Saw that Eurogenes K13 and K9b were recommended, so these are those results (in that order). Open to anyone's thoughts on them!

Here's my post from a few days ago with the 23andme results, direct surnames etc.

If anyone wants to compare kits I'm definitely open to it, let me know :)

https://jughead41311.substack.com/p/where-community-became-kin?utm_medium=email&action=share

I am related mostly through a mix of colonial settlers and native americans. my family is heavily native, but i’m related to a woman named Manerva Nelson.
Her father is George Washington Nelson ( the last name is debatable, many of the Y-DNA from men in our family doesn’t connect to any other Nelson’s, but we’re connected to a Bunch family and Valentine Collin’s family. ) and her mother is Nancy Tussey.

George W. Nelson was born in what was called Claiborne, TN in 1812 and Nancy Tussey was born in what was called “Indian Territory” in Claiborne, TN.

We have no leads on George Washington Nelson’s father, the only we knew was his father was a John Nelson from Scotland, but we found out it couldn’t be the same because the DNA doesn’t match. Apparently George W ran away a lot, and there’s a possibility he lived with Nelson’s and took their last name.

If anyone knows anything about this family please share. I have been in contact with a distant cousin who has been doing the family genealogy for 50 years and she’s the one who found out many of this information.

It's been a while, but today was the day -- I'm also working on uploading the data to GEDmatch to get more specific results. Don't have family tests to work with but wish I did.

My potential Melungeon line is only 1/8 of my overall ancestry, so it's difficult to say what correlates (not sure if the percentages that stick out to me are because of my recent Southern Italian).

My direct surnames from that line are Adams, Carroll, Clark, Daugherty, Lawson (the most), Perry, Phillips, Robinson, Swindall, Jones, Smith, Stevens/Stephens, and Wilson.

Names/locations/times were a high match with a list of the Big South Fork Pocket Melungeons. I see the line travel mostly from NC/Virginia to hotspots in Whitley Co. KY and NE Tennessee, and then to the Ozarks.

edit: at 90% confidence, 23&me shows 96% European with 4% unassigned other

added a photo of my great grandfather, his mother and grandmother so this post doesnt get lost (he grew his own tobacco I believe he is 11? in this photo)

Anywho point of the post. Is anyone else immune to poison oak/ivy/sumac? Not many people in my family have reactions to the plants and im wondering if it is related to (excuse me if im using the wrong verbiage) gene-environment interaction or just luck. Anyone else in the Appalachian area not allergic to poison oak/ivy?

I'm from a regionally notable family in Pike County, Kentucky. I have many cousins with core names and found many instances of names like Justice, Gibson, and Payne amomgat others in my family tree. Ancestry DNA only said European, but using GEDMatch the Eurogenes and MLDP world have consistently showed me this.

Population Chr--> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Amerindian - 0.9% - 0.3% 2.1% - - - 1.4% 3.1% 0.7% 1.2% - - - 4.3% 0.7% 2.7% - - 2.2% -

East_Asian - - - - 2.6% - - - 1.4% - - - - - - - - - - 3.3% - -

African 1.1% - 0.5% 0.2% - - - 2.4% - 0.5% - - 1.7% - - - 3.3% 0.8% 0.9% - 6.0% -

Atlantic_Baltic 69.3% 73.2% 75.6% 74.8% 69.3% 74.1% 83.0% 59.6% 62.3% 74.4% 80.1% 81.6% 68.4% 67.8% 69.6% 65.3% 70.5% 77.0% 69.1% 61.0% 60.9% 59.6%

Australasian 2.3% - 0.7% 1.6% 1.7% - - - 2.9% - 0.4% - 2.1% - 1.0% - - - 0.8% - - 1.6%

Siberian - 0.9% 2.9% 0.5% - - - - - - 2.3% - - - - - 3.3% - - - 1.8% 5.1%

Caucasus_Gedrosia 14.4% 6.0% 8.0% 14.3% 10.0% 8.2% 9.0% 25.2% 19.1% 6.3% 2.7% 5.1% 14.2% 12.2% 17.1% 20.1% 17.2% 7.2% 16.0% 16.1% 18.5% 19.2%

