Melungeons, A Multiethnic Population
Roberta J. Estes,
Jack H. Goins, Penny Ferguson, Janet Lewis Crain
Abstract
Melungeon is a term applied
historically to a group of persons, probably multiethnic, found primarily in Hawkins
and Hancock Counties, Tennessee, and in adjoining southern Lee County,
Virginia. In this article we define the Melungeon population
study group, then review the evidence from historical
sources and DNA testing--Y-chromosome, mitochondrial DNA, and autosomal DNA--to gain insight into the origin of this
mysterious group.
Address
for correspondence: Roberta Estes,
[email protected]
Received: July 2011; accepted Dec 2011
Introduction
The
Melungeons were a group of individuals found primarily
in Hawkins and Hancock Counties of Tennessee and in the far southern portion of
Lee County, Virginia which borders Hawkins and Hancock counties in
Tennessee. At one time isolated
geographically on and near Newman's Ridge and socially due to their dark
countenance, they were known to their neighbors as Melungeons,
a term applied as an epithet or in a pejorative manner.
As
the stigma of a mixed racial heritage dimmed in the late 20th century and was
replaced by a sense of pride, interest in the genealogy and history of the Melungeon people was born.
With the advent of the internet and popular press, the story of these
people has become larger than life, with their ancestors being attributed to a
myriad of exotic sources: Sir Walter Raleigh's Lost Colony, Ottoman Turks, The
Lost Tribes of Israel, Jews, Gypsies, descendants of Prince Madoc
of Wales, Indians, escaped slaves, Portuguese, Sir Francis Drake's rescued
Caribbean Indians and Moorish slaves, Juan Pardo's
expedition, De Soto's expedition, abandoned pirates and Black Dutch, among
others. Melungeon
families themselves claimed to be Indian, white and Portuguese.
Furthermore,
as having Melungeon heritage became desirable and
exotic, the range of where these people were reportedly found has expanded to
include nearly every state south of New England and east of the Mississippi,
and in the words of Dr. Virginia DeMarce,[1]
Melungeon history has been erroneously expanded to
provide "an exotic ancestry...that
sweeps in virtually every olive, ruddy and brown-tinged ethnicity known or
alleged to have appeared anywhere in the pre-Civil War Southeastern United
States."[2]
Formation
of Melungeon DNA Project
The Core Melungeon DNA Project was formed at Family Tree DNA in July of
2005[3] with
the goal of testing the Y-line and mitochondrial DNA of families identified as
Melungeon. The first step
was to define which families were Melungeon and were eligible to be
included.
The popular press has extended the definition of Melungeon
dramatically. The project administrators
researched various records to determine where the label of Melungeon was
actually applied, and to whom. They
found the word first recorded in 1810 and used for the next 100 years or so,
primarily in Hawkins and Hancock Counties in Tennessee, and slightly into
neighboring counties where the Melungeon family community reached over county
and state boundaries into Claiborne County, Tennessee, and Lee, Scott and
Russell Counties in Virginia. The
project was subsequently broken into Y-line and mitochondrial DNA projects, and
in 2010, a Melungeon Family project was added with the advent of the Family
Finder product.
First Records of Melungeon
The first recorded instance of any word resembling Melungeon is found
surrounding an 1810 event in Arkansas.
In 1972, Baxter County, Arkansas published a Centennial edition of its
history. In it they describe a Tennessean, Jacob Mooney, along with Jacob Wolf,
reportedly of Hawkins County, Tn.,[4] who
made numerous incursions into Arkansas for the purpose of trading livestock,
etc. The following passage describes
Mooney's first trek to Baxter County in 1810.
"The four
men who had come with Mooney were men of Mystery, referred to by oldtimers who
knew of them as "Lungeons." They were neither Negro or Indian and in
later years Jacob Mooney was ostracized for living with these
"foreigners"...by the time he moved to Arkansas for good, his former
slaves and the "lungeon" men had died and most of their families had
moved west with the Indians."[5]
The next written record of Melungeons is found in Russell County,
Virginia in the Stony Creek[6] church
minutes in 1813[7] when a reference was made
to “harboring them
Melungins.”[8] From that point forward in time, we access
historical documents to determine which families were originally considered to
be Melungeon.
As early as
1848, the outside world heard of the Melungeons and became interested when
Littell's Living Age[9]
published an article referring to the Melungeons in which it was claimed that:
"A
great many years ago, these mountains were settled by a society of Portuguese
adventurers, men and women - who came from the long-shore parts of
Virginia. These intermixed with the
Indians and subsequently their descendants (after the advances of the whites
into this part of the state) with the negros and the whites, thus forming the
present race of Melungens."
With this article, cultural interest in the group of people known as
Melungeons began, and various articles and publications followed, some of which
contained information that related to their heritage.
Table
1: Melungeon
Heritage Table
Year |
Source |
Melungeon References Provided |
1810 |
History of
Baxter County Arkansas[10]
|
First
reference to Melungeons in written records indicating they were from Hawkins
County, Tn. |
1813 |
Stony
Creek Church Minutes (1801-1814), Russell Co., Va. |
First
local reference to Melungeons - reference to "harboring them
Melungins." |
1848 |
Littell's
Living Age |
"Society
of Portuguese adventurers...who came from the long-shore parts of
Virginia...intermixed with the Indians and subsequently their
descendants...with the negroes and the whites" |
1886 |
Goodspeed's
History of Tennessee[11] |
Says
Newman's Ridge "has since been occupied mainly by a people presenting a
peculiar admixture of white and Indian blood." |
1888 1889 1890 1907 1915 |
Hamilton
McMillan[12] |
Lumbee as
descendants of Lost Colony, Lumbee "formerly called themselves
Melungeans", Lumbee "branch of the Melungeans", Lumbee
"call themselves Malungeans", says Melungeon designation preceded
first tribal name |
1889 |
Dr. Swan
Burnett[13] |
"Proudly
call themselves Portuguese." |
1889 |
Atlanta
Constitution letter from Laurence Johnson[14] |
"Claim
to be Portuguese - original site on the Pedee River in NC and SC...crew
consisting mostly of Moors with sprinkling of Arabs and negroes turned ashore
free...found wives among Indians, negroes and cast off white women...free
people of color of Pedee region." |
1890 |
1890
census paperwork[15] |
"Melungeons
in Hawkins County claim to be Cherokees of mixed blood (white, Indian and
negro)...Collins and Gibson reported as Indian, Mullins white, Denham
Portuguese, Goins negro...enumerated as of the races which they most
resembled." |
1890 1891 |
Articles
by Will Allen Dromgoole,[16]
Nashville Reporter |
"Claim
to be Cherokee and Portuguese", some claim a drop of African blood, Collins
and Gibson claimed Cherokee ancestors, "stole names of Collins and
Gibson from white settlers in Virginia where they had lived previous to North
Carolina", white (Mullins), Portuguese pirate (Denham) and African
(Goins). |
1897 |
"A
Visit to the Melungeons" by C.F. Humble[17]
|
"We
know that Mullens and Moores received their names from white husbands and
fathers, and we do no violence to the probabilities by assuming that the
prevalent names, Collins, Gibson, Williams, Goans, Bell
came in the same way." |
1903 1914 |
Lewis
Jarvis, Hancock County Tn., attorney and historian[18] |
"Called
Melungeon by the local white people...not here when first hunting parties
came...had land grants where they formerly lived...were the friendly Indians who
came with the whites as they moved west" to the New River and Fort
Blackmore...married among the whites.
Names Collins, Gibson, Bolin, Bunch, Goodman, Moore, Williams,
Sullivan and "others not remembered" as Indian. |
1907 |
Hodges
Book of American Indians north of Mexico by James Mooney[19] |
"A
mixture of white, Indian and Negro...the Redbones of SC and the Croatans [now
Lumbee] of North Carolina seem to be the same mixture" and
"Croatoan, Redbones, Delaware Moors and Melungeons are of similar
origin" and "name Melungeon is probably from melange-mixed or
Portuguese." |
In 1903,
Lewis Jarvis,[20]
a local attorney who lived and worked with the Melungeon families and was
ultimately responsible for identifying many of the families by name, wrote the
following: [21]
"Much has been said and written about the
inhabitants of Newmans Ridge and Blackwater in Hancock County, Tennessee. They
have been derisively dubbed, with the name "Melungeon" by the local
white people who lived here with them.
It’s not a traditional name or a tribe of Indians. Some have said these
people were here when this country was first explored by the white people and
others that they are a lost tribe of Indians and have no date of their
existence here. All of this is erroneous and cannot be sustained. They had land
grants in places where they formerly lived. These people not any of them were
here when the first white hunting party came from Virginia and North Carolina
in the year 1761.”
In his 1903
article,[22]
Jarvis identifies the Melungeons as Vardy Collins, Shepard Gibson, Benjamin
Collins, Solomon Collins, Paul Bunch and the Goodman Chiefs and says:
"They settled here in 1804, possibly about the year 1795", obtained land
grants and "were the friendly
Indians who came with the whites as they moved west. They came from Cumberland County and New
River, Va., stopping at various points west of the Blue Ridge. Some of them stopped on Stony Creek, Scott
County, Virginia, where Stony Creek runs into Clinch
River. The white immigrants with the
friendly Indians erected a fort on the bank of a river and called it Fort
Blackmore[23] and here yet many of these friendly Indians
live in the mountains of Stony Creek, but they have married among the whites
until the race has almost become extinct.
