Carmel Melungeons
Carmel, Ohio, namesake of the Carmelites | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Highland County, Ohio, particularily Carmel, and Magoffin County, Kentucky, eastern United States | |
| Languages | |
| English | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity, Holiness movement | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Melungeons, Lumbee, Beaver Creek Indians, Redbones, Free people of color, Wesorts, Chestnut Ridge people, Brass Ankles, Free Blacks |
| Part of a series on ethnic |
| African Americans |
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The Carmel Melungeons, also known as Carmelites or Carmel Indians (pronounced Car'-mul) are a group of Melungeons who lived in Magoffin County, Kentucky and moved to Highland County, Ohio. Some visit Kentucky to meet relatives. Dr. Edward Price observed that the most common surnames among the families were Gibson, Nichols and Perkins. His research found that the ancestors of the group were listed as free people of color on census records.
According to interviews, the Nichols family descends from Black servants brought from Virginia to Carmel, Ohio in 1858, after which they married into the Gibson and Perkins families who had emigrated from eastern Kentucky. According to genealogical records, they were from Melungeon communities.