A 1912 Newspaper Account of the Melungeons

MATTERS AND THINGS
By Will T. Hale
Alton Telegraph
9/26/1912

THE MELUNGEONS

I have heard since boyhood the word “Melungeon.” It is very common in Tennessee, and is often used as a sort of epithet. Also, as a bugbear to frighten children.

To illustrate, middle and western Tennessee is overwhelmingly Democratic politically, while the eastern portion is overwhelmingly Republican. It used to be the case that a Democratic editor inclined to invective would refer to the East Tennessee Republicans as MELUNGEONS. It was an offensive appellation, but there was no way of preventing its use. Then, if a nurse or mother wanted to force a child to obedience, it was customary to say: “If you don’t behave, the MELUNGEONS will get you.”

I have been trying for some weeks to get some information as to who or what the MELUNGEONS were. This forced me to write to different parts of the State, and to examine old newspaper files. At last I learned that they are a queer race of people living in the mountains of East Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky – not one colony but several. No one knows their origin, and their reputation has generally been bad, like that of the Gypsies.

To continue reading this very interesting if not entirely accurate account: Click Here.