Gypsies, Turks, Armenians, and East Indians on Our Early
Shores:
An Update on Continually Emerging Ethnic “Surprises”
By Brent Kennedy
(1998)
The Tip of the Archival Iceberg?
American archival evidence of Turkish, Armenian, Gypsy,
Jewish and other Middle Eastern settlers now surfaces with
regularity. The simple act of looking for it has
generally been the key to finding it (along with the
fortitude to not dismiss out of hand what is found). A few
examples of easily verifiable documents should suffice to
demonstrate that the whole story of our Nation's settlement
is by no means known. Some examples:
From Jewels of the
Third Plantation, Obadiah Oldpath, Lynn,
Massachusetts: Thomas Herbert and James M. Munroe, 1862.
Early American (Massachusetts) historical reports (pages
71-74):
“1647. Aug 8: There hath suddenlie come among vs a
companie of strange people, wch bee neither Indjan nor
Christian. And wee know not what to liken them
vnto. Some will have it yt they bee Egyptians or
Jypsjes, wandering thieves, jugglers and beggars...Never
hearing yt any such people were in ye Dutch settlements
or Virginia, I surmised yt hee did mean yt they came
from ye Spanish settlements, thousands of leagues
awaie...They doe use palmistry and other devilish arts
and witchcrafts...”
Could Gypsies have been present this early in North America?
Around 1000 A.D., Gypsies, who had originated in India,
migrated westward to Turkey where they still reside in
significant numbers, and then fanned out again into the
Balkans, Eastern Europe, and, finally northern Europe. They
carried with them their own rich culture and this they
blended with other cultures as they migrated and
intermarried. As they moved into Europe they took with them
bits and pieces of Ottoman/Turkish/Byzantine culture,
folklore, linguistics, religion (Islam), and even genetics
(for excellent historical background, see David M. Crowe's,
A History of the Gypsies of Eastern Europe and Russia,
St. Martin's Press, New York, 1996, pp.1-30). Much of
this admixed Gypsy culture would eventually be carried into
England by the early 1500s. Gypsy, or more properly, Romani
scholars present an intriguing scenario of how Gypsy
immigrants might have arrived in early America as slaves,
servants, and even "English" settlers, complete with English
surnames. Thomas A. Acton (“Gypsies
in the United Kingdom”,
The Patrin Romani Web Journal begins his
treatise as follows:
"Gypsies probably reached the British Isles by the year
1500, travelling to trade, work in metals or entertain
for a living......In the British Isles we have four
groups - in their own languages:
Romanichals (English Gypsies),
Kale (Welsh Gypsies),
Nawkens (Scottish Travellers/Gypsies) and
Minceir (Irish Travellers). Together they
number around 100,000 in the UK, about half nomadic."
Also at The Patrin
Romani Web Journal, Ian Hancock, in his
fascinating
“Roma Slavery”, adds:
".....Spain had already begun shipping Gypsies to the
Americas in the 15th century; three were transported by
Columbus to the Caribbean on his third voyage in 1498.
Spain's later
solucion americans involved the shipping of
Gypsy slaves to its colony in 18th century Louisiana.
An Afro-Gypsy community today lives in St. Martin's
Parish, and reportedly there is another one in central
Cuba, both descended from intermarriage between the two
enslaved peoples. In the 16th century, Portugal
shipped Gypsies as an unwilling labor force to its
colonies in Maranhao (now Brazil), Angola and even
India, the Roma's country of origin which they had left
five centuries earlier. They were made Slaves of
the Crown in 18th century Russia during the reign of
Catherine the Great, while in Scotland during the same
period they were employed "in a state of slavery" in the
coal mines. England and Scotland had shipped Roma
to Virginia and the Caribbean as slaves during the 17th
and 18th centuries..."
In 1714 British merchants applied to the
Privvy Council for permission to ship additional
Gypsy slaves to the Caribbean. The records are clear
and unmistakable. What became of these people? Where
did they go? Were they totally lost to American
history, or did they - and their genes - survive by blending
in and casting away their past and, tragically, their
identity?
