Carlson, Part II, The Saponi Diaspora

            Carlson, Part II, The Saponi Diaspora

(P. 91) Speaking of March 1729, Carlson writes; “. . .most of the Saponi were still at Christanna in June, although some families had already left to join the Catawba and/or other Tutelo now living far from the Christanna reservation.” One of the main reasons that the Saponi left Christanna was the hanging of a Saponi elder. A drunken Saponi leader had earlier killed an Englishman. (P. 93). Carlson states “. . . the Sapony’s took this so much to heart, that soon after quitted their settlement and moved in a body to the Cataubas.[233]

“By late in the summer of 1729, the Saponi and confederated bands and families that remained with them finally departed the Christanna Reservation. This abandonment of the Reservation would begin a diaspora of the people that once resided there. Comments later made by John Mitchell in 1755 stated that, in 1729, both the Saponi and the Tutelo “had removed further South upon the heads of the Pee Dee”at the Northern end of what was known as Catawba Territory. Byrd also noed that the Saponi removed to Catawba Territory that year. He explained that this people is now made up of the remnant of several other nations, of which the most considerable are the Saponey’s, Occoneechi’s, and the Steukenhocks,, who not finding themselves separately numerous enough for their defence, have agreed to unite into one body, and all of them now go under the name of the Sappony. . . A French map published late in 1729 reveals that one faction labeled labeled the “Sapon Nahisan”had removed far west from the extent of settlement far up on the headwaters of the Roanoke River. [233, 234]

Speaking of the Tutelo, (P. 94) Carlson says they wondered up and down the Appalachians until by 1740 they joined their old enemies, the Iroquois. In 1730 (P. 95) the Catawba and Saponi living with them, asked to make a treaty with Virginia. Nothing came of it. In 1732, Byrd, speaking of the Catawba, said “their population of more than 400 fighting men was spread through six towns on the Santee River in Carolina along a 20 mile stretch.” [240, 241]

Since the Saponi had abandoned their homes at Fort Christanna, the state of Virginia assumes they have abandoned it. By the winder of 1730, the Virginia Council decided to sell off the reservation. Carlson finds only one reference to the Saponi found in the Carolinas on Catawba lands. He speaks of the Tuscarora harassing a small band of Settlement Indians.

By 1732 (P. 96) the Saponi living with the Catawba decided to leave them. The Saponi Indians asked the state of Virginia if they could return, and also asked if the Sara (Saura/Cheraw) [247] could come with them. The Virginians agreed to this, and promised them an equal amount of land that they had lost at Christanna, so long as it was not settled, either on the Roanoke or Appamatox Rivers. They built a fort near their old haunts, near Fort Christanna. Carlson goes on to say there was immediately tension as before, between the Saponi and the Nottaway. The Tuscarora, the Nottaway, and the Five Nations (Iroquois) continually attacked the Saponi. Eventually the Virginians, sided with the Saponi, and eventually local militias in Virginia helped subside the tensions between rival groups. Even King Blunt of the Tuscarora, attempting to mediate an end to the war, asked the Saponi to join him. There is no record of a response from the Saponi. It appears the Saponi abandoned their fort in Brunswick County, and are not found again in historic documents (by Carlson) until 1735. Two bands of the Saponi and Tutelo are found in the Mountains of North Carolina. Carlson says (Pp. 99-100); “One era map also shows that a band of the Occoneechi had split off from the main body of the Saponi, and by 1733 were living off the trading path where it crossed the Eno or the Flatt River in North Carolina. Bricknells 1737 publication reported that in the year 1735 and/or 36, the band of Saponi closely associated with the Catawba was located on the Clarendon River(in the west branch of the Cape Fear River) in North Carolina. This Sapona Village was some five to six days ‘over the mountains’ far removed from colonial settlements. Bricknell also mentions that the ‘Totera’ then had a village somewhere nearby this Saponi town, although deeper into the mountains. Of the people of these two villages, Bricknell wrote that they usually do not ‘make visits amongst us except to be their traders who bring us their skins and furs.’

Carlson continues on the documentary trail of the Saponi. The next reference Carlson discovers is in 1737, where there is areference to ‘Saponi cabins” that appear to still be inhabited, in Amelia County, Virginia. This Saponi community was located on a branch of Winningham Creek, a tributary of the Appomattox River. This was near a former trading post run by Colonel John Bolling. Carlson states that although there is no longer a trading post in the area, the Bolling family was still in the area. He states that both Bolling and the Saponi were friends of Colonel Mumford. Recall that earlier the Saponi were offered lands near this area, but there is no record, according to Carlson, of them receiving the lands.

It is here (p. 101) that Carlson starts referring to the “Christian Band” of the Saponi. Carlson’s next reference– “By 1738, a Christian Band of the Saponi had established a new village a little further north on the personal lands of the now ex-Governor of Virginia, Alexander Spotswood, who had retired upon his plantation in neighboring Spotsylvania County. Apparently the band had gained permission from him to reside on Fox’s Neck of the Rapidan River in Orange County, not far from old Fort Germanna.[266] This Christian Band of the Saponi would be able to maintain residence here for some time in the company of their old benefactor.

"From 1738 on, the Orange County Court records mention various petitions from Alexander Maurchtoon, John Sauna, John Collins, John Bowling, and others, all of whom are described there is specifically as “Christian Saponey Indians.”[267]

Carlson notes one change. Whereas the Saponi had been considered “Tributary Indians” before they left Fort Christanna, this distinction no longer applied afterwards. He says pp. 101-102, with respect to these Christian Saponi;” [267] . . . these Saponi were no longer treated as members of a Tributary Nation but more fully as “Citizen Indians” by the Virginians. There were to be consequences to this. After the death of their old advocate, ex-Governor Alexander Spotswood in 1740, complaints against Christian Saponi began being forwarded to county authorities by local settlers.

