YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE SCOTCH-IRISH
IN AMERICA

HENRY JONES FORD I*.
PKOFEBSOR OP POLITICS AT PHINCETON UNIVEBSITT

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON, N. J.
LONDON: HUMPHEET MILFOED
OXFORD UNITEESITT PRESS
1915

Copyright, 1915, by
Princeton University Press
Published February, 1915

TO THE
PENNSYLVANIA SCOTCH-IRISH SOCIETY

PREFACE
Acknowledgment of the importance of Ulster
emigration to America frequently occurs in the
works of English and American historians deal
ing with the events of the eighteenth century,
and a mass of literature has accumulated in both
coimtries with regard to particular phases of the
subject. A systematic treatise devoted to that
special theme seemed to be desirable, and hence
the book now before the reader.
This book tells the story of the Ulster Planta
tion and of the influences that formed the char
acter of the people. The causes are traced that
led to the great migration from Ulster and the
Scotch-Irish settlements in America are de
scribed. The recital of their experiences involves
an accoimt of frontier manners and customs, and
of collisions with the Indian tribes. The influence
of the Scotch-Irish settlements upon American
institutions is traced, particularly in organizing
and propagating the Presbyterian Church, in
spreading popular education, and in promoting
the movement for American national independ
ence. In conclusion, there is an appreciation of
the Ulster contribution to American nationahty.
The work is based upon original research.
The State Papers of the period of the Ulster

PREFACE
Plantation were examined, with the eifect of
throwing new light upon an imdertaking over
whose character and incidents there has been
much controversy. Historical material on both
sides of the Atlantic has been sifted, and pains
have been taken to produce an authentic account
of the formation and diffusion of a race stock
that has played a great part in establishing and
developing the American nation.
The author desires to express his thanks to the
Rev. Professor James Heron, of the Assembly's
College, Belfast, for permitting the reproduction
of his analysis of the ethnic origins of the Scottish
settlers of Ulster; to Mr. Albert Levin Richard
son of Baltimore, for collections of historical ma
terial; to Professor Varnum Lansing CoUins, of
Princeton University, for help in the chapter on
educational institutions; to Professor Harry
Franklin Covington of Prmceton University
for data respecting Scotch-Irish settlements in
Maryland; to the Hon. W. U. Hensel of Lan
caster and to Judge Harman Yerkes of Bucks
County, Pennsylvania, for information; and to
Charles L. McKeehan, Esq., Secretary of the
Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish Society, for much kind
assistance in reaching sources of information and
in collecting material.
Princeton, February, 1915.
Note: The device stamped upon the front of the cover is the
heraldic badge of Ulster.

V

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter p^^^
Preface 
I. The Ulster Plantation  2
II. The Land and the People  42
III. Scotch Migration to Ulster  80
IV. Formative Influences  129
V. Emigration to America  165
VI. Scotch-Irish Settlements  209
VII. On the New England Frontier  221
VIII. In New York and the Jerseys  249
IX. Pennsylvania — the Scotch-Irish Centre. 260
X. The Indian Wars  291
XL Planting the Church  325
XII. On Stony Ground  338
XIII. The Source of American Presbyterianism 360

Vll

TABLE OF CONTENTS
XIV. Expansion South and West  378
XV. Some Pioneer Preachers  ^01
XVI. Scotch-Irish Educational Institutions.. 413
XVII. The Spread of Popular Education  447
XVIII. The Revolutionary Period  458
XIX. The Birth of the Nation  492
XX. A Survey and an Appreciation  520
Appendices
A. Ireland at the Time of the Plantation  541
B. The Scottish Undertakers  548
C. The Making of the Ulster Scot  555
D. Statement of Frontier Grievances  576
E. Galloway's Account of the American Revolt 583
F. The Mecklenburg Resolves  588
List of Authorities Consulted  593
Index  597

CHAPTER I
The Ulster Plantation
In 1609, six years after the accession of James
VI. of Scotland to the throne of England as
James I. in its line of kings, a. scheme was ma
tured for planting Ulster with Scotch and Eng
lish, and the following year the settlement began.
The actual settlers were mostly Scotch, and the
Ulster plantation took the character of a Scotch
occupation of the North of Ireland. In that,
plantation was formed the breed known as
Scotch-Irish, which was prominent in the strug
gle for American independence and which sup
plied to American population an ingredient that
has deeply affected the development of the na
tion. It is the purpose of this work to give an
account of this Scotch-Irish strain in the com
position of the American people, tracing its
history and influence.
The circumstances in which the Ulster plan
tation was formed had much to do with fixing
the characteristics of the breed. The plantation
was attended by an ouster of native Irish that is
a staple subject of censure by historians who.

2 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
from the point of view supphed by the ideas of
our own times, hold that wiser arrangements
might have been made in the interest of all
parties. But that was not easy to see then.
Francis Bacon is reckoned a wise man but he did
not see it. In a letter written in 1601 to Cecil,
Elizabeth's famous Secretary of State, Bacon
referred to three roots of trouble in Ireland :
"The first, the ambition and absoluteness
of the chiefs of the families and septs. The
second, the licentious idleness of their kernes
and soldiers, that he upon the country by
cesses and such like oppressions. And the
third, the barbarous laws, customs, their
brehon laws, habits of apparel, their poets
or heralds that enchant them in savage man
ners, and simdry other dregs of barbarism
and rebelhon."
The policy of making English settlements in
Ireland was no new thing. It had been pursued
fitfully from Norman times. Bacon did not
question it, but he argued that further imder-
takings of the kind should not be left "as here
tofore, to the pleasure of Undertakers and
adventurers, where and how to build and plant;
but that they do it according to a prescript or
formulary." In this way the Government would
be assured that the places would be selected
"which are fittest for colonies or garrisons, as
well for doubt of the foreigner, as for keeping

THE ULSTER PLANTATION 3
the covmtry in bridle," Bacon had the matter so
much on his mind that in 1606 he presented to
King James Considerations Touching the Plan
tation in Ireland written in the highest style of
his stately eloquence. He said that among the
works of kings two "have the supreme pre
eminence : the union, and the plantation of king
doms." By a singular favor of Divine Providence
"both these kinds of foundations or regenera
tions" had been put into the hands of King
James: "the one, in the union of the island of
Britain; the other in the plantation of great and
noble parts of the island of Ireland." Adorning
his periods with elaborate metaphors in which
figured the harp of Ireland, the harp of Orpheus
and the harp of David, Bacon expatiated upon
the greatness of the achievement "when people
of barbarous manners are brought to give over
and discontinue their customs of revenge and
blood, of dissolute life, and of theft, and of
rapine; and to give ear to the wisdom of laws
and governments."
At the time this discourse was written the
property of the Crown in Ulster consisted chiefly
of the abbey lands, and plans were under con
sideration for settling English and Scotch colo
nists upon these lands while the Irish lords
retained their lands with Enghsh title and under
English law. ' But so important did the planta-

4 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
tion appear to Bacon, even although thus limited,
that he suggested that the King, the better to
express his "affection to the enterprise, and for
a pledge thereof," should add the Earldom of
Ulster to the titles of the Prince of Wales.
Bacon went on to discuss in detail the principles
that should govern the enterprise. He thought
that "the generality of Undertakers" should be
"men of estate and plenty," not that they would
go there themselves but that they would have
means to engage in the business for the "advance
ment of their younger children or kinsfolks; or
for the sweetness of the expectation of a great
bargain in the end." As incentives the lands
should be let to them on easy rates and large
liberties. Upon the latter point Bacon promptly
explains that he does not mean liberties of juris
diction which "hath been the error of the ancient
donations and plantations in that country." He
means only "liberties tending to commodity; as
liberty to transport any of the commodities grow
ing upon the countries new planted; liberty to
import from hence all things appertaining to
their necessary use, custom-free." If this wise
advice had been acted upon consistently the
course of Irish and American history would have
been different.
At this time the colonization of Virginia was
appealing for support, but in comparison with

THE ULSTER PLANTATION 5
the Ulster project the Virginia plantation
seemed so visionary that Bacon referred to it as
"an enterprise in my opinion differmg as much
from this, as Amadis de Gaul differs from
Caesar's Commentaries." He struck the same
note in 1617 when as Lord Chancellor of Eng
land he addressed the person called to be Lord
Chief Justice of Ireland. Bacon remarked that
"Ireland is the last ex filiis Europae which hath
been reclaimed from desolation and a desert (in
many parts) to population and plantation; and
from savage and barbarous customs to humanity
and civihty," He commended the plantations
to the special care of the new justice, with the
admonition: "You are to be a master builder,
and a master planter, and reducer of Ireland."
Bacon's views have been considered at some
length because they illumine the ideas with which
the statesmanship of the age approached such
tasks, and also reveal the origin of some charac
teristic features of the Ulster plantation. To ^
Bacon's view the tribal system of Ireland with
its state of chronic disorder was a remnant of the
same barbarism against which Caesar fought in
Gaul and Charlemagne in continental Europe.
The planting of trusty colonies among uncivilized
peoples as garrisons to check their insubordina
tion and as centers from which culture would be
diffused was a practice that went back to the

6 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
times of the ancient Roman commonwealth, had
been adopted by many European rulers, and was
generally regarded as a well-settled expedient of
prudent statesmanship. Nothing m Bacon's re
marks indicates any doubt in his mind as to the
rightfuhiess of such a pohcy in Ireland, although
it necessarily involved dispossession of natives.
His only concern was to adopt such measures as
would make the pohcy efficacious. Moreover it
should be borne in muad that m that tune the
feudal prmciple that the tenure of land is con
tingent upon personal service to the State had
not been overborne by the notions of individual
ownership and exclusive right that have since be
come dominant, although in our own times there
are signs of reaction. It seemed altogether fit
ting that rebels and traitors should be ejected
and that the land should be placed in charge of
those upon whom the King could rely when he
called for service. At the bottom of land tentu-e
was a personal relation between the King and
his liege. The State in its modern aspect as a
sovereign authority deriving its revenues from
systematic taxation and regulating rights and
duties by positive law was in process of forma
tion but it was not fully developed imtil long
after the period of the Ulster plantation.
The effect of Bacon's advice in the Ulster ar
rangements is distinctly marked. To it seems to

THE ULSTER PLANTATION 7
be due one of the existing orders of Enghsh no
bility. Bacon deemed it so important "to allure
by all means fit Undertakers" that in the me
morial of 1606 he suggested that grants of
knighthood, "with some new difference and pre
cedence," might "work with many" in drawing
them to the support of the cause. Action taken
by the King early in 1611 accords with Bacon's
advice. The order of baronets, officially de
scribed as "a new dignitie between Barons and
Knights," was instituted, to consist of gentlemen
who should bind themselves to pay a sum suffi
cient to maintain thirty foot-soldiers in Ireland
for three years, the money thus obtained to be
kept as a special fund so that it might be "wholly
converted to that use for which it was given and
intended." The first of these baronets was
Bacon's own half-brother, and it appears that
Bacon advised the King on points raised touching
the dignity and precedence of the new order of
nobility. There have been many flings at James
I. in this matter of the institution of the order
of baronet — it seems to have a special attraction
for the sarcasm of writers of popular history —
but the record shows that it was inspired by
Bacon and was performed by the King as a
utilitarian transaction quite in the modem spirit.
A similar creation of baronets was planned by
King James in 1624 in aid of the colonization

8 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
of Nova Scotia, the fimdamental condition being
that each baronet of this class should maintain
six colonists for two years. The two classes are
still distioguished in their heraldry, all baronets
having the right to bear the Red Hand of Ulster
on their coat of arms, except those of the Nova
Scotian creation who display the arms of Scot
land. The order of baronet, although rankmg
below other orders of nobihty in dignity and
precedence, may justly claim to possess a dis
tinctly imperial character.
Not long after Bacon's memorial to the King
the possibihties in Ulster were enlarged by a
series of events which at the same time empha
sized the need of vigorous measures. These
events serve also to illustrate the clash of cultures
that was the underlying cause of Irish anarchy.
The accession of James took place just as an
uprising aided by Spanish troops had been sub
dued after more than four years of hard fighting.
The submission of the Earl of Tyrone, the
chief native magnate of Ulster, whose surrender
ended resistance in that province, took place
only a few days before James set out from Edin
burgh to take possession of the throne of Eng
land to which he had just been called. The
Irish situation presented an urgent problem to
James and his counsellors. That problem, in
addition to its chronic perplexities arising from

THE ULSTER PLANTATION 9
internal conditions, was complicated by foreign
influences. The Coimter-Reformation was
prosecuted with great vigor and success by
Jesuit missionaries in Ireland and their plans of
making the country an independent kingdom
gained the sympathy of Pope Gregory XIII.,
who accepted the Crown of Ireland in behalf of
a nephew. The movement acquired serious im
portance when Philip IL of Spain gave support
to it. He was not inchned at first to have any
thing to do with the Irish as he was embittered
by the way in which crews of wrecked galleons
of the Armada had been robbed and murdered
on the western coast of Ireland. But English
attacks on the coasts of Spain and Portugal, and
the support which Ehzabeth extended to the
provinces of the Netherlands in revolt against
his rule, reconciled him to alliances with Irish
insurgents, and twice during Elizabeth's reign
Spanish forces were landed in Ireland. Hugh
O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone, took a leading part
in the dealings with Spain, and he received from
the Pope a crown of peacock's feathers. In
making his submission he had stipulated for the
retention of his Earldom, with its territorial juris
diction in Ulster, although renouncing his Celtic
chiefry. This was done before he had heard of
Elizabeth's death, and on hearing the news he
is said to have cried with vexation at not having

10 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
held out for better terms. With such an atti
tude on his part there was an instability in the
Ulster situation, soon to be displayed.
A difficulty with which the Government had
constantly to contend arose from the conflicts
among the Irish themselves. The chiefs argued
that the land belonged to them; the occupants
protested that the land was theirs although the
chiefs had a customary right to various services
and dues in kind. The chiefs quarreled among
themselves as to their rights. Tyrone was in
censed against his principal vassal, O'Cahan,
who had made his submission before Tyrone
gave him leave. O'Cahan's feudal rent, for
merly fixed at 21 cows a year, was summarily
raised to 200 cows. In support of this demand
Tyrone took possession of a large district be
longing to O'Cahan. When O'Cahan made his
peace with the Government he had been assured
that he should in future hold his lands not from
Tyrone but directly from the Crown. O'Cahan
appealed to the authorities at Dublin, but it was
difficult to get Tyrone to appear to answer the
charges. When he did so he insulted the Lord
Deputy and Council by snatching the papers
from O'Cahan's hand and tearing them to
pieces. Eventually the King decided to hear
the case in England, but instead of obeying the
summons Tyrone fled the country, never to

THE ULSTER PLANTATION 11
return. This action was quite unexpected by
the Government as Tyrone had been demanduig
that he be allowed to plead his cause before the
King in person. The affair has never been fully
cleared up but it is known that the Government
had received information that arrangements
were making for another rising with Spanish
aid and that Rory O'Donnell, Earl of Tyrcon-
nel, was in the movement. This information did
not mention Tyrone ; but his cousin, Cuconnaught
Maguire, who was in the plot and who had just
gone to Brussels on its business, heard there that
it had been discovered. Maguire procured a ship
with which he sailed to the North of Ireland and
on September 4, 1607, took off both Tyrconnel
and Tyrone. This was the famous Flight of
the Earls by which a great part of Ulster was
escheated to the English Crown. Those "vyere
times when the more strong and active spirits..
among the masses of the people preferred to
live as fighting men and raiders rather than as
industrial drudges, and bands began operations
in various districts. O'Cahan himself became
disaffected, owing to some claims of the Bishop
of Derry to lands in O'Cahan's territory. He
drove the bishop's tax gatherers off the disputed
lands, defied writs of law and did not submit
imtil a body of troops was about to march on
his castle.

12 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
While these events were taking place a clash
occurred between the Enghsh commander at
Derry and a neighboring Irish lord that culmi
nated in another insurrection. Sir George
Paulet, commander at Derry, was a dull, incap
able and arrogant person who had obtained the
command by purchase. In one of the Lord
Deputy's reports to the home Government it is
said of him that "he was hated by those over
whom he had command, and neither beloved nor
feared by the Irish, his neighbors." O'Dogherty,
lord of Innishowen, collected a number of his
followers to fell timber. A rvmior reached
Paulet that O'Dogherty was out to await the
return of Tyrone, and Paulet marched on
O'Dogherty's castle. Although O'Dogherty
was away, his wife refused to open the gates and
showed such an undaunted spirit that Paulet
had to choose between attempting a siege with
an inadequate force or marching home again,
and chose the latter. O'Dogherty wrote a sharp
letter of complaint to Paulet, but it was in re
spectful language and was subscribed "your lov
ing friend." Paulet sent a railing letter in repjy,
closing with the declaration: "So wishing con
fusion to your actions, I leave you to a provost
marshal and his halter." Although O'Dogherty
was greatly incensed he did not refuse to present
himself at Dublin to answer for his conduct; and

THE ULSTER PLANTATION 13
soon afterward he acted as foreman of the Done
gal grand jury that found bills for high treason
agakist the fugitive Earls. O'Dogherty, who was
young and hot-headed, was worked upon by
others so that at last he did engage in a plot that
enabled hun to take vengeance on Paulet. The
details of this affair are particularly instructive
from the revelation they make of the sort of ex
periences that colored Ulster traditions and
stamped the character of the Ulster breed.
O'Dogherty's first task was to procure a sup
ply of arms and ammunition to use against
Paulet. He approached Captain Henry Hart,
commander of the fort of Culmore guarding the
entrance to the Foyle, with complaints that the
attitude of the ladies of Derry deprived his wife
of society suitable to her rank. He asked Cap
tain Hart to set a good example of social inter
course by coming to dine with him bringing
also Mrs. Hart and the children. The request
accorded with the conciliatory policy of the
Government and the invitation was unsuspect
ingly accepted. As soon as dinner was over
O'Dogherty threatened Hart with instant death
unless he would agree to surrender the fort.
Hart, a man of the bull-dog breed, flatly refused.
His wife and children were brought before him
and threatened with death; his wife fell at his
feet on her knees, crying and beseeching him to

14 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
yield. It was urged that by so doing he would
save the garrison too, as all would be killed if
force had to be used whereas aU would be spared
if the post were quietly surrendered. O'Dogh
erty offered to take a solemn oath that he would
carry out his promise. Hart reminded him that
he was even then breaking the oath of allegiance
he had taken not long before; and bluntly de
clared that he "should never trust oath that ever
he made again." But while O'Dogherty failed
to budge Captain Hart, he gained his end by the
aid of the Captain's wife. In her terror for her
husband and her children Mrs. Hart entered into
a scheme for betraying the garrison. Accom
panied by O'Dogherty and his men, she went to
the fort at nightfall, crying out that the Captain
had fallen from his horse and had broken his arm.
The httle garrison ran out to help their com
mander and O'Dogherty rushed in and took
possession. These events took place on April 18, 1608.
Having obtained the arms he needed, O'Dogh
erty set out at once to attack Paulet at Derry.
Although that commander had been warned of
danger, he had not taken any precautions and
habitually neglected even such routine duty as
the posting of sentries. O'Dogherty's men were
inside the fortifications before the noise roused
Paulet. He ran out of his own house and hid in

THE ULSTER PLANTATION IS
one of the other houses where he was finally dis
covered and killed. The surprise was so com
plete that the garrison was not able to make
much resistance, but Lieutenant Baker with
about 140 persons, men, women, and children,
took possession of two large houses and held out
until noon on the following day. By that time
provisions had run short and O'Dogherty had
brought up a cannon from Culmore, so Baker
surrendered upon the promise that the lives of all
with him should be spared. This promise was
fulfilled. O'Dogherty slew no prisoners and in
the course of his short rebellion no blood was
shed by his orders except in actual conflict.
As soon as the Government was able to throw
troops into the country O'Dogherty's heuten-
ants abandoned Derry and Culmore, after set
ting them on fire. The rebellion was never really
formidable although O'Dogherty's energetic
movements carried it into several counties. His
forces were finally routed and he himself was
killed on July 5, 1608. In a report to the home
Government Sir John Davies, Attorney- General
of Ireland, noted that O'Dogherty's death "hap
pened not only on the fifth day of the month, but
on a Tuesday, but the Tuesday 11 weeks, that is
77 days after the burning of Derry, which is an
ominous number being seven elevens and eleven
sevens." The special mention of Tuesday in this

