Several years ago a descendant of the the Craft family presented to my mother in an email the theory that the Craft line extended back to the Melungeons that originated in the Southeastern part of the United States: North Carolina and South Carolina into Tennessee and parts of Virginia, Kentucky and so on. If you don’t know about the Melungeons there is a website with a ton of information that I found through the Lost Colony/Melungeon Lore DNA Project, Melungeon Heritage Association.
There are several theories on the origin of the Melungeons, one being that the members of the Lost Colony of Roanoke may have travelled to Croatan Island and blended with the Native inhabitants. Another theory, of course, is that the colonists were attacked and murdered by the Natives.
In general it is thought that the Melungeons are a grab-bag mix of Native Americans, freed black slaves, Portuguese and white European settlers. DNA tests show that the genomes of known Melungeon descendants correlate with all of these groups.
Census records show us that these families all had appearances that did not allow them to be categorized into mainstream society. They were usually listed as black, Indian or mulatto. In general they may have had European features, but with darker skin. Or some of their features may have been more African than European. There are photos that can be found online of known Melungeons. Some I see and I think that I never would have noticed a difference. Some I see and, though the features are clearly European, their skin is very dark. I have even seen photos of people with blonde hair and very dark skin. As time went on and the Melungeons mingled and married those with predominately European ancestry their successors slowly became accepted as “white”.
So when my mother introduced me with this family theory, I decided to check it out. Because my autosomal DNA matches so many different world populations I am comparing it to different people of known Melungeon origins. This, of course, takes more research, but it’s pretty intriguing. This may explain why members of my direct Craft family get so dark in the sun so quickly. And though we know there is Native American blood, there may also be Melungeon.
A woman in the Lost Colony/Melungeon Lore DNA Project also has Crafts in her family. If I can find if and how her Crafts are from the same line I may be able to say unquestionably that, yes, our Crafts are descended from Melungeons.
I am still researching them, but here’s what I have so far (that I am certain of), following my direct line (this in no way represents all of the offspring from each couple, only my direct line):
Thomas Craft (abt 1810-?)
Dicey Unknown (abt 1822-?)
According to census records Thomas was born in North Carolina. Both his mother and father were born in South Carolina. Dicey was born in Tennessee and both her mother and father were born in South Carolina.
John Craft (1867-1931)
Epanetes (Eppy) Willhite (1869-?)
John Craft was born in Tennessee. Census records state that his father was born in Tennessee, so either the census taker or John himself made a mistake.
Henry Corbett Craft (1895-1971)
Katie Clady Cathey
Corb was born in Hickman County, Tennessee. Katie was born in Indian Bayou, Lonoke, Arkansas.
Ruthie May Craft (1925-2007)
James Paul Stalls, Jr (1917-1987)
Both Ruth and Paul were born in Tennessee.
I have read on websites many different surnames for Dicey. I have also seen many different fathers listed for Thomas, with the most promising being a Charles Craft from South Carolina. Until I have confirmation on these names, however, I cannot actually add them.
On an interesting side note, I read on Wikipedia that an anti-illegal immigration group is using Virginia Dare, the child of , more or less, illegal immigrants (the Native Americans sure didn’t want them on their land) as the namesake and symbol of their group.
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