In search of the Lost Tribe in Ohio...
2)
Capt'n Tobias Thorne -the only ever mythical melungeon sea captain
The word "Melungeon" itself is a derogatory, inflammatory term. It has been used through the years to create anger, dissension, and discrimination, indicating a lower type of human being. In fact Melungeons are American Indians who graciously have accepted others into their families.
O them melungeons, they'll get you too
The Hellboy cartoon below illustrates how Melungeons have been portrayed in popular culture.The defamation lives on.
This
is a US Government Document, clearly states the 'Melungeans"
were a branch of the Croatan/Lumbee Indians.
Indians
of North Carolina. Letter from the Secretary of the Interior
transmitting, in response to a Senate resolution of June 30, 1914, a
report on the condition and tribal rights of the Indians of Robeson
and adjoining counties of North Carolina. January 5, 1915. --
Referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs and ordered to be
printed. January 13, 1915. -- Accompanying illustrations ordered
printed.
Melungeans
were a branch of the Croatan-Lumbee Indians--govt doc
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
San
Miguel de Gualdape Slave Rebellion of 1526
San
Miguel de Gualdape was the first European settlement in
what
is now the continental United States, founded by Spaniard
Lucas
Vázquez de Ayllón in 1526. It was to last only
three
months of winter before being abandoned in early 1527.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
History
Records
show that in 1521, Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón
a
wealthy sugar planter of Santo Domingo, had sent
Francisco
Gordillo northward to explore the
continent.
Upon reaching the Bahamas, he ran into his cousin,
Upon reaching the Bahamas, he ran into his cousin,
slave
trader Pedro de Quexos (Pedro de Quejo), and the two of
them
set out together. They landed at the “River of St. John the
Baptist”,
possibly the Pee Dee River, where they kidnapped 70
natives
to sell in Hispaniola, including one, given the name
Francisco
de Chicora, who provided some ethnological
information
about his province, Chicora, and the neighboring
provinces.
Chicora was evidently one of several Carolina Siouan
territories
subject to their king, Datha of Duahe (Duarhe).
The
Siouan captives were described as white, dressed in skins,
and
larger than the average Spaniard.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The
Secret Voyage of Sir Francis Drake:
1577-1580
By
Samuel Bawlf
"So,
on October 7, 1568, Hawkins ordered ashore those of his
men
"such as were willing to land" and sailed for England with
those
who "were moft desirous to goe homewardes." Aiming to
reach
the French Huguenot colony in Florida, about thirty of
those
left behind banded together and set off on the 1,500-mile
walk
around the Gulf of Mexico. Five months later they
reached
Florida but were unable to find the French colonists
because
they had been massacred by the Spaniards three years
earlier.
The
sailors turned north, following Indian trails from one tribal
territory
to another, invariably being greeted hospitably.
As
more of them elected to remain with their native hosts,
the
party steadily diminished. Those who chose not to stay in
New
Spain dispersed themselves in many directions.
Many
were never heard from again.
Those
who chose to follow the lead of David Ingram, Richard
Brown
and Richard Twide, marched northward hoping to
find
passage home on English or French fishing vessels that
frequented
the coast of New England and New Brunswick.
For
the next 11 months of 1568-69, Ingram, Brown and Twide
stayed
together and walked more than 3,000 miles up the
east
coast of America, passing through Maine, to their eventual
destination
in St. John, New Brunswick. Once in St. John,
Ingram
persuaded a French fishing boat captain, Captain
Champlaine,
to give him passage to France aboard the ship
Gargarine.
Sailing from St. John, the Gargarine made France
in
only twenty days, and Ingram found himself back in England
near
the end of September in 1569."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Douglas Summers Brown
The Catawba Indians:
The People of the River
p46-47
No one knows what became of the men and the fortifications
along Pardo's thousand-mile trail. Henry Savage says ,
"Some men were killed, some drifted back down the trail
when the captain failed to return."
Others, including a fifer with his wife and children, stayed
and threw in their lot with their Indian hosts. Boyana himself
returned to Santa Elena only to be tomahawked by an
Edisto Indian.