16 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
collection of portents is an allusion to an old
proverb that Tuesday is the day of English luck
in Ireland.
In consequence of these events vast areas were
escheated to the Crown, including most of the
territory now forming the counties of Donegal,
Londonderry, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Armagh and
Cavan. It was the good fortune of the Ulster
plantation that the man then at the head of the
Irish Government as Lord Deputy was an ad
ministrator of rare ability. Sir Arthur Chiches
ter, the Lord Deputy, is a typical specimen of
the class of proconsuls whose solid characteristics
have been the building material of the British
Empire. He was born in 1563, the second son
of Sir John Chichester of Ramleigh, near Barn
staple, Devonshire. He was educated at Exeter
College, Oxford; was an officer in one of the
Queen's best ships in the fight with the Spanish
Armada m 1588; in 1595 he was employed in a
military command in Drake's unfortunate last
expedition to the West Indies, and the next year
he commanded a company in the expedition of
Essex that captured Cadiz; in 1597 he was third
in command of a force sent to the assistance of
Henry IV. of France, was wounded at the siege
of Amiens and was subsequently knighted. He
afterward served in the Netherlands and was
in garrison at Ostend when he was summoned to

THE ULSTER PLANTATION 17
duty in Ireland, hi command of a force of 1,200
men. The record shows that although only
thirty-six when he began his distinguished career
in Ireland, he was a veteran thoroughly seasoned
by land and by sea. A characteristic instance of
his determination in all matters of disciphne took
place soon after Essex arrived in Ireland as head
of its Administration by Elizabeth's personal
favor. Having heard of the good order in which
Chichester kept his force, Essex went to Drog-
heda to review it. Carried away by excitement
the scatterbrain Earl led a cavalry charge against
the pikemen. Chichester repulsed the horsemen
as if they had been actual enemies, and the Earl
himself was scratched by a slash from a pike that
made him wheel about and retreat. Essex took
the affair in good part and on April 28, 1599,
appointed Chichester to be governor of Carrick-
fergus and the adjacent country. Chichester
took an active but subordinate part in the war
waged against Tyrone and his adherents. On
April 19, 1603, shortly after the accession of
James, Chichester was made a member of the
Irish Privy Council; and on October 15, 1604, he
was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland, although
not inducted into office until February 3, 1605.
The appointment may be ascribed to the influ
ence of a predecessor in that office. Mount joy,
who was now Earl of Devonshire and the King's

18 THE SCOTCH-lRISH IN AMERICA
chief adviser on Irish affairs, and who well knew
the need there was for a strong hand and a cool
head at the helm in Ireland. Chichester himself
did not seek the ofiice. About five months after
assuming it he wrote to the home Government
that it would be advisable to put a more eminent
man at the head of affairs, "a man of his
[Chichester's] estate and fortune being better fit
to serve His Majesty in meaner places."
The perusal of Chichester's State Papers im
presses one with his virtue in the Roman sense
of hard manliness. His concern was always for
the discharge of his professional duty; and that
formed his moral horizon. He chose means with
regard to their efficacy in attaining practical re
sults, offering rewards for the heads of rebel
chiefs, slaying their active partisans and wasting
the land on occasion, but never indulging pur
poseless cruelty. He had a low opinion of the
character of the native Irish, but he had no ani
mosity and was more disposed to adopt concilia
tory measures than the home Government.
Indeed, his disapproval of measures to force the
Roman Catholics into the Estabhshed Church
eventually led to his retirement. While bent on
repressing disorder and bringing the Irish chiefs
under the rule of law, he was also vigilant against
abuses in the administration and spared no one.
He advised Montgomery, the Bishop of Derry,

THE ULSTER PLANTATION 19
"sometimes to leave the care of the world, to
which he thought him too much affected, and to
attend to his pastoral callhig and the reformation
of his clergy." He showed great powers of sus
tained application to the literary tasks in which
his position involved him, and his numerous State
Papers are full, clear, and precise. In view of
his previous career this side of his activity is re
markable, for he handles the pen with a readiness
unusual in the captains of that age. In filing
dispatches from the home Government he not
only endorsed them with the date on which they
were received but also added a summary of their
contents, in a handwriting remarkably bold, clear "^
and regular. The information gathered by his
spies included stories of plots to make away with
him by assassination or poisoning, but to alarms
of that sort he appears to have been incredulous
and callous. In the camp or in the office he was
ever ready, clear-headed and sensible. In the
plantation of Ulster he received a large grant of
land and in 1613 he was raised to the Irish
peerage as Lord Chichester of Belfast. He had
no children and his estates devolved on his
brother, Edward, father of Arthur Chichester,
first Earl of Donegal.
Another ofl&cial whose copious and vivid writ
ings add greatly to our knowledge of this period
is Sir John Davies. The modernized spelling of

20 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
his name is here used although in the Irish Calen
dars it appears as Davys. He was born in Wilt
shire, England, m 1569 and took his A.B. degree
at Oxford in 1590. His poetical works hold an
estabhshed place in Enghsh literature and his
literary ability gives a distkictive lustre to his
official papers, but in Ireland he figures as a
hard-working administrator. He arrived in
1603 to assume the office of Sohcitor-General.
In 1606 he succeeded to the post of Attorney-
General. From first to last he took an active
'"and prominent part in the Ulster plantation.
He was a man of high personal courage and of
versatile ability, a fine poet, a voluminous es
sayist on legal, antiquarian and historical sub
jects, an eloquent speaker and a vigorous man
of action. He held office in Ireland until 1619
and died in England in 1626, after he had been
appointed Lord Chief Justice but before he had
assumed the office.
The scheme adopted for the plantation of
Ulster was not the invention of anyone but was
the outcome of the statesmanship of the age.
Just such ideas as Bacon expressed in his Con
siderations presented to King James run all
Ihrough the State Papers of this period. So early
I as October 2, 1605, long before the Fhght of the
' Earls, Chichester wrote that the situation "can
only be remedied by planting of Enghsh and

THE ULSTER PLANTATION 21
others well affected in fit places." Chichester
held that none of the fields in which colonization
was then projected equalled Ireland. He re
marks that he "knows of many who endeavor*'
the finding out of Virginia, Guiana, and other
remote and unknown coimtries, and leave this
of our own waste and desolate, which needs be
an absurd folly or wilful ignorance." The allu
sion tq Sir Walter Raleigh's projects is trans
parent. As a matter of fact both the Ulster and
the Virginia plantations took root and bore
abimdantly, each deeply affecting the other's
destiny. On September 17, 1607, less than a fort
night after the Fhght of the Earls, Chichester
advised the English Privy Council that to bring
Ulster to any settled state of order it would be
necessary either to plant strong "colonies of civil
people of England or Scotland" or else drive out
the wild Irishmen to the waste lands "leavuig
only such people behind as will dwell under the
protection of the garrisons and forts which
would be made strong and defensible." He
strongly recommended the former course al
though he held the latter to be justifiable. At
that period "civil" had a significance for which
the term "civilized" would now be employed.
The term "civilization" did not get into the vo
cabulary until long afterward, and so late as
1772 it was resisted by Dr. Samuel Johnson as

33 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
an unnecessary innovation which he refused to
admit into his dictionary. When Bacon and
Chichester spoke of introducing civility into Ire
land they had in mind substituting legally or-
ganized communities for the tribal groups.
The home Government was quite ready to act
upon the suggestion and the response was
prompt and decided. The Chief Secretary of
State was Robert Cecil, a cousin of Francis
Bacon. Cecil had served Elizabeth as Secretary
of State and had been continued in the position
with augmented power by James, who in 1605
conferred upon him the title of Earl of Salisbm-y.
In advance of the action of the Enghsh Privy
Council, Salisbury wrote to Chichester assuring
him of support and on September 29, 1607, the
groimd plan of the Ulster plantation was thus
formulated in a communication from the Privy
Council to Chichester:
"For the plantation which is to follow
upon attainder, the King in general ap
proves of his (Chichester's) project, being
resolved to make a mixture of the inhabi
tants, as well Irish as English and Scotch;
to respect and favor the Irish that are of
good note and desert, and to make him
(Chichester) specially judge thereof; to
prefer Enghsh that are and have been servi
tors before any new men from hence; to
assign places of most importance to men of
best trust; and generally to observe these

THE ULSTER PLANTATION 23
two cautions ;^first, that such as be planted
there be not needy, but of a reasonable suf
ficiency to maintain their portions ; secondly,
that none shall have a vast, but only a rea
sonable proportion; much less that any one
of either nation shall be master of a whole
coimtry. But before this plantation can be
digested and executed, much must be pre
pared by himself (Chichester), as His
Majesty is to be better informed of the lands
to be divided; what countries are most meet
to be inhabited ; what Irish fit to be trusted ;
what English meet for that plantation in
Ireland; what offers are or will be made
there; what estates are fit to be granted; and
what is to be done for the conviction of the
fugitives, because there is no possession or
estate to be given before their attainder."
The tenor of official dispatches makes it clear
that the Flight of the Earls was regarded as a
good opportunity for radical treatment of the
Ulster situation, "that those countries be made
the King's by this accident," to use Salisbury's
own words. By the term "servitors" is meant
officers in the King's service in Ireland, who
knew the country and had had experience in
dealing with the natives. The need of careful
management was appreciated by the Govern
ment, for in the preceding reign three attempts
had been made at Ulster colonization, all ending
in total failure. These had been in the nature
of grants of territory to individual adventurers

24 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
who undertook to take possession and bring in
tenants, but who were unable to overcome the
resistance of the native Irish, desperately op
posed to the intrusion of individual holdings in
their tribal territory. The Government was de
termined that the next attempt of the kind should
be made in sufficient force.
The information demanded by the home Gov
ernment was submitted under date of January
23, 1608, in "a project for the division and plan
tation of the escheated lands," etc., prepared by
the Privy Council of Ireland. This is a long
document in which for the first time the planta
tion scheme took definite form. It included a
schedule of available lands in the six escheated
counties, with a scheme of allotment. The dif
ferent classes of Undertakers and the size of their
holdings to be aUowed to them were designated,
and the main points of the scheme as finally car
ried into effect were set forth.
Not long after the transmission of this project
the O'Dogherty rebelhon broke out. With its
suppression work on the project was resumed
and in September, 1608, Chichester prepared a
detailed statement entitled Certain Notes of
Remembrances Touching the Plantation and
Settlement of the Escheated Lands in Ulster,
which he gave to Chief Justice Ley and Attorney-
General Davies as their instructions in sending

THE ULSTER PLANTATION 25
them to England to confer with the King and
Privy Council. This was a soldier's review of
the Ulster situation, county by county, noting
the force and disposition of the natives, and
mentioning the places that should be strongly
occupied to guard the peace of the plantation.
The outcome of these reports and conferences
was the publication of Orders and Conditions To
Be Observed hy the Undertakers issued by
the King and Privy Council in March, 1609.
The preamble sets forth that "many persons
being ignorant of the conditions whereupon His
Majesty is pleased to grant the said land are im
portunate suitors for greater portions than they
are able to plant, intending their private profit
only and not the advancement of the public ser
vice." The orders then set forth conditions of
allotment and occupation similar in general to
those proposed in the project of January 23,
1608, framed by the Irish Privy Council.
From now on the course of events spreads out
in Ireland, England and Scotland, and an at
tempt to follow chronological order would con
fuse the narrative. A chronology appended to
this chapter gives the sequence of events, but
comment upon them can be made most con
veniently by a topical arrangement. -^
While the home Government was arranging to
get responsible Undertakers, the Irish Adminis-

26 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
tration was busy getting the lands ready for
occupation. On July 21, 1609, a new commis
sion, with Chichester himself at the head, was
appointed to survey the country and mark fit
places for settlement. The letters of Davies, who
was on this commission, give a picturesque ac
count of its proceedings. It was accompanied
by surveyors who worked under guard, for "our
geographers," wrote Davies, "do not forget what
entertainment the Irish gave to a map-maker
about the end of the late rebelhon." When he
"came into Tyrconnell the inhabitants took off
his head, because they would not have their
country discovered." The thoroughness with
which the commissioners did their work is at
tested by the completeness of their records.
Abstracts of title were made, and detailed maps
were prepared, for which there is still so much
demand that the British Government issues fac
simile copies, with the exception of the map of
Donegal which has been lost. On June 5, 1610,
Chichester received the King's warrant to pre
pare a new commission to put the settlers in
possession and on August 28, 1610, this commis
sion issued a proclamation that the allotted lands
were open for occupation.
Meanwhile Court influence had been exerted
to induce the City of London to take part in the
enterprise. At that time London was still a

THE ULSTER PLANTATION 37
medieval city, surrounded by walls the gates of
which were shut at a certain hour. The popula
tion was less than 250,000, and even this number
was regarded as overcrowding the area so as to
invite outbreaks of the plague, deaths from which
cause in London amounted to 30,561 in 1603.
One of the arguments used in support of coloni
zation projects was that they would draw off
surplus population and thus avert the periodical
visitations of the plague. The importance of
London was very much greater than the size of
its population might suggest, for it was the
privileged seat of great chartered companies,
whose transactions ranged far abroad. In that
period a municipal corporation was not so much
a governing body in the modern sense as a mer
cantile body. It was interested in trade for the
advantage of the burgesses far more than in ad
ministration of public affairs for the benefit of
the inhabitants. Judicial and administrative
functions were vigorously exercised as an inci
dent of charter privileges and for their protec
tion, but the conception of a public trusteeship
for the general welfare was still undeveloped.
It was not until 1684 that the hghting of the
streets was made a pubhc function. The dirty
and turbulent town was a mixture of squalor and
magnificence, but its merchant princes were a
recognized power in the State and the King and

28 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
his Council were anxious to interest them in the
Ulster project. One difficulty in the way was
that schemes of Ajnerican colonization were then
attracting business adventure. Much was known
about Ireland; it was a stale subject fraught with
disagreeable associations. Little was known of
America, and impressions originally derived
from the East attached to it, as the term "West
Indies" still bears witness, as also the common ap
pellation of the American aborigines. The men
tion of Ireland called up notions of hard knocks
and poor gains, while concerning America there
were vague but alluring notions compounded of
traditional belief in the gorgeous opulence of
India, of genuine trade knowledge of the value
of its products, and of rumors of vast treasure
gained by the Spanish in America. Among the
corporate powers of the London Company that
founded Jamestown in May, 1607, was the right
to search for mines and to coin money. No such
golden lure could be held out in behalf of Ire
land. It was felt that special efforts were neces
sary to impress upon the City magnates the
business advantages to be derived from Irish
colonization. The King had a statement pre
pared for the purpose entitled Motives and
Reasons To Induce the City of London To Un
dertake Plantation in the North of Ireland. An
appeal is made to civic pride by citing "the

THE ULSTER PLANTATION 29
eternal commendation" gained by Bristol, which
city in the reign of Henry II. rebuilt and
populated Dublin, and the hope is expressed
that "this noble precedent were followed by the
City of London hi these times." The King de
sired that London do for Derry what Bristol did
for Dublin, and he submits a detailed statement
of the natural resources, industrial opportunities
and commercial facilities of the north of Ireland,
which in view of actual results does not seem to
be much inflated. His assertion that materials
for the linen trade are "finer there and more
plentiful than in all the rest of the Kingdom"
was eventually borne out by the estabhshment of
the linen industry for which the North of Ireland
has since been famous. This appeal together
with the project of plantation as formulated in
Orders and Conditions To Be Observed by Un
dertakers, was sent to the Lord Mayor, who, on
July 1, 1609, issued a precept to the chartered
companies requesting that they meet to consider
the subject and also to nominate four men from
each company to serve on a committee to repre
sent the City in the negotiation. The City com
panies were apparently reluctant to engage in
the enterprise, and a few years later when some
differences occurred as to the terms of the bar
gain, it was officially declared that the City had
at last yielded to pressing importunity. The

30 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
record shows that the companies did not move
until a second and more urgent precept was is
sued, dated July 8, 1609. The companies then
sent representatives to meet at Guildhall to dis
cuss the King's proposals and deputies were ap
pointed to answer for the City. Several confer
ences took place between these deputies and the
Privy Council, but the most that the City mag
nates would agree to do was to look into the mat
ter. At a conference with the Privy Council held
on Sunday, July 30, 1609, it was decided that the
negotiations should be suspended until "four
wise, grave and discreet citizens should be pres
ently sent to view the place." They were to go
at the City's charges and "make report to the
City, at their return from thence, of their opin
ions and doings touching the same."
The official correspondence of that period re
veals the sohcitude of the Kuig and Privy Coun
cil for the successful conclusion of the negotia
tion with the City. On August 3, 1609, the Privy
Council wrote to Chichester notifying him that
the City was sending out certain deputies to
view the land and uistructing him to provide
such guidance as would impress upon them the
value of the concessions, while "matters of dis
taste, as fear of the Irish, of the soldiers, of cess,
and such like, be not so much as named." These
citizens of London, John Brode, goldsmith.

THE ULSTER PLANTATION 31
John Monroes, Robert TresweU, painter, and
John Rowley, draper, doubtless found them
selves much courted and flattered by the digni
taries to whom they bore letters of introduction.
In a letter of August 28, written from camp in
Coleraine, to Lord Salisbury of the Privy Coun
cil, Davies tells how they were all using "their
best rhetoric" on the Londoners. He mentions
that "one of the agents is fallen sick, and would
fain return, but the Lord Deputy and aU the
rest here use all means to comfort and retain him,
lest this accident should discourage his fellow-
citizens." However flattered the citizens may have been
by these blandishments their business keenness
was not impaired. On October 13, 1609, Chi
chester writes that "these agents aim at all the
places of profit and pleasure upon the rivers of
the Bann and Loughfole." He had endeavored
to meet their demands "whereby he thinks they
depart fully satisfied." But the soldier evidently
does not repose entire confidence in the disposi
tion of the civic bargainers, for he remarks that
"he prays God they prove not like their London
women, who sometimes long to-day and loathe
to-morrow." But the citizens evidently made a
favorable report to the City guilds for in the
following January three conferences took place
in London between the Government and the City

32 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
in which the City's representatives showed an
eager spirit. The City deputies that went to
Ireland were present and the course of the
proceedings showed that they had prompted de
mands beyond what the Government had thought
of allowing. The minutes record that on some
points there was "much altercation." The rep
resentatives of the Government showed an ac
commodating spirit and eventually an agree
ment was reached confirmed by articles signed
January 28, 1610. In consideration of various
privileges the City agreed to levy £20,000 in
aid of the proposed plantation. The coimty of
Coleraine, thereafter known as Londonderry,
was aUotted to the City for colonization, and it
was stipulated that the city of Derry and the
town of Coleraine should be rebuilt. The agree
ment is set forth in twenty-seven articles, con-
cludmg with the provision that "the City shall,
with all speed, set forward the plantation in
such sort as that there be 60 houses built in
Derry and 40 houses at Coleraine by the first
of November following, with convenient forti
fications."
f Although it was undoubtedly a wise stroke of
, policy on the part of the King to enhst the
powerful City guilds in the enterprise, the mam-
stay of the Ulster plantation turned out to be
the Scottish participation, which does not seem

THE ULSTER PLANTATION 33
to have been originally regarded as important.'
Although from the first there was an understand
ing between Chichester and the Enghsh Privy
Council that eventually the plantation would be
opened to Scotch settlers, no steps were taken in
that direction until the plans had been matured.
If meanwhile any expectations of a share were
entertained in Scotland there was no legal basis
for them. Ireland belonged to the English
Crown and although the King of Scotland was
also King of England, the two kingdoms were
then quite separate and distinct. The first pub
lic announcement of any Scottish connection with
the Ulster plantation appears in a letter of
March 19, 1609, from Sir Alexander Hay, the
Scottish secretary resident at the Enghsh Court,
to the Scottish Privy Council at Edinburgh.
The tone of the letter shows that he was all agog
with the news of the fine prospects opening up
for the Scotch. Hay relates that he had been
present by command at a meethig of the English
Privy Council, at which he was notified that the
arrangements for the Ulster plantation had been
settled and that the King's Scottish subjects
were to be allowed a share. Several members of
the Privy Council put down their names in his
presence, and the roll of the Enghsh Under
takers was already complete. The articles re
quired that every Undertaker for 2,000 acres

34 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
should build a castle of stone, which he feared
"may effraye our people," but upon inquiry he
learned that "nothing was meant thereby hot
any litill toure or peill suche as are common in
our Bordouris." He was also curious to know
how great an area 2,000 acres would be, and was
told that it meant a property two miles square
of arable land and pasture, without coimting at
tached wood and bog. He suggests to the Coun
cil that here is a great opportunity for Scotland,
since "we haif greitt advantage of transporting
of our men and bestiall in regard we lye so near
to that coiste of Ulster." The Scottish Privy
Council acted promptly. On March 28 orders
were issued for public proclamation of the good
things now available upon "certain easy, toler
able and profitable conditions," which the King
had offered "out of his unspeikable love and
tendir affectioun toward his Majesties subjectis";
and those of them "quho ar disposit to tak ony
land in Yreland" were requested to present their
desires and petitions to the Council. The King's
ancient subjects responded so heartily that by
September 14 the allotments applied for by
seventy-seven persons amounted to 141,000 acres
although Hay had reckoned the Scottish share at
90,000 acres. In the following year the matter
of 'Scottish participation was taken over by the
Enghsh Privy Council, and when the hst of the

