As I said previously, I am at a disadvantage right now because the site I used is not available. BUT a law is only as good as its inforcement. I will tell you a story from around the late nineteen-forties, early fifties, told to me by a respected professional person/researcher/author/teacher who lived in the Wise, VA area. And then something about one of my Melungeon families, the Collins. In the small city of Wise, VA was a drugstore. My friend earned extra money by working there part time. Each Saturday morning, all the *GOOD* stuff that was usually for sale at the drugstore was moved off the shelves and put in the back of the store. NONE of the regular customers from the town or nearby came in except in an emergency with a prescription to be filled. Those who did come in were the Melungeons off the top of the mountains coming to Saturday market. The Melungeons were served, but curtly according to my friends description by the owner of the store. My friend was not allowed to take their money. She supposes the owner thought she might have cheated the store and let the Melungeons have something for less than the price the owner wanted, but she does not know this. The Melungeons were shown only the special items, cheap ones bought for this purpose only. They were not allowed to touch the items before they bought them, though what difference this made because the 'white' folks certainly wouldn't have touched them. And they could not return anything that they bought once it was in their hands. Their few small prescriptions were filled as necessary and they were offered sandwiches and drinks from the fountain, again curtly. Their money was good, what little they had of it. Immediately after closing on Saturday night all the fixtures in the drugstore were scrubbed and sanitized. This was a part of my friends job. Everything was bleached and sprayed and fungicided. The shop was then opened on Sunday afternoon and the Melungeons were no longer allowed to come in until the next Saturday. If they needed a prescription before then, they came to the back door and were served while they waited outside. I am sure that many black folks found similar circumstances. My greatgreatgrandmother was born in the area now Wise, VA. It breaks my heart to think that she might have gone through something similar. Her daughter, my great grandmother whom I knew, hid her ancestry and her identity by saying that she was a 'quarter-strain Cherokee.' I know that this is false via documentation of her genealogy. We knew that there was a big, dark secret in this family, but not what. I finally found that my great grandmother was an illegitimate child. I thought ahah! This is the secret. Her mother and father were not married, could not have been because her father was married to her mother's sister. The sisters were Melungeon descendants. The secret was bigger than illegitimacy. Here is an outline of what I know about this family Descendants of Will Collins 1 Will Collins b: in , , Virginia d: Bet. 1848 - 1850 .. +Maca - Macha Cunningham b: Abt. 1826 in , , Virginia d: Bef. 1865 Father: William Cunningham, Jr. Mother: Rachel Ann Elizabeth Countiss .. 2 Mary Collins b: Abt. 1843 in , Wise Co. Virginia d: June 03, 1915 in , Johmson Co. ,Kentucky ...... +[1] Abraham Musick b: Abt. 1836 in , , Virginia d: Bef. May 15, 1914 in , , Kentucky m: Not Married Father: James C. Musick Mother: Mariah Shell ...... 3 Mary Arminta Musick b: October 20, 1865 in Johnson Co. Ky d: October 16, 1948 in Paintsville, Ky. ........... +James Morgan Hager b: July 17, 1859 in Floyd Co., Ky. d: May 06, 1923 in Prestonsburg, Ky m: December 02, 1878 in White House, Johnson, Ky. Father: Daniel Morgan Hager Mother: Amanda E. Birchfield ...... 3 Margaret Musick .. 2 Rachel Collins b: January 01, 1844 in Ky orRusell Co., VA d: May 15, 1914 ...... +[1] Abraham Musick b: Abt. 1836 in , , Virginia d: Bef. May 15, 1914 in , , Kentucky m: July 03, 1857 in Johnson Co.,Ky. Father: James C. Musick Mother: Mariah Shell ...... 3 Rachel F. Musick b: August 03, 1858 ...... 3 Mary E. Musick b: Abt. 1859 ...... 3 MaryAnn Musick b: March 1862 in Johnson Co., KY. d: December 30, 1937 in Johnson Co.,Ky. ........... +Augustus Daniels b: February 1859 in Johnson Co., KY. d: Abt. 1907 ...... 3 John Wesley Music b: 1864 in Johnson Co., KY. d: November 22, 1914 in Nippa, KY ........... +Mary Ellen Castle b: Abt. 1873 d: in Nippa, KY m: January 25, 1887 in Johnson Co.,KY. ...... *2nd Wife of John Wesley Music: ........... +Julia Johnson b: Abt. 1879 m: September 19, 1904 in Johnson Co., KY. ...... 3 James Lincoln Music b: 1868 in Johnson Co., KY. d: Abt. 1892 in Nippa, KY ........... +Trinvilla Vanhoose b: Abt. 1868 in Johnson Co.,KY d: March 10, 1917 in Russell Co., VA m: January 01, 1887 in Johnson Co., KY. ...... 3 Christopher Columbus Music b: February 1868 in Johnson Co., KY. d: October 15, 1957 in Paintsville, Johnson Co., KY ........... +Rissie Unknown b: December 25, 1865 in Johnson Co., KY. d: September 25, 1938 in Nippa, KY m: February 23, 1890 in Johnson Co.,KY ...... 3 Sarah E. Music b: October 08, 1871 d: April 18, 1935 in Johnson Co., KY. ........... +James J. Vanhoose b: February 25, 1873 d: November 29, 1953 in Johnson Co., KY. m: October 23, 1892 in Johnson Co., KY. ...... 3 Archabald Music b: January 16, 1874 in KY d: February 20, 1945 in Johnson Co., KY. ........... +Rosa Castle b: January 11, 1874 in KY d: April 16, 1935 in Johnson Co., KY. m: January 16, 1896 in Johnson Co., KY. ...... 3 Melvina Music b: 1877 ........... +Winfield Scott Daniels b: December 1871 m: September 06, 1893 in Johnson Co., KY. ...... 3 Loutiny Music b: 1880 d: in Nippa, KY ........... +John B Castle b: Abt. 1876 in Johnson Co., KY. d: in Nippa, KY m: June 10, 1897 in Johnson Co., KY. .. 2 Charles Collins b: Abt. 1848 .. 2 Christopher Collins b: Abt. 1850 When I finally made contact with some of the descendants of Rachel Collins and Abraham Musick, they had never heard the story of this grandfather and praised his devotion to his wife, Rachel. Rachel, Mary and Abraham lived in the same house. I wonder what the sisters thought about the arrangement, though that really didn't matter because I am sure they had no choice. A first cousin, once removed wrote to me about Abraham: <<"Abraham was a blacksmith and had a violent temper. He once threw an axe at a man, missed him and the axe hit a tree, buried in so deeply they never did get it out. Abraham would rush out of his shop, yell at Mary, ' Mary, I want, I want - Oh, damn-it-to-hell, you know what I want!' and poor Mary, scared half out of her wits, would gather up everything she could find and take it to him, hoping one would be what he wanted. Once, Abraham left, with a black woman, a year, came back and Mary took him in. The kindest thing to say, I suppose, is that he was a colorful character.">> I wonder had these women not been Melungeon descendants would their lives have been any different. Perhaps not, but my heart aches for them just the same. The Melungeons suffered and because they did, I became very interested in the why and wherefore of their suffering. In later days, Walter A. Plecker was the source of much of their problems. Because he changed b.d.and m. licenses they were refused the opportunity to participate fully in the American dream. They could not vote, could not school their children with 'white' children and in many cases they could not testify in court and had their land taken away from them, forcing them to the mountaintops. NancyS THE MELUNGEON HEALTH EDUCATION AND SUPPORT NETWORK: http://www.melungeonhealth.org SPARKS Genealogy: http://SparksGenealogy.net