“In 1740 a local farmer named William Bohannon complained that ’26 of the Indians who inhabit Fox’s Neck were firing the woods’. He also accused them of killing some of his free ranging pigs.” He said he had “lost more pigs than usual since the coming of the Indians.” He says the Indians were being called into court, and were being accused of “doing mischief”. The following year Bohannon came again to Orange County officials complaining that he thought the Indians had shot at him.

Then Carlson adds, “The bands troubles would climax in the winter of 1743 when a number of Saponi men had their guns seized and found themselves arrested. The Saponi men named John Collins, Alex Machartion, John Bowling, Craft Tom, Blind Tom, Foolish Jack, Charles Griffen, Little Jack, Isaac and Harvey were taken before the Orange County court for trial ‘by precept under the hands and seals of William Russell and Ed Spencer, gentleman’, under the charges of stealing hogs, burning the woods, and terrifying one Lawrence Strothers. Strothers had even claimed that he was shot at and chased by the Saponi in the backwoods. The Saponi men were ordered held in jail until bonded, after which they were ordered to leave the county. Interestingly, several White men sympathetic to the Saponi predicament, ‘went security on their bail bonds,’ after which they were released and openly declared their intentions to depart the county within a week, at which time their guns would be returned.”[268, 269, 270]

Carlson continues, “Late in the summer of 1743, Governor Gooch of Virginia reported that the Saponies and other petty nations associated with them had left Virginia and were again residing in the Carolinas with the Catawba.” [274] Carlson reports that while some Saponi would forever remain with the Catawba, this Christian Band of Saponi would separate from them. He speaks of three Saponi bands that he describes as the Tutelo-Saponi, the Catawba Saponi, and this Christian Band of the Saponi. He will eventually link this Christian band with those later termed “Melungeons”.

The “Christian Band” of the Saponi, according to Carlson, had its start at Fort Christanna. Most of the Saponi were not responsive to the efforts on the behalf of Governor Spotswood’s school for the Saponi. A part of that education was an attempt to turn the heathen into Christians. But it appears that the school master, Griffin, had an effect on a few of the Indians, and they must have converted to Christianity. Carlson asks us to recall an incident he described in 1728. He had, p. 102,  mentioned a record where “certain Saponi’s” informed the Virginians that the Tutelo chief and other Saponi were considering taking the colonists to war with the aid of the Catawba. They wanted vengeance over the hangings of three Saponi by the colonists. Were these informants the Christian Saponi? We will never know.

Carlson speaks of the two other bands, one that went to live with the Catawba, and a third, later called the Tutelo, who went north to live with Six Nations. This third band went to live in the vicinity of ex-Governor Spotwood, at a place called Fox Neck. Carlson says “The Orange County records also confirm that no interpreter was ever required in dealing with the Christian band when they found themselves in court. It also shows that the old policy observed by Reverand Fontaine at Fort Christanna less than three decades earlier, was no longer in force amongst the Christian Saponi.” Fontaine had maintained that the Saponi required interpreters, and their elders always spoke in their own language even if they could speak English, in their dealings with colonial officials. Carlson continues, “the Christian Band of the Saponi had established an identity distinct and separate rom the Catawba Saponi or the Tutelo-Saponi refugees to the Iroquois country from at least 1738 onward.” Carlson states that from the late 1730s until the Revolutionary War, that only those families associated with the Orange County Saponi are referred to in the records as “Christian Saponi”.

Orange County records from 1738-1743 efer to several Saponi living in the area. They include Alex Machartion, John Collins, John Bowling, Charles Griffen, and other “Christian Indians.” The following names are also mentioned – Manincassa, Foolish Jack, Little Jack, Isaac, Harry, Captain Tom and Blind Tom. Charles Griffen appears to have taken his name from Rev. Griffin, a former school teacher at the Fort Christanna school. Captain Joseph Collins negotiated the release of Sauna from the “French Indians” in 1722. Carlson speculated the Machartion surname might have evolved into McCarty and McCarta surnames associated with the Collinses n the next century. Carlson speculates p 107, “evidence available from written records made subsequent to 1743, it is quite possible to surmise that John Collins is the son of “Captain Tom”, for an elder named Tom Collins is shown living with John and the rest of the Christian Saponi in the years immediately following their expulsion from Orange County. If this is so, one might further speculate that Blind Tom is Tom’s father.”

Carlson suspects the Bowling surname came amongst the Christian Band of the Saponi in the 1730s while living in Amelia County. The well known Powhattan mixed-blood family had for generations operated a trading house at the Falls of the Appomattox.

Per Carlton, “Exactly when and how the treaty obligations stemming form the 1677 and subsequent agreements with the Saponi were abolished, ignored or forgotten by Virginia authorities is not known. After 1733 no mention of the colony recognizing any treaty obligations to the Saponi appears in Virginia records. Regardless, by at least 1738, the Christian Saponi were being treated as Individual Citizen Indians a opposed to the political entity of ‘Tributary Indians’.