THE ULSTER PLANTATION 35
Scottish Undertakers was finaUy revised and
completed, the number had been reduced from
seventy-seven to fifty-nine, and of these only
about eighteen had been among the original
seventy-seven. Instead of the 141,000 acres ap
plied for, the final award aUotted 81,000 acres
to Scotch Undertakers. __^__
Military considerations presided over arrange
ments for the plantation. Hence the scheme
provided that the natives should have locations
of their own, while the settlers should be massed
in districts so that their united force would con
front attack. Only the "servitors," a class of
Undertakers restricted to officers in the pubhc
service in Ireland, were permitted to have Irish
tenants. The design was that the servitors
should have estates adjacent to the Irish reser
vations, to "defend the borders and fortresses
and suppress the Irishry." This expression oc
curs in a letter of May, 1609, from the Bishop"
of Armagh urging a postponement of actual oc
cupation until the following spring, one of his
reasons being that it would be dangerous for the
English Undertakers to start until the servitors
were ready. The lands were divided into lots of
2,000, 1,500 and 1,000 acres, designated respect
ively as great, middle and small proportions.
Each Undertaker for a great or middle propor
tion had to give bond, in £400 or £300 respect-

36 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
ively, that within three years he would build a
stone or brick house with a "bawn," fortified en
closure, and he was required to have ready in
his house "12 muskets and calivers, 12 hand
weapons for the arming of 24 men." The Un
dertaker for a small proportion had to give bond
in £200 that he would build a bawn. The
Scotch and English Undertakers for great pro
portions were under obligation "within three
years to plant or place upon the said proportion
48 able men, aged 18 years or upward, born in
England or inward parts of Scotland." Appli
cations for estates were open to three classes:
(1) Enghsh or Scottish persons generaUy, (2)
servitors, (3) natives of Ireland. The estates
of 2,000 acres were charged with knight's service
to the King in capite; those of 1,500 acres with
knight's service to the Castle of Dublin; and
those of 1,000 acres with the tenure of common
socage. That is to say the larger estates were
held by the military tenure of the feudal system,
while the small proportions were simply held by
perpetual lease at a fixed rent. The yearly rent
to the Crown for every 1,000 acres was 5£ 6s 8d
for Undertakers of the first sort, 8£ for the
second and 10£ 13s. 4d. for the native Irish. If
the servitors should plant their lands with Eng
hsh or Scottish tenants they should pay the same
rent as the Undertakers of the first sort. No

THE ULSTER PLANTATION 37
Undertaker or his assign had the right to "ahen
or demise any of his lands to a meer Irish, or to
any who wiU not take the oath of supremacy"
upon pain of forfeiture. -.—^
These particulars are taken from the Carew
Manuscripts, which give a summary of the allot
ments as completed in 1611, making a total of
511,465 acres. Accompanying documents men
tion by name 56 English Undertakers holding
81,500 acres, 59 Scottish holding 81,000 acres,
and 59 servitors holding 49,914 acres. The
names of 277 natives are given as holders of aUot-
ments in the same precincts with the servitors,
aggregating 52,479 acres. In addition Connor
Roe Maguire received 5,980 acres and "several
Irishmen" are scheduled as holding 1,468 acres,
making a total of 59,927 acres allotted to natives.
The Carew summary lumps together "British
Undertakers and the Londoners" as holders of
209,800 acres. On deducting the 162,500 sched
uled to English and Scotch Undertakers in the
records accompanying the summary, the Lon
don allotments appear to have aggregated 47,300
acres. The remainder consisted of church en
dowments and lands reserved for public uses
such as corporate towns, forts, schools, and hos
pitals. The College of Dublin received an allot
ment of 9,600 acres.
The total area appropriated in Ulster for the

38 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
purposes of the plantation has been a contro
versial issue and estimates differ greatly, some
writers putting it at about 400,000 acres while
others contend that it amounted to nearly 4,000,-
000 acres. Such wide difference on a ques
tion of fact shows that passion has clouded the
issue. The whole of the six counties includes
only 2,836,837 Irish acres, or in English measure
3,785,057 acres. Just how much of this area was
allotted to settlers it is impossible to determine
exactly, notwithstanding the apparently precise
statement made in the Carew records, for it
seems that only cleared land was reckoned. The
Orders and Conditions say that to every pro
portion "shall be allowed such quantity of bog
and wood as the country shall conveniently af
ford." The negotiations with the City of London
show that in that case large claims were made
of privileges appurtenant to the acreage granted,
among them woodlands extending into the ad
joining county of Tyrone.
'-'^Nevertheless there is reason to believe that the
Carew computation of 511,465 acres is a fair
statement of the actual extent of the lands ap
propriated for the plantation. The principle
upon which the plantation was founded was that
J;he settlers should be massed in certain districts.
It appears from a letter of Davies that the com
missioners charged with making the surveys were

THE ULSTER PLANTATION 39
in camp in Ulster nine weeks. In that period of
time they could not have done more than to note
and map areas suitable for tillage and pasture,
and in a report of March 15, 1610, accompany
ing the transmission of the maps to the English
Privy Council a summary is given of land avail
able for the plantation aggregating 424,643
acres. There are also indications that appur
tenant rights were strictly construed. The grant
of woodlands to the City of London was made
with the reservation that the timber was "to be
converted to the use of the plantation, and all
necessary uses in Ireland, and not to be made
merchandize." It was afterward ordered that
settlers in Donegal and Tyrone should be al
lowed to take supplies of timber from the Lon
doners' lands. The Carew computation of the
area allotted exceeds by 86,822 acres the estimate
of available lands made by the commission of
1610 which suggests that the Carew computation
includes areas of every kind covered by the
grants. This conjecture is strengthened by the
fact that the articles of agreement with London
in 1610 mention only 27,000 acres, whereas the
Carew record made in 1611 of the actual distri
bution .charges the Londoners with 47,300 acres.
Further confirmation is supplied by a report
made in 1618 by Captain George AUeyne as
muster-master of Ulster. It contains the names

40 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
of all the landholders and the number of their
acres, men, muskets, calivers, pikes, halberds and
swords. The holdings of the English and Scot
tish Undertakers are returned as amounting to
197,000 acres, and of the servitors 51,720 acres,
a total of 248,720 acres. The same items in the
Carew summary aggregate 259,714 acres. So
far as it is possible to test the Carew summary
it appears to cover the total area appropriated
for the occupation and use of the plantation.
lat is to say, about 18 per cent, of the total
area of the six escheated counties, including
however all the then desirable lands, was taken
from the native Irish proprietors for the pur
poses of the plantation, but over 11 per cent, of
these confiscated lands was allotted to Under-
I takers coming forward among the native Irish.
However opinions may differ as to the morality
'of the scheme there can be no doubt of the suc
cess of the plantation. Ulster had been the most
backward province of Ireland. It became the
most populous and wealthy.
CHRONOLOGY
1 605 October 2 : — Chichester to Salisbury urging the need
of "planting of English and others well affected" in
Ulster.
1606 Bacon to James I: — "Considerations Touching the
Plantations in Ireland."
1607 September 4:— Flight of the Earls.

THE ULSTER PLANTATION 41
September 17: — Chichester urges the need of bring
ing into Ulster "colonies of civil people of England
and Scotland."
September 29: — Privy Council replies that the King
is "resolved to make a mixture of the inhabitants,
as well Irish, as English and Scottish."
1608 April 18: — O'Dogherty captures Derry.
July 5: — O'Dogherty killed.
September: — Chichester sends to the Privy Council
"Certain Notes of Remembrances touching the
Plantation and Settlement of the Escheated Lands."
1609 March: — The Privy Council issues "Orders and
Conditions to be observed by the Undertakers."
March 19: — Letter from the Scottish Secretary of
State in London to the Scottish Privy Council at
Edinburgh announcing that Scots are to share in the
Ulster Plantation.
March 28: — Proclamation of the Scottish Privy
Council inviting applications for Ulster lands.
July 14: — Deputies chosen by the London Guilds to
confer with the Privy Council on the matter of
taking part in the Ulster Plantation.
July 2 1 : — Commissioners appointed to make allot
ments and to mark fit places for settlement.
July 30 : — Four citizens of London sent at the City's
charge to view the country.
1610 January 28: — Articles of Agreement with the City
of London for the rebuilding of Derry and the
planting of Coleraine.
June 5: — Chichester receives the King's warrant to
appoint a new commission for Ulster to remove the
natives and put the settlers in possession.
August 28: — Proclamation from commissioners that
lands allotted are open for occupation.

CHAPTER II
The Land and the People
The feature of the physical geography of Ire
land that has influenced its politics is the absence
of mountain coverts or physical barriers capable
of sheltering a native race after the manner of
the Highlands of Scotland. No such demarca
tion of culture on physical lines as between the
Highlands and the Lowlands of Scotland could
be established. No such saying as that "the Firth
of Forth bridles the wild Hielander" could be
come current. In Ireland there is no dominating
mountain mass. Small clusters of mountains
stud the rim of the island, almost encirchng a
central plain, but there is everywhere easy ac
cess from the coast to the interior by valley
roads, and at some places the central plain
comes clear to the coast. Narrow shallow seas
separate Ireland from Great Britain and
the strait between Ireland and Scotland at its
narrowest point is only thirteen and a half
miles wide.
During the period of barbarism in Etu-ope,
before races became united to the soil to form
42

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 43
nations and while the State was still migra
tory, Ireland's openness to invasion invited de
scents upon the land. Extent and variety of
invasion form the theme of the legendary history
of early Ireland. Tribal successes figure as the
founding of groups of kingdoms, the might and
renown of which are so embellished by legend
that it is well to remember that the island is only
302 miles in its greatest length with an average
breadth of about 110 miles. It is a law of history
that when cultures meet legends are apt to blend.
One of the world's great epics is a monument of
this process, Vergil's Mneid, in which the
foundation of Rome is connected with the faU
of Troy. This mythical relationship was not
conceived until the expansion of Roman power
had established close contact with the East. As
Ireland entered the circle of European culture its
own legendary history received strong tinctures
from both classical and Bibhcal sources. Ac
cording to some of the bards arrivals in Ireland
before the deluge were numerous, and among
other visitors three daughters of Cain are men
tioned. A few weeks before the Flood a niece
of Noah, named Cesara, arrived in Ireland with
a party of antediluvians. After the Flood set
tlements were made by colonists from Greece,
Scythia, Egypt and Crete. Before leaving the
East the colonists intermarried with descendants

44 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
of most of the heroes of Bibhcal history, and
Judean princesses supphed sacred treasures for
transmission to Ireland. There are old Irish
genealogies that extend without a break to
Magog, the son of Japhet, the son of Noah.
Lists are given of Kings of Ireland that were con
temporary with the rulers of the Assyrians, the
Medes, the Persians, the Greeks and the
Romans. In hke manner the legendary history
of Poland tells how the ancient rulers of the land
subdued Crassus, King of the Parthians, and
infiicted severe defeats upon Julius Csesar. The
curious mixture of myths in Irish legendary his
tory is well illustrated by those which attach to
the Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny, preserved in
the coronation chair of the Kings of England.
It was brought into England by Edward I., who
captured it in 1296 at Scone, where the Kings
of Scotland were crowned. The legend runs
that it was the stone on which Jacob piUowed
his head at Bethel, and was handed down to his
heirs, ultimately coming into the possession of
Irish colonists, who carried the stone with them
and set it up on the hill of Tara. Thence the
stone was carried into Scotland, where its
authentic history begins. It is a sacred stone of
great antiquity, but geologists find it to be of
local material and archasologists class it among
the menhirs, or memorial stones of the period of

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 45
barbarism, specimens of which are found in
many countries.^
The barbarian culture that is found in Ireland
when authentic history begins is commonly desig
nated Celtic, and upon this classification much
historical hypothesis has been set up. Some
writers have predicated the existence in prehis
toric times of a great Celtic Empire extending
^ It appears from the following, in the weekly edition of the
London Times, September 22, 1911, that the legendary history of
the Coronation Stone still receives credence:
"Archdeacon Wilberforce, preaching at Westminster Abbey on
Sunday, said that it fell to his lot during the preparations at the
Abbey for the Coronation to guide to the Coronation Stone a
well-known antiquary who had made a study of its history.
"The antiquary was convinced that it was the stone on which
Jacob rested his head when he had the vision of angels at Bethel,
and that from that night it was considered sacred and carried
from place to place. He believed it was that stone that Moses
struck, and that it was carried by the Israelites during their
40 years of wandering. He pointed to a big cleft in the back
from which the water gushed out. He also indicated two rusted
iron staples deeply sunk, one at each end, by which it was car
ried. He traced the stone to Solomon's Temple, and from thence,
after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, to Spain, thence to
Ireland, thence to Scone, and from Scotland to Westminster
Abbey. "Mr. E. S. Foot writes from 13, Marlboroughplace, St. Jolm's-
wood: 'The late Dean Stanley, in his Memorials of Westmin
ster, pages 594-5-6, sets out the authorities. Professor Ramsay,
Director of the Geological Survey of England, and his colleague,
Mr. Geikie, who, after minute investigation, were satisfied that
the stone is old red sandstone, exactly resembUng that which
forms the doorway of Dunstaffnage Castle, which exactly agrees
with the character of the Coronation Stone itself. "The rocks of
Egypt, so far as I know [Mr. Geikie], consist chiefly of mum-
mulitic limestone, of which the Great Pyramid is built. I have
never heard of any strata occurring there similar to the red
sandstone, of the Coronation Stone."'"

46 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
across Europe. The material upon which such
conjectures are based is chiefly derived from ref
erences in Greek and Latin writers to the Keltoi
or Celtse in different parts of Europe. But
upon examination the terms are not found to
possess a specific value, but are rather a general
designation like our term "barbarians." The term
"Keltoi" was first used to designate the barbarian
neighbors of the Greek colony on the site of
modern Marseilles in Southern France. Ac
cording to Herodotus the country from the
Danube to the Western Ocean was occupied by
the Keltoi. Tribes later classed as German or
Teutonic were once classed among the Celtse.
Inferences as to the existence of Celtic empire,
because ancient writers spoke of Keltoi in the
East and in the West, seem to be as little war
ranted as would be belief in the existence of an
extensive empire among the American aborigi
nes because of reports of encounters with Indian
tribes in widely separated places.
Although as an ethnic term "Celtic" is a vague
appellation, it is quite different as a philological
term. It is applied to a well-defined group of
the Indo-European family of languages, in
cluding Irish, Scottish, Gaelic, Manx, Welsh,
Cornish, and Breton. The philological evidence
is conclusive that these are all varieties of one lan
guage. Characteristics of Celtic speech are dis-

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 47
cerned by some phUologists in specimens of the
language of the ancient Gauls that have been
preserved by classical writers, and indications
of Celtic place names have been noted as far
east as the Dniester River. But it is observed
by the authorities that there is no evidence of
any considerable Celtic infusion in either the
Teutonic or the Romance languages, such as
might be expected if dialect forms found in his
toric times had arisen on a basis of Celtic culture.
Thus it would appear that Celtic names in
Europe mark either stages in tribal migration
westward or places whose Celtic inhabitants be
came subject to other peoples thus losing their
own language and racial identity.
Thus, whether the matter be viewed in its
ethnic or in its linguistic aspects, there appears
to be no real support for the romantic conjecture
still put forth in the name of history, according
to which the Celtic peoples are relics of a once
mighty nation spreading over Europe and con
testing with Greece and Rome for the empire
of the Western World. When the Celtic tribes
appear in the full light of history they are all
found in the west of Europe. They hold western
parts of England and Scotland; they hold Ire
land, the most western of the British Islands;
and also Brittany, the most western part of
France. The hypothesis that best fits the his-

48 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
toric facts is that the Celtic tribes were the
foremost wave of Indo-European migration
westward, pressed to the remotest regions by
succeeding waves. This hypothesis agrees with
the well authenticated fact that Ireland did ex
perience a series of invasions. The process of
migration is historically exhibited in the case of
the Celts of Brittany, who migrated thither from
the Saxon invasions of England during the fifth
and sixth centuries. This hypothesis does not
imply that the process would not have widely
separated stages, or that it may not have been ac
companied by long periods of settlement on the
European continent, or that the westward move
ment was necessarily the result of the onslaught
of other Indo-European tribes, although ethnic
collisions probably influenced the movement. It
should be remembered that early forms of the
State are very migratory. The crude technol
ogy of barbarians tends to exhaust the natural
resources of any locahty occupied by them. The
natural fertihty of Ireland, and particularly the
richness and quick growth of its natural pasture,
would be very attractive to barbarians. Ener
getic, roving peoples reaching the northern coasts
of the mainland would eventually reach Ireland.
The enthusiastic assiduity of Irish antiquar
ians has extracted from scanty material proofs
that m Ireland Celtic character developed its

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 49
fairest flower and Celtic culture attamed its
finest expression. The known facts do not dis
credit the claun. The name of the country
was associated with traditions of racial dignity
and culture. The archaeological evidence har
monizes with these traditions. Ancient gold
ornaments, bronze weapons and articles of do
mestic use have been disinterred, giving evidence
of native acquaintance with the working of
metals and of the existence of artistic crafts.
Trade went on between Ireland and the Mediter
ranean countries from the earliest times. Roman
coins both of the republican and of the early im
perial period have been found at a number of
widely separated points. The fact that Roman
geographers regarded Ireland as midway be
tween Spain and Britain points to the existence
of direct traffic between Irish and Spanish ports.
The escape of St. Patrick, when a youth, from
captivity in Ireland was made by the favor of
a party of traders who had among the merchan
dise they shipped from Ireland a pack of Celtic
hounds, a breed highly valued in Southern
Europe. It has been plausibly conjectured that
Patricius owed his escape to the fact that he had
learned to tend such hounds while in the service
of his master. That the traflic should be going
on at such a period shows that it was a thing of
long custom, for the times were not such as to

50 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMEftlCA
encourage new enterprise. The Vandals, Sueves
and Alans entered Gaul at the end of A.D. 406,
followed in a few years by the Visigoths. Bar
barian bands ravaged the country, looting,
slaying and burning, until considerable regions
became a desolate wilderness. In his account of
his journey with the traders through Southern
"Gaul after making a landing, Patricius says they
journeyed as through a desert for eight and
twenty days in all, in danger of dying from
starvation. Christianity must have entered Ireland
through the intercourse of trade, its case in this
respect being like that of Armenia and Abys
sinia. The system of reckoning Easter employed
by the Celtic church was obsolete in Rome and
in the churches of Gaul before St. Patrick began
his apostolic labors in Ireland in the fifth cen
tury. Professor Bury, who in his Life of St.
Patrick has made an exhaustive examination of
the evidence, concludes that this and some other
typical differences between Ireland and the con
tinent in Christian practice were due to the fact
that an early form of Christianity had taken root
before the arrival of St. Patrick. When Ireland
made its appearance in European history it was
as a center from which radiated a Christianity of
a distinctly Celtic type. This imphes that Chris
tian doctrhie foimd a cultural basis upon which

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 61
to organize a native church. The speciahst who
supphed the Encyclopaedia Britanica article
on the "Early History of Ireland" remarks:
"The exalted position occupied by the learned
class in ancient Ireland perhaps affords the key
to the wonderful outbursts of scholarly activity
in Irish monasteries from the sixth to the ninth
centuries." That this scholarly activity was not
an importation of classical learning is attested
by evidence that prior to the seventh century the
litei-ary documents of the Irish church were com
posed in Irish. Professor Bury has pointed out
that it was not until a later period that composi
tions in Latin began to appear alongside of
literary productions in the vernacular.
The case of Ireland, when carefully con
sidered, does not appear to be peculiar as regards
ethnic origins. It is not disputed that the Irish
are cognates of peoples that have founded highly
organized States in England and on the conti
nent. That the Irish did not do so is to be at
tributed to historical accidents. Of these, the
most far-reaching in its effects was the fact that
Irish tribal forms of social and political organi
zation were never broken up by passing under
the harrow of Roman law. Another important
circumstance was that the spread of Christianity
in Ireland retained and utilized tribal institu
tions that on the continent were broken down

