THE AFRICAN ORIGIN OF THE MELUNGEONS

THE AFRICAN ORIGIN OF THE MELUNGEONS: "The very first black ancestors of Melungeons appeared, not in the 18th century, but as early as 1619 in the tidewater colonies. By the time they joined with the first settlers in Tennessee, the Melungeon community was already more than a hundred years old.

Secondly, not one Melungeon family can be traced to a white plantation owner and his black female slave.

For purposes of determining the origin of the name 'Melungeon', this bears repeating.

Melungeons are not the offspring of white plantation owners and helpless black females slaves. Most of the African ancestors of Melungeons were never slaves. They were former black servants freed from indentured servitude just like white servants, usually before 1720. Other African ancestors of the Melungeons either purchased their freedom from slavery or were freed upon the deaths of their white owners. But the great majority of the black ancestors of Melugia were free by 1720. Most often, they married white women in Virginia and other southern colonies. Understanding the status of the African ancestors of Melungeons is critical to understanding their history. "