On Family and Fences: Tracing Melungeon Roots in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and Tennessee

The Melungeons are a group of indeterminable origin living in the Blue
Ridge Mountains of Southeastern Tennessee and Southwestern Virginia. This
thesis describes characteristics of these tri-racial isolates and gives theories as to
their mysterious origins. Being darker skinned, the Melungeons were pushed
into more mountainous regions by European colonists in the early 1700’s. While
multiple hypotheses exist as to the origin of the Melungeon people, there is no
single theory that is accepted by all scholars.

Dr. Brent Kennedy’s The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud
People, served as a catalyst for my Melungeon research. Kennedy is my cousin,
and his book provided facts behind the family stories I recalled from childhood. It
also linked me to other famous Melungeons such as Brandy Jack Mullins and
Mahala Mullins. Although there are an abundance of stories and facts about my
Melungeon heritage, there is also much history that has been lost.

This thesis traces my Melungeon roots, following the family stories of
N.B. Kennedy, Brandy Jack Mullins, Mahala Mullins, and Kenneth Kennedy. In
order to fully understand these people and their stories, I not only researched their
history, but I also visited the areas where they lived and died. In this manner, I
was able to gain a better understanding my own family as well as the history of
the Melungeons.

A person’s past is pieced together through oral history, written records,
fading pictures, and personal artifacts. Along with these methods, we as writers
and researchers add a bit of our own thought and imagination to fill in the gaps of
a person’s life. In this manner, personal mythology is created. This thesis ends
with an example of one fictionalized story from my family surrounding the death
of my uncle, Kenneth Kennedy.