52 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
and discarded. When Charlemagne was ham
mering Christianity into the heathen Saxons in
the eighth century he was smashing their tribal
system at the same time. At that period Ire
land had been a Christian country for centuries,
and was famous as a center of missionary activity
and yet it still retained its archaic pattern of
social and political organization. The Irish
kings, with some vicissitudes, successfully re
sisted invasions that were triumphant in Eng
land. In the first quarter of the eleventh century
when the empire of Canute the Dane extended
over England, Denmark, Norway, and part of
Sweden, Ireland was under native princes whose
historiographers could point to a succession of
victories over the Northmen, destroying their
settlements and uprooting their power.
It was not until the Norman invasion estab
lished a State in England with consolidated
resources and centralized authority that the mili
tary inferiority of Irish institutions was mani
fested in the relations between the two countries.
But while thereafter Ireland remained a prey
to Enghsh invasion, her tribal polity displayed
marked capacity for absorbing the invaders into
the mass of native Irish. Irish nationahty is a
modern concept. Ancient and mediaeval Ire
land was a country given over to internechie war
fare. Foreign intervention in the aid of some

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 53
native interest was sought and welcomed. A
native chronicler, referring to the Anglo-
Norman invasion beginning in 1169, says:
"Earl Strongbow came into Erin with Dermod
Mac Murrough to avenge his expulsion by
Roderick, son of Turlough O'Connor; and Der
mod gave him his own daughter and a part of
his patrimony, and Saxon foreigners have been
in Erin since then." The Norman adventurers
tried to carve the land into feudal fiefs, and the
feudal system came into violent conflict with the
Irish tribal system, but the latter showed greater
endurance. The Anglo-Norman nobles found
the vague, customary powers of Irish chiefry
more favorable to their authority than the more
explicitly defined rights and duties of a feudal
lord. When Henry VIII. came to the throne of
England in 1509, many old Anglo-Norman
families had either disappeared or were merged
into the Celtic mass. Enghsh pohty was re
stricted to an area extending over a radius of
about twenty miles from Dublin, known as the
"Pale," and a still smaller area about KUkenny.
Over the greater part of the island Celtic tribal
institutions still supphed the legal and political
framework of society. It was not imtU after the
accession of James I. that the division of the
land into coimties was completed, and Ulster
was the last province to be brought imder mil

54 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
jurisdiction. In Elizabeth's time a scheme of
county organization for Ulster was adopted, but
there was no machinery of government. Sir
John Davies says of the period before Chiches
ter's administration: "The law was never ex
ecuted in the new coimties by any sheriff or
justices of assize; but the people were left to be
ruled still by their own barbarous lords and laws,"
The distinctive characteristics of Irish history
may be attributed chiefly to the fact that an
archaic type of polity was accidentally preserved
to modern times. The struggles and sufferings
that ensued from the clash of cultures were such
as have always attended such a situation. It
was with reference to this that Sir Henry Maine
in his Ancient Law remarked: "The history
of political ideas begins with the assumption that
kinship in blood is the sole possible ground of
community in political fimctions, nor is there
any of those subversions of feeling which we
emphatically call revolutions so startling and
so complete as the change which is estabhshed
when some other principle, such as that for in
stance of local contiguity, estabhshes itself for
the first time as the basis of common pohtical
action." When recorded history begins the Greek and
the Latin tribes are discovered m the throes of
this revolution from which civihzation issued.

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 55
On the continent of Europe the change took
place in the darkness of barbarism and left few
records to history. The peculiarity of Ireland's
case is that it was, as Lord Bacon observed,
the last European country to pass from tribal
status to civil polity. But that very circum
stance now makes her native institutions spe
cially interesting to scholars. What Bacon
deplored as barbarous customs and habits that
"enchant them in savage manners" are now the
very things in which students are chiefly inter
ested, for detailed knowledge of them would
throw hght upon the social and political organi
zation of all the Indo-European tribes in the
prehistoric period. An elaborate apparatus ex
isted for the perpetuation of the customary laws
and historical traditions of the tribe. There
were brehons, who were repositories of tribal
law; shanahs who were genealogists and inci
dentally recorders of titles of lands; rhymers
who related the deeds of the heroes; and harp
ers, whose music celebrated the honor of the
sept. Biographers of Thomas Moore teU us
that his Irish Melodies are based upon Irish
folk songs, a fact which must impress one with
the variety and refinement of musical rhythms
native to Ireland, and also serve to corroborate
archaeological evidence to the effect that artistic
culture was attained under native institutions.

56 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
In thus drawing upon native Irish sources
Moore enriched the metrical resources of Eng
lish verse and established his own best claim to
fame. It seems to have been no more than a
plain statement of the actual facts of the case
when the poet wrote :
"Dear Harp of my Country! In darkness I found
thee.
The cold chain of silence had hung o'er thee long.
When proudly, my own Island Harp, I unbound thee,
And gave all thy chords to light, freedom and song!"
The point at which the clash of Irish tribal
status and English law was most acute was in
the matter of land tenure. Although English
law admitted various kinds of tenure in land it
was exacting and insistent on the point of indi
vidual rights. Under the tribal system surviv
ing in Ireland the individual had no rights as
such defined by law, but as a tribesman he had
certain traditional privileges in the common
lands of the tribe conditioned upon customary
dues and service to his chief, so vague that they
might vary greatly according to the disposition
and opportunity of the chief. The sort of tribal
communism that existed in Ireland is exempli
fied m the following petition of one Neale
O'Donnell to Chichester, October 9, 1613:
"It is not unknown to your lordship that
the Irish gentry did ever make their fol-

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 57
lowers' purses their only exchequer. And
I beseech your lordship (now anew) to take
notice that mine ancestors left me as great
an inheritance (in this kind) as any other
man's did unto himself. Of which stock, as
I never employed any part (of things given
by myself) unanswerably claim as any Ul-
cestrian whatever. My humble suit, there
fore, unto your honorable good lordship is,
that as your honor has restored their com-
mins unto all others, so you would , , ,
help me unto my commins also. ... I
beseech your lordship, in regard to them,
to cause my tenants (or if need be, force
them) to bring up my children to school
till I otherwise dispose of my commins at
least." These "comynes," for so the term usually ap
pears in the State Papers, denotes a custom based
upon the relations of the chief of a sept to his
people. He claimed all the lands as his in trust
for his people. It is a trusteeship that is merely
customary and not legally defined, but it inter
mingles his private estate and the common
wealth. His own exertions belong to his func
tions as ruler, judge and captain of his people.
Instead of gathering wealth into his own pos
session, he distributes cattle or other goods
among his people and in return they provide for
his wants, rear his children and meet the ex
penses of their education. These dues are the

58 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
chief's comynes. In instructions issued August
28, 1610, for settling claims of comynes, Chiches
ter remarks that some of the tenants and fol
lowers of the Irish gentry "have by their cus
toms of comynes gotten into their hands the
greater part of those goods and chattels; and
are, therefore, in far better estate than their land
lords, except there be restitution made of some
just portion thereof to him or them from whom
the same have been received by way of comynes."
Such facts show how closely the interests of
the native gentry were bound up with the main
tenance of tribal custom in land tenure. The
principal chiefs frequently showed themselves
not averse to taking title from the English
Crown for themselves, but they were bent on
keeping their people in the position of tenants-
at-will, their holdings subject to the disposition
of the chief. It was the policy of the English
Government to break up this dependence of the
people upon the will of their chiefs. In one of
his early letters from Ireland Sir John Davies
pointed out that it was just by such control over
tenants that the feudal barons of the Middle
Ages were able to carry on rebellion:
"Whereas, at this day, if any of the great
lords of England should have a mind to
stand upon their guard, well may they have
5ome of their household servants and re-

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 59
tainers, or some few light-trained fractious
gentlemen to follow them; but as for those
tenants who have good leases for years , , ,
those fellows will not hazard the losing of
their sheep, their oxen and their corn, and
the undoing of themselves, their wives and
children, for the love of the best landlord in
England."
Just such independence on the part of their
tenants the Irish chiefs instinctively feared, and
their obstinate resistance to surrendering their
tribal sovereignty was the root from which rebel
lion kept growing. The collective right of the
people to the soil, characteristic of Irish tribal
polity, has received much praise from writers in
our own times as an arrangement securing the
individual against social degradation and the
pressure of want. So judicial a historian as
Lecky says of the Irish clansman: "His posi
tion was wholly different from and in some re
spects very superior to that of an English
tenant." His superiority consisted in the fact
that whereas the English tenant had to pay rent
and in case of default might be ejected, "the
humblest clansman was a co-proprietor with his
chief." But in practice this co-partnership gen
erally meant that the clansman retamed only
what his chief chose to leave him. The uidus-
trious could not possess for themselves the re
wards of their industry, and as invariably

60 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
happens in all such cases industry did not
thrive. There was no motive for people to build
and improve, when their accumulations might
be appropriated by the chiefs and they them
selves be shifted to other fields.
The system kept the people under primitive
conditions of pastoral hfe. Some of the chiefs
dwelt in clay houses; others of them followed
"creaghting," a term denoting the practice of
moving about the country with their live stock,
chief and people hving in booths made of boughs
coated with long strips of turf. Such habitations
could be easily run up and lightly abandoned.
"Such are the dwellings of the very lords among
them," remarks an English traveler who was in
the country in 1600. What tillage there was was
carried on in the rudest fashion: several horses
were fastened each by the tail to a short plough
with a man to every horse to urge and direct the
animal. In this way they raised oats for their
horses and barley for distilling into whiskey.
The principal flesh meat of the people was pork,
while oatmeal and herbs furnished vegetable
food. There were also supplies of milk and but
ter, chickens and rabbits. There must have been
a rude plenty, for it appears that wandering
hawkers were familiar visitors to the creaghts,
bargaining for country produce. The chiefs
passed their leisure time hunting in the woods

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 61
and coshermg among their tenants. "Cosher
ing," from an Irish word meaning feasting or
entertamment, denotes the right of the chief to
free quarters and supphes for hunself and his
retinue. This mode of hfe had such charms that
even Anglo-Irish lords adopted it. At this tune
equally primitive conditions existed among the
Celtic peoples of the Scottish Highlands and in
deed continued there beyond the eighteenth cen
tury. In Lockhart's Life of Scott it is related
that on Scott's first visit to the Highlands he
found his host and three sons, with attendant
gillies, all stretched half asleep in their tartans
on the hearth, with guns and dogs, and a pro
fusion of game around them. In an enclosure
far below appeared a company of women actively
engaged in loading a cart with manure. Scott
was astonished to find that these industrious
women were the laird's own lady and her
daughters. Some writers of our own times have idealized
the pastoral conditions of Celtic Ireland, A
good example of the process is given by a bril
hant work on Irish Nationality by Alice Stop-
ford Green, She holds that "in the Irish system
we may see the shaping of a true democracy,
a society in which ever broadening masses of the
people are made intelligent sharers in the na
tional life and conscious guardians of its tra-

63 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
ditions," This projects into the past the ideas
of the present, for democracy by its terms is a
late, elaborate, complex form of government. In
every form of government power must exist and
be vested somewhere. That the rule of the
people shaU actually exist, it must have appro
priate institutions securing and defining the pub
lic trusteeship of the actual custodians of
authority, and this requires a long course of
political evolution. Upon close scrutiny all
democratic government is found to rest upon ap
paratus of sovereignty originally formed on the
basis of prerogative. Any inquiry into the ori
gin of legal institutions discloses this fact. The
historical process by which modern society was
prepared for democratic government through
the growth of monarchical power has been ac
curately surveyed by Sidgwick in his Develop
ment of European Polity. The notion that any
early form of the State possessed a democratic y
character is a belated piece of Rousseauism. All
anthropological evidence is in agreement that
political power in its earliest manifestations
takes arbitrary forms. In the primitive form of
the State, specimens of which have been de
tected among the Australian aborigines, politi
cal authority is of a piece with family authority,
authenticating itself by its mere presence and
power. The community commands and disposes

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 63
of the hves of its units by transactions as instinct
ive and unpulsive as the habits of bees or ants.
The advance from primitive savagery into bar
barism is marked by differentiations of tissue in
the social organism. The formation of the
priest class and the warrior class is an invariable
concomitant of political evolution, and the de
velopment of class consciousness precedes the
diffusion of public consciousness. The notion of
individual rights is a late development of politi
cal evolution, marking a very advanced stage in
the growth of the linguistic apparatus of
thought. No such stage had been reached in
Celtic Ireland, At the opening of the seven
teenth century its institutions retained their bar
barian pattern although those institutions were
in their dotage,^
Authentic traditions indicate that in the pre-
Christian period the priest class was a mighty
power in the State, but that period had long
passed away. The warrior class, however, still
remained, its arrogance the greater because all
social counterpoise had been removed. Its mem
bers are frequently referred to in the State
Papers of the period as kerns, galloglasses or
swordsmen. They had the typical characteristics

' In Appendix A will be found an account by a contemporary
observer of conditions just before the Ulster Plantation that
gives the facts without romance.

64 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
of their class wherever found under tribal polity:
disdain of labor, jealous guardianship of tradi
tional privilege, fierce tenacity in adhering to
their customary rights to pubhc support.
Everywhere as advancing civihzation eliminates
rapine from among the economic resources of the
community, the pretensions of the warrior class
have raised difficulties in the way of establishing
public order. One of the early tasks of Euro
pean kingship was to put down the robber
knights; and the work was not fully performed
until the invention and improvement of artillery
had transferred the art of war from a hand-made
to a machine-made basis. The Irish gaUoglasses
— and their close kin, the moss-troopers of the
Scottish Highlands — ^were survivals of a type
that had long since been extirpated in the area
of European civihzation. Themselves proud of
their rank and its adventurous activities, they
were detested by the settled agriculturists of the
Scottish Lowlands and of the Irish Pale as savage
ruffians and cattle thieves. Blackmail was paid
to the Rob Roys of Ireland as in Scotland. The
Irish State Papers contain accounts of payments
of tribute to the "wylde Iryshe" even by the
King's ofiicers as a regular charge in public ac
counts. Returns in the time of Henry VIII.
show a yearly tribute amounting to 740 pounds
paid as the price of immunity from molestation.

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 65
The seventeenth century antiquary WiUiam
Camden has given us a picture of the Irish
fighting-men, a company of whom accompanied
Shane O'Neal when he visited the Court of Queen
Elizabeth in the fifth year of her reign. Camden
says the "axe-bearing galloglasses" were "bare
headed, with curled hair hanging down, yeUow
surplices dyed with saffron, long sleeves, short
coats and hairy mantles," These hairy mantles
were the pelts of wild animals, probably wolf
skins. The dexterity and skill with which the
galloglasses wielded the broad battle-axe are
celebrated in Enghsh accounts of the Irish wars.
A long sword, mailed tunic and iron helmet
completed the equipment as formed on the mili
tary practice of the times, but the Irish never
took well to armor, preferring to fight in their
saffron coats. The kerns were hght-armed foot
men, who fought with a skean, or sharp-edged
dagger, and a javelin.
The domination of these warriors was not
compatible with conditions such as can properly
be designated as democratic. They helped them
selves as of right and the common people sub
mitted with customary deference, but grudg
ingly. Any growth of individual ownership,
privacy of habitation or enclosure of land was
in derogation of their class privileges and made
the offender a mark of attack. It is not neces-

6« THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
sary to offer evidence to support so obvious a
proposition as that customs permitting an idle
soldiery to rove about the lands of the clan quar
tering themselves on the people could not be
favorable to morality. In urging upon Queen
Ehzabeth his claim to the Earldom of Tyrone,
the succession to which was in dispute, Shane
O'Neal remarked in his petition: "Being a
gentleman, my father never refused no child that
any woman namyd to be his," In a letter of
May 4, 1606, Sir John Davies remarks that "by
reason and impunity of the common use, the
bastard is of as good reputation as the legitimate,
and doth commonly share the inheritance with
hun." The difficulties ensuing from the colhsion of
civihzed polity with tribal polity were aggra
vated by religious differences, and to this cause
may be chiefly attributed the marked divergence
between Celtic Scotland and Celtic Ireland in
; their modern history. The Reformation was a
unifyuig uifluence in Scotland, a divisive influ
ence m Ireland. When Henry VIII. began his
war upon papal authority the ancient Celtic
Church, which in its day had made Ireland a
center of Christian activity, had long since disap
peared, and the establishment that had absorbed
it had become full of the abuses characteristic of
the times. The Irish chiefs were as ready to

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 67

share hi the spoil of Henry's confiscations of
church property in Ireland as the Enghsh nobles
were in England. The English governors of
Ireland at the tune of the accession of James did
not anticipate much trouble in securing conform
ity in matters of rehgion. In a letter to the home
Government, December 8, 1605, Sir John Davies
remarks that "touching this work of reforma
tion" he was strongly persuaded that "it would
have a general good success, for the Irishry,
priests, people and all will come to church" un
der official pressure. He mentions how the mass
of the people in England had yielded to their
rulers in the matter of rehgion, and remarks
that "the multitude was ever made conformable
by edicts and proclamations." This expectation
was speedily disappointed. For one thing, the
establishment of religion by English law was
made odious by the character of bishops and
clergy. There were illustrious exceptions, but at
the time of the accession of James the general
situation was base. In a report written some
time in 1604, Chief Justice Saxey describes the
bishops as "priests of Jeroboam, taken out of the
basest of the people, more fit to sacrifice to a calf
than to intermeddle with the religion of God."
Writing in 1606, Sir John Davies says that he
is informed that:

68 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
"The churchmen for the most part
throughout the kingdom were mere idols
and ciphers, and such as could not read ; and
yet the most of them, whereof many were
serving men and some horseboys, were not
without two or three benefices apiece.
Nevertheless, for all their pluralities they
were most of them beggars; for the patron
or ordinary, or some of their friends, took
the greater part of their profits by a plain
contract before their institution. . . . And
what is the effect of these abuses? The
churches are ruined and fallen down to the
ground in all parts of the kingdom. There
is no divine service, no christening of
children, no receiving of the sacrament, no
Christian meeting or assembly, no, not once
a year ; in a word, no more demonstration of
religion than among Tartars or cannibals."
This religious desolation afforded a field for
missionary labor, cultivated with such zeal and
energy by the rehgious orders of the Roman
Catholic Church that the people were gathered
into that communion and confirmed in their at
tachment as never before. Whatever grounds
for Sir John Davies' opinion of Irish pliability
existed when it was uttered, they were soon con
clusively removed. The friars who had been
turned out of doors by Henry's suppression of
the monasteries had in large numbers continued
to work and preach among the people, and under
the chastening mfluence of adversity the immo
ralities formerly charged against some of them

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 69
tended to disappear. The restoration of disci
pline and the purification of morals were really
facilitated by the prostrate condition of the
church. No legal obstacles would be raised
against correctional measures taken by ecclesias
tical authority that was itself outlawed. Among
the Irish State Papers for 1613 there is a report
on the work' of a Franciscan friar that doubt
less gives a faithful picture of activities charac
teristic of this period. At a meethig in the
county of Londonderry the friar had before him
all the priests of those parts to the number of
fourteen, "He prayed long, exhorting them to
reform their wicked hves, telhng them of drunk
enness, whoredom, and lack of devotion and zeal,"
The friar did not depend on exhortation alone
but applied sharp discipline. The report goes
on to say that he "compels all priests to put
away their wives and whores, or else he deprives
them of their living and makes them incapable to
say mass or exercise their functions."
Such acts imply possession of large ecclesiasti
cal authority. The State Papers afford plenty
of evidence that persons described as wandering
friars must in fact have been high dignitaries of
the Church of Rome, Eventually the Govern
ment obtained lists of bishops that had been or
dained and commissioned to the work in Ireland.
The Jesuits, who flocked into Ireland in large

70 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
numbers, displayed an energy and an activity
that alarmed and incensed the Government offi
cials. In a report sent to the home Government
October 27, 1607, the Lord Deputy and Council
say that priests and Jesuits land in every part,
sometimes a dozen together and then disperse
themselves :
", , , in such sort that every town and
county is full of them, and most men's
minds are infected with their doctrines and
seditious persuasions. They have so gained
the women that they are in a manner all of
them absolute recusants. Children and
servants are wholly taught and catechised by
them. . . . They withdraw many from the
church that formerly had conformed them
selves; and others of whom good hope had
been conceived, they have made altogether
obstinate, disobedient and contemptuous."
The movement that the Government officials
describe with so much acrimony they found it
impossible to arrest. The Reformation cut Scot
land and England away from the papal see, but
left Ireland more firmly united and more deeply
loyal than before, but this religious divergence is
to be attributed rather to historical circumstances
than to any peculiarities of the Irish character.
It is sufficiently accounted for by the Counter-
Reformation by which abuses were corrected,
morals were purified and faith was revived
within the communion of the Church of Rome.

