Portuguese Indians

THE PORTUGUESE INDIANS 

De Soto &  the Portuguese Ship & Captain Andre de Vasconcelos

As Luis de Moscoso passed through Elvas, Andre de Vasconcelos spoke with him, and requested him to speak to Don Hernando de Soto in his behalf, and gave him patents issued by the marques de Vilareal, conferring on him the captaincy of Ceuta, so that he might exhibit them. The adelantado saw these and found out who he [Vasconcelos] was and wrote him promising that he would favor him in every way and would give him men to command in Florida.

HOW THE PORTUGUESE WENT TO SEVILLE AND THENCETO SAN LUCAR; AND HOW THE CAPTAINS WEREAPPOINTED OVER THE SHIPS, AND THE MENWHO WERE TO GO IN THEM DISTRIBUTED. ( The DeSoto Chronicles)

''The Portuguese left Elvas on the 15th of January. They reached Seville on St. Sebastian's eve and went to the governor's lodging. They entered the patio upon which looked some balconies where he was. He looked down and went to meet them at the stairs where they went up to the balconies. When they were up, he ordered chairs to be given them so that they might be seated. Andre de Vasconcelos told him who he and the other Portuguese were and how they had all come to accompany him and to serve him on his voyage. He [i.e. Soto] thanked him and appeared well pleased with their coming and proffer. The table being already laid, he invited them to eat; and while they were eating, he directed his majordomo to find lodgings for them near his inn. From Seville, the adelantado went to San Liicar with all the men that were to go with him. He ordered a muster to be held, to which the Portuguese went armed with very splendid arms, and the Castilians very elegantly, in silk over silk, and many plaits and slashes. As such finery was not pleasing to the governor on such an occasion, he ordered a muster to be held on the next day and for every man to appear with his armor. ''

''To this the Portuguese came as at first, armed with very excellent armor, and the governor set them in order near the standard borne by his alferez. Most of the Castilians wore poor and rusty coats of mail, and all [wore] helmets and carried worthless and poor lances. Some of them managed to get a place among the Portuguese. Thus they passed in review, and those who were to the liking of Soto and whom he wished were counted and enrolled and went with him to Florida. Those who went numbered in all six hundred men. He had already bought seven ships and had placed in them the provisions necessary, appointed captains, and assigned his ship to each captain, giving each one a list of the men he was to take.''

HOW THE ADELANTADO AND HIS MEN LEFT SPAIN ANDARRIVED AT THE CANARY ISLANDS, AND AFTERWARDAT THE ANTILLES.

In the month of April, of the year 1538, the adelantado delivered the ships over to the captains who were to go in them. He took a new and good sailing ship for himself and gave one to Andre de Vasconcelos, in which the Portuguese went.


DeSoto & Cofitachiqui

Excerpts from Matters of the Heart

...''As she approached the bank of the river, their eyes met for the first time. She, the Queen of Cofitachiqui, was borne on a royal vessel, seated upon pillows and accompanied in other canoes by her beloved men. He, a slave of Andre de Vasconcelos, was a follower of Hernando de Soto and the expedition to explore and exploit the natural resources of the American Southeast.

On the third day, the Queen disappeared; de Soto sent his guards to find her but she was not to be found (Bourne, 1904, p. 110). Taking advantage of her absence, he entered one of the ancient temple mounds that were scattered about the town of Talemico, the religious and political center of the people of Cofitachiqui. The temple mound was one hundred feet long and forty feet wide with massive doors. As he entered through the doors, he encountered paired rows of massive wooden statues with diamond-shaped heads bearing first batons, then broadswords, and then bows and arrows (Hudson, 1976, p. 111).

Like the ancient pyramids of Egypt, these temple mounds contained statues of notable persons of antiquity and chests filled with the remains of the elders. Scattered about the temples were bundles of fur, breastplates, and weapons -- tools for the next life -- covered with pearls, colored leather, and "something green like an emerald" (Bourne, p. 100). [paragraph 3]De Soto and his men plundered the ancient temple. Among the booty were items of a European make, "Biscayan axes or iron and rosaries with their crosses" (Bourne, 1904, p. 100).

De Soto and his men determined that these materials were the remnants of an earlier expedition led by Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon. He and his men had settled on the coast of the Carolinas near on the Peedee River in 1526. African slaves were members of Ayllon's colony; when there was a crisis over leadership, the colony fell into disarray. In this crisis, there was a slave revolt. When the colony crumbled, many of the African slaves fled to live among the nearby Native Americans (Wright, 1902, pp. 217-228).

As they were on their journey, the Lady of Cofitachiqui "left the road, with the excuse of going in the thicket, where, deceiving them, she so concealed herself that for all their search she could not be found." De Soto, frustrated in his quest to find her, moved on to Guaxule (Jameson, 1907, p. 176).

Alimamos, a horseman of de Soto who "got lost," somehow wandered upon the refugee slaves. He "labored with the slaves to make leave of their evil designs" but only two of the refugees returned to de Soto. When Alimamos arrived back at the camp with the refugees who had decided to return, "the Governor wished to hang them" (Jameson, p. 177). [paragraph 6]However, the horseman also made another report. He stated that "The Cacica remained in Xualla, with a slave of Andre de Vasconcelas,(the Portuguese jp) who would not come with him (Alimamos), and that it was very sure that they lived together as man and wife, and were to go together to Cutafichiqui" (Jameson, p. 177).

The Portuguese definitely mixed with the Indians, just as Vardy Collins told the journalis in 1848.  From the de Soto Journals (Found Here)

DeSoto Route

• They captured a hundred head, among Indian men and women. Of the latter, there, as well as in any other part where forays were made, the captain selected one or two for the governor and the others were divided among themselves and those who went with them.
• As soon as the governor had crossed the stream, he found a village called Achese a short distance on. Although the Indians had never heard of Christians they plunged into a river. A few Indians, men and women, were seized,
• At the time of his departure, because of the importunity of some who wished more than was proper, he asked the cacique for thirty Indian women as slaves.....The Indians gave the governor thirty Indian women and the necessary tamemes [for DeSoto's men to wed then populate his planned settlement at Mobile Bay].

