Who are the Melungeons from Appalachia?

[@nytn]

🟢Sign up for the e-mail list here! nytonashville.com/connect ▶Please follow me on X, twitter.com/ImFindingLola 🟢Send me a coffee!: ko-fi.com/nytn13#linkModal 🟢Support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/NYTN ▶Download the first section FREE of my "Be a Good ancestor" course here: nytonashville.com/shoplola/be-a-good-ancestor-course-digital-download-videos-bjks6 ▶Get the full course to save your family history here: nytonashville.com/shoplola/be-a-good-ancestor-course-digital-download-videos 🟢Grab your own Ancestry DNA test now*! : amzn.to/3UxGKJx

[@BongDonky]

The Black and White photo of Melungeon family around 7:50 mark in video, could easily be a Siciliano family. If I showed you my older family photos you would be shocked. lol! Melungeons could be a generic term for people with swarthy complexions? What are Melungeon genetic markers? Grazie per il video,Salutamu!

[@jameswest981]

Very interesting one good thing about being well mixed is that what ever group your standing around u can say we and your good lol🙌🏽

[@oildalecommando]

Another amazing video, Danielle! Again, thank you so much for the time, effort, care, and thoughtfulness you put into your channel. I can connect with every single episode. 99% of time, I watch over TV and can’t/don’t have the time to respond, yet there is so much I would love to share. I will definitely look into your Patreon as soon as I get the opportunity. It would be awesome to find the time to sit down every few weeks to share my common experiences. Life is hectic (in a good way) at the moment. My girl is in the middle of volleyball season and my boy is on a 10u 7v7 football team that has weekend tournaments from Sacramento and the Bay Area, all the way down to LA and San Diego for the next 12+ weeks. Btw… thank you for you kind comment from last post from a couple weeks back. As humans, we are all so unique yet so very similar. To me, it is something which should unite people. Finally, thank you for introducing your audience to other amazing individuals! I became an immediate fan of Ornice and now follow his channel after your interview with him! Much love!

[@kekistanipatriot1644]

Chavis is actually Portugese. They lived in Granville Co., NC. I am pretty sure the Goins (Goings) were also Portugese also. My hypothesis is from Goa.

[@fbennett6656]

I didn't realize Chavez was a Melungon name. It appears in my ancestry. Our ancestry goes back to the first Blacks to arrive in Jamestown. I am I white or black? Genetics says 60/40 black /white. History and culture a little different.

[@leMignonne]

Holy smokes😮!! Laborn Goins of the Rhea County/Graysville, TN is my 7th great grandfather on my maternal side!🤎 I’ve been watching your channel pretty much from its beginning and come to find out we may be distant cousins!😊. I love your content btw! Excellent work!🫶🏽

[@nytn]

This is what I LOVE to see! My Goins line is messy, I need to work on it a bit

[@lulumoon6942]

That's neat, love when we see how close we truly are! 🙏

[@batya7]

How cool is that!

[@JPMJPM]

Are you still a Goins? Do you happen to know Bradley Goins who once lived in Red Bank but now lives in Birchwood?

[@ladyboxrocks]

In addition to Goins I have almost every other name she lists as a DNA matches on ancestrydna. I can’t find my Goin lineage yet. I’m guessing it’s one of my female ancestors whose maiden name I haven’t found yet.

[@nazoflove]

Melungeon comes from the Kimbundu-Angolan word "Malungu" which means "watercraft" but it came to mean "shipmates of a common country" amongst the Mbundu speaking people in America as well as Brazil where Angolans were taken as well. My 11th great grandma was married to John Gowen both brought to Virgina from Angola..His son Mahill became the first free American-born African in US history🖤

[@WolfRoss]

I thought it was the sons of John Punch who originally was an indentured person brought to Jamestown and married a white woman. At the time this granted free person of color status to his decedents.

[@SaltyCowFarms]

So they were Phoenicians? Fascinating correlation

[@ebenezermandjamba7625]

@@SaltyCowFarms Angolans are bantu

[@janetguarino6087]

⁠Minnie bell stowers

[@NahimanaDragon]

Then why is Obama trying to play the fake victim card​@@WolfRoss

[@dynomitenash8970]

These folks sound like a beautiful mix of several ethnicities. Understandable that they would isolate themselves from other people's expectations and prejudices.

[@MsStarwoman44]

I'm from the Appalachians', I knew about this for many, many years, I knew before I even listened to this young woman about many of the Melungeon names, my Grandmother had long black hair naturally, a darker skin tone and was very beautiful in her day, her maiden name is Mullins!

[@dynomitenash8970]

Your grandmother sounds striking.

[@viviandickinson]

I find it so interesting that I started watching this channel for you irish and Italian content because that's just what I have always thought I was. Well a few months ago I found out I was more then that. My moms side was a mystery and I ground out that she comes from mostly melungeon heritage. Tracing her family tree I have found most melungeon surnames like Chavez, Bell, Crow, and a lot more. I also found out she has Catalonia/Spanish, French, basque, roma, czech, baltic, German, Swedish, finnish, native American, barbados and scotts-irish. Her grandmother's on both sides were very dark with dark hair and I'm just in shock because I had no clue until now.

[@shannsimms9072]

I’ve always loved that beautiful ocean painting you have behind you.

[@nytn]

Thanks so much 😊 I collect them from antique stores. I have way too many in my house....all over the place❤

[@matthewthomas965]

I come from a Cherokee cultured family in east Oklahoma. I took a dna test and found that my highest mark is Rwanda Africa and my second highest was Oman Middle Eastern, go figure. Anyway your the best, I love your channel and thank you for your teaching.❤️👍🏼🙏

[@sr2291]

Some Cherokee Near Eastern MTDNA Haplogroup X.

[@biggiebou7268]

TY ! Love your vids. I too have a "Indian " Grandmother, not detected on paper trail. My Mothers fam were VERY dark. Your are a great help ! GBY !!!

[@wtk6069]

In some areas in Appalachia, most people have Native American ancestry five or so generations back because they their ancestors sometimes took Native wives in the late 1700s to mid 1800s. There simply weren't enough European women in Appalachia yet for them to marry, plus it gave all those Native wives a better option than being forcibly relocated out west, as it later turned out. My great-great-grandmother was such a bride. I still have her portrait. She was very obviously either Cherokee or Shawnee.