Genealogist David Hobson is but one of many researchers who
document the expulsion of English-speaking Gypsies to
Virginia and the Caribbean beginning in the late 1600s (Directory
of Scots Banished to the American Plantations: 1650 to 1775,Genealogical
Publishing Company, Baltimore, Maryland, 1998). In
Dobson’s well researched book, the following entries, among
others, are found: - Gilbert Baillie, gypsy,
prisoner in Edinburgh, Tolbooth, transported from
Greenock to N.Y., 21 Oct. 1682, ETR
John
Baillie, gypsy, d.o. from Greenock to N.Y., same date
Robert Baillie, gypsy & thief, prisoner in Dumfries
Tolbooth, 5-1-1739, banished to plantations in America for
life Jean Brown, gypsy & thief, prisoner, as above
Mary & Peter Faa, gypsies, prisoners in Jedburgh Tolbooth
banished from there 30 Nov. 1714, transported via Glasgow on
a Grennock ship…to Virginia Jean Hutson, gypsy &
thief, prisoner in Dumfries to America for life…1 May 1739
Mary Robertson, gypsy, prisoner in Jedburgh, 9-1-1715 to
Virginia
English surnames which show up in various works on the
Gypsies include Bailey, Belcher, Boswell, Brown, Green,
Robinson, Robson, Roberts, Smith, Stanley, and Sutherland,
among others. The descendants of such early settlers
would be justified in believing that their ancestors - who
bore English and Scottish surnames and arrived on these
shores in English ships – were indeed “English” or
“Scottish.” But the reality of their true ethnic origins can
be found with just a little digging…and an open mind.
Of course, the evidence for other unheralded Middle Eastern
immigrants beyond the Gypsies is equally significant.
From Virginia
Carolorum: The Colony Under the Rule of Charles the First
and Second, A.D. 1625-A.D. 1685 Based
upon Manuscripts and Documents of the Period by Edward D.
Neill Albany, New York: Joel Munsell's Sons, 1886
Page 240: Edward Digges...paid
great attention to silk culture, employing two native
Armenians, skilled in the business. A poem of this
event follows, which reads in part, -
-
Lass! Stint of eggs made so small the essay
-
-
His two Armenians from Turkey sent...
The use of Armenians and Turks for silk working and related
industries was well known in early Virginia. In 1656,
the Virginia Assembly set aside 4000 pounds of tobacco for
"George the Armenian" to encourage him in the making of silk
and to induce him "to stay in the country and to follow the
same." How is it that three centuries later, some
scholars can so readily dismiss - or more accurately -
attempt to literally erase - their very existence?
From the Annals of
Bath County, Virginia (Oren F. Morton,
B.Lit., The McClure Company, Staunton, Virginia,1917) comes
yet another story too credible and detailed to dismiss.
Chapter 12 is the incredible story of "Selim, a Native of
Algeria," or a "Moor" as he is referred to in the story.
Sometime before 1774, Selim was rescued from dire straits in
the Virginia Forest by Samuel Given. Neither man spoke
the other's language, though Selim also spoke Greek (learned
as a student in Constantinople - i.e., Istanbul,
Turkey). He later learned English and became a popular
citizen of Bath County. Selim and others had been captured
in the Mediterranean by a Spanish man-o-war, then
transferred as a slave via a French ship to New Orleans.
In New Orleans he was transported yet again to a Shawnee
village on the Scioto River, from which he escaped to later
be found half-starved by Given. It is a fascinating
story, with lots of implications. For example, what
happened to his comrades? How often did this sort of
thing occur? The
seventeenth-century records are full of what seem to be
routine mentions of Middle Easterners, people who supposedly
weren't here. Again, a sampling: The Virginia
Magazine of History and Biography, Volume V, 1898,
page 36, Northhampton County, January 1652: There is
casual mention of a TURK who gave Thomas Harrison a calf and
who signed for it in the TURKISH language. The
Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Volume XXV, 1917,
page 250 February 12, 1686 letter from William Byrd
describing the TURKEY (not the bird!) merchant who "had gone
for Yorke..." The Virginia Magazine of History
and Biography, Volume 70, 1962, page 33
The Trumbull Manuscripts, Alphabetical Correspondence, vol.