The DeSoto Journals - Gentleman of Elvas   1557   

Click Here 

Early Contacts

The Settlement



'' In his travels Pardo took a side trip to Ylasi, which appears to have been the same as the Ilapi of the De Soto expedition''
( The Forgotten centuries -Charles Hudson)




This 'Portuguese' settlement by deAyllon is on the Pee Dee River - Winyah Bay. A mere stone's throw from the 'mixt' settlement found there in 1725. It is hard to believe it is coincidence this settlement of deAyllon and visited by deSoto and his Portuguese Adventurers is in the same area that the *Portuguese families* of Boltons, Perkins, Goins, Ivey, etc., were living in the 1700s.


de Ayllon & de Soto 1526-1541

Lucas Vazquez de AyllonSan Miguel de Guadalupe "History records the first slave revolt in 1526 at de Ayllon's settlement San Miguel de Guadalupe somewhere in the vicinity of Winyah Bay and the Pedee River. It is not far from here that in 1754 there were reported to be 50 families a 'mixt crew' that were listed as Indians. There are several versions of just exactly who and how many colonists accompanied de Ayllon. Some report there were 500 men, women and children and 100 slaves while others report between 500 and 600 colonists, and while the extent of the revolt has not been recorded it is known that of the Spaniards and slaves with de Ayllon only 150 returned, and there indeed was a slave revolt."Few records from almost five hundred years ago have been recorded but I have found most historians, authors and researchers believe that at least some of these slaves that came with de Ayllon were left behind. It does not seem unlikely that some remained behind to mix with the native tribes, perhaps captured, perhaps by choice.

A few of these mentioned;

"The first settlement within the present borders of the United States to contain Negro slaves was the locale of the first slave revolt. A Spanish colonizer Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, founded, in the summer of 1526, a community whose probable location was at or near the mouth of the Pedee River in what is now South Carolina. The settlement consisted of about five hundred Spaniards and one hundred Negro slaves. Trouble soon beset it. Illness caused numerous deaths, carrying off in October, Ayllon himself. Internal dissension arose, and the Indians grew increasingly suspicious and hostile. Finally, probably in November, several of the slaves rebelled and fled to the Indians. The next month what was left of the adventurers, some one hundred and fifty souls, returned to Haiti, leaving the rebel Negroes with their Indian friends. (1)"

"The first African slaves arrived in present day United States as part of the San Miguel de Gualdape colony (most likely located in the Winyah Bay area of present-day South Carolina), founded by Spanish explorer Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón in 1526. The ill-fated colony was almost immediately disrupted by a fight over leadership, during which the slaves revolted and fled the colony to seek refuge among local Native Americans. De'Ayllón and many of the colonists died shortly afterwards of an epidemic, and the colony was abandoned, leaving the escaped slaves behind on North American soil." (2)

"Just as with De Soto's expedition, African slaves had accompanied de Ayllon's settlement colony on the Peedee River in 1526. When there was a crisis over leadership, the colony fell into disarray. In the midst of this crisis, a slave revolt further ripped the settlement apart. With the colony in shambles, many of the African slaves fled to live among the nearby native people. According to De Soto, these refugees must have lived among the Cofitachiqui and taught them the craftwork of theEuropeans."(3)

There may have been several of these slaves left behind, there may have been a dozen or they might just as likely been the majority of them left to live among these South Carolina tribes in which case many of these Native tribes would be carrying the DNA of these early settlers for two hundred years before they mixed with the Portuguese Adventurers found living on Drowning Creek in 1754.

de Soto & Andre de Vasconcelos

As Luis de Moscoso passed through Elvas, Andre de Vasconcelos spoke with him, and requested him to speak to Don Hernando de Soto in his behalf, and gave him patents issued by the marques de Vilareal, conferring on him the captaincy of Ceuta, so that he might exhibit them. The adelantado saw these and found out who he [Vasconcelos] was and wrote him promising that he would favor him in every way and would give him men to command in Florida.

HOW THE PORTUGUESE WENT TO SEVILLE AND THENCETO SAN LUCAR; AND HOW THE CAPTAINS WEREAPPOINTED OVER THE SHIPS, AND THE MENWHO WERE TO GO IN THEM DISTRIBUTED. ( The DeSoto Chronicles)

''The Portuguese left Elvas on the 15th of January. They reached Seville on St. Sebastian's eve and went to the governor's lodging. They entered the patio upon which looked some balconies where he was. He looked down and went to meet them at the stairs where they went up to the balconies. When they were up, he ordered chairs to be given them so that they might be seated. Andre de Vasconcelos told him who he and the other Portuguese were and how they had all come to accompany him and to serve him on his voyage. He [i.e. Soto] thanked him and appeared well pleased with their coming and proffer. The table being already laid, he invited them to eat; and while they were eating, he directed his majordomo to find lodgings for them near his inn. From Seville, the adelantado went to San Liicar with all the men that were to go with him. He ordered a muster to be held, to which the Portuguese went armed with very splendid arms, and the Castilians very elegantly, in silk over silk, and many plaits and slashes. As such finery was not pleasing to the governor on such an occasion, he ordered a muster to be held on the next day and for every man to appear with his armor. ''

''To this the Portuguese came as at first, armed with very excellent armor, and the governor set them in order near the standard borne by his alferez. Most of the Castilians wore poor and rusty coats of mail, and all [wore] helmets and carried worthless and poor lances. Some of them managed to get a place among the Portuguese. Thus they passed in review, and those who were to the liking of Soto and whom he wished were counted and enrolled and went with him to Florida. Those who went numbered in all six hundred men. He had already bought seven ships and had placed in them the provisions necessary, appointed captains, and assigned his ship to each captain, giving each one a list of the men he was to take.''

HOW THE ADELANTADO AND HIS MEN LEFT SPAIN ANDARRIVED AT THE CANARY ISLANDS, AND AFTERWARDAT THE ANTILLES.

In the month of April, of the year 1538, the adelantado delivered the ships over to the captains who were to go in them. He took a new and good sailing ship for himself and gave one to Andre de Vasconcelos, in which the Portuguese went.


DeSoto & Cofitachiqui

Excerpts from Matters of the Heart

...''As she approached the bank of the river, their eyes met for the first time. She, the Queen of Cofitachiqui, was borne on a royal vessel, seated upon pillows and accompanied in other canoes by her beloved men. He, a slave of Andre de Vasconcelos, was a follower of Hernando de Soto and the expedition to explore and exploit the natural resources of the American Southeast.

On the third day, the Queen disappeared; de Soto sent his guards to find her but she was not to be found (Bourne, 1904, p. 110). Taking advantage of her absence, he entered one of the ancient temple mounds that were scattered about the town of Talemico, the religious and political center of the people of Cofitachiqui. The temple mound was one hundred feet long and forty feet wide with massive doors. As he entered through the doors, he encountered paired rows of massive wooden statues with diamond-shaped heads bearing first batons, then broadswords, and then bows and arrows (Hudson, 1976, p. 111).

Like the ancient pyramids of Egypt, these temple mounds contained statues of notable persons of antiquity and chests filled with the remains of the elders. Scattered about the temples were bundles of fur, breastplates, and weapons -- tools for the next life -- covered with pearls, colored leather, and "something green like an emerald" (Bourne, p. 100). [paragraph 3]De Soto and his men plundered the ancient temple. Among the booty were items of a European make, "Biscayan axes or iron and rosaries with their crosses" (Bourne, 1904, p. 100).

