In 1988, amid the uproar over Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Southern Appalachian native Dr. N. Brent Kennedy checked himself into an Atlanta hospital to undergo tests fearing he had contracted the disease. Instead, the doctors diagnosed Kennedy with having erythema nodosum sarcoidosis, a disease that is common only to Mediterranean cultures. Kennedy learned he was descended from Melungeons, but, like many of his lineage, had never been taught about his ancestry. The medical diagnosis proved to be one of the keys to unlocking the mystery of the Melungeons’ origins.
Dr. Kennedy began a crusade to find out about his ancestry. He tore into diaries, pictures, and records from both America and Europe. In his research and, with the help of other Melungeon descendants, Kennedy was also able to establish a possible evidentiary record pointing to a theory that was a long-held belief among many Melungeons in Southern Appalachia.
In the 12th Century, the reconquest of Spain by warrior kings and men like El Cid ended Moorish occupation and reestablished new Christian states in Spain and Portugal. By the 15th and 16th Centuries, the Inquisitions began to purge Moors from the two nations. In 400 years of rule, many Moors had intermarried with the Europeans and taken European surnames. Although Moorish occupation had allowed freedom of religion among the Christians and the Jews, no such tolerance was given back to the Islamic Moors.
Following the reconquest, most faded into the background of the nations where they settled and never disclosed their ancestry. The Inquisitions, however, grew unchecked against the Moors. The national cannibalism of ethnic cleansing led many kings to look for other ways to handle the duties of both church and nation.
By the 16th Century , King Phillip II of Spain began sending thousands of Moors into exile rather than executing them, with two conditions: For diplomatic reasons, they would not be resettled in Europe and they could not return home to Northern Africa where latent hostilities might be reignited against the Spanish. The Moors were loaded onto ships and sent on their way to other lands. Two such ships recorded reaching ports in China and India, but were refused entry fearing they were escaped slaves. Most of the ships were never heard from again.
In 1567, a Spanish ship under the command of Captain Juan Pardo, an officer of Portuguese origin, and approximately 250 Moorish soldier/settlers landed near Beaufort, SC, traveled inland to the Georgia interior, and began building forts and settlements in the region to prepare for an "eventual road" that would cross the territory. The crew brought along a chemist familiar with smelting precious ores and the party also mined the North Georgia region for gold and silver. At each fort, Pardo left a sizeable number of soldiers to watch over Spanish interests in the area. Captain Pardo returned to the coast and never again traveled inland to the forts he established.
The ensuing battles between the Spanish, French, and English over claims on the New World left the villages destroyed or occupied and the soldier/settlers listed as dead or missing. Many of Pardo’s men are thought to have taken brides from the Catawba and Creek tribes. In fact, Spain always had historically close diplomatic ties with the Red Stick Creeks and used it to wage war against the British. Kennedy and other scholars think the "cousin relationship" could also explain how the Melungeons were able to live and trade among the tribes without interference.
While the great Lisbon earthquake and fire of 1755 destroyed virtually all of Portugal’s shipping manifests and records, many ships’ logs have surfaced over the years and are being studied by researchers investigating the Moorish connection. The oppression of the Melungeons by European settlers which pushed them into isolation among the Southern Appalachians may have actually helped preserved many clues about their origins.
The mountains and ridges of Hancock County remain as isolated today as they did when the Melungeons were first discovered. It is still among one of the most impoverished regions in Tennessee and Southern Appalachia. Dr. Paul Reed runs the Hancock County Medical Clinic in Sneedville. He says the new medical facts answer a lot of questions doctors in the region have asked for years.
"Sarcoidosis is a disease that has traditionally affected people of Melungeon ancestry," said Reed," but, in many cases, has probably been misdiagnosed and people hurt because of it. While there is no cure for it, there are treatments that can really help ease their suffering." Reed is also excited about the new interest in Melungeon ancestry and says the new focus is a reflection of changing times.
"When isolation was no longer a wise policy, Melungeons started moving back into mainstream society, have gone to college, and now have the tools to try and find out who we are," Reed said. "We can now hopefully salvage what we can of our heritage and preserve it."
In addition to Kennedy’s research, further DNA testing was done recently and concluded that a definite link exists between the Southern Appalachian Melungeons and Mediterranean cultures.
Recent archaeological excavations in Hancock County and other settlements have also netted artifacts that lend credibility to the possibility of Moorish origins. Kennedy’s research and the Melungeon Research Committee he helped to found are still studying the theories and looking at new evidence as it becomes available.
Hancock County official Scott Collins sits on the research committee and says more information is gathered every day that could explain who the Melungeons are.
"Many people of our ancestry don’t know who they are and we’re working to not only answer the question, but to preserve what we find," said Collins. "A lot of proud traditions still exist in some families that don’t in others and this could be a vital key to unlocking the truth. It may take years before we know the answers." No one can argue that the Melungeons of East Tennessee and Southern Appalachia were a remarkable and tragic people. The legends told about them apparently bore some truth in their stories. If the evidence continues to support the theory and their traditional beliefs, the long-awaited answer to "America’s greatest anthropological mystery" could finally be known.
In short, it can be gathered from Kennedy’ research that the Melungeons are the descendants of the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians, they were part of the Arab nation that conquered Spain and Portugal, built Casablanca, Marrakech, and Tangier, and, in the midst of their worst tragedy, sailed to America and traveled 300 miles inland to establish a free colony in the new world, forty years before the British established the colony we would come to know as Jamestown.
"Many of Pardo’s men are thought to have taken brides from the Catawba and Creek tribes"
They've found the remains of one of Pardo's Spanish forts, just outside of Morganton, NC.