[@stephenjames2690]

it seems apparent why the people who were called Melungeon tended to live in isolated communities, and thus became even more diverse. Celebrating Native heritage was common until the Jim Crow era when one's identity defined all one's opportunities in life, and one was legally required to define oneself. Imo, you're totally right that being forced into one of two categories; especially when those categories are imaginary. I also think that it's easy to understand why people like Melungeons, Redbones, Creoles, and others exist. I agree that they are a culture because of their circumstance, not genetics.

[@FUCKDSS]

Circumstance and genetics and even the desire to be treated equal and live free like all others

[@sallyintucson]

While surfing through my tree the other day (I’ll pick ancestor’s in-laws and see where that name leads) I saw a woman on a census where there was only black and white boxes. Someone had scribbled over Black and wrote “Not Black”. Weird since prior censuses had checked her as white. I think the family was in Virginia.

[@ToRemy-m4x]

Okay the millennium culture okay thrives from the slaves running up into the Appalachian mountains to be free and not to be captured by the slave readers and the slave captors that have been looking for them along with the indigenous black sleeves running their you also had an indigenous Seminole Indians sometimes Cherokee and other people that were considered to be of color that ran up to the then you had an entire community of poor whites or immigrants as they were labeled run to the Appalachian mountains to do business and so forth and so on with this going on they have their own community that was destined for freedom and without being scrutinized by the radical races of that surface at the time they were able to procreate with another and carry on and that's why you have so much mixture in this morning group of people these people are a diverse group of people that have the attribute of indigenous African blood sometimes mixed or Indian as they label these other indigenous colored groups but what's even more fascinating is that just like any other group of mixed race people such as the Creoles and the Cajuns these people are exactly the same they are all mixed with Spanish sometimes European of sometimes Indiana but they all have African origin every last one of these groups make up for a percentage of African indigenous blood, see I see independently that you know commentary like this puts out a relevant that you know these people are their own group of people and I don't think that's fair because they're not they are just as accomplished as any other color or Afro these people are you know mostly with African blooded heritage is as well as mixed with other things and by the way I have to tell you because I know a lot of your commentary especially about your own family experiences to me is very complicated and it also seems as though you are denying your afro ancestry with replacing it with Italian and so forth and so on I don't care how much a personwants to be considered mixed race to not identify with their afro origin I don't care how much European you have in you or any other distinctive ethnicity whenever you have Afrocentric DNA it stands out like a sore thumb I don't care if your skin is clear cut white you will have either hair texture that reflects after you will have a nose or lips or a body structure the phenotype will show in some way is very relevant that a lot of people do not want to identify with their April ancestry and that's disturbing to me because we as a colored people have paved the way for just about every single not American immigrant or colored person to live out or to be considered or to be recognized for who they

[@25oxendine]

They sprang up from the communities of Free Mulattos. They could not legally marry Whites, and they didn't have the desire to marry enslaved people. These free Mulatto were usually between 1/4 and 1/16 Black first of all, not the 50/50 Obama type. They often excluded family members who had any discernible "Negro blood". To them, ascension in their society meant aiming to be as White or as close to it as possible. Those who fell short called themselves "Indians"(once it was feasible) or Portuguese to explain away the swarthiness

[@barbarat5729]

You don't "tend to live in isolated communities" and "thus become more diverse." The exact opposite would be true.

[@saylorgirl799]

👉Epps family in the house from VA! Yes, we are melungeon! I’ve been researching our family tree for about 20yrs. And yes, I learned that my paternal grandparents were “white passing” and moved from NC to VA, and other “passing” members of their family moved to the Philadelphia area back in the 40’s and 50’s. It’s a VERY FASCINATING journey learning all of these stories about our collective past histories! Love your channel! 💙

[@nytn]

This is awesome. I just started and I need all the help I can get. What a beautiful history this is

[@dwaynejones1146]

The times were very hard for everyone....yet with 1 drop of black blood increased the hardship 100 fold,and some who were non ambiguous assimilated ,leaving the black part behind...nothing has changed today.

[@gwdubs]

Victim mentality keeps you in shackles. Enjoy.

[@BronxRisen]

Hey hun I would love to share my mother and grandmothers pics with u as u explore on this topic! They whom are from those areas of North Carolina Roanoke Bertie Choctaw and Hertford counties, always quietly spoke on the topic.My family are Ridley’s and u would be shocked at how vastly my mother fits the description! I am still exploring on my family and recently found my mothers sister on her dads side in this area of Murfreesboro NC as well and although they’ve never met, the resemblance took my heart ….Thanks for sharing my NY sister❤️💪🏽👑

[@nytn]

I was thinking how much I would have loved the last name "Riddle" when I was reading this list ! I love that you connect to this side, too.

[@bettyjenkins2162]

Chowan County

[@BronxRisen]

I never liked it as a kid because we fought over the pronunciation! We also have Goins well as Boone in the family❤️

[@crcottre]

My mother's maiden name is ALLEY. We are brick-walled in our research in North Carolina, near Martinsville, VA along the Dan River in the very late 1700's. Lots of Melungeon names are found in the area at that time, and a curiosity of our ALLEY name is that most of our confirmed family there spelled it ALLY at the time. That is unique, and I haven't found it spelled that way in any other ALLEY records from other areas at the time. My interest in the Melungeons springs from the close association with with common Melungeon names. My DNA profile shows me about as white as I could be, but my gut tells me that a part of my family history will be found with a better understanding of this unique culture. Thank you for all of your work on this, and I will be following closely. 👀👍

[@nytn]

I will let you know if I see that last name come up! my uneducated guess is that it may be an offshoot of another similar surname. Did you happen to have any Portuguese show up on your test?

[@crcottre]

@@nytn none at all - almost all British, Scottish, and Celtic. I am almost certain that we are descended genetically from the other alleys in the area, but I can't find definitive documentation to make the connection to any particular family.

[@ronwinkles2601]

My ancestors, the Lawson Family comes from this same area in current Patrick Co., VA and Stokes Co., NC. They settled there in the early 1750's. I think you will find them to be neighbors to your Alley Family.