De Soto and his men determined that these materials were the remnants of an earlier expedition led by Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon. He and his men had settled on the coast of the Carolinas near on the Peedee River in 1526. African slaves were members of Ayllon's colony; when there was a crisis over leadership, the colony fell into disarray. In this crisis, there was a slave revolt. When the colony crumbled, many of the African slaves fled to live among the nearby Native Americans (Wright, 1902, pp. 217-228).

As they were on their journey, the Lady of Cofitachiqui "left the road, with the excuse of going in the thicket, where, deceiving them, she so concealed herself that for all their search she could not be found." De Soto, frustrated in his quest to find her, moved on to Guaxule (Jameson, 1907, p. 176).

Alimamos, a horseman of de Soto who "got lost," somehow wandered upon the refugee slaves. He "labored with the slaves to make leave of their evil designs" but only two of the refugees returned to de Soto. When Alimamos arrived back at the camp with the refugees who had decided to return, "the Governor wished to hang them" (Jameson, p. 177). [paragraph 6]However, the horseman also made another report. He stated that "The Cacica remained in Xualla, with a slave of Andre de Vasconcelas,(the Portuguese jp) who would not come with him (Alimamos), and that it was very sure that they lived together as man and wife, and were to go together to Cutafichiqui" (Jameson, p. 177).

Another detailed account of de Ayllon and his failed settlement; Early History of the Creek Indians and Their Neighbors John Reed Swanton.
Cofitachiqui
"A location within the Santee River system is also compatible with Paul Quattlebaum’s persuasive argument that the attempted Allyon settlement was in the vicinity of Winyah Bay[88A] and with the statement by Elvas that “...the [Cofitachiqui] Indians said [it] had been in the port two days’ journey thence..., and that Allyon had died there.” [88B] The Cofitachiqui had Spanish armor, axes, a rosary, and other material, and a Spaniard who had been with Allyon and was with DeSoto had no doubt that these artifacts had come from the attempted settlement."



(1) American Negro Slave Revolts 1943 By Herbert Aptheker Page 163
(2) Slavery in the colonial United States From Wikipedi
(3) Slavery in the Cherokee Nation By Patrick Neal Minges

Documenting the Melungeonshttp://www.historical-melungeons.com/front.html

Contact; joanne@historical-melungeons.com

The Portuguese, DeSoto, The Indians & The Mixed Bloods

These records below will show there were many Europeans in the area of the Pee Dee River - Drowning Creek as early as 1526 where these mixed blood families are found and documented in the early  1700s.  

The early Europeans who mixed with the Native tribes no doubt left their mark in the form of Haplogrops R and E found among so many of the mixed blood families of today.

Many researchers of the mixed blood communities flatly refuse to believe they were of Portuguese ancestry -  although from 1812 to 1912 their neighbors, JUDGES AND JURIES, ethnologists, anthropologists, and historians have agreed they had Portuguese ancestry. 

The records from the Journal of the Gentleman Alvis is not a new record and has been online many years. We find in those journals the fact that de Soto brought with him 'one ship of Portuguese' who accompanied him on this expediton. Prior to de Soto we find Lucas de Ayllon who brought 100 slaves and 500 colonists and 100 slaves.  Of these two expeditions as well as Pardos many of them left behind little ones who would carry their DNA - haplogroup R - haplogroup E etc. 

A recent DNA study published in 2012 said;

One possible documented source of Portuguese ancestry may be from Juan Pardo’s men who were abandoned at various forts in present day North Carolina, one perhaps as far north and west as Morgantown, North Carolina.  Some of Pardo's men may have been Portuguese. These men, if they survived, would have had to have assimilated into the Native population and have taken Native wives, as there were no European women available in 1566.  However, the core Melungeon family group is not originally found in western North Carolina, but in eastern Virginia.

Denham was the surname associated with Portuguese ancestry.  Denham is haplogroup I1, Anglo-Saxon, and shows no surname matching pattern that would indicate Spanish or Portuguese ancestry.  No other Melungeon surname shows evidence of southern Mediterranean ancestry or Spanish/Portuguese matches.

Furthermore, the majority of the Melungeon core families, including Denham, were found together or in close proximity in the Louisa County, Va., or Louisa's parent county, Hanover's records in the mid 1700s.  Those not present in Louisa, with the exception of Mullins, joined the group in either Lunenburg, Orange or Granville Counties in the mid to late 1700s.  There are no claims of Portuguese heritage in Louisa County in the group that remained.

The problem with the above statement is the fact that while this DNA study includes SEVEN surnames originating on the Pee Dee River they are ignored in the above assessment of whether the could have Portuguese ancestry. 

Spencer Bolton, father of Solomon Bolton, documented as a Melungeon in Hamilton Co., Tennessee court records was born on the Pee Dee River in 1735. This 1725 Map by John Herbert shows the Saura Town on the Pee Dee. Weenga/Winyah Bay marked with an X is the spot being searched for the ship of Lucas de Ayllon who came in 1526 with 600 adventurers, men and women, and 100 slaves.  Of these only 150 returned, the others were presumed to have died or ran off to live with the Native tribes in the area.  This is the same area we find besides the Boltons, the Ivey, Perkins, Chavis, Shoemake, Lowery, Oxendine, etc., all who are identified as Portuguese in court cases and other documents from 1812 forward.

While they write that no Melungeon surname shows ancestry of  Spanish or Portuguese - it is a fact that there are 27 subjects in the Melungeon DNA study with Haplogroup R-M269. If you check the Portuguese DNA Study you will find 87 subjects with R-M269 Haplogroup also.  

Portuguese Genetics: Abstracts and Summaries  Found here  

People of Portuguese descent are welcome to join Family Tree DNA's "Portugal DNA Project". They also have some Brazilians and Cape Verdeans. The Portuguese participants' Y-DNA haplogroups include E-L117, E-L17, E-M183, E-M35, G-M201, G-M406, G-P303, I-M223, I-M253, J-M172, J-M267, R-L21, R-M269, R-P312, R-U152, T-M70, and many others, with R-M269 being their most common one......

.........Varieties of R1b, a common Y-DNA haplogroup in western Europe, are found in abundance among Portuguese men. About 60 percent of Southern Portuguese and about 83 percent of Northern Portuguese belong to the subclade of R1b known as the Atlantic Modal Haplotype (AMH). There are even some areas in Portugal where the AMH is found in about 90% of men.

While these records of DNA do not prove Meluneons had Portuguese DNA it is certainly suggestive that they did.

THE PORTUGUESE IN AMERICA

TRUE RELATION OF THE HARDSHIPS SUFFERED BY
GOVERNOR HERNANDO DE SOTO & CERTAIN PORTUGUESE GENTLEMEN

DURING THE DISCOVERY OF THE PROVINCE OF FLORIDA.


NOW NEWLY SET FORTH BY A GENTLEMAN OF ELVAS.
1557

As Luis de Moscoso passed through Elvas, Andre de Vasconcelos spoke with him, and requested him to speak to Don Hernando de Soto in his behalf, and gave him patents issued by the marques de Vilareal, conferring on him the captaincy of Ceuta, so that he might exhibit them. The adelantado saw these and found out who he [Vasconcelos] was and wrote him promising that he would favor him in every way and would give him men to command in Florida.

HOW THE PORTUGUESE WENT TO SEVILLE AND THENCE TO SAN LUCAR; AND HOW THE CAPTAINS WERE APPOINTED OVER THE SHIPS, AND THE MEN WHO WERE TO GO IN THEM DISTRIBUTED.

(The DeSoto Chronicles)

''The Portuguese left Elvas on the 15th of January. They reached Seville on St. Sebastian's eve and went to the governor's lodging. They entered the patio upon which looked some balconies where he was. He looked down and went to meet them at the stairs where they went up to the balconies. When they were up, he ordered chairs to be given them so that they might be seated. Andre de Vasconcelos told him who he and the other Portuguese were and how they had all come to accompany him and to serve him on his voyage. He [i.e. Soto] thanked him and appeared well pleased with their coming and proffer. The table being already laid, he invited them to eat; and while they were eating, he directed his majordomo to find lodgings for them near his inn. From Seville, the adelantado went to San Liicar with all the men that were to go with him. He ordered a muster to be held, to which the Portuguese went armed with very splendid arms, and the Castilians very elegantly, in silk over silk, and many plaits and slashes. As such finery was not pleasing to the governor on such an occasion, he ordered a muster to be held on the next day and for every man to appear with his armor. 

To this the Portuguese came as at first, armed with very excellent armor, and the governor set them in order near the standard borne by his alferez. Most of the Castilians wore poor and rusty coats of mail, and all [wore] helmets and carried worthless and poor lances. Some of them managed to get a place among the Portuguese. Thus they passed in review, and those who were to the liking of Soto and whom he wished were counted and enrolled and went with him to Florida. Those who went numbered in all six hundred men. He had already bought seven ships and had placed in them the provisions necessary, appointed captains, and assigned his ship to each captain, giving each one a list of the men he was to take.''

HOW THE ADELANTADO AND HIS MEN LEFT SPAIN ANDARRIVED AT THE CANARY ISLANDS, AND AFTERWARDAT THE ANTILLES.

In the month of April, of the year 1538, the adelantado delivered the ships over to the captains who were to go in them. He took a new and good sailing ship for himself and gave one to Andre de Vasconcelos, in which the Portuguese went  SOURCE

DE SOTO AND THE INDIANS

Some excerpts from above Journal of Alvis

Along that way, the cacica of Cutifachiqui , whom the governor brought as above said for the purpose of taking her to Guaxule for her lands reached that far-going one day with her slave women who were carrying her, stepped aside from the road and went into a wood saying that she had to attend to her necessities. Thus she deceived them and hid herself in the woods; and although they sought her she could not be found. She took with her a box of canes made like a coffer which they call "petaca," filled with unbored pearls. Some who had most knowledge of them said they were very valuable. An Indian woman was carrying them for her whom she took with her.

The governor, in order not to cause her unhappiness in everything, left them, intending to ask them from her at Guaxule , when he should give her leave to return. She took it and went to stop at Xualla ( with three slaves who bad escaped from the camp and with a horseman who remained behind, for being sick with fever he wandered from the road and was lost. This man, named Alimamos tried to have the slaves abandon their evil intention and go with him to the Christians - which two of them did. Alimamos and they overtook the governor fifty leagues from there in a province called Chiaha . They related how the cacica had remained in Xualla with a slave of Andre de Vasconcellos (The Portuguese) who refused to come with them; and it was very certain that they held communication as husband and wife, and that both had made up their minds to go to Cutifachiqui  SOURCE

( The Forgotten Centuries - Charles Hudson) "At Aracuchi, Pardo decided to divide his force, sending half on to Cofitachequi, while the other half traveled to Ylasi. Ylasi is clearly the same town as deSoto's Ilapi.")

They went over a swampy land where the horsemen could not go. A half league from camp they came upon some Indian huts near the river; [but] the people who were inside them plunged into the river. They captured four Indian women...........

...............Juan Rodriguez Lobillo reached the camp with six men wounded, one of whom died. He brought the four Indian women whom he had captured in the quarters or huts.

From there the governor sent two captains, each one in a different direction, in search of the Indians. They captured a hundred head, among Indian men and women. Of the latter, there, as well as in any other part where forays were made, the captain selected one or two for the governor and the others were divided among themselves and those who went with them.

The governor left Toalli on March 24. At supper time on Thursday he came to a little stream where a footbridge was made on which the men crossed. Benito Fernandez, a Portuguese, fell off it and was drowned. As soon as the governor had crossed the stream, he found a village called Achese a short distance on. Although the Indians had never heard of Christians they plunged into a river. A few Indians, men and women, were seized,..............

At the time of his departure, because of the importunity of some who wished more than was proper, he asked the cacique for thirty Indian women as slaves. The cacique answered that he would talk with his principal men; but one night, before returning an answer, all the Indians left the town ....................... The governor ordered him to be summoned and he came immediately. After exchanging some verbal promises with the governor, he gave him the necessary tamemes and thirty Indian women as slaves. A Christian of noble parentage, named Manzano, a native of Salamanca, who wandered away to look for grapes which are abundant and excellent there, was lost in that place. On the day the governor set out thence, he went to sleep at a town subject to the lord of Ullibahali, and next day reached another called Toasi. The Indians gave the governor thirty Indian women and the necessary tamemes [for DeSoto's men to wed then populate his planned settlement at Mobile Bay].

The governor was accustomed to place a guard over the caciques so that they might not go away, and took them along with him until leaving their land; for by taking them, the people would await in their towns and they would give a guide and Indians as carriers. Before departing from their lands, he would give them leave to return to their homes - as well as the tamemes - as soon as he reached another dominion where others were given to him.

Those of Coca, seeing their lord detained, thought ill of it and revolted and went away to hide themselves in the woods-both those of their lord's town and those of other chief towns, who were his vassals. The governor sent four captains, each in a different direction, to look for them. They seized many Indians, men and women, who were put in chains. Upon seeing the harm they received and how little they gained in absenting themselves, they came, saying that they wished to serve in whatever might be commanded them. Some of the principal men among those imprisoned were set free on petition of the cacique. Of the rest, each man took away as slaves those he had in chains, without allowing them to go to their lands. Nor did many of them return except some whose good fortune and assiduous industry aided them, who managed to file off their chains at night; or some, who were able, while on the march, to wander away from the road upon observing any lack of care in their guard, who went off with their chains and with their loads and the clothes they were carrying.