In the Holston Valley of southwestern Virginia and of eastern
Tennessee, just across the mountains from the region of Old Fort and
Marion, North Carolina, is an ethnic group whose origins have
aroused much speculation but who stoutly insist that they are
Portuguese. They are called "Melungeons," (also
Melungeans, Malungeons,") a term whose meaning is
unknown.
Local historians believe they are the descendants of mixed
marriages between Indian women and the Spaniards who
had a post near Old Fort, North Carolina. (19) .
(19) - Information came from my father, historian *Lewis
Preston Summers (See below). This group has been
described, though somewhat inaccurately, by W.L. Worden,
"Sons of the Legend," The Saturday Evening Post,
Oct. 18, 1947; also, in "The Melungeons, the Mystery People
of Tennessee,"
The Tennessee Conservationist, August, 1959.
These articles were called to my attention by W. P. Grohse of
Sneedville, Tenn., a student of the Melungeons' origin. A
connection between these people and the "Turks" near
Sumter, S.C. who may or may not have Catawba blood, has
been suggested. The Melungeons are said by some to have
stopped over in South Carolina enroute to Tennessee.
*Lewis Preston Summers b.1868 d.1943 m. in 1897 Annie
Katherine Barbee. Lewis was the author of "Summers
History of Southwest Virginia." Lewis was the Abingdon Post
Master from 1890-1894. He began his legal practice in 1895.
He was appointed U.S. district attorney by President
Harding in 1922. He was a member of the Virginia State Bar
Association and the Presbyterian Church. Summers was
also chairman of the Walnut Grove Cemetery Association,
Washington Co., VA. The land for this cemetery was
originally owned by Robert Preston, Sr., whose wife
Margaret Rhea Preston, and mother, Eleanor Fairman
Preston, established the cemetery. Lewis and Annie had
7 children.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Will
Allen Dromgoole wrote in 1890:
"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."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Callaway Collins is an Indian~~"
reprinted from the Knoxville Register September 6, 1848 quoting from the Louisville Examiner~~ The legend of their history, which they carefully preserve, is this. A great many years ago, these mountains were settled by a society of Portuguese Adventurers, men and women--who came from the long-shore parts of Virginia, that they might be freed from the restraints and drawbacks imposed on them by any form of government. These people made themselves friendly with the Indians and freed, as they were from every kind of social government, they uprooted all conventional forms of society and lived in a delightful Utopia of their own creation, trampling on the marriage relation, despising all forms of religion, and subsisting upon corn (the only possible product of the soil) and wild game of the woods.
These intermixed with the Indians, and subsequently their descendants~~~
They are privileged voters in the state in which they live and thus, you will perceive, are accredited citizens of the commonwealth. They are brave, but quarrelsome; and are hospitable and generous to strangers. They have no preachers among them and are almost without any knowledge of a Supreme Being. They are married by the established forms, but husband and wife separate at pleasure, without meeting any reproach or disgrace from their friends. They are remarkably unchaste, and want of chastity on the part of females is no bar to their marrying. They have but little association with their neighbors, carefully preserving their race, or class, or whatever you may call it: and are in every respect, save they are under the state government, a separate and distinct people. Now this is no traveller's story.
They are really what I tell you, without abating or setting down in aught in malice. They are behind their neighbors in the arts. They use oxen instead of horses in their agricultural attempts, and their implements of husbandry are chiefly made by themselves of wood. They are, without exception, poor and ignorant, but apparently happy. Having thus given you a correct geographical and scientific history of the people, I will proceed with my own adventures.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These intermixed with the Indians, and subsequently their descendants~~~
They are privileged voters in the state in which they live and thus, you will perceive, are accredited citizens of the commonwealth. They are brave, but quarrelsome; and are hospitable and generous to strangers. They have no preachers among them and are almost without any knowledge of a Supreme Being. They are married by the established forms, but husband and wife separate at pleasure, without meeting any reproach or disgrace from their friends. They are remarkably unchaste, and want of chastity on the part of females is no bar to their marrying. They have but little association with their neighbors, carefully preserving their race, or class, or whatever you may call it: and are in every respect, save they are under the state government, a separate and distinct people. Now this is no traveller's story.