IV, no. 42 (preserved in the Manuscripts of
the Marquess of Downshire at Easthampstead Park, Berkshire,
England). "On February 9, 1609/10, J. Besulieu writing
to Trumbull, says that Calvert has 'added to his Clarckshipp
of the TURKES, that of the Infidells of Virginia.' "
Numerous additional references are made to apparent Turks in
early Virginia records (again, all provided in
The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography),
where it is clear that the person listed was not Native
American or African American. A few examples include:
From the list of 2 July 1635, James City County:
Tony a Turk Tony East Indian (a differentiation
between an East Indian and a Turk?)
From the list of 8 July 1651, Northumberland County:
Syon the Turk ("Sayyan" is an old Turkish name, still used
as a salutation)
From the list of 5 April 1664: Malhote
Turke Immigration date
From the list of 20 October 1665, Charles City:
Motshooto Turke Phaugh Turke And so on. And
this represents but a cursory examination of the records.
We cannot say with any degree of certainty that this human
smorgasbord provided the ethnic foundation for the
Melungeons, but we CAN say that this “tip of the archival
iceberg” demonstrates that these – and other similar people
– were most definitely here. And most definitely
overlooked by a majority of later scholars who examined -
and dismissed - the so-called “exotic” origins posed
by at least some human beings trying their hardest to hang
on to their heritage.
Other Sources
about the cited Turk/Turke Surname
by Helen CampbellMalhote Turke
Immigration date Motshooto
Turke Immigration date
Phaugh Turke Immigration
date Tony a Turk
Tony East Indian
Syon the Turk
Links
Lin, or, Jewels of the Third Plantation (1862)
The Patrin Web Journal - Romani (Gypsy) Slavery
The Pariah Syndrome - Chapter XVII
The Question OF ORIGINS
Gypsies @ nationalgeographic.com
A History of the Gypsies of Eastern Europe and Russia
India genealogy links Passages to India
India Genealogy and Link
"DistantCousin.com - Links (Including Genealogy) for Indians
from India"
European Options Online
Biography of Stephen Bachile
BOOKS
Annals of Bath County : Virginia by Oren F. Morton
A History of the Gypsies of Eastern Europe and Russia
by David Crowe
The Patrin Web Journal - Romani (Gypsy) Slavery by
Ian Hancock
Definitions
Armenians
East Indians
Gypsy
India
Ottoman
Turks
(187) George Minifie, Esq., one of the Councell of
State, 1200 acres in the County of James City, commonly
calles the Richneck, bounded on the west by a branch of
Archer's Hope Creek, which parteth the Richneck from a neck
of land called the barren neck; on the east by Archer's Hope
Creek to its head. Due for the transportation of 24 person
(whose names appear below). By John West, July 2d, 1635.
Edw'd Williams, Thomas Andrews, Antho. Skinner, Rich.
Clarke, Symon Loram, Jon. Doe, Rich. Appleton, Tony
Eastindian [East Indian], Wm. Sutton, Wm. Large, Jon
Abram, Wm. Stoddon, Jon. Grimes, Tho Poole, Tho. Taylor,
Lydia Price, Robt. Thomas, Tony a Turke, Jeffery
Hatton.
Source: Virginia Vital Records From the
Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, the William and
Mary College Quarterly, and Tyler's Quarterly Indexed by
Judith McGhan Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore
1984 Virginia Land Records, Abstracts of Virginia Land
Patents, Page 556
Cavaliers and Pioneers, Patent Book 5, Page 440
Robert Coleman, Junr., 450 acs. Chas.
