possible antedating of Melungeon/Malungeon?

[Sam Clements]

The OED has 1840 (but spelled "malungeon" in the cite).

My M-W Collegiate doesn't recognize it as a word.

An investigative reporter wrote an article which said

     [The word was used in the September 26th, 1813 minutes of the Stoney Creek church of Virginia. Sister Susanna Kitchen brought a complaint to the church against Sister Susanna "Sookie" Stallard for "harboring them Melungins."]

The link to his article is  http://www.eclectica.org/v5n3/hashaw.html

As a secondary issue, the writer claims that the word is from the Kimbundu language spoken by the Mbundu nation in Angola in the 1600's and originally meant "watercraft" and that the "shipmates" who were brought to the US used the term to refer to themselves.