Addendums I and II
Addendum I – “Melungins” is a FRENCH word
1. Stoney Creek Primitive Baptist Church was the first place recorded in history that used the term “them melungins” to describe the mixed race people found along Virginia’s border with Tennessee.
mélanger (French verb) – to mix, combine, blend
Présent
French English
je mélange I mix
tu mélanges you mix
il/elle mélange he/she mixes
nous mélangeons we mix
vous mélangez yall mix
ils mélangent they mix
“Nous mélangeons” means “we mix” in English. The pronoun “nous” can be understood, so the verb “mélangeons” alone can mean “we mix”. Many others claim “Melungeons” comes from some obscure Arabic, Angolan, Turkish, or from some other language that looks slightly like the French word. A Portuguese word works as well. But that is to be expected, since both Portuguese and French are derived from Latin. But only in French is the word spelled and pronounced EXACTLY the same. In other languages it might mean something different – it might not mean “we mix”, as it does in French.
The coup de gras, however, is its origins at Stoney Creek Primitive Baptist Church. It was first written by a Frenchman! Jean Bricquette was a French Huguenot Immigrant to Virginia. His name was Anglicized, and he became John Brickey. His great-grandson, William Brickey, was church clerk of Stoney Creek Primitive Church at the time “them melungins” was recorded in 1813.
Jean Bricquette/Brickey abt. (1640-1718) was father of
Peter Brickey (1715-1787), who was father of
John Brickey (1741-1807), who was father of
William Brickey, 1780-1856. The minutes of that church provide a short biography of him, that can be found here:
Thus we have a French-American being the first to record the use the word “melangeons” in a known document in America.
Addendum II
Bane/Bain and Williamson COULD HAVE BEEN of mixed-Catawban Descent
Many people have tried to tell me the “Western Catawba Indian Association” was possibly run by a con-artist. They wonder; who were James Bain/Bane and George E. Williamson? These are NOT surnames commonly associated with the Catawban/Saponi/Cheraw/Pedee peoples. However I searched both surnames. I would hope to vindicate those two individuals.
Many people say this was a scam operation, and they say Bain and Williamson are NOT known Catawban surnames. Since the government rejected their attempt to be recognized as an American tribe, I thought it important to research this possibility. Well, checkout the following –
Bane/Bain
1860 census, Bolivar County, Mississippi [note: Bolivar County borders the Mississippi River, across the river from both Desha County, Arkansas, and the mouth of the Arkansas River.] We know that in 1848, Catawba families started moving westward, but after the trip, were stranded somewhere between the Carolinas and Virginia in the east, and Indian Territory/Oklahoma in the west.
?S. or E.? Bane 30, m, Mississippi
Elizabeth Bane, 20, f, Arkansas,
James W. Bane, 5, m, Arkansas
George Wallace Bane, 3 , m, Arkansas
Victoria Ann Bane, f, Illinois
David Greer, m, Tennessee,
Mary Greer, f, Mississippi
Randolph Bunch, 6, m, Arkansas
James Campbell, 13, m, Mississippi
Notice a six-year old surnames “Bunch” in the household. As we shall see by the 1920 Sebastian County, Arkansas lists the same “James Bain” mentioned in this 1850 census. Sebastian County is the location of the headquarters of the Western Catawba Indian Association in the 1890s. “Bunch” is a known Catawban surname.
1920 Sebastian Co,. Ark Census
James Bain, head, m, w, 71, Ms, Ms, Ms
Orral Bain, wife, f, w, 28, Ark, Ms, Ark
A five-year old boy named James Bane/Bain in 1860 is now a 71 year old man in 1920. Sebastian County, Arkansas is the county that included Fort Smith, Arkansas, where the Catawba Indian Association was headquartered in the 1890s. There is another “James Minor Bain/Bane” on other Arkansas census records, but it is clearly another person. Both the surnames of Minor and Bunch are associated with mixed race Saponi and Catawban families. By the 1890s many surnames would have been added to the original few. Half (approximately), if there were as many girls born as boys, of the descendants of Catawban peoples should have unrecognizable surnames, in every generation being born.
On the 1920 census record, the 71 year old man named James Bain/Bane his parents were born in Mississippi. On the 1860 census, the father of the 5 year old James was born in Mississippi and the mother in Arkansas in 1860. The 71 year old man in 1920 living in Sebastian County, Arkansas IS the 5 year old boy in Mississippi in 1860. The fact that there was a 6 year old child in the household in 1860 surnamed “Bunch” speaks towards a possible validation of this family’s claim of Catawban ancestry in the 1890s as members of the Western Catawba Indian Association.