[@crcottre]

@@ronwinkles2601 you are correct. I have also found Lawson's who appear to have migrated to Indiana about the same time as my family did. The Lawson name is really big here in Hendricks county Indiana, too

[@cloisterene]

I instinctively knew from an early age that there was some mystery or secret about the maternal side of my family tree but didn't learn what it was until age 23, the year Grandma passed away. I learned from her, not Mama who seemed embarrassed or fearful about it. When I found out and was shown the family pictures including my elderly gg-grandmother with her floor-length hair, calico dress and bare feet, everything suddenly made perfect sense. And indeed when I 'came out' with the knowledge of that important element of my ancestry, I found Mama was right: it can attract negative attention, mostly in the form of people who, despite knowing nothing at all about you or your family, wish to refute and announce that *you* have 'no right' to make that claim (as if I were claiming the lottery jackpot, lol)...Quite the opposite from times past (my parents' and grandparents' era) when the reaction would've been more of ostracism and rejection by society. Currently there are certain people who treat it like some club of entitlement with exclusive membership, or status symbol. Unless they know you personally, you're unwelcome to be 'associated with them'. They don't know my family history and genetic inheritance as I do. Even before assembling the paper trail as far back as it could lead me, I trusted my grandmother because she never lied about anything. Even my mother, though reticent, was honest enough to admit the truth about our maternal line. My uncles know about it, too; and one of them actually looks Indian with his black hair and tall, lanky physique. They're all very tall in that branch of the tree, and all carried on the culture of self-sufficiency including making their own clothes, gathering, gardening, hunting and fishing for their own food.

[@joaomramalho1]

Rodrigues, Chaves and Francisco are common Portuguese surnames. Hug from Portugal, love your channel!

[@nytn]

So cool! That is really helpful.

[@SaltyCowFarms]

Phoenician connection

[@fratersol]

Common spanish names too

[@WhatsCookingTime]

​@@fratersolbut totally pronounced differently the Spanish pronounce this and they include a z. Portuguese person for example phonetically Rodrieegs. Different pronunciations on lots of words. Like my middle name for example Jorge. It's not pronounced as hoorhay like the Spanish. J is pronounced as a j 😊

[@sr2291]

Yes, they could be Sephardic Jewish Converso names.

[@Bruce_Ma]

Thank you very much for your series! I have been trying to solve the mystery of who my father’s grandfather could be. Family stories said that he was a black man who appeared to be white. My father’s Ancestry DNA shows that one of his DNA groups that he belongs is Louisiana Creoles and he has Native American, Turkish, and Iberian DNA on his grandfather’s side. You have given me a new path to look down.

[@B.cest-la-vie]

My Dad's family is from Louisiana and Mississippi. I have a bit of Iberian DNA as well.

[@catdaddy2643]

Neanderthal in all Europeans and Asians.

[@catdaddy2643]

Turkish are Annatolian from wayyyyy back

[@olg06]

​@@B.cest-la-vieIt's not unsual for people of Northwestern Europeans ancestry to have tiny bit of Iberian and vice-versa. I've seen soo many White-American DNA results have Iberian% like Stephen King among others. FYI full Iberians are white kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnq6h6mPjZiMoaMsi=nL4wX_G4dAYuiuLl

[@olg06]

​@@B.cest-la-vie It's not unsual for people of Northwestern Europeans ancestry to have tiny bit of Iberian and vice-versa. I've seen soo many White-America DNA results have Iberian% like Stephen King among others. Search on youtube "Verdeliss Myheritage" if you wanna know how full Iberians look like

[@KathrynGrimes-x3p]

I would like to say I fit into the Redbone, Melungeon group. What I know is it was a matter of survival. A history that will tear your heart out.

[@theevolvingmindset333]

You're doing great work, Danielle!

[@catholiccrusader5328]

NYTN, your program is beneficial with my newest book. According to my DNA test, I'm a triracial Arab, black, and East Indian. Mulatto will be the title of my book. Much love from Chicago. I'm 80 years old.

[@cloisterene]

In my genealogical research I found an unusually large number of "free persons of color" in North Carolina in particular, in antebellum censuses. I believe that is somehow significant. I've seen both "white" and "free persons of color" listed together in some NC households, pre-civil war.

[@aholder131]

I have really enjoyed discovering your videos. I love anthropology, so learning about this group is fascinating. I read that one of my favorite singer-song writers, the late Rich Mullins, is thought to be Melungeon. I don't know if this is something he claimed or if someone made a guess, but his father is from Appalachia and he certainly has that look about him. He wrote a lot about places, home and belonging, so I wonder if having a more mysterious origin story influenced that. This morning, I listened to one of my favorite albums of his (one of my favorite albums of all time period), A Liturgy, A Legacy and a Ragamuffin Band, with fresh ears. He has a beautiful line in a song called Land of my Sojourn about living in America which says "no one ever tells you when you get born here, how much you're going to love it and how you'll never belong here." That about sums it up!

[@harolddenton6031]

Chavis is also a big name in the lumbee Indian tribe in lumberton,nc. My dad's/father's/ mom was Julia (Jones) Denton. Her mother was Margaret (Riddle) Jones from Hendersonville,nc she was married to a John Jones.

[@djspatriqt2290]

My mother is a Mullins and her dads family came to Jamestown in 1620 and settled in Newmans Ridge. Her dads grandmother was Mahalia Mullins, the moonshine queen of the Appalachian mountains. I am a mix of British, Irish, Scottish, German and Cherokee Indian.

[@djspatriqt2290]

@user-wv1pj6wh4h Pay attention to the conversation. We were talking about a different time frame than you are referring to. Not only that, we were talking about my Mom's side of the Familly. I'm praying 🙏 for you 🙏.

[@amberkuehn9115]

You should look up the Appalachian story teller melungeon it's pretty interesting

[@brendadavis571951]

I was taught that Melungeon family were mixed black , white and American Indian . I met these people and they identified as white but would proudly tell you they are melungeon .

[@snicksabea]

Spanish too. The Spanish pirates that wanted to retire hid in the mountains and stayed and mixed.

[@Tigrethetiger]

You see the same amongst all heavily mixed populations even in Spanish speaking countries You have the majority population who don’t look white black or native Then you have some who are still mixed but mostly white, mostly black or mostly native

[@copperweaver13]

The communities around me in SE Ohio have a long history of mixed ancestry. In the past these communities have been called ‘WINS’ that stood for White, Indian, Negro, Spanish. I am not sure where the term originated from.

[@stephanienwadieiiamhybasia]

I agree. I never identified as Creole, until I was an old adult. I am learning a lot by researching Creole history and my own family history.

