Right, Jan! On my mother's side I have a couple of instances of Melungeon claiming something else...My mother's maiden name was Pruitt (an Irish name)...when I asked her why her brothers & my cousins were so dark complected, she looked at me with her blue eyes and said "hush...we're Black Irish!" Didn't find out until she had been in her grave for several years the truth...Melungeon. Likewise, she had a grandmother whose maiden name was Nelson (English, right?). Wrong! My mother said "oh...she was an Indian Princess!" What a crock! On my father's side there's the Allen clan (which should have been my last name). Sounds English or French. But, the Appalachian Allen clan (mine) is Melungeon. My ggrandfather (Alfred Lewis Allen) couldn't marry my ggrandmother because he looked like a FPC (Free Person of Color), and my ggrandmother was a blue-eyed blonde of primarily German heritage. Later discovered that even that wasn't completely true...her grandmother had been a Cornett (supposedly a corruption of Canute, a Danish king of England). Cornett was probably ORIGINALLY of that derivation, but the ones in SW Virginia are another family of Melungeons! Guess I could go on and on with my own heritage, but that's enough! Just goes to show that you have to really get in there & dig. Sometimes it's even possible to interview people from other families who knew the family you're researching, and can give you a decent physical description. That combined with the part of the country is usually the only "proof" you're going to find, due to the Melungeons attempting to hide for centuries in order to avoid being discriminated against. Thank heaven racial pride has displaced the old discrimination to a large extent! Mike IBSSG > [Original Message] > From: J. Garland <zippywebgenie@hotmail.com> > To: <BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-L@rootsweb.com> > Date: 5/8/2002 7:33:27 AM > Subject: Re: [BSChat] Re: Melungeons/Black Dutch > > > Well, Mike will know more about this than I, I haven't heard so much of > "Black Irish" in respect to the Melungeons, I sure it's possible, though. > They usually claimed association with just about anything else as a reason > for their exotic, darker look, often contrasted with blue eyes. There have > been a lot of years when it wasn't good to claim a family connection to > either the NA peoples or to Blacks, so, depending on the time frame and > location, I'm sure they came up with various stories to protect themselves > from the ignorant people around them. As a group, they've had a pretty rough > time here. There are still those who don't want it known that they're part > Melungeon--the first website I saw about them, the website owner had > received threats. He had mentioned specific surnames in association with > Melungeon families, and some people didn't like that. There's still plenty > of ignorance to go around, looks like. > > Jan G. > > > > > > ----Original Message Follows---- > From: "Telecom Girl" <telecomgirl911@hotmail.com> > Reply-To: BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-L@rootsweb.com > To: BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [BSChat] Re: BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-D Digest V02 #696 > Date: Wed, 8 May 2002 07:42:37 -0500 > > I think the kind of census information I was looking for would be the "black > Irish" race. I have heard this was commonly used by Melungeon families. > > Cammie > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <LVLYLADY12@aol.com> > To: <BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 2:52 PM > Subject: [BSChat] Re: BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-D Digest V02 #696 > > > > In a message dated 5/7/02 9:37:47 AM Pacific Daylight Time, > > BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-D-request@rootsweb.com writes: > > > > > > > I find this very interesting - we have all the "Melungeon" > Characteristics > > > in my family - but I can't find any census type evidence listing anyone > as > > > anything but white. > > > > > > > Telecom girl, I don't think the Melungeons were listed on the census as > > "Melungeon" > > There was so much prejudice through the years, they tried to hide it and > > listed themselves as white. Now of course that has done away with. > There > > are several books and websites about Melungeons that could probably give > you > > a lot of information. It is a fascinating subject. > > > > Laurelyn > > > > > > ==== BLACKSHEEP-CHAT Mailing List ==== > > Unsubscribe from the list: > > > Mailto:Blacksheep-Chat-L-request@rootsweb.com?subject=unsubscribe&body=unsub > scribe > > > > ============================== > > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, > go to: > > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > > > > > > > ==== BLACKSHEEP-CHAT Mailing List ==== > Unsubscribe from the list: > Mailto:Blacksheep-Chat-L-request@rootsweb.com?subject=unsubscribe&body=unsub scribe > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go > to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Join the world�s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. > http://www.hotmail.com > > > ==== BLACKSHEEP-CHAT Mailing List ==== > Unsubscribe from the list: > Mailto:Blacksheep-Chat-L-request@rootsweb.com?subject=unsubscribe&body=unsub scribe > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 --- Shuler Michael --- grinch42@mindspring.com --- EarthLink: The #1 provider of the Real Internet.