Williamson
What can we do with the Williamson’s? I have had less luck tracing George E. Williamson’s ancestors. My luck might be about to change. I have found him in Greenwood, Sebastian County, Arkansas and it was recorded some of the Western Catawba lived in Greenwood. There were some Williamson’s living on or very near the Catawba Reservation in South Carolina. It was written that there were 44 Western Catawba living in Greenwood.
Just now I found a man living at present named George E. Williamson in Wisconsin. He has relatives in/around Fort Smith, Arkansas. He is probably related to the George E Williamson who lived in Fort Smith, Arkansas 125 years ago who had something to do with the Western Catawba Indian Association. I just called hi, and no answer. Worse, no answering machine where I could mention the reason for my call. I’ll try again later. There are addresses of others I could write, but no phone number – I’ll write them, too.
Another piece of information I just discovered. These Arkansas Williamson’s came from York County, South Carolina. That is the exact location of the Eastern Catawba. https://www.myheritage.com/names/arthur_williamson .
Where it states –
Arthur Daniel Williamson, 1875 - 1946
Arthur Daniel Williamson was born on month day 1875, at birth place , Arkansas, to James William Williamson and Elva A. Williamson .
James was born on November 15 1850, in Pope County, AR.
Elva was born on October 7 1851, in York, South Carolina, United States.
Arthur had 6 sisters: Mary Ella Gentry (born Williamson) , Emma Jane Gentry and 4 other siblings
Pope County, Arkansas is about 80 miles east of Sebastian County, Arkansas, where George E. Williamson lived.
Records found in “Indian Pioneer Papers” speak of a Gentry family that was of Catawban ancestry.
Thus we have proven that both the Bane/Bain and Williamson families, descendants and relations of both James Bain/Bane and George E. Williamson had people with known Catawban surnames lived in the households of families related to them. QED
The Frederick Leader; Friday, December 29, 1922; page 2 of 4; 2nd column
Deep Red
Deep Red, December 27. [A few paragraph’s down]
Mr. & Mrs. Swaney Richey, Mrs. Holton Richey and daughter, Juanita of Cement spent the holidays at the J. H. Richey home.
Miss Willie Bell Wiley spent Sunday with Miss Eunice Hawkins.
. . . several paragraph’s down . . .
Mr. and Mrs. Williamson, and daughter Maurine, spent Tuesday at the J. H. Richey home.
My great grand parents were J. H. (Jeffrey Hoten) and Josephine (Brown) Richey. Swaney Richey was grandma’s brother, dad’s uncle. So was called Hoten Richey (spelled here as Holton). He was also named “Jeffrey Hoten Richey,” same as his father. But while his father was called “Jeffrey”, the younger son was called “Uncle Hoten” – that’s what dad always called him. “Eunice” was dad’s cousin, great Aunt Bea’s daughter. Dad used to say she knew our Indian heritage. Dad used to be close to her. But he said he asked her once about out Native heritage and she replied, “Oh, you just want that Indian money.” Dad said she hurt his feelings and he quit being so close to her after that. He never asked her again. Dad would have been 6 or 7 years old in 1922. He always said he grew up on a neighboring farm, next door to his grandparents. He might have known of these Williamson’s visit, but being so young, it never registered on him.
I don’t know who those Williamson’s were who were visiting my great grandparents. Could they have been relatives of George E. Williamson? I don’t know.
My great grandparents lived in the Chickasaw Nation and are on the 1900 Chickasaw Nation census. On the 1910 census they are recorded in Tillman County, in the new state of Oklahoma. Oklahoma became a state in 1907.Maybe finding Maurine/Maureen Williamson is the key. I’ll keep looking.
Citing the Record
"Oklahoma, School Records, 1895-1936," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGRL-S5ZT : 18 October 2019), B J Williamson in entry for Maureen Williamson, 1916; citing School Enrollment, Oklahoma, United States, multiple County Clerk offices, Oklahoma school district offices, Oklahoma; FHL microfilm .
Name B J Williamson
Sex U
B J Williamson's Spouses and Children
Maureen Williamson
Daughter
F 6
Event Type School Enrollment
Name Maureen Williamson
Sex Female
Age 6
School Enrollment Date 1916
School Enrollment Place Oklahoma, United States
School Enrollment Place (Original) Oklahoma
Birth Date 14 Jul 1910
Parent Name B J Williamson
So there was a “Maureen Williamson” born in 1910 in Oklahoma. Unfortunately, only a “B. J. Williamson" is listed as a parent. I have no idea where this person lived in Oklahoma. Was "B. J." male or female? I don't know. They visited my great grandparents during the school Christmas/News Year holidays. I wish I knew where this school was located. Also could "BJ" Williamson be "JB" Williamson? James William Williamson listed above might be James Bill Williamson. Anyone named "William" Williamson bight prefer to be known as "Bill" Williamson. Maybe I am grasping at straws.
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