[@TheFifthWorld22]

It's amazing how well you put all of this together thank you it's also amazing how We are being shown, and guided- and how so many of us are on very similar paths...all coming to meet up again 🌟🌟🌟🌟🎶The Best Is Yet To Be. let It Be🎉 I am editing to say I have a story which I'll try to tell very soon in depth, where my high school principal, she was a black woman member of the Black Panthers actually, try to force me to check a box and told me that because my father was one drop I was 100% And all of this. I had never heard of it I was shocked. It really did make me feel alone...I just thought about it and thought about it, all these years. I refused to check just one box it: didn't make sense to me. Thank you Danielle

[@TruthIsLikeTheSun]

Being a Black woman principal had little to nothing to do with her telling you to check the black box, nor did her being a member of the Black Panthers have anything to do with it. A white, Jewish, Asian, Native, or Hispanic principal could have said the same thing. It was the law made by white supremacists racist people: "The one-drop rule was a legal principle of racial classification that was prominent in the 20th-century United States. It asserted that any person with even one ancestor of black ancestry is considered black." After the law ended in 1967, the belief and practice continued and still exists in the hearts and minds of many today. Whether right or wrong, the seed was planted, and the weeds keep growing confusing, confounding, and choking people to death with the lunacy. We are ALL in the HUMAN RACE. Furthermore, I'm not sure why you make it a point to mention the principal's membership in the Black Panther organization. What did that have to do with anything as she fulfilled her role as principal assisting you with completing a required legal document? Many people wrongly categorized the Black Panthers as a hostile, militant, or terrorist group. They were not. Unlike the KKK and other white nationalists, and white supremacists domestic terrorist groups who intimidated, harrassed (to put it mildly), threatened and murdered people (still) just for their differences in race, religion, color, etc., the Black Panthers were formed to DEFEND the attacks on black people and neighborhoods, including police brutality, which continues today when black people are 3 times more likely to be killed by those sworn to protect and serve; thus, we get the Black Lives Matter Movement started by a black woman because of how her brother was treated by police and later greatly elevated by the Trayvon Martin murder. Additionally, The Black Panthers uplifted and served their communities in other positive ways, such as providing free breakfast for children. This spread across the nation and later became the model and inspiration for the US government public school free lunch program.

[@kehenry1]

Glad you are approaching this story. One of our problems, as you have rightly pointed out, is that we see our world and history as black and white. As in, there were only white colonists and black slaves and these worlds only crossed in the least human and most emotionally distant way possible. The first thing we need to remember is that our ancestors were not different than us. They loved. They had desires. They had ambitions. They felt sorrow and loneliness. Longed for home and family. Made their own homes and families. Everything we do today, they did yesterday and 300 years ago. So, when we are trying to find our ancestors and their stories, instead of looking at them as two dimensional characters in a bad novel, we should think about how we feel and how we act under different circumstances. Because that is exactly what they would do. Using different technologies, of course. Second, this binary world we keep assigning people two was constructed in a post Civil War fantasy where desperate men were trying to pull a white nationalist victory out of complete humiliation of their army and ideas. Which is why we forget that Virginia was not just a colony of white plantation owners farming tobacco using black or native slaves. From the beginning, Virginia was an incredibly active trading port. Ships came from all across the known world to Virginia's ports. The sailors, captains and journeymen shipwrights on board were an eclectic, international mix of men. As were their wives at later times. They made port in Virginia. They interacted with the population, sexually, romantically, socially. They made their homes here. Men from the Basque region whose fathers and mothers often hailed from various Mediterranean ports on the European or North African side. Thus, from the beginning, there were always Free people of mixed race here in America. Not just descendants of a free white person and an enslaved black person. There were free interracial, black, yellow and every race and ethnicity, every economic and social status. It's reflected in our DNA. Studies show that up to 30% of the white American population has some African DNA. Many, like my own family, have a fleeting or fading 1-2% DNA, indicative of a 5th generation somewhere around the 1750s contributing. So...if you are looking for your family, think what you would do and then go find them there. Usually, hanging out with another family member you forgot you had.

[@sallyintucson]

When I was writing down family stories for future generations, I wrote them in a way that a complete stranger could understand them. In my mind this will help future generations to understand these people. I also mention who their parents were and when and where they lived, ALWAYS including the maiden name of the mother.

[@kolepate7057]

I love everything you’re outlining in this video. Especially how melungeon is a mixture of pre existing races and cultures set apart in a different land to make their own sub culture - the nuance in that you really shed light on. Because I really didn’t even think about how not all communities, which had a culture of racial mixing and could be termed melungeon, are of the same genetic/ethnic makeup. Some could be more native dominant with African tinges, others Europeans that mixed with Africans and implicitly gained native blood from those mixed Africans and countless other blended experiences. It’s really attached to idiosyncratic historical experiences that you can’t always just guess and I love that. America will never be a monolith!

[@nytn]

America refuses to be defined. I love her for it!

[@shaneh734]

Absolutely amazing! My second cousins side of the family is a Mullins. I immediately forwarded her this video!

[@nytn]

Wonderful! I love it

[@JPMJPM]

I love Henry Cho, the Asian-American comedian from Knoxville that you spoke of. He’s still touring. I’ve been a fan of his since the ‘80s.

[@Biznessfashionista]

Bowman, France, Cox, Martin (those too you need to add to the Melungeon surnames). Patrick County, Virginia; Mt. Airy, North Carolina; Surry County, North Carolina; Piedmont region of North Carolina. Love your content!

[@katrinarupnick167]

What is the RH factor of them? I have little over half of the names listed in my family surnames and family from that area(both sides[all4])

[@BirdDogg]

Lots of Melungeon history and lore here in northeast Tennessee, the mountains of Appalachia make for a great place to isolate for certain. Here at school we found a lot of Cherokee folks who identified as Melungeon up here around the Virginia / Tennessee line or were they Melungeon who identified as cherokee 🤔

[@corderomiles3769]

Dutch also

[@TRINITY-ks6nw]

Thanks!

[@nytn]

so kind of you, thank you!

[@eurasianhillbilly5513]

New subscriber here, my family is from Tennessee, South Western VA & little from NC. I also have a few of the last names you mentioned in my family Bowling, Goodman & Moore. Also un my family in my gma's side have black hair and not dark or darker skin but more tan than the average Caucasian European. Also I'm from Martinsville VA all of my schooling was in Martinsville VA, I moved to CT in 2012, oh and familiar with Cindy Goen from Mville VA. Small world well thanks for sharing your interest and knowledge on "Melungeons. Wishing you and your family eternal health and happiness ✌🏻CT

[@JT-ok6re]

I'm of Melungeon ancestry! I grew up in north west North Carolina. Its a cultural of different races.

