Melungeons?

Question

I've already touched on the subject of "Black Irish". What about the so-called "Black Dutch"? My great-great-great grandmother was said to be "Black Dutch", with long straight jet-black hair (for whatever that's worth). While researching and trying to pin down the meaning of "Black Dutch", I came across some fascinating information about a group of people referred to as "Melungeons", and the region they inhabited just so happens to include my home state. Can anyone shed some more light on the "Melungeons"? Does anyone presently refer to themselves as Melungeon?

Answer 1

They have their own website. Below is the first few paragraphs of an overview written about them. The link will take you to the full article and access to the rest of the site.

A Brief Overview of the Melungeons
By Wayne Winkler


For more than a century, the Melungeons have been the focus of anthropologists, social scientists, and (especially) feature writers for newspapers and magazines. The most common adjective used to describe the Melungeons is “mysterious;” no one seems to know where the Melungeons originated. More significantly, the Melungeons did not fit into any of the racial categories which define an individual or group within American society, they were considered by their neighbors neither white, black, nor Indian.

The Melungeons are a group of mixed ethnic ancestry, found primarily in northeastern Tennessee, southwestern Virginia, southeastern Kentucky. Similar groups of “mysterious” people, or at least remnants of these groups, are found all along the Atlantic seaboard. While these other groups have no known connection to the Melungeons, they have suffered similar problems due to the difficulty of placing them within an established racial category. Anthropologists called them “racial islands” or “tri-racial isolates.”

Several surnames are associated with the Melungeons, including Collins, Gibson, Goins, Mullins, Bowlin. The Melungeons have historically been associated with Newman’s Ridge in Hancock County, Tennessee. Newspapers and magazines have found the Melungeons a fascinating topic since the 1840s, but the Melungeons have resented most of the publicity they have received over the years. Most of the articles on the Melungeons speculated on the legends, folklore, and theories surrounding their ancestry.

Some of these legends and theories have suggested descent from Spanish or Portuguese explorers, from the “Lost Colonists” of Roanoke Island, from shipwrecked sailors or pirates of various nationalities, from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel, or from ancient Phoenicians or Carthaginians. More recent theories have proposed that the Melungeons descended from Mediterranean or Middle Eastern ancestors.

Answer 2

Hi I have read a bit on the subject and the fact that they lived in western PA., OH., VA., W.VA. area and further south.
These were indigenous people who were mixed with unknown other people from before the white settlers came to America.
They were of a darker color but not the same as Indians.

There is supposed to be a tell tale sign of a bony lump on the back of the head at the base of the skull.
I happen to have one of those but I have done my genealogy and have no Melungeons in it as far as I can tell.

Answer 3

Never have I referred to myself as a melungeon.

Answer 4

2 more points for me ----TY!

=)