A few of the half bloods may be found - none darker - but they still
retain the name of Collins and Gibson, &c.
From here they came to Newman's Ridge and Blackwater and many of them
are here yet; but the amalgamations of the whites and Indians has about washed
the red tawny from their appearance, the white faces predominating, so now you
can scarcely find one of the original Indians; a few half-bloods and
quarter-bloods balance white or past the third generation."
Jarvis later
names James Collins, John Bolin, Mike Bolin and "others not remembered" who "went to the War of 1812" whom he says "were quite full blooded Indians." He ends by saying that:
"They
all came here simultaneously with the whites from the State of Virginia,
between the years 1795 and 1812 and about that there is no mistake except in
the dates these Indians came here from Stony Creek."
Jarvis
stated that the purpose of his article had been to address the myth that the
Melungeons were a lost tribe of Indians having no date of their existence and
that they were found when the first hunting party came into the area in 1761,
which he asserts unequivocally was incorrect.
In 1914, in
a letter to Mrs. John Trotwood Moore,[24]
Jarvis writes:
“These people were friendly to the Cherokees
who came west with the white immigration from New River and Cumberland,
Virginia, about the year 1790. The name
Melungeon was given them on account of their color. I personally knew Vardy
Collins, Solomon D. Collins, Shepard Gibson, Paul Bunch and Benjamin Bunch and
many of the Goodmans, Moores, Williams and Sullivans, all of the very first
settlers and noted men of these friendly Indians. In the Civil War most of the
Melungeons went into the Union army and made good soldiers. Their Indian blood
has about run out. They are growing white. They have been misrepresented by
many writers. In former writings I have given their stations and stops on their
way as they emigrated to this country with white people, one of which places was
at the mouth of Stony Creek on Clinch River in Scott County, Virginia, where
they built a fort and called it Ft. Blackmore after Col. Blackmore who was with
them. When Daniel Boone was here hunting 1763-1767, these Melungeons were not
here."
Nearly all
of the 1800 and early 1900 era contacts with the Melungeons record their
heritage as either Indian or Portuguese, mixed variously with whites and negroes. Saundra
Keyes Ivey[25]
sums up the situation in her dissertation: "The Melungeons carefully preserved the "Legend of their
history." This
"Legend"...included an original descent from Portuguese adventurers
and later intermarriage with Indians, negroes and whites."
Why Portuguese?
If the
Melungeons were not Portuguese, why would they have said that they were? The answer to this question may be at least
partially found in the 1834 Tennessee constitutional amendment, which went into
effect in 1835, and meant significant changes for those citizens designated as
"free persons of color."
“Every free white man of the age of
twenty-one years, being a citizen of the United States, and a citizen of the
county wherein he may offer his vote, six months next preceding the day of
election, shall be entitled to vote for members of the general Assembly, and
other civil officers, for the county or district in which he resides: provided,
that no person shall be disqualified from voting in any election on account of
color, who is now by the laws of this State, a competent witness in a court of
Justice against a white man. All free men of color,
shall be exempt from military duty in time of peace, and also from paying a
free poll tax.”[26]
What this
doesn't say in so many words is that negroes, Indians
and mulattoes, in other words, free persons of color, and slaves, were forbidden
from testifying in a court of law against a white person, voting and other
civil rights afforded to white people.
In addition
to the 1834 Tennessee legislation, the Indian Removal Act[27]
signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on March 26, 1830 provided for the
removal of the "5 Civilized Tribes" from their lands east of the
Mississippi to lands west of the Mississippi.
Viewed by historians as an act of cultural genocide, the first tribes
were removed in 1831 and the last, the Cherokee were removed in the dead of
winter in 1838, resulting in the deaths of about 4000 Cherokee, or about 20% of
the tribe,[28]
known as the "Trail of Tears."
Some feel this number has been drastically understated. Regardless, beginning in 1830, Indian is not
a label one wanted attached to their family, and at that point, almost anything
else was preferable.
Given that
these families were from Virginia and North Carolina before they settled in
Tennessee, this would not have been their first brush with discriminatory
laws.
In October
1705 in Virginia, the following act was passed:
"Be it enacted and declared, and it is
hereby enacted and declared, That the child of an Indian and the
child, grand child, or great grand child, of a negro shall be deemed,
accounted, held and taken to be a mulatto."
This was
followed by:
"That all male persons, of the age of sixteen
years, and upwards, and all negro, mulatto, and Indian women, of the age of sixteen
years, and upwards, not being free, shall be, and are hereby declared to be
tithable, or chargeable."
This
certainly might be reason to seek residence elsewhere, perhaps in North or
South Carolina.
In Virginia
in 1691, 1705 and 1753 and in North Carolina in 1715 and again in 1741,
intermarriage was banned between whites and negroes,
mulattoes or Indians, which obviously had the effect of encouraging
intermarriage between blacks and Indians.
Another ban specifically against white-Indian intermarriage was found in
Tennessee in 1821, where most states only banned black/white marriages.[29] Dr. Ariela Gross contends that the
"vanishing Indian" was a result in this timeframe of the
reclassification to mulatto and negro and follows
several examples forward through time.
The 1705 Virginia statue that declared that a Mulatto is "a child of an Indian" as well as
"the child, grandchild, or
great-grandchild of a negro" was not modified until 1785 when a
"colored person" was defined as all persons with "one fourth-or more negro blood" and
only those with "no negro blood"
were allowed to be classified as Indians.
Portuguese
was considered white, although Portuguese were expected to look
"dark", having Moorish blood.
Portuguese was claimed in other locations as well, possibly also to mask
either Indian or negro heritage.[30] DeMarce suggests that an obvious explanation
is the perpetual wish for non-African ancestry, which had led to a plethora of
myths.[31] While Caucasians of Mediterranean descent
were rare in British North America, they were counted as white and were, if
willing to be naturalized and become Protestant, not subject to the legal
disabilities imposed upon free mulattoes and Indians.
The
Portuguese claim was not restricted to Hawkins/Hancock County families. Lewis Goans moved to Hawkins County in 1855
from Rockingham County, NC, the same area where the Melungeon family of
Zephaniah Goins lived prior to moving to Hawkins County in 1811. On December 11, 1895, Lewis died and his
obituary provides the following information:[32]
"Lewis Goans, an aged and well known citizen
of our county, died at the residence of Harris Bell on Cave Ridge near town
Tuesday night after an illness of about 6 weeks, Aged 84 years. Until his
last illness Mr. Goans had never been sick but 2 days in his life, and was an
exceptionally well preserved man. He was Very Dark
complected and claimed to be of Portuguese stock."
Harrison
Goins, who wrote "Indian" as his racial classification on his WWI
draft card, was the grandfather of Jack Goins[33]
and son of Hezekiah Goins. Harrison
claimed to be one quarter Indian and never discussed Portuguese. Harrison's sister never discussed Indians and
told stories about her Portuguese Goins ancestors.[34] Hezekiah's mother was a Minor, and the Minors
and Goins, including Hezekiah, claimed Portuguese ancestry on the 1880
census. Hezekiah was the great-grandson
of Zephaniah Goins who moved from Rockingham County, NC in 1811 to Hawkins
County.
Ethnicity Challenges
Melungeons
voted, owned land and otherwise functioned as white people in Hawkins and
Hancock Counties in Tennessee. However,
their ethnicity was challenged.
Ariela
Gross documents a claim to Portuguese heritage when in 1855 in Carter County, Jacob Perkins,
"an East Tennessean of a Melungeon
family", attempted to win damages from John White for the accusation
that he had "negro blood."[35] In this case, many depositions were given
regarding the family heritage and whether they were Portuguese, negro or mulatto. If
they were Portuguese, they would be treated as white, and if they were negro or mulatto, they would lose the rights of whites. While the outcome of this lawsuit does not
exist, the lawyers extensive notes do, and in a note
from Jacob Perkins to his lawyer, he shares his perspective as to what is so
damaging about the accusation of "negro blood":
"1st the words imply that we are liable to be
indicted = liable to be whipped = liable to be fined; They
bastardize our children; They disqualify us from serving on a jury - from being
a witness - from merchandizing; 2. These words worse than theft or murder; 3. They are slander
upon the plaintiff and his ancestors who are dead."[36]
In addition
to the various articles that provide various and sometimes conflicting ethnic
and historical roots for Melungeon families, several lawsuits occurred that
contested the ethnicity of both Melungeon and Lumbee families with similar
surnames.