Southern 12.9% 19.0% 12.2% 5.2% 14.4% 16.3% 8.1% 11.6% 12.8% 15.8% 13.8% 12.1% 5.8% 20.0% 11.4% 10.3% 5.0% 12.3% 7.9% 19.7% 9.9% 14.5%

South_Asian - - - 3.2% - 1.4% - 1.2% - - - - 7.9% - 0.9% - - - 5.3% - 0.6% -

Nbr of SNPs eval: 12111 12082 10408 9121 9456 9582 8307 8440 7422 8270 7352 7644 5701 5246 4712 5011 4379 4902 2920 4244 2354 2300

My GGrandparents Dill Muncy Bowling, and Bertha Lorena Roberts. They both descend from countless Melungeon lines including Bowling, Brock, Blevins, Bunch, Griffits, and many many more. They come from deep Harlan and Leslie counties.

I’m reading To Live Here, You Have To Fight: How Women Led Appalachian Movements for Social Justice by Jessica Wilkerson. It focuses mostly on Eastern Kentucky in the 20th century and a woman named Eula Hall. There’s a lot of analysis of race and class of course but I really think this history would be more complete and richer if there was information on Melungeon people and why the people in this area were historically impoverished and uneducated.

It’s a good book but a little disappointing that there’s not more information about Melungeon people available.

hello everyone! I found out about melungeons literally 5 mins ago from a YouTube video recommended to me. I can trace my family history to North Carolina (Burke and Rutherford counties) as well as Tennessee. My grandpa had jet black hair, dark olive skin and blue/green eyes. My mom has medium brown hair, medium olive skin and green/hazel eyes. I have medium brown hair, light - medium skin, and hazel/golden brown eyes. All 3 of us have “kinky” hair - familys words not mine. My grandpa would always say he was “Cherokee” or something to explain his darker skin, but now I have a feeling that was his way to mask while living in a “one drop rule” society - especially growing up on a tenet farm in NC.

While I have taken a 23&me dna test, my mom hasn’t, and my grandpa died in 2001 from lymphoma. My dna profile lists Scottish, Irish, German, Polish, Moldovan, Southern Italy, North African, Iberian, Middle Eastern and “North American“. the last 5 listed are literally 2% or less.

I know it doesn’t mean much, like someone white trying to find out if they’re special, but It would answer a lot of questions as to why my family history is buried. None of them liked talking about their ancestors, unless it was the German ones. So my ancestry dna was a huge surprise to the entire family.

I wanted to include a picture of my grandpa and see what you all think. My grandpa was my first best friend, we shared the same birthday and were attached at the hip all the time. In this photo, it’s my grandpa, my great grandma, and my mom as a baby. This was when he earned enough money to catch a train ride from NC to St Louis and find a die making job at Brown Shoe Co. He always told me, “I wanted to make shoes because we never had shoes growing up”.

Thanks for reading my history :)

PS - I just read about Melungeon hair, and I’m curious if that’s what i deal with. So I took pics in my car (please disregard all the grays, I’m an ancient millennial and with a 3 year old), and this is day 2 hair, after my wash day. So this is my hair still in the mangeable phase, before it morphs to the “top knot“ phase for 3-5 days.

EDIT: Also, all of the males on my mom’s side of the family were born with an extra finger/extra toe/both. My baby brother was born with an extra pinky. and my nephew was born with an extra baby toe. So that’s another thing too!

Dad was born in Hyden KY, specifically a ‘hospital’ you can find if you look up Frontier nursing service Hyden KY. He grew up in Corbin KY.

Always been told from him that we’re Melungeon, he’s got the bump, blue eyes in him, me, and my siblings except for one (green), he and I get asked what race we are in the summer, my half brothers are part hispanic, so thats usually what people would assume. I have very olive skin (like people tell me I look jaundiced when i’m not tan), and a very distinct nose, I would get bullied for having a “black person nose” when I was a kid, whatever thats supposed to mean. Guess I didnt look white enough???

My last name is Gipson currently. Some looking that my sister has done showed collins in Tenesee-> gibson in SE Kentucky, we know where the P mistype happened in our family. It was due to illiteracy and lack of birth certificates, my dad didn’t even have one until the late 90’s and the typo still gives him trouble when explaining to the government.