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 71
This revival of spiritual energy was in full vigor
at the time when the Irish people were practically
unchurched. The situation afforded large op
portunity to the missionary zeal then abounding
and it was utihzed with such energy and
devotion as to stamp the national character.
Within a decade there was a change for the
better in the condition of the estabhshed
church; but it came too late to recover lost
ground, and the outlawed Church of Rome
remained in secure possession of the loyalty of
the Irish masses.
It is clear enough now that in dealing with
this situation wise statesmanship would have
sought to connect the interests of the masses of
the people with the system of law and order
which it was proposed to introduce. The con
version of tribal right into legal right should
have been accompanied by an equitable distri
bution of the land among chiefs and people.
Virtually this process is going on in our own
times under the operation of the land laws, by
schemes of purchase and re-aUotment sustained
by the public credit, and the ultimate effect will
undoubtedly be a transformation of Irish social
and political conditions. The time is approach
ing when it will appear that Irish character is
D.O more inadequate to sustain orderly and effi
cient governmeJit than any other European

72 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
stock. It is a matter of race discipline and race
experience rather than of innate disposition.
The qualities of shiftlessness and improvidence
proverbially attributed to the Irish peasantry
used to be imputed to the French peasantry be
fore the changes in land tenure accomplished by
the French Revolution. But such penetrating
treatment of the situation was beyond the
thought and capacity of statesmanship at the
time of the Ulster plantation. Sovereignty
was too undeveloped, the State was too lacking
in efficient organization to cope with such tasks
as the equitable transfer of a people from a
tribal to a legal status. Outside of the limited
area known as the Pale there were no judges, no
juries, no sessions of the courts in Ireland. The
clansmen lived under the customary law of the
septs, administered by their chiefs. The situ
ation was something like that which confronted
the English in India nearly two centuries later,
when they acquired administrative authority
over peoples among whom English law did not
extend, and actuated by considerations of ad
ministrative convenience they set up a landlord
system that disregarded the customary rights to
the soil of the actual cultivators, converting them
from co-proprietors into tenants-at-wiU. It
eventually turned out that the arrangement
perpetrated hi justice, but at the time it pre
sented itself as a public necessity.

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 73
It is easy to criticize the admmistrative short-
commgs of one age from the mature knowledge
and experience of a later age, but that is not the
way to obtain insight. To appreciate the char
acter of any age one must read down to it and
not back to it. To understand the nature of
events one must view them in genetic order.
The Enghsh administrators in Ireland, working
by the hght of their own tunes, felt no scruples
as to the wisdom and justice of their plans for
reclaiming Ulster frqm barbarism. The lands
were escheated to the Crown as the result of the
treason of the lords. What more proper course
to pursue than to do as had often been done in
England itself, turn the lands over to the loyal
lords, for occupancy by them and their retainers !
No scruples as to the propriety of the course
actuaUy pursued appear to have been felt by
anybody except Chichester, and his were based
on practical and personal considerations. He
thought it would have been wiser to make a more
liberal provision for the native Irish and he
feared that his own promise to the Irish had not
been sufficiently respected.
Measures by which it was sought to break up
Irish tribal institutions had long been pursued.
In the time of Elizabeth severe laws were passed
against bards and "shanachies," or historians of
the clan. Soon after the accession of James the

74 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
courts declared illegal the native system of in
heritance known as tanistry and gavelkind, based
upon the principle of coUective ownership. This
had been frequently recommended by Enghsh
administrators in Ireland, who regarded it as a
necessary reform, A State Paper of 1611 set
forth among "Motives of Importance for hold
ing a Parliament in Ireland" that "all the
possessions of the Irish shall from henceforth
descend and be conveyed according to the course
of the common law of England, and not accord
ing to the barbarous customs of tanistrie or
gavelkinde." Religious conformity was aimed
at by a series of laws and proclamations against
recusancy, which were futile save as sources of
irritation and which Chichester came to regard
as so troublesome and impolitic that eventually
he resigned rather than administer them.
These measures belong to Irish history in gen
eral, and in view of the colonization which took
place they were of less immediate importance
in Ulster than elsewhere. The great adminis
trative task in Ulster was to dispose of the war
rior class. It was thought that since their trade
was fighting the best thing to do was to send
them into foreign service. Sweden then ranked
as a powerful State aiming at empife, and her
wars with Russia, Poland and Denmark at
tracted mihtary adventurers, including many

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 75
from Scotland. In 1609 it was arranged that
1,000 Irish fighting-men should be sent to
Sweden. Writmg from Fermanagh, September
18, 1609, Chichester says that he had accepted
the submission of two chieftans in that county
with their followers, "who so freely proffered
themselves to this service for avoiding further
danger by the prosecutions he made upon them."
When ships arrived to transport them to
Sweden Chichester had a different tale to tell.
In a letter, October 8, 1609, he says that "idlers
and swordmen everywhere (especially in the
province of Ulster) now withdrew themselves
into the woods." Before the end of that month,
however, three ships sailed from Derry with 800
men. Another ship was about departing from
Carlingford when the swordmen seized the ship
and tried to run her ashore so that they might
escape. Chichester acted with characteristic
energy, mustering a force that attacked the ship
with boats and put down the mutiny. Some of
the ringleaders were hanged. This ship seems
to have been doomed to disaster, for it was soon
wrecked on the Isle of Man and had to put into
a port of Scotland for relief. There another ship
was hired, but this was driven into Newcastle
where a body of the Irish escaped.
Chichester had a low opinion of swordmen.
"To speak generaUy," he said m one of his re-

76 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
ports, "they were aU but an unprofitable burden
of the earth, cruel, wild, malefactors, thieves."
But he had the discernment to observe that it
would be good policy to utilize their own native
customs and habits of allegiance to their chiefs.
Writing to the English Privy Council, October
31, 1609, he recommends that in making levies
for foreign service he be aUowed "to appoint the
commanders, such as he in his knowledge and
experience of them shaU think most popular with
the nation; for they will distaste and avoid aU
strange commanders." This anticipates the
policy pursued by the elder Pitt a century and
a half later when he extracted the spirit of turbu
lence from the Highland glens by forming the
clansmen into regiments officered by their
chiefs. In Chichester's day the regimental sys
tem did not exist, and armies were composed of
casual levies, Chichester found that the sword
men did not like to enter the Swedish service, an
antipathy readily accounted for when it is re
membered that the King of Sweden was a
Protestant champion and that the influence of
the Roman Catholic missionaries was now active
among the people, Chichester twice urged the
Privy Council that the swordmen be employed
in the service of Russia rather than of Sweden,
but nothing appears to have come of the sug
gestion. Nevertheless, it appears from Chiches-

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 77
ter's own statement that he sent away 6,000 men
for service in the Swedish wars.
The removal of so large a number of the war
rior class seems to have aided in the pacification
of the country. It appears that the common
people were patient and submissive as the Un
dertakers and their foUowers made their entry
upon the land. On September 24, 1610, Sir
John Davies wrote to the home Government in
a characteristic strain of cheerful optimism. He
remarks that the natives were choosing to be
tenants-at-wiU rather than receive land as free
holders "for which they would be compelled to
serve in juries." Davies proceeds: "All the
Irish (the chief lords excepted) desire naturally
to be foUowers, and cannot live without a master,
and for the most part they love every master
alike, so he be present to protect and defend
them," And therefore he is of opinion that, "if
they were once settled under the servitors, the
bishops, or others who may receive Irish ten
ants, they would follow them as wilhngly, and
rest as weU contented under their wuigs, as
young pheasants do imder the wings of a home-
hen, though she be not their natural mother,"
Chichester, the soldier, showed a more pene
trating judgment of the situation than Davies,
the jurist. Writing about the same time that
Davies expressed his confldence in the tranquihty

78 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
of Ulster, Chichester expressed doubts as to the
prospects of the plantation:
"But to hinder the same the natives of
those countries will do what in them shall he,
for they are generally discontented, and re
pine greatly at their fortunes and the small
quantity of land left them upon the divi
sion; especially those of the counties of
Tyrone, Ardmagh and Colerayne, who hav
ing reformed themselves in their habit and
course of life beyond others and the common
expectation held of them (for all that were
able had put on English apparel, and prom
ised to live in townredes, and to leave their
creaghting) had assured themselves of better
conditions from the King than those they
lived in under their former landlords: but
now they say they have not land given to
them, nor can they be admitted tenants,
which is very grievous unto them,"
Chichester complains that he himself has been
discredited by the proceedings of the land com
missioners, and "he prays that he may not be
guided by any directions of theirs, for they
know not Ireland so well as he does, especiaUy
Ulster," He points out that the grievances of
the common people afford grounds upon which
the priests can stir up disaffection. He remarks:
"The priests now preach little other doc
trine to them, but they are a despised peo
ple, and worse dealt with than any nation
hath ever been heard or read of; for bemg
received to mercy upon their humble sub-

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 79
missions, their bodies, goods, and lands were
taken into the Kmg's protection, but now
they are injuriously thrust out of their
houses, and places of habitation, and be com
pelled, like vagabonds, to go they know not
whither," Chichester concludes that "how iU soever they
be disposed, he sees not how they can rebel in
any great numbers unless they have assistance of
arms and munition from foreign parts," Never
theless he suggests that it would be wise to treat
them with more consideration, Chichester has
been represented as a hard, ruthless soldier,
whose policy in Ulster is marked by covetous-
ness, but his own pen has unconsciously drawn
for us his true portrait as a man who exceUed his
contemporaries in justice and discernment.
Before the Ulster plantation began there was
already a considerable Scottish occupation of the
region nearest to Scotland. These Scotch set
tlements were confined to Counties Down and
Antrhn, which were not included in the scheme
of the plantation. Their existence facilitated
Scottish emigration to the plantation, and they
were influential in giving the plantation the
Scottish character which it promptly acquired.
Although planned to be in the main an Enghsh
settlement, with one whole county turned over
to the City of London alone, it soon became in
the main a Scottish settlement.

CHAPTER III
The Scotch Migration to Ulster
The racial elements that have gone into the
making of Scotland are matters upon which
there are sharp differences among ^peciahsts in
this field. The first chapter of Andrew Lang's
History of Scotland gives a statement of the
conflicting views that are expressed upon ethnic
questions. The great question is : Who were the
Picts? An eminent Celtic scholar. Professor
Rhys, mainly upon philological grounds holds
that they were members not of the Celtic but of
some non- Aryan race, enmeshed by Celtic mi
gration like the Basques of France. Mr, Lang
himself concludes that they were simply a Celtic
tribe, the ancestors in some degree of the present
Highlanders, In Scotland as in England the
historical data point to Teutonic and Scandi
navian invasion pushing back the Celtic tribes.
Mr. Lang points out that there is no marked
difference in the racial composition of the people
between the Scottish Lowlands and the adjacent
parts of England. In both countries the people
spoke a language now designated as Early Eng-
80

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 81
hsh. The two regions were one geographicaUy.
Mr. Lang remarks: "Nothing in the topog
raphy of the country contahis a prophecy of this
separation of the Teutonic or Enghsh conquer
ors of Southern Scotland into a separate Scot
tish nation. The severance of the Enghsh north
and south of the Tweed was the result of his
torical events."
SubstantiaUy the same view is taken hi T. F.
Henderson's history of Scottish Vernacular
Literature. He holds that: "The Scottish ver
nacular is mainly a development of the Teutonic
dialect of that Northumbria which embraces the
more eastern portion of Britain from the Hum-
ber to the- Firth of Forth, Here the Saxons ob
tained a firm footing early in the sixth century,
the Cymri being, after a series of desperate
struggles, either conquered or forced gradually
westward until they concentrated in Cumbria or
Strathclyde, between the Mersey and the Clyde,
where for some centuries they maintained a
fragile independence, , , , The triurhph of the
Saxon element was finally assured by the great
influx of Saxons during the period of the Nor
man conquest. . . . The Teutonic speech and
civihzation gradually penetrated into every dis
trict of the Scottish Lowlands."
Mr. Henderson points out that "when it first
emerges from obscurity toward the close of the

82 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
fourteenth century, the hterary language of
the Scottish Lowlands is found to be practi
caUy identical with that of England north of
the Humber." Early English exhibited three
dialects. Northern, Midland and Southern.
The Midland dialect became the sole hterary lan
guage of England, the Northern and the South
ern dialects "vanishing almost entirely from
English literature," In the Scottish Lowlands
the Northern dialect survived and from it the
hterary language of Scotland was fashioned. In
support of these views Mr. Henderson points
out that early Scottish, the Scottish of Barbour
and Wyntoun (fourteenth century), "differs
but slightly, if at all, from Northern English."
At a later period the difference became marked.
The matter of ethnic origins has been touched
upon, because some writers upon the Scotch-
Irish have placed the Picts, the Caledonians and
other early inhabitants of Scotland among the
forebears of the Scottish settlers in Ulster, But
as a matter of fact the settlers were almost as
English in racial derivation as if they had come
from the North of England, Occasional allusions
in the State Papers show that the Government
»^had in mind the English-speaking districts of
Scotland and not the Gaelic regions as the source
from which settlers should be drawn. Indeed,
the conditions were such that the Ulster planta-

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 83
tion appeared as part of the general campaign
carried on to break down Celtic tribal pohty
and to extend civihzed pohty in both Ireland and
Scotland. During the O'Dogherty insurrection
Chichester wrote to the Scottish Privy CouncU
advising that the sea-passage between Western
Scotland and Northern Ireland be guarded to
prevent the recruithig of the Ulster rebels by
sympathizmg fellow-Celts from Kintyre, Islay,
Arran, and the neighboring islands. The Scot
tish Privy Council on the receipt of the news of
O'Dogherty's rising had been quick to perceive
the danger of sympathetic disturbance in Gaelic
Scotland, and before they heard from Chichester
they had issued a proclamation forbidding any
aid from the southwestern shires to the Ulster
rebels on pain of death. In later correspondence,
after O'Dogherty's rising had been suppressed,
Chichester referred to his own work in Ulster
and the work which the Scottish Council had in
hand against the Celts of the western Scottish
islands as but two branches of one and the same
service, Irish history during this period has been kept
under the spot-light so much as to create an im
pression that Enghsh pohcy in Ireland was
somewhat singular in character and was actuated
by special anunosity. No support to this notion
is found hi the State Papers. In them the Ulster

84 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
plantation appears as part of a general forward
movement against barbarism. So far as treat
ment of the native inhabitants goes the measures
taken in Ireland seem less severe than those taken
in Scotland itself. The reign of James was
marked by a determined effort to crush the
marauding spirit of Gaehc Scotland and to sup
press the feuds that were carried on in defiance
of law. An armed expedition to the western
islands was fitted out in. 1608, and many castles
were seized and dangerous chiefs were arrested
both in the islands and the neighboring parts of
the mainland. Andrew Stewart, Lord Ochil
tree, who was in command of this expedition, be
came one of the Ulster Undertakers, His name
did not appear in the original hst, but on return
ing to Edinburgh, triumphant from his expedi
tion, he was sent to London to make his report
to the King, When the revision was made by the
King and the English Privy Council of the list
of applicants submitted by the Scottish Privy
Council, the name of Lord Ochiltree appears as
Undertaker for 3,000 acres in County Tyrone.
The steady pursuit of the Clan MacGregor in
the main Highlands is an evidence of the de
termination to crush outlawry at any cost. They
are described in proclamations as that unhappy
race which has so long continued "in bluid, thift,
reif and oppression." The members of the clan

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 85
were proscribed and the use of the very name
was prohibited. The war on these wild clansmen
went on for many years. In 1604 Alexander
MacGregor of Glenstrae, chief of the clan, and
eleven of his principal kinsmen and retamers,
were hanged and quartered at the Market Cross
in Edinburgh. In August, 1610, a commission
of fire and sword against the MacGregors was
issued to twenty-eight nobles and lairds in terri
tories surroundmg the MacGregor country. By
proclamation the King's heges were warned not
to assist any of the clan, their wives, chUdren or
servants nor have any intercourse with them. In
1611, after a preamble declaring that the clans
men still persist in their "barbarous and wicked
lyff," the Earl of Argyle is commissioned to root
out and extirpate all of that race, until, says the
King, "they be ather reducit to our obedience or
ruitit out of our kingdome." Notwithstanding
these energetic measures a report of 1613 says
that remnants of the clan have again begun to go
about the country "soming, oppressing, quarrel
ing, where they may be masters and command
ers," "Sorning" is the Highland equivalent of
the Irish "coshering," the privilege claimed by
the warrior class of living on forced hospitality.
The harrymg of the MacGregors went on by fits
and starts for many years.
Besides these campaigns to introduce the

86 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
King's law into Celtic Scotland, the Government
had to deal with the habits of rapine which had
been implanted by centuries of border warfare,
and which possessed something of a patriotic
character when Scotland and England were tra
ditional enemies. Now that a Scottish King had
mounted the English throne the further continu
ance of border lawlessness became intolerable. It
was put down with ruthless energy. The English
and Scottish shires which had formerly been "The
Borders" were rechristened by James in 1603 as
"The Middle Shires of Great Britain" and the
administration was put into the hands of ten
commissioners, five for each side, each set of
commissioners executing their orders through an
appointed chief of mounted pohce. The Scottish
State Papers from April, 1605, to April, 1607,
contain abundant evidences of the activity of the
Scottish commissioners. Their chief of pohce
was Sir Wilham Cranstoun, and with his force
of twenty-five horsemen he scoured the Borders,
arresting murderers and robbers and bringing
them before justice courts held by commissioners
from time to time at stated places. At the end
of the first year the commissioners give the names
of thirty-two persons hanged for their crimes,
fifteen persons banished, and above seven score
in the condition of fugitive outlaws, who should
be pursued with hue and cry wherever they might

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 87
be found. In October, 1606, fifteen more of these
Border outlaws were hanged and by the end of
the year the list of fugitives had increased to
thirteen score, whose names were to be advertised
on the market crosses of aU towns and the doors
of aU parish kirks in aU the "in-countrey." The
Scottish Privy Council sustained this work with
hard resolution. The commissioners reported
periodically to the CouncU, asking instructions
upon difficult points, sometimes referring a case
in which they think there might be mercy, but in
every such case the Council sent back word to
"execute justice," which meant that the culprit
should be put to death.
Besides hanging and banishing, the commis
sioners were active in breaking up the nests of
outlawry. The houses of thieving f amihes were
searched for stolen goods, the iron gates that
barred entrance were removed and dragged away
to be turned into plough irons. The official
record of those who were hanged doubtless fell
short of the actual number put to death, for Sir
WiUiam Cranstoun thought it necessary to ob
tain an act of indemnity, which was granted by
the King, December 15, 1606. It sets forth as its
occasion that he had been moved "often tymes
summarlie to mak a quick dispatche of a grite
mony notable and notorious thevis and viUanes
by putting thame to present death without pre-

88 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
ceiding try all of jurye or assyse or pronuncia-
tioun of ony conviction or dome,"
Among the names of malefactors officiaUy
returned as having been hanged by order of the
justice courts are such good patronyms as Arm
strong, Gilchrist, Johnstone, Milburn, Patter
son, Scott, and Wallis, This Scott may well have
been a kinsman of the great author, for in times
when Border lawlessness had been so long extinct
as to be susceptible of romantic treatment Sir
Walter was pleased to claim Border outlaws as
among his forbears. The Lay of the Last
Minstrel describes the stronghold of Auld Wat
of whom the poet says:
"But what the niggard ground of wealth denied.
From fields more blessed his fearless arm supplied."
Of Auld Wat's bride, Mary Scott, "the Flower
of Yarrow," Lockhart relates that "when the
last bullock which Auld Wat had provided from
the English pastures was consumed the Flower
of Yarrow placed on her table a dish containing
a pair of clean spurs ; a hint to the company that
they must bestir themselves for their next din
ner." As the Flower of Yarrow married Auld
Wat in 1567, the halcyon days of her predatory
housekeeping were separated by little more than
one generation from the stern suppression of
such methods. The effect of the thorough work

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 89
of King James' commissioners was very marked.
The Borders were so tamed and disciplined that
in 1610 Chancellor Dunferhne was able to assure
the King that they had been purged "of aU the
chiefest malefactors, robbers and brigands" as
completely as Hercules had cleansed the Augean
stables and that they were now "as lawful, as
peaceable and quiet as any part of any civil
kingdom in Christianity."
There is evidence that the chronic turbulence
of the Borders was not so completely suppressed
as would seem from the Chancellor's account, but
the opening of safe land-passage for steady trade
between the two kingdoms appears to date from
that period. The memorials of the period of
turbulence were eventually converted by the re
lieved people into materials for legend and song,
but this poetry of the situation did not appear
until the prosaic aspect had been established to
which Dr. Johnson adverted when he remarked
that the noblest prospect a Scotchman could see
was the high road that led to England, The
enlargement of commercial intercourse and the
growth of business opportunity were essential
features of the pacification of the Borders, as of
aU regions brought under the rule of law. Severe
and terrifying punishment of crime is an indis
pensable agency in disciplinmg a people addicted
to rapine, but in compelling them to live by

90 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
honest industry the law must afford them
opportunity,
 To complete this account of the conditions in
Scotland from which the Ulster settlers derived
their habits of thought it should be added that
the Ulster settlement was essentially a migra-
*^tion from the Lowlands, The elements of the
population to whom the opportunity appealed
are displayed by the first hst of Undertakers.
It was mainly composed of sons and brothers
of lairds, sons of ministers, and burgesses or
sons of burgesses in the shires south of the Firth
of Forth, and nearly aU were from the up
per tier of those shires from Edinburgh to Glas
gow. A few names appear from Border shires,
'"Snibng them Robert Stewart of Robertoun, a
parish of Roxburghshire in which was situated
Harden Castle, the seat of Auld Wat's power.
This Robert Stewart received a grant of 1,000
acres in County Tyrone. A grant of 1,500 acres
in the same county was made to Sir Robert Hep-
bum, a lieutenant of the King's Guard, This
was a force employed in the general justiciary
work of the Scottish Privy Council, outside of
the special jurisdiction of the Border commis
sioners. ^ '^
I The Scots that flocked into Ulster carried with
f them prepossessions and antipathies implanted
by centuries of conflict with predatory clansmen.

