Melungeon: Appalachia's Lost Tribe

A mysterious race of people known as The Lost  tribe of Appalachia that has baffled historians and scientists for hundreds of years who were  they how did they get here and more importantly where did they go coming up the true untold  story of the Melungeons Appalachia's Lost tribe Hancock County Tennessee, one of the wildest and  most beautiful places in Appalachia. Even today, there aren't any railroads or interstates and  there are only a handful of narrow twisting two lane State highways meandering through this remote  area. For centuries, only the heartiest of souls called these mountains home and among them were  perhaps the most mysterious race of people in America - Melungeons.

For the most part their  population was clustered a top Newman's Ridge in places like snake holler Mulberry Gap or  Blackwater Creek and other remote areas just across the state line in Virginia. They weren't  black or white or native American. Their unique physical appearance consisted of dark wavy hair  with European features such as dark or gray eyes and thin noses and a unique bump on the back of  their head.

To this very day no one knows exactly where this exotic race of people came from or  how they got in these mountains. Historically, Melungeons kept to themselves, living separate  from both Native Americans and Whites and they never participated in any of the wars that these  two populations waged against one another. Because of their isolation, their existence went largely  unnoticed in Appalachia until the late 1800s.

Yet there were clues of their existence much  earlier. For example, in the late 1600s French explorers reported finding men who weren't  Indian or white in the mountain pockets of modern-day Tennessee and during the formation  of the Lost State of Franklin John Sevier was next to write about them in the 1780s when he  noted that there was a colony of dark skinned reddish brown complexion people supposed to be  of Moorish descent living in the mountains of East Tennessee who called themselves Melungeons  and claimed to be of Portuguese descent. And by 1795 even the census listed 300 free non-white  persons living in the mountains of East Tennessee and since there had never been slaves or more  than 50 blacks living in this area at the time, these 300 free non-white persons were apparently  the first government acknowledgment of the existence of Melungeons.

And by the late 1800s,  that number had increased to over 700 people and that's when the existence of this mysterious  race began to appear in newspapers all across America attracting the curiosity of countless  historians and scientists who descended on East Tennessee and Virginia to investigate the  Melungeons. Some speculated that they were descendants of shipwrecked Portuguese Sailors.  While others claimed that they were lost colonist from the Outer Banks.

Other researchers claimed  that they were a mixed race of Indian and African and even Mediterranean. Wild theories emerged  stating that the origins of this race began when Hernando De Soto traveled through these  mountains in 1540. While others contended that they might be the ancestors of Captain  Juan Pardo who brought an army of 125 Spanish men to the mountains in 1567 and that those men  likely married with Native Americans.

But perhaps the most spectacular theory were that they were  actually Phoenicians who fled the ancient city of Carthage after the Romans conquered them  in 146 BC. As fascinating as each theory was, the question still remained- Who were these  people? and how did they get here?

Coming up next, we explore each of these theories separating myth  from reality and examine new possibilities that may hold the key to unlocking the mystery of the  Melungeons. Hey guys JD here from the Appalachian Storyteller and I hope you're enjoying this true  story of the Melungeons. If you are, I hope you'll consider checking out my brand new book which is  full of stories just like the one you're listening to now.

Also be sure to stick around. Coming  up I'll be giving away a free CD of original Appalachian music featuring the song "Melungeon"  that's heard in today's video and now back to the story. My great grandpa sailed  across the sea.

Told Englishman that he was Portuguese. And they pushed him west  cause he had dark skin. To Newman's Ridge with his other kin.

And there they lived.  They were Melungeon. Oh, Melungeon.

Perhaps one of the most fascinating theories  surrounded Melungeon ancestry takes place in the ancient city of Carthage in 200 BC on the banks  of the Mediterranean Sea that was part of the Phoenician Empire. Carthage was one of the largest  metropolises in the world during this time and with one of the most powerful armies and navies.  However the Roman Empire was spreading and soon they set out to take control of Carthage and this  resulted in the Punic Wars that raged for over 40 years and caused countless casualties before Rome  finally conquered Carthage.

Now under Roman rule, many people from Carthage fled to Morocco and  immigrated Across The Straits of Gibralter before settling in the coastal region of  Portugal where they intermarried and were known as the Moors. Shakespeare himself made  these refugees Immortal in his celebrated play the Moore of Venice. These were the  same people who had fought the Romans so bravely and heroically.

Eventually a considerable  number of these people crossed the Atlantic when their ship was marooned off the coast of South  Carolina near the North Carolina line. However, as soon as they arrived they were rejected by  the white people who refused to associate with them on equal terms or allow their children to  go to school with them due to the unusual color of their skin. Because of this, these newcomers to  America migrated further and further Inland before Crossing to the western side of the Appalachian  Mountains settling in Eastern Tennessee.

Another theory is that the Melungeons  were actually survivors from the Lost Roanoke colony. In 1585 Sir Walter Riley made an  attempt to establish the first permanent English settlement in North America. It was a daring  attempt to settle on Roanoke Island in the Outer Banks off the coast of North Carolina with 120  settlers.

But you see, this new world was frought with dangers and they quickly realized that they  would need much more food and supplies. Thus, the mother ship returned to England to replenish with  promises to return as soon as possible. However it wouldn't land on Roanoke Island again until 5  years later when it found the colonist fortified fort completely abandoned.

The 120 people they  had all disappeared. The only clue that remained was the word Croatia carved into a  tree. Did the settlers assimilate with the Croatian Indians who modern day  researchers claim were already of mixed blood containing both Spanish and Portuguese  blood?

Are these people the ancestors to the Melungeons? Still others claim that Melungeons  are in fact descended from the Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto who brought an army of 600  men along with 100 women's servants in 1540 and they navigated the Nolichucky, the French  Broad, and the Little Tennessee Rivers deep into East Tennessee looking for gold copper silver  and freshwater pearls. Now De Soto drove his army deeper and deeper into East Tennessee engaging  in many battles with the natives that cost the lives of nearly half of his men.

De Soto himself  would end up dying from a fever he contracted in his foreign land and it's theorized that many of  his troops defected in Appalachia and intermarried with Natives and were in fact the true ancestors  of the Melungeons. One final Theory happened 20 years later in the 1560s when Spanish explorer  Juan Pardo lead several expeditions with 120 men through modern-day South and North Carolina. He  built several forts along his route as he sought to establish trading relations with the Native  Americans.

One of the forts that he built was on the French Broad River in East Tennessee yet  most of his men were killed in a brutal attack from the natives in 1568 and those who survived  the attack were left behind as they fled into the mountains. Many researchers claim that these  people were the forerunners to the Melungeons. However they arrived, by the year 1900 the 700  Melungeons living on Newman's Ridge looked like no other people living in America and they had  distinctly Mediterranean characteristics.

They furiously contended that they were descended  from Portuguese bloodlines and some oldtimers during the 1800s claimed that they were here long  before the whites arrived. Officially the state of Tennessee classified them as free persons  of color which limited their land rights and perhaps explains why they were concentrated on  Newman's Ridge where there was little fertile soil. For the next few decades sensational stories  ran in newspapers All Over America concerning the Melungeons.

Then in the 1930s something  strange started happening their numbers began decreasing. With new opportunities provided  by public education new generations began making the steep climb down Newman's Ridge and  Inter marrying with other races starting lives in far away places. Suddenly by the 1960s all the  Melungeons with Mediterranean characteristics were gone and now we're replaced with a Melting Pot of  mixed races.

Newspapers Across America documented The disappearance of Appalachia's lost tribe. The  Melungeons notoriety suddenly vanished and became an obscure footnote in East Tennessee until the  early 2000s when sites like ancestry. com and other DNA databases became popular.

Suddenly it became  a badge of honor to claim Melungeon heritage with tens of thousands of people claiming Melungeon  blood and by 2010 the first attempts at large scale DNA testing were carried out by genetic test  ing companies and there have been several studies since 2011 and all of the results indicated a  Melting Pot of genetic makeup with some Melungeons having African Heritage and others having Native  American and even more having European ancestry. These results have led to more questions than  answers and that alone brings into question the accuracy of ancestry DNA testing and to learn  more about the process I reached out to DrMichael Thomas noted author and retired professor  of genetics. DrThomas Thanks so much for joining us today on The Appalachian Storyteller, glad  you can be here.

Thanks for having me on the show first off let me just say this these companies  aren't actually testing your ancestry at all there are a few reasons for this first the genetic  information these DNA testing companies hold is based on living populations and in the case  of Melungeons, it's well documented that they were very very few of them after 1960 and the  DNA companies are only looking at very recent samples from 2011 and beyond- over a half century  later from a relatively small group. Furthermore, each company's database is skewed towards  different parts of the world too. One company might have more American customers while another  company has more British and Australian.

This is so important to realize- no single company holds  the entire database and none of these companies ask what do we know about the genetics of the past  and which of those past inferred genetic clusters do we get our ancestry from. Finally, there's  also the question of just how much information is passed down through a person's DNA. DNA is  inherited in chunks that break up the further back in time you go you start with two parents then  four grandparents then eight great grandparents it goes to 16 32 and so on and by the time you go  10 Generations back there are ancestors from whom you inherit no DNA.

indeed it's a lot to consider  we the Melungeons a tri-racial race as recent DNA studies suggest? Or is their story something much  much deeper than we will ever know. How about you?

What do you think? I look forward to reading  your comments below and finally as promised we're giving away a free CD of Appalachian music  today that was created as a fundraiser for the Lee County Virginia Historical Society. All you  have to do to enter is just share your thoughts about what you think about the Melungeon story  below.

In a couple days we'll pick a winner and I'll mail this CD to you for free thanks for  watching and I'll see you on the next story.