They are really what I tell you, without abating or setting down in aught in malice. They are behind their neighbors in the arts. They use oxen instead of horses in their agricultural attempts, and their implements of husbandry are chiefly made by themselves of wood. They are, without exception, poor and ignorant, but apparently happy. Having thus given you a correct geographical and scientific history of the people, I will proceed with my own adventures.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Court deposition -
3/9/1887, Rockhouse, Letcher Co Ky
“He also stated
there was a large family of Collins on Colly, generally illiterate
and weak minded and contrary to the theory of {Cotton}Mathers? they
hold undisputed sway in the Valley of Colley. They are below their
surrounding neighbors in social standing and hence, there is but
little commingling in a social way.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
The
Malungeons According to Joanne
The
Malungeons were in fact Portuguese Adventurers
who
intermixed with the local Indians in the Carolinas.
These
families were reported along the Pee Dee River
as
early as 1725, they may have joined Christian Priber's
'Paradice',
his Utiopa in the Cherokee Indian Town. They
were
likely ejected after his arrest in 1743 when Chief
Attacullaculla
signed an agreement in Charleston to
trade
only with the British, return runaway slaves and
expel
Non-English whites from their territory. In return
they
received guns, ammunition, and red paint.
From
court records found in North Carolina, Arkansas,Tennessee,
Indiana,
Missouri, Illinois:
These
families from the Pee Dee declared they were
Portuguese
and in most cases they succeeded. The Ivey,
Halls,
Chavis, Shoemake, Bolton, Perkins, Goins, Collins,
Nickens,
Dungee, and others have all been identified as
Portuguese
in courts, county histories, etc.
In
1848 a journalist from Louisville, Kentucky visited
Newman's
Ridge where he stayed at the Vardy Inn
and
wrote the 'legend of their history' -- and it would
appear
that Vardy Collins and/or his wife 'Spanish Peggy
Gibson'
were possibly the source. Most researchers
assume
Vardy was giving the history of his Collins family
but
it is likely his ancestors were merely Indians as were
many
of the other early settlers on Newman's Ridge. The
little
Portuguese community on the border of the Carolinas
appears
to have started breaking up around 1800 and many
had
moved west after the War of 1812.
The
Lowery of the Lumbee families according to history have
Portuguese
ancestors and Tobias Gibson, son of Jordan is
also
said to have had Portuguese ancestry. It seems
fairly
clear to me that the Portuguese settlers who
intermixed
with one tribe, most likely the Cheraw or
Saura,
became the 'Lumbee' while just across the line
those
same families who intermixed with the other tribes, possibly
the
Catawba, Pee Dee, etc., became known as Redbones. As
they
moved intoTennessee and intermixed with the
Saponi-Occaneechi
families of Gibsons, Collins, etc., they became what was
described
in 1848 as the 'present race of Melungens.'
No
Author
1754
Volume
05, Pages 161-163
[From
MSS. Records in Office of Secretary of State.]
Abstracts
of returns from the several counties in
response
to circular from Governor Dobbs. [See ante,
page
144.—Editor.]
~~~
Drowning Creek on the head of Little Pedee, 50
families
a mixt Crew, a lawless People, possess the
Lands
without patent or paying quit rents; shot a
Surveyor
for coming to view vacant lands being inclosed in
great
swamps, Quakers to attend musters or pay as in
the
Northern Counties; fines not high enough to oblige
the
Militia to attend musters
When
this mixed race was first observed by the early
settlers
of the upper Cape Fear [2] about 1735, it is said
that
they spoke English, cultivated land, lived in
substantial
houses, and otherwise practised the arts of
civilized
life, being in these respects different from any
Indians
tribe. [3]
A
1725 map by John Herbert shows the Cheraw/Sarah
tribe
on the Pedee River not far from Drowning Creek
where
these settlers were recorded ten years later. Also
in
the South Carolina Gazette October 3, 1771 it was
reported
that one Winsler Drigger had been captured
“near
Drowning Creek in the Charraw settlement.’‘
The
above records show that there were people living in
this
area as early as 1725 and as late as 1771 identified
as
Cheraw/Saura Indians yet in 1754 they were called a
‘mixed
crew’ and not marked down as Indians?
