North from the Mountains: A Folk History of the Carmel Melungeon Settlement, Highland County, Ohio
Journal article by William L. Anderson; Journal of Southern History, Vol. 69, 2003
Journal Article Excerpt
North from the Mountains: A Folk History of the Carmel Melungeon Settlement, Highland County, Ohio. by William L. Anderson By John S. Kessler and Donald B. Ball. Melungeons--History, Culture, Ethnicity, and Literature. (Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 2001. Pp. xvi, 220. Paper, $19.95, ISBN 0-86554-700-9; cloth, $39.95, ISBN 0-86554-703-3.) This work is the second in the Mercer University Press series on the Melungeons, a triracial group with Portuguese descent. While the first in the series, by N. Brent Kennedy, centered on Tennessee and Virginia, this new study focuses on the Carmel "Indian" settlement in southern Ohio. Using surname analysis, Kessler and Ball first trace the general migration of the Melungeons. Originating in the mid-Atlantic states, especially Virginia and the Carolinas, around the mid- to late seventeenth century, they clustered along the Virginia-North Carolina borders around 1750. After the American Revolution, Melungeons and others pushed westward into Appalachia, although always remaining in close proximity to the borders. By 1790 they were well established in what became Hancock County, Tennessee, and from there some migrated to Kentucky and Ohio. Carmel "effectively represented the last, northernmost bastion of Appalachian topography" (p. 140). The two authors then concentrate on the Carmel Melungeons from the mid-1800s to the present. Area whites traditionally viewed the Carmel group as Indians, and this group has made their own claim to Native American heritage. Their origin actually dates with the arrival in the mid-nineteenth century of the Pugsleys, a white family from Virginia who brought with them a dozen black "servants," all named Nichols (p. 23). The Nichols later intermarried with the Perkins and Gibsons from Kentucky--the latter known especially to have Indian blood. Some Carmel Indians claimed Cherokee ancestry from families in Virginia (considered the heartland of the Melungeons) and Tennessee; others claimed Shawnee ancestry. Yet no available information establishes any "firm, demonstrable affiliation between the Carmel [Melungeons] to any tribe currently recognized by the federal government" (p. 144). The authors believe that the Ohio Melungeons originated "from an admixture of African Americans and whites in the early colonial period ... and secondarily from an admixture with presently unknown Native American groups in the Mid-Atlantic Coast region" (p. 57). Furthermore, the Carmel group maintained contact with their parent population in Magoffin County, Kentucky. Today the Carmel "Indian" settlement has essentially disbanded. Although a date cannot be pinpointed, in the early twentieth century there was a gradual migration, first to Hardin and Champagne Counties in Ohio, and later to Michigan. In this well-researched volume on the Carmel Melungeons, the authors used censuses, tax records, and other published primary and secondary materials, as well as oral interviews. Although Kessler and Ball do not answer all the questions they raise, they have presented us with a wealth of information and a much more complete picture of these Carmel "Indians." |
WILLIAM L. ANDERSON
Western Carolina University
-1- |
End of free preview...
To continue reading this publication, you must have a Questia Subscription.
Try Us Today! Click Here
Questia provides the world's largest online library of scholarly books and journal articles, with integrated footnote and bibliography tools, highlighting, note taking and book marking. With a Questia subscription, you'll have access to the full text of more than 67,000 books and 1.5 million articles.
Already a subscriber? Login:
Sponsored Links
Free Newsletter
Get helpful how-to's, writing tips, search strategies, quizzes & more!
Search the Library