City Co., 20 Oct. 1665, p. 435, (519). S. side of Appomattox
Riv., beg. at head line of land of Robt. Coleman, Sr.,
extending N. E. by N. &c. over the branch of Baylies Wly.
run, S. W. along same &c. Due for trans. of 9 pers: Tho
Williams, Giles Dement, Wm. Cooper, Tho. Cooper, Tho.
Palmer, Martha Jeffurd ( or Jessurd), Mary Homes,
Motshooto Turke, Phaugh Turke. (note: These last
two may be Turks.) Source:
Early Virginia Immigrants, 1623-1666 by George Cabell
Greer Clerk Virginia State Land Office
Baltimore
Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 1982
Phaugh Turke found in:
Passenger and Immigration
Index, 1500s-1900s
Place: Virginia Year: 1665
Primary immigrant: Turke, Phaugh
Source
publication: NUGENT, NELL MARION. Cavaliers and Pioneers:
Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1666.
Vol. 1. Richmond [VA]: Dietz Printing Co., 1934. 767p.
Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1983.
Motshooto Turke found in:
Passenger and
Immigration Index, 1500s-1900s
Place: Virginia Year:
1665
Primary immigrant: Turke, Motshooto
Source publication: NUGENT, NELL MARION. Cavaliers and
Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants,
1623-1666. Vol. 1. Richmond [VA]: Dietz Printing Co.,
1934. 767p. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co.,
Baltimore, 1983.
Virginia Colonial Abstracts Vol. XXIII Westmoreland
County 1653-1657
by Beverley Fleet Baltimore:
Genealogical Pub. Co., 1961, 104 pgs
page 39
p. 47. David Phillips binds over 2 cowes to
Tho Wilsford as security for payment of 1000 lb tobo on 10
Nov 1656. Dated 29 Oct 1655.
Signed David Phillipps.
Wit: John Addams his marke. "The mark of Sion the Turke".
Rec 20 Nov 1655 page 43
p. 51. "Know all men by these presents that I John Hallowes
gent doe renounce all my right and interest unto the service
of Sion the Turke whose last Master I was and I doe
declare that hee is a freeman from mee Witness my hand the
10th Janu: 1655. Jo Hallowes Witnes Tho Wilsford
10
Janu: 1655 This discarge was Recorded"
(Note: It would be
most interesting to know how this individual came to be in
this community. What name he took when free? Whose ancestor
he was, if anyone's ? And what finally became of him. He
seems to have quickly gained the respect and regard of
everyone. I suppose anything that came out of Asia Minor
would be called a Turk by our ancestors. Note that the term
"Heathen Turk" is not used. He may have benn an Armenian or
Syrian. B. F. )
(Note No.2. Could it be possible that our
good old Valley of Virginia family of Turk could be
descendants of this person ? B. F.)
Thomas Liggon,
800 acs. at Powells Cr., next to land of Thomas Jones,
W.S.W. towards Sisemores & S.S.E. upon the Riv., 5 Apr. 1664
p. 139, (6). Trans. of: Capt. Upton, Wm. Prowting, Phugh
Turke, Joseph Birkhead, Jno. Plinton, Thomas Williams,
Thomas Ayres, Giles Dement, Wm. Cooper, Wm. Grigg, Tho.
Coper, Tho. Palmer, Tho. Gunday, Mary Haines, Malhote
Turke, Jno. Phillips.
Source: Early Virginia Immigrants, 1623-1666 by
George Cabell Greer Clerk Virginia State Land Office
Baltimore Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 1982
-
Malhote Turke found in:
Passenger and
Immigration Index, 1500s-1900s
Place: Virginia
Year: 1664
Primary immigrant: Turke, Malhote
-
Source publication: NUGENT, NELL MARION. Cavaliers
and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and
Grants, 1623-1666. Vol. 1. Richmond [VA]: Dietz
Printing Co., 1934. 767p. Reprinted by Genealogical
Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1983
-
Back to Other Sources
Back to Other Sources |
Revised September 07, 2007