This is the story of “Thomas the Melungeon,”a
brave young man who enlisted as a Civil War Union Soldier in North Carolina on his eighteenth Birthday. Thomas fought for years to receive his military pension and
his life and family are chronicled here in many generations.
Some of Thomas’s ancestors were said to be
Catawba-Cherokee and Lumbee Indian. His
family was born into freedom, during a time when many people of African descent
were enslaved. The Lucas family defied many obstacles and challenges of their
day. Being “Free” did not exempt them
from the trials and tribulations of being bound out, forced into military
service, sued, physically attacked and the kidnapping of their children and
themselves. Their history is related
here from a variety of sources garnered by me, Thomas’s second great
granddaughter. I performed extensive research motivated by a family surname
puzzle and in search of my second great grandmother, whom everyone had
forgotten.
In this book, I trace their lineage from the
Colonial period in 1646 to the present day. Melungeon lineage has been
documented by DNA, yet it still fosters heated discussions, disputes and tales
of Native American and Portuguese ancestry.
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