Did
the Portuguese arrive in the twenty years between
1725
and 1754, mixing with this tribe and living as white
people
and speaking English?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert
K Thomas
Around
1750, several tribes further east --- the Nansemond,
Yeopin,
and Poroskite --- lost their lands and began to
fragment
into individual family groups. These Indian families
began
to migrate to the frontier and settle near the Saponi.
In
1760, Eaton died and The Saponi lost their land base.the frontier had changed thenThe Saponi also began to
fragment
into individual families, and move west. In 1760’s,
I
can pick up the Collins in Orange County, on the frontier,
west
of Hendersonville, N.C.
1755
Edition of the Fry-Jefferson map shows the location of Occaneechi
By
1790, many of these Indian families, including the Collinses, had
“bunched up”
in the counties of extreme northeastern North
Carolina. Then in the 1790’s, they spread all over Northeastern
Tennessee, Southwestern Virginia, and over into
what is now Letcher
and Knott Counties, Kentucky. Many of them , like the
Bollings of
Wise Wise County, became prominent families in their areas.
Then,
in the 1830s, Virginia became one of the more
consciously
racist and deliberately elitist states in the Union.
First,
most poor whites were disenfranchised by a property
value
requirement; most Virginians west of the Blue Ridge,
as
well as the poor further east, could not legally vote in
Virginia.
Further, a new legal category included citizen
Indians,
free blacks, and all non-whites. These “free colored”
could
not vote, bear arms, travel freely, etc. In southwest
Virginia
and neighboring parts of Tennessee, the more
established
Indian families “weathered the storm”.
The
Bollings in Wise County redefined their status as being
descendants
of Pocahontas and John Rolfe, thus escaping
the
free colored category. Other families who were less
wealthy,
darker, and concentrated in one area, got caught
in
the free colored category; and, thus the Melungeons of
southern
Wise County came into existence.
By
1840, the situation became intolerable for some Indians
in
Southwest Virginia, and they began to head for Kentucky,
a
less repressive social and legal atmosphere. In the 1840s,
three
Collins families moved into into Perry (became)
Letcher
County, Kentucky.
In
the 1850s, two Collins families moved to Johnson County,
just
south of Paintsville (Grandpap William Collins and
brother).
{Frankie’s Blackburn note here: This is where my
2nd
great grandparents Griffin and Rachael Collins went
also,
and were listed as Mulatto on Johnson County census
records}
These
Collinses were very Indian looking and dark.
They
must have been almost full-blood Indians.
Not
all the Collinses headed west in 1760 after Colonel
Eaton
died. Some few went south to what is now Robeson
County,
North Carolina, and became part of the modern
Lumbee
Indians in that region. The history of the Collins
family
is both remarkable and fascinating. They are almost
an
“ethnic group” all by themselves. There are Seneca
Cayuga
Collinses in New York [Again we need to find these
Collins
families], White and Melungeon Collinses in east
Tennessee
and Southeast Virginia, part-Indian Collinses all
down
the Big Sandy and into Southern Ohio, Lumbee Indian
Collinses
in North Carolina --- all,
at least distantly, related, and
all descended from two or three
households of Saponi Indians in 1740.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Martha Simmerman story: Her family was Portuguese
and English and Native American. The Supreme Court ruled
in HER FAVOR; so did the state court. The Bolton' DNA
haplogroups are not African, they are the same haplogroups
found in Spain and Portugal. The courts stated she never
lied.
