Chestnut Ridge people

The Chestnut Ridge people (CRP) are a mixed-race (or tri-racial isolate) community residing just northeast of Philippi, Barbour County in north-central West Virginia, USA. They are often called "Mayles" (from the most common surname — Mayle or Male) or "Guineas" (a pejorative term). Some CRP have identified as Melungeon and attended the Melungeon Unions or joined the Melungeon Heritage Association. Many CRP identify themselves as Native American, or as an Indian-white mixed group.

History

The local West Virginia historian Hu Maxwell was bemused by the origin of these people when he studied Barbour County history in the late 1890s:

The local pejorative term "guinea" was still being used more than a century after these words were written. By the 1860s, many individuals of these mixed-race families had married into the white community and their descendants identified as white, serving in West Virginia regiments during the Civil War. Records in the Barbour County Courthouse indicate that several of them petitioned the courts (successfully) to be declared legally white at this time.