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 91
The monkish writer Gildas, A.D. 560, describeT]
the Picts as "a set of bloody free-booters with /
more hair on their thieves' faces than clothes to
cover their nakedness." This might serve as weU
for a concise expression of Lowland opinion of
the Celtic clansmen at the time of the Ulster set
tlement. The Lowlanders were accustomed to
regarding the clansmen as raiders, pillagers, cat
tle-thieves, and murderers. The abduction and
ravishing of women were crimes so frequent as
to engage the particular attention of the Govern
ment, Hardened by perpetual contact with
barbarism, the Lowlanders had no scruples about
making merciless reprisals. The people were
hard; the law was hard. It was an iron age.
One of the acts of the Scottish Parliament at
this period declared that every man and woman
of the Gypsy race found in Scotland after a
certain date should be hable to death and per
sons giving them accommodations should be liable
to fine and imprisonment. Mention of arrests
for sorcery and witchcraft is found in the records.
The proceedings of the Privy Council for 1608
contain a report by the Earl of Mar of the burn
ing of some witches at Breichin, "Sum of thame
deit in dispair, renunceand and blasphemeand,
and utheris half brunt, brak out of the fyre, and
wes cast in quick in it agane quhill thay wer
brunt to the deid." This horrible scene of human

93 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
misery was evidently viewed with grim com
posure. There is not a word to indicate that the
event was even deplored.
 •
The greater avidity with which the Ulster op
portunity was seized in the Scottish Lowlands
than in England, which had the prior claim, is to
be attributed to the chronic need of Scotland for
outlets to the energies of her people. The mi
grating Scot was a familiar figure in continental
Europe, In Quentin Durward Scott gives a
romantic picture of the Scottish mihtary adven
turer, a type renowned throughout Europe for
a shrewd head, a strong arm and a sharp sword.
The Scottish trader was quite as weU known.
There were settlements of Scottish people living
under their own laws and perpetuating their
national customs in various countries of Europe,
William Lithgow, a Scottish traveler who visited
Poland in the seventeenth century, reported that
there were thirty thousand Scots families in that
country. When Sir William Alexander, after
ward Earl of Sterling, was urging the coloniza
tion of Nova Scotia, an enterprise that came
into competition with the Ulster plantation,
he remarked that Scotland, "being constramed
to disburden herself (like the painful bees) did
every year send forth swarms." Many through
stress of necessity had been compeUed to "betake
themselves to the wars against the Russians,

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 93
Turks or Swedens." Alexander urged that this
scattermg of Scottish ability should be discon
tinued, saying: _^^
"When I do consider with myself what
thhigs are necessary for a plantation, I can
not but be confident that my own country
men are as fit for such a purpose as any
men in the world, having daring minds that
upon any probable appearance do despise
danger, and bodies able to endure as much
as the height of their minds can under
take." ^ 
Together with a long implanted migratory
tendency operating to promote Scottish coloni
zation of the territory opened to settlement in
Ulster, another cause of Scottish forwardness
was facility of access. The North of Ireland
could be reached by ferries from the south
western extremities of Scotland which had been
purged of their dangerous elements by Lord
Ochiltree's expedition. The Scotch settlers had
quick transit for themselves and their chattels
while the English settlers had to take the risks
of a much longer sea-passage beset with pirates.
At this period piracy was a thriving trade, its
range including both Atlantic and Mediter
ranean coasts. Among the outrages charged
upon the pirates was that they associated with
the Turks, to whom they sold captives, Tunis
being a port at which this traffic was carried on.

94 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
In a report made to the Enghsh Privy Council,
August 22, 1609, it is mentioned with satisfac
tion that John Ward, a pirate chief, had been
captured by "the gaUiasses of the Venetians"
with his ship and pinnace and their crews,
"whereof thirty-six the 'next day were hanged in
view of the town of Zante, the rest in other
places, amongst which number were divers Eng
lishmen," The Irish State Papers contain fre
quent references to the depredations of pirates
on the southern and western coasts of Ireland,
Chichester says in his despatches that it was their
habit to move from the Spanish coasts to the
Irish coasts during the fishing season, to revictual
themselves at the expense of the fishing fleet.
He mentions that in 1606 the pirates "hath
robbed more than 100 sail and sent them empty
home." The traffic that sprang up as a consequence of
the Ulster plantation attracted the pirates into
the waters between Ireland and England. In a
dispatch from Dublin Castle, June 27, 1610,
Chichester says :
"The pirates upon this coast are so many
and are become so bold that now they are
come into this channel, and have lately
robbed divers barks, both Enghsh and
Scotch, and have kiUed some that have made
resistance; they lay for the Londoners'
money sent for the work at Coleraine, but

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 95
missed it; they have bred a great terror to
all passengers, and he thmks wiU not spare
the King's treasure if they may light
upon it."
Chichester had not the means of takmg effec
tive action against piracy, his frequent appeals
for sufficient naval force failing of proper re
sponse from the home Government. This Scot
tish authorities acted with prompt decision and
energy. An entry of June 27, 1610, on the
Register of the Privy Council of Scotland notes
that an English pirate had appeared on the coast
of Ireland opposite Scotland, waylaying boats
bound for the Irish plantation. Commission was
given to the provost and baillies of Ayr to fit out
an armed vessel to pursue the pirates. About
the same time pirate ships were seen even in the
Firth of Forth, Upon funds advanced by the
City of Edinburgh three armed vessels were
fitted out at Leith. The pirates had a depot in
the Orkneys from which northern position their
vessels could make excursions either to the east
ern or western coasts of the mainland. An action
was fought off the Orkneys in which one of the
two pirate vessels was captured but the other
escaped by fast saihng. Of the thirty pirates
taken alive twenty-seven were put to death.
They are constantly referred to in the State
Papers as "English pirates" and their names are

96 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
such as to justify the description. A feature of
the official record that casts a curious hght on the
morals of the times is that the pirates had "one
whome thay did caU thair parsone, for saying of
prayeris to thame twyse a day." This pirate
chaplain furnished the Government with much
useful information and he was not brought to
trial. Piracy of such a serious-minded type must
have been a rehc of the time when marauding
whether by land or by sea ranked as an honorable
industry. This pious band perhaps regarded
Scotland as a foreign country whose waters were
as fair a field for spoils as the Spanish main in
Elizabeth's time.
After this affair no notice appears in the
Scottish records of any molesting of the sea-
passage to Ulster, although mention is made of
the presence of pirates in the Hebrides and the
Orkneys, The probabihty is that the pirates
found the narrow channel between Scotland and
Ireland too tight a place in which to venture and
they kept to safer and more profitable cruising
grounds in the wide seas. Numerous references
continue to appear in the Irish State Papers to
their activity and audacity. They established a
depot at Leamcon, a land-locked harbor, on the
southern coast of Ireland, and at one time in the
summer of 1611 they had there a fleet of nine sail
together with four captured vessels. They were

' THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 97
engaged m fitting up one of the captured vessels
as an addition to their fleet, after which they
were going to the Barbary coast where they had
a market for their goods. They preyed upon
the commerce of HoUand, France and England
impartiaUy and defied the authority of all those
Powers with remarkable success. The Dutch,
who were particularly energetic in their efforts
to crush the pirates, obtained permission from the
English Government to pursue them into Irish
waters. Three armed vessels were dispatched
from HoUand to the Irish seas in 1611, but the
pirate fleet scattered at their coming to return
when the coast was clear. Piratical depredations
on the southern coast continued for many years
thereafter, and the participation of the Barbary
States in the business eventually led to a horrible
affair. On June 20, 1631, a squadron of Alger-
ine pirates sacked the town of Baltimore in
County Cork, carrying off with their booty
more than a hundred citizens of the place, mostly
English colonists. Ulster, however, remained
untroubled by the pirates after they had been
driven out of the North Channel in the early days
of the settlement. The South of Ireland was not
delivered from the depredations of the pirates
until about 1636 when Wentworth's energetic
measures made the region too dangerous for
them to visit.

98 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
In Appendix B wiU be found a complete hst
of the Undertakers as provisionaUy accepted by
the Scottish Privy Council, and also the hst as
finaUy prepared by the English Privy Council.
Although the two lists differ greatly, probably
the class of immigrants was not to any corre
sponding extent affected by the change. It has
already been remarked that the first list made up
in September, 1609, was chiefly composed of sons
or brothers of lairds and burgesses in the Low
lands. There is no name of a Scottish noble in
the hst of Undertakers, Lord Ochiltree appears
as surety for four of the principals, but was not
a principal himself at that time. The list as re
vised in England in 1611 contains the names of
five Scottish noblemen, each receiving an allot
ment of 3,000 acres whereas in the first list the
largest allotment was 2,000 acres. Only eighteen
of the seventy-seven applicants enrolled in the
first list appear in the final hst. In view of the
usual tenor of the King's proceedings in such
matters favor doubtless played a part in those
changes, but they cannot all be ascribed to favor.
According to the ideas of those times it was im
portant to interest wealthy and influential
noblemen in the success of the plantation. It
is a point on which Chichester laid stress in his
communications. Since it appears that Lord
Ochiltree refrained from applying in his own be-

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 99
half when the matter was m the hands of the
Scottish Privy Council but is included m the
hst as made up in England it seems fair to
presume that influence was brought to bear upon
hun. And it would also seem hkely that the
kinsmen and friends in the Lowlands for whom
he had been wiUing to be surety when the first
roll was made up might retain their connection
with the enterprise under cover of his name. In
a dispatch of July 29, 1611, Chichester mentions
that Lord Ochiltree had arrived "accompanied
with thirty-three followers, gent, of sort, a min
ister, some tenants, freeholders, artificers, unto
whom he hath passed estates," Chichester notes
that building and fortifying were going briskly
forward, that horses and cows had been brought
in and that ploughing had begun.
Other Scotch noblemen had thrown themselves
with a will into the work of colonization. The
Earl of Abercom had brought in tenants with
ploughs and live stock, and the Earl and his
family were already in residence on their Irish
estate. Sir Robert Hepburn was also resident,
and was building and farming energetically.
Mills and houses were going up and tools and
Uve stock were being brought hito the country.
That there was a great bustle of intercommuni
cation between Scotland and Ulster is evidenced
by a petition to the Scottish Privy CouncU, Oc-

100 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
tober 27, 1612. The petitions set forth that in
settling on their lands in Ulster they are "con
strained and compeUit to transporte frome this
coimtrey thereunto, verie frequenthe, nomberis
of men for labouring of the ground, and mony
bestiall and catteU for plenisching of the same,"
so that passage between Scotland and Ulster "is
now become a commoun and ane ordinarie
ferric," where seamen and boatmen are making
rates at their own pleasure "without ony con-
trolment." The pubhc authority of Scotland
was neither impotent nor irresolute in such mat
ters. The Privy Council commissioned the jus
tices of the peace along the west sea-coast to
"reforme the said abuse in sic forme and maner
as they saU hold fittest, and for this effect that
they appoint and set down reasoimable and
moderat frauchtis [rates] to be tane for the
transporte of men, bestiaU, and goodis to and
fra Yreland."
No further mention of this matter appears in
the records but the severity with which unlawful
exactions were repressed is evidenced by the
entry in 1616 of an order that one Patrick Adair
should be imprisoned in the Tolbooth of Edin
burgh at his own expense during the pleasure of
the Council for insolence in demanding custom
on certain horses sent to Ireland by the Earl
of Abercorn, There is however evidence that

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 101
as communications became regular and ample
criminals made use of the facilities. Entries of
October, 1612, and November, 1614, refer to
traffickers in stolen goods between Ireland and
Scotland and orders are given to keep a strict
watch of ports and ferries, "for apprehending of
suche personis as in thifteous maner travellis to
and fra Yreland, transporting the goodis stoUin
be thame furthe of the ane cuntrie to the uther."
The energetic scouring of the Scottish Border
shires contributed some elements to Ulster plan
tation that did not make for peace and order.
Men proscribed in the Borders would take refuge
in Ireland, A proclamation issued in 1618
orders the wives and children of all such persons
as have been banished or have become voluntary
fugitives into Ireland to join their husbands
with aU convenient dihgence, nor presume to
return under pain of imprisonment. To facili
tate better control over travel between Ireland
and Scotland it was restricted to certain ports,
and passports were required.
The situation in the Borders which were the
southern tier of Lowland shires throws light
upon a saying that is often quoted in histories as
indicative of a low state of morality among the
Ulster settlers. The authority for it is the Rev,
Andrew Stewart, an Ulster minister. He re
marked: "Going to Ireland was looked upon

102 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
as a miserable mark of a deplorable person ; yea,
it was turned into a proverb, and one of the
worst expressions of disdain that could be in
vented was to teU a man that 'Ireland would be
his hinder end,' " As one follows through the
state papers accounts of the measures taken by
James to rid the Borders of "maisterles men and
vagabondis wanting a lawfuU trade, calling and
Industrie" and notes the terrible punishments
inflicted, branding, drowning and hanging, it is
easy to understand how the popular imagination
would be impressed. The severe attitude of the
authorities is strikingly displayed by the meas
ures taken in August, 1612, when some Scot
tish companies that had been in Swedish service
returned home. It was ordered that "the said
soldiers shall, within two hours after landing,
dissolve themselves and repair peaceably to their
homes, and that no more than two of them shaU
remain together, under pain of death." To
escape from such rigor emigration to Ireland
would be a natural impulse among the restless
and wayward, and an association of ideas was
established that became a text of warning in the
mouths of sober-minded people. But there is
abundant evidence that both in Scotland and Ire
land the authorities were active in precautions
against crime and disorder. A frontier has a
natural attraction for the misfits of old communi-

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 103
ties but the evidence when analyzed does not
warrant the opinion that the Scottish migration
into Ulster was so low in moral tone as has been
averred by historians on the testimony of early
Ulster divines.
The authorities upon whose word rests the
charge of prevailing immorality are the Rev.
Robert Blair, the Rev. Andrew Stewart, and the
Rev. Patrick Adair. Blair, who arrived in Ire
land in 1623, left an autobiographical fragment
which was begun in 1663 when he was seventy.
In it he gave this account of the early settlers :
"The parts of Scotland nearest to Ireland
sent over abundance of people and cattle
that filled the counties of Ulster that lay
next to the sea; and albeit amongst these.
Divine Providence sent over some worthy
persons for birth, education and parts, yet
the most part were such as either poverty,
scandalous lives, or, at the best, adventurous
seeking of better accommodation, set for
ward that way. . . . Little care was had by
any to plant religion. As were the people,
so, for the most part, were the preachers/^
Stewart's account of early conditions is con
tained in a church history which was begun in
1670 and was left unfinished at his death m 1671,
He was minister at Donaghdee from 1645 to
1671, so his account cannot be regarded as con
temporary testimony as to original conditions
although it has been cited as such. His account

104 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
has been supposed to derive support from the
fact that his father before him was a North of
Ireland minister, but the elder Stewart himself
did not arrive in Ireland until 1627, and the son
was only ten years old when the father died.
Even if the younger Stewart is to be credited
with information derived from his father, his
knowledge does not approach so close as Blair's
to the first settlement but nevertheless he paints
the situation in much darker colors. Stewart
says: "From Scotland came many, and from
England not a few; yet all of them gener
ally the scum of both nations, who, from
debt, or breaking and fleeing from justice,
or seeking shelter, came hither, hoping to be
without fear of man's justice in a land where
there was nothing, or but little as yet, of the
-^^ear of God. Yet God followed them when
they fled from Him. Albeit at first it must
be remembered, that as they cared little for
any church, so God seemed to care little for
them. For these strangers were no better
entertained than with the relics of popery,
served up in a ceremonial service of God
under a sort of anti- Christian hierarchy,
, , . Thus on all hands atheism increased,
and disregard of God, iniquity abounded
with contention, fighting, murder, adultery,
etc., as among people who, as they had noth
ing within them to overawe them, so their
ministers' example was worse than nothing;
for 'from the prophets of Israel profaneness
went forth to the whole land.' "

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 105
Adair settled in Ireland, m charge of the
parish of Cairn Castle, Antrim, May, 1646. He
died in 1694 leavmg unfinished A True Narra
tive of the Rise and Progress of the Presbyterian
Church in Ireland. His account of the first
settlers is simply a reproduction of Blair's, in al
most the same language.
An examination of these several accounts
shows that the purpose of the writers was horta
tory rather than historical. The motive that set
them all writmg in their old age was to put on
record edifying experiences. Literary composi
tion of this sort instinctively avoids aU colors ex
cept black and white. It needs strong contrasts
to accomplish the desired effect. Hence Dr.
Reid, in his History of the Presbyterian Church
in Ireland, a work written in the genuine his
torical spirit, while he reproduces Stewart's ac
count, gives the caution that it is "probably a
little over-charged,"
Doubtless to clergymen of strict opinions there
was deplorable laxity of morals among the early
settlers of the Ulster plantation, but if one's
views are formed upon examination of the official
records, it will not be thought that the people
settling in Ulster were any worse than people
of their class m Scotland or in England. If
anything, the comparison is to the advantage of
the Ulster settlers. As a matter of fact they

106 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
showed far more regard for religious estabhsh
ment than is usual among emigrants. It has
already been noted that a minister accompanied
the party of settlers brought over by Lord
Ochiltree in 1611. By the close of 1625 seven
ministers are known to have settled in the coun
try, Neal's History of the Puritans, published
in 1731-2, mentions the Ulster plantation as a
field in which Puritanism prospered. Referring
to the work of colonization carried on by the
London companies, Neal said:
"They sent over considerable numbers of
planters, but were at a loss for ministers ; for
the beneficed clergy of the Church of Eng
land, being at ease in the enjoyment of their
preferments, would not engage in such a
hazardous imdertaking, it fell therefore to
the lot of the Scots and English Puritans;
the Scots, by reason of their vicinity to the
northern parts of Ireland, transported nu
merous colonies ; they improved the country
and brought preaching into the churches
where they settled ; but being of the Presby
terian persuasion, they formed their churches
after their own model. The London adven
turers prevailed with several of the Enghsh
Puritans to remove, who, being persecuted
at home, were willing to go anywhere within
the King's dominions for the liberty of their
.^consciences." This reference to the Puritan complexion of
the ecclesiastical arrangements made along with

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 107
the Ulster plantation accounts for the acrimony
with which pioneer ministers, writmg m their old
age, described the situation in which they began
their fruitful labors. That situation did not exist
however because the Ulster settlers as a class
were worse than the other people, but because
exceptionally high standards had been set up,
measured by which morals that elsewhere might
have passed without much reprobation were re
garded as abominable. Such an epithet as "athe
ism" when employed by religious zealots must be
taken with allowance. It may mean really no
more than an indifference which however culp
able from the ministerial view-point was far from
implying actual atheism. It may be noted that
Stewart couples the charge of atheism with
"disregard of God." That is to say the people
were atheists because they neglected the ordi
nances of the church as construed by Puritan
clergymen. Blair in his autobiography men
tions incidents that show that atheism could
hardly have been prevalent. He remarks that on
the day after he landed in Ireland he met some
Scots with whom by way of conference he dis
coursed the most part of the last sermon he had
preached. He speaks of finding several mmis-
ters in the field, and of hours spent "in godly
conference and caUmg on the name of the Lord."
Alongside of such fervor the behavior of the

