Melungeon - Definition

Definition

The ancestry and identity of Melungeons have been highly controversial subjects. Secondary sources have disagreed as to their ethnic, linguistic, cultural, and geographic origins and identity, as they were and are of mixed ancestry. They might accurately be described as a loose collection of families of diverse origins who migrated, settled nearby and intermarried with one another, mostly in Hancock and Hawkins counties in Tennessee, nearby areas of Kentucky, and Lee County, Virginia. Their ancestors can generally be traced back to colonial Virginia and the Carolinas. They were largely endogamous, marrying within their community, until 1900.

While the U.S. census has had a category for Melungeon, tabulated under "Some Other Race 600-999", most scholars do not think Melungeons should be classified as a distinct ethnicity. They describe them instead as one of numerous populations with origins in mixed-race unions.

Melungeons have been defined as having multiracial ancestry; they do not exhibit characteristics that can be classified as of a single racial phenotype. Most modern-day descendants of Appalachian families traditionally regarded as Melungeon are generally European American in appearance, often, though not always, with dark hair and eyes, and a swarthy or olive complexion. Descriptions of Melungeons have varied widely over time; in the 19th and early 20th century, they were sometimes called or identified as "Portuguese," "Native American," or "light-skinned African American". During the nineteenth century, free people of color sometimes identified as Portuguese or Native American in order to avoid being classified as black in the segregated slave societies. Other Melungeon individuals and families are accepted and identify as white, particularly since the mid-20th century. They have tended to "marry white" since before the twentieth century.

Scholars and commentators have not agreed on who should be included under the term Melungeon. Contemporary authors identify differing lists of surnames to be included as families associated with Melungeons. The English surname Gibson and Irish surname Collins appear frequently; the genealogist Pat Elder calls them "core" surnames. Vardy Collins and Shep Gibson had settled in Hancock County, and they and other Melungeons are documented by land deeds, slave sales and marriage licenses. Other researchers include the surnames Powell, LeBon, Bowling, Bunch, Goins, Goodman, Heard, Minor, Mise, Mullins, and several others. (Family lines have to be researched individually as not all families with these surnames are Melungeon.) As with many other surname groups, not all families of each surname have been of the same racial background and ancestry.

The original meaning of the word "Melungeon" is obscure (see Etymology below). From about the mid-19th to the late 20th centuries, it referred exclusively to one tri-racial isolate group, the descendants of the multiracial Collins, Gibson, and several other related families located in Newman's Ridge, Vardy Valley, and other settlements in and around Hancock and Hawkins counties, Tennessee.