Mysteries Secrets & Lies

Secrets 

This piece  Mystery in the mountains: The forgotten faces of Appalachia 

from WVLT in Knoxville Tennessee was posted this morning.  This is 

typical of the pieces being put out by television, magazines, books, 

speakers, etc., and it is plain ridiculous. 

 In 1848 a journalist from Kentucky, likely hearing of the illegal voting trial involving the 'Meluneons', went to Newman's Ridge.  There he stayed at the 'Inn' of Vardy Collins and wife Peggy Gibson.

This journalist called Vardy the 'chief cook and bottlewasher of the Melungeons' and it was no doubt Vardy and Peggy Collins who told him the "Legend of the Melungeons."

"The legend of their history, which they carefully preserve, is this. A great many years ago, these mountains were settled by a society of Portuguese Adventurers, men and women--who came from the long-shore parts of Virginia, that they might be freed from the restraints and drawbacks imposed on them by any form of government. These people made themselves friendly with the Indians and freed, as they were from every kind of social government, they uprooted all conventional forms of society and lived in a delightful Utopia of their own creation ....... These intermixed with the Indians, and subsequently their descendants (after the advances of the whites into this part of the state) with the negros and the whites, thus forming the present race of Melungens."

Ok so where is the SECRET?  Exactly what was it they were 'afraid to tell' the journalist?  Where was their "self-preservation" in 1848?  Why would they create this 'legend' if it were not true and exactly what secret could they be hiding? They said they were Portuguese adventurers who mixed with the Indians. It was no more dangerous to be an 'Indian' than it was to be African, both would have been enslaved or marched off to the reservation.  Just a few generations before this the Indians were capturing and cooking the pioneers.

They said they mixed with whites and BLACKS when they got to Tennessee! What was the SECRET, what were they hiding, what did they forget on purpose?
These people were hardy pioneers who had lived in the mountains, fought in the Revolution, fought off Indians, the tax man, etc.  They were probably forced off their lands in Louisa County in the 1740s and many of them came from the Indian trading families. Some were at Jamestown in early 1600s.  And people expect us to believe they were AFRAID to tell who they really were?

Hernando deSoto

J.G. Rhea to Martha Collins - 1918 

"Now about the Collins boys, I knew when I was a boy Navarrh, or as he was called, "Vardy" Collins was a fine old patriarch, said to be of Portuguese Nationality coming to this country with De Soto

How could it be that "we can't go back far enough" to validate the Portuguese mixed with the Indians when the deSoto journals are full of stories of the Portuguese [and Spanish and Genoans] mixing with the Indians?   "We can't go back far enough" to find how they got here? The deSoto journals tell exactly how they got here, how Andre de Vasconcelos  received a ship for his Portuguese sailors from deSoto.

"In the month of April, of the year 1538, the adelantado (deSoto) delivered the ships over to the captains who were to go in them. He took a new and good sailing ship for himself and gave one to Andre de Vasconcelos, in which the Portuguese went"   (Here)

The Portuguese definitely mixed with the Indians, just as Vardy Collins told the journalis in 1848.  From the de Soto Journals (Found Here)

• They captured a hundred head, among Indian men and women. Of the latter, there, as well as in any other part where forays were made, the captain selected one or two for the governor and the others were divided among themselves and those who went with them.
• As soon as the governor had crossed the stream, he found a village called Achese a short distance on. Although the Indians had never heard of Christians they plunged into a river. A few Indians, men and women, were seized,
• At the time of his departure, because of the importunity of some who wished more than was proper, he asked the cacique for thirty Indian women as slaves.....The Indians gave the governor thirty Indian women and the necessary tamemes [for DeSoto's men to wed then populate his planned settlement at Mobile Bay].

And this piece wants us to believe they 'forgot on purpose' who they were when they told the journalist in 1848 exactly who they were, they didn't forget anything.

Fifteen years before deSoto there was Lucian deAyllon who brought 600 colonist and 100 slaves to Winyah Bah and the Pee Dee River, most researchers agree some of these people, including the slaves went off to live with the Indians along the Pee Dee River, only 150 people returned to Spain. (Early Contacts)

Twenty six years after deSoto Juan Pardo explored the same area of the Pee Dee River as deAyllon and deSoto.  There are many articles of Pardo's soldiers "indiscretions" with Indian women and at least two marriages between soldiers and the Indian women.

Is it really a leap to believe the Melungeons are descendants of these Portugese and Indian men and women?   To date the only court documented case of Melungeons was in Hamilton Co., Tennessee and it is reported and documented they were on the Pee Dee River in early 1700s.  (The Famous Melungeon Case)

They told this same story to Will Allen Dromgoole who published The Four Branches in 1890, The Gibson and Collins were Indians, the Goins were African and the Denham were Portuguese.  This is the exact "legend' told to the journalist 50 years before. (The Melungeon Tree and It's Four Branches)

Again in 1897  the legend was repeated to  Rev. C. H. Humble, in an article "A Visit to the Melungeons.

"The first settlers here were the great grand parents, Varday Collins, Shephard Gibson, and Charley Williams, who came from Virginia it is said, though other say from North Carolina. They have marked Indians resemblances in color, feature, hair, carriage, and disposition. 

The second settlers were from North Carolina; they were the Goans, Miners, and Bells; they were charged with having negro blood in them and, before the war, were prosecuted on this ground for illegal voting, but were acquitted. They explained their peculiarities by claiming a Portuguese origin. 

Later Came Jim Mullens, an Englishman, who married a Collins, and whose son John married Mehala Collins, to be referred to again. Jim Moore, a British sailor, also settled here, and married a daughter of old Charley Gibson,"  

Lacking the Portuguese Denham this is the same 'legend'  they told in Dromgoole- The Indians, Africans, Portuguese and English, just as they had told the journalist in 1848.

This is not one of those "theories of origin" - this is exactly who they said they were and where they came from. There is no SECRET there is no MYSTERY!
These myths that 'they said they were Portuguese to hide African ancestry is a joke. They told journalists every chance they got exactly who they were, they said they mixed with blacks in 1848 they were NOT covering up nothing!    The only mystery is why are these people in Vardy/Newman's Ridge allowing this so called mystery to carry on, promoting secrets and lies?  Yes, lies, because if they don't believe the 1848 Legend of the Melungeons, as told by Vardy Collins, or the history told to Dromgoole by Calloway Collins or Beatty Collins who gave the information to C.H. Humble then yes, they are reducing their ancestors to a bunch of deceitful, lying pioneers hiding their African ancestry!

