Creeks, Rivers, and Streams


Stony Creek
The first written record of the word Melungin is recorded in the 1813 minutes of Stony Creek Church.  "Then came forward sister Kitchens and complained to the church against Susanna Stallard for saying she harbored them Melungins." 



Flat River, Orange County NC
Partial 1755 Orange County North Carolina tax list from the Flat River area. John Collins 1 tithe (mulatto);  Micajer Bunch 1 tithe (mulatto);  Gedion Bunch 1 tithe (mulatto); Moses Ridley 1 tithe and wife Mary (mullattoes); Thomas Gibson 3 thithes (Mulatto);  George Gibson 1 tithe (mulatto.  These are the Melungeon families who came to Tennessee.  According to North Carolina records the Saponi Indians had a settlement about 15 miles east of Hillsboro, county seat for Orange County, North Carolina, and some of them may have been the ones named in this court case in Orange County, Virginia: "Alexander Machartoon, John Bowling, Manicassa, Capt. Tom, Isaac, Harry, blind tom, Foolish Jack, Charles Griffin, John Collins, Little Jack, Indians being brought before the court for stealing Hogs, Ordered that their Guns be taken away from them till they are ready to depart of this county, they having declared their intentions to depart this colony within a week."   (pp 309-312 Orange County, virginia Order Book 3, 1741-43, Courtesy of Virginia DeMarce.) 



Riddle Creek

Holston River




Blackwater Creek, Vardy Valley, Hancock Co. TN
Hancock County, Tennessee You must know that within ten miles of this owl's nest, there is a watering-place, known hereabouts as 'black-water Springs.' It is situated in a narrow gorge, scarcely half a mile wide, between Powell's Mountain and the Copper Ridge, and is, as you may suppose, almost inaccessible. A hundred men could defend the pass against even a Xerxian army. Now this gorge and the tops and sides of the adjoining mountains are inhabited by a singular species of the human animal called MELUNGENS. The legend of their history, which they carefully preserve, is this. A great many years ago, these mountains were settled by a society of Portuguese Adventurers, men and women.   
Littell's Living Age 1848   



Pamunkey River



Mule Ford


Rebel Hollow



Elk Creek
Mary Hill and I are standing at the mouth of Elk Creek , near this very spot was where Tory Captain William Riddle camped for the night after he and his men captured Colonel Benjamin Cleveland at Old Fields. This location today is near Todd, Watauga County, North Carolina. Riddle Knob is about 2 miles west of Elk Creek, where Tory Capt. Riddle's camp was located. 



Blackberry Creek
Blackberry Creek begins in Patrick County, Virginia, and flows through the western part of Henry County, Virginia. My 7th generation grandparents John and Elizabeth Going owned a plantation (500 acres) that lay astride Blackberry Creek. John Going was the first person granted permission in Henry County, Virginia to build a grist mill (1777) and on Blackberry Creek. They were the parents of 8 sons and 3 daughters. I descend from their son Zephaniah and also their daughter Elizabeth who married Herzekiah Minor.

Copyright Jack Goins 2013

1 comment:

  1. Hi Jack,
    When you are looking at Hawkins County records, I hope you will stumble across the name NANCY CAROLINE SMITH who married Jasper Morton of Union County. Nancy looks very native American. The family was told she is native American. I'm wondering if Smith was not her original name--might have had a first marriage. Does Hawkins County have marriage bonds records? Bonnie Heiskell Peters, Union County, Tennessee, Historian

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