[@FatherOfDragonss]

My family with this heritage is from Caldwell, Burke county and a couple others. Reed (Reid), Harbison, to name a couple

[@iahelcathartesaura3887]

I wish someone could say definitively once and for all whether some of the takes on that photo you used in the thumbnail are actually white feature people with dark skin, OR as has been said, that that boy was cleaning out a chimney. Which would absolutely give the same appearance. I wonder if anyone knows for sure. It doesn't matter that much, but to support our ideas we need accurate images. Since the melungeon people never became a cohesive and highly populus group, we don't have pictures much! And most of them didn't have finances to get their portraits done sadly. I remember how amazed I was as an Appalachian Mountain Southerner when I moved to London after high school (1980) and met Pakistani people with very dark skin indeed, but typically 'white' features! Wonderful... people and God's limitless creativity and natural flow in reality. He loves us so.

[@janwitt8173]

Thanks so much for sharing! My 3rd great grands, Felix Goodman and Lucinda Wise have roots in Tennessee and North Carolina. Bunch and Riddle are both in my mother's direct lines. I have DNA matches with the surnames Chavez/Chavis, Goins/Goings, Bolling, Reeves and Evans. Both my parents, my sister, and I have DNA matches to several Virginia area Native Americans as well as African DNA. This is really enjoyable to watch and learn about our heritage and culture.

[@angelcox6136]

Cox is another Melungeon surname. I knew Brent Kennedy but lost touch with him. I went to one of the reunions in Wise W. VA. There were many Turkish people who commented that I look like a Turkish girl is what they said. We have such a diverse look. I didn't learn that we were Melungeon until later in my life. We know of the Cherokee ancestry but there is also French and certified Mediterranean blood. We don't know where the Mediterranean blood. I have been mistaken for every race that you can name. It depends on whether or not I've been in the Sun and how I wear my hair. It's quite fascinating.

[@davidirwin1549]

Thanks for this video series - it's very interesting for those of us that have this colonial Virginia ancestral mix. My GG Grandmother is Susannah Gill and parts of my family lived in Virginia, West Virginia and moved through Kentucky to southern Ohio. Also, my G Grandmother is a Locklear whose family left the Carolina's for SW Ontario (Lumbee's also considered part of this group). I just want to point out that more accurately the greater overall "larger term" would be "Tri Racial Isolates" who had their beginnings in Colonial Virginia. The term "Melungeon" only got attached to "one" of the Tri Racial Isolate groups of which there were many different groups in the USA. Melungeon got attached to those in NE TN, SW VA, NW NC, etc. but they are all a part of the greater "Tri Racial Isolates of Colonial Virginia".

[@batya7]

It looks like that term, "Tri Racial Isolates," is some sort of technical or legal language. Is that correct? And where does it come from before "Melungeon"?

[@davidirwin1549]

It's the overall term above the Melungeon's so the Melungeon's were 1 of many different groups of the Tri Racial Isolates mix group from Colonial Virginia @@batya7

[@KenNeumeister]

It is fascinating to understand what distinquishes culture from race, especially in a time when people self-segregated by culture while others discriminated by culture, leading to isolated groups that intermarriaged and emerged as a race of their own making.

[@cloisterene]

I'm pleased to see Francisco on the list, as I ran across the name recently in my genealogical research and was very curious about it.

[@mariejane1567]

There was a ton of Italians in West Virginia too

[@Reazin1]

The main/title character of the novel Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver is Melungeon, and lives in Appalachia. The book, if you haven’t read it or heard of it, is her take on David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens. She was the co-winner of the Pulitzer for it.

[@LumBo7166]

I'm born '58,,,,my family from Tennessee and West Virginia. Mother's side, grandpa from Tennessee looking your shade. Grandma I could follow, but grandpa don't even know what city or county his wife had to verify him. Said all that to say u opened up a lot

[@myradioon]

I think they are descendants of Portuguese/Azorean/Cape Verdeans (dark) sailors so prevalent on Colonial ship crews. Melungeon names are Portuguese!!! - like Rives, Gill (from Gilberto- most popular Portuguese name) Francisco, Chaves (means "Keys), Rodriguez etc.. "Melungeon" could be a mix up of the Spanish/Portuguese word "Melange" or "Malanga" (meaning "mixed")" and or "Malaga" meaning from the Iberian (Originally Arab) City of "Malaga" in Spain. The Portuguese/Spanish were the best sailors and were crew on nearly all the early Colonial ships from ANY country coming to Colonial VA/North America. They are on many crew rosters - then they jumped ship, were left behind, given small plots, etc. Some were Portuguese/Spanish Jews escaping the inquisition enlisting on crews. They were second class, darker, not landed gentry etc. and so moved inland and mixed with natives/escaped slaves/settlers etc. The Melungeon people in illustrations look PORTUGUESE!

[@nytn]

this is super interesting. the last names always struck me as Spanish...but not quote. The ending in "S" instead of "Z" especially!

[@myradioon]

@@nytn Anytime you see an "S" in a normally Spanish sounding name it is Portuguese "Gomes" instead of "Gomez" etc. It gets more confusing as Portugal, Spain and even Italy were all under the same rule after 1492 (Isabella/Ferdinand). Jews were kicked out or converted. Many ended up on ships/with fleets. The first whaling fleets/merchants in the Azores were Portuguese Jews. Many Portuguese names in the diaspora are Portuguese Jewish/Converso names. Many in Brazil. Nearly all of the Portuguese sounding names listed here are. I also think Melungeons have other ancestries mixed in as you say. Northern European, Huguenot, Etc. Also, many sailors/artisans in general coming to early colonies (Fort Charles SC, Roanoke, Etc.) were from the Mediterranean and even The Middle East/Turkey. Some were never heard from again. Thomas Jefferson had Turkish DNA. So do NC/SC Turks.

[@olg06]

🙄 All people have to do is get one of these Mulungen males with one of these Last names & look at his Paternal Haplogroup!!! If it's Middle Eastern Jewish or North african, then case closed. Until then this is all myth. Remember People lie, but DNA don't lie.

