Case file · Folklore / legend
Melungeon origin legends
Mixed-ancestry families of the Newman's Ridge area were called 'Melungeons' (first recorded in 1813) and became the subject of romantic legends of Portuguese castaways, a lost tribe or the Lost Colony.
1813 CE · 36.55, -83.25 · status: explained
The account
The legends partly served to escape the racial laws of the time. Descendants reclaimed the name in the late 20th century.
The sceptical view
A 2012 DNA study found mainly sub-Saharan African and northern European ancestry, matching the record of free Black and white families in colonial Virginia.