FYI >From my CARTER list. I would not know any more on this subject. It does not say the listed surnames are all of Melungeon heritage, just a possibility to look at. gf ----------------- Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 14:44:39 EST From: NMorri3924@aol.com To: CARTER-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <4a9ba41d.36ed6327@aol.com> Subject: [CARTER-L] Hard to find Carters? Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Carter is one of a number of common surnames among a group of people called Melungeons. Are you familiar with the term Melungeon? If you answer, �Who or what are Melungeons,� you are like most people. If you have been researching your family in the Cumberland Plateau of Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Tennessee, during the early migration years, you may be able to find them through a connection to this group of people who are only now being researched with unbiased eyes. The Melungeons are a people of apparent Mediterranean descent who may have settled in the Appalachian wilderness as early or possibly earlier than 1567. (The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People; N. Brent Kennedy, Mercer University Press, Macon, GA, USA, 1997; introduction, p. xiii) The Mediterrean includes areas of North Africa, southern Europe and Central Asia I am including a copy of those names. Be aware, however, that many people bearing these surnames, even if they come from the Appalachian area, are NOT connected to the Melungeons. The surnames are to be used as an INDICATOR of POSSIBLE Melungeon ancestry. Also, note that many Melungeon women �out- married,� carrying the heritage with them, but not the names. Not having one of these names DOES NOT mean that the family was not of Melungeon descent. There are also physical characteristics common to Melungeon descendants, many have an Indian ''myth" or orphan/adopted story in their background, and important health issues as well. I will be glad to send an informational packet including this information as well as a mailing list and URLs, FREE and via e-mail to anyone interested. Nancy S Common Melungeon Surname List: North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia ADAMS ADKINS ALLEN ALLMOND ASHWORTH * BARKER BARNES BASS BECKLER BELCHER BEDGOOD BELL BENNETT BERRY BEVERLY BIGGS BOLEN BOLLING BOLTON BOONE BOWLIN BOWLING BOWMAN BRADBY BRANHAM BRAVBOY BRIGER/BRIDGER BROGAN BROOKS BROWN BUNCH BULLION BURTON BUTLER BUTTERS BUXTON BYRD * CAMPBELL CARRICO CARTER CASTEEL CAUDILL CHAPMAN CHAVIS CLARK CLOUD COAL COFFEY COLE COLEMAN COLES COLLEY COLLIER COLLINS COLLINSWORTH COLYER COOPER CORMAN COUNTS COX COXE CRIEL CROSTON CROW CUMBA CUMBO CUMBOW CURRY CUSTALOW * DALTON DARE DAVIS DENHAM DENNIS DIAL DOOLEY DORTON DOYLE DRIGGERS DULA DYE DYESS * ELY EPPS EVANS * FIELDS FREEMAN FRENCH * GALLAGHER GANN GARLAND GIBSON GIPSON GOINS GOINGS GORVENS GOWAN GOWEN GRAHAM GREEN(E) GWINN * HALL HAMMON(D) HARMON HARRIS HARVIE HARVEY HAWKES HENDRICKS HENDRIX HILL HILLMAN HOGGE HOLMES HOPKINS HOWE HYATT * JACKSON JAMES JOHNSON JONES * KEITH(E) KENNEDY KISER * LANGSTON LASIE LAWSON LOCKLEAR LOPES LOWRY LUCAS * MADDOX MAGGARD MAJOR MALE MALONE(Y) MARSH MARTIN MAYLE MINARD MINER MINOR MIZER MOORE MORLEY MOSELY MOZINGO MULLINS * NASH NELSON NEWMAN NICCANS NICHOLS NOEL NORRIS * ORR OSBORN OSBORNE OXENDINE * PAGE PAINE PATTERSON PERKINS PERRY PHELPS PHIPPS PRINDER POLLY POWELL POWERS PRITCHARD PRUITT * RAMEY RASNICK REAVES REVELS REEVES RICE RICHARDSON RIDDLE RIVERS ROBERSON ROBERTSON ROBINSON RUSSELL * SAMMONS SAMPSON SAWYER SCOTT SEXTON SHAVIS SHEPHARD SHEPHERD SHORT SHORTT SIZEMORE SMILING SMITH STALLARD STANLEY STEEL STEVENS STEWART STROTHER SWEATT SWETT SWINDALL * TALLY TACKETT TAYLOR THOMPSON TIPTON TOLLIVER TUPPANCE TURNER * VANOVER VICARS VICCARS VICKERS * WARE WATTS WEAVER WHITE WHITED WILKINS WILLIAMS WILLIAMSON WILLIS WILSON WISBY WISE WOOD WRIGHT WYATT WYNN ______________________________X-Message: #3 Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 14:45:26 EST From: NMorri3924@aol.com To: CARTER-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <7a7a1f10.36ed6356@aol.com> Subject: [CARTER-L] "Melungeon Roots: A Family Heritage Workshop" Berea College, KY Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit "Melungeon Roots: A Family Heritage Workshop" Berea College, KY Recent books and documentaries on Appalachia's mysterious Melungeons have led many people to search for their Melungeon roots. A genealogy workshop at Berea College may provide help for those who are seeking information about their families and possible Melungeon connections. "Melungeon Roots: A Family Heritage Workshop" will be held on the Berea College campus on Saturday, June 26. This event will feature sessions on beginning, intermediate, and Internet genealogy, as well as specific sessions to explore Native American and African-American connections. There will also be chat sessions for various family groups, a showing of a documentary film about the Melungeons, and a panel discussion featuring Brent Kennedy, Manuel Mira, and others.. The