It turns out I may have married a Melungeon. In pre-Civil War days, “Melungeon” was a term for a “free person of color,” a free person who was not thought to be “pure white.” It was used in the general area where North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee come together. The more exotic theories make Melungeons the descendants of early Spanish and Portuguese colonists or even Turks and Moors from the Middle East. More likely, their predominant non-white heritage was Native American, with perhaps a little bit of African thrown in for good measure. Anyway, one of my hobbies is genealogy, and I have discovered that there is a slim possibility that one of my wife’s great-great-grandfathers was of Melungeon heritage.
We both think it would be interesting to be able to claim some non-European ancestors, but others would disagree‚Äîespecially the first people who used the word “Melungeon.” The word probably comes from the archaic English word “malengin,” meaning evildoer or deceitful person. It was not a name you applied to yourself but something others called you. If your race, religion, or culture keeps you from fitting in with the larger society, there is no telling what names people will call you.
David’s great-grandmother Ruth was worse than a Melungeon: she was a Moabite! In theory, she should never have been accepted into the Israelite community (Deut 23:3-6)-and her great-grandson should never have been crowned as its king. But Ruth was accepted, and David was crowned. Naomi needed a daughter to support her in her grief. Ruth needed husband to give her a viable future in Israel. All of us needed a concrete lesson in hospitality and compassion. And God wouldn’t to let a little thing like bloodlines get in the way of that, would he?
Tantalize without satisfying, Darrell! You didn’t mention what family your wife’s great-great-grandfather belonged to–so that I could see how she and I are related. Last May, doing genealogy on my father’s father’s family, I discovered what my grandparents had taken to their graves–that my paternal grandfather had been mixed race on both his father’s and mother’s side, clear back to 1619. Melungeons, on both sides, from Virginia and North Carolina originally, and later from Kentucky. Family names like Moore, Goins, Epps, Graham, Lewis, Wilson, Dean, Morris, Walden, Bass, Stepp, Dixon–in my family’s case, living near one another in NC, IN, IL, MI and finally Iowa, marrying one another until I’ve found about 3-4 first cousin marriages–didn’t seem to harm them! and many marriages almost as close, but an eventual turn to exogamy and in my case, a whitening that made concealment or confusion of racial origins possible.
I identify with Moses, rather than Ruth–brought up thinking I belonged to an elite people, discovering later I belonged to another, subject race. How to handle that realization, and act upon it, are ongoing and exciting challenges.
Connie’s great-great-grandfather was a Pruitt who first shows up in Wayne County, KY, about 1850. The trail goes dead before that, but several of his descendants had a distinctly “Native American” look in terms of complexion and facial features. As I said, it’s a slim chance but still greater than zero.