Imagine being
descended from one of these!
I think they come from
Wisconsin, up north.
I've never met one, myself,
but I've heard they're tough!
Posted on 08/02/2005 10:20:13 AM PDT by hispanarepublicana
Dang. I have the ridge at the base of my skull, and the wat you described with the teeth. This is a feature of Turkish ancestry??
"It was not uncommon for mixed race Virginians and other Southerners to migrate to the North to "pass" as white."
For the same reason, you find quite a few communities like Goinstown, NC clustered along the VA border. NC was poorly administered by the Lords Proprietors, particularly after Carolina was split into North and South, which made it something of a lawless "frontier" much later than any part of VA or SC. This made it a preferred destination for all manner of peoples who were outside of the pale in VA and other areas, due to religion primarily, but that was not the only reason. This comparative wildness was also why so many pirates called the Outer Banks area "home," aside from the roughness of the Atlantic offshore and the ever-changing nature of inlet and shoal there, which made pursuit nearly impossible by anyone who was not intimately familiar with the area.
The ridge is Turkish. The teeth thing, to my best understanding, is Melungeon, Asian or Indian.
"This is a feature of Turkish ancestry??"
And native American, and Asian. I wouldn't leap to conclusions, unless you're really into ancestry and have started coming across some of the surnames, and have tied them back to TN/NC/VA. They didn't leave much of a paper trail deliberately, these Melungeons, and they often moved quite frequently, which led to the pejorative association with Gypsies. Or, at least that has been my understanding, and I grew up in an area where a number of people who could be so described reside. It's probable that I have some Melungeon ancestry, but it's not an easy thing to prove, just as native American ancestry is not an easy thing to prove.
I live in SE TN, and all my family is from the area as well. I know the history of my paternal grandfather's family quite well, but I know virtually nothing earlier than around 1900 for the rest of the family. My paternal grandfather's family came here in the mid-1800's and were Scot/Irish. The rest of ther family, who knows?
"I know virtually nothing earlier than around 1900 for the rest of the family"
The census would be a good starting point, if you want to pursue it. You might also want to check into the Dawes Roll and the Guion Miller Roll for native ancestry. I "found" seven of my folks that way; their "applications" were rejected by the Cherokee, but it helped fill in the blanks nonetheless.
But, if you have any ancestors with surname "Hicks," all bets are off. Impossible. Many joke that they just sprung up in the woods in western NC and eastern TN like mushrooms, because there is absolutely no record of their having come from anywhere else prior, LOL.
Wouldn't it be amazing, to be able to know that your ancestors were among the first settlers (even before Jamestown) in America?
Yes. I'd start by doing 1 important thing first. Talk to the old people in your family before they die. If you start doing the research and have no one to whom to ask questions, you'll regret it.
ancestry.com has the 1880 census that you can use free, I think. (the rest of their site is subscription only). if not that site, then familysearch.org for census.
"Wouldn't it be amazing, to be able to know that your ancestors were among the first settlers (even before Jamestown) in America?"
I have some from "James Cittie." I have some Cherokee and Creek as well. So, this "earliest settler" business doesn't mean that much to me, even though it apparently has some kind of snob value to some people, usually WASP-ey or WASP-aspiring northerners. Everybody I knew growing up came from families that had been here so long that they didn't really "know" where their ancestors came from before America. I didn't know this was considered unusual until I went away to college.
I kind of know what you mean, my Spanish ancestors having been either some of Texas' older settlers with a little Mexican Indian thrown in for good measure. Mr. HR has quite a bit of Native American Indian in him too.
"Mr. HR has quite a bit of Native American Indian in him too."
Well, "howdy," then... from one "mestizo" American with a European surname to another, LOL. From completely different routes, languages and cultures, but a similar end-result. I've always loved imploding stereotypes, how about you?
I delight in it.
it isn't about how you spell so much as it about whom you impregnate, knowuttimean?
The cardiac drug Amiodarone can give the skin a blue color as a side effect. A chronic lack of oxygen can also lead to a blue appearance (cyanosis).
"it isn't about how you spell so much as it about whom you impregnate"
Your self-admitted, steady diet of "too much TV" prior to 1992 is showing.
Sort of like the Coneheads explaining their appearance by telling people that they are from France.
Random reply of the day nominee.
Imagine being
descended from one of these!
I think they come from
Wisconsin, up north.
I've never met one, myself,
but I've heard they're tough!
LOL. That's a muskellunge. Have another beer.
I've got the shovel teeth and the lump, but I can explain that by the strong possibility that one of my great grandmothers was Melungeon. She was born in the right part of Kentucky, had olive skin, and blue eyes. But my dh also has shovel teeth, and his ancestry is German & Swedish, with no historical links to the Appalachians. His Swedish half is pure, as they were recent immigrants to the US. But maybe there is a little mixture with American Indian the German side, given that they were here before the Revolutionary War so there would have been time for that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.