Melungeons are a multi-racial and multi-ethnic people who were first documented in the Appalachian mountains at the end of the 18th century. Since that time, they have become a part of Appalachian folklore - "sons and daughters of the legend." Prior to the Civil War, some were classified as "free persons of color." More recently, they have been identified by anthropologists and sociologists as "tri-racial isolates" - an amalgam of European, Native American, and African-American ancestry. They faced discrimination, both legal and social, and tended to settle in isolated communities such as Newman's Ridge in Hancock County, Tennessee, or Stone Mountain, Virginia. Over the years, Melungeons kept to themselves -- or moved to other areas where their heritage was not suspect. Oral history among Melungeon families was often not shared with succeeding generations. "Melungeon" had become an epithet, even if no one knew where the word originated. Jean Patterson Bible wrote in 1975 that generations of intermarriage has resulted in near racial dissolution: "They'll be gone in a generation or two, except for an occasional dark-complected [sic] child as a reminder of the past." Instead, many Melungeon descendants are coming to recognize and embrace the diverse heritage that is theirs. They've been encouraged and inspired by Dr. N. Brent Kennedy, author of the 1994 book The Melungeons: The Resurrection of A Proud People; An Untold Story of Ethnic Cleansing in America. Kennedy, in researching his own family background, concludes that the Melungeons were descended from groups of Spaniards, Portuguese, Turks, Berbers, Moors, Jews, and others who arrived on these shores between the arrival of Columbus and the establishment of Jamestown. Generations of intermarriage with Europeans, Native Americans, and African-Americans resulted in the people now known as Melungeons. Participants may pre-register before June 1, for "Melungeon Roots: A Family Heritage Workshop" by sending a check or money order to: Melungeon Roots, P.O. Box 4042, Wise, VA 24293. Admission to the event is $5 for each pre-registered participant (before June 1), and $10 for those who register after June 1 and for on-site registrants. On-site registration begins Friday, June 25, at 7:00 pm at the Alumni Building on the Berea campus. The Melungeon Heritage Association, Inc. will hold a mixer on Friday night at the Alumni Building from 7 to 9 pm. Workshops will begin on Saturday morning at 9:00 am at Phelps-Stokes Hall, with welcoming remarks by Audie Kennedy, president of the Melungeon Heritage Association, Inc., and Gordon McKinney of the Berea College Appalachian Center. Workshops will be held in the Frost Building and Phelps Stokes chapel. Chat groups will be running all day at various locations on campus. Throughout the day, "Melungeon Roots" will feature "how-to" genealogy sessions as well as sessions on Native American, African-American, and Portuguese-American genealogy. A panel discussion with a question-and-answer session will close the workshop. "Melungeon Roots: A Family Heritage Workshop" is sponsored by the Appalachian Center at Berea College, continuing the college's long tradition of commitment to Appalachia and to diversity. The event is organized by the Melungeon Heritage Association, Inc. (MHA), a non-profit organization formed in 1998. MHA was an outgrowth of the highly successful First Union: A Melungeon Gathering held in Wise in 1997. In 1998, MHA sponsored Second Union, an even larger gathering which featured sessions and lectures on history, social issues, and medical issues, as well as genealogy. The gatherings are only a part of the work of MHA. The organization is also dedicated to several other tasks, including continued research and writing, telling the story of the Melungeon people, and contributing to the mosaic of a past that has been hidden too long. At the same time, MHA plans to collect and preserve the research and artifacts of the past, forming the basis of a Melungeon Research Center to give these materials a permanent home. MHA�s mission is to document and preserve the heritage and cultural legacy of mixed- ancestry people of the Southern Appalachians. While the focus will be on those of Melungeon heritage, they do not restrict themselves to honoring only this group, but believe in the dignity of all such mixed ancestry groups. MHA is committed to preserving this rich heritage of racial diversity and harmony. MHA plans to hold Third Union in the summer of 2000. In the meantime, "Melungeon Roots" is the first of several planned smaller events which will focus on individual aspects of Melungeon heritage. PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: MELUNGEON ROOTS "Melungeon Roots: A Family Heritage Workshop" will be held on the Berea College campus in Berea, Kentucky, on Saturday, June 26. This event will feature sessions on beginning, intermediate, and Internet genealogy, as well as specific sessions on other aspects of Melungeon genealogy. To register, send five dollars per registrant to Melungeon Roots, P.O. Box 4042, Wise, VA 24293.