Click on the link at the end of the paragraph to read the entire article.
Gen. Combs, in his attempt to address the citizens of
Sullivan County, on yesterday, was insulted, contradicted repeatedly,
limited to one hour and a half, and most shamefully treated, and
withall an effort was made, to get an impudent Malungeon.
Brownlow's Whig 1840
You must know that within ten miles of this owl's nest, there is a watering-place, known hereabouts as 'black-water Springs.' It is situated in a narrow gorge, scarcely half a mile wide, between Powell's Mountain and the Copper Ridge, and is, as you may suppose, almost inaccessible. A hundred men could defend the pass against even a Xerxian army. Now this gorge and the tops and sides of the adjoining mountains are inhabited by a singular species of the human animal called MELUNGENS. The legend of their history, which they carefully preserve, is this. A great many years ago, these mountains were settled by a society of Portuguese Adventurers, men and women.
Littell's Living Age 1848
We are free to confess that we have never heard of or read of the ‘Melungeons’ before this day, and all we know about them now is what we derive from the following imperfect description obtained in a letter from a travelling correspondent of the Louisville, Ky., Examiner. The letter bears no date, but the site of the Melungen race appears to be somewhere in Kentucky.
Sheboygan Mercury 1848
The platform of Feb 1856 which expunged and ignored the 12th section and in a letter which goes expressly for restoring the Missouri Compromise. The Mulungeons of Richmond endorsed the 'late convention' at Philadelphia too; but will any southern man-- a Stuart or an Imobdin even -- endorse this letter for the restoration of the Missouri Compromise.''
It would not take him long to bring the last one of
those "crooked whisky" fellows to terms. He has straighted out
things in Hancock; now let him go over the line and give the Virginia
MOLUNGEONS a hitch.
Crooked Whiskey In the Mountains 1875
A settlement was also made at an early date at Mulberry Gap, where a little village sprang up. Newmans' Ridge, which runs through the county to the north of Sneedville, and parallel with Clinch river, is said to have taken its name from one of the first settlers upon it. It has since been occupied mainly by a people presenting a peculiar admixture of white and Indian blood.
Goodspeed's History of Tennessee-1886
It appears that the Melungeons originally came into east Tennessee from North Carolina, and the larger number settled in what was at that time Hawkins County, but which is now Hancock. I have not been able to hear of them in any of the lower counties of east Tennessee, and those I have seen myself were in Cocke county, bordering on North Carolina. At what time this emigration took place in not known, but it was certainly as long ago as seventy-five or eighty years.
A Note On The Melungeons 1889
His name Melungeons is a local designation for this small peculiar race. Their own claim to be Portuguese is more generally known. Their original site is on the Pedee river in South and North Carolina . They were once especially strong in Georgetown and Darlington districts of the latter. Though called Portuguese – this does not indicate their true origin. I have no doubt local traditions, and the records still to be found in the Charleston library will give the true account. As dimly recollected, for I never made search with a purpose in view, it was thus in the primary colonial times of the Carolinas, Winyaw Bay was the best and most frequented harbor on the coast, and Georgetown more accessible, was more of a commercial town than old Charlestown., to that port British cruisers sometimes brought prizes.
Letter to the Editor --Atlanta Constitution--1889
Hamilton McMillan Letter 1890
Away up in an extreme corner of Tennessee I found them--them or it, for what I found is a remnant of a lost or forgotten race, huddled together in a sterile and isolated strip of land in one of the most inaccessible quarters of Tennessee.......The Malungeons are a most peculiar people. They occupy an isolated land except for horse or foot passengers, inaccessible territory, separated and alone, not mixing or caring to mix with the rest of the world.
Land of the Malungeons 1890
The owner was a full-blooded Indian, with keen, black eyes, straight black hair, high cheeks, and a hook nose. He played upon his violin with his fingers instead of a bow, and entertained us with a history of his grandfather, who was a Cherokee chief, and by singing some of the songs of his tribe.