[@corderomiles3769]

Some of them are def puertoguese or dutch but "puertoguese" varies.. they could be mixed cape verdeans.. originally va indians that traveled with the germans to the African coast.. bc they was def there. Puertoguese were already mixed ppl that were called puertoguese

[@myradioon]

@@corderomiles3769 You are right. Cape Verdeans were some of the earliest mixed race sailors in the New Americas because those islands were the last stop before the New World - including for Columbus. His crew consisted of them (his wife was Portuguese Nobility and had land holdings there). They were "Free Men of Color" later on in Colonial America because they had "jobs" (not slaves) and Cape Verdean names can be seen even amongst ships/history of Pilgrim times.

[@MalBeats]

When you said the thing about Cherokee grandmother's really hits I've heard that so much from my aunt's and uncle's. "We have Cherokee in our family" it's sad they were ashamed to claim their black heritage and that denial just got passed down through the generations

[@Elke_KB]

Wow, you triggered a memory of me sitting in a lecture hall listening to the prof talk about the Virginia slave act. .....this would be the same professor that played a fife and would occasionally dance a little jig at the start of the lecture! 😂

[@nytn]

this made me laugh out loud, guessing this was pre-cell phone videos LOL

[@Ethereal1971]

Really like your channel. Very interesting and informative. Thanks for sharing your research. I live in New Orleans, Louisiana and I have learned a lot, watching your videos.

[@nytn]

Very cool! I have loved working on my Louisiana side, it never ends

[@samparkerSAM]

Definitely recognized every single last name. Sounded like a role call at school here in Louisiana. My Moms a Williams from aforementioned west Virginia/ Tennessee side. Whats a trip is that her grand father was Jefferson Davis cousin; he was named after a shared grandfather Samuel Davis... Growing up in 1990's New Orleans, I would pick up from classmates a attitude; towards my mothers ancestor. We use to fight all the time, ... it turns out her great grandfather fought in the Union Army anyway 😂. When i got my Dad's family history, I teased my mom about my dads mixed ancestors. Ultimately its humbling that I can remember my teenage attitude... my appreciation grows for my family. However my W.A.S.P roots are not really a part of my life; Despite apologies my Mom doesn't share as much 💔.

[@nytn]

Hahahah, yes a roll call at school! That made me laugh. My appreciation for my family has grown, too. Wish I could tell my dumb 16 year old self some stuff

[@_S.D._]

I'm from Melungeon stock. I'm a direct descendant of Vardy Collins, aka the father of Melungeons from Hancock TN. I've also got Gibson, Bunch, Williams and Godwin in my line. My family is from eastern TN and southwestern Va. 7:46 is that Simon Collins? It looks it is, if so he is my 5th ggf. One of those little girls is my great grandpas great grandmother.

[@Enxwest]

This is a very informative video. On my father’s side of the family, there is a large group of relatives in Warren and Halifax County, NC (right over the Virginia border) that fit these characteristics. I remember meeting them for the first time 7 years ago and being amazed that they could have white/very light skin, light eyes and light hair, but Black features and speech patterns. They identify as Black.

[@marianchacon5289]

IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU ACCEPT, RESPECT AND LOVE YOURSELF REGARDLESS OF RACE OR COLOR. WE ARE ALL HUMANS CREATED BY GOD. TQ FOR AN INFORMATIVE, AND FASCINATING PROGRAM.

[@harleybirbboi3914]

I'm a Goins! My dad grew up in Harlan, KY and his grandmother was part Cherokee. My brother always said we were Mulugeon. This for your info!

[@conniewingo5844]

Johnny Deep is Mulungeon. Beautiful culture beautiful people.

[@yolandacollins9824]

My last name is collins and I'm from kentucky and my cousin last name is Depp and we are black and everything mixed maybe cousin with Johnny Depp

[@schadjam]

My question for your interview: One of my ancestors is King David Benge. One historic source states that his title of ‘King’ came from the belief that he was ‘King of the Melungeons’. I have traced the name Benge going back to the early days of the Virginia Colony and have come across an historic theory that believes that Benge is a misspelled, mispronounced derivative of Bunch. I also have ancestral ties to folks with the surname of Mullins, Goins and Bowlings, also of Clay County and perhaps part of the Melungeon clan that may have existed in Clay County. Any information on the Clay County Melungeon connection would be awesome!

[@adriannieves1495]

My family and I woulda been considered Melungeon in “ race “ then most likely; seeing as being Puerto Rican, Mexican and Cuban. We literally have Indigenous Puerto Rican Taíno, West and Central African, Spaniard, Portuguese, Italian, Indigenous Mexican Mayan, and North African Ancestry; so it’s pretty crazy but most likely they woulda considered us as Melungeon; not mention because a this, we all look different with different skin colors, hair types and features. Very Interesting and awesome Information in this video for sure. 💯👍🏾👍🏾

[@shadow0dancer]

I had to laugh when you were talking about the Virginia colony. My Dads skin was very, very dark and when he broke his leg the sisters at the hospital didn’t know which ward to put him in. Our family originally was from Knoxville TN. Interesting, I’d never heard the term. I have the Goin name in my family too.

[@goldcherry103]

My great-grandmother's family is originally from Grayson County, Virginia. Their last name was Phipps. Back in those days, people rarely discussed "mulattos" or "melungeons." However this video is good info for us to pass down to future generations.

[@Ammo08]

My mother's half-brother was a Goodman, he was Melungeon, born in 1907. His father was from East Tennessee....he had dark hair, dark skin, very skinny and aquiline features, but his eyes were grey. I always looked up to him, such a great man. I grew up in the South, I'm 70 years old. The theory then was that the Melungeon were of Iberian descent, which of course would include the Moors from North Africa. Dr. Barry Vann, The Vanntage Point on KZbin, has a really good video on The Melungeon.

[@olg06]

Iberians don't claim Moors, they are muslim, the whole point they were expelled from their country.

[@trevorsmithfnp9749]

Melungeons, we are a region-specific Appalachian ethnic minority, a cultural minority, racial minority and religious minority- all at once.

[@trevorsmithfnp9749]

and my daughter's TN DMV states: Other

[@trevorsmithfnp9749]

and im a member of a Powhatan, Jamestown Tribal group, too.

[@trevorsmithfnp9749]

and I've the Cherokee GGrandma story as well as +Melungeon DNA Tests, all 3 Alleles/Markers, incl Graysville DNA.

[@batescave]

"Tell me about your family" - perfect!

[@peteywheatstraws4909]

I have read that Elvis and Lincoln were Melungeons for years now.