Table 2: Contested Ethnicity
Year |
Case or Event |
Information |
1833 |
General Assembly
of Tennessee Petition[37] |
Petition
by sons of William Nickens (Wilson Co., Tn.) petitioning the Assembly stating
that their parents were from Portugal and had settled in the US "many years
since" and that "their colour is rather of the mixed blood by
appearance." They asked to have
the same rights as other citizens of the state. |
1845 -
1848 |
Hawkins
County, Tn. Voting Rights Cases[38] |
The state
challenged the right to vote of several individuals who were alleged to be
free persons of color and therefore not white and eligible to vote. Nine men, eight of which were Melungeon
were prosecuted. They were Vardy
Collins, Zachariah Miner, Solomon Collins, Ezekiel Collins, Levi Collins,
Andrew Collins, Wiatt Collin, Lewis Minor. All were found not guilty except Vardy who
paid a fine and the suit was dropped. |
1851 |
Wilson
Co., Tn.[39] |
Letter
from R. M. Ewing in 1890 stating that in 1851 when he attended law school
there were a group of people living in Wilson County called Melungeon and claimed
to be of Portuguese descent. Includes
surnames of Richardson, Nickens and Collins. |
1852 |
Bloomer
vs Minor, Hawkins Co., Tn.[40] |
Bloomer
accused Minor of abducting his niece for the purpose of marrying her. Bloomer states in court that Minor's are
free persons of color and the niece is white, precluding the marriage. Found in favor of Minor. |
1853 |
Goins vs
Mayes, Claiborne Co., Tn.[41]
|
Mayes
objects to marriage of his brother to a Goins female, stating Goins were
negroes and mulattoes. Goins initially
won, but the verdict was overturned by the Tennessee State Supreme Court
stating that it was common knowledge in the community that the Goins were of
mixed blood. |
1855 |
Perkins vs
White, Carter Co., Tn.[42] |
Jacob
Perkins accused John White, of "an East Tennessee Melungeon family"
of having Negro blood. Various
depositions claimed Portuguese, negro and mulatto. |
1857 |
Perkins
vs White, Johnson Co., Tn.[43] |
Joshua
Perkins took John R. White to court because White was heard to say the
Perkins were negro and should be taken to court for having white wives. Perkins stated that his grandfather was
Portuguese, but lost the case. |
1872 |
Testimony
before Congress by Giles Leitch, Jr., attorney[44] |
Attorney
who had defended militia members who killed several Lumbee in Robeson Co., NC
stated that the Lumbee were "a mixture of Spanish, Portuguese and Indian
without much negro blood at all", "Mulattoes." |
1874 |
Shepherd Case
(Jack vs Foust), Hamilton Co., Tn. |
Inheritance
of woman challenged due to her race.
Bolton family alternatively defined as negro, Malungeon, mixed-blood, Portuguese, Spanish/German and descendants of
ancient Phoenicians who settled in Portugal.
Includes description of migration path from SC to Hawkins Co.,
Tn. Mentions families Bolton, Goins,
Shumake, Perkins, Morning, Menley, Breedlove and others. |
1884 |
Randolph
Co., NC Court Minutes[45] |
Flora
McDonald, 88 and Catharine McBryde, 83 "are acquainted with Daniel
Goins, his father, grandfather and great-grandfather, (John Harmon) who was a
native of Portugal and was always called a Portugan and was the color of the
natives of that place...that he, his sons and grandson always exercised the
right of and passed as white men in every respect." |
1915 |
Goins vs
Robeson County (NC) Board of Education |
Suit
filed by the Goins family claiming they are Indian and not negro, seeking
admission to Indian school. |
The Shepherd Case
This case is
known as the Shepherd Case[46]
because the honorable Judge Lewis Shepherd, when he was an attorney before
becoming a judge, defended Martha Simmerman, a young woman accused of having negro blood, and he wrote about this famous case in his
memoirs in 1915. For many years, his
memoirs were the only known record of this case, but since, the actual case
records have been found in the Tennessee State archives under the case name
Jack vs Foust. This case identifies
several Melungeon families with surnames not otherwise identified as being
Melungeon in the Hawkins/Hancock County core region. A watershed case in many
respects, it provides information about Melungeon families in locations other
than Hawkins and Hancock Counties in Tennessee, and provides invaluable
historical breadcrumbs.
In this
case, the inheritance of a young woman, Martha Simmerman (granddaughter of
Solomon Bolton), was dependent on the racial classification of her Melungeon
Bolton family.[47] The court determined that the family was not
of mixed African blood, the allegation, which would have caused her to lose her
inheritance per the laws of Tennessee at the time. Testimony in the case indicated that the
family was alternately defined as Spanish/German or Portuguese, descendants of
ancient Pheonicians who, after Carthage fell to the Romans, immigrated across
the straits to Gibraltar and settled in Portugal.
A tax
collector in Spartanburg District[48]
in South Carolina where Solomon Bolton had lived testified that he too had
investigated the "blood" of Bolton to determine whether to levy the
"free negro" tax on Solomon Bolton and had decided not to, whereas he
did levy it on another person who claimed to be Portuguese.[49]
Other
witnesses testified that Bolton, Perkins and other people of the same community
called themselves "Portuguese" or "Spaniards" but were
considered "free negro."[50]
About half
way through the trial, A.B. Beeson was the first witness to refer specifically
to the Melungeons. When asked about
Solomon Bolton's identity, he answered, "He was called a Malungeon" and referred to "His general association with the Malungeons - his own
people. I never saw him associate with
whites except when he had business."
When asked to name the same families of this "race or character", Beeson named several including Perkins and
the Goinses.[51]
When asked what he understood a Melungeon to be, he replied "I think it is a term applied to mixed blood
people."[52]
Lewis
Shepherd details in his memoirs the argument he made to win over the court for
Martha Simmerman, persuading the chancellor that her father's marriage was
valid and that Jemima Bolton, Solomon's daughter, was legally white. Shepherd
explained that: "These people
belonged to a peculiar race, which settled in East Tennessee at an early day
... known as 'Melungeons.' ... It was proven by the tradition amongst these
people that they were descendants of the ancient Carthagenians; they were
Phoenicians, who after Carthage was conquered by the Romans, and became a
Roman province, emigrated across the Straits of Gibraltar, and settled in
Portugal.... About the time of our revolutionary war,[53]
a considerable body of these people crossed the Atlantic, and settled on the
coast of South Carolina near North Carolina." He went on
to explain that when South Carolinians "began to suspect that they were mulattoes or free negroes, and denied
them the privileges usually accorded to white people," the
Melungeons left South Carolina and wandered into Tennessee.[54]
|
|
According
to Shepherd, writing in 1915: "Our Southern high-bred people will never
tolerate on equal terms any person who is even remotely tainted with negro
blood, but they do not make the same objection to other brown or dark-skinned
people, like the Spanish, the Cubans, the Italians, etc." |
This case
included testimony about a migration path from South Carolina to Hawkins
County, Tn., then on to Hamilton County, Tn.
William McGill,[55]
Justice of the Peace 1834-1850, in Hamilton County, testified for the plaintiff
and stated: "We generally called
them Malungeons when we talk about the Goins and them, the Goins who were mixed
blooded."
Witnesses
who testified in the 1874 Chattanooga trial named those who originally lived in
Hawkins County. Judge Lewis Shepherd in his memoirs listed the families
mentioned in this case:
"The Goins,
Shumake, Boltons, Perkins, Mornings, Menleys, Breedlove & others. They came from South Carolina, across the
mountains to now Hancock County, Tennessee, and spread out from there."
Written
records may not exist that show that all of these
families named by Lewis Shepherd were in Hancock County,[56]
but there is no reason for Judge Shepherd to have lied about this. Shepherd had first hand information from
representing these people.
Subsequent
research revealed a 1794 South Carolina petition from individuals who fell
under the “Act for Imposing a Pole Tax on All Free Negroes, Mustees and
Mulatoes”[57]. This petition includes the name of Martha
Simmerman's ancestor in question, Solomon Bolton, as well as his father,
Spencer Bolton. Interestingly enough,
this list also includes the surnames of Gibson and Collins, known Melungeon
family names, and others including Oxendine which is exclusively a Lumbee
surname.
The Shepherd Trial Goins Family
Further
research tracks the Goins family referenced in the Shepherd trial from Sumter
County, SC to Moore County, NC in 1820 where they are found living beside 3
Riddle families. The Goins family (by
various spellings) in Sumter County, SC and in Cumberland and Moore Counties in
NC are always classified as either mulatto or black. They are found associated with the various
families mentioned in the testimony from the 1874 lawsuit[58]
as well as the 1915 Robeson County Trial[59];
Epps, Jackson, Gibbs, Chavis, Oxendine and Smiling.[60]
In his testimony at the 1915 trial, Hamilton McMillan stated:
"The Croatan tribe lives principaly in
Robeson County, North Carolina, though there is quite
a number of them settled in counties adjoining in North and South Carolina. In
Sumter County, South Carolina, there is a branch of the tribe, and also in east
Tennessee. In Macon county, North Carolina, there is
another branch, settled there long ago. Those living in east Tennessee are
called "Melungeons", a name also retained by them here, which is
corruption of 'Melange', a name given them by early settlers (French), which
means mixed.''
In 1915,
the Cherokee Indians of Robeson County, now the Lumbee, sought to exclude other
children from their Normal School because they had "negro blood" or
because they were not Lumbee. The Goins
children were members a sub-group of the Lumbee known as the
"Smilings" who had come from South Carolina. In a long trial, Willie Goins testified that
he brought his family from Sumter County, SC and that they "belong to the Indian race of people if any
to my knowledge." A group of
ministers was sent to SC to investigate the racial heritage of the Goins
family, and in SC it was explained that "we are sometimes called "Red-bones", some call us "Croatans." Rev. Locklear gave his opinion that "on the mother's side plaintiffs are Indians
and on the father's they are malungeans."[61]
This
information provides a connecting link between the Melungeon families of
Tennessee and the Lumbee families. In the
late 1800s documentation indicates that the Lumbee also referenced themselves
as both Portuguese and Melungeon.