Carlton says . . . in 1743 the Christian Saponi went south to live near Catawba lands, however by in 174 5they were back in Virginia, in Louisa County, near to their former lands in Orange County (p 111), in the mountains south of Rapidan Station. The Christian Saponi would reside in the area for some time and would be noted as “Nassayn” (Saponi for ‘the People’) on 1749-1750 era maps.[285] Names listed living in this area are Sam and William Collins, along men named George and Thomas Gibson, Sam Bunch, Ben Branham, and a few others were charged with by Louisa County court of ‘concealing tithables’. . . . [286]

On page 112, “The likely source for the charge . . . was Virginia law that stipulated that, in addition to all adult males,all Indian, Negro and Mulatto women over 16 years of age were also tithable, unlike white women of the same age. . .The Christian Saponi may have felt they should be free from taxation a rightful heirs of the Tributary Nation. But as far as the Virginia government was concerned, ‘tributary status no longer applied. This being the case, they would now have to be subject to the Virginia Act of May 1723. The act stipulated that ‘all free Negroes, mulattos, Indians, (except tributary Indians to this government) male and female, above 16 years, and all wives of such Negroes, mulattos, or Indians (except Indians tributary to this government) shall be accounted tithable. . . . Social and economic barriers based on race labels would become a greater concern for these Christian Indians now that they had lost their political status as tributary Indians. [287]

We have followed the documentation of the Saponi Indians from 1729-1743. The presense amongst them of a "Charley Griffen" ties them back to old Fort Christanna, and the teacher Reverend Griffin. Once they left Christanna, they lived for a time with the Catawba, and for a time with former Governor Spotswood. They wondered, like the Hebrew of old, in search of new homes, with tribal unity disappearing, as a few remote families are gradually being absorbed into the frontier lifestyles of their white neighbors. In 1743 families again started to return to the Catawba. They simply didn't know where to go or what to do. The next section covers the timeframe when these Christian Saponi Indians became known more commonly a "Melungeons."

Melungeons, a Multiethnic Population

DNA TESTING
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/24/melungeon-dna-study-origin_n_1544489.html#postComment.

The Huffington Post article is a little misleading (link above). They seemed to gloat a little that only African American and Caucasian DNA was reported, except for the small amout of American Indian DNA of a single family. Their report was forgot to research the records of the Eastern Siouan/Catawba and related tribes, and of the history of these “extinct” Eastern Siouan tribes. The best book I have seen on this topic is “The Indians’ New World – Catawbas and Their Neighbors from European Contact Through the Era of Removal” by James H. Merrell, W. W. Norton and Company, © 1989 Univ. of North Carolina Press. I hope to cover more of this book as time goes on.
Huffington Post reported --

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- For years, varied and sometimes wild claims have been made about the origins of a group of dark-skinned Appalachian residents once known derisively as the Melungeons. Some speculated they were descended from Portuguese explorers, or perhaps from Turkish slaves or Gypsies.

Now a new DNA study in the Journal of Genetic Genealogy attempts to separate truth from oral tradition and wishful thinking. The study found the truth to be somewhat less exotic: Genetic evidence shows that the families historically called Melungeons are the offspring of sub-Saharan African men and white women of northern or central European origin.

"There were a whole lot of people upset by this study," lead researcher Roberta Estes said. "They just knew they were Portuguese, or Native American."

But reading the article found at the link below – there is no real denial of American Indian ancestry, while there report DOES deny any Portuguese ancestry.

At the website below is an amazing article, that pretty much confirms things that I have been saying for many, many years.

http://www.jogg.info/72/files/Estes.htm

Melungeons, A Multiethnic Population

Roberta J. Estes, Jack H. Goins, Penny Ferguson, Janet Lewis Crain

Melungeon is a term applied historically to a group of persons, probably multiethnic, found primarily in Hawkins and Hancock Counties, Tennessee, and in adjoining southern Lee County, Virginia.  In this article we define the Melungeon population study group, then review the evidence from historical sources and DNA testing--Y-chromosome, mitochondrial DNA, and autosomal DNA--to gain insight into the origin of this mysterious group. . . .

Formation of Melungeon DNA Project

The Core Melungeon DNA Project was formed at Family Tree DNA in July of 2005[3] with the goal of testing the Y-line and mitochondrial DNA of families identified as Melungeon.  The first step was to define which families were Melungeon and were eligible to be included. 

The popular press has extended the definition of Melungeon dramatically.  The project administrators researched various records to determine where the label of Melungeon was actually applied, and to whom.  They found the word first recorded in 1810 and used for the next 100 years or so, primarily in Hawkins and Hancock Counties in Tennessee, and slightly into neighboring counties where the Melungeon family community reached over county and state boundaries into Claiborne County, Tennessee, and Lee, Scott and Russell Counties in Virginia.  The project was subsequently broken into Y-line and mitochondrial DNA projects, and in 2010, a Melungeon Family project was added with the advent of the Family Finder product.

Parts of this paper seem to discuss parts of our family. The first two records of the word Melungeon, might have  referred to our family. From fhe first record, found in Baxter County, Arkansas, we have a reference to Batesville, Arkansas, a town only 20 miles from the hometown of our ancestor, and both might have been there in 1819, when my ancestor was named overseer to that place, and Jacob Mooney was said to go through Batesville in 1819. The second record of the Melungoens, was from the Minutes of Stony Creek Primitive Church. Our same Wayland’s nmaees are all over those minutes. From the study, we have quoted the following below --

First Records of Melungeon

The first recorded instance of any word resembling Melungeon is found surrounding an 1810 event in Arkansas.  In 1972, Baxter County, Arkansas published a Centennial edition of its history. In it they describe a Tennessean, Jacob Mooney, along with Jacob Wolf, reportedly of Hawkins County, Tn.,[4] who made numerous incursions into Arkansas for the purpose of trading livestock, etc.  The following passage describes Mooney's first trek to Baxter County in 1810.  

