Some claim that Abraham Lincoln descended from a Melungeon family via his mother, Nancy Hanks.
Abraham Lincoln, Elvis Presley, Ava Gardner, Loretta Lynn and George C. Scott, Tom Hanks and Heather Locklear, and Steve Martin are all alleged by some sources to have Melungeon ancestry.
The Melungeons are an ethnic group, commonly described as a “tri-racial isolate,” resident in the Cumberland Gap neighborhood of Eastern Tennesee, Southwest Virginia, and Eastern Kentucky. The Melungeons’ comparatively dark complexions and other exotic characteristics have been attributed to mixed Amerindian and Spanish or Portuguese descent. Other alleged origins included shipwrecked Turkish slaves or descent from Gypsies. One legendary account claims that they descend from a native people resident before the arrival of European colonists.
Recent research seems to offer a much simpler explanation: descent from African freedmen.
[A] new DNA study in the Journal of Genetic Genealogy [Not apparently yet available on-line] 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.
vanderleun
So it’s like an inhabitants of woodpiles sort of deal, right?
Joseph
I ran across a article you made discussing melungeon dna…if you compare the melungeon dna projects to the portugesse dna protects..you shall see a nearly 75 percent match to then projects…compare this with the portugesse ancestery the melungeosn stated..you have a match.
http://www.ourfamilyorigins.com/portugal/dna.htm
http://www.familytreedna.com/group-join.aspx?Group=portugal
Joseph
“Several authors have suggested that the Melungeons were lying about their Indian nationality just to hide their known African ancestors. In a recent DNA study, Wise University biology professor Dr Kevin Jones analyzed these samples. The results of those from this study showed them to be multiracial which included Native American. ” Jack Goins
Joseph
“The appears to be a small percentage of both Native American and African-American sequences in there, too,” ” The long-held belief that the Melungeons originated in Portugal is neither borne out nor negated by Jones’ research. “To date we’ve found no sequences that can be definitively traced back to uniquely Portuguese sequences. That doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. A large number of the European sequences are now widely spread throughout Europe, and if one of those genetic sequences happened to come from Portugal we would not detect that. We can’t dismiss that theory at the moment, but we can’t provide additional support for it.” Dr. Kevin Jones current professor of biology at UVA-Wise, teaching courses including cell biology and genetics.
Melungeon Truths
Melungeon DNA: The truth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQDROVQOCL0
Jerry Dean Gibson
I grew up in Southwest Virginia and have known for years that I am Melungeon. Thank God, people are beginning to learn about what my family has known for years. I applaud Dr. Jones and Dr. Kennedy from Clinch Valley College/ Now known as UVA Wise.
Please keep getting the word out.
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