The Never-ending Road American Roma (Gypsy ), Travellers, & "Others" Early Native American Indian Remnants & Other SC

[D J Thornton]

I have always found this interesting site. I don't know where my Roma comes from, but great clues are here, German, Irish, Scottish, and Melungeon.
http://sciway3.net/clark/freemoors/index.html
We have more ethnic diversity from the Colonial Era than you may have realized.  There were Roma, or Gypsies as they are more commonly called by non-Gypsies, in the Americas along with the very earliest settlers.  There are legends of the Portuguese "dumping" Gypsies at what is now Port Royal, SC, before the English came (see legends of the Cook family on the Hampton Co., SC web site - off site).  This may be the origin of the Melungeons (who are probably not Roma, but may be.). Roma and Irish Travellers have been discriminated against to the point that they keep to themselves.  Roma, or Gypsies, are from India, migrating to, and through, Europe in the Middle Ages.  We here provide a gathering place for Gypsies and Irish Travellers in all of the Americas, for those of us with known or suspected blood connections, and for the so called "Turks of Sumter Co., SC," who actually may have been Native American Indians, and "Free Moors of SC."