A Strange People 1890
The newspapers of the country are again wrangling with the 'Melungeons' or 'lungens' a peculiar race of people living along Newman's Ridge in Hancock county. They are also scattered along Clinch mountain in Hawkins and Grainger in isolated settlements. Even that bright and fascinating young writer, Miss Will Allen Dromgoole has taken it upon herself to journey all the way from nashville to the wilds of Hancock for the evident purpose of settling once and for all the much disp... (?) question of their origin. Unfortunately she gleamed little information other than that already published.
A Peculiar Race of People Living in Hancock County 1890
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.
Report of Indians - Taxed and not Taxed 1890
Judge Lea addressed the society on the subject of the Melungeons. He outlined the early history of the settlement of North Carolina. A party under the protection of a friendly Indian chief had gone into the interior when the first settlers came to that coast and had been lost. No other settlers came till a century afterward, and they were told of a tribe who claimed a white ancestry, and among whom gray eyes were frequent. This people were traced to Buncomb and Robeson counties, where the same family and personal names were found as in the lost colonies.
Magazine of American History 1891
Will Allen Dromgoole in the March Arena, gives an entertaining account of a people called "Malungeons" a remnant of whom remains in the Tennessee mountains. Whether the description is a true one we are not able to say, for the Malungeons are strangers to us.
The Malungeons - Dromgoole Review 1891
There is in Hancock county, Tennessee, a tribe of people known by the local name of Malungeons or Melungeons. Some say they are a branch of the Croatan tribe, others that they are of Portuguese stock.
The Lost Colony of Roanoke 1891
Who are these people?” has been asked thousands of times, doubtless by some passing traveler, who quickly noted their clean-cut, distinctive race features, speech and bearing. The answer made invariably is “Melungeons” - Our fathers who settled here along about 1790 to 1800, found them here, with another small settlement near Nashville’s present site.” This is all you can obtain in the way of information by casual inquiry.
Melungeons at the Worlds' Fair 1894
It is not generally known that in the mountains of eastern Tennessee there is a class of peculiar looking people whose origin is wrapped in mystery and who are called by the whites, Melungeons. They resent this appellation and proudly declare that they are Portuguese. (This is the original 1848 article)
Some People In Eastern Tennessee 1894
There is a race of people in Hawkins County, Tenn., whose origin is a mystery," said G. L. Babbit. "They are called the Melungeons, and are found no place else. They have been traced back to North Carolina, but further than that nothing is known. They are not Indians, they are not negroes, they are certainly not of any known race of white people.
A Queer Tennessee People 1894
They have been classed with Negroes but it is easily demonstrated that they are not of negro origin. I mingled with them a great deal at one time, and was fortunate enough to obtain their confidence through an act of kindness to one of their number. A few relics of great age can be found in the pottery and implements. Some of these marked with rude imitations of the Maltese cross. They have a tradition that their ancestors in North Carolina are buried in mounds. Putting these points together, I believe that they are descendants of the Aztecs and of Portuguese sailors who landed upon the North Carolina coast.
Descendants of Aztecs 1894
<>Talking about courts. Walter Taylor tells a story on that grand old man and jurist, Judge Richard H. Clarke, so long upon our city court bench. That cock-eyed melungeon, Levi Morrison, who was so long a perennial pest to the police, was arraigned before Judge Clarke for the larceny of a box of soap.
He Was Hungry 1895
"The genial-faced old gentleman who occasionally distributed a circular letter is Colonel Stewart, a candidate for the legislature. He is well fed and good humored. He is a 'Malungen."
Colonel Stewart 1895
As to the Melungeons I know of no book containing any history of them. They are a peculiar set of people, most of them are very dark, straight hair and high cheek bones resemble a Cherokee Indian. Since the war they have become civilized and a great many of them are good citizens and good livers. I knew old Sol Collins when I was a little boy and was well acquainted with two of his boys and one his girls. I guess she is the largest woman in the State
Letter - Sheriff Buttery - Hancock County 1897
Brownlow's Whig 1840
You must know that within ten miles of this owl's nest, there is a watering-place, known hereabouts as 'black-water Springs.' It is situated in a narrow gorge, scarcely half a mile wide, between Powell's Mountain and the Copper Ridge, and is, as you may suppose, almost inaccessible. A hundred men could defend the pass against even a Xerxian army. Now this gorge and the tops and sides of the adjoining mountains are inhabited by a singular species of the human animal called MELUNGENS. The legend of their history, which they carefully preserve, is this. A great many years ago, these mountains were settled by a society of Portuguese Adventurers, men and women.