Excerpt From:
Pioneer Families
Bolton Was A Melungeon Who Farmed Moccasin Bend Land
Byline: John Wilson
2/10/1998
Solomon Bolton was a Melungeon, a people who were a mixture of Indian, black and white ancestry, and was a soldier in the War of 1812. His lovely daughter, Jemima, had a tragic story. Another Bolton pioneer in Hamilton County was Robert Bolton, whose father was among the state's earliest settlers. Solomon Bolton was born in North Carolina just before 1800 and was living in South Carolina when he enlisted for the War of 1812. His wife, Rachel, was from South Carolina. They moved to Tennessee at Blount County, then at Marion County prior to moving to Hamilton County in the 1840s. Solomon Bolton was a tenant on the large farm of the Simmermans at Moccasin Bend.
The Bolton children included Elizabeth, Sarah, Hiram, Solomon Jr., Eliza and Martha, in addition to Jemima. The latter daughter "was famed for her beauty, her grace of manner and modesty. She was a dark brunette. She had a suit of black hair, which was coveted by all the girls who knew her. Her form was petite, and yet, withal was so plump and so well developed as to make her an irresistibly charming young woman.
Pioneer Families
Bolton Was A Melungeon Who Farmed Moccasin Bend Land
Byline: John Wilson
2/10/1998
Solomon Bolton was a Melungeon, a people who were a mixture of Indian, black and white ancestry, and was a soldier in the War of 1812. His lovely daughter, Jemima, had a tragic story. Another Bolton pioneer in Hamilton County was Robert Bolton, whose father was among the state's earliest settlers. Solomon Bolton was born in North Carolina just before 1800 and was living in South Carolina when he enlisted for the War of 1812. His wife, Rachel, was from South Carolina. They moved to Tennessee at Blount County, then at Marion County prior to moving to Hamilton County in the 1840s. Solomon Bolton was a tenant on the large farm of the Simmermans at Moccasin Bend.
The Bolton children included Elizabeth, Sarah, Hiram, Solomon Jr., Eliza and Martha, in addition to Jemima. The latter daughter "was famed for her beauty, her grace of manner and modesty. She was a dark brunette. She had a suit of black hair, which was coveted by all the girls who knew her. Her form was petite, and yet, withal was so plump and so well developed as to make her an irresistibly charming young woman.
She was most beautiful of face, and had a rich black eye, in whose depths the sunbeams seemed to gather. When she loosed her locks, they fell almost reaching the ground, and shone in the sunlight, or quivered like the glamour which the full moon throws on the placid water. She was the essence of grace and loveliness." One of the young Simmermans, Jerome C., fell in love with Jemima. His Bivans step-mother and step-sisters opposed the marriage, fearing to lose a share of the large Simmerman estate. With the aid of Ab Carroll and John Cummings, Jerome and Jemima made their way across the river and eloped to Trenton, Ga. That marriage occurred June 14, 1856.
The couple had a son, who died as an infant. Then a daughter, Martha, was born in the latter part of 1858. Eight days later, Jemima Bolton Simmerman died. That event "was such an overpowering shock to the father that he went violently insane, and had to be taken into custody and kept under guard for a long time."
The couple had a son, who died as an infant. Then a daughter, Martha, was born in the latter part of 1858. Eight days later, Jemima Bolton Simmerman died. That event "was such an overpowering shock to the father that he went violently insane, and had to be taken into custody and kept under guard for a long time."
The Bivans family later filed suit seeking the inheritance. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Bolton secreted young Martha Simmerman away for her safekeeping. The suit claimed the marriage was void because a Tennessee law prohibited the marriage of a white person with a person of Negro blood to the sixth degree.
The Jerome Simmerman side finally won the suit after it was proven the Boltons were Melungeons. It was pointed out that Solomon Bolton could not have served in the War of 1812 had he been a Negro or mulatto. He proved his service because he was still able to recall the roll of his company from the captain down to the last private on the list. The exact date of the marriage was also proven during the trial. Joel Cross said he could remember it because also that day a Baptist preacher leading a revival in Dade County got drunk, some horses broke loose and tore up several acres of his corn, and he had a baby girl born. When Elizabeth Bolton died at the age of 78 in 1908, she was living in North Chattanooga with her niece, Martha, who had married James M. Carter.
http://www.historical-melungeons.com/bolton.html
Love without borders:
The Martha Simmerman story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCDgeV9mlc4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Avoiding Pitfalls in Melungeon Research
by
Pat Spurlock Part 2
As
you research, you may have to settle for the fact that
perhaps
your family really isn't Melungeon. I like to tell
folks
that if anyone ever wanted to be a Melungeon I do,
but
I have never found a direct ancestor who qualifies.
