wise County, Virginia, Marriage Register, 1887-19C0 (Clintwood, Va.: Southwest Va. Ancestors, 1994); and Dorcas McDaniel Hobbs and John Walter Picklesheimer Sr., comps., Pike County, Kentucky, Death Records, 1849-1909 (n.p.: p.p., ca. 1990). 8. Sherrie S. McLeRoy and William R. Mc LeRoy, Strangers in their Midst: The Free Black Population of Amherst County, Virginia (Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, 1993), 194,218.299. Garland is mentioned herein as administrator of the estate of John Redcross in 1802 and as the 1840 head of a white household that also contained 8 fpc and 40 slaves. 9. Nash's wealth extended considerably beyond land. The 1840 cens. credits him with 17 slaves. He is enumerated as a white male, aged 30-40, sharing his home with a white female, aged 20-30, and a white male, aged 15-20. See Elizabeth M. Carpenter, ed., 1840 Census, Russell County, Virginia (n.p.: p.p., Ca. 1991), 16. 10. The assertions of nineteenth century legal persecution in the adjacent counties of Wise, Russell, and Buchanan are also difficult to accept when one reads the 1880 census. entry for Kennedy's claimed great.great.grandparents, James Colley and Emma Farrel (whom he describes, p.77, as one of the 'Black Jacksons' W) Not only did the census taker label the family white, but he identified their son William as the county sheriff. See 1880 U.S. census., Buchanan Co., Va., Sand Lake Magisterial Dist., enum. dist. 16, sheet 45, dwell. 35, fam. 35. 11. For N.C., see Revised Statutes of the State of North Carolina, Passed by the General Assembly, 1836-37, 2 vols. (Raleigh: Turner and Hughes, 1837), chap. Ill, "An Act Concerning Slaves and Free persons of color." This source recapitulates prior laws. For Tenn., see Returnj. Meigs and William F. Cooper, eds., Code of Tennessee Exacted by the General Assembly of 1857-'8 (Nashville: E.G. Eastman and Co., 1858), 41, 687, which recounts prior acts; Joshua W Caldwell, Studies in the Constitutional History of Tennessee, 2d ed. (Cincinnati: Robert Clarke Co., 1907), 202-03; Robert. Shannon, ed., The Constitution of the State of Tennessee (Nashville: Law Book Pubi. Co., 1915), 374-76; and Thos. H. CoIdwell, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Tennessee during the Years 1868-9 (Louisville, Ky.: Fetter Law Book Co., 1902), 231-67. 12. Census takers, of course, did not wield a judicial pen. Their returns had no judicial authority. Again the author appears unfamiliar with record sources. Kennedy's theme of political discrimination against his ancestors is clearly at odds here with various evidences, for example, the subsequently discussed election of his ancestor to the Va. state legislature (as a Democrat) in 1879. If one cannot vote, one cannot hold office. 13. Elizabeth M. Carpenter, ed., 1830 Census of Russell County, Virginia (Clintwood, Va.: Mullins Princing Royalty, ca. 1991), 11. 14.1850 U.S. census., Russell Co., Va., pp. 323b-324, dwells. 1438-1439, fams. 1438-1439. 15.1860 U.S. census., Scott Co., Va., pp. 35~55, dwell. 816, fam. 815.1880 U.S. census., Wise Co., Va., enum. dist. 101, sheet 24, dwell. 249, fam. 249. Kennedy does not address the genealogical significance of the 1860 census., which shows Wickliff Nash in the home of his father, William Nash, age 59. At that time, William apparently had a much-younger wife, Virginia, age 29. The wife and mother cited by Kennedy, Margaret Ramey, was still alive that year, because she later appears as "mother" and "white" in her son's household; see 1880 U.S. census., Wise Co., Va., enum. dist. 101, sheet 24, dwell. 249, fam. 249. Other Rameys repeatedly appear as white on southwest Va. and eastern Ky. returns. The following 1850 enumeration entry also should be examined carefully for relevance: 1850 U.S. census., Scott Co., Va., pop. sch., p.422, dwell./fam. 967: Margaret Ramey, 28, female; Louisa J., 10, female; Wickliffe, 8, male; Sally, 60, female; and Worthington Brooks, 20, male, born in N.C. All the Rameys were said to have been born in Va. Presumably all were considered white, because they, like others on the page, have no entry to the contrary in the column for race. 16. For the turn-of the century racial status of this family, whose "darkness" is heavily treated by Kennedy, see 1900 U.S. census., Wise Co., Va., enum. dist. 123, sheet 3, fam. 4, dwell. 42, citing the widowed Louisa (Hall) Nash and her children as white. 17. This assumption may have been made on the basis of a birthplace provided for 67-year-old James Mullins on an 1857 marriage record. See John C. Mullins, wise County', Virginia, Marriage register, 1856-1886 (n.p.: p.p., 1981), 9, no.97. Franklin Co. was created from Henry and Bedford Cos. Prior to that, in the 1770s, family names associated with this Mullins line appear in Henry Co. See Lela C. Adams, Henry County, Virgina, Deed Book I and II Bassett, Va.: p.p., 1975), 30,44,82,91; and Lela C. Adams, 1778-1780 Tax List of Henry County, Virginia (Bassett, Va.: p.p., 1973), 16, 27-28, 41. 18. Nettie Schreiner-Yantis, ed., Montgomery County Virginia, Circa 1790: A Comprehensive Study-Including the 1789 Tax Lists, Abstracts of Over 800 Land Surveys ~ Data Concerning Migration (Springfield, Va.: p-p., 1972), 98. 