re: Map of the US showing ancestry by county

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"maroon zone"



Gig 'Em



Good post, though. Very intriguing.

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We were precognizant that we'd help y'all in Tejas out.

In all seriousness, Melungeon history is fascinating. It's the only time I know of that a group that had obviously dark skinned/non-white members and heritage was declared "white" all the way around out of pure pragmatism and stubbornness on the part of regular white men (in the small mountain counties people not only intermarried but simply didn't have time for that shite - you needed your neighbor), although there were melungeons who looked white, black, native american, Mediterranean etc. even back then most thought of those who looked black but the state of Tennessee said "nope, they're Portugese/Mediterranean."

FWIW, I think it helped that a lot of Melungeon women were known to be exceptionally attractive. But that's just a guess.

When Plecker wanted all the surnames in the 1930s/40s because there was a lot of back and forth between TN and VA and he was one of the most racist bastards that ever lived (seriously Plecker inspired Germany - no shite), our Sec. of State, slowplayed him and eventually denied him outright.

Oh and you probably don't know this but Chavis is famous melungeon name. There's even several melungeons from generations back named John Chavis. What throws me off is that our Chavis was born in SC but that hardly matters as there's a migration and family pattern where melungeons and free POCs move from SC, NC, to the 'maroon zone' of E. TN. The Carolinas are where they came from in the late 1700s and beyond.

One strand of my family was persecuted (white indentured woman + free person of color) in NC. They had to pay a tax because they lived together and because she had black children. Later, she and her children were 'bound out' by the courts and while her punishment was legal by the laws of the day, her children's were not (one was bound out to a master for "apprenticeship" and another as a servant way past the legal limit for a Free Person of Color. The black father descended from a family that fought in the Revolutionary War and is considered one of the founding Free People of Color Families.

^All that tripped me out when I learned of it. I knew I had a little bit of native blood but I didn't have a clue about any black/FPOC heritage. And I dunno... reading about ancestors being bound out by the court made slavery and pre-slavery suddenly real to me in a way history books don't, if that makes sense. Maybe it's just me but it had a profound impact and I really didn't expect their to be one.

Anyways... I know you love history so: