MESTEE GROUPS OF THE SOUTH

IN SEARCH OF THE BLACK DUTCH ANCESTRY OF THE MESTEE (MIXED BLOOD) GROUPS OF MY ANCESTORS. MELUNGEONS, CAROLINA PORTUGUESE, BRASS ANKLES, LUMBEE and REDBONES

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jan oliver: My results look very much like yours. My family are Griffin and Gibsons originally from Virginia ...ended up in Texas. Thanks for sharing.

farrell duttom: i'm related to the flannagansin northwest alabama . johngot here in about 1780 or 1790 . he married a indianwoman . according to familyhistory,they intermarried with the borden family,whointermarried with the duttons. instead of indian weyoung were told we wereblack dutch .

captainelectric1: this is a great blog,very interesting to me. i am black dutch my paternal grandmother told me the story of her people when i was a teenager.she said they were indian(she whipered indian). she told me it was my head that reminded her of her people, i have the melungeon bump on my head, of corse she had no knowing of melungeon, they came from knox and blont co's.tn. their surname was flanagan and i am researching my family tree. any help would be grateful. her fathers name was Moses Flanagan,grand

Thursday, April 10th 2008

10:31 AM

The Brass Ankles of South Carolina

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_Ankles

The Brass Ankles of Orangeburg and Charleston South Carolina

by Alvie Walts

The Brass Ankles were a large group of mixed blood Native American Indians, Africans, Anglo Americans and “other” ancestries that appeared during the mid 1800’s in areas of Orangeburg and Charleston South Carolina and along the coastal areas. The groups were probably given the misnomer of “Brass Ankle” due to the areas in which they lived were known to be places which were once inhabited by Native American slaves. The Brass Ankle people appear to have migrated from North Carolina at some point in time due to the number of similar or same surnames that are seen among the Lumbee Native Americans of Robeson County North Carolina today. They appear to be marginally related to the Pee Dee, Kusso, Natchez and Santee Native Americans from South Carolina however intermarriage does appear to have occurred. All of these tribes are native to South Carolina except the Natchez tribe who migrated from Mississippi and the Lumbee who are from North Carolina. They appear not to be related to the mixed blood Gibsons, Pendarvis and Jennings families of the area.

The South Carolina Native Americans tribes of the Pee Dee, Kusso, Natchez and Santee people are located in the following communities:

Creeltown, Four Holes, Varnertown, White Oaks

Some of the surnames seen among these South Carolina Native Americans:

Windham, Davidson, Winningham, Mucklevaney, Creel, Friendly, Reeves, Harrison, Willis, Martin, Pratt/Platt, Wilder, Russell, Dangerfield, Clark and Edings/Eddings

There is another Native American community that was located on Miller Bay. Surnames among the Miller Bay Native American Indians:

Miller and Cook.

Today, the descendents of the people that were known as Brass Ankles seem to be reforming into Native American tribes. Common “Lumbee” and Mixed ancestry surnames such as Chavis and Goins can be found among the Beaver Creek and Croatoan American Indians in South Carolina.

Known Brass Ankle Surnames:

Boone, Braveboy, Bunch, Chavis, Criel/Creel, Driggers, Goins, Harmon, Jackson, Russell, Sweat and Williams

The term Brass Ankle is also used in the popular book Brass Ankle Blues, by Rachel Harper, to describe the ancestry of the character who is a teenage girl learning about her heritage and discovering her own personal identity.

http://www.amazon.com/Brass-Ankle-Blues-Rachel-Harper/dp/0743276809