About us
Background: In the mid 1830’s, a mixed race group of individuals emigrated from Louisa County, Virginia to what was then Gallia County, Ohio (now Vinton County, Ohio.) It is not clear how all these individuals were connected, but they had three common surnames: Thacker, Napper, and Dorton (Dalton.) Some of these individuals are presumed to have gone by their maternal surname, though it is not clear which individuals this would have included. There was substantial intermarriage of this group that continued well into the 20th century. Family lore surrounding these individuals indicates both Native American and African American heritage along with European heritage. Calvin Beale was the first person to name the group (The Vinton County Group) and included them in his 1957 paper, “American Triracial Isolates: Their Status and Pertinence to Genetic Research.”