My
maiden name is Spurlock. My father's paternal
ancestry
is traditionally French and Indian, and
specifically
Algonquin and Cherokee. I can trace the
Spurlock
family back to New Kent County, Virginia--
which
was the wrong side of the tracks in the 1600s.
In
addition, their land there adjoined the Saponi Indians.
My greatest pleasure is in
knowing my maiden name made
W.A.Plecker's "Mongrel"
list. Unfortunately, all this doesn't
make me a
Melungeon although I wish it did. I just can't prove my
connection
and to my knowledge, my family was never
considered
Melungeon. The key is that something made
certain
families uniquely Melungeon while others were
not.
It's our job to discover those differences.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``
Collins
from Reed Island
Joanne
Pezzullo
Herald
and Tribune (Jonesborough, Tennessee)
27
Jan 1876, Thu Page 2
HANCOCK
COUNTY, Tennessee
Sneedville
is situated not far from Clinch River, in a beautiful valley at the
foot of Newmans Ridge. It contains a population of about one hundred
and fifty souls, one log church, one Academy, a Court House and Jail.
The original name of the place was "Greasy Rock," so called
because on a certain hedge of flat rocks near the town, the Indians
are said to have skinned their bears. Hancock county was organized
from a part of Hawkins County in 1848. It contains some very good
farming lands, though most of the county is very rough and
mountainous. It is by nature well adapted to the growing of the
grasses, and could be made one of the best counties for raising sheep
and cattle in the State. But the people grow mostly corn, oats and
wheat and boat their surplus down the Clinch River to Chattanooga in
flat-boats. The county has a varied population-- a great many of the
people are industrious, enterprising and intelligent, while some are
groveling, vicious and indigent. A race of people mostly by the name
of Collins and Mullins live on the top, and along the spurs of
Newmans Ridge, and some of them in a fertile valley called
"Blackwater," "history tells not of their origin,"
but as far as I can learn from the oldest ones among them, their
ancestors came there from "Reed Island"about the beginning
of the present century. They claim to be of Welsh extraction some of
them are quite dark in complexion others of a deep copper color. They
all have straight hair, generally dark eyes, sharp noses, thin lips,
and some of them very peculiar physiognomies. They have none of the
peculiar marks of the African about them, and I have no idea that
they have any African blood in them. The lands cleared out and
cultivated by them on Newman's Ridge are said to be rich and
productive. These people were all loyal to the Unites States
Government in the late war and many of them served in the Union army
and made good soldiers. ..................
"VIATOR."
Rogersville,
Tenn. January 1876
Fincastle
County 1773 Delinquent Tax Lists:
David
Collens, Elisha Collens, Ambrus Collens, Samuel Collens, John
Collens, Lewis Collens, John Collens Junr., George Collens, Charles
Collens. On James McGavock's List of Delinquents. At a Court held for
Fincastle Decr 6 1774 "This List of delinquents on New River &
Reed Creek was received by the Court containing 213 Tithables and is
that ought to be Received by the Vestry of the Parish of Botetourt.
