Picture of Newmans Ridge

Newmans Ridge

As Seen from the Northwest Looking Southeast

1891 Map of Newmans Ridge

Click on Map to Enlarge

Map courtesy of Don Collins

Links of Interest

A "Links of Interest" portal has been added to the the MHS Blog sidebar.

Check it out, immediately above the MHS Blog Archive.

This initial list is modest in length but it will be added to regularly -- suggestions are welcome! -- and in due course it be organized into multiple lists by topic.

The Vardy Community Historical Society

Mission Statement

The mission Of the Vardy Community Historical Society, Inc. is to record and report on the lives, times, and culture of families living in the Vardy Valley on Blackwater Creek in East Tennessee; to document the Presbyterian missionaries' contributions to the health, education and religious needs of resident families from 1862 through 1974; to restore and maintain certain local properties of historical interest built during the late 19th and early 20th centuries; and to participate with individuals, groups, and educational institutions with like interest in the origins, migration, and lives of people living in Vardy and elsewhere known as Melungeons.

To learn more about the VCHS and its activities: Click Here.

Note: This link will take you outside this blog and Blogspot. If you have a tabbed browser, I would recommend opening it in a separate tab, which your browser may do in any event, depending on the browser you are using and how it is configured; otherwise, use your browser's back-button to return.

Tennessee History

For an overview Tennessee history and the history of the counties most important to Melungeon studies, Hancock County (where Newmans Ridge is located) and Hawkins County (from which Hancock County was created in 1846 and where the oldest records are located), along with some records of genealogical interest, the Tennessee GenWeb site is recommended.

To go to the Tennessee GenWeb site: Click Here.
To go directly to Hancock County: Click Here.
To go directly to Hawkins County: Click Here.

Note: These links will take you outside this blog and Blogspot. If you have a tabbed browser, I would recommend opening them in a separate tab, which your browser may do in any event, depending on the browser you are using and how it is configured; otherwise, use your browser's back-button to return.

Genealogical Evidence and Proof

For a discussion of the nature of genealogical evidence and proof written by Helen F.M. Leary of the Board for Certification of Genealogists: Click Here.

Note: This link will take you outside this blog and Blogspot. If you have a tabbed browser, I would recommend opening it in a separate tab, which your browser may do in any event, depending on the browser you are using and how it is configured; otherwise, use your browser's back-button to return.

Standards For Sound Genealogical Research

Recommended by the National Genealogical Society

Remembering always that they are engaged in a quest for truth, family history researchers consistently—

• record the source for each item of information they collect.
• test every hypothesis or theory against credible evidence, and reject those that are not supported by the evidence.
• seek original records, or reproduced images of them when there is reasonable assurance they have not been altered, as the basis for their research conclusions.
• use compilations, communications and published works, whether paper or electronic, primarily for their value as guides to locating the original records, or as contributions to the critical analysis of the evidence discussed in them.
• state something as a fact only when it is supported by convincing evidence, and identify the evidence when communicating the fact to others.
• limit with words like "probable" or "possible" any statement that is based on less than convincing evidence, and state the reasons for concluding that it is probable or possible.
• avoid misleading other researchers by either intentionally or carelessly distributing or publishing inaccurate information.
• state carefully and honestly the results of their own research, and acknowledge all use of other researchers’ work.
• recognize the collegial nature of genealogical research by making their work available to others through publication, or by placing copies in appropriate libraries or repositories, and by welcoming critical comment.
• consider with open minds new evidence or the comments of others on their work and the conclusions they have reached.

© 1997, 2002 by National Genealogical Society. Permission is granted to copy or publish this material provided it is reproduced in its entirety, including this notice.

Jack Goins

Jack Goins, author of Melungeons and Other Pioneer Families, is one of the premier Melungeon researchers, both of today and of all time. He also happens to be a bona fide Melungeon descendant, administrator on an on-going Melungeon core family DNA project, and the MHS Vice-President for Heritage. His web site is a treasure trove of Melungeon and Melungeon-related history and genealogy, not all of which is easily found from the front page. Easily found or not, I will be publishing links to articles on Jack's web site here from time to time, starting with a Melungeon overview article: "Examining Melungeon History and Genealogy."

To go to the article: Click Here.

To go to Jack's front page: Click Here.

Note: These links will take you outside this blog and Blogspot. If you have a tabbed browser, I would recommend opening them in a separate tab, which your browser may do in any event, depending on the browser you are using and how it is configured; otherwise, use your browser's back-button to return.

When you visit Jack's front page, use of the site search engine found at the bottom is highly recommend and frequently rewarding.