19.1860 U.S. census., Wise Co., Va., p. 325, dwell. 400, fam. 400. A Mullins line that went from Pittsylvania Co., Va., into Burke Co., N.C., and from there into Russell Co., Va., has been put into print also. See Gary M. Mullins, "The Ancestral Lineage of Ollie Cox Mullins," The Mountain Empire Genealogical Quarterly 7 (Winter 1988): 21~38. This article is most helpful in distinguishing the various Mullins lines that came into Russell Co. by different routes than the one taken by Booker Mullins. 20.1810 U.S. census., Floyd Co., Ky., p.105. See also 1820 U.S. cens., Floyd Co., Ky., p.37. 21. In 1823, Booker Mullins was in the part of Floyd that had just been cutaway to create Lawrence; see Clayton R. Cox, "Pike County, Ky., Deed Book A, 1820-1828," The East Kentuckian 22 (March 1986): 16. Joe R. Skeens, comp., Floyd County, Kentucky, Consent and Marriage Book, 1808-1851 (Prestonsburg, Ky.: p.p., 1987), 21, shows the marriages of several Mullins men, including that of Kennedy's traced ancestor, David Mullins, to Jenny Short on 3 February 1820. Pike Co. was created from Floyd in 1822. For more on the family's activities there, see Dorcas Hobbs, "First Tax List of 1823," in Leonard Roberts, Frank Forsyth, and Claire Kelly, eds., Pike County, Kentucky, 1822-1967, Historical Papers, no.2 (Pikeville: Pike Co. Hist. Soc., 1976), 4-12 (which includes Booker Mullins, John Booker Mullins, and ten other Mullins landowners on Shelby Creek). 22. Carpenter, 1830 Census of Russell County, 17-18. 23.1860 U.S. cens., Wise Co., Va., p. 325, dwell. 401, fam. 401. 24. See the 1844 affidavit on this point that was published by Mary McCampbell Bell as "Who Is to Blame'." NGS Quarterly 75 (September 1987): 193. 25. Marshall Wingfield, Marriage Bonds of Franklin County, 1786-1858; Transcribed from the Original Records, Annotated and Alphabetically Arranged (Baltimore: Genealogical Pubi. Co., 1973), 166. According to the 1850 enumeration (dwell. 1496, fam. 1490), this Booker was aged 71; his wife Judith, 67. In 1860 (dwell. 335, fam. 331), Booker was 80 and Judith was 75. See Karen Mann Robuck, comp., Franklin County, Virginia, 1850 6,, 1860 Censuses (Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1990), 131. A married Judy Mullins, aged 63 and born in Va., died in August 1849 in Pike Co., Ky.; see Dorcas McDaniel Hobbs and John Walter Picklesheimer Sr., Pike County, Kentucky, Death Records, 1849-1909 (n.p.: p.p., ca. 1990). She could not have been Judith Stanley, who married in 1803. If the death record's age is correct, it is doubtful that she bore the older children of Kennedy's Booker. 26. James Mullins married Agnes Little in 1812; see Julius Little, "Isaac Little and his Descendants," The East Kentuckian 21 June 1985): 4. The actual marriage record does not list James's father. However, Sherwood Mullins was named as son of Booker Mullins when he wed Mary Roberts in 1813; see Skeens, Floyd County, Kentucky, Consent and Marriage Book, 21. 27. Clyde Runyon, comp., Marriage Bonds of Pike County, Kentucky, 1822-1865 (Belfry, Ky.: p.p., .1984), 78, citing file no.431. 28. Kennedy apparently confused the 26-year-old Sherrard [Sherwood] Mullins (wife Anna-i.e., Nancy-aged 22), in Booker's 1860 household, with the much-older Sherwood who was Booker's son. Certainly Sherrard and Anna cannot have been the parents ofAndrew Jackson "BrandyJack" Mullins, who was born in 1834 (Kennedy, p.50) 29. Two were heads of households on the 1840 cens. of Pike Co., Ky.: one, age 40-50; another, 20- 30. See Jesse Stewart and Leah Stewart, comps., 1840 Federal Census of Pike County, Kentucky (n.p.: n.p., Ca. 1990), 3. The 1850 cens. more fully identifies them as Booker Mullins (age 55, wife Mary; Floyd Co.) and Booker Mullens (age 31, wife Nancy; adjacent Pike Co.). See Barbara, Byron, and Samuel Sistle; 1850 Census, Eastern Ky. Counties of Breathitt, Caner, Floyd, Greenup, Johnson, Lawrence, Letcher, Morgan, Perry, and Pike (Nashville: Byron Sistler and Associates, 1994), 68, 301. Crie Booker Mullins married Polly Johnson, daughter of William Johnson, 16 Apffl 1821; see Skeens, Floyd Kentucky, Consent and Marriage Book, p.136. A second Booker wed Polly Newsom, daughter of Harrison Newsom, 5 December 1829; see Runyon, Marriage Bonds of Pike County, 43, file no.235. Subsequently, there appears Booker MuHins Sr., age 68, b. Va., with wife Polly, age 60, b. N.C., on the 1870 U.S. cens., Pike Co., Ky., dist. 9, Robinson Creek, dwell. 26, fam. 26; and Booker Mullins, age 70, with wife Polly, 65, hoth born in Va., on the 1880 U.S. cens., Pike Co., Ky., 9th precinct, Upper Elkhorn Creek, dwelL 16, fam. 16. All listings identify them as white. 30. Gowen Research Foundation, Electronic Library, file GOWENMS.OO2, closed stacks, printout dated 30 March 1996, unpaginated. Available to foundation members via sysop, 806-796-0456. For the foundation, contact Arlee Gowen, 5708 Gary Ave., Lubbock, TX 79413. Mahala Collins was the daughter of Solomon and Virginia Jane "Gincie" (Goins) Collins.© Virginia Easley DeMarce, Ph.D 5635 North Twenty-fifth Road Arlington, VA 22207

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Announcing a New Blog for Melungeon Historical Society - MHS

We are proud to announce a new blog for the Melungeon Historical Society. 

http://www.melungeon-historical-societymhs.blogspot.com

This blog will provide news of the MHS's activities and research findings, documents and featured guest articles.

Join us on Facebook too:

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This Book is Worthless for Melungeon Research

by Janet Crain

The Melungeons were a dark skinned people of indeterminate origin who were documented as having lived chiefly in East Tennessee and the surrounding area as early as about 1800. Once little known, they exploded to prominence in the last quarter of the twentieth century. An outdoor drama; Walking Toward the Sunset and a book; The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People by Brent Kennedy were chiefly responsible for bringing these people to national attention and then the Internet spread their fame like wildfire. Some of this notoriety was good. But some only served to spread false rumors as baseless as the local ones they replaced.

Some very well researched scholarly books followed. All this attention attracted the interest of academia. They arrived en masse to study, poke, prod and analyze the subjects. This book, Through the Back Door: Melungeon Literacies and Twenty-first Century Technologies by Katerine Vande Brake is the result of just such an effort. This is not a book to read to learn about Melungeon history. It has been removed from Mercer's offerings of Melungeon books with good reason. In my opinion, it is not a good book period, because there are too many false statements in it. I just finished this book and I am still wondering why a professional educator would write a book like this. This book represents one of the most flagrant abuses of the use of photos and full names of persons who did not give permission for their use that I have ever heard of.