"The four men who had come with Mooney were men of Mystery, referred to by oldtimers who knew of them as "Lungeons." They were neither Negro or Indian and in later years Jacob Mooney was ostracized for living with these "foreigners"...by the time he moved to Arkansas for good, his former slaves and the "lungeon" men had died and most of their families had moved west with the Indians."[5]

The next written record of Melungeons is found in Russell County, Virginia in the Stony Creek[6] church minutes in 1813[7] when a reference was made to “harboring them Melungins.”[8]  From that point forward in time, we access historical documents to determine which families were originally considered to be Melungeon. 

My direct line DID MOVE to Indian Territory, Oklahoma, from Arkansas. And we were attending that church in SW Virginia in 1813, when the reference to the “them Melungins” was made from its minutes. So I am very interested in the study of the Melungins.

My family story says we DO HAVE mixed Indian blood. My family story NEVER MENTIONS ANY Portuguese blood – NEVER! I do have an uncle who I recall saying something to me when I was a child. I was curious about our ancestry and I remember Uncle Andrew saying “Be careful. You might not like what you find.” Now we were never ashamed about having Indian blood, I don’t think – well, some of might have been. But to have Negro blood would have been taboo back then. He said this when I was a child, probably in the later part of the 1950s or the 1960s. I think this is what he was referring to. My autosomal DNA test did say we also had some sub-Sahara African ancestry.

I suspect we have NO reference to the Portuguese simply because we were living in a part of Arkansas where there was no immediate threat of being enslaved in the mid 19^th century, as was the case in Eastern Tennessee and other places they wre termed “Portuguese”. Those people might have been termed runaway slaves, and they wanted to combat those accusations by saying their ancestors were Portuguese, not Black! My family had successfully assimilated – theirs had not.

They refer also to Lewis Jarvis article where he mentions the surnames of several Melungeon families, including “others not remembered” who have moved away from that place. That could include my Wayland’s. We did move away.

They add, still quoting Jarvis; "They settled here in 1804, possibly about the year 1795", obtained land grants and "were the friendly Indians who came with the whites as they moved west.  They came from Cumberland County and New River, Va., stopping at various points west of the Blue Ridge. 

Som of them stopped on Stony Creek, Scott County, Virginia, where Stony Creek runs into Clinch River.  The white immigrants with the friendly Indians erected a fort on the bank of a river and called it Fort Blackmore[23] and here yet many of these friendly Indians live in the mountains of Stony Creek, but they have married among the whites until the race has almost become extinct.  A few of the half bloods may be found - none darker - but they still retain the name of Collins and Gibson, &c.  From here they came to Newman's Ridge and Blackwater and many of them are here yet; but the amalgamations of the whites and Indians has about washed the red tawny from their appearance, the white faces predominating, so now you can scarcely find one of the original Indians; a few half-bloods and quarter-bloods balance white or past the third generation." 

Well the brother of the founder of Fort Blackmore, Joseph Blackmore, purchased land at Castlewood, near where Russell, Wise, and Scott counties come together. He was assignee of Nathaniel Gist! Not the famous Nathaniel Gist, but his first cousin, who lived many years in Cumberland County, North Carolina. Both DNA testing and genealogical records say that I am a direct his direct descentant. My Harriet Gist married David Brown, and their daughter Josephine Brown married married Jeffrey Richey, son of Sarah Ann Wayland, in Arkansas in 1872.

The report also tells us why they would NOT be Portuguese, yet claim Portuguese heritage. It says –

“If the Melungeons were not Portuguese, why would they have said that they were?  The answer to this question may be at least partially found in the 1834 Tennessee constitutional amendment, which went into effect in 1835, and meant significant changes for those citizens designated as "free persons of color."

 “Every free white man of the age of twenty-one years, being a citizen of the United States, and a citizen of the county wherein he may offer his vote, six months next preceding the day of election, shall be entitled to vote for members of the general Assembly, and other civil officers, for the county or district in which he resides: provided, that no person shall be disqualified from voting in any election on account of color, who is now by the laws of this State, a competent witness in a court of Justice against a white man. All free men of color, shall be exempt from military duty in time of peace, and also from paying a free poll tax.”

          So we know why they said they were Portuguese in Tennessee, but not in Arkansas. The report continues --

          In October 1705 in Virginia, the following act was passed;

"Be it enacted and declared, and it is hereby enacted and declared, That the child of an Indian and the child, grand child, or great grand child, of a negro shall be deemed, accounted, held and taken to be a mulatto."

This was followed by:

"That all male persons, of the age of sixteen years, and upwards, and all negro, mulatto, and Indian women, of the age of sixteen years, and upwards, not being free, shall be, and are hereby declared to be tithable, or chargeable." . . .

In Virginia in 1691, 1705 and 1753 and in North Carolina in 1715 and again in 1741, intermarriage was banned between whites and negroes, mulattoes or Indians, which obviously had the effect of encouraging intermarriage between blacks and Indians.  Another ban specifically against white-Indian intermarriage was found in Tennessee in 1821, where most states only banned black/white marriages.[29]  Dr. Ariela Gross contends that the "vanishing Indian" was a result in this timeframe of the reclassification to mulatto and negro and follows several examples forward through time.  The 1705 Virginia statue that declared that a Mulatto is "a child of an Indian" as well as "the child, grandchild, or great-grandchild of a negro" was not modified until 1785 when a "colored person" was defined as all persons with "one fourth-or more negro blood" and only those with "no negro blood" were allowed to be classified as Indians.