It was
culturally and financially important for a family to be or become white as soon
as they could. Whiteness, or in essence,
absence of negro or other nonwhite blood was determined in two different ways
in court of law, and both were used, often in combination, as documented by
several trials. Physical attributes were
evaluated, such as flatfootedness, a trait associated with negroes,
versus a high arch, associated with European heritage, kinky versus curly or
straight hair, and a flat, broad nose versus a more European beak-type
nose. Of course, in the case of mixed, or alleged mixed heritage, these traits were not
always definitive, so past activities and prior acceptance as white was also
taken into consideration. Did the person or family in question (and their
parents and grandparents) attend white churches or negro congregations, were
they taxed as white or as free persons of color, did they eat with the white
folks or the black folks at gatherings?
Did they muster in the militia, vote, serve on a jury or testify in
court against whites, activities reserved exclusively for whites? If they had past acceptance or their
ancestors did as "white", it was unlikely they would be found to be
otherwise.[62]
In 1902,
James Mooney addressed the issue of Portuguese oral history:
"All along the southern coast there are
scattered here and there bands of curious people whose appearance, color, and
hair seem to indicate a cross or mixture of the Indian, the white, and the
Negro. Such, for example, are the Pamunkeys of Virginia, the Croatan Indians of
the Carolinas, the Malungeons of Tennessee, and numerous other peoples who in
the days of slavery were regarded as free Negroes and were frequently hunted
down and enslaved. Since the war they have tried hard by act of legislature and
otherwise to establish their Indian ancestry.
Wherever these people are found, there always will be the traveler or investigator
passing through their region, who will encounter their tradition of Portuguese
descent, and in view of their ignorance, will wonder how these people ever came
to know of the nation of Portugal.”[63]
Racial Identification
There are a
few terms used repeatedly in historical documents when referring to individuals
on the early tax lists and census records.
Many of the terms had different meanings at that time in history. Additionally, it’s important to look at the
entire record for context.
For example,
if there are only three options, white, black and mulatto, one would never find
an Indian listed. On the other hand, on tax lists, if one is listed as an
Indian, even if the surname in question today is not proven Native by DNA
testing, there is no reason to believe that the family in question did not have
Native heritage. There was simply no
advantage prior to 1887 when land became available[64]
to claiming any heritage except white.
Mulatto
today is taken to mean mixed black and white, but historically, it meant not
100% negro and not 100% white, therefore discernibly admixed, and it could have
been mixed black/white, Indian/white, black/Indian or a combination of all
three.
Mixed meant
the same thing, basically, not black and not white.
Negro
typically meant black and not appearing or known to be admixed. If you looked
admixed, you were called mulatto or mixed or sometimes mustee/mestee if the
admixture was known to be Indian.
Mustee is a
term no longer widely in use, and when it is used today typically means
something akin to “half-breed.” The
historical usage of the word typically meant mixed with Indian blood. The mixture could have been Indian/white,
Indian/Spanish in Mexico or the Southwest or could possibly also mean
Indian/black. Again, the context of
usage would be important but any individual so referenced in historical
documents could be suspected of having Native heritage that was admixed at that
point in time.
White was
white. One could not be white if one had
any minority ancestry “to the third or fourth generation inclusive” depending
on when and where the record was created.[65] At one point, after the Civil War, this law
was extended to include even “one drop” of non-white ancestry, most notoriously
with Virginia's Racial Integrity Act of 1924 wherein race was defined by the
"one drop rule", classifying anyone with any non-white ancestry as negro.[66]
How
individuals were defined varied widely.
Often how they were identified had more to do with the person doing the
identification than the heritage of the individual. It’s not uncommon to find someone defined as
mulatto in one location, white in the next, mixed in the next, mulatto again, then white.
Census takers generally looked at people and decided, or knew their family
and history and wrote what they thought to be true. Census classifications for individuals who
never moved can vary from census to census.
Given the
social, economic and civic discrimination of historical times, it goes without
saying that “white” was the race that provided educational opportunity, removed
repression, assured civil equality such as the right to vote and fostered
financial success. It was advantageous
to become “white” if at all possible, and quickly.
Families
tended to live in nuclear groups. They
suffered discrimination and repression equally throughout the group. Survival often depended on having the
assistance of your “kinship group.” In
other words, people established clans.
When it came time to consider moving further west for land, opportunity
or just a fresh start, they didn’t migrate alone. They went in groups with their children,
parents, brothers, cousins and in-laws.
In some cases, none stayed behind.
More often, some did. It’s
important to look at family groupings when we track family migration. Finding the same surnames and individuals in
the new location that match those of the old imply a kinship group. Migration paths are key
to understanding the Melungeons.
Melungeon
Migration Patterns
Jack Goins’
research has shown that the ancestors of many Melungeon families are found in
early Hanover and Louisa County, Virginia, circa 1720, on the Pamunkey River,
the area shown on Figure 1.[67]
Beginning
about 1747, these families migrated to the Flat River area of Granville County,
North Carolina. This area became Orange
County In 1752. Some families from Louisa and Hanover County migrated about the
same time to Lunenburg County, Virginia areas that later became Halifax, Pittsylvania,
Henry and Patrick Counties in Virginia.
Locations
of the homes of Melungeon families are shown in Figure 2 created by Jack Goins. This area in present-day Person County, NC,
located near the border with Halifax County, Virginia, is the area that is the
home of the Haliwa Saponi Tribe.[68]
Beginning
about 1767 some from these groups migrated to the New River, primarily the area
that is today Ashe and Allegheny (formed from Wilkes) Counties, North Carolina
and Grayson County, Virginia. Locations
of Melungeon families are shown in Figure 3[69]
on the border of these three counties.
The next
leg of their journey finds them in early Lee and Russell Counties in Virginia
and Hawkins County in Tennessee between 1792 and 1800. By the mid 1800s we find them in Hawkins,
Hancock and Eastern Claiborne County in Tennessee and in Lee and Scott Counties
in Virginia. In Figure 4 the Fort Blackmore group is shown
in present-day Scott[70]
County, Virginia and the Hancock County group is shown north of Sneedville near
the Virginia border.[71]
Other
family members had moved on to other locations and states, in particular
Kentucky and western counties of Tennessee, but other than in Hamilton, Wilson
and Carter Counties, Tn., we find no record of those individuals being
referenced as Melungeon in their new locations.
Melungeon
families found in the various migration locations are shown in the following
table:
Table 3: Melungeon Co-Location Migration Table
Surname |
Jamestown era -
Early Virginia |
Hanover &
Louisa, Va. Area |
Lunenburg &
Halifax Va. Area |
Granville &
Orange, NC - Flat River |
Montgomery &
Grayson, Va., Wilkes & Ashe, NC -
New River |
Russell, Va.
Area |
Hawkins Hancock,
Tn. Area |
Bell |
|
|
|
|
X |
|
X |
Bolin |
|
|
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
Bunch |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
X |
Collins |
|
X |
|
X |
X |
X |
X |
Denham |
X |
X |
X |
|
|
X |
X |
Gibson |
X |
X |
|
X |
X |
X |
X |
Goins |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
Goodman |
|
X |
X |
X |
|
|
X |
Minor |
|
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
Moore |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
Mullins |
|
|
X |
|
|
|
X |
Nichols |
|
|
|
X |
X |
|
X |
Riddle |
|
|
X |
X |
X |
|
X |
Sizemore |
X |
|
X |
X |
X |
|
X |
Williams |
|
X |
|
X |
X |
|
X |
Core Melungeon
Families
In order
for a surname to be included in the Melungeon DNA projects, at least one
historical record must exist stating that this family was considered to be
Melungeon during the 1800s and early 1900s in Hawkins and Hancock Counties of
Tennessee or adjacent areas. Supporting
records were also incorporated.
The list of Core Melungeon families was taken from multiple historical
sources, including the 1830 census,[72] Lewis
Jarvis’ records,[73] court records,[74] tax
lists,[75]
Plecker’s lists,[76] Droomgoole’s articles,[77] the
Shepherd Case,[78] the 1880 census,[79] the
1890 census report,[80]
voting records,[81] Eastern Cherokee Indian[82]
Applications, Rev. William Humble's correspondence[83],
William Grohse's[84] records as well as other
resources.
Every family included is specifically referred to or identified as a
Melungeon in one or more of these records.
