The Stony Creek Baptist Church

So far as is currently known, the word Melungeon first appeared in print in 1813 in the minutes of the Stony Creek Baptist Church located in Scott County, Virginia. The following background information is excerpted from a 1989 article on the history of the Stony Creek Primitive Baptist Association by Omer C. Addington published in Historical Sketches of Southwest Virginia, a publication of the Historical Society of Southwest Virginia:

"We do not know when people of the Baptist faith first came to present day Scott County. We do know the first Baptist preacher in what is now Scott County was Squire Boone, a brother of Daniel Boone. These two brothers spent the winter of 1773-74 in the vicinity of Castlewood in present day Russell County, VA. The brothers traveled the Clinch River Valley as far west as Rye Cove. Daniel was in command of all the forts in the Clinch River Valley, while the militiamen were engaged in the Point Pleasant campaign of Dunmore's War.

"The oldest Primitive Baptist Church was organized in the late 1700's on Stoney Creek north of Blackmore. We have minutes of this church, going back thirteen years before Scott County was formed in 1814.

"The second oldest Primitive Baptist Church was located just east of Nickelsville, VA, on Copper Creek. We have minutes of this church going back to 1808. Robert Kilgore was pastor of this church for 40 years. At one time, he was also pastor of the Stoney Creek Church.

"The Stoney Creek Primitive Baptist Church may have been built on the land grant that Captain John Blackmore got in 1773. David Cox bought the Blackmore property in 1817 when it was sold for delinquent taxes. In 1835, David Cox deeded one-half acre of land and building to William Addington and Thomas Strong, trustees of the Stoney Creek Church (Deed book No. 5 - Page 176)."

To read the 1813 minutes referencing Melungeons: Click Here.

Melungeons in the 1890 Census

Report on Indians Taxed and Indians Not Taxed in the United States
(Except. Alaska) at the Eleventh Census: 1890.
Washington, DC: US Census Printing Office

Page 594
TENNESSEE
the civilized [self-supporting] Indians of Tennessee, counted in the general census, number 146 [71 males and 75 female] and are distributed as follows.
Hawkins county, 31; Monroe county, 12' Polk county 10; other counties [8 or less n each]. 93

In a number of states small groups of people, preferring the freedom of the woods or the seashore to the confinement of regular labor in civilization, have become in some degree distinct from their neighbors, perpetuating their qualities and absorbing into their number those of like disposition, without preserving very clear racial lines. Such are the remnants called Indians in some states where a pure-blooded Indian can hardly longer be found. In Tennessee such a group, popularly known as Melungeans, in addition to those still known as Cherokee.

The names seems to have been given them by early French settlers, who recognized their mixed origin and applied to them the name Melangeans or Melungeans, a corruption of the French word "melange" which means mixed. [See letter of Hamilton McMillan, under North Carolina.]

The Melungeans or Malungeans, in Hawkins county, claim to be Cherokees of mixed blood {white, Indian, and negro], their white blood being derived, as they assert, from English and Portuguese stock. They trace their descent primarily to 2 Indians [Cherokees] known, one of them as COLLINS, the other as GIBSON, who settled in the mountains of Tennessee, where their descendants are now to be found, about the time of the admission of that state into the Union [1796]. One of the sources of their white blood is said to have been an Indian trader names Mullins [Jim Mullins], the other was a Portuguese named Denham, who is supposed to have been put ashore o the coast of North Carolina from a pirate vessel for being troublesome to his captain, or insubordinate. Their negro blood they trace to a negro named Goins, perhaps a runaway slave, who joined Collins and Gibson soon after they accomplished their purpose of settlement. The descent of the Melungeans from such ancestors is readily observable, even those of supposed Portuguese mixture being distinguishable from those of negro mixture, thought it is not impossible that Denham was himself of mixed blood, as the Portuguese pirates sometimes recruited their crews from the ‘maroons’, or negroes, who had taken to the mountains of the West India island as slave n rebellion against their masters. Some of these were mixed Carib, or white blood [English, Spanish or Portuguese], the former being the natives [Indians] of these islands.

In the general census these Melungeans were enumerated as of the races which they most resembled.

Note: The above excerpt is taken from Joanne Pezzullo's excellent "Our Melungeons" web site, which can be found in the MHS Blog's "Links of Interest" section, the portal to which is located on the sidebar to the right.

The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boon

From The Discovery and Settlement of Kentucke
By John Filson

The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boon
containing a NARRATIVE of the WARS of Kentucke.

