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Over the last six months, two women, who we all owe an enormous amount of gratitude to, took mitochondrial DNA tests through Family Tree DNA. They have joined the Melungeons of Magoffin County DNA Study and have been grouped together under the mitochondrial DNA results.

These two women are direct female to female descendants of Dicey Gibson and Spanish Peggy Gibson, the wives of Valentine Collins and Vardy Collins. Their connections are through Clarkia Collins, the wife of Isom Biggs and through Obedience Collins, the wife of William Cole.

The good news is that these two women have historically documented the mitochondrial DNA of Dicey and Spanish Peggy.

Here's the bigger news, they match and share the same mitochondrial DNA.

From what we can tell between DNA matches to descendants of Spanish Peggy and Dicey, is that the two women were most likely sisters, at the very least first cousins.

Given the amount of shared DNA between the two sets of descendants, I'm inclined to believe they could have very well been sisters, and below is the reason.

Not too long ago I found a court record in Ashe County NC involving Andrew Gibson, who is widely believed to be the father of Spanish Peggy and Buck Gibson, and the other person involved with Andrew Gibson was none other than Valentine Collins.

Now there are numerous records where Andrew provided securities for Vardy, but finding this record draws a distinctive relationship between Andrew and Valentine Collins. In fact, Vardy Collins was also part of this particular court case.

Added to this exciting DNA connection are four more existing matches, one to another direct female to female descendant of Dicey Gibson's, two women who come from Collins and Gibson lines in Hawkins County TN, and a direct female descendant of Mary Alice Stewart, the wife of Elijah Collins Jr., the son of Dorcas Nichols.

How some of these connections above tie together has yet to be determined, but the popular theory is that the mitochondrial DNA may be that of the ancestral Collins women.

I would like to publicly thank these two women for taking part in these tests, because they have, in my mind, added a historical finding in the field of Melungeon research that is unparalleled in the last couple of decades.

Thank you both for making a theory the truth.

Sincerely,

Patrick Nichols

Atlanta GA