Table 4: Melungeon Family Identification Table
Surname |
Census[85] |
Jarvis[86] |
Court |
Tax Lists |
Plecker[87] |
Articles |
1890 Census |
Grohse |
Other |
Bell |
1840
1850, 1870, 1880 |
|
|
Wilkes
Co. NC fpc |
|
Humble[88] |
|
|
Inter-marriage
& location[89] |
Bolin,
Bowling, Bolling, Bolton |
1830
1860 1870 |
Full
blood |
1743
Orange Co., VA[90],
1874 Shepherd case |
|
Yes |
|
|
|
Stony
Creek minutes, [91]
Blackwater church minutes,[92] New River[93] |
Breedlove |
|
|
1874
Shepherd case |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bunch |
|
Yes |
|
1755
Orange Co., NC[94] |
Yes |
|
|
|
New
River |
Collins |
1830
1870 1880 |
Full
blood |
1743
Orange Co., Va., 1745 Louisa Co., Va.[95],
1846 voting trial |
1755
Orange Co., NC |
Yes |
Humble,
Dromgoole[96] |
Yes[97] |
Yes |
1773
Fincastle Co., Va. living on Indian land |
Denham |
1840 1860 1870 1880 |
|
|
|
|
Dromgoole |
Yes[98] |
|
|
Gibson |
1830 1860 1870 |
Yes |
1745
Louisa Co., Va.[99], |
1755
Orange Co., NC |
Yes |
Humble,
Dromgoole[100] |
Yes[101] |
|
Blackwater
church minutes |
Goins |
1830
1840 1870 1880[102] |
Yes |
1846
voting trial, 1853 slander suit,[103]
1874 Shepherd case |
|
yes |
Humble,
Dromgoole |
Yes[104] |
|
Blackwater
church minutes[105] |
Goodman |
1830 1870 |
Yes |
|
|
Yes |
|
|
Yes |
|
Minor |
|
1846
voting trial, 1852 suit[108]
|
|
Yes |
Dromgoole |
|
Yes |
1854
Marriage Record, Cherokee Indian Application,[109]
Blackwater church minutes |
|
Moore |
1830
1840 1870 |
Yes |
|
|
Yes |
Humble |
|
|
|
Menley |
|
|
1874
Shepherd case |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Morning |
|
|
1874
Shepherd case |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mullins |
1830
1870 |
|
|
|
Yes |
Humble, Dromgoole |
Yes[110] |
|
|
Nichols |
1830 |
|
|
|
Yes |
|
|
Yes |
|
Perkins |
|
|
1855
case, [111]
1857[112]
biracial marriage case,[113]
1874 Shepherd case, |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shumake |
|
|
1874
Shepherd case |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sullivan |
|
Yes |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Trent |
1870 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yes[114] |
|
Williams |
1830
1870 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Humble |
|
|
1789
Wilkes Co. NC Bastardry Bonds[115] |
Sizemore[116] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Riddle[117] |
|
|
|
1767
Pittsylvania Co., Va.[118]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Census Returns
In 1846,
the easternmost portion of Claiborne County, Tn. and the westernmost portion of
Hawkins County, Tn. were taken to form Hancock County. Newman's Ridge, the primary home of the
Melungeons was then mostly within Hancock County, but the northern end of
Newman's Ridge and Blackwater Creek were in Lee County Virginia. Little War Creek and War Gap extended into
Hawkins County, and Clinch Mountain extended into Claiborne. The primary Melungeon family groups were
within Hancock County, Hawkins and Claiborne Counties in Tennessee and Lee
County in Virginia.
In Figure 5, Jack Goins
plotted the various locations of the Melungeon families in 1848.
This census
table below is provided to show the changing census classification of family
groups over time within the same geographic area. Census reporting was inconsistent. The 1830/1840 racial shift is particularly
interesting, especially in light of the 1834 Tennessee Constitutional amendment
removing civil rights from any individual not entirely white and the 1830
Indian Removal Act brutally implemented throughout the 1830s.
Many of
those who are identified as free persons of color (fpc) in the Hawkins County
1830 census were also identified as Melungeon, but, being identified as fpc in
the Hawkins County 1830 census alone does not identify a family as Melungeon.
In 1830 and
1840, the census county recorded in the table below was Hawkins County. In 1850 and later, the county is Hancock
unless stated otherwise.
Melungeon
surnames of Hawkins/Hancock County Tn. or Melungeon ancestral families with DNA
participation are noted in red.
Melungeon surnames outside of the Hancock/Hawkins area are
italicized. Melungeon ancestral
families, meaning those not found designated as Melungeon in the
Hawkins/Hancock area, but proven to be ancestral to the Melungeon families are
designated by *.
Table 5: Melungeon Census
Ethnicity
Name |
1830 |
1840 |
1850[119] |
1860 |
1870 |
1880[120] |
Hap |
Bell |
Fpc & White(1) |
|
Mulatto |
Mulatto (1), White (2) |
Mulatto (3), White (1) |
Black (2), Mulatto (4) |
R1b |
Bolton[121] |
|
|
White (2) |
White (1) |
White (3) |
White (2) |
|
Bowling, Bolin, Bowlin |
Fpc (3)m White (2) |
White (7) |
White (7) |
White (5), Mulatto (1) |
White (4), Mulatto (1), Mulatto& White (1) |
White (2) |
R1b |
Breedlove |
White (1) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bunch |
White (6) |
White (5) |
White (2) |
White (2) |
White (4) |
White (2) |
E1b1a |
Collins |
Fpc (17),
White (6) |
White (24) |
White (33) |
White (29) |
White (26), Mulatto (11), White& Mulatto (9) |
White (63), Black (1) |
E1b1a R1b R1a |
Denham |
|
Fpc (1), White (2) |
White (4) |
Mulatto (1), Mulatto& White (3) |
Mulatto& Black (1) Mulatto& White(1)
White(1) |
White (1), Black (1) |
I1 |
Gibson, Gipson |
Fpc (10), White (2) |
White (18) |
White (10) |
White (35), Mulatto& White (1) |
White (9), Mulatto (12), Mulatto& White (2) |
White (25) |
R1b E1b1a |
Goins |
Fpc (4), White (3) |
White (1), Fpc (1) |
White (5) |
White (5) |
Mulatto (3), White (5) |
White (12), Mulatto (1), P/W (3) |
E1b1a A |
Goodman |
Fpc (1) |
White (8) |
White (3) |
White(2) |
White (3), Mulatto& White (1) |
White (7) |
R1b |
Minor |
Fpc (2) |
Fpc & White (3) |
White (3) |
White (3), Mulatto& White (1) |
Mulatto (2), White (2), Mulatto& White(5) |
White (2), Mulatto (2), P/W (7) |
E1b1a |
Moore |
Fpc (2), White (16) |
Fpc (1), White (18) |
White (4) |
White (4) |
White (4), Mulatto& White (1) |
White (6) |
R1b |
Menley |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Morning |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mullins |
Fpc (2), White (1) |
White (10) |
White (8) |
White (6) |
Mulatto (1), White (9) |
White (13) |
R1b |
Nichols* |
Fpc (1), White (2) |
White (2) |
White (1) |
White (1) |
White (4), Black (1) |
White (5) |
R1b E1b1a |
Perkins |
|
White (1) |
|
|
|
|
|
Riddle* |
|
|
|
|
|
|
R1b |
Sizemore* |
White (5) |
White (5) |
White (5) |
White (9) |
White (10) |
White (3) |
Q1a3 |
Shumake |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sullivan |
White (4) |
White (5) |
White (7) |
White (3) |
White (1) |
|
|
Trent |
White (11) |
White (17) |
White (13) |
White (22) |
White (26), Mulatto& White (1) |
White (46) |
R1b |
Williams |
Fpc (1), White (18) |
White (20) |
White (8) |
White (8) |
White (10), Mulatto& White (1) |
White(23) |
R1b |
Melungeon
DNA Projects
The
criteria for joining the Core (Y-line) or mitochondrial DNA projects is that
the participant must be paternally descended from an individual within the core
group of surnames from the relevant counties, or their direct ancestors. Participants that wish to join must request
membership from the administrators and provide their relevant genealogy.
Expected
Genetic Results Based on Historical Records
In the table below, we identify what genetic results we would expect to
obtain based upon the cultural, family oral history and historical (deeds,
census, tax, court) records. This list
only includes the Hawkins/Hancock Melungeon and ancestral families, not the
families identified in the Shepherd case that are not found in Hawkins/Hancock
Counties. It should be noted that Rev.
Humble tended to identify all families as white and Plecker interpreted all
admixture to be of negro origin.
Table 6:
Melungeon Family Expected Ethnicity
Surname
or Group |
European |
African |
Native |
FPC/Mixed |
Portuguese |
Bell |
Humble, 1830, 1850, 1870 census |
1880 census |
|
1840, 1850, 1870, 1880 census |
|
Bolin |
1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 census, 1874
Case |
1874 Case, Plecker |
Jarvis says full blood,[122] 1743 Orange Co, VA record, oral history |
1830, 1860, 1870
census, 1874 Case |
1874 Case |
Bunch |
1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 census |
Plecker |
Jarvis |
1755 Orange Co. NC tax list |
|
Collins Surname |
Humble, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 census |
1830 census, Plecker |
1890 Census, Dromgoole, Jarvis says full blood[123] |
1830, 1870, 1880 census, 1846 voting trial, 1745
Louisa Co, Va. concealed tithables, 1755 Orange Co NC tax list |
Dromgoole |
Denham |
1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 census |
1870, 1880 |
|
1840, 1860, 1870 census |
1890 Census, Dromgoole, Grohse |
Gibson Surname |
1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 Humble |
Plecker |
1890 Census, Dromgoole, Jarvis |
1830, 1860, 1870 census, 1755 Orange Co., NC tax
list |
|
Goins Surname |
1830,1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 census Humble, 1874 Case |
1890 Census, Dromgoole, 1874 Case, 1853 Suit, Plecker, 1854 Marriage Record |
|
1830, 1840, 1870, 1880 census 1874 Case 1846
Voting Rights case |
1874 Case 1880 census |
Goodman |
1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 census |
Plecker |
Jarvis, Indian on wife's line |
1830, 1870 census |
|
Minor |
1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 census |
1854 Marriage Record, Plecker |
Cherokee Indian application |
1830, 1840, 1860, 1870, 1880 census, 1852 Suit,
1846 Voting trial |
1880 census |
Moore |
1830, 1840, 1650, 1860, 1870, 1880 Humble |
Plecker |
Jarvis |
1830, 1840, 1870 census |
|
Mullins |
1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 census 1890 Census, Dromgoole, Humble |
Plecker |
|
1830, 1870 census |
|
Nichols |
1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 census |
1870 census |
|
1830 census |
|
Perkins |
1840 census |
|
|
1855 case, 1857 Biracial marriage |
|
Riddle |
|
|
1767 Pittsylvania Co., Va. tax list |
|
|
Sizemore |
1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 census |
|
Family oral "Old Ed" was an Indian |
|
|
Sullivan |
1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870 census |
|
Jarvis |
|
|
Trent |
1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 census |
|
|
1870 census |
|
Williams |
1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 census Humble |
|
Jarvis |
1830, 1870 census |
|
Haplogroups
The Melungeon paternal families were both of European and African
origin. To date, only one of the
Melungeon ancestral families, Sizemore, has been found with a Native American
haplogroup.[124] The Riddle family has been documented in
historical records to be of Native ancestry, but the paternal line proves to be
European. All mitochondrial DNA lines
tested to date are European, haplogroup H.
