Melungeons: The Last Lost Tribe in AmericaMost of us probably think of America as being settled by British, Protestant colonists who fought the Indians, tamed the wilderness, and brought "democracy"-or at least a representative republic-to North America. To the contrary, Elizabeth Caldwell Hirschman's research indicates the earliest settlers were of Mediterranean extraction, and of a Jewish or Muslim religious persuasion. Sometimes called "Melungeons," these early settlers were among the earliest nonnative "Americans" to live in the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia. For fear of discrimination-since Muslims, Jews, "Indians," and other "persons of color" were often disenfranchised and abused-the Melungeons were reticent regarding their heritage. In fact, over time, many of the Melungeons themselves "forgot" where they came from. Hence, today, the Melungeons remain the "last lost tribe in America," even to themselves. Yet, Hirschman, supported by DNA testing, genealogies, and a variety of historical documents, suggests that the Melungeons included such notable early Americans as Daniel Boone, John Sevier, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, and Andrew Jackson. Once lost, but now, forgotten no more. |
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... centuries were settling the New World not with their own children , but instead with the children of those they considered ethnically and religiously undesirable . In a sense , Hirschman sees the Jewish Diaspora as having extended to ...
... centuries earlier , is discussed by Jean Patterson Bible , as in the excerpt below . Members of a Lost Tribe of Israel ? ( Jean Patterson Bible , 1975ff . ) Were Their Forebears Members of a Lost Tribe of Israel ? Could the Melungeons ...
... Century Spain , " Américas ( October 1965 ) : 10. ] The stumbling block here is that , although there are several fair- sized groups of such Jews in the United States today , there seems to be no evidence that any have ever been in ...
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Contents
ix | |
DNA Disease and Demographics The Keys to the Mystery | 33 |
1492 A Most Propitious Year | 45 |
Rewriting the Past A New Origin Story | 55 |
Family Trees and Family Treks Migration Marriage and Naming Patterns among the Melungeons | 83 |
The TemplarFreemason Connection | 99 |