108 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
common people doubtless seemed cold and indif
ferent, and Blair describes them as "drowned m
ignorance, security and sensuality." Yet he says
the people were much affected by two sermons he
preached on the same day, "one sermon on
heaven's glory and another on heU's torments."
It was suggested to him that as some of the
people that dwelt far from the kirk returned
home after the first sermon, he should thereafter
preach of hell in the morning and of heaven in
the afternoon. In fine, his autobiography gives
such an account of successful ministry as to in
dicate that the people were not a bad sort when
judged by ordinary standards, and that upon a
fair scale of comparison with new settlements in
any country they reaUy stood high in their con
cern for religion and their attachment to ecclesi
astical order.
They certainly were tractable, for the rela
tions that have come down from this period show
that the ministers were able to estabhsh a strict
discipline. Blair teUs how he made evil-doers
make pubhc confession of their sins. The Rev.
John Livingston who was caUed to Ireland in
1630 thus describes the process of church disci
pline in his time:
"We [i,e, the session] met every week,
and such as fell into notorious pubhc scan
dals we desired to come before us. Such

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 109
as came were dealt with, both in pubhc and
private, to confess their scandal in the pres
ence of the congregation, at the Saturday's
sermon before the communion, which was
celebrated twice in the year. Such as after
deahng would not come before us, or com
ing, would not be convinced to acknowledge
their fault before the congregation, upon the
Saturday preceding the communion, their
names, scandals and impenitency were read
out before the congregation, and they de
barred from the communion; which proved
such a terror that we found very few of that
sort." This was not an isolated case, for Livingston
mentions that "there were nine or ten parishes
within the bounds of twenty miles or little more,
wherein there were godly and able ministers."
Both Blair and Livingston speak of the extra
ordinary appetite of the people for religious ex
ercise. Livingston says:
"I have known them come several miles
from their own houses to communions, to
the Saturday sermon, and spending the
whole Saturday's night in several compan
ies, sometimes a minister being with them,
and sometimes themselves alone in confer
ence and prayer. They have then waited on
the public ordinances the whole Sabbath,
and spent the Sabbath night in the same
way, and yet at the Monday's sermon were
not troubled with sleepmess; and so they
have not slept tiU they went home. In
those days it was no great difficulty for a

110 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
minister to preach or pray in pubhc or pri
vate, such was the hunger of hearers."
AU this, in less than twenty years after the
colonization of Ulster began, certainly does not
exhibit a community prone to atheism and im-
morahty. It is evident that ecclesiastical con
trol over the people was promptly apphed and
was speedily effectual, and it was a control of a
strict Puritan type. The development of this
characteristic was promoted not only by the fact
that the North of Ireland served as a refuge for
Puritan ministers harassed by episcopal inter
ference in Scotland and England, but also by
the fact that at this time the established church
in Ireland had a strong Puritan tincture and the
bishops there were friendly and sympathetic in
their attitude toward the Presbyterians, The
low state of the Established Church at the time of
the accession of James had been somewhat re
trieved by the appointment of good bishops and
diligent pastors, trained under Puritan influence.
During Elizabeth's reign Cambridge University
had been a center of Calvinistic theology and
Puritan doctrine. The famous Richard Cart-
wright, sometimes caUed the father of Enghsh
Puritanism, was a fellow of Trinity CoUege,
Cambridge, Dublin University, founded in
1593, drew upon Cambridge University for its
staff of professors and their influence upon the

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 111
Irish Church was very marked. The articles of
religion adopted by the Church of Ireland in
1615 are prmted m fuU m Neal's History of the
Puritans as a Puritan document. Blair, Living
ston and other Presbyterian ministers accepted
Episcopal ordination after a form made to meet
their approval, Neal says :
"AU the Scots who were ordained in Ire
land to the year 1642, were ordained after
the same manner; aU of them enjoyed the
churches and tithes, though they remained
Presbyterian and used not the hturgy; nay,
the bishops consulted them about affairs of
common concernment to the church, and
some of them were members of the convo
cation in 1634,"
Looking back upon the situation in the plan
tation period from the standpoint of our own
times, the remarkable thing now appears to be
that the people were so spiritually minded. In
the time when Blair used to preach his sermons
on heaven's glory and hell's torments, both on
the same day, it may have seemed deplorable in
difference that some of the people were satisfied
to hear only one; but what surprises one now is
that there should have been so many willing to
make long journeys to give whole days to hear
ing sermons. Such devotion is hardly intelligible
until the general circumstances of the times are
considered. Previous to the spread of popular

112 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
education, the rise of journalism, and the diffu
sion of hterature, the pulpit was in most places
the only source of inteUectual stimulus and
mental culture. It was like the well in the desert
to which aU tracks converge, whereas now some
sort of supply is laid to every man's house.
The nervous disorders that are apt to result
from immoderate states of rehgious introspection
and emotional fervor were early manifested in
Ulster under the excitements of Puritan exhorta
tion. In describing a revival under Blair's
preaching Stewart says: "I have seen them my
self stricken and swoon with the word — yea, a
dozen in a day carried out of doors as dead, so
marveUous was the power of God smiting their
hearts for sin." Such scenes before long pro
duced rehgious vagaries that gave trouble. Blair
in his autobiography gives a long account of his
dealings with Glendinning, described as "lecturer
at Carrickfergus." Glendinning settled himself
at Oldstone, near the town of Antrim, where "he
began to preach diligently, and having a great
voice and vehement dehvery, he roused up the
people and waked them with terrors." But
Blair notes that he "was neither studied in learn
ing, nor had good solid judgment," Indeed, it
would appear that the man became deranged,
judging from the strangeness of the doctrhies he
began to preach, "He watched much and fasted

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 113
wonderfully, and began pubhcly to affirm that
he or she after they had slept a little in bed, if
they return themselves from one side to another,
could not be an honest Christian." Blair gives
a long account of a struggle he had with Glendm-
ning to keep hun from puttmg his foot in the
fire to show that it would have no power to burn
hun. Glendinning professed to know when the
Judgment Day was to come and he taught people
to save themselves by "a ridiculous way of roar
ing out some prayer, laying their faces on the
earth." Glendinning finally left the country,
giving out that he had a call to visit the Seven
Churches of Asia.
The educated clergy who directed the interests
of early Presbyterianism of Ulster set themselves
firmly against rehgious ecstasies that tended to
foUy and disorder. Blair described some mani
festations at Lochlearn in 1630 as "a mere de
lusion and cheat of Satan," It seems that there
were persons who "in the midst of the pubhc
worship fell as mourning, and some of them
were afflicted with pangs like convulsions,"
Their case excited sympathy at first but as con
ference with them disclosed no spiritual value in
such experiences they were before long sharply
rebuked. Blair tells how a woman of his own
congregation "m the midst of the pubhc worship,
being a dull and ignorant person, made a noise

114 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
and stretching of her body." He forthwith de
nounced the exhibition as the work of the lying
spirit and charged it not to disturb the congre-
.gation, Blair notes that after this rebuke noth
ing more of the kind occurred, "the person above
mentioned remaining stiU a dull and stupid sot."
TJne can hardly be mistaken in thinking that
these early experiences had much to do with de
veloping in Ulster Presbyterianism its character
istic insistence upon the importance of having an
educated clergy. We may therefore descry here
the initial impulse of important educational ac
tivities in the United States ensuing from Ulster
emigration.
¦"^ These accounts of early conditions by the
pioneer clergy are tantalizingly curt in their ref
erences to the industrial situation. Blair re
marks that when the plantation began "the whole
country did lie waste; the English possessing
some few towns and castles, making use of small
parcels of near adjacent lands; the Irishes stay
ing in woods, bogs and such fast places." After
mentioning the influx from Scotland he ob
serves: "The wolf and widcaim were great ene
mies to these first planters; but the long rested
land yielded to the laborers such plentiful in
crease that many foUowed the first essayers."
These brief references are all that Blair has to
say about the conditions that the planters had

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 115
to endure, but they cast a flashlight on the
situation. A rehef map of Ireland shows that
elevations above 500 feet are more thickly clus
tered m Ulster than in any other part of Ire
land except the southwestern extremity. Three
highland masses whose general direction foUows
rather closely the sixth, seventh and eighth me
ridians of longitude stretch across Ulster from the
north to the great central plain of Ireland, Be
tween and about these highlands are lake basins
and river valleys termmatmg in short coastal
plains. At the time of the settlement forests and
swamps occupied much of the country. Ancient
Ireland was a densely wooded country. State
papers of 1529 represent the districts in which
English law prevailed as being everywhere sur
rounded by thick forests. From time to time
the Government had to cut passes and take
measures for their maintenance. During the
wars of Elizabeth it was a proverb that "the
Irish will never be tamed while the leaves are on
the trees," meaning that the winter was the only
season in which the Irish could be descried and
pursued in the woods. "Plashing" is mentioned
as a great obstacle to the movement of the troops,
by which was meant the interlacing of the tree
trunks with underwood so as to render the forest
paths impassable. The Government sought to
reduce these woodland areas, with such success

116 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
that by the time James succeeded to the throne
the central plain of Ireland was nearly destitute
of woods ; but extensive forests stiU remained in
Ulster, in the counties of Tyrone, Londonderry,
Antrim and Down, particularly on the east and
west shores of Lough Neagh, and the territories
adjacent. Tl^lmost everywhere the lands occupied by the
planters were in reach of the "fast places" in
which Blair speaks of the "Irishes stayhig." The
planters had to pasture their cattle near coverts
in which wolves prowled or marauding natives
lurked, Blair speaks of the wolf as a great
enemy. Its ravages were so great that so late as
1652 under CromweU's Government a bounty of
six pounds was offered for the head of every
she wolf. Grand jury records mention payments
for killing wolves as late as 1710, and they were
not wholly extinct until about 1770. The "wid-
cairn" mentioned by Blair is a corruption of wood
kern. From the reference to this enemy it ap
pears that although Chichester had shipped out
of the country many of the fighting men many
still remained behind, stiU trying to hve their
old lives as a privileged class to whom tribute
was due. The planters thus hvejLJL-gt state
^f siege. Thomas Blenernassett^ whose Direc-
tion for the Plantation in Ulster describes con
ditions at this period says: "Sir Toby Caul-

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 117
field's people are driven every night to lay up
all his cattle, as it were, in warde; and do he and
his what they can, the woolfe and the wood
kerne (within caliver shot of his fort), have
oftentimes a share." Gamsford, another writer
of this period, mentions that it was an Ulster
practice in 1619 "to house their cattle in the
bawnes of their castles where aU the winter
nights they stood up to their bellies in dirt."
Such hazards powerfuUy impelled the settlers
to build securely. In the official survey made by
Nicholas Pynnar in 1619 such entries appear as
the foUowing: "On the allotment of Lord Aubigny, held
by Sir James Hamilton, is built a strong
castle of lime and stone, called Castle
Aubigny, with the King's arms cut in free
stone over the gate. This is five storeys
high, with four round towers for flankers;
the hall is 50 feet long and 28 broad; the
roof is set up and ready to be slated. Ad
joining one end of the castle is a bawn of
lime and stone, 80 feet square, with two
flankers 15 feet high, very strongly built."

"John Hamilton has built a bawn of lime
and stone, 80 feet square and 13 feet high,
with round towers for flankers; he has also
a stone house, now one storey high, and in
tended to be four, being 48 feet long and 24
broad; besides two towers, which are
vaulted, flank the house. Also a yiUage of
eight houses adjoining the bawn, inhabited

118 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
by British tenants, a watermiU and five
houses adjoining it,"
Pynnar says that at that time there were in
Ulster "in British families 6,215 men, and upon
occasion, 8,000 men, of British birth and descent
for defence, though the fourth part of the lands
is not fuUy inhabited." Of buildings there were
"107 castles with bawns, 19 castles without
bawns, 42 bawns without castles or houses, 1,897
dwelling houses of stone and timber, after the
English manner, in townredes, besides very many
such houses in several which I saw not."
This estimate of the number of men able to
bear arms of course imphes a much larger popu
lation when the women and children are taken
into the reckoning. The number of houses also
points the same way. Inasmuch as the settlers
took their famihes, and families were apt to be
large in those days, the statistics given by Pyn
nar indicate that from 30,000 to 40,000 colonists
were then settled in the country, Pynnar classes
together Enghsh and Scotch as "British" but
he gives details which show that the Scotch were
much the more important element. He remarks
that "many Enghsh do not yet plough nor use
husbandry, being fearful to stock themselves with
cattle or servants for such labors," and he goes
on to say that "were it not for the Scottish, who
plough in many places, the rest of the country
might starve."

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 119
From the very first the Scotch took the lead in
the settlement. In a report written in Novem
ber, 1610, Chichester describes the Enghsh Un
dertakers as:
"For the most part, plain country gentle
men, who may promise much, but give smaU
assurance or hope of performing what ap
pertains to a work of such moment. If they
have money, they keep it close ; for hitherto
they have disbursed but little, and if he may
judge by the outward appearance, the least
trouble or alteration of the times here will
scare most of them away. . . . The Scottish
come with greater port and better accom
panied and attended, but it may be with less
money in their purse; for some of the prin
cipal of them, upon their first entrance into
their precincts were forthwith in hand with
the natives to supply their wants, or at least
their expenses, and in recompense thereof
promise to get hcense from His Majesty
that they may remain on their lands as ten
ants unto them ; which is so pleasing to that
people that they will strain themselves to the
uttermost to gratify them, for they are con
tent to become tenants to any man rather
than be removed from the place of their
birth and education, hoping, as he conceives,
at one time or other to find an opportunity
to cut their landlord's throats ; for sure he is
they hate the Scottish deadly, and out of
their mahce toward them they begm to af
fect the Enghsh better than they have
accustomed."

120 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Even apart from the ease of access enjoyed
by the Scotch, Ulster opportunities were more
attractive to the Scotch than to the English
whose experience and habits did not fit them so
well to endure the hardships. The Rev. Andrew
Stewart dwells on this in his account of early
conditions, remarking:
' "It is to be observed that being a great
deal more tenderly bred at home in Eng
land, and entertained in better quarters than
they could find here in Ireland, they were
very unwilling to flock hither, except to
good land, such as they had before at home,
or to good cities where they might trade;
both of which in these days were scarce
enough here. Besides that the marshiness
and fogginess of this Island was still found
unwholesome to English bodies, more ten
derly bred and in a better air; so that we
have seen in our time multitudes of them
die of a flux, called here the country disease,
at their first entry. These things were such
discouragements that the new English come
but very slowly, and the old English were
become no better than the Irish,"
By the "old English" Stewart means the de
scendants of English formerly settled in Ireland,
In every age they have shown a marked tendency
to melt into the general mass, making Irish
nationahty so composite in character that it
would be hardly more accurate now to describe
the Irish people as Celts than to describe the

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 121
Enghsh people as Angles or Saxons. The con
flicts of which Ireland has been the scene have
been more political and religious than racial, and
the political and religious differences have caused
undue emphasis to be put upon racial differences.
Even the preservation of the Celtic language and
customs in some regions is no guarantee of race
purity, for there is abundant evidence that de
scendants of early English settlers have adopted
Irish speech and ways.
According to the original scheme only the
class of servitors whose houses were to possess the
character of military posts were to be allowed to
have Irish tenants. It was the intention to re
move the native Irish from the lands assigned to
the Scotch and English Undertakers. But this
part of the scheme, to which Chichester had
always been opposed, proved to be impracticable. '
In a report made in July, 1611, the English Privy
Council is informed that "experience tells the
Undertakers that it will be almost impossible
for them to perform the work they have under
taken, if the natives be removed according to the
general project, for when they are gone there
will be neither victuals nor carriage within twenty
miles, and in some counties more." In view of
this situation the removal had to be deferred and
as time went on the obstacles increased. The
Irish were wiUing to pay for the use of pasture

122 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
lands and the newcomers found that the readiest
way of turning their holdings to account was to
let them out, Pynnar, writing in 1619, observes
that "the British, who are forced to take their
lands at great rates, live at the greater rates paid
to them by Irish tenants who graze," He adds
that "if the Irish pack away with their cattle the
British must either forsake their dwellings or
endure great distress on the sudden." Those
considerations did not relax their force and the
removal of the natives, although from time to
time announced as settled policy, was never
actually attempted.
The practice by the Undertakers of letting the
lands was particularly marked in the large tracts
assigned to the London companies. Pynnar in
his report made in 1619 says: "The greatest
number of Irish dwell upon the lands granted to
the City of London." He explains this by point
ing out that the lands are "in the hands of agents,
who, finding the Irish more profitable than the
British, are unwilling to draw on the British,
persuading the companies that the lands are
mountainous and unprofitable, not regarding the
future security of the whole."
The behavior of the London companies be
came the subject of an official inquiry, which in
cidentally produced a curious and beautiful rec
ord of the state of the plantation in the County

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 123
of Londonderry in 1622. The survey was made
under a royal commission to Sir Thomas Philhps
and Richard Hadsor. The editors of the Calen
dar of State Papers, 1615-1625, say of the com
mission's report:
". . . . in it the state of every building,
public and private, is portrayed hi colors,
givmg a picture of the livehest kind. There
are views of Londonderry and Coleraine,
with all the houses in the streets and other
buildings, the ramparts, etc. And on the
proportions of the several London compan
ies are drawn not only the several manor
houses, but those of the freeholders and
farmers, besides the cage-work houses in
course of building, but yet unfinished."
In their report the commissioners call attention
to the preponderance of natives and to the need
of larger settlements of British "which would
prevent many robberies and murders daily com
mitted by the Irish, to the great terror of the
few poor British already settled." Of one place
the commissioners remark: "This plantation,—
albeit it is the strongest and most ablest of men
to defend themselves, yet have they sustained
great losses by the wood kerne and thieves." Of
another place the commissioners report: "The
few British that mhabit this proportion live so
scattered that upon occasion they are unable to
succor one another, and are daUy robbed and

124 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
spoiled and driven to leave the country." The
military importance of the forests at that period
is indicated by the urgent recommendation that
there be "large passes cut through the woods to
answer each several plantation,"
In 1624 Sir Thomas PhiUips made a petition
to the King in which he charged the London
companies with "defects and abuses ... by
which they have brought the country into an al
most desperate case." He declared that "their
towns and fortresses are rather baits to iU-
affected persons than places of security, besides
the few British now planted there be at the mercy
of the Irish, being daily murthered, robbed and
spoiled by them."
- — The London companies eventually incurred
heavy penalties on conviction of default, but no
great change took place in the general situation.
The plantation instead of being a substitution of
British for Irish, as originally intended, assumed
the character of an incursion of British landlord
ism among the Irish. The mass of the natives
were not displaced but became tenants and labor
ers upon the lands they used to regard as their
own. And this appears to have been the case
not only in Londonderry County but throughout
Ulster. An official return made in 1624 gives
the names of 629 Irish tenants in County
Fermanagh alone.

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 126
The settlers thus hved surrounded by a hostile
population, with almost daily risks from raiders
and m almost constant alarm of a general rising.
In 1615 a plot for the surprise and burning of
Derry and Coleraine was formed, but was frus
trated by the arrest of many of the conspirators.
According to the cruel practice of the times
torture was used to extort confessions. The
authorities were too alert and the military pre
cautions too extensive to admit any opportunity
for a general rising at that time. But there ap
pears to have been more or less marauding going
on aU the time. In an official report of March
27, 1624, the writer mentions that many thefts
and robberies were being committed by bands
operating in the counties of Tyrone and London
derry. He adds: "I know well that this is a
trifle to speak of in this kingdom, where such
courses have been frequent, and where there
are now many others in several counties upon
their keeping, as we caU it here." The phrase
"upon their keeping" may be taken to denote
such as adhered to the old order, what had
once been tribal privilege now taking the form
of rapine,
A Discourse upon the Settlement of the
Natives in Ulster which was submitted to the
Government in 1628 gives this account of the
situation at that time:

126 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
"Whosoever doth know Ulster and wiU
deal truly with His Majesty must make this
report of it; that in the general appearance
of it, it is yet no other than a very wilder
ness. For although in many of the propor
tions, I mean of aU kinds, there is one small
township, made by the Undertakers which is
aU, yet, the proportions being wide and
large, the habitation of aU the province is
scarce visible. For the Irish, of whom many
townships might be formed, do not dwell to
gether in any orderly form, but wander with
their cattle aU the summer in the mountains,
and all the winter in the woods. And until
these Irish are settled, the English dare not
live in those parts, for there is no safety
either for their goods or lives, which is the
main cause, though other reasons may be
given, why they do not plentifully go thither,
and cheerfuUy plant themselves in the
province."
" ^ These perils and difficulties almost put an end
to the settlement of Enghsh in Ulster. Their
home conditions were not of such urgency as to
force them out into such a field. It was different
with the Scotch. More accustomed to emigra
tion than the English of that period, more inured
to hardships, more capable in meeting them, they
held their ground, throve and spread, giving to
the Ulster settlement a Scottish character.^ Ex-
^ After this chapter had been written a valuable history ap
peared entitled The Ulster Scot, by the Rev. James Barkley
Woodburn of Castlerock, County Derry, Ireland. This work
may be conmiended as a fair and well-informed history of Ulster.