Curiosity is natural to the soul of man, and interesting objects
have a powerful influence on our affections. Let these influencing
powers actuate, by the permission or disposal of Providence, from
selfish or social views, yet in time the mysterious will of Heaven
is unfolded, and we behold our conduct, from whatsoever motives
excited, operating to answer the important designs of heaven. Thus
we behold Kentucke, lately an howling wilderness, the habitation of
savages and wild beasts, become a fruitful field; this region, so
favourably distinguished by nature, now become the habitation of
civilization, at a period unparalleled in history, in the midst of
a raging war, and under all the disadvantages of emigration to a
country so remote from the inhabited parts of the continent. Here,
where the hand of violence shed the blood of the innocent; where
the horrid yells of savages, and the groans of the distressed,
sounded in our ears, we now hear the praises and adoration of our
Creator; where wretched wigwams stood, the miserable abodes of
savages, we behold the foundations of cities laid, that, in all
probability, will rival the glory of the greatest upon earth. And
we view Kentucke situated on the fertile banks of the great Ohio,
rising from obscurity to shine with splendor, equal to any other of
the stars of the American hemisphere.

The settling of this region well deserves a place in history.
Most of the memorable events I have myself been exercised in; and,
for the satisfaction of the public, will briefly relate the
circumstances of my adventures, and scenes of life, from my first
movement to this country until this day.

To continue reading: Click Here.

First Explorations of the Trans-Alleghany Region

The First Explorations of the Trans-Alleghany Region
By the Virginians 1650- 1674
By Clarence Walworth Alvord and Lee Bidgood
Published by The Arthur H. Clark Company, Cleveland, Ohio, 1912

After the brilliant researches of Francis Parkman and ,Justin Winsor, it is remarkable that a new chapter in the history of the explorations of North America has remained so long unwritten; yet the story of the discovery of the Trans-Allegheny region by the Virginians is here first told in its entirety. Since the success of these early enterprises has been doubted and frequently denied by our best historians, the attempt to piece together the story from the scattered sources and to determine its truth needs no excuse. For the same reason, it is desirable that all the sources, whether previously printed or not, be published in order 'that others may test for themselves the conclusions. If the memory of these hardy English explorers be revived and given a place by the side of their better known but not more daring French contemporaries, Mr. Bidgood and myself will feel rewarded for our pains. As I read again the manuscript before sending it to the press, I cannot but feel that a great injustice has been done these Virginians by history. Although the pen of a Francis Parkman could hardly raise them to the rank of Joliet, Marquette, and La Salle, for these latter opened to the knowledge of mankind a continent, still the names of Wood, Batts, Fallam, and Needham should surely be as well known as those of the many lesser lights that surrounded these greater French explorers.

To continue reading this lengthy work: Click Here.

Lost Colony Watercolors

During his thirteen months on Roanoke Island, Governor John White, an accomplished artist, made a series of over seventy watercolor drawings of indigenous people, plants, and animals. The purpose of his drawings was to give those back home an accurate idea of the inhabitants and environment in the New World. Despite their extraordinary significance, the watercolors were not published until the twentieth century.

One example is shown above (click on it to enlarge).

To see seventeen more examples: Click Here.

The Sequoyah Birthplace Museum

The mission of the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum [located in Vonore, Tennessee], a property of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, is to promote the understanding and appreciation of the history and culture of the Cherokee Indians in Eastern Tennessee, particularly the life and contributions of Sequoyah. The Museum will collect, preserve, interpret, and exhibit objects and data that support this mission.

Museum Hours

Monday through Saturday
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Sunday
Noon to 5:00 p.m.

To visit the museum's web site: Click Here.

Salyersville Indians

"Who's your people?"
Cumulative Identity Among the Salyersville Indian Population
Of Kentucky's Appalachia and the Midwest Muckfields, 1677--2000
By Carlson, Richard Allen, Jr., Ph.D.
Michigan State University, 2003, 711 pages

Abstract (Summary)

The Salyersville Indian Population is a composite of Cherokee, Saponi and "Old Virginia" Indian families that consolidated in the late colonial period to form a distinct Appalachian Indian population. The families have preserved their identity as an Indian people ever since. An analysis of this identity through time shows that Salyersville Indian identity is the product of cumulative historical actions guided by specific sociocultural processes that subvert notions regarding race, class, ethnicity, religiosity, or political affiliation. In this case, the effective operational definition of Indian identity is based on family relations that provide kinship links, social integration, cooperative efforts, sources of knowledge and emotional support. Highlighting the functional aspects of kin arrangements--articulated through and supported by interrelated family groups--over time reveals that the economic and social cooperation of kin works to maintain the size and strength of the families. The operationalization of kinship acts to focus Salyersville Indian identity on a definition of "kin" which subsumes various attitudes about race and ethnicity that are encountered at specific times and under specific circumstances. By assigning kinship a higher priority than relations based upon religious, class or political affiliation, the Salyersville Indians have managed to keep their kin affiliations and thus their Indian identity, from being obscured over time. Family is the vehicle by which this cumulative identity as "Indian" has been maintained. That is because kinship is the only constant serving to define and maintain Salyersville Indian identity through time and space.

To order the full text of this dissertation: Click Here.

Quoting MHS board member Don Collins:

"If your family migrated from Hawkins County TN. to SE Kentucky in the 1800’s , this is a must read for family research, especially for researching the Collins, Cole, and Gibson families. There is also information on the early migration from Virginia. This is a paper written for and by kin folk."