Re: MINGO / LANGILLE -Nova Scotia
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In reply to:
Re: MINGO / LANGILLE -Nova Scotia
1/13/02
Hello Janice. My paternal grandfather's family came from the Messina district in Sicily. The village where my paternal grandfather was born was founded and settled originally by the Lombards, a Germanic people. The dialect in the village bears Franco-Germanic linguistic distinctions. Many of the people in that village to this day are blonde and blue eyed.
Remember, too, that the Normans conquered Sicily for a time. Their ancestors were the Vikings. Sicily is a melting pot of all types of peoples.
Some have suggested that the Mingo name was brought to Switzerland and Montbeliard, France from Spain where it was originally Do Mingo. Henry of Navarre was an ally of Protestants, and Montbeliard and the Geneva area had been a haven for Protestants in the late 1500's.
There is an Iroquois language known as Mingo. Many persons of Native American or Native American/African heritage took, or were given the surname. There is a tradition of some Native American heritage through the Mingos in Nova Scotia. Maybe Matthew Mingo's unknown wife was a Native American? His father is said to have been Christopher Mingo from Switzerland who came with a brother, Jasper Mingo to Pennsylvania to start a foundry.