Of the Core
Melungeon names and their ancestral families, we find them grouped as follows:
Table 7:
Melungeon Surname Haplogroups
Surname |
Haplogroups |
Earliest
Records |
Bell |
R1b1b2[125] |
Lee Co., Va., Hawkins Co., Tn. |
Bolin |
R1b1b2[126] |
Brunswick Co., Va., Granville Co., NC, Lunenburg
Co., Va. |
Bunch |
E1b1a |
Lancaster Co., Va., Hanover/Louisa Co., Va. |
Collins |
R1a1, R1b1a7a, R1b1b2, E1b1b8a |
Louisa Co., Va. |
Denham |
I1 |
Charles City Co., Va., Louisa Co., Va. |
Gibson |
R1b1b2, E1b1a |
Charles City Co., Va., Louisa Co., Va. |
Goins |
E1b1a (2 groups), A |
York Co., Va., Louisa Co., Va. |
Goodman |
R1b1b2[127] |
Louisa Co., Va. |
Minor |
E1b1a |
Louisa Co., Va. |
Moore |
R1b1b2 |
Louisa Co., Va.[128] |
Mullins |
R1b1b2 |
Lunenburg Co., Va. - may not be relevant, otherwise,
Lee Co., Va. |
Nichols |
R1b1b2, E1b1a[129] |
Rockingham Co., Virginia |
Riddle |
R1b1b2 |
Granville and Orange Co., NC |
Sizemore |
Q1a3a |
Jamestown, Charles City Co, Lunenburg Co., Va. |
Williams |
R1b1b2[130] |
Louisa Co., Virginia |
Of the 15
surnames and the 22 haplogroups, 1 is Native American, 8 are African and 12 are
European.
Outparenting
Events
During the
analysis, several outparenting events were discovered. Typically known as nonparental events (NPE),
these are also known as undocumented adoptions.
Prior to the 1900s, adoptions were informal events when one family took
the child of another family to raise when
necessary. In some cases, when
infidelity is involved, the father may not realize that he is raising another
man's child, but in many cases, the reason is much less sinister such as a
child taking a step-father's name, a family taking an orphan to raise, or an illegitimate birth where the child takes the
mother's surname. All of these events
result in the DNA of the surname not matching the expected genetic line.
The
Melungeon project had a significant number of these results, and with only
three exceptions, the matching surname was within the Melungeon family
group. The exceptions are neighboring
surnames.
The
outparenting events were as follows:
Table 8:
Melungeon Outparenting
Events
Surname |
Matches |
Surname |
Bunch |
Matches |
Williams |
Collins |
Matches |
Bunch |
Gibson |
Matches |
Donathan |
Gibson |
Matches |
Goodman |
Goodman |
Matches |
Manis |
Goings |
Matches |
Collins |
Collins |
Matches |
Gibson |
Cook |
Matches |
Collins |
Collins |
Matches |
Mullins |
Bolin |
Matches |
Gibson |
Bolin |
Matches |
Sizemore |
Bolin |
Matches |
Williams |
Minor |
Matches |
Fisher |
Donathan is
not a Melungeon surname, but was involved with the Louisa County, Va. family
group. They were also prosecuted in 1745
along with the Melungeon group of families in Louisa County, for concealed
tithables, inferring that they too were a part of the mixed racial community.
Cook and
Manis are Hawkins/Hancock County surnames.
One of the
cultural aspects that Dromgoole found remarkable was that the Melungeons were
"defiant (or worse, ignorant) of the
very first principles of morality."
In another
article, Dromgoole states again that "they
are exceedingly immoral" and references Melungeon women with white or
black husbands and some with "three
separate races represented in their children, showing thereby the gross
immorality that is practiced among them."
Dromgoole
also shared with us a very interesting piece of trivia about two Melungeon families.
"So old Jim Mullins took up with (having no set form of marriage
service) a Melungeon woman, a Collins, by whom he had a large family of
children.
Sometime after he exchanged wives with one Wyatt Collins, and proceeded
to cultivate a second family. Wyatt
Collins also had a large family by his first wife, and equally fortunate with
the one whom he traded her for."[131]
While
viewing this behavior through the filter of post-Victorian morality, it seemed
quite remarkable, but when viewed through the filter of matrilineal social
customs practiced by the tribes inhabiting Virginia and North Carolina in the
1600s and 1700s, it's not unusual at all.[132]
Theda
Perdue discusses this phenomena when telling of a
trader who had fallen in love with a Native lady.
"They were married in the Indian manner, that
is, without Christian rites. Native
people in the Southeast normally wed with little ceremony, made no long-term
commitments, and parted easily if either spouse became dissatisfied."
Perdue
discusses the white perception that when an English man married a Native
female, which was the typical scenario, that the female moved into his house
and functioned as an English wife, but that was not the case. She goes on to tell of the trader who did not
expect his goods to be confiscated and doled out to his wife's relatives after
marriage, in accordance with the Native understanding of ownership and maternal
culture. One either adapted, or left,
and those who remained quickly adapted to living "in the Indian manner."[133]
African
cultures in the Americas also tended to be maternal, and certainly, slavery in
colonial America limited and sometimes removed any opportunity for the female
slave to select a partner at will. Her choices were restricted to available males
on or near her plantation, some of which were possibly enslaved Indians, or
other African or mixed race males in the general vicinity. In other situations, the female slave had no
choice in the matter whatsoever. While
legal marriages certainly did not exist for slaves, they too had marriage
rituals, although were often separated from family by subsequent sales. White males were certainly known to father
children with African females, although it was without the benefit of marriage
and resulting children were born into slavery.
This high
number and wide distribution of outparenting events involving almost every core
Melungeon surname may suggest remnants of matrilineal culture.
Autosomal
DNA Testing
While Y-line testing gives a direct view into the ancestral source of the
Y-chromosome, hence the paternal (surname) line, and mitochondrial into the
ancestral source of the maternal line, autosomal DNA testing functions
differently.
Autosomal testing tests the DNA inherited from all of one's ancestors. Each individual inherits half of their DNA
from their mother and half from their father.
Grandparents each contribute about 25% to each grandchild, but not the
same 25%. Which DNA gets passed to each
child in each generation is a function of how the DNA is combined, and each
child inherits differently from each parent.
Reaching back in time, each person carries approximately the following
amounts of DNA from their ancestors:
Table
9: Autosomal
Inheritance Percentages
Gen |
# of
Ancestors |
Birth
Year |
Ancestor |
Approximate
% of Ancestor's DNA Carried |
1 |
2 |
1925 |
Parents |
50 |
2 |
4 |
1900 |
Grandparents |
25 |
3 |
8 |
1875 |
Great-Grandparents |
12.5 |
4 |
16 |
1850 |
Great-Great-Grandparents |
6.25 |
5 |
32 |
1825 |
Great-Great-Great-Grandparents |
3.125 |
6 |
64 |
1800 |
Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandparents |
1.56 |
7 |
128 |
1775 |
Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandparents |
Less than 1% |
Ancestors double in each generation, so you carry a little more than 1%, on
average, of the DNA contributed by each of your 64
great-great-great-great-grandparents.
Using 25 years as a genealogical generation, the 4th great-grandfather of
someone born in 1950 would have been born about 1800 and may have lived until
close to 1900.
If your ancestor in generation 6 was Native American and was not admixed,
you would carry about 1% of their DNA.
In each generation, you stand a 50% chance of losing your Native ancestor's
DNA at any particular allele location as each child inherits half of their DNA
from each parent.
Therefore, today, you stand about a 1% chance of retaining the DNA of
that particular ancestor at any specific location.
D9S919
A paper was
published in 2007[134]
that indicated that about 30% of the Native Americans tested carry a specific
value range for autosomal marker D9S919.[135] These values are not known to occur in other
populations. This is the only marker
value currently known to occur exclusively in the Native American population
making this particular marker extremely useful in determining whether an
individual carries Native American admixture.
