WEIRD U.
S. TRAVEL TO APPALACHIA IN SEARCH OF MELUNGEONS
The
History Channel,
will be broadcasting
Weird U. S. on
September 12, 2005. Check your local
channel guide for what time of the day.
WEIRD U.S. host Mark Moran
and Mark Sceurman take to the road giving viewers a
peek of some of America's most mysterious and
unusual places. One of the many segments
featured the facts and myths surrounding the
Melungeons.
Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman,
also known as the "two Marks," begin the segment at
the dentist office. One Mark poses as the dentist
and the other Mark portrays the patient. From there
they go on a long trip from New Jersey to the
Appalachian Mountains. They drove to
Sneedville, Tennessee, a town well-known for their
Melungeon population. The local people are ask if
they knew anything about the Melungeons. One lady
compared the Melungeon to Bigfoot and get this,
Melungeons ate people! Now the erroneous
account didn't scare off the fearless pair of
Marks. The two Marks managed to be invited to lunch
by a group of well known Melungeons at a local café.
Mattie Ruth Johnson, the author of
My Melungeon Heritage: A Story of Life on Newman's
Ridge,
talked to the pair of Marks along with many other
local Melungeons. While visiting the group the pair
of Marks felt the bumps located on the back of the
Melungeon's skulls. They chatted about the physical
traits and origins of the Melungeons. One branch of
the Melungeon tree traces it's origins to Ottoman
Turks. To learn more about the Melungeon Turkic
lineage read
From Anatolia to Appalachia: A Turkish-American
Dialogue
by Joseph M. Scolnick (Editor), N. Brent Kennedy
(Editor).
Next stop on their Appalachian journey led them to
Vardy, Tennessee where they were greeted by Wayne
Winkler, another famous Melungeon. Wayne Winkler
grew up in Detroit, Michigan and spent many summers
visiting his cousins in Tennessee. He wrote about
his Melungeon heritage in a book titled,
Walking Toward the Sunset: The Melungeons of
Appalachia.
The two of Marks left Tennessee to meet with
Dr. Kevin Jones, a
molecular biologist at the University of Virginia's
College at Wise and Brent Kennedy who is the author
of
The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People :
An Untold Story of Ethnic Cleansing in America.
The pair of Marks ask questions and learn more about
the "mysterious" origins and genetic ties to the
people called Melungeons. They learn that some
Melungeons left the Appalachians and became famous
people in their time.
Sneedville is the county seat of
Hancock County. The tucked
away town has an elevation of 1169 feet and an
estimated population,
in 2003, of 1,328.
Hancock County was
formed in 1844
from
Hawkins and
Claiborne Counties.
Unfortunately, the older records documenting the
area's history was lost to a fire. Recently efforts
to save historical documents were taken to task by
local historians and genealogists. Volunteer
archivists on treasure hunt through
Hawkins County Courthouse.
The Hawkins County Archival Project
will hopefully bring forth the missing documents of
the past.
I have found an
1840 census index
for Hawkins County, Tennessee but the list is
incomplete surnames through A to H. Hopefully those
hard working volunteers will find the missing pieces
of the history of Hawkins County, I salute them all
for there generous contribution in preserving these
priceless historical documents.
,
talked to the pair of Marks along with many other
local Melungeons. While visiting the group the pair
of Marks felt the bumps located on the back of the
Melungeon's skulls. They chatted about the physical
traits and origins of the Melungeons. One branch of
the Melungeon tree traces it's origins to Ottoman
Turks. To learn more about the Melungeon Turkic
lineage read 
