Hello Anita - I took two ethnicity DNA tests - cheek swabs. My family assumed NA in our background. Combining the test results, it appears I am 8% Native American. However, I am one of the fairer people in my family as to coloration, hair. I suspect other family members might show a greater NA presence. If you use google images and put in Portugese people you will see how much they look like Appalachian people. The same is true for Croatia, Turkey, and Slovenia. Then I have studied migratory patterns in Europe - who went where and when. The British anglicized our early history to suit their need to feel superior. NA is so obvious in my Stewarts and Mullinses. The Portugese dominated the seas at one point in history. Also, Jews and Muslims lived throughout the British Isles as well as most of Northern Europe. My family lines are typically Appalachian. They started in eastern Virginia and North Carolina and went to the mountains by 1800 or so. Many NAs fled to now WVa at the time of the removal. The area was so inaccessible that they felt and were safe. The Sizemores are an example of the Cherokees fleeing the removal. Clay and Wyoming Cos. have a fair number of Sizemores. The descriptions of soldiers in the Civil War indicated my family members were dark-complected, dark-haired, and many with blue eyes. Andrew Jackson Mullins of Logan Co. would be an example. Someone mentioned the Toler family from which I descend. One of my grandfathers in that line married a Harvey - a Melungeon surname. In short, in southern WVa we do not know our ethnic background from censuses, documents, etc. Even if one finds an ancestor who left Liverpool in England in 1702 or whatever, we do not know from that the ethnicity of the ancestor. Plus surnames did not come in to use until between 400 and 500 years ago. My Stewarts migrated from England in before 1634 to Henrico Shire, VA but they were Scottish. My yDNA does match with a Stewart line I mentioned above. I wasn't satisfied with a collection of names and dates. I wanted to know more. Rick Stewart I've been studying this subject for nine years now and still run across new information. On Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 8:04 AM, Anita McClung <anitajoe1963@yahoo.com>wrote: > Rick, > > > How did you find out about your ethnicity? We were always told that our > second great grandmother,Lucinda Clay Sturgell was Cherokee. There was a > time after I got into genealogy when I doubted this claim. Then a couple of > years ago, I found a picture I had tucked away of great granny, her brother > and a sister and grannie' children and a nephew and there is no doubt in my > mind that there was Native blood in that line somewhere. It is almost > scary. > > But then again, it could be melungeon. One of the things I remember about > great Granny is that even when she passed (age 97) she had very little gray > hair. > > Anita > > > > > ________________________________ > From: Richard Stewart <rcs5ster@gmail.com> > To: wvlogan@rootsweb.com > Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2009 9:50:39 PM > Subject: Re: [WVLOGAN] Melungeons > > Hello Anita - And the reverse is true as well. Melungeon women married men > with other surnames not to be found on the list. This ancestry seems to be > much more prevalent in Appalachia. I am sorry to hear about your father's > thalessemia major and your lupus. Familial Mediterranean Fever and > sarcoidosis are two diseases that can be seen in Appalachia but rarely > diagnosed. > > I've found the study of the Melungeons to be very interesting. Brent > Kennedy's writings came about from his being diagnosed with the > Mediterranean disease sarcoidosis (sp?). It was interesting that my > ethnicity matched closely with Brent's writings in "The Melungeons: The > Resurrection of a Proud People". My ancestry is Portugese/Spanish; Native > American; India Brahmin; Moroccan Berber; the Mediterranean areas of Italy, > Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and markers in Egypt and Israel. Plus I had > Scottish; Danish; Belgian; Scandinavian; and French. I had no sub-Saharan > African. > > I suspect that many southern West Virginians would have an ethnic profile > similar to mine. Rick > > > > > On Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 11:36 AM, Anita McClung <anitajoe1963@yahoo.com > >wrote: > > > Yes, that is correct. However you should also note that just because a > > surname appears on the list does not necessarily mean they were > melungeon. > > > > Two of my names appear on the list; Belcher and Coleman. Several of us > in > > my immediate family have thalessemia (minor) and I have the knots on my > head > > as well as shovel teeth. I also have lupus. All of these are traits of > > melungeon ancestry. And we have Belchers in my paternal line. However, it > > appears that there were melungeons on my father's paternal line as well. > > > > In 1963, at the age of 28, my father died from what we now believe to > have > > been thalaseemia maior. His maternal line was the Sturgells and Belchers > > while his paternal line was McClungs and Colemans but there have been no > > stories passed down regarding anyone else in the family having had the > > health problems my father had. > > > > Anita > > > > > > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > From: Richard Stewart <rcs5ster@gmail.com> > > To: wvlogan@rootsweb.com > > Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2009 4:27:28 AM > > Subject: [WVLOGAN] Melungeons > > > > I have 19 of the Melungeon surnames per Brent Kennedy in my family lines. > > Three of my grandparents have a Melungeon surname - Mullins, Stewart, and > > Berry. I took an ethnicity test that showed my ancestry to be > > Portugese/Spanish, Native American, Brahmin, Belgian, Moroccan Berber, > > Scottish, Norwegian, and probable Jewish. I did not show a drop of > English > > or Irish. Just because our families may have immigrated from England or > > Ireland does NOT mean that was their ethnicity. > > > > Rick > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > WVLOGAN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > WVLOGAN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > WVLOGAN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > WVLOGAN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >