Hi Guys! For the newbies to the list, and especially if you have a hard to find grandparent, you might want to take a look into the Melungeons. This fascinating group of people were found in the Appalachian Mt ranges of NC/VA/KY/TN/WV as early as 1564 by both English and Spanish explorers. We believe that they have a Mediterranean ancestry. The generally seem to pop up out of thin air, are hard to find, may have a Native American grandmother 'myth' which is unprovable and may look NA. Take a look at my medical website noted below. Descendants may inherit one or more of 5 different Mediterranean illnesses. Off of the first paragraph of the medical page, I have a brief overview on the Melungeons themselves. If you are interested, I can send you more GENERAL info on the Melungeons including a common surname list, and URLs/books for research. This is FREE and via e-mail. Just let me know if you'd like this by posting me directly. Nancy S

Some Questions: Do the melungeons have marriage, birth and death records separate from the county and state records in the states mentioned? If not, how would one go about searching their Melungeon ancestory? Does each county and each state have separate records for the Melungeons? Did the Melungeons keep records before the white man discoverd them? How do we access these records? Or, is it just a list of names of people who have lived in the general area where Melungeons were supposed to have lived? Thanks. G. Lee Hearl Authentic Appalachian Storyteller Abingdon, Va..