W. Ingles"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October
27, 1993 the federal government recognizes the Collins, Austins, and
Gibsons who moved to the Catawba reservation as Native Americans: The
following is the final base membership roll of the Catawba Indian
Nation of South Carolina and is final for purposes of the
distribution of funds from the Per Capita Trust Fund established
under Section 11(h) of the Act of October 27, 1993 (Pub. L. 103116;
107 Stat. 1124).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The
Blackwater Valley lies between Mulberry and Newman’s Ridges, and is
from half a mile to mile wide. Twenty years ago it was still a
wilderness, but is now under good cultivation, and divided into small
farms upon which are rather poor dwellings and outbuildings. In this
valley and along Newman’s Ridge, reaching into Lee County,
Virginia, are settled the people called Melungeons. Some have gone
into Kentucky, chiefly into Pike County, others are scattered in
adjacent territory.The first settlers here were the great grand
parents, Varday Collins, Shephard Gibson, and Charley Williams, who
came from Virginia it is said, though other say from North Carolina.
They have marked Indians resemblances in color, feature, hair,
carriage, and disposition.
A Visit To The Melungeons 1897
A Visit To The Melungeons 1897
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James H. Nickens
Reconsidered:
The Indian Ancestry of
Melungeons
The
ethnic identity and origins of the Melungeon people have perplexed
investigators of every stripe for more than a century. Imaginative
theories have suggested Phoenician, Carthaginian, Portuguese,
Turkish, and early Welsh origins. Others believed the Melungeons were
a lost tribe of Israel or survivors of the Roanoke Colony.
Speculation grew that Melungeons were descended from Spanish
explorers, shipwrecked Portuguese sailors, or Turkish Pirates.
Court
cases established Melungeon as a distinct yet problematic racial
identity - that of a relatively darker people classified as white,
then Free People of Color but later reclassified as white or
“Portuguese”. By the end of the 19th century the entire
population of the Bell’s Bend people had “White” stricken in
the census and “Portuguese” inserted. Melungeons thus became the
stuff of legend.
JUST
REGULAR FOLKS
Many
and varied physical descriptions have been recorded of the
Melungeons. Among those recorded descriptions are “Indian “, “not
as dark as the Indian “, “a race of light skinned Indians”, and
an “Indian-like people”.
Nevertheless,
the recurrent theme in Malungeon Town lore has been that of Indian
ancestry. It is this aspect of the Melungeons which commands the
attention of the Virginia Indian Heritage Association.
The
uninformed assumption was made that these populations were some
ill-defined mixture of the three perceived races, presumably Indian,
white and Negro.The conclusions of the Tri-Racial Isolate theorists
are marred in four critical areas:
1.
Lack of sufficient knowledge of Indian
history
2.
Lack of familiarity with Indian genealogy
3.
Failure to identify Indian people outside of a
historical
tribal context
4.
A paradigm driven by a pathological
fascination
with perceived racial constructs
rather
than ethnicity.
In
short – Insufficient Research layered upon a misguided and
erroneous foundation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Walter Ashby Plecker:
the
first registrar of Virginia’s Bureau of Vital Statistics, starting
in 1912, forced Indians to classify themselves as black. The tribes,
he said, had become a “mongrel” mixture.
"I
thought Plecker was a devil," she says. "Still do."
Walter
Ashby Plecker was the first registrar of Virginia's Bureau of Vital
Statistics, which records births, marriages and deaths. He accepted
the job in 1912. For the next 34 years, he led the effort to purify
the white race in Virginia by forcing Indians and other nonwhites to
classify themselves as blacks. It amounted to bureaucratic genocide.
He
worked with a vengeance.
Plecker
was a white supremacist and a zealous advocate of eugenics - a now
discredited movement to preserve the integrity of white blood by
preventing interracial breeding. "Unless this can be done,"
he once wrote, "we have little to hope for, but may expect in
the future decline or complete destruction of our civilization."
Plecker's
icy efficiency as racial gatekeeper drew international attention,
including that of Nazi Germany. In 1943, he boasted: "Hitler's
genealogical study of the Jews is not more complete."
Plecker
retired in 1946 at the age of 85 and died the following year. The
damage lives on.~~ Plecker was a devout Presbyterian. He helped
establish churches around the state and supported fundamentalist
missionaries. Plecker belonged to a conservative Southern branch of
the church that believed the Bible was infallible and condone d
segregation. Members of Plecker's branch maintained that God flooded
the earth and destroyed Sodom to express his anger at racial
interbreeding.