Portuguese was considered white, although Portuguese were expected to look "dark", having Moorish blood.  Portuguese was claimed in other locations as well, possibly also to mask either Indian or negro heritage.[30]  DeMarce suggests that an obvious explanation is the perpetual wish for non-African ancestry, which had led to a plethora of myths.[31]  While Caucasians of Mediterranean descent were rare in British North America, they were counted as white and were, if willing to be naturalized and become Protestant, not subject to the legal disabilities imposed upon free mulattoes and Indians.

          The report then spends a lot of the report discussing about a dozen court cases where they had to prove they were not Negro. Portuguese were considered Caucasian, but were expected to be dark complected because of 800 years of Moorish rule ober their homeland, so they claimed they were Portuguese.

          Since we suspect our Keziah Wayland was a daughter of Thomas Gibson, I am interested in what the report ways about the Gibson’s. The DNA results for some Gibson’s came back African. Maybe that is OUR ancestor? I don’t know, but it is possible. Here is what the report ays about the Gibson’s and the part of their family that has an African origin:

          E1b1a – Ivory Coast, Guyana, Sierre Leone

          The report asks the question – Were the Melungeons? It answers this question in the following manner;

“If the Melungeons carried Portuguese ancestry, it is not from any of the Y chromosomal lines that have been tested.  Denham does not appear to be Portuguese.  There is oral history to support the Portuguese claim, but no historical documents or genetic evidence have been discovered to prove Portuguese heritage for any of these families.”

As for African ancestry, they say;

“Of the eight African Melungeon lines, all have Haplotree Matches along the slave and gold coasts . . .” Of the eight African Melungeon lines, all have Haplotree Matches along the slave and gold coasts. . .”  This is the same region of African mentioned above, as the origin of some of the Gibson’s.

The report also asks about the possibility of having Native American origins for the to the Melungeon families. It sasks;

Do the Melungeons have Native American Ancestry?

Then proceeds;

“Of the 15 primary Melungeon core surnames or their ancestral surnames, only one, Sizemore, has genetic Native ancestry on the paternal Y-line.  There is no genetic Native heritage on the maternal, mitochondrial lines.  One family, Riddle, has documented Native heritage in historical records, but does not carry that heritage through the Y-line.

How do we resolve the pervasive oral history of Native heritage with the overwhelming African and European haplogroups?

The social customs most dramatically affecting the eastern Indian populations of Virginia and North Carolina were the Native customs of hospitality which included providing a male traveler (there were few if any female travelers in the back country) with a bedmate for the night, trader marriages, Indian slavery practices and adoptions.[243]”.

Considering the Lumber, who are in reality are mixed with the the Pee Dee, Cheraw, and other Eastern Siouan groups,  most likely, the report says;

“ Given the known migration patterns of some of the Melungeon families to North and South Carolina, in particular, the Bertie County (NC) Tuscarora area (Gibson and Bunch) and the Pee Dee River area (Gibson, Collins, Bunch, Sizemore, Goins and Bolton) where other known Natives were living, it certainly would not be surprising to discover that some of the Lumbee and the Melungeon families share a common heritage.”

So several Lumbee Indian surnames are identical to the surnames of the Melungeons. Since my Nevil Wayland Sr’s wife is considered to have been a Gibson, and since he served in the Revolutionary War in South Carolina, this is of interest to me. Now we can not prove she was a Gibson, but I have tried to disprove it as well, and have found nothing to prove she was NOT a Gibson either. All we have is evidence, but not enough evidence to qualify as proof.

The report goes on to say there are NO Jewish, Middle Eastern, of Gypsy markers amongst the Melungeons, either.

There are still those who claim the Melungeons were part Cherokee. This report accurately states;

“There are no known Cherokee who lived on Newman's Ridge.  The Cherokee Nation was significantly further south prior to removal in 1835 . . .”

This is a wonderful report, with both observation and empirical data agreeing to say the Melungeons are NOT Portuguese, and NOT Cherokee. But they are sub-Sahara African, Caucasian, and there is some small admixture of American Indian as well.

Red Bird

Go here and log in as a guest.

http://www.galileo.usg.edu/

Scroll down to # 86. I think it says "Native American Documents", or something like that. Click on it. In the search engine provided at the web site type in “red bird”. You will see a record of the death of a Cherokee named Red Bird, and a friend named “Will”. What is written below is left as it was transcribed on that website. They also provide the originals as *.jpg files.

Letter to the Indian chiefs 1797

Knoxville 5 March 1797

Brother

Your letter of the 4th came to hand to day [today], in which You Say that your people have done no damage on either the [deleted: property] person or property of [deleted: any] [added: the] whites. [deleted: Man] I wish this was the case, and I make no doubt [deleted: but] you think so, but you may be sure, several is killed one in powels Valley by a fellow called Dick, [added: can talk some english,] [deleted: who] has hunted there [deleted: and was], and is well known [added: by the people]; [deleted: can talk some english,] I mention this that You may know the person, -- there has also been a great Many horses taken from Cumberland and one Man killed And Another Wounded, [deleted: there] And yesterday another Was killed and scaulped [scalped] on little pigion about thirty miles from this place, [deleted: this]

This conduct my brother has a bad appearance and as I told you before will be attended with disagreable [disagreeable] events Should your people be so foolish And unwise Not to decline Such practices.