The Portuguese People

 THEY SAID THEY WERE PORTUGUESE 

Over and over again throughout time they said they were Portuguese, hundreds of years they said they were Portuguese. They said they mixed with the Indians, the Whites and the Blacks yet we still find authors writing they weren't really Portuguese, they 'were hiding their ancestry,' well what ancestry were they hiding? They were really French? German? Russians? This article from the 1940 newspaper is quoting "a Melungeon" who once again, almost a hundred years later, tells their legend. They were Portuguese Indians.

In 1848 the journalist visiting Vardy Valley wrote;

"The legend of their history, which they carefully preserve, is this. A great many years ago, these mountains were settled by a society of Portuguese Adventurers, men and women--who came from the long-shore parts of Virginia, that they might be freed from the restraints and drawbacks imposed on them by any form of government. These people made themselves friendly with the Indians and freed, as they were from every kind of social government, they uprooted all conventional forms of society and lived in a delightful Utopia of their own creation.....These intermixed with the Indians, and subsequently their descendants (after the advances of the whites into this part of the state) with the negros and the whites, thus forming the present race of Melungens.

And so it went for the next hundred years, anyone who came and asked were told "they were Portuguese Indians." In 1918 Joseph G. Rhea, wrote to his niece, Martha Collins; 

 "Now about the Collins boys, I knew when I was a boy Navarrh, or as he was called, "Vardy" Collins was a fine old patriarch, said to be of Portuguese Nationality coming to this country with De Soto - he settled on Black water Creek and owned Vardy Mineral Spring-I  was at his home often with other boys, his grandsons...."

 Were the Portuguese with deSoto? Yes, one entire ship was given to the Portuguese sailors. Did they mix with the Indians?  Yes.  Every town they went to they 'chose a number of Native ladies to accompany them' and I'm sure it wasn't just to cook and clean for them. These Native  women who accompanied the Portuguese and the Spanish, Genoans, slaves, etc., in 1540 bore sons with European DNA and yet with this knowledge today we have 'studies' showing DNA PROVES they were Jewish, DNA that PROVES they were from the Middle East and the latest DNA study that PROVES they were African men who mated with English women, and they can't possibly be Indians because they don't have the Native DNA.  This last study I know personally the researchers had knowledge of this pre-contact  It isn't a maybe, might have been or a theory.  It is a fact the Portuguese were here in 1540 with deSoto and mixed with the Indians. 

FROM THE DESOTO JOURNALS

• The Portuguese left Elvas on the 15th of January. They reached Seville on St. Sebastian's eve and went to the governor's lodging. They entered the patio upon which looked some balconies where he was. He looked down and went to meet them at the stairs where they went up to the balconies. When they were up, he ordered chairs to be given them so that they might be seated. Andre de Vasconcelos told him who he and the other Portuguese were and how they had all come to accompany him and to serve him on his voyage......
• In the month of April, of the year 1538, the adelantado delivered the ships over to the captains who were to go in them. He took a new and good sailing ship for himself and gave one to Andre de Vasconcelos, in which the Portuguese went.  

 

• They captured a hundred head, among Indian men and women. Of the latter, there, as well as in any other part where forays were made, the captain selected one or two for the governor and the others were divided among themselves and those who went with them.

• As soon as the governor had crossed the stream, he found a village called Achese a short distance on. Although the Indians had never heard of Christians they plunged into a river. A few Indians, men and women, were seized,

• At the time of his departure, because of the importunity of some who wished more than was proper, he asked the cacique for thirty Indian women as slaves.....The Indians gave the governor thirty Indian women and the necessary tamemes [for DeSoto's men to wed then populate his planned settlement at Mobile Bay].

Here we are a hundred years after Vardy Collins told the journalist the "Legend of the Melungeons" and the "Melungeons remain a Tennessee Mystery"  -- why -- because they cannot possibly be Portuguese? In another twenty plus years it will be  two hundred years that any researcher, amateur or professional, WILL find there has never been a mystery ---  It was told in the journal of "A Gentleman of Elvas," a Portuguese officer with Hernando de Soto, wrote about DeSoto's Expedition in 1557 found here  

This map shows the town of Ylasi/Ilapi on the Pee Dee River, it was visited by the people who came with deAyllon in 1526, deSoto in 1540 and Pardo in 1570. The Pee Dee river, the home of the Melungeons.  Won't you help spread the word, the mystery has been solved! 

 ( The Forgotten Centuries - Charles Hudson) "At Aracuchi, Pardo decided to divide his force, sending half on to Cofitachequi, while the other half traveled to Ylasi.  Ylasi is clearly the same town as deSoto's Ilapi."

The Portuguese Spanish Italians & Africans

 

          

Imagine if you will 600 Portuguese, Spanish, Genoans and Slaves

taking Native Women from each town they made a foray in for deSoto

and his planned settlement at Mobile. From the Carolinas, Tennesee,

Kentucky, Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama. How many Native

children were born to those Native Women from 1527 deAyllon,

1540 deSoto, and Pardo 1570. All with African and European DNA.

Enlarged Map   Here 

 

In May 1539,  Hernando de Soto left Havana, Cuba, with *nine ships, over *620 men and 220 surviving horses and landed at Charlotte Harbor, Florida. This began his three-year odyssey through the Southeastern North American continent, from which de Soto and a large portion of his men would not return.

In his travels Pardo took a side trip to Ylasi, which appears

to have been the same as the Ilapi of the De Soto expedition''

Charles Hudson - 'Forgotten Centuries""

"In the month of April, of the year 1538, the adelantado (deSoto) delivered the ships over to the captains who were to go in them. He took a new and good sailing ship for himself and gave one to Andre de Vasconcelos, in which the Portuguese went"  

At the time of his departure, because of the importunity of some who wished more than was proper, he asked the cacique for thirty Indian women as slaves.....The Indians gave the governor thirty Indian women and the necessary tamemes [for DeSoto's men to wed then populate his planned settlement at Mobile Bay].

They captured a hundred head, among Indian men and women. Of the latter, there, as well as in any other part where forays were made, the captain selected one or two for the governor and the others were divided among themselves and those who went with them.

At the time of his departure, because of the importunity of some who wished more than was proper, he asked the cacique for thirty Indian women as slaves.....The Indians gave the governor thirty Indian women and the necessary tamemes [for DeSoto's men to wed then populate his planned settlement at Mobile Bay].

On the third day, the Queen disappeared; de Soto sent his guards to find her but she was not to be found (Bourne, 1904, p. 110). Taking advantage of her absence, he entered one of the ancient temple mounds that were scattered about the town of Talemico, the religious and political center of the people of Cofitachiqui. The temple mound was one hundred feet long and forty feet wide with massive doors. As he entered through the doors, he encountered paired rows of massive wooden statues with diamond-shaped heads bearing first batons, then broadswords, and then bows and arrows (Hudson, 1976, p. 111).

Like the ancient pyramids of Egypt, these temple mounds contained statues of notable persons of antiquity and chests filled with the remains of the elders. Scattered about the temples were bundles of fur, breastplates, and weapons -- tools for the next life -- covered with pearls, colored leather, and "something green like an emerald" (Bourne, p. 100). [paragraph 3]De Soto and his men plundered the ancient temple. Among the booty were items of a European make, "Biscayan axes or iron and rosaries with their crosses" (Bourne, 1904, p. 100).

De Soto and his men determined that these materials were the remnants of an earlier expedition led by Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon. He and his men had settled on the coast of the Carolinas near on the Peedee River in 1526. African slaves were members of Ayllon's colony; when there was a crisis over leadership, the colony fell into disarray. In this crisis, there was a slave revolt**. When the colony crumbled, many of the African slaves fled to live among the nearby Native Americans (Wright, 1902, pp. 217-228).

As they were on their journey, the Lady of Cofitachiqui "left the road, with the excuse of going in the thicket, where, deceiving them, she so concealed herself that for all their search she could not be found." De Soto, frustrated in his quest to find her, moved on to Guaxule (Jameson, 1907, p. 176).

Alimamos, a horseman of de Soto who "got lost," somehow wandered upon the refugee slaves. He "labored with the slaves to make leave of their evil designs" but only two of the refugees returned to de Soto. When Alimamos arrived back at the camp with the refugees who had decided to return, "the Governor wished to hang them" (Jameson, p. 177). [paragraph 6]However, the horseman also made another report. He stated that "The Cacica remained in Xualla, with a slave of Andre de Vasconcelas,(the Portuguese jp) who would not come with him (Alimamos), and that it was very sure that they lived together as man and wife, and were to go together to Cutafichiqui" (Jameson, p. 177).

**Lucas Vazques de Ayllon expendition consisted of 600-700 men, women and children including 100 enslaved Africans 1527 on Winyah Bay, South Carolina.  Of these only 150 returned, leaving behind 450-550 men, women, children and slaves. 

To Be Continued 

Native Americans & European DNA

A post from a Melungeon page on Facebook was sent to me

Y DNA Studies have been weak in demonstrating the proposed Indian ancestry of the male lines?

I would expect a comment like this from a person new to researching Melungeons and/or DNA but from seasoned researchers it is inexcusable.

Who is determining this 'Native Y DNA' and how are they determining it?  Do they totally ignore history or simply haven't bothered to research early history of the Native tribes?

I won't discuss Lucas deAyllon who landed at Winyah bay, stones throw the Melungeons original homeland on the Pee Dee River in 1527 with 600 men, women, children and slaves. I won't mention of those 600 souls and only 150 who returned.  But let's talk about deSoto and Pardo.

HERNANDEZ DESOTO

From the de Soto Journals

"In the month of April, of the year 1538, the adelantado (deSoto) delivered the ships over to the captains who were to go in them. He took a new and good sailing ship for himself and gave one to Andre de Vasconcelos, in which the Portuguese went" 

 They captured a hundred head, among Indian men and women. Of the latter, there, as well as in any other part where forays were made, the captain selected one or two for the governor and the others were divided among themselves and those who went with them.

As soon as the governor had crossed the stream, he found a village called Achese a short distance on. Although the Indians had never heard of Christians they plunged into a river. A few Indians, men and women, were seized.

At the time of his departure, because of the importunity of some who wished more than was proper, he asked the cacique for thirty Indian women as slaves.....The Indians gave the governor thirty Indian women and the necessary tamemes [for DeSoto's men to wed then populate his planned settlement at Mobile Bay].

JUAN PARDO

"In 1566, Pardo was sent with 125 soldiers on his first expedition. His task was to explore the area, to claim its lands for Spain while pacifying local Indians, and to forge an overland road from Santa Elena to the valuable silver mines in Zacatecas, Mexico (p.5) and so he built Fort San Juan at Joara. Fort San Juan was the first European settlement in the interior of what is now the United States (p.2). The relations with the Natives changed after his second expedition, and it eventually led to the complete destruction of the site by May 1568. From the 31 soldiers still garrisoned there, only one survived after escaping and hiding in the woods. Among the several factors that appear to have had a role in the Natives’ decision to destroy the garrisons, two stand out: the Spaniards’ demands for food and their improprieties with Native women" 

So for 40 years there were 3 expeditions with EUROPEANS and EUROPEAN DNA mixing with those Native tribes, producing both MALE AND FEMALE children born into those Native tribes almost 100 years, almost FIVE GENERATIONS of mixed Natives before Jamestown.

Do these researchers who claim the Melungeons DO NOT have MALE Native DNA believe all those men with deAyllon, deSoto and Pardo were sterile? Or do they really believe they never had sex with these Native women? If you are going to write about the Melungeons please, please, do some research!  Not only were these expeditions ALL on the Pee Dee River, and mixed with the Native women -- there was a SHIPLOAD OF PORTUGUESE!

Melungeon Indians

JAMES NICKENS 

Last year my doctor told me I had to quit reading the post on James Nickens page or I was going to have a stroke.  Every once in awhile someone will send me one of his ridiculous post, I laugh and throw it away, however this last one cannot be ignored.

This man is supposed to be some sort of authority on Indians, and for him to make a remark that the Melungeons, especially the Melungeons of East Tennessee "are not Portuguese" and the Melungeons of Middle Tennesee are heavily descended from Indians but East Tennesee 'not so much' -- shows this man has done little or no research into the genealogy and ancestry of these families. 

In the first place the Middle Tennessee counties of Wilson, Sumner, Jackson, and Davidson, Franklin, and Humphries [ also Marion and Hamilton]  are of the same core families of the Melungeons of East Tennessee.  

In the second place the Indians these families 'heavily descend from' mixed with Portuguese explorers, which apparently pre-dates Nickens research.

It is unquestionable there were 450 men and women, Spanish, Africans, South Americans, etc., and who knows what other ethnicity, were left behind on the Pee Dee river in 1526 when the remaining 150 returned to Spain.  Some certainly died, but if even 10-20 Portuguese and/or Africans survived and lived amongst the Natives in Carolina, how many descendants of these Portuguese/African/Spanish, etc., would have left their DNA with the Carolina tribes by mid 1700s?  