Littell's Living Age 1848
We are free to confess that we have never heard of or read of the ‘Melungeons’ before this day, and all we know about them now is what we derive from the following imperfect description obtained in a letter from a travelling correspondent of the Louisville, Ky., Examiner. The letter bears no date, but the site of the Melungen race appears to be somewhere in Kentucky.
Sheboygan Mercury 1848
The platform of Feb 1856 which expunged and ignored the 12th section and in a letter which goes expressly for restoring the Missouri Compromise. The Mulungeons of Richmond endorsed the 'late convention' at Philadelphia too; but will any southern man-- a Stuart or an Imobdin even -- endorse this letter for the restoration of the Missouri Compromise.''
The names of his
soldiers were sent in, but the scout and Bose Rouss (some called him
Malungeon), who had killed a Federal detective, were not
mentioned in the list.
The Molungeons 1856-1869
The principal localities visited were Newman's Ridge and Blackwater Valley, lying just south of Powell's mountain and 14 miles north of Rogersville, Tenessee. the inhabitants there, known by the local name of "Malunjins" are a mixture of whites, blacks and Indians,
Destruction of Illicit Distilleries 1873
The Molungeons 1856-1869
The principal localities visited were Newman's Ridge and Blackwater Valley, lying just south of Powell's mountain and 14 miles north of Rogersville, Tenessee. the inhabitants there, known by the local name of "Malunjins" are a mixture of whites, blacks and Indians,
Destruction of Illicit Distilleries 1873
It would not take him long to bring the last one of
those "crooked whisky" fellows to terms. He has straighted out
things in Hancock; now let him go over the line and give the Virginia
MOLUNGEONS a hitch.
Crooked Whiskey In the Mountains 1875
A settlement was also made at an early date at Mulberry Gap, where a little village sprang up. Newmans' Ridge, which runs through the county to the north of Sneedville, and parallel with Clinch river, is said to have taken its name from one of the first settlers upon it. It has since been occupied mainly by a people presenting a peculiar admixture of white and Indian blood.
Goodspeed's History of Tennessee-1886
It appears that the Melungeons originally came into east Tennessee from North Carolina, and the larger number settled in what was at that time Hawkins County, but which is now Hancock. I have not been able to hear of them in any of the lower counties of east Tennessee, and those I have seen myself were in Cocke county, bordering on North Carolina. At what time this emigration took place in not known, but it was certainly as long ago as seventy-five or eighty years.
A Note On The Melungeons 1889
His name Melungeons is a local designation for this small peculiar race. Their own claim to be Portuguese is more generally known. Their original site is on the Pedee river in South and North Carolina . They were once especially strong in Georgetown and Darlington districts of the latter. Though called Portuguese – this does not indicate their true origin. I have no doubt local traditions, and the records still to be found in the Charleston library will give the true account. As dimly recollected, for I never made search with a purpose in view, it was thus in the primary colonial times of the Carolinas, Winyaw Bay was the best and most frequented harbor on the coast, and Georgetown more accessible, was more of a commercial town than old Charlestown., to that port British cruisers sometimes brought prizes.
Letter to the Editor --Atlanta Constitution--1889
writer in the
Atlanta Constitution looks for further information with respect to the
"Melungeons," the supposed Portuguese colony and its descendants
who dwelt chiefly on the Pee Dee river in North and South
Carolina. He ways that though called Portuguese, this designation
does not correctly indicate their true origin. He maintains,
while not pretending to be strictly accurate, that "in the primary
colonial times of the Carolinas, Winyaw Bay was the best and most
frequented harbor on the coast, and Gerogetown, more accessible, was
more of a commercial town than old Charlestown. To that port
British cruisers sometimes brought prizes. Among these once was a
Salee Rover, which was sold for the distribution of the proceeds as
prize money. The crew, consisting mostly of Moors, with a
sprinkling of Arabs and negroes, were turned ashore free. Their
complexion and religion prevented immediate absorption by the white
race, and they found wives among Indians, negroes and cast-off white
women sold by immigrant ships for their passage money. They
became a peculiar people. These were the free people of color of
the Pee Dee region so true to Marion during our revolutionary struggle,
and no other race in America retained such traditionary hatred of the
British. 'Hamilton
McMillan, Esq', in his little work on the identity of the Henry Berry
Lowery people of the Pee Dee region with the lost tribe of Croatan
Indians, makes the supposed Portuguese, the Lowery tribe and the
Croatans one and the same mixed race of people, if we remember
rightly. Now here we have them "Moors, with a sprinkling of Arabs
and negroes." Who can throw further light on the 'Melungeons?"