"Let
us turn a deaf ear to those who would interpret Christian brotherhood
as racial equality," Plecker wrote in a 1925 essay.~~
The
term "eugenics" was coined in 1883 by English scientist
Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, a year after Darwin's
death. Galton defined it as the science of "race improvement."
It was viewed as a practical application of Darwin's theories of
evolution and natural selection.
The
early aim of Galton and his followers was to promote selective
marriages to eliminate hereditary disorders. It wasn't long, however,
before they focused on perpetuating a superior class of humans.
As
the science swept across the Atlantic, it picked up more ominous
tones. Eugenicists began espousing mandatory sterilization of
"wicked" and mentally retarded people to eliminate their
bloodlines.
All
the major colleges, including the University of Virginia, taught the
science. It was embraced by such great minds as Alexander Graham
Bell, George Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells. Margaret Sanger won support
for legalizing contraception by arguing it would lower the birth rate
of undesirables. Winston Churchill unsuccessfully proposed
sterilization laws for Great Britain in 1910. As governor of New
Jersey, Woodrow Wilson signed that state's first sterilization law in
1911. The next year, he was elected president.
Virginia's
gentry embraced the fad. Eugenics was the perfect way to deal with
race and the underclass.
The
Racial Integrity Act essentially narrowed race classifications on
birth and marriage certificates to two choices: "white person"
or "colored." The law defined a white as one with no trace
of black blood. A white person could have no more than a
1/16th
trace of Indian blood - an exception, much to Plecker's regret,
legislators made to appease the descendants of Pocahontas and John
Rolfe, who were considered among Virginia's first families.
The
act forbade interracial marriage and lying about race on registration
forms. Violators faced felony convictions and a year in prison.
Plecker
strongly supported sterilization laws, arguing that feeble-minded
whites were prone to mate with Indians and blacks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"While
DNA can prove direct ancestry or lineage,
it
can’t prove race or ethnicity.
The
reason for this is that human beings are so much
alike,
and have had genetic mixtures for so long even
the
most defining racial or ethnic traits are found in
almost
every human family. Skin color, facial structure,
hair
and eye color, all things that are used to define race
or
ethnicity lose definition when traced as part of a
DNA
analysis. There is no gene that can accurately
define
an American Indian for instance, many of the
so-called
defining characteristics are genetically
identical
to many Asians and African Americans."
---Written
by Charles Grimmett - © 2002 Pagewise
http://www.essortment.com/all/humangenomepro_rcaf.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``
Deborah A. Bolnick PhD is a Geneticist of the University of Texas at Austin
“The
Legitimacy of Genetic Ancestry Tests”
TONY
FRUDAKIS
Bolnick
et al. also allege that genomic ancestry panels
present
a biased picture of nonneutral mutations, which is
not
the case (2, 3). They then imply that genomic ancestry
methods
rely on imperfect—i.e., insufficiently large—
databases
and thus produce misleading results. However,
the
onus on the database developer is not to build a perfect
database,
but rather to quantify how imperfect the
database
is.
“Generalizing
about individuals on group membership in this
way
is the intellectual equivalent of bigotry. Bolnick et al.
believe
that anyone who says they belong to a group should
belong
to that group—regardless of whether or not their
deep
ancestors (as reported by DNA tests) were part of the
parental
population associated with that group. The irony is
that
we do not disagree. In some cases, genetic testing is
simply
not relevant—not because it is flawed, but because it
reports
only one aspect of “race” or “ethnicity.” Genomic
ancestry
tests demonstrate that admixture is the rule rather
than
the exception and hence support that idea that human-
derived
notions of “race” are based on the subjective and
ever-changing
concepts of social and political identity.”
and%20population%20genetics/Frudakis-LegitAncestryTests_
Science2008.pdf
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Cherokee Grandsons of Valentine Collins
Indian roll Application
Benjamin---Fieldon Collins brother cert of Benjamin Collins
Eastern Cherokee App.
Sons of John Collins- Louisa Cole,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
compiled by
D.S.Collins
D.S.Collins
