Melungeon Ancestors

This week research into my own personal family tree has led me to find that some of my ancestors were of Melungeon Descent. I had long suspected and even anticipated that I may find something of that nature when my autosomal results came back. I am proud of my heritage. Each of my ancestors deserve equal recognition and they deserve to have their stories told. They are what made me who I am today.

Back when I first started doing Genealogy the word Melungeon was not as prominent as it is today. I have always understood it to mean a diverse population of tri racial individuals. General consensus was to be a mixture of European, African and Native American ancestry.

According to Wikipedia the Melungion people were located in the areas of the Cumberland Gap in the Central Appalachian Mountain Range, as well as portions of Eastern Tennessee, Southwestern Virginia and Eastern Kentucky.

Read the rest of the Wikipedia article on Melungeons HERE.

My family descended from the Appalachian Mountains and the Smoky Mountains. I come from a long line of Mountain Folk. My Maternal Ancestors the ACORD family even have their own Mountain named after them much like the fictional family The Waltons. Some of my ACORD ancestors are buried on Acords Mountain in West Virginia. It is on my bucket list to one day visit Acord Mountain.

I am creating a research project based specifically on my Melungeon Roots. I will be posting additional update here as well. It appears my husband may also have some Melungeon history as well.

For more information on the Melungeon People check out the Melungeon Heritage Association website. There is also a good PDF document by Roberta Estes entitled Melungeons, a Multi-Ethnic Population. It gives a very well organized in depth look at the Melungeon people. Stay tuned for future updates on my own personal quest to uncover my Melungeon Ancestors.


Photo in this post was provided by Public Domain and under the Wikimedia Commons License for Distribution.