A value of
9-10 confirms that the individual has a Native ancestor someplace in their
family tree. A value of anything else
does not disprove Native admixture, only that this individual today does not
carry Native ancestry at that specific allelic location. Several participants (11) in the Melungeon Y-line(8) and Family(3) projects have taken the D9S919 test,
and none of the participants' values were 9 or 10. This information neither confirms nor
eliminates Native Ancestry from their heritage.
Values of
the eleven participants were as follows:
Table
10: D9S919 Values 1
Value |
16 |
17 |
18 |
# of
Participants Exhibiting that Value |
9 |
6 |
7 |
The
Patriarchs
For each of the Hawkins/Hancock families, a patriarch or patriarchs have been
identified by using historical and genealogical research methodologies. Through the Melungeon-Core DNA project, it
has been possible in many cases to obtain multiple participants who descend
from the surname progenitors, allowing us to confirm the genetic patterns of
the patriarch for each family.
Patriarchs are identified variously; by the 1830 census (including their
racial designation), except Denham which is from 1840; Jarvis, indicated by *;
or 1802 Stony Creek Church Minutes (1801-1814) which are indicated by #.
Table
11: Melungeon Patriarch Table
|
Family Name |
Patriarch(s) |
Progenitors |
Y-Line DNA |
Comments |
1 |
Bell |
Thomas - fpc |
|
Possibly R1b1b2[136] |
Proximity, not proven
genealogy connection |
2 |
Bolin, Bowling, Bolling,
Bolen[137] |
James* |
|
|
James on 1801 Lee Co Tax
list as white |
3 |
|
Mitchell - white |
|
|
|
4 |
|
Levi - white |
|
|
|
5 |
|
John - fpc |
|
|
|
6 |
|
Michael - fpc |
|
|
On 1808 Lee Co Tax list |
7 |
|
David |
|
R1b1b2 |
Married in 1804 in
Grainger County to Polly Rayl(e)[138] |
8 |
Bunch[139] |
Benjamin - white |
Lambert is son of
Benjamin, Paul and Jesse are probably sons of Benjamin, Green (Greenberry)
possible brother to Benjamin |
E1b1a |
E1b1a - 3 Melungeon kits
match 14 additional Bunch surname project kits who descend from John Bunch b
1630, probably New Kent Co., Va. |
9 |
|
Samuel not present in 1830 |
|
R1b1b2 |
Suspect NPE - matches 2
Williams |
10 |
Collins[140] |
George - white |
|
|
|
11 |
|
James - white |
|
|
|
12 |
|
James - white |
|
|
|
13 |
|
Martin - white |
s/o Samuel |
Samuel also has sons Vardy
(R1a1) b1760 and Valentine (E1b1a8a[141])
b1764, both in Wilkes County, NC, whose haplogroups do not match |
From Louisa Co., Va. - see
line 29 |
14 |
|
Tandy - white |
|
|
|
15 |
|
William - white |
|
|
|
16 |
|
Benjamin - fpc |
|
|
|
17 |
|
Benjamin - fpc |
|
E1b1a7a, 4 participants,
son Levi R1b1b2 |
Benjamin b 1750, wife
Nancy |
18 |
|
Andrew - fpc |
s/o Benjamin |
|
|
19 |
|
Edmund - fpc |
s/o Benjamin |
Son Levi's line R1b1b2 |
2 participants, Suspect
NPE - match Gibsons |
20 |
|
Millenton - fpc |
s/o Benjamin |
|
|
21 |
|
Vardy - fpc |
|
R1a1, 7 participants, |
Vardy is supposed to be
the son of Samuel, as are Martin and Valentine |
22 |
|
Simeon - fpc |
s/o Vardy |
|
|
23 |
|
Harvey - fpc |
|
|
|
23 |
|
James - fpc |
|
|
|
24 |
|
James - fpc |
|
|
|
25 |
|
John - fpc |
|
|
|
26 |
|
Martin - fpc |
s/o James |
R1a1 |
|
27 |
|
Solomon - fpc |
|
|
Wife Jencie Jane Goins,
daughter of Joseph Goins and Millie Loven |
28 |
|
Wiatt - fpc |
|
|
|
29 |
|
Valentine not present in
1830 |
|
E1b1a8a, Suspect NPE pre-Hawkins
County, matches with Bunches |
|
30 |
|
Collins |
|
R1b1b2 |
Matches Mullins |
31 |
Denham |
Washington - white |
|
|
|
32 |
|
John - white |
|
|
|
33 |
|
David - fpc |
|
I1 |
From Louisa Co., Va. |
34 |
Gibson[142] |
Rubin# |
s/o Thomas |
|
|
35 |
|
Thomas# |
s/o Thomas |
|
|
36 |
|
Charles - fpc |
s/o Thomas |
|
|
37 |
|
Henry# |
|
|
|
38 |
|
Thomas - fpc |
Bryson's father Thomas |
E1b1a |
Matches Donathan |
39 |
|
Sheppard (Buck) - fpc |
|
R1b1b2 Main Group, 15
participants |
From Louisa Co., Va.,
married a Denham |
40 |
|
Andrew - fpc |
Possible son or brother of
Shephard |
|
|
41 |
|
Esau - fpc |
|
|
|
42 |
|
Sherod - fpc |
|
|
|
43 |
|
|
|
|
|
44 |
|
Jordan - fpc |
s/o George or Gilbert |
|
George from Louisa Co.,
Va. |
45 |
|
Jordan - fpc |
s/o George or Gilbert |
|
George from Louisa Co.,
Va. |
46 |
|
Jonathan - fpc |
|
|
|
47 |
|
Jesse - fpc |
|
|
|
48 |
|
Freelin - mulatto[143] |
Probably s/o Zachariah |
R1b1b2 Group 1 - only
participant |
Suspect NPE matches
Goodman and Manis |
49 |
Goins[144] |
Zachariah, not present
1830, Isaiah 1840 |
|
E1b1a Group 1, 4
participants |
Zachariah b in Halifax
Co., Va. 1770 |
50 |
|
Crispor - white |
|
|
|
51 |
|
John - white |
|
|
|
52 |
|
William - white |
|
|
|
53 |
|
Fountain - fpc |
s/o Zephaniah |
|
|
54 |
|
John - fpc |
|
|
|
55 |
|
George - fpc |
|
E1b1a Group One |
Matches Collins |
56 |
|
Harden - fpc |
|
|
|
57 |
|
Thomas - white - Claiborne
Co. |
|
E1b1a Group Two |
|
58 |
|
George Washington Goins b
1835 |
s/o Alexander s/o Elijah
s/o Joseph s/o Joseph bastard son of Agnes Going[145] |
A |
|
59 |
Goodman[146] |
Edmund - fpc |
|
May be R1b1b2 |
See Freelin Gibson[147] |
60 |
Minor |
Zachariah - fpc |
s/o Hezekiah |
E1b1a |
Hezekiah m Elizabeth Goins
in Henry Co., Va. in 1795 |
61 |
|
John - fpc |
s/o Hezekiah |
E1b1a |
Hezekiah m Elizabeth Goins
in Henry Co., Va. in 1795 |
62 |
Moore[148] |
James[149] -
fpc |
|
R1b1b2a1b |
James s/o Charles |
63 |
|
James - fpc |
|
|
|
64 |
Mullins[150] |
James - fpc |
"Irish Jim" |
R1b1b2, 1 participant plus
2 matches in Mullins project |
|
65 |
|
Samuel - fpc |
|
|
|
66 |
Sullivan |
Ezekiel - white |
|
|
|
67 |
|
John - white |
|
|
|
68 |
|
John - white |
|
|
|
69 |
|
Thomas - white |
|
|
|
70 |
Trent[151] |
Benjamin - white |
|
|
|
71 |
|
Alexander - white |
|
|
|
72 |
|
Alexander - white |
|
|
|
73 |
|
George - white |
|
|
|
74 |
|
Henry - white |
|
|
|
75 |
|
James - white |
|
|
|
76 |
|
Jesse - white |
|
|
|
77 |
|
Samuel - white |
|
|
|
78 |
|
William - white |
|
|
|
79 |
|
Zachariah - white |
|
|
|
80 |
|
Abner b 1826 Hawkins |
|
R1b1b2 group One and Two
participants, both from Abner |
|
81 |
|
Joseph b 1807 Hawkins |
|
R1b1b2 group Two |
Matches very large group
of Trents out of NC and VA in 1700s |
82 |
|
William died Claiborne Co.
1801 |
|
R1b1b2 group Three |
Matches group out of
Amherst Co., Va. |
83 |
|
John Calvin b 1840 Hawkins
Co. |
|
R1b1b2 group Four, only
participant |
|
84 |
Williams[152] |
Timothy - fpc |
s/o Charles |
May be R1b1b2 see Samuel
Bunch |
Does not match Williams Group
5 or Group 8 |
85 |
|
Aaron - white |
|
|
|
86 |
|
Alexander - white |
|
|
|
87 |
|
Charles - white |
|
|
|
88 |
|
David - white |
|
|
|
89 |
|
Edward - white |
|
R1b1b2 |
Group 5 from Williams
surname project |
90 |
|
George - white |
|
|
|
91 |
|
James - white |
|
|
|
92 |
|
James - white |
|
|
|
93 |
|
John - white |
|
|
|
94 |
|
John - white |
|
|
|
95 |
|
John - white |
|
|
|
96 |
|
Moses - white |
|
|
|
97 |
|
Robert - white |
|
|
|
98 |
|
Silas - white |
|
|
|
99 |
|
William - white |
|
|
|
100 |
|
Luke - 1799 marriage in
Hawkins |
|
R1b1b2 |
Group 8 from Williams
surname project |
101 |
Sizemore[153] |
George - white |
s/o Ned |
Q1a3[154] |
|
102 |
|
Owen - white |
s/o Ned |
|
|
103 |
|
Owen - white |
Prob s/o Owen |
|
|
104 |
|
Anderson - white |
|
|
|
105 |
|
William - white |
s/o Edward s/o Ned |
Q1a3 |
|
106 |
Riddle |
William - left before 1830 |
|
R1b1b2 |
|
107 |
Nichols[155] |
William - fpc |
|
R1b1b2 or E1b1a |
Line tested out of
Rockingham Co., NC - genealogy connection not proven |
108 |
|
William - fpc |
|
|
|
109 |
Mosley[156] |
Jacob - white |
|
|
|
110 |
|
Jonathan - white |
|
|
|
111 |
|
Henry - fpc |
|
|
|
112 |
|
William - fpc |
|
|
|
The
Melungeon Families
For each of the Melungeon families, several sections of information are
provided.
Initially, family history and summarized genealogical information are
provided. When the surname is genetically
broken into different ancestral lines, this information is provided
individually for each group.
An ethnicity section is provided to discuss relevant DNA findings for the
family group.
A Haplotree Match Location Table is provided to
provide insight into deep ancestry. This
tool is provided by Family Tree DNA and provides
information about the origins of other individuals who have been SNP tested and
who match the participants haplogroup exactly. This information is given as "exact, one
step and two step" matches to STR markers and us
useful in understanding the genesis of the ancestral line being tested.
A second
table, Ancestral Matches, provides participant identified location information
from matching Family Tree DNA clients’ kits combined with an academic data base
(although these are not necessarily SNP tested) and is meant to give
participants another view into their ancestral homeland. The columns in this table provide the
location by the number of mismatches in the allele values, up to a maximum of 7
mismatches at 67 markers, which is the maximum distance considered by Family
Tree DNA to be a genealogical match.
In some
cases, a discussion is included regarding the relevance of test results.
Line numbers from the Patriarch Table (above) are shown below in
parenthesis (1).
Bell
William H. Bell, son of John Bell and Mary Claiborne of Augusta County,
Virginia, according to family researchers, is found in what would become
Hawkins County between the time he was married to Rebecca Gibbons in 1782 in
Sullivan County and the birth of his final child born in Hawkins County in 1792
before his next child was born in Knox County in 1794.
In the 1830 Hawkins County census, a Thomas Bell (1), a free person of
color was found, over the age of 55, plus a free colored family between the age
of 24-35 with one male and one female child under 10 and a white family between
20-29 with two female children, one under 5 and one 10-15, plus a female slave
age 10-23.
A Bell testee's ancestor, Archibald Randolph Turk Bell is later found in
Scott County, Virginia, born to a William Bell in Hawkins County in 1826. A William Bell is shown in Lee County in
1830, so William may have moved to Lee County before 1830, or he could be
living with Thomas, the white family with the male under age 10.
Bell
Ethnicity
If William Bell of Scott County, Virginia is related to Thomas Bell of
Hawkins County, the haplogroup is R1b1b2, European. Archibald Bell does match the descendants of John
Bell of Augusta County. This
identification needs to be treated as inconclusive until a genealogically
confirmed Bell can be found and tested.
Haplotree and Ancestral Match tables have been omitted for this family
due to the inconclusive nature of the genealogical connection. If the genealogy is correct, this haplogroup
suggests that the individuals who were designated "of color" did not
obtain that designation from the paternal Y-line.
Bolin
The Bolin family is found in close proximity to the other Melungeon
families. We find this genetic line in
Brunswick County, Virginia in 1739, in Lunenburg County in 1749 and in Halifax
County in 1759. In 1760, William Bolin is
found in Orange County, NC adjacent to a Gibson. Classified in the Bolling DNA project as
Group 5, this entire group descends from a James Bolling who was delivered to
Kent County, Virginia in 1700 and died in 1729.
His descendant, David was born about 1774 in Virginia, married in 1804
in Grainger County to Polly Rail (Rayl, Rayle).
James Bolin is found in 1801 on the Lee County tax list. This descendant family carries the oral
tradition of Native ancestry.
Bolin
Ethnicity
The Bolin DNA is haplogroup R1b1b2, Western Modal Atlantic Haplotype
(WAMH). Unfortunately their markers are
extremely common, rendering their Haplogroup Matches and Ancestral Matches
relatively useless. The most common
matches in both categories were English.
Another individual in the Melungeon Family project matches this gentleman
as well, and both men match a non-native Sizemore line, a Gibson and a
Williams.
This haplogroup designation indicates that if the Bolin oral history is
correct and they carry Native ancestry, it was not derived from the paternal
Y-line.
Bunch
The oldest progenitor of the Bunch family grouping is attributed to a
John Bunch who was born about 1630 and arrived in Lancaster Co., Va. about
1650. He owned land on the Pamunkey
River by 1670 and had 2 sons, John and Paul Bunch. He is the progenitor of the Bunch family in
both Claiborne and Hawkins/Hancock Counties in Tennessee.
Henry Bunch is found in Chowan and Bertie County, NC in the 1727
suggesting a southern migration out of Virginia. Embrey Bunch of Bertie County
wrote his will in 1780, proven in 1789, leaving assets to his son Micajah.
Bertie County is the home of the Tuscarora "Indian Woods" settlement,
popular with traders, and a location where many people of mixed race are
found. This Bunch family, "of color"
is known to have intermarried with the Bass family of Nansemond Indian
heritage.[157]
In 1720, Paul Bunch is found in South Carolina with Gideon Gibson, both
men of color, married to white wives, who were reported to have been free men
in Virginia.[158] Gideon Gibson's descendants match the Gibson
primarily Melungeon line.
The Bunch family can be tracked with the other Melungeon families as
early as 1745 in Louisa County, Virginia when Samuel Collins, Thomas Collins,
William Collins, Samuel Bunch, George Gibson and Thomas Gibson (among others) were
summoned to appear in court for concealing tithables, probably their mixed race
wives.
The Bunch family and the Goins are also allied when in 1759 Joseph Going,
the illegitimate child of Agnes Going is bound to James Bunch in Louisa County,
Virginia.
From Louisa County, we track Micajah Bunch with other Melungeon families
through Granville (1750) and Orange (1755) Counties in North Carolina,
Fincastle (1774) in Virginia, Wilkes (1779) in North Carolina, Lee (1792, 1793,
1795, 1796, 1797) County in Virginia,[159] and
then on to Cumberland County, Kentucky.
Micager (generally short for Micajah) Bunch is living in Lee County,
Virginia as early as 1792 and was still on the tax list in 1797 with other
Melungeon families such as Zachariah Goins, Jesse Bowlin and several other
Bunch men. Benjamin (8), found in the
1830 Hawkins County census, is possibly a son of David Bunch and matches the
DNA of 14 other descendants of John Bunch born in 1730.
Bunch
Ethnicity
Except for one Bunch participant, all Bunchs match and are haplogroup
E1b1a. Haplogroup E1b1a is of
sub-Saharan African origin.
The Bunch family is consistently white in the census, but the concealed
tithables case in Louisa County certainly infers that Samuel Bunch is either
himself admixed, or his wife is. White
wives are not taxed, wives "of color" are
subject to tax. The concealed tithables
are likely the result of the men's declaration that their wives are not
"of color." Samuel himself is
never recorded as a person of color, but his wife is believed to be Mary Moore,
daughter of John and Anne Moore, also of Louisa County, a family whose children
are noted as free persons of color. The
fact that Samuel is married to a woman "of color" is suggestive that
he may be mixed as well.
The 1720 Virginia/South Carolina record also documents that Paul Bunch
was "of color", but was free, as was his father and that Paul was
married to a white wife. In 1727, Henry
Bunch in Chowan County was also recorded as being "of color".
This Bunch line also matches a descendant of Valentine Collins.
The one Bunch participant who does not match this group is haplogroup R1b
and matches a Williams.
The E1b1a haplogroup supports the historical records that indicate Bunch
male family members were "of color."
Bunch
Haplotree Matches
SNP tested haplogroup matches from Family Tree DNA and academic data
bases.
1 Step |
2 Steps |
MDKO[160]
Ireland |
Ghana (Nzema) |
|
Nigeria |
|
MDKO Canada |
|
Ghana (Fante) |
|
MDKO England |
Bunch Ancestral
Matches by Mutation
Locations provided by participant matches at 67 markers.
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
|
UK |
Ireland |
England |
|
|
|
England |
|
|
Scotland |
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Collins
There are 4
separate genetic Collins groups.
Dromgoole indicated that Vardy was the first Collins, but "while all were not blood descendants of old
Vardy they had all fallen under his banner and appropriated his name." In another story, while discussing Vardy
Collins and Buck Gibson she references the cunning of "their Cherokee ancestor." She further states that their surnames were
stolen from the white settlers in Virginia.[161] Lastly, she says that "The original Collins people were Indian, there is no doubt about that."
The first
Collins is found with the other Melungeon families in 1745 in Louisa County
where the Collins, Bunch and Gibson families were prosecuted for concealing
tithables.