Collins: The Melungeon Connection

Connecting with kin is just one of the blessings of exploring a family tree. In researching my mother's Kitts line, I was introduced to Norman and Sonja Collins (pictured right), who are my distant cousins and are serious genealogists.

My maternal grandfather George Washington Kitts' mother was Nellie Lucinda Collins, daughter of Aaron Collins. Norman's grandmother Clarissa was Aaron's niece, and she also married a Collins, her first cousin Tom Lee Collins. Tom Lee and Clarissa Collins are pictured left.

The Collins line and the Melungeon connection

My mother's paternal grandmother was Nellie Lucinda Collins. She was born February 2, 1872 to Aaron and Elizabeth (Vandergriff) Collins, who are pictured here. Aaron served the Union during the Civil War in Company B of the 2nd Tennessee cavalry.

Aaron Collins' parents were Freeling and Hannah (Stephens) Collins. Freeling was born on March 16, 1816, in Tennessee and died May 19, 1888. Oral family history tells that Hannah (born August 18, 1821; died August 19 1896) was tortured during the Civil War to learn where someone was hiding. Aaron and Hannah are buried in Clapps Cemetery, Cracker's Neck, Grainger County, TN.

Freeling's parents were Amos and Muriel (also spelled Meriel, Mariel, Marie, Mayvilla) Collins, who moved from Tennessee and lived in Kentucky near Big Creek in Clay County. Amos' children and their families were sometimes variously listed in the census records as Free Persons of Color or Mulatto, as so many of the Melungeons were often listed.

What's in a name? Joe Wheeler Kitts

My mother's paternal grandfather was Joe Wheeler Kitts (lovingly called "Grandpa" in her story copied in my Melungeon Roots post). When I see a name that seems to reflect someone else's last name as well, I immediately wonder what the connection or affinity is. Surprisingly, this great-grandfather of mine, born in 1867 to Joseph and Elizabeth (Boles) Kitts, was named for Confederate General "Fighting Joe" Wheeler, although most other family lines seem to have held Union sympathies.

Wheeler commanded all of the Army of Tennessee's cavalry and was recognized for his fighting in the battles of Shiloh, Perryville, La Vergne, Chicamauga, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Bentonville, Ringold, and Atlanta, where he helped stand against Sherman. General Robert E. Lee considered him one of the two outstanding Confederate cavalry leaders.

Joseph Wheeler Kitts married Nellie Loucinda Collins, the daughter of Aaron and Elizabeth (Vandergriff) Collins. He is shown here with his son, George Washington Kitts, my grandfather. Joe had eight children and was widowed and married more than once.

Revolutionary War: The Battle of King's Mountain

As the Revolutionary War was fought, the people of our area played an important role in helping to turn the tide toward freedom so that our family lines could enjoy their pursuits of independence. Colonel Ferguson of the British army became frustrated with the havoc being caused by the renegade Overmountain Men and sent word that if they didn't lay down their arms and cease their actions, he would cross the mountain himself and hang their leaders and ruin their lands. Well, that was the wrong thing to say to those strong-willed men who were determined to have victory. In short, the frontier farmers and woodsmen living over the mountain pulled together and marched to King's Mountain to defeat Ferguson and his men!

I've had the pleasure on Thursday and Friday this week to watch the present day Overmountain Victory Trail Association (OVTA) members, shown here, re-enact and retell the story of that march and victory during their annual trek along the original trail taken to King's Mountain. They provide demonstrations and presentations for schools and civic groups along the way. What a wonderful celebration of history and a gallant effort to preserve the details of this important heritage! For more information about the OVTA, visit their website.

Participating in that battle that was a turning point of the Revolutionary War were men by the names of Breden, Collins, Harrell, Webb, and Williams, names from our family lines. Were those any of our ancestors represented there? I hope to find out!

How They Met: My Kitts Grandparents

Soon after my grandmother Margaret Jane Hopson's family moved back near Washburn, TN, she caught the eye of George Washington Kitts one day as he was fulfilling the civic duty that each man had of taking his turn repairing the roads. He took one look at her and declared that she would be his wife some day! He came by her home one day, along with a young man who worked for her father on the farm, and the whippoorwills sang all night, but her parents had no idea then that George was interested in their daughter!

Papaw was born October 5, 1894, in Powder Springs, Grainger County, Tennessee, in an area Mamaw said was known as Dutch Valley. His mother, Nellie Loucinda (Collins) Kitts, was ill and passed away when he was young, so he was raised by the doctor who delivered him, Dr. Atkins, and his wife. They lived next door. For whatever reason, Mamaw's parents really didn't want her to be seeing that Kitts boy, so she secretly carried his photo in her "bosom" (see the worn crease in the photo) and eventually sneaked a few dresses out of the house before they eloped one Saturday, May 13, 1916, after a morning church service and were married at the home of the Reverend Phillips in Powder Springs. Ernest and Ula Needham were their witnesses. (These details came from Mamaw's Bible.) Mamaw knew she was supposed to be 16 to get married without the consent of her parents and her birthday was still a few weeks away, so she wrote the number 16 on a slip of paper, placed it in her shoe, and told the minister that she was "over 16!" She and Papaw returned to visit her parents home that night, where "they didn't throw a fit or nothin'."

Speaking of Unique History: Melungeon Roots

I never knew my mother to do any creative writing, but I found a few note pages she wrote with the following story, which is obviously based on her personal memories and questions:

"As she drove up the narrow valley road, the blue, blue sky enhanced the floating cotton puffs of clouds as they drifted over the mountain to her right. The mountain, Clinch by name, stretched out as far as she could see in either direction. A spiral of smoke drifted up above the ridge a distance in front of her. Shortly, a train came into view on the tracks that paralleled the road. Her mind wandered back to her childhood when the engineer gave a toot on the whistle and waved to her and her brothers and sister. They often played in the strip of land between the road and the railroad tracks in front of their home, romping in the lush green grass and clover. Smiling to herself, she wondered how far along the track the chains of clover she and her brother and sister made would stretch. Would they stretch from the little town or hamlet that nestled on the valley floor, practically at the foot of the mountains, to the little community of Powder Springs (She mused, "Wonder where the name came from?") on further up the valley, and also nestled at the base of the mountain, where her paternal grandfather lived in a little three room cabin? Reveling in thoughts of those long, gone days, she could still see her grandfather, sitting outside the cabin, his twine-bottomed chair against the wall, strumming on his banjo. She remembered he always, even in summer, wore a hat. Wishing she had a photo of that scene, she dwelt on the image, visioning clearly the white mustache, flowing white beard, the suspendered pants, and crumpled shirt. He lived there with three grown sons until they married, then he was alone. Her mother always cooked a big dinner for them as they spent a Sunday with her grandfather. Grandpa, as he was lovingly called, would go out to the smoke house and cut a big hunk out of a home-cured ham. The thoughts of the delicious, tasty, ham made her mouth water. Then she was brought back to reality, a constriction in her throat. Yearning to know more about her ancestry, she wa heading to the courthouse of a county across the mountains. Not too far, as the crow flies, from the county seat lived the Melungeons -- those tall, dark-skinned mysterious people. There were many theories as to their origin. She was sure they were her people. Her dad was tall and dark-skinned, high cheek-boned and his mother was of a family same as one of the Melungeons. The name went back as far as anyone knew or heard."

Because I had begun my research focused on my father's line and never seemed to finish, it was many years before I began to work on her family line. Fortunately, others I encountered had researched her Collins ancestry. And yes, my grandfather Kitts' mother, a Collins, descends from the Melungeons! Pictured here is my mother's father, George Washington Kitts, described above.