Hamilton McMillan Letter 1890
During a recent tour among the Malungeons, the
mysterious mountain tribe whose origin has baffled research, I stayed
at the cabin of one Gowens, says a special correspondent writing from
Nashville, Tennessee to the New York World. The polite prefix Mr.
or Mrs. is unknown in that region. A majority of the Malungeons
live within five miles of Sneedville, the county seat of Hancock
County, and their habitations are windowless log huts. The march
of progress since the war has reached the Malungeons in the ability to
raise tobacco. Otherwise they are as nearly savage as they were a
quarter of a century ago. Their orchards are the wonder of the
country round and always have been. But the fruit, as fruit, goes
no further than the stillhouse.
The
Mysterious Tribe Known as Melungeons 1890Away up in an extreme corner of Tennessee I found them--them or it, for what I found is a remnant of a lost or forgotten race, huddled together in a sterile and isolated strip of land in one of the most inaccessible quarters of Tennessee.......The Malungeons are a most peculiar people. They occupy an isolated land except for horse or foot passengers, inaccessible territory, separated and alone, not mixing or caring to mix with the rest of the world.
Land of the Malungeons 1890
The owner was a full-blooded Indian, with keen, black eyes, straight black hair, high cheeks, and a hook nose. He played upon his violin with his fingers instead of a bow, and entertained us with a history of his grandfather, who was a Cherokee chief, and by singing some of the songs of his tribe.
A Strange People 1890
The newspapers of the country are again wrangling with the 'Melungeons' or 'lungens' a peculiar race of people living along Newman's Ridge in Hancock county. They are also scattered along Clinch mountain in Hawkins and Grainger in isolated settlements. Even that bright and fascinating young writer, Miss Will Allen Dromgoole has taken it upon herself to journey all the way from nashville to the wilds of Hancock for the evident purpose of settling once and for all the much disp... (?) question of their origin. Unfortunately she gleamed little information other than that already published.
A Peculiar Race of People Living in Hancock County 1890
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.
Report of Indians - Taxed and not Taxed 1890
The lateness of these details
(sent to tthe New York Sun from Sneedville, November 20) may
make them acceptable to you in the above connection:
" The first inhabitants of
Hancock county, or, to be accurate, of what is now called Hancock
county, were the strangest, most mysterious people that have ever
settled any part of this country since its discovery. They are
still there in greater numbers than ever before, and in as great
mystery. These people are called Malungeons.
American Notes and Queries 1891
First, I saw in an old newspaper some slight mention of them. With this tiny clue I followed their trail for three years. The paper merely stated that “somewhere in the mountains of Tennessee there existed a remnant of people called Malungeons, having a distinct color, characteristics, and dialect.” It seemed a very hopeless search, so utterly were the Malungeons forgotten, and I was laughed at — little for my “new crank.”
The Malungeons 1891
Somewhere in the eighteenth century, before the year 1797, there appeared in the eastern portion of Tennessee, at that time the Territory of North Carolina, two strange-looking men calling themselves "Collins" and "Gibson". They had a reddish brown complexion, long , straight , black hair, keen, black eyes, and sharp, clear-cut features. They spoke in broken English, a dialect distinct from anything ever heard in that section of the country.