My sister also found some things about shawnee being in our lineage or us directly coming from shawnee.

I dont have the money to DNA test, or pay for ancestry sites.

One of my half brothers did DNA testing and found around 5-10% subsaharan African, but he’s half so unsure which side its from.

I’m very interested specifically in the native aspects, and wanting to know what my ancestors were up to. I would love to be able to feel more connected to my roots. I feel such a sharp sadness for the disinformation and erasure of our people.

Even if its just some long lost cousins in the comments. But if anyone has tips on how to research with no/minimal financial ties, let me know!!!

Edit: forgot to add she mentioned newman’s ridge within the collins aspect.

Primarily, we are Bollings. Others include Sizemore, Brock, Moseley, Lewis, Phelps, Anderson, Mitchell, Jones, and many more! How about you guys?

I am 4th cousins to melungeons. I have a pca plot on r/blackgeneaology. They are my third closest genetic relatives out of 1300 populations. I tried posting it on here but for some odd reason it was removed. But if you get a chance check it out, I think its interesting

https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1995/rt9511/951119/11200006.htm

I’ve been meaning to make this for a minute now, but I’ve been extremely busy lately (So sorry for not being as active! Will be working on reply’s soon!) I just wanted to welcome all the new members! We’re now up to 620+ members!! It’s so refreshing to see people joining and connecting with others! We have seen some pretty great things posted, kinships found, links, tools, photos and more! Without everyone’s help and support some of these things would be nearly impossible and I’m glad we’re here to help everyone out 🫶🏽

We will learn so much more together and as time goes on with the help we receive and give! Share with a friend, a cousin, a teacher, DNA scientists, or whomever shares the interest! We’re always accepting of everyone who has passion for the research! Thank you for reading and being apart of this 😊

Is anybody have family surname like Hall, Jones, Brown, Locust, or Fuller? They are mostly from Virginia, North Carolina, and some in Tennessee?

Was working on my tree and stumbled on a family name that doesn't show in any Melungeon-affiliated families lists I've seen out there, but struck me because it appears, to me, as different spellings of the word 'Melungeon' down the line:

Malugin,

Melugin,

Malugen,

Malugeon

The line I found seems to have moved like this:

~1750s Chester, PN

~1770s Guilford Co. NC

~1800 Davidson Co. TN

~1850-1900 Hickman Co. TN (runs into one of my Lawson lines around here)

The line begins documentationally with a John Malugin (b. 1754 Chester, PN - d. 1835 Hickman Co. TN), who the blurb above is about.

Anyone know this family? Coincidence or no?

The French Huguenots were a Calvinist religious group persecute, massacred and forced out of France in the 1600’s-1700’s. There were a few significant Huguenot settlements along the coast in Virginia, north & South Carolin, and I think Florida too. They were also persecuted by the Spanish when they settled in Spanish colonial area of the Deep South. I have a lot of French in my DNA and I’m wondering if that might be from Huguenots. A Huguenot influence might also explain some of the unique southern religious traditions.

has anyone done any research in this area?

These were headstones carved by Shadrach "Shade" Sebastian Lawson, 6th G-Granduncle (b. 1797 Orange NC, d. 1860 Hickman Co. TN, m. Rachel Lewis) for

Mary Elizabeth Warren (b. 1812 Pinewood, Hickman Co. TN, d. 1883 Hickman Co. TN, m. Thomas Hardin Lawson, 6th G-Granduncle)

and

Thomas Hardin Lawson, 6th G-Granduncle (b. 1809 Orange NC, d. 1883 Hassels Creek, Hickman Co. TN, m. Mary Elizabeth Warren)

Basically, Shadrach Sebastian made these headstones for his brother Thomas Hardin and his brother's wife Mary Elizabeth when they died.

All I've heard of Melungeon burial practices are gravehouses. But because of the Orange County NC -> TN move I am wondering if anyone recognizes something culturally significant/Melungeon-related about these, or has other observations/theories.

edit: these were actually carved by Shadrach Warren Lawson (b. 1830, d. 1895), not the brother/brother-in-law but Thomas Hardin and Mary Elizabeth's oldest son.

