>Date: Sun, 7 Aug 2005 16:16:11 -0400 (Eastern Standard Time) >From: "Amy Lathrop" <hbic3@juno.com> >To: NYERIE-L@rootsweb.com > >Hello, list! > >This will probably not apply to an awful lot of people, especially here in >the Northern part of the country, but it may be of some use to some, it >was for me. > >If you have colonial and revolutionary/federal period ancestry, are having >a hard time tracking your family line before 1850, but have come across >someone who, at first appears to be a relative but you find they are >listed as "Free Persons of Color" or "FPC" or anything similar, Don't >count them out just yet. > >They most certainly could be your ancestors, but were "Melungeon", Elvis >was Melungeon, and possible Abe Lincoln. > >Here is one website out of many that explains >it. http://webpages.charter.net/pipercasey/melungeon.htm > >I thought my entire ancestry in the US was Anglo/European. Scottish, >English, German, Dutch, all colonial New England. So, when I came across >records that suggested non-Anglo, I counted them out. But after >discovering this, I found out differently. I am very naturally blonde, >very white(I burn, never tan) with blue eyes. > >Just a suggestion I thought might be useful to someone. > >Thanks, >Amy Lathrop Just another reason to celebrate our diversity - family and otherwise! Dale