The Malungeon Tree and It's Four
Branches
1891American Notes and Queries 1891
First, I saw in an old newspaper some slight mention of them. With this tiny clue I followed their trail for three years. The paper merely stated that “somewhere in the mountains of Tennessee there existed a remnant of people called Malungeons, having a distinct color, characteristics, and dialect.” It seemed a very hopeless search, so utterly were the Malungeons forgotten, and I was laughed at — little for my “new crank.”
The Malungeons 1891
Somewhere in the eighteenth century, before the year 1797, there appeared in the eastern portion of Tennessee, at that time the Territory of North Carolina, two strange-looking men calling themselves "Collins" and "Gibson". They had a reddish brown complexion, long , straight , black hair, keen, black eyes, and sharp, clear-cut features. They spoke in broken English, a dialect distinct from anything ever heard in that section of the country.
Judge Lea addressed the society on the subject of the Melungeons. He outlined the early history of the settlement of North Carolina. A party under the protection of a friendly Indian chief had gone into the interior when the first settlers came to that coast and had been lost. No other settlers came till a century afterward, and they were told of a tribe who claimed a white ancestry, and among whom gray eyes were frequent. This people were traced to Buncomb and Robeson counties, where the same family and personal names were found as in the lost colonies.
Magazine of American History 1891
Will Allen Dromgoole in the March Arena, gives an entertaining account of a people called "Malungeons" a remnant of whom remains in the Tennessee mountains. Whether the description is a true one we are not able to say, for the Malungeons are strangers to us.
The Malungeons - Dromgoole Review 1891
There is in Hancock county, Tennessee, a tribe of people known by the local name of Malungeons or Melungeons. Some say they are a branch of the Croatan tribe, others that they are of Portuguese stock.
The Lost Colony of Roanoke 1891
Who are these people?” has been asked thousands of times, doubtless by some passing traveler, who quickly noted their clean-cut, distinctive race features, speech and bearing. The answer made invariably is “Melungeons” - Our fathers who settled here along about 1790 to 1800, found them here, with another small settlement near Nashville’s present site.” This is all you can obtain in the way of information by casual inquiry.
Melungeons at the Worlds' Fair 1894
It is not generally known that in the mountains of eastern Tennessee there is a class of peculiar looking people whose origin is wrapped in mystery and who are called by the whites, Melungeons. They resent this appellation and proudly declare that they are Portuguese. (This is the original 1848 article)
Some People In Eastern Tennessee 1894
There is a race of people in Hawkins County, Tenn., whose origin is a mystery," said G. L. Babbit. "They are called the Melungeons, and are found no place else. They have been traced back to North Carolina, but further than that nothing is known. They are not Indians, they are not negroes, they are certainly not of any known race of white people.
A Queer Tennessee People 1894
They have been classed with Negroes but it is easily demonstrated that they are not of negro origin. I mingled with them a great deal at one time, and was fortunate enough to obtain their confidence through an act of kindness to one of their number. A few relics of great age can be found in the pottery and implements. Some of these marked with rude imitations of the Maltese cross. They have a tradition that their ancestors in North Carolina are buried in mounds. Putting these points together, I believe that they are descendants of the Aztecs and of Portuguese sailors who landed upon the North Carolina coast.
Descendants of Aztecs 1894
<>Talking about courts. Walter Taylor tells a story on that grand old man and jurist, Judge Richard H. Clarke, so long upon our city court bench. That cock-eyed melungeon, Levi Morrison, who was so long a perennial pest to the police, was arraigned before Judge Clarke for the larceny of a box of soap.
He Was Hungry 1895
"The genial-faced old gentleman who occasionally distributed a circular letter is Colonel Stewart, a candidate for the legislature. He is well fed and good humored. He is a 'Malungen."
