Judy, In answer to your comment about "black Irish" there is a list on roots web called MELUNGEON. I had never heard the term until October last year when I was in Jonesborough TN and the lady recommended a book by Dr. Brent Kennedy to me about some of the people in the Appalachian Mts. It seems there is a group referred to as MELUNGEON who because of their dark coloring have claimed to be Portegese, Black Dutch, Black Irish, Indian, etc. anything to explain their coloring. They are in truth a tri-racial mixture of anglo, indian, posssibly african, turkish, moors, portegese and any number of ethnic backgrounds from the Mediteranian area. Not only have they inherited some of the charactoristics but many of the genitic illnesses that are common among people of Mediteranian decent. Keep in mind, this includes the coast of all countries that border the Mediteranian Sea. The list's archives has many many wonderful clues to a lot of "dead end" for a lot of people. The MELUNGEON people were very much discriminated against and you will find references in the census' of FPC - Free person of Color or M - mullotto. The story of this group of people is extreamly interesting and worth looking into. Some of the surnames common among the Melungeon people are: Adams, Adkins, Baker, Barnes, Beckler, Belcher, Bell, Bennett, Berry, Biggs, Bolen, Bolton, Bowlin, Bowling, Bowman, Branham, Brogan, Bullion, Burton, Byrd, Campbell, Carrico, Carter, Casteel, Caudill, Chavis, Clark, Coal, Coffey, Cole, Coleman, Coles, Colley, Collier, Collins, Collinsworth, Colyer, Counts, Cox, Coxe, Crow, Cumba, Cumbo, Cumbow, Curry Davis, Denham, Dooley, Dorton, Dula, Dye, Ely, Evans, Fields, Freeman, French, Gallagher, Gann, Garland, Gibson, Bipson, Goins, Goings, Gorverns, Gowan, Gowen, Graham, Gwinn, Hall, Hamond, Hendircks, Hendrix, Hill, Hillman, Hopkins, Jackson, Keith, Kennedy, Kiser, Lawson, Lopes, Lucas, Maggard, Maloney, Martin, Miner, Minor, Mizer, Moore, Morley, Mosley, Mozingo, Mullins, Nash, Niccans, Noel Orr, Osborn, Osborne, Perry, Phelps, Fhipps, Polly, Powers, Pruitt, Ramey, Rasnick, Reaves, Reeves, Rice, Riddle, Rivers, Roberson, Robertson, Robinson, Sexton, Shephard, Short, Sizemore, Stallard, Stanley, Steel, Swindall, Tackett, Taylor, Tipton, Tolliver, Turner, Vanover, Watts, White, Whited, Williams, Willis, Wilson, Wright, Wyatt The name of Dr. Kennedy's book THE MELUNGEONS: The Resurrection of a Proud People An Untold Story of Ethnic Cleansing in America. It is well worth reading just for the historical implications. Linda Sharp Smith "Wealth is not measured by what you have, but by what you have given away". Native American Saying.