You mention that I wrote you in a threatning [threatening] Manner, but my brother if you listen to the Words of my letter, there is no threats [added: in it], I have only spoken to you the [added: language of] truth, and the fatal consequences, that Must attend your Nation , should you be so imprudent As to again go to War -- I dont nor never did

Speak to you with a false toungue [tongue], nor do I wish your people to be treated ill, but on the contrary that they may live in peace and safety and raise their children in Quietude

I know very well, that some of [deleted: our] [added: the white] people are bad men and have been guilty of a horrid Crime in killing the red bird and Will, and [deleted: I expect that] when ever [whenever] they can be taken they [deleted: will] [added: shall] suffer for it, one of them has run away and the other as yet is not taken; as I told you in my last I tell you in this, that the innocent ought not to suffer for the guilty, neither ought your people to take Any Satisfaction until you had first made your complaint And stated your sufferings. It is impossible for me to know when damage is done to your people without you inform me; and your own good sense will point out to you that A Murderor [Murderer] seldom ever discovers upon himself, which I Suppose is the reason why your people denies they have done any Mischeife [Mischief]

You say you have been a long Journey and While at Philadelphia received very different talks from that of mine; and say that I say you are but a handful of people and in consequence of our superior [added: ity] in Numbers [added: Suppose] we have aright [a right] to do as we please -- I deny saying we had aright [a right] to do as we please [added: &] on any such a supposition, neither is there any such a word in any letter

it is true I said you were only a handful of people, which is the truth and I also advised you of the danger of going to war ; If the people at Philadelphia have told you that you [deleted: were] [added: are] a Numerous and strong people, and that you ought to go to War and kill your white brothers, they have not told you that which is true, nor that which would be for your good and the interest of your nation [added: was you to take such advice]. [deleted: I spok] what I said in my letter was to convince your nation of their danger and the Great evils that always attend a war, and the distressing condition your people would be in, Should Such a thing take place -- [deleted: You say that] you Wish I would talk to My people and tell them not to cross the River Tennessee or to survey your land -- I have often told them that, neither do I wish or intend any such thing should be done. But you know I am agreat [a great] Way from that place, and cant See what every foolish Man is doing, I expected that the gaurds [guards] at Tellico, [deleted: and your own] would stop such people from Crossing Over, and I Suppose, [added: they] Would was they to see them, but neither them nor myself can see the transaction of every bad man, no More, then [than] you can your people, who come over on our side And kill our people and steal our horses.

Now brother I hope I have Said enough to convince You, that I dont Wish our people and yours to [deleted: go] enter into War against each other, and I hearby [hereby] declare that

I wish to have peace and friendship subsisting between the two Nations, and shall with all my heart and strength do every thing [everything] in my power to promote the same -- I hope You will [deleted: do the same and] [added: also] endeavor to keep your people Within the bounds of reason; and let us try to prevent Any further effusion of blood. I wish us to live friendly and bury all Anemosities [Animosities] deep in the earth, If you have complaints, the government will redress them, and you know they are taking measures to effect the same, but if your people will undertake contrary to the [deleted: treaty] Articles of the treaty to redress themselves, you cant expect the government will do it -- I request that you will make enquiry into the murder lately done on pigion; and if [deleted: You can] [added: possible] have [deleted: them] [added: the murderors [murderers]] punished agreably [agreeably] to the Articles of Treaty. -- your people could have no [unclear: color] of excuse for committing Any depredations on that Quarter for they are not on lands claimed by your Nation, Neither have they interupted [interrupted] Any of your people --

I hope to have an answer from you as soon as possible

Your friend

[Signed] J. [John] Sevier

John Watts and other Cheifs [Chiefs] of the Cherokee Nation

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Knoxville 17 March 1797

Sir

Yours of the [deleted: 8th instant] 10th Instant I am duly honored With. and shall observe the contents,

The wanton and unprovoked murder Committed on the red Bird and [added: another] [deleted: others] Indian of the Cherokee tribe, is a crime so Atrocious and Agrevating [Aggravating] in its nature, that [deleted: I am determined] [added: it is my Sincere wish & desire] to have the perpetrators apprehended, in order they may Suffer agreably [agreeably] to the demerit of their Crimes. The taking of them will be Attended with Some difficulty. Levinstone, I have been informed left this state in A few days after it was known he had been guilty of the murder, and [deleted: the other] [added: Mitchell] is constantly on his Gaurd [Guard] in Such a manner, that [deleted: it] will render it difficult to have him apprehended -- you may rest assured that nothing shall or will be lacking in the executive, to have them taken and safely conducted into [deleted: your] the State of Kentucky, if by any means the same can be accomplished.

I have the honor to be very respectfully Your Excellencys Mo. ob. Hbe, Sert. [Most obedient Humble, Servant]

[added: By the governor]

His Excellency

Governor Garrard

Governor of Kentucky

17 March 1797

No [Number] 9

 ****************************************************

State of Tennessee

To the Sherriff [Sheriff] of Hawkins County

Sir

I am just [added: now] informed by an express from the Governor of the state of Kentucky, that a Most Cruel daring and unprovoked murder was perpetrated by Edward Mitchel and John Levingston, Citizens of this State And inhabitants of Hawkins county, on two indians [Indians] of the Cherokee Nation(one of the name of red Bird) who was hunting in the state of Kentucky, On the waters of Kentucky river.