Colonel Stewart 1895
As to the Melungeons I know of no book containing any history of them. They are a peculiar set of people, most of them are very dark, straight hair and high cheek bones resemble a Cherokee Indian. Since the war they have become civilized and a great many of them are good citizens and good livers. I knew old Sol Collins when I was a little boy and was well acquainted with two of his boys and one his girls. I guess she is the largest woman in the State
Letter - Sheriff Buttery - Hancock County 1897
The Blackwater Valley lies between Mulberry and Newman’s
Ridges, and is from half a mile to mile wide. Twenty years ago it was
still a wilderness, but is now under good cultivation, and divided into
small farms upon which are rather poor dwellings and outbuildings. In
this valley and along Newman’s Ridge, reaching into Lee County,
Virginia, are settled the people called Melungeons. Some have gone into
Kentucky, chiefly into Pike County, others are scattered in adjacent
territory.The first settlers here were the great grand parents, Varday
Collins, Shephard Gibson, and Charley Williams, who came from Virginia
it is said, though other say from North Carolina. They have marked
Indians resemblances in color, feature, hair, carriage, and
disposition.
A Visit To The Melungeons 1897
To The Editor of The State:
In east Tennessee there lives a very remarkable race of people known as Melungeons, a race which appear to be somewhat similar to the "old issues" or "Redbones" found scattered about in our State.
Peculiar Race of People in East Tennessee 1897
During the war there was an election held in a county where some of them lived. And they were persuaded by an ambitious candidate to go to the polls and vote for him. Their votes were challenged by the other fellow upon the ground they had some Negro blood in their veins. They were very indignant and said, “When you want us to fight for you, we are same as white folks, when we want to vote, you say we are negurs.” And so a committee of four doctors was appointed to examine them and say what they were. The committee took them out to a sandy place in the road and had them take off their shoes and make tracks barefooted. Five of them made very fair Anglo-Saxon tracks and were accepted, but of the other two the report was that the hollow of their feet made holes in the ground and they were rejected. There are some of these Croatoans on Newman’s ridge, in Tennessee.
BILL ARP’S LETTER - 1897
I pointed to the cottage under Imboden Hill. The girl flushed slightly and turned her head away with a rather unhappy smile. Without a word, the mountaineer led the way towards town. A moment more and a half-breed Malungian passed me on the bridge and followed them.
Through the Gap 1897 (John Fox)
Marcellus Lowry, the condemned man, is a Crotan Indian from the celebrated band in North Carolina, many of whom have drifted with the turpentine and timber men into Southern Georgia, where they are called "Melungeons. "
Indian To Be Hanged 1897
Before the war the Malungeons had a hard time in obtaining the right to vote and to send their children to the primitive public schools of that day. The white citizens declared they were negros, and the matter finally caused so much bickering and strife between the Malungeons and the whites that it was carried into the courts. In the trials which followed it was developed that the ancestors of these people had emigrated to America about 150 years ago from the interior of Portugal
A Peculiar People 1897
The Manchester correspondent of the New York Evening Post writes; A party of London writers and artists are now in the Tennessee mountains studying the peculiar race of people known as the Malungeons. The Malungeons are probably the most mysterious race in America, and less is known of them than of any other people. Whence they came to America or how they obtained their peculiar name is unknown.
A Strange People 1897
The Rev. Charles Kesterson is an odd Kentuckian who has been on both sides of the law. His father was one of the early pioneers of Hancock County, Tenn., and his mother was an Indian, being a member of the tribe of famous Malungeons.
An Odd Kentuckian 1898
It is known that for some time past other moonshiners in the Cumberland have been envious of the woman and of her ability to carry on her work in defiance of the law, and that she was poisoned. No investigation has been made and none can be. If she has been poisoned, the Melungeons know it and the mountains will witness bloodshed, for the tribe always avenges an injury to one of its members.
Was This Great Woman Murdered 1898
Mahala Mullins, a noted moonshiner of Hancock County, is dead, aged 75. She was the mother of 18 children and weighed 550 pounds. It is reported that she was poisoned by envious makers of illicit whiskey. She had been arrested frequently but the officers could not remove her on account of her size and the isolated location of her home.
Mahala Mullins 1898
An edict has been issued by the Malungeon Indians, who live in the mountains of Hancock county, Tenn., sixty miles or more from Middlesboro, giving the maidens of the tribe the right to choose their husbands from the pale-faces. Formerly this was a violation of one of the sacred laws of the tribe and the girl that married a white mans was banished from Indians society.