1790 Virginia Census

The original 1790 and 1800 census record for Virginia were destroyed when the British Army set fire to much of Washington, D.C. in August 1814. Details such as the heads of households and the number of inhabitants in each household were lost with only summaries containing the number of inhabitants of each county surviving. In 1908 the Bureau of the Census published a twelve-volume compilation of names of heads of households, reconstructed from surviving (and incomplete) state records, entitled Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States taken in the year 1790: Records of the State Enumerations, 1782-1785: Virginia.

This document, along with 1790 census records for other states, is located at the site which is linked to below.

Note: This link will take you outside this blog and Blogspot. If you have a tabbed browser, I would recommend opening it in a separate tab, which your browser may do in any event, depending on the browser you are using and how it is configured; otherwise, use your browser's back-button to return.

Note Also: These files, available in both .zip and PDF format, are many tens of megabytes in size and are most definitely not recommended for users who do not have broadband Internet access.

To visit the site: Click Here.

In 1940 a supplementary compilation entitled Virginia Tax Payers, 1782-87 Other Than Those Published by the United States Census Bureau by Augusta B. Fothergill and John M. Naugle was published in Richmond, Virginia. This volume does not appear to be available online but can be found in many reference libraries.

Also of interest is The 1787 Census of Virginia: An Accounting of the Name of Every White Male Tithable Over 21 Years by Netti Schreiner-Yantis and Florence Speakman Love, published in Springfield, Virginia in 1987, which is based on the 1787 Virginia personal property tax lists.

Knox County, KY Tax Lists for 1800-1809

Here is a link to tax lists for Knox County, Kentucky for 1800 to 1809

Note: This link will take you outside this blog and Blogspot. If you have a tabbed browser, I would recommend opening it in a separate tab, which your browser may do in any event, depending on the browser you are using and how it is configured; otherwise, use your browser's back-button to return.

To visit the site: Click Here.

"Free Persons of Color" in the 1790 NC Census

Here is a link to an annotated listing of "free persons of color" living in a number of North Carolina counties as recorded in the 1790 US Census.

Note: This link will take you outside this blog and Blogspot. If you have a tabbed browser, I would recommend opening it in a separate tab, which your browser may do in any event, depending on the browser you are using and how it is configured; otherwise, use your browser's back-button to return.

To visit the site: Click Here.

"Mulungeons and Eboshins"

Ethnic and Political Epithets

by Wayne Winkler

Of all the mysteries surrounding the mixed-ethnic population known as Melungeons, one of the most emblematic is the mystery surrounding the origin of the word “Melungeon.” Many possible origins for the term have been suggested by various researchers over the years, ranging from a supposed Afro-Portuguese word, “Melungo” meaning (depending on the source) “shipmate” or “white person,” to the old English term “malengine,” meaning “cunning” or “full of guile,” to the Arabic “Melun-jinn,” meaning “cursed soul.” Historically, most researchers have opted for the French term “mélange” (“mixture”) as the root of the term “Melungeon.”

For the complete text of this lengthy but very interesting essay by MHS president Wayne Winkler, click here.

Melungeon Historical Society Blog

*****  Important Note *****

I left the Melungeon Historical Society in late 2010 and no longer support or endorse that organization.   I left because it did not live up to the high hopes and expectation I had for it when I began this blog.

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The Melungeon Historical Society blog is a resource for anyone who would like to know more about the mixed-ethnic people of Southern Appalachia known as Melungeons.

This blog is owned and operated by the Melungeon Historical Society, a non-profit organization made up of scholars, Melungeon descendants and others interested in discovering and preserving the heritage of the Melungeon people.

The purpose of this blog is to share factual, documented information about the Melungeons. There are many schools of thought on this subject and you will find that very learned researchers have widely differing views. Comments are welcome so long as the blog's contributors, other commenters and our readers are treated with respect. We are all free to express our opinions but we should always acknowledge that they are, indeed, opinions. Factual information should be accompanied by citations and/or links .

This blog is not intended to be a detailed genealogical resource, but rather a source of more general information. For more detailed genealogical and in-depth research questions, we encourage you to join the Melungeon Historical Society. The MHS uses documented family genealogy, documented historical research and documented DNA research conforming to recognized professional and scholarly standards to compile and prepare records and publications, to keep members informed via a newsletter and a members-only web forum, and to sponsor and encourage educational meetings, gatherings, lectures and web activities involving Melungeon genealogy and history. The Melungeon Historical Society is a membership organization, and those interested in joining should contact Becky Nelson at BeckyNelsontn@aol.com.

You need not be of Melungeon descent or a Melungeon researcher to join the Melungeon Historical Society: We look forward to a new era in Melungeon research and welcome all who share our desire to preserve and document Melungeon genealogy, history and heritage.