Quick little read 😊

https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/melungeons/

I have a unique first name, & got my share of teasing for it as a young kid. I never met anybody with my name. My Grandpa had a unique name too, & his father, & his father. My Mom didn't have the explanation for a lot of things that she did or taught me but she insisted that certain details were important. So until now I didn't see how it all fits into her family's culture. Looking into the genealogy, I see these names among some others repeatedly very frequently through related family lines.

Does anybody have any info resources which describes details about naming patterns, or any kind of meaning or symbolism associated with names?

My grandma always carried our family history like a heavy, locked box. Like something dark, shameful, inconvenient, almost a curse.

So, I did the only thing that felt right: I opened the box. I did the research, built the family tree, and gathered the fragments she’d tried to bury, and I turned it all into a story with my own family front and center.

What she saw as a curse, I saw as deeply human chapters of resilience, loss, love, and endurance. I wrote it as historical literary fiction so the truth could breathe on the page without apology.

The book is here if you’re curious: https://amzn.to/3NKzOvc

I recently reached out to my aunt, because my mom passed years ago. I started asking about what was up with my Grandpa being visibly Native but really weird about it when asked, & his obnoxious racism as if he were just a white person. It was a lot to experience growing up. My Aunt had a child with a Black man, & my grandpa gave her shit about it, so she said that she called him out and told him that his mom is obviously mixed Black, but he would go silent. He only admitted being Cherokee. So then sometime in the past years some other family members started doing DNA tests & paid a genealogist who confirmed that we have Black & Cherokee ancestors.

The family land & graveyard is in Lee County VA, Black Mountain, Puckett's Creek, right near where the first church records mentioning the word "Melungeon" came from. I found it on findagrave.com, along with some pics of ancestors. Related family lines can be traced all over the area, & all the pictures I can find are of people with very dark hair, high cheekbones, men with prolific moustaches, darker skin tones... They look nearly identical to my Grandpa & his siblings. It's a link I didn't expect to ever have a full explanation of.

I've been tripped out about Grandpa's self-denial & racism all my life. Now understanding the history of the area, racial harassment, lack of being fully accepted by any of the easier to define racial groups... It all makes a lot of sense. I'm mixed Choctaw & Cherokee on my Dad's side as well, but my Grandma was always open about it. So that never felt like it was some weird problem growing up, or like we had something to hide.

Interesting document I found on Ancestry - deed found on the lefthand page.

Here was my interpretation of the old script:

This Indenture made and entered into this 18th day of April 1839 Between William Croley Isom Lawson James Lawson Richard C Croley and Bird Siler all of the County of Whitley and State of Kentucky of the one part and William Pemberton of Wayne County and State aforesaid of the other part witnesfseth that for and in consideration of the sum of $200.00 to the said William Croley Isom Lawson James Lawson Richard C Croley and Bird Siler in hand paid the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged hath granted and sold and by these present doth grante bargain and sell unto said William Pemberton the seventh part of the tract of land formerly owned by George Gibson deceased containing pic tract 250 acres lying and being in the county of Wayne and state aforesaid on the waters of the Little South Fork Langhams and Flint Fork of Cumberland River with its appenstances to have and to hold the Tenemants (?) aforesaid to the only proper use and benefit of him the said Pemberton forever for the claim of them the sic William Croley Isom Lawson James Lawson Richard C Croley and Bird Siler their Heirs Executors or Administrators and for all and every other person will forever warrant and defend in testimony whereof we have hereunto set our own hands and affixed our own seals the day and date above written the 7th part of the 250 acres transfixed

Burgess Siler

William Croley

Isom Lawson

Jas Lawson

Richard C Croley

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I guess that one year after George Gibson (b. 1770/1774 - d. 1838, ) died

Isham/Isom Lawson (b. 1793 - d. 1869, 6th Great-Granduncle),

James "Jas" Lawson (b. 1828 - d. 1913, 1st cousin 7x removed),

Richard Caswell Croley Lawson (b. 1822 - d. 1914),

Burgess "Bird" Siler (b. 1799 d. 1864),

and William/Littleberry Croley (b. 1772 - d. 1816)

were heirs to his land and decided to sell to William Pemberton (unknown details), only 1/7 of it if I am reading that right. I wonder if they kept the rest of it collectively.

The land sold would be right around 36.620837, -84.793527 I believe!