Can Wed Palefaces 1900
They had been distillers back in South Carolina and some of the earliest stills in Tennesse were brought by their ancestors--over the mountains from their original settlement. they killed revenue officers just as the other mountaineers did, for disturbing their stills. Of late years, however, the revenue men have been so persistent in the work of destroying the illicit traffic that the Malungeons have sold but small quantities of the whiskey openly.
The Melungeons of Tennessee and Their Portuguese Ancestry 1900
A Visit To The Melungeons 1897
To The Editor of The State:
In east Tennessee there lives a very remarkable race of people known as Melungeons, a race which appear to be somewhat similar to the "old issues" or "Redbones" found scattered about in our State.
Peculiar Race of People in East Tennessee 1897
During the war there was an election held in a county where some of them lived. And they were persuaded by an ambitious candidate to go to the polls and vote for him. Their votes were challenged by the other fellow upon the ground they had some Negro blood in their veins. They were very indignant and said, “When you want us to fight for you, we are same as white folks, when we want to vote, you say we are negurs.” And so a committee of four doctors was appointed to examine them and say what they were. The committee took them out to a sandy place in the road and had them take off their shoes and make tracks barefooted. Five of them made very fair Anglo-Saxon tracks and were accepted, but of the other two the report was that the hollow of their feet made holes in the ground and they were rejected. There are some of these Croatoans on Newman’s ridge, in Tennessee.
BILL ARP’S LETTER - 1897
I pointed to the cottage under Imboden Hill. The girl flushed slightly and turned her head away with a rather unhappy smile. Without a word, the mountaineer led the way towards town. A moment more and a half-breed Malungian passed me on the bridge and followed them.
Through the Gap 1897 (John Fox)
Marcellus Lowry, the condemned man, is a Crotan Indian from the celebrated band in North Carolina, many of whom have drifted with the turpentine and timber men into Southern Georgia, where they are called "Melungeons. "
Indian To Be Hanged 1897
Before the war the Malungeons had a hard time in obtaining the right to vote and to send their children to the primitive public schools of that day. The white citizens declared they were negros, and the matter finally caused so much bickering and strife between the Malungeons and the whites that it was carried into the courts. In the trials which followed it was developed that the ancestors of these people had emigrated to America about 150 years ago from the interior of Portugal
A Peculiar People 1897
The Manchester correspondent of the New York Evening Post writes; A party of London writers and artists are now in the Tennessee mountains studying the peculiar race of people known as the Malungeons. The Malungeons are probably the most mysterious race in America, and less is known of them than of any other people. Whence they came to America or how they obtained their peculiar name is unknown.
A Strange People 1897
The Rev. Charles Kesterson is an odd Kentuckian who has been on both sides of the law. His father was one of the early pioneers of Hancock County, Tenn., and his mother was an Indian, being a member of the tribe of famous Malungeons.
An Odd Kentuckian 1898
It is known that for some time past other moonshiners in the Cumberland have been envious of the woman and of her ability to carry on her work in defiance of the law, and that she was poisoned. No investigation has been made and none can be. If she has been poisoned, the Melungeons know it and the mountains will witness bloodshed, for the tribe always avenges an injury to one of its members.
Was This Great Woman Murdered 1898
Mahala Mullins, a noted moonshiner of Hancock County, is dead, aged 75. She was the mother of 18 children and weighed 550 pounds. It is reported that she was poisoned by envious makers of illicit whiskey. She had been arrested frequently but the officers could not remove her on account of her size and the isolated location of her home.
Mahala Mullins 1898
An edict has been issued by the Malungeon Indians, who live in the mountains of Hancock county, Tenn., sixty miles or more from Middlesboro, giving the maidens of the tribe the right to choose their husbands from the pale-faces. Formerly this was a violation of one of the sacred laws of the tribe and the girl that married a white mans was banished from Indians society.
Can Wed Palefaces 1900
They had been distillers back in South Carolina and some of the earliest stills in Tennesse were brought by their ancestors--over the mountains from their original settlement. they killed revenue officers just as the other mountaineers did, for disturbing their stills. Of late years, however, the revenue men have been so persistent in the work of destroying the illicit traffic that the Malungeons have sold but small quantities of the whiskey openly.
The Melungeons of Tennessee and Their Portuguese Ancestry 1900