Among the first rules of publishing being:

In using images, be careful not to:

• defame the person in the image through captions or narration
• portray them in a false light
• libel them or slander them with falsehoods
• injure their reputation
• subject them to hatred or contempt
• hold them up to ridicule
• distort their image by cropping or altering

http://www.pdimages.com/law/lawbookpage.htm

I believe the only infraction not committed was the last one.

Additionally, the author attributed remarks to two people which, if true cast them in a bad light, and, if not true, cast the author, herself, in a worse light. Suppose you were having a friendly chat with someone and she asked you a question about someone you both knew. And suppose you made an off the cuff remark that was rather mean and hateful. And suppose you later learned that the remark was now appearing in a published book. Would you be embarrassed? Would the third party be angry, annoyed or hurt? Two people were supposed to have said two other people were jealous of a 5th person. The way I see it, four people were maligned and embarrassed. Just to add a little, what...local color?

The book is an outgrowth of Dr. Vande Brake's dissertation which was finished in 2005. There was minimal updating to the book which was released in 2009. I can see this book being used as a required textbook for certain courses students have to take to fulfill educational requirements. The chapters about the Vardy Community and the Presbyterian Mission School built there in the 1920's were quite good and interesting, although at times condescending toward the local population. If only the author had stopped there, I could recommend this book with reservations.

But, no, unfortunately she felt a need to expound upon her theories and biases by examining the websites of several people, none of whom were paid to build their websites to my knowledge. Using the pretense of examining how literacy has affected the Melungeon people, she chose to critique three websites authored by and in two cases also owned by persons she thought to be of Melungeon descent. Although the fact that none of the three had lived the Melungeon experience, nor came from an illiterate rural background or even grew up in Tennessee would render the entire exercise moot.

However; I will enumerate the fallacies of this website critique as performed on each website. Her apparently considerable bias toward one of the website owners resulted in a "hatchet" job of an excellent Melungeon resource. The owner spent her own time and her own money building a considerable collection of historical documents and offering access free of charge to anyone who wanted such. She never had any advertisements on the site. These documents had been for the most part very hard to obtain and in many cases unknown to would be researchers. For this she was castigated and taken to task by a so called website design expert.

I must interject at this point that I feel an unasked for and unwanted critique of one's website to be as invasive as a critique of one's closet. "Her shoes were chaotic and a ratty old robe was prominently displayed as the most important item. Furthermore there was no map to guide me". Silly, but no more so than the author's remarks about a stranger's website. And to publish this in a book. The owner is not a famous person, she is not selling anything, she is not asking for pay for the documents she so freely offers. She is a tireless and talented researcher nonpareil. This researcher was accused of disagreeing with Brent Kennedy on every subject and this is simply not true. They kept up a vibrant email exchange of ideas and he agreed with much of her research.

The other two websites came off much better. Although she had mild criticism for Melungeons.com, she praised many aspects of the site. She praised the owner for supplying hyperlinks to books on Amazon and DNA companies, apparently confusing paid affiliate hyperlinks for added information. The owner agreed with her theories and she made that clear.

The third website discussed was that of the Melungeon Heritage Association, known also as MHA. This was a fairly well funded tax exempt organization. Capable of making large donations to the ATAA, the Assembly of Turkish American Associations, a Turkish lobbying group, this organization was apparently able to budget for website expenses such as host and domain name. Wayne Winkler, an officer of MHA was their webmaster and did a good job for what their stated intentions were. Whether he was paid or volunteer I do not know, nor think it relevant. Then and now, MHA was and is a strong Brent Kennedy supporter. While diverse viewpoints were presented, the main emphasis was and is on the premise that Melungeons descend from some hundreds of "Turks" dropped off on Roanoke Island in 1586 by Sir Francis Drake, (which never happened).

This Turkish genetic imput is supposed to account for their looks (dark skin), traits such as 6 fingers and Anatolian knots on the back of their skulls and all the myriad illnesses they were supposed to suffer from.

All of this foolishness has been thoroughly debunked and not just recently.

http://historical-melungeons.blogspot.com/2009/06/melungeon-myth-of-drake-dropping-off.html

It has been about a decade since doctors decided it was a fallacy to attribute Sarcoidosis to exotic genetic backgrounds. The disease was poorly understood when author Brent Kennedy was first diagnosed, but an article in 2001 Discover magazine described Sarcoidosis as a disease anyone could get, including Irish washer women. But did anyone bother to check?

Familial Mediterranean Fever was another exotic disease said to be running rampant in Hancock county, TN. It was not.

Josephs Machado Disease, a debilitating and ultimately fatal disease was said to be found in alarming numbers in Melungeons. However; Dr. Marie Boutte of the University of Nevada-Reno, who studies genetic diseases, particularly Machado-Joseph Disease, was not able to find a single case in a person of Melungeon descent anywhere. Her search was to continue and to date nothing more has been heard. Unfortunately this is another Melungeon Internet Myth that flourishes today.

http://historical-melungeons.blogspot.com/2008/03/melungeon-myth-josephs-machado-disease.html

Other so called Melungeon diseases include Behçet disease, which is not hereditary.



"No one knows why the immune system starts to behave this way in Behçet disease. It is not because of any known infections, it is not hereditary, it does not have to do with ethnic origin, gender, life-style, or age, where someone has lived or where they have been on holiday. It is not associated with cancer, and links with tissue-types (which are under investigation) are not certain. It does not follow the usual pattern for autoimmune diseases."

Wikipedia


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behcet_disease#Causes

http://historical-melungeons.blogspot.com/search?q=disease

It is extremely irresponsible to spread misinformation as this book
surely does.The author states that even if a family becomes "white enough" and moves to a new location, someone in the family will come down with a Melungeon disease or a baby will be born with 6 fingers. This is simply not true. Polydactyly is not hereditary in and of itself. It certainly isn't a Melungeon trait. Of all the Melungeon descendants I am acquainted with, only Brent Kennedy had this. It is not a shameful thing. It occurs with cousin marriages, but it occurs worldwide.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polydactyly

I would also take issue with the author's analysis of the Melungeon Rootsweb list and why it split into factions and lost users. The reasons are complex and reflect the author's misconceptions and naivete concerning the evolution of the Internet. People preferred Yahoo groups because they do not have rules like Rootsweb. Yahoo rules, such as they may be, are set by the owner(s). This allows for freer flow of conversation. Rootsweb forbids discussion of politics, religion, and medical advice. So Yahoo groups, of which there are thousands, reflect whatever a small or large like minded group of people want it to reflect. Melungeon-DNA Rootsweb list was created at Rootsweb's suggestion for those who wanted to discuss DNA, not because anyone was mad at anyone. Incidentally -L or -D is no longer appended to the name of a Rootsweb list. Another change since the author finished her dissertation in 2005.

Due to the limitations of space I will not discuss other issues in depth. The DNA errors alone could constitute an entire rebuttal, but I leave that for another time. But I do think it is wrong to publish a book in 2009 that is badly outdated and misleading. And does an injustice to several researchers who have contributed greatly to Melungeon research.

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Vardy Spring Fling

Betty Mahan, sister to Johnnie Rhea, making apple butter at Vardy 6/13/2009



On Saturday, June 13, the Vardy Historical Society held its Spring Fling from 10 am until 2 pm. The location was the Vardy Church Museum, which featured displays from the Presbyterian mission which provided education opportunities for Melungeon children from 1899 to the early 1970s.

The Spring Fling featured Appalachian crafts such as basket and chair weaving, apple butter making, corn grinding, shuck dolls, hominy making, a tractor show, and plenty of music.

Johnnie Rhea


Julie Jones Jordan


Sitting on Mahala's Porch



Sitting on porch of Minor Cabin; Betty Goins and Tari Adams


Bluegrass Band at Vardy


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Melungeon Conference Big Sucess

Roberta Estes, Penny Ferguson, Betty and Jack Goins, Cleland Thorpe, and Tari Adams. Photo taken on the Ridge before the Board meeting June 11, 2009.




Katherine Vande Brake



Kathy Lyday-Lee



Kathy James



Kathy James



Jack Goins


Jack Goins

The Melungeon Conference held yesterday, June 12, at the Hawkins County Rescue Squad meeting room in Rogersville, Tennessee was very successful. Near one hundred were in attendance and the presentations by Roberta Estes, founder of DNAExplain, a Michigan company that analyzes and interprets individual DNA tests, Katherine Vande Brake, author of Through the Back Door, Kathy James, Genealogist specializing in the Gibson and Collins families, Wayne Winkler, MHS President, Kathy Lyday-Lee, a professor at Elon University who taught a course on Melungeons and Jack Goins, Hawkins County Archivist and author of Melungeons and Other Pioneer Families were very well received.