"Just as with De Soto's expedition, African slaves had accompanied de Ayllon's settlement colony on the Pee dee River in 1526. When there was a crisis over leadership, the colony fell into disarray. In the midst of this crisis, a slave revolt further ripped the settlement apart. With the colony in shambles, many of the African slaves fled to live among the nearby native people. According to De Soto, these refugees must have lived among the Cofitachiqui and taught them the craftwork of the Europeans."  (Slavery in the Cherokee Nation By Patrick Neal Minges)

It is also unquestionable that  a shipload of Portuguese sailors came with deSoto in 1540. 
  

From the DESOTO JOURNALS; 

"In the month of April, of the year 1538, the adelantado (deSoto) delivered the ships over to the captains who were to go in them. He took a new and good sailing ship for himself and gave one to Andre de Vasconcelos, in which the Portuguese went"  ---->[HERE]

I wonder how many Portuguese sailors were on the sailing ship?  The Portuguese definitely mixed with the Indians, just as Vardy Collins told the journalist in 1848.  

• They captured a hundred head, among Indian men and women. Of the latter, (the women) there, as well as in any other part where forays were made, the captain selected one or two for the governor and the others were divided among themselves and those who went with them.
• As soon as the governor had crossed the stream, he found a village called Achese a short distance on. Although the Indians had never heard of Christians they plunged into a river. A few Indians, men and women, were seized,
• At the time of his departure, because of the importunity of some who wished more than was proper, he asked the cacique for thirty Indian women as slaves.....The Indians gave the governor thirty Indian women and the necessary tamemes [for DeSoto's men to wed then populate his planned settlement at Mobile Bay].

PARDO

"In the months after Pardo’s departure in November 1567, however, relations between Fort San Juan and the people of Joara took a calamitous turn for the worse. By May 1568, news reached Santa Elena that Indians had attacked all of Pardo's forts and that all were destroyed. Several factors may have played a role in the aggressive action, but two stand out: the soldiers' demands for food and their improprieties with native women. At Fort Santiago, for example, Pardo ordered “that no one should dare bring any woman into the fort at night...under pain of being severely punished.”  ---> HERE

 It is a documented fact at least one of deSoto's men ran off and was last seen living as the husband to the "Lady of Cofitachequi."  When deSoto visited this Indian town with one of the gentleman who had accompanied deAyllon some years earlier it was recorded he recognized items from deAyllon's settlement. 

Ylasi/Ilapi on the Pee Dee River is a mere stones throw from the Portuguese/Indian settlement of Melungeons. 

These are not 'opinions' or 'hypotheticals' of Joanne Pezzullo.  These are real facts, documented hundreds of years ago.  

The Indians had mixed with the Portuguese/Spanish/Africans etc., long before Jamestown was even in a twinkle in someone's eye!

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

Here we have two Tennessee Historians with their 'eyewitness to history' account  of the MELUNGEONS of Wilson County, who were known to be PORTUGUESE in 1850. But we are to believe JAMES NICKENS that the Melungeons were NOT Portuguese and he knows that by osmosis. 

In the AMERICAN of Sept. 15, 1890  Dan W. Baird wrote of the Malungeons, in part, as follows:"Several families are still to be found in Smith, Wilson, Rutherford, and Davidson Counties. There is nothing in their family names to give the student of ethnology a clue to their origin. In a locality in Wilson County known forty years ago as 'Malungeon Town', the most common names were Richardson, Nickens, and Collins. In Rutherford County not far from Lavergne, the principal Malungeons were Archers, Lanterns, and Blackmans. One of the latter family has sold fish in the north end of the market house in this city (Nashville) for many years, and some of the same family reside a few miles out on the Nolensville Turnpike. "A pretty fair speciman of the Malungeon tribe is a young fellow named Bernice Richardson, now serving a life sentence in the state prison for self-confessed complicity in the murder of M.T. Bennet of Lebanon.From Saundra Keyes Ivey;''Baird expresses surprise that writers of recent article on the Melungeons had not 'referred to the state records or called on any of the many old citizens still living who are familiar with all that is known of the history of the people called Malungeons......

........... And it is then that Baird writes of the Sevier letter and cites the speech of McKinney:

He goes on to write; "All they seem to know of themselves is that they are 'Malungeons' and of Portuguese descent. These two points have been agreed upon for more than three-fourths of a century, and it appears that any one who undertakes to investigate the matter will be forced to accept them as established facts. "

Dan Baird was founder of the  SOUTHERN LUMBERMAN in 1881 in Lebanon, Tennessee and later moved to Nashville,  in connection with publishing the magazine. 


In a later exchange  written by R. M. Ewing to the Editor;DAILY AMERICAN Sept 21, 1890 p. 4.R. M. Ewing, wrote that when he attended law school at Lebanon Tennessee, in 1851: 
" there was a colony of people residing within a few miles of Lebanon who were locally, and so far as I know generally, called Malungeons. They seemed to be a hard working, harmless, inoffensive people, a dark red or copper color, and jet black, straight hair... these people claimed to be of Portuguese descent.The  1850 census shows R. M. Ewing in the  Ninth Civil District of Williamson County, Tennessee -- Student at Law. The Cumberland University School of Law was located in Lebanon, Tennessee.

---

In 1830 Wilson County census  James and Permelia Nickens, John Brown, George and Elisha  Collins, Gideon Goins,  Jacob and Hezekiah Archy or Achy family appear as  Free Colored Persons.   Shadrack Goins and members of the Gibson family are also residing in Wilson County but their families are listed as white for that census. 

There can be no doubt there were Portuguese people on the the Pee Dee River, as well as Africans and Spaniards in the 1500s.  There is also no doubt the Ivey, Gibsons, etc., and those associated with them were Trappers and Indian Traders 1600-1700s.   There is no doubt in late 1800 early 1900, according to most ethnologist, anthropologists, and historians, the Melungeons were a branch of the Croatan/Lumbee Tribe.  For someone to say the Melungeons were NOT Portuguese OR heavily descended from Indians clearly shows they have not researched these families of Gibson, Bunch, Ivey, Collins, Sweat, Chavis etc., who lived on Chippoakes Creek, Virginia, one branch going  to Bertie Co., North Carolina, to the Pee Dee River, and another branch  to Louisa Co., Virginia, to Orange and Wilkes County, North Carolina to East Tennesee.  

Each of these settlements were either on the Trading Paths, Old Indian Villages, Indian lands, etc... 

Someone please tell James Nickens he need not look far to find court records and historical documents that declare Ivey, Bolton, Perkins, Shoemake, Goins, Ashworth, Collins, Gibson, Mitchell, Chavis, etc., were Portuguese. 

On Newman's Ridge in East Tennessee were Sizemore, Lawson, Freeman, and Hiltons with the Native American Q DNA. The "head'' of the Melungeons, the Gibsons, kinsmen freed from slavery as they proved they descended from an Indian woman, Jane Gibson, born 1640 in Charles City County.