Journey Home Genealogy

Irish Genealogical Research | Dwight Radford

Call Today! 801.699.2450

Or send us an Email

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Ireland
  • United States
    • American Genealogy (general)
    • Native American
    • African American
  • Canada
  • International Genealogy
    • England and Wales
    • Scotland
    • Other Research
  • Research Services
  • Research Proposal

Who are the Melungeons?

23 Jul By Dwight Leave a Comment

Whenever I research in the mid-south region of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia, I always look for Melungeon ancestry, based upon surnames and race prior to 1870. Melungeons were “free color” not slaves.

The word Melungeon is believed to mean mixture. They intermarried usually with poor whites and among their community. Today, their descendants number in the milliions and are scattered across North America. Common family surnames:

Bolen/Bowling, Bunch, Cole, Collins, Delp, Denham, Fields, Freeman, Gann, Gibson/Gipson, Goins, Goodman, Graham, Hale, Ivey, Lawson, Lucas, Maloney, Miner/Minear, Mize, Moseley, Mullins/Melons, Nichols, Noel, Piniore, Sexton, Sweat/Sweet/Swett, Williams. It’s not difficult to pick out the Irish ones.

Reports from DNA studies on Melungeon families fill the Internet. Studies reveal a mixed-blood heritage now referred to as “Tri-Racial Isolates.” They came out of Colonial Virginia. The product of white indentured servants (thus the Irish surnames), blacks and Native Americans. Current books on Melungeon will have a chapter on the DNA findings.

From a genealogical perspective, two path breaking articles by Virginia Easley DeMarce and published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly are: “Verry Slitly Mixt”: Tri-Racial Isolate Families of the Upper South – A Genealogical Study,” 80 (March 1992): 5-35 www.genpage.com/DeMarce.pdf  and  “Looking at Legends – Lumbee and Melungeon: Applied Genealogy and the Origins of Tri-Racial Isolates,” 81 (March 1993): 24-45 http://historical-melungeons.blogspot.com/2008/04/looking-at-legends-lumbee-and-melungeon.htmlThe colonial roots for many of these families have also been explored in Paul Heinegg’s monumental two volume work, Free African Americans of North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina: From the Colonial Period to About 1820 (2005): www.freeafricanamericans.com/Virginia_NC.htm and his Free African Americans of Maryland and Delaware from the Colonial Period to 1810 (2000): www.freeafricanamericans.com/maryland.htm

The Melungeons are yet another chapter in our racially mixed colonial history involving the Irish. They like other Tri-Racial Isolates have survived historically because they didn’t fit in either the white and black communities.

Filed Under: Irish Ancestry, Irish Periodicals Tagged With: African Americans, American Frontier, Colonial America, Ethnic Connections, Native Americans, Scots-Irish

About Dwight

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Dwight A. Radford

Dwight A. Radford is a professional family history researcher. Along with his staff they specialize in Ireland, England, Canada, African American, Native American, and United States. Connecting families together through historical documents and then creating a cherished family heirloom published book for generations to enjoy. Full bio…

Follow Our Blog

Blog

  • How do You Determine the Associates of Your Ancestor?
  • When to Jump Over the Water in Your Research
  • Grand Lodge of Ireland Membership Records Online

Online Course

  • My Courses
  • Courses
  • My Account

Contact

  • About
  • Contact
  • Research Services

Journey Home Geneology © 2023 · Designed by GO Marketing