President Wayne Winkler stated:

We had an outstanding conference yesterday at Rogersville with about 100 people in attendance, and great presentations by Jack Goins, Roberta Estes, Kathy Lyday-Lee, Katie Vande Brake, and Kathy James.

I truly believe yesterday was a milestone in Melungeon history. It was just a small, one-day event, but it was a significant first step toward establishing an honest historical portrayal of our people. I truly believe it's only going to get better. Yesterday was the realization of what we all hoped MHS would be - we worked together efficiently, presented some valuable information, busted a few myths, and are ready to not only continue the work of preserving the true history of our people, but creating some history of our own.

I couldn't be prouder of MHS. Thanks to everyone who was a part of this important event.

More pictures to come.

Kathy James



















Becky Nelson




























Wayne Winkler,MHS President

















Penny Ferguson

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MHS Conference in June

History, genealogy, and the latest DNA technology will come together at the first annual Melungeon Historical Society conference. The public is invited to this event, which will be held on June 12 at the Hawkins County Rescue Squad meeting room, 955 East McKinney Avenue, Rogersville, Tennessee.

"For nearly two hundred years, writers and researchers have speculated about the origins of the Melungeons," says Wayne Winkler, president of MHS. "For the most part, the story of the Melungeons has been told through myths and legends. The Melungeon Historical Society believes that answers will be found through scholarly research."

Presentations at the MHS conference will begin at 10 a.m. and will cover topics such as the origin and historical uses of the term "Melungeon," DNA research on Melungeon families, and other topics related to the multi-ethnic people first documented in the Clinch River region in the early 19th century. The use of DNA technology in genealogy will be covered by Roberta Estes, founder of DNAExplain, a Michigan company that analyzes and interprets individual DNA tests.

Other presenters include Jack Goins, Hawkins County Archivist and author of Melungeons and Other Pioneer Families; Kathy Lyday-Lee, a professor at Elon College who taught a course on Melungeons; and Kathy James, who will present DNA information on the Gibson and Collins families.

"This conference is of special interest to those who want to learn more about the Melungeons," said Winkler, "but it is also designed to benefit anyone interested in genealogy and especially in the use of DNA technology to trace family lines."

The conference is free, but donations are suggested to help promote the work of the Melungeon Historical Society. For more information, contact Winkler at 423.439.6441 or

winklerw@etsu.edu.

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Why is Fort Christanna important?

Hat Tip: Don Collins

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 1:11 PM EDT
By Gay Neale

On Saturday, April 25 at 2 p.m. Fort Christanna Historical Site will officially be opened with a gala event at the site. The public is heartily invited to come and see the historic opening of this new Brunswick attraction.

Why is this piece of land hidden on a dirt road in the woods so important? Why will hundreds of people celebrate its existence on the 25th?

In 1714 Virginia was a colony of Great Britain. The area that now is Brunswick County was wilderness, with only a few settlers and with wandering groups of Native Americans displaced from their Tidewater lands. Virginia's governor, Alexander Spotswood, was concerned about the safety of settlers and wanted to provide a safe place for more people to come. He was also concerned about the wandering groups of Indians, known as the Tributary Indians, who were often attacked by their enemies, the Nottoway and Meherrin tribes. He additionally wanted to provide a trading site for the Native Americans of the area. He found the ideal spot on a cliff above a bend in the Meherrin River. The colony's legislature provided funding, and in 1714 the fort was built. At that time it was the farthest western outpost of the British Empire. The fort was five-sided with each side some 300 feet long and made of a palisade of split logs. At each corner small bastion houses held a 1400-pound cannon apiece. Twelve rangers under the command of Captain Robert Hicks were housed in the fort. They were young men who rode around the neighboring settlements to offer some protection to the new settlers. Spotswood built a house for himself about a mile from the fort.

The fort was large, covering over three acres, and probably had many buildings inside, such as a storehouse, a dormitory for the rangers, a blacksmith, stables, and perhaps there were gardens, pig pens and chickens. There was certainly an Indian School.

With Spotswood's encouragement, the Tributary Indians moved to Fort Christanna and banded under the name Saponie. They built a village not far from the fort, described as a circle of buildings. Over 200 Native Americans lived in the village. Governor Spotswood paid from his own pocket to hire a teacher, Charles Griffin, to educate the Indian children who numbered as many as 100 at one time. He taught them the Anglican catechism and prayers as well as the three "Rs". .

Cont. here:
http://t.love.com/203932745

Related:
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/brunswick/history/ftchrist.txt



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