The perpetration of [deleted: so] [added: Such [deleted: a] ] horrid and unwarranted [deleted: An] [added: an] Act is contrary to the treaties existing between The united States and the indian [Indian] tribes, as also All laws human and divine, and Such aggressions Ought to meet examplary [exemplary] and adequate punishment [deleted: According] [added: Suitable] to the demerit of [deleted: the] [added: their] Crimes, agreably [agreeably] to the laws they have, so flagrantly and wantonly violated.

In conformity to the demand made by his Excellency the Governor of the State of Kentucky, and Agreably [Agreeably] to an act of Congress in such Cases made and provided: I do hereby command you, to take the Aforesaid Edward Mitchel and John Levingston, or either of them if to be found in your County, and them or either of them Safely and Securely to convey Unto the public Jail of Kentucky, then and there, them or either of them, you are to deliver unto the keeper thereof.

In order that you may be the better enabled to apprehend, take, and convey the said Edward Mitchel and John Levingston, or either of them as aforesaid, you are hereby impowered [empowered] to apply to, and call upon, Any officer or officers, either Civil or Military Within this State, to furnish you with Such gaurd [guard] or Gaurds [Guards], as may be adequate and necessary for the purpose of taking, and Safely conveying them, to the public Jail of Kentucky as aforesaid. I also command And enjoin that all officers [deleted: both] Civil and military, [deleted: to] be aiding and assisting in having the aforesaid Edward Mitchelland John Levingston apprehended And taken in order [added: that] they may be dealt with as the law in such Cases may direct.

           Given under my hand and seal in Knoxvillethis 19th day of March 1797

Signed By the Governor

[Signed] John Sevier

Order

Sheriff Hawkins county;
          19th March 1797

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          28 March 1797
          Brothers
I have recd. [received] an express from the Governor of Kentucky which informs me that two men Citizens of the State of Tennessee, [added: has] murdered two men of your nation (one of the name of Red Bird. ) This murder was committed within the bounds and State of Kentucky, and the Governor thereof has demanded of me to send them into that State to be tryed [tried] for the murder agreably [agreeably] to the laws of the [deleted: that] State -- I have sent forth orders to have the Murderors [Murderers] taken, and when taken to be immeadiately [immediately] sent to Kentucky in order that they may [deleted: receive their] [added: be] tryed [tried], and receive [deleted: their] [added: the] punishment [added: due their crime] if found Guilty -- now my brothers you have had time enough to find out the persons that have killed the [added: several] people belonging to the state of tennessee, one has been Killed and another wounded on the Kentucky road Since I wrote you before; I therefore request and demand of you, that you have those Murderors [Murderers] apprehended and punished Agreably [Agreeably] to the treaty entered into between your nation And the United States. I am determined to have the white transgressors taken and punished if it Can be done, And I shall expect [added: You will apprehend themurderors [murderers] on your part & have them punished] [deleted: it will be the Case with your nation] -- let us convince Such disorderly people, that they Shall not be the Cause of Sheding [Shedding] the blood of innocent people And bringing about a War, which never fails to produce very fatal and disagreable [disagreeable] event.

I have frequently informed you how disagreable [disagreeable] A War would be to the white people [added: of this State] And the United Statesin General, and also the dangerous consequences, that in all probability might and would attend your nation Should Such an [deleted: thing take] event take place --

I hope your nation will consider well the dangerous consequences, and put a [added: final] Stop to the further effusion of blood, other ways [otherwise] I am a fraid [afraid] it will tend to bring about Very disagreable [disagreeable] events, which [deleted: it] is the wish of this government to prevent.

          Your friend

          [Signed] John Sevier

          The Warriors & Cheifs [Chiefs]  of the Cherokee Nation

         Was the Red Bird killed in southern Kentucky in 1797 a Chief?

         Consider the treaties of 1785, 1791, 1794 and 1798:
         http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/vol2/toc.htm#C

Of the treaty of 1794, there are 13 Cherokee names – NONE of which are “Red Bird”.

The treaty of 1791 was signed by FORTY Cherokee – NONE of which was named “Red Bird”.

The treaty of 1785 includes 32 signatures – NONE of which is a “Red Bird”.

          There is no chief named “Red Bird” prior to 1797 when he was killed.

The treaty of 1798 has the signature of 34 Cherokee, none of which is “Red Bird”.

The treaty of 1805 is the first to mention Red Bird, who is called “Tochuwor”.

Who was this? Where was he from? The answer to these questions can be found on page 3 of “The Emigration Rolls of 1817-1835”, as transcribed by Jack D. Baker. One line reads; “Apr 13, 1818, Toochalar, chief, 12 [note: this number denotes the number of persons who intended to emigrate to Arkansas with him]; “Willstown”. [note: he was chief of Willstown]. Please know he did not live in Kentucky, but rather in Northern Alabama. There was no reason to believe he was related in any way with the Red Bird killed in Southern Kentucky some 21 years earlier. He is mentioned in records of the Arkansas Cherokee and was a well-known chief in Arkansas.

http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/vol2/treaties/che0140.htm

In fact Toochalar is listed as an Arkansas Chief already, in the 1817 treaty. You can not confuse an Arkansas Chief in the 1820s with an ordinary hunter who was killed in 1797. You can not assume the “Red Bird” in Arkansas was related to the “Red Bird” killed in Southern Kentucky in 1797 any more than you can assume two people named “Joseph” are related.