[@brenellhornsby6566]

You may also want to take a look at the $5.00 Indian issue that was proclaimed by the US govt in order to take land from the Indigenous (Indian) population and place it into the hands of whites. Many whites who claim indigenous background are related to $5.00 non-Indian ancestry.

[@nytn]

I have looked into that a bit! My family has indigenous haplo group (c1c) and records of being converted in the missions, but you are right not every story is factual!

[@johnnyearp52]

That is only for one part of the country.

[@CT-uv8os]

Yeah the tree grab roll years ago. Not all light skinned people are 5 dollar. Beware of who you accuse.

[@swannoir7949]

@@CT-uv8osBut many did, that's the point.

[@MaryArmstrong-gg2so]

Melungeon started out as as a slang term like melato or all the other horrible names the people of mixed races were called. Strange that it's an acceptable term now.

[@danajohnson3446]

I first heard the term Melungeon in 2001 at a doctors appointment. My daughter’s doctor was a Roberson and it timed out we were related. She asked me if I’d heard of Melungeons and said this was one of the more common names associated with this group of people. Very interesting history.

[@madyjules06]

Embarrassed to admit but I never heard of Melungeon ethnicity until I read the Pulitzer prize winning book Demon Copperhead- the lead character(Damien Fields) is a Melungeon kid and the author writes about his life from birth to early adulthood. Highly recommend the book. It’s so well written; really can say it’s a modern day masterpiece (the 2023 Pulitzer win was well deserved)

[@albertarthurparsnips5141]

Is it possible that Rita Coolidge or Johnny Cash had / have Melungeon roots as opposed to the Native American ( Cherokee ? ) roots they both espoused at one time or another ?…P.S Wasn’t Gary Powers a Melungeon ?…

[@Clem62]

Wonderful synthesizer set up and is that a theramin to the left?

[@margaretstaggs7942]

My dad's parents were born in Athens, Alabama. My great grandmother was a full blooded Cherokee. You could tell my dad and one of his sister were real dark complexion, his other sister was fair complexion. My maiden name is Hargrave. When I looked up my grandfather's side of the family had different spelling other than Hargrave. It was also spelled Hargraves, Hardgraves, Hargreaves, plus other spelling. They originally came from England.

[@carolinegooder7091]

Have you read the book on cast in American? Not just race but different wealth structures dividing groups.

[@lulumoon6942]

Caste structure is an interesting subject, there are curious old charts of race mixtures in South America that are very detailed.

[@johnnyearp52]

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson?

[@azborderlands]

Chavez and Rodrigues is interesting for that part of the world isn’t it. Maybe they added to the mixture of their culture.

[@sandraschultz3104]

some of those are British English names- Scottish who all were driven there after the wars in 1700s

[@CT-uv8os]

Lowlanders

[@friendsofcoal]

Thank you 🙏 so much for posting these Melungeon video series . I descend from a Gibson (Gipson) and have long wanted to share my history with people that actually want to understand and not scold for appropriating😂 people want to see high percentages of any sort of DNA to prove your heritage. Mine is sort of distant so when I do explain to people why I have Italian, Eastern E Roma, North African and Levantine, and Indigenous American, they want a tribe im affiliated with or if my ancestor was enslaved…it’s usually a very hard conversation from there on because they don’t want to accept the notion of melungeons or mixed race familes ever existed. Or they are just ignorant, either way it’s usually a tough conversation when somebody doesn’t know the pre colonization history.

[@rainbowunicornprincessandt7796]

Nice. I know Heather Adolina, the President of the Melungeon Association. Some Melungeons were categorized as FPOC as well. My maternal grandmother's ancestors were said to be Portuguese. Some of my relatives claim this until this day. They settled in the Foothills of NC. Some on Roanoke, VA. Most of them migrated from MD, Va, and NC/SC boarder. Melungeons, Redbones, Brass Ankles, Turks, Lenape, and Lumbee are of the same bloodline. That explains why I have cousins who are Lumbee, Haliwa Saponi, and Meherrin. I even have some in Louisiana via the Chavis and Evan's line.

[@harolddenton6031]

I had 3% Iberian and 5% middle eastern DNA when I received my ancestry.com test results back in May of 2018. On both sides of my family trees many of my direct line families were living in va and nc during 1700 through 1780 before receiving land grants to cross the nd mountains to settle in northeast Tennessee around bristol and Johnson city areas by 1777 I to 1780's. One of my Jones lines started out in henricus park colony on the James river in Chester va by the mid 1630's. Then from 1640's through very early 1700's They migrated south into northern regions of north Carolina. Then from 1720's through early 1770's They migrated westward across nc. Then after the American revolutionary war ended they migrated over the western nc mountains to settle in northeast Tennessee. Another line of my Jones were I get married with Clark's in Virginia in the early 1700's. They migrated up through Shenandoah valley before ending up in western parts of Virginia by 1800 living by saltville and Bristol,tn. I also have tapps/ tappticos ( from nanticoke Lenai lenape tribal folks from culpepoer,va area. They married into my huskins and Yates families.

[@joymontague251]

Do they tell on DNA tests if people are Melungeon? I think maybe one reason at least now for asking race for medical forms is maybe diseases like sickle cell anemia.

[@JohnBdog]

Great point on having pride in who you are, and not having "Pride or Shame" in who your ancestors were. Thankful perhaps. Great idea: "Be a good Ancestor".

[@ritapoe4652]

I have known about Mulungeons for 30 yrs. I lean toward Brent Kennedy's theory. Also plz keep in mind King Author ll died in KY in 536AD. 70000 Welshmen came here. See: Alan Wilson and Barom Blackett Perhaps King Author ll ancestors were from Turkey. Also you have to wonder about the lost Roanoke tribe, North Carolina. ? I believe they were Turkish silk workers fleeing Religious persecution. 🎉 Lots to consider.

[@lanelle.delina]

Evans is in my maternal family name in south VA and northern Carolinas. Very mixed family background but story goes French and native/black were intermarried before the one drop rule became law. They pronounced it ‘E-Vaughans’. Name we believe was on the Dawes roll. My dna tests are strange because I also had south Asian dna on both sides and my dad is from South Carolina. It appears both my parents dna became more African 3 generations back but 7-8 generations was highly mixed native, south Asian, French, Portuguese.

[@rhondag8128]

The French definition of “melange” is mixture. It is believed that the term Melungeon came from that.

[@sandrasmith7091]

I started to skip this video because I've seen alot of melungeon stories. But glad I did watch. The more I learn the more interesting it gets.

