With an ancestry that is part Melungeon, but not having been to Newman’s Ridge outside Sneedville, Hancock, Tennessee since I was 5 years old, I have a few memories of old stories and my dad having to give his genealogy, when we would visit my grandparents, to enter the rocky road up the ridge. This has caused me contemplate why they are so secretive. In recent years I have spoken to a few family members trying to learn more about these people. However, I have received mixed results. Some would outright deny any links to being Melungeon, others would give vague answers at best. This caused me to research the history of the Melungeon people.
The first thing I noticed is stories change from one generation to the next. I looked at three different time periods to gain an understanding of why these people are so secretive, 1897, 1947, and 1970. Each period is covered by a reporter visiting the Melungeon people for a short time and interviewing several of them. Interestingly, items not mentioned in one period, or discounted as only mentioned by one person and not heard of by others becomes common knowledge by the next generation. This would indicate to me that ideas are being planted and accepted by the younger members of the community. One such example is the counterfeiting of $20 gold coins. C. H. Humble does not mention this in his visit in 1897 in the Woman’s Board of Home Mission: The Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.1 Then in 1947, William L. Worden mentions in his article Sons of the Legend, in The Saturday Evening Post, mentions reading in a history about the Melungeon’s having counterfeited the coins, no one in the area actually knows of the story.2 Then by 1970, John Fetterman in Mystery of Newman’s Ridge, in Time Magazine reports several people speaking about the coin.3 It appears the history becomes more created with each generation adding what outsiders suggest. This is done to create a history for one that is missing. Two facts that appear common among the records are when white settlers came into the region a people were living there that were distinctly different in appearance from the white settlers. These people were often referred to as “Free people of color” as early as 1795, and the Melungen people were often accused of having African, or “Negro” blood. 4 These accusations of being, “not of pure blood” and the label of “free people of color” meant they could not be involved in court cases in the earliest days of settlement in Tennessee.5 With the lack of ability to claim land in court the best lands were taken and they were forced onto “the ridge” the worst farming land. While today DNA studies have been performed to determine the genetic ancestry of the Melungeon people it is limited to decedents of 6 families commonly accepted as the origins of the modern group called Melungeon’s. This is adding a whole new line to the story showing a mixture of African fathers and European mothers. As a result of this history I have discovered the Melungeon people are less a study of secretive people and more a study of the need for record keeping. Because the founding generations were illiterate the knowledge of their origins quickly became lost. With this knowledge lost each new generation took their hatred for their past treatment and stories that became introduced, and created new additions to the legend. References Fetterman, J. (June 26, 1970). The Mystery of Newman’s Ridge. Life Magazine. Retrieved February 7, 2014 from http://www.historical-melungeons.com/life.html Humble, C.H. (1897). A visit to the Melungeons. Woman’s board of home mission:Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Retrieved February 7, 2014 from http://historical-melungeons.com/humble.html Worden, W.L. (October 18, 1947). Sons of the Legend. The Saturday Evening Post. Retrieved February 7, 2014 from http://www.historical-melungeons.com/post.html 1 A Visit to the Melungeons, The Presbyterian Church in the USA, C>H> Humble 1897 2 Sons of the Legend, Saturday Evening Post, William L Worden, October 18, 1947 3 The Mystery of Newman’s Ridge, Life Magazine, John Fetterman, June 26, 1970 4 Sons of the Legend, Saturday Evening Post, William L Worden, October 18, 1947 5 Sons of the Legend, Saturday Evening Post, William L Worden, October 18, 1947 --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------
1 Comment
|
Larry De Pew
Is a professional genealogist with an Associates Degree in Applied Science n Family History Research from Brigham Young University-Idaho. His areas of focus are military and great plains research. Archives
October 2023
Categories |