All we know of the hunter named Red Bird is that he was a hunter. Cherokee had for generations travelled northwards into their traditional hunting grounds of Kentucky to provide game for their families. There is no proof this was any more than that. NOTHING about the original papers call him “Chief”. The stories he was a Brock are NOT PROVEN. The researchers who looked into this should mention this, and they don’t! I have family stories we are related to Sequoyah, but we have no proof of it. Those who research these Brocks should say the same thing – they have family stories but no proof! That is my argument with them. Instead of claiming they have proof they should be saying they have evidence. And if you have proof -- please cite it!

Is that too much to ask?

 

The "Lungeons" of Baxter County, Arkansas

From History of Baxter County, Arkansas

by Mary Ann Messick

Chapter II; Indian Days and Early Settlers

p. 4. In this chapter, the author lists several Indian tribes that at one time lived in Baxter County, and lists several that are not tribes at all. Others NEVER lived in Baxter County, or if they did it was long before contact with Europeans. Some tribes that were there are Osage, Delaware, Shawnee, Kickapoo, and Cherokee, the last four arriving early in the 19th century. And she does list them.

p. 5. She mentions that while Arkansas was still claimed by Spain, the Spanish encouraged the displaced American Tribes to settle on their lands in Missouri and Arkansas. She speaks of the Cherokees living along the White River. Now these displaced tribes settled on what the Osages had considered their hunting grounds, and so warfare erupted between them and the emigrant tribes. After a few years this became American soil. She speaks of a Major Jacob Wolfe who in 1810 established a Trading Post and Indian Agency in Baxter County, and is called the father of Baxter County.

p. 6. Now we come to the pages that mention the “Lungeons”. She says “ . . . another Jacob came up White River in search of fortune and adventure. He was a son of Old Erin (Ireland), lately of McMinnville, Tennessee. He and a man named McDonald, four slaves, and four other men poled a flat boat up White River until they found a spot to their liking. The exact spot of their first trading post has been lost.” Then the author states “in the unpublished manuscript of my late father, Herbert A. Messick, he writes this concerning his great grandfather Herbert A. Mooney . . .”
          So we now know the origin of this source. A man was telling family stories, passed down from earlier generations.

In the next paragraph she continues; “By the fall they had constructed one log building, for the store and two cabins for living quarters. The four men who had come with Mooney were men of Mystery, referred to by old timers who knew of them as “Lungeons”. They were neither Negro nor Indian and in later years Jacob Mooney was ostracized for living with these “foreigners.”

I so wish the author had given her father’s exact words from his unpublished manuscript. One can easily twist the meaning by changing a word or two, something the person paraphrased that can be taken in a different light than intended. She places the word “foreigner” in parenthesis. She assumes them of Mediterranean heritage, saying; “Could these men have been Melungeons – the mysterious people of the hills of Tennessee who have recently been identified as being Mediterranean’s possibly of Jewish lineage, and who lived in America prior to Columbus’s discovery of the “New World”? Of course to suggest they came to American before Columbus is now considered silly, but once upon a time wild theories were often considered possible. Today thank God, we know better.

She continues with Mooney and McDonald (one of the items they took with them to Arkansas was a Whiskey still – moonshine is also indigenous to Arkansas) creating their own whiskeys and wines from local ingredients. They soon returning to Tennessee. Both men later joined Ol’ Hickory (Andrew Jackson) during the War of 1812, serving near New Orleans. She says that after nine years, Mooney returned to Arkansas with a wife and four children.

At the bottom of page 4, she speaks of Mooney’s return to a place now called “Mooney’s Landing”. She mentions going up White River to a place called “Bates Town”. That’s got to be Batesville, in Independence County. In the record of my William Wayland, it mentions him being an overseer to a road in 1819 going to White River --
            Friday, November 26, 1819, William Wayland is appointed overseer of the second road of said township . . . [note: it is talking about Strawberry River Township -- about 20 miles from Batesville. Batesville is on the banks of the White River]. . .
         Tuesday, January 15th, 1822 -- P 13, Samuel Crow is appointed overseer of the road leading from Donaldsvile to White River [note: there is no Donaldsville in that area -- must have been a short lived community] . . . in place of William Wayland. . . . 
          Since the events of this chapter of that book occurred in 1810, and it says he was gone 9 years, it seems to be saying he returned to Batesville about 1819 as well. So my William Wayland and this Jacob Mooney might well have bumped into one another near White River, near Batesville, but who can say?

p. 7. Things get even more interesting. She says “ . . . Wolfe had performed several weddings for Mooney’s men and Quapaw Indian maidens.” Well, four of Mooney’s men were “Lungeons”. Had these “Lungeon” men married into the Quapaw Tribe? The Quapaw are a small indigenous Arkansas tribe north of the Caddo, west of the Chickasaw, and south of the Osage. They now reside in Northeastern Oklahoma.

Here is the second reference she makes to the “Lungeons”. She says “Mooney continued to commute between his wife in Tennessee and his trading post in Arkansas until his death in 1832. By the time he moved to Arkansas for good, his former slaves and the “lungeon” men had died and most of their families had moved west with the other Indians. . . . later, Jacob Mooney had lived near the Whiteville Church, and is buried there. When the cemetery was fenced, Mooney’s grave and the graves of the mixed bloods who lived with him were left outside.”

Interesting it says the families of the Lungen men moved west with the other Indians. Are the "Lungens" the mixed bloods whose graves were left outside the fenced in cemetery? It sounds as if these Lungeon med had married those Quapaw women, and their descndants moved west with them. It might be interesting to research Quapaw genealogy. As I often discover however, about 90 precent of my research is NOT imediately productive, so I won't get my hopes up . . .