[@lLeon44-g7j]

Great video! I think Brent Kennedy is mostly correct, his book is worth the read. I read that Jack Goins DNA did not reveal Native or Portuguese, but that should not be thought of as true for all of us, I have all of the above, White, Black, American Indian, Portuguese/Spanish, Jewish. I did 5 DNA tests and extensive genealogy research...So I just want folks to understand, that you may not have all of those ingredients, but you may still be Melungeon. I am living proof that Melungeon is NOT just White & Black. BTW Danni some of my ancestors were denied on their application for the Choctaw Rolls...

[@kcirtapelyk6060]

My maternal grandparents were from Eastern Kentucky and like so many Appalachian families, I was always told my grandmas mom as Cherokee and I just blindly believed it because she had the stereotypical look (black hair, dark eyes, high cheekbones, long nose, dark complexion) and so many of my relatives have similar swarthy features. However, ever since I started getting into genealogy, I realized what I was told wasn’t 100% true. I did 23andMe and found that I’m 97.9% European, 1.2% Native American, 0.4% Middle Eastern, and 0.4% Sub-Saharan African. I discovered my matrilineal 6X great-grandmother was from East Tennessee and was believed to be either Saponi or Melungeon, even though her maiden name (Richardson) wasn’t listed as a Melungeon surname. I do however have the names Evans and Gibson in my lineage and they were Free People of Color who originally lived in North Carolina and Virginia in the 17th and 18th centuries, prior to migrating to Appalachia in the early 19th century.

[@t-four446]

On one of my lines I got to my mothers grandfather (my great grandfather) being born in Batchelor, Louisiana. His father born in Batchelor, Louisiana in 1874 (my second great grandfather). His father was born in Alabama (3rd great grandfather), and his mother Louisiana. The amazing thing was on the 1930 census he had his 86 year old grandmother living with him born in 1844 in Louisiana. Her father was born In Maryland, her mother was born in Virginia. From that line, my mother’s fathers line, or my father’s line I have yet to find an African slave

[@nytn]

you are doing really important work!

[@Luis-f3x3g]

I live in nashville also.i would love to meet you .I was born in wise co va.my mothers family lived in VA as well

[@leenam.4578]

My father's maternal grandmother's maiden name was Burkett (of Irish origin) but is posted as a Melungeon name on one of your lists. Prior to your videos I barely knew the term Melungeon.

[@JoaninFlorida]

It's obviously a BS term. She's trying to say it means descendants of someone black, but she refused to say that directly and dances around like an idiot. I had to shut her off. I am so sick of northern liberals who are shocked that white people slept with black and indigenous people like that's some kind of earthshaking news that nobody who is white knows about, so they feel the need to "inform" ignorant racist whites of this newfound fact. Newfound to her maybe. Talk about anti-white racism! Just because your name is Burkett, it certainly does not mean that you do or don't have black blood. Ireland is full of totally white Burketts. And nobody cares anymore if somebody has black blood except liberals.

[@richardwilliamswilliams]

Good morning from Copperhill Tn.

[@nytn]

Morning!!

[@jonguinn3037]

Melungeons do have Cherokee And Creek Indian ancestry. They moved into the mountains because that was a place that was rich in resources for the type of industry in the times. Fur trapping and traders Tennessee River was a highway that would get you to the Mississippi. Appalachia was already being used for the resources by the Creek Indians copper trade and other things. I know that someday I'm going to make sure that I give you some really good information. I can tell you exactly why those people ended up in the mountains

[@ronniehahn1885]

Interesting facts. I was born in Sullivan County Tn a few counties up from Hancock. I went to school with Goins and Mullins who looked virtually Native American. Sneedville Tn seems to be the epicenter for Tn Melungeons. I had my DNA done and it shows Native American, Arabic and Senegalize. Yes I have the bump at the base of my skull. I can do the squat with ease. I have black hair dark skin and green eyes. Kind of funny I am the only one in my family with these traits. I think it came from my great grandmother? I endured many racial slurs growing up. I always told everybody I was a American not indian or chinese or sand n*g-ar. Too be honest I guess I look more like a Native American than anything else. Heres a new trait for you. My ring finger nails on both hands turns under or curls down on my finger tips.

[@SonnyinChitown]

I've at least 7 of those surnames! My family were the first founding settlers in this area.

[@bobmckenna5511]

Fun channel, a charming and thoughtful host. Regarding the pronunciation of the mountain range on the eastern side of the US> I was born and raised in Montgomery County Maryland, the Appalachian mountains pass by starting just barely west of the county line, Sugarloaf mountain. We always pronounced the third syllable as "lay". I think some regions prefer the third syllable as a short a, or "latch". Neither is wrong or right, it is another one of those Tomayto tomahto things. CaRIB-bean, or CaribBE-an. Offen or of-ten. Please feel free to resume saying Appalachian with your comfort zone, it is also my preference.

[@fratersol]

Hello my name is saul romero from new iberia, louisiana. My 9th great grandfather was miguel romero. Settled and founded the town im from in 1778. Came from malaga spain...

[@lightwaves666]

Thank you Familiar names on my tree, more than 1 I think its an identity. What Ive discovered is that there is an Nigerian name dating back as far as the 1400s in my family Tree Agborowe Joane Agborowe 1475-1563 married to Sir James Clarke of Kent England of Ford Hall, they had a daughter Elizabeth 1562. She married a Moorman another clue we made a voyage to the virginia colonies. The Moors a nomadic people from north africa where living in england since the 1300s maybe even hundreds of years before. Even Jane Austen the english writer descended from this family some say pride and prejudice was based on this heritage Vardy Collins is a cousin, dont forget we are all related.

[@molonlabe3gunn841]

My people are from Eastern KY. I grew up in Eastern NC…military brought us there. I do know the names Goins and Chavez can be found among the Lumbee Indian Tribe of Eastern NC, near Lumberton, Red Springs, Pembroke…Just FYI

[@RjSierra-m2v]

Possible Melungeon origin: Viking raids on western Europe 790- to-1100 may include raids on TUNIXE island of Fortunata islands. Now known as the Canary islands. This "TUNIXE" may very well be the origin of the "Tennessee" name. See "Tunixe" of Connecticut.

[@ZendreGlymph]

My second great-grandmother maiden name is Williams. I have yet to find her parents. Grandma Nancy who I name my doll after was a brown-skinned lady with hair down to her waist. Thanks the motivation to keep my genealogy keep going.