THE SCOTCH MIGRATION TO ULSTER 127
act figures as to population are not attainable.
No proper census of Ireland was taken until
1821; prior to that time there are only esthnates.
All authorities agree that Ulster increased
rapidly in population, both in the native stock
and in the planted stocks. Wentworth, who was
Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1623 to 1640, esti
mated that there were at least 100,000 Scots in
the North. The historian Carte, whose work al
though pubhshed in 1736 is based upon such dili
gent study of documentary sources that it stiU
ranks as a leading authority, estimates that in
1641 there were m Ulster 100,000 Scotch and
20,000 English. When it is considered that
Pynnar in 1619 reported only 6,215 men
settled on the plantation, so great a growth in the
next twenty years seems almost incredible. It
is to be observed however that the estimates m-
clude not only the population of the six escheated
counties covered by the plantation scheme, but

Mr. Woodburn, however, makes a statement in regard to racial
origins with which I am unable to agree. He holds that there
is Uttle or no racial distinction between the Ulster Scots and
the Irish people in general and that "the Ulsterman has prob
ably as much Celtic blood as the Southerner." In support of this
averment he argues that the regions of Scotland from which
the Ulster plantation drew settlers were predominantly Celtic.
Mr. Woodburn's argument was the subject of thorough con
sideration by the Rev. Professor James Heron of the Assembly's
College, Belfast, in an address delivered at that institution on
April 9, 1910. This address, which makes a thorough and com
plete analysis of this intricate subject, will be found reproduced
in Appendix C of this book.

128 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
also Antrim, Down and Monaghan in which set
tlements of Scotch and English took place before
the plantation of 1610. After making aU allow
ances for possible exaggeration, it is certain that
within thirty years from the beginning of the
plantation there was a large Scotch population
in the country.

CHAPTER IV
Formative Influences
Events of a kind that make or break character
came hard and fast in Ulster. They belong to
Irish history and they do not concern this work
save as they operated hi forming Scotch-Irish
character, so for the present purpose it is neces
sary only to take some note of their nature and
dimensions. In 1625 Charles I. succeeded James I. In
1633 Thomas Wentworth, better known by his
later title of Lord Strafford, was appointed Lord
Deputy of Ireland. The career of this man re
mains a historical puzzle but of his ability there
can be no question. He had been a leader of the
parhamentary opposition to the absolutist policy
of Charles and suddenly went over to the Khig's
side as the energetic Minister of the policy against
which he had previously contended. The same
year that Wentworth became chief of the Gov
ernment of Ireland, Laud became Archbishop of
Canterbury, The two worked hi hearty accord
m asserting royal authority and in enforcing
religious conformity. The Irish Estabhshed
129

130 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Church, under official pressure, discarded the ar
ticles of rehgion whose Puritan tone had facUi-
jtated working agreement with the Presbyterian
ministers of Ulster. In 1634 the Irish Church ui
convocation adopted the Enghsh articles, and it
was ordered that they were to be subscribed by
every minister and to be read by him pubhcly
in church at least once a year. A high commis-
'^ion court was set up in Dublin, its purpose be
ing, as Strafford wrote, "to support ecclesiastical
courts and officers, to provide for the mamte-
nance of the clergy and for their residence, either
by themselves or able curators, to bring the
people here to a conformity in rehgion, and in
the way of aU these to raise perhaps a good reve
nue to the Crown." Wentworth, whose motto
was "thorough," knew perfectly well the signifi
cance of his pohcy. In a letter to Laud, describ
ing the measures he had taken, he remarked:
"So as now I can say, the King is as absolute
here as any prince in the whole world can be."
To have a just appreciation of motives it
should be observed that at that period, and in
deed for over a century later, the weight of po
htical theory was on the side of principle of
absolutism in government. A good statement of
opinion wiU be found in Chapter XXII of Sidg-
wick's Development of European Polity. He
points out that the development of national unity,

FORMATIVE INFLUENCES 131
coherence and order, the suppression of the an
archical resistance of powerful individuals and
groups, and the formation of sovereignty, aU
took place upon the basis of royal prerogative.
Even so late as the middle of the eighteenth cen
tury "an impartial Continental observer . . .
would probably have regarded monarchy of the
type caUed absolute as the final form of govern
ment to wliich the long process of formation of
orderly country-states had led up ; and by which
the task of estabhshing and maintaining a civi
lized political order had been, on the whole, suc
cessfully accomplished, after other modes of
political construction had failed to realize it."
Therefore it would be a great mistake to sup
pose that because a man held absolutist principles
of government he was abject in his attitude to
ward khigs or insensible to hberty. For the
King as an individual he might have contempt
while valuing the office and its unrestricted
authority as the essential principle of pubhc
order. Before the French Revolution absolutist
principles in government were not considered
inconsistent with liberahsm. Indeed, on the
Continent of Europe the two were traditionally
associated. It was the tendency of kings to pro
mote reforms for the benefit of the people while
such organs of constituted authority as existed
apart from royal authority were shelters of class

133 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
privilege. Hence Voltaire, the great apostle of
hberalism, was absolutist. He wrote to D'Alem-
bert in 1765 : "Who would have thought that the
cause of kings would be that of philosophers?
But it is evident that the sages who refuse to ad
mit two powers are the chief support of royal
authority." Again he said, "There ought never
to be two powers in the State." This mode of
thought was originally characteristic of British
Toryism, and persisted in hterature long after
absolutism has been extinguished as a working
scheme of government. In 1741 the Scotch phi
losopher Hume pubhshed an essay in which he
held that the tendency to amass authority in the
House of Commons may produce a tyranny of
factions, and he concluded that "we shaU at last,
after many convulsions and civil wars, find re
pose in absolute monarchy, which it would have
been happier for us to have estabhshed peacefuUy
from the beginning." Considerations of this
order supported the high Toryism of a thinker
of such robust common sense as Dr. Samuel
Johnson. In his charming novel The Vicar of Wake
field Goldsmith argues the case at length
through the mouth of one of his characters. It
is in Chapter XIX, entitled "The Description of
a Person Discontented with the Present Govern
ment, and Apprehensive of the Loss of Our

FORMATIVE INFLUENCES 133
Liberties." The gist of the argument is that by
placing themselves under a khig the people
"diminish the number of tyrants and put tyr
anny at the greatest distance from the greatest
number of people." He argues that the alterna
tive to kmgship is not liberty but oppression:
"What they may then expect, may be
seen by turning our eyes to HoUand, Genoa
or Venice, where the laws govern the poor
and the rich govern the laws. I am then for,
and would die for, monarchy, sacred mon
archy : for if there be anything sacred among
men, it must be the anointed sovereign of his
people; and every diminution of his power,
in war or in peace, is an infringement upon
the real liberties of the subject."
When such views were stiU extant in the mid
dle of the eighteenth century, it cannot surprise
us that they should subsist along with sincere
patriotism and genuine love of liberty in the
middle of the seventeenth century. The issue
was not intentionally one between despotism and
liberty but between conflicting interpretations of
liberty. To Wentworth and Laud the liberty
proper to good Christians and good subjects
was a particular state of civil and religious order
which the Government prescribed and which it
was its business to apply. Wentworth's con
version from the King's chief opponent to his
chief agent is a puzzlmg circumstance but it is

134 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
not unparalleled. A recent biographer, H. D.
Traill, thinks the most plausible explanation is
that his period of opposition was the famil
iar political expedient of making oneself such
a nuisance to the Government that one has to
be let into power. At any rate, Wentworth dis
played such initiative, vigor and zeal in his ad
ministration as accords with sincere conviction
and not with merely selfish calculation. His
character was admired by Bismarck who too in
his time acted as the champion of prerogative
against parliamentary opposition. At a crisis in
his career he declared he would persevere to the
end even though it brought him Strafford's fate,
but in his case it brought glory and honor; so
much depends upon occasion and opportunity.
History has in a way vindicated the champions
of absolutism as well as the champions of free
dom, although it is the latter that naturally have
the popular renown. The protagonists in the
long drawn out battle between prerogative and
popular rule that was not ended until the nine
teenth century were both partly in the right. It
is historically evident that the principle of the
sovereignty of the State, which confers the power
of volition essential to the discharge of the func
tions of modern government, was worked out on
the basis of royal prerogative. What has hap
pened is that the legal institution has been

FORMATIVE INFLUENCES 136
detached from the individual control of the m-
cumbent of the kingly office. The custody has
passed to the representatives of the people, but
the institution itself is stronger than ever before,
and it has become the cardmal prmciple of popu
lar government. The great authority of the late
Professor F. W. Maitland may be cited in sup
port of this statement. In his Constitutional
History of England (1908) he remarks:
"We must not confuse the truth that the
King's personal will has come to count for
less and less with the falsehood (for false
hood it would be) that his legal powers are
diminishing. On the contrary, of late years
they have enormously grown. The prin
ciple being established that the King must
govern by the advice of Ministers who are
approved by the House of Commons, Par
liament has entrusted the King with vast
powers, statutory powers. Many govern
mental acts, which in the last century would
have required the passing of an act of Par
liament, are now performed by exercise of
statutory powers conferred on the King.
Acts which give these powers often require
that they shall be exercised by Order in
Council. Thus in addition to his preroga
tive or common law powers the King now
has statutory powers. All this, coupled
with the delegation of other powers to this
Minister and that, is the result of a new
government which began about 1830,"

136 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Thus things may now be done in the King's
name that involve larger claim of legal author
ity than would have been deemed conceivable in
the time of the Stuarts or admissible even by so
thoroughgoing an agent of prerogative as
Wentworth himself. The difference is that now
what is done in the King's name is done at the
instance of the people constitutionally expressed,
and it is done on the public business in the
people's interest and for the general welfare.
And the same remarks apply to the case of mod
ern republics in which the term "the Crown" is
superseded by the term "the People" as the
source of authority. The apparatus of sov
ereignty used by modern democracy may be
traced to institutions originally embodying royal
authority. Thus in a way the champions of
absolutism have contributed to the ultimate
triumph of popular rule by their incidental ser
vice in developing the sovereignty of the State
as a legal institution. Where the course of
events has depleted sovereignty, popular govern
ment now suffers in its competency. The stu
dent of jurisprudence finds instances of such
defect in the constitutional history of the United
States, particularly in the government of the
several States.
In the struggle over the constitution of gov
ernment which began in the seventeenth century

FORMATIVE INFLUENCES 137
the legists of the period were so heavily on the
side of prerogative that the opposition would
have been fatally weak in the moral and mtel-
lectual force of its contention, had it not been
able to offer on its side a principle of legitimacy
and order. Rehgion supphed that principle.
In opposition to the clauns of royal prerogative
it set up the paramount title of divine sover
eignty. No one more strongly asserted the duty
of obedience than John Calvin, With character
istically unflinching logic he insists upon passive
obedience "if we are inhumanly harassed by a
cruel prince ; if we are rapaciously plundered by
an avaricious or luxurious one; if we are neg
lected by an indolent one; or if we are perse
cuted on account of piety, by an impious and
sacrilegious one," But he proceeds to make an
exception which practically does away with his
rule. The duty of obedience to magistrates is
subordinate to one's duty to God, "If they
command anything against Him, it ought not
to have the least attention; nor in this case,
ought we to pay any regard to all that dignity
attached to magistrates,"
Thus religious dissent contributed to consti
tutional progress, Mr, Figgis, who supphed to
the Cambridge Modern History the article on
"Political Thought in the Sixteenth Century,"
sums up the case by saymg that rehgious hberty
was the parent of political hberty:

138 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
"Religious hberty arose, not because the
sects believed in it, but out of their passion
ate determination not to be extinguished
either by political or religious persecution,
, , , The forces in favor of monarchy were
so strong that, apart from a motive appeal
ing to the conscience, making it a duty
(even though a mistaken one in any indi
vidual case) to resist the Government, there
would have been no sufficient force to with
stand the tyranny of centralization which
succeeded the anarchy of feudalism,"
The mere assertion of this principle did not
necessarily make for constitutional government.
It was capable under individualistic interpreta
tions of becoming an agency of social dissolu
tion to counteract which the recourse would be
to arbitrary power. This mode of thought re
ceived powerful expression in Milton's Ready
and Easy Way to Establish a Free Common
wealth pubhshed in 1659-60. He argued from
the experience of ancient repubhcs that popular
assemblies "either httle availed the people, or
else brought them to such a hcentious and un
bridled democracy as in fine ruined themselves
with their own excessive power." That authority
may be stable it should have a perpetual tenure.
Therefore he proposed that the people should
elect their ablest and wisest men to sit as a grand
council for the management of public affairs,
holding office for life. "Safest therefore to me, it

FORMATIVE INFLUENCES 139
seems, and of less hazard and interruption to af
fairs, that none of the grand councU be moved,
unless by death or just conviction of some crune;
for what can be expected firm or steadfast from
a floating foundation." The "Long Parhament"
was a sufficiently close approximation to this
scheme of government to expose its character
istic quahty. It remained in existence twenty
years and until its behavior became so intoler
able that Cromwell turned what was left of it
out of doors. — --^
In Ulster religion supplied not only a prin
ciple of legality in opposition to royal absolutism
but also a principle of institutional order in
the Presbyterian model of church discipline.
The claims originally put forth in behalf of that
model in Scotland and England were not such
as can be reconciled with liberty of conscience,
but no such object was professed, the only pur
pose being to establish what was regarded as true
spiritual order, the duty of government being to
repress violations of that order. The Scottish
National Covenant of 1638 described the aii^
thority of the King as "a comfortable instrument
of God's mercy granted to this country for the
mamtenance of His Kirk." But while the
Presbyterian system did not aim at hberty it
served the cause of liberty by supplying a prm
ciple of unity and coherence whose political

140 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
strength was triumphantly displayed both in
Scotland and Ulster. Presbyterian influence
_J?anded the people together in massive resistance
to Wentworth's policy, Wentworth himself bore
emphatic testimony to the fact that the Ulster
Scots were the great obstacle to his plans for re
ducing Ireland to submission and conformity,
lie singled them out as the special objects of his
care. In 1639 an oath of aUegiance was pro
posed by which they were compeUed to swear
never to oppose the King's command and to ab
jure all covenants and oaths contrary to the tenor
. of this engagement. This imposition, which be-
i came famous in Ulster history as The Black
Uath, was expressly designed to reach the Ulster
Scots, this purpose being set forth in the corre
spondence between Wentworth and the King
with regard to the measure. By proclamation of
the Deputy and Council all the Scottish resi
dents of Ulster above the age of sixteen, women
as weU as men, were required to take this oath.
The only exception made was in favor of Scots
who professed to be Roman Cathohcs. Commis
sioners were appointed to administer the oath,
and to assist them the ministers and church
wardens were required to make a return of all
the Scots resident in their respective parishes.
Then either the people named had to appear to
take the oath, kneehng while the commissioners

FORMATIVE INFLUENCES 141
read it aloud, or else their names were reported
as recusants hable to punishment, Wentworth's
arrangements were so carefully made and so
weU backed up by mihtary force that effective
resistance was unpossible, but the attitude of the
people was such that later on he proposed "to
banish all the under Scots in Ulster by proclama
tion," meanmg by "under Scots" those who did
not have large estates to incluie them to submis
sion to the pohcy of the Government, Nothing
came of this notion for soon afterward his career
was cut short by the impeachment that brought
him to the scaffold, Wentworth, who became
Earl of Strafford in 1640, was beheaded on May
12, 1641. Before parting with this remarkable
man it should be observed that his energetic ad
ministration had its good side. His measures re
lieved the coasts of Ireland from the scourge of
piracy and it was he that introduced the cultiva
tion of flax which became and has remained a
flourishing Ulster industry. In aid of that enter
prise he imported flax seed from Holland at his
own expense and induced expert workmen to
come from France and the Low Countries. AU
historians of this period agree that under his six
years of strong administration the country made
great industrial progress. Reid's History of
the Presbyterian Church in Ireland says: "At
no former period had the country enjoyed so

142 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
much real prosperity, and so long internal
peace." A tremendous change impended, the factors of
which were concealed within that specious tran
quility, A measure which more than any other
of Strafford's actions drew down upon him the
deadly hostihty of the parliamentary party in
England was his levy of an army in Ire
land, At the outset he intended all the men to
be Protestants, and of British extraction so far
as possible. But his views on that point had to
be modified when King Charles advised him that
the army would be used "to reduce those in Scot
land to their due obedience," After that Scots
were carefully weeded out and preference was
given to Irish Catholics, who, he told the King,
might do good service for they hated the Scots
and their religion. The headquarters staff were
aU Protestants, but among the regimental offi
cers were men who afterward became prominent
as leaders of rebellion, Strafford was perfect
ly well aware that in thus giving mihtary organi
zation to natives whose religion was proscribed
by law he was taking serious risks. He wrote
to the King that their training "might arm their
old affections to do us more mischief, and put
new and dangerous thoughts into them after they
are returned home." So clearsighted an admin
istrator as Strafford would have taken precau-

FORMATIVE INFLUENCES 143
tions on this score, but after he had fallen a
victim to the rage of the parliamentary party
Charles precipitately ordered that the army be
disbanded, with hcense to a number of officers to
transport 8,000 foot "for the service of any prmce
or State m amity with us," At least seven of
these officers were afterward active leaders of
rebeUion, One colonel by prompt work took over
to the service of France one thousand picked
men and engagements had been made also for
shipments to Spahi, when the English Parha
ment practically stopped the business by a reso
lution against transportation of soldiers by
merchants from any part of the King's domin
ions. In the end the army, most of which was
quartered in Ulster, was disbanded, the men giv
ing up their arms and quietly dispersing.
The disbanding of the army seemed at the time
to remove a great danger; what it actually did
was to create a great danger, soon revealed by
the outbreak of a civil war that lasted for eleven
years. It was ushered in by massacres, the na
ture and extent of which has ever since remained_^
a subject of controversy. In October, 1641, there
was a sudden rising of the native Irish and a
great slaughter of Protestants, attended by re
volting atrocities. The seizure of Dublm Castle,
in which Strafford had accumulated a great stofe"'
of munition of war, was part of the plot, but

144 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
this design miscarried. The number of persons
who lost their hves in the October massacres is
a matter about which there has been and stiU is
great controversy. The number has been set as
high as 200,000 and as low as 8,000. Gardiner,
the latest historian to sift the evidence, concludes
that four or five thousand were murdered, and
about twice that number died of ill usage,
Woodburn, the latest historian of Ulster, ac
cepts that computation as probably correct. An
exact statement is not attainable but it is cer
tain that thousands of Protestant settlers were
massacred and that great atrocities were commit
ted. The details as set forth in the depositions
taken from survivors are revolting, A specifica
tion that frequently recurs is that the clothes
were stripped from captives. But this would ap
pear to be due rather to the fact that the poorer
natives seized the opportunity to get clothes for
themselves than that it was intended as a refine
ment of cruelty. Indeed some of the most hor
rible atrocities appear to have been committed
by women and children, following after the raid
ing parties. At Kihnore in Armagh county,
after a number of the leading Protestants had
been murdered, a number of others were put as
prisoners in a thatched house, A party headed
by a woman set fire to this house, destroying all
the inmates except two women who crept through

FORMATIVE INFLUENCES 145
a hole in the wall and feigning death waited until
the murderers had gone when they escaped to
the mountahis. A letter of one of the leaders of
the uprising is preserved in which he teUs his
correspondent that "as for the kiUing of women
none of my soldiers dare do it, but the common
people that are not under rule do it in spite of
our teeth; but as for your people they killed of
women and children above three score." Iso
lated acts of charity and mercy are recorded.
The Rev. John Kerdiffe, a Protestant clergy
man, in relating how he and his parishioners were
made prisoners by the Irish under Col. Richard
Plunket, said that "Col. Plunket treated us with
great humanity and in like manner did Friar
Malone at Skerry." It must be remembered
that the uprising was carried on by local bands,
subject to no regular discipline, throwing the
country at once into a state of anarchy so that
every ferocious instinct and evil passion had an
opportunity of which horrible use was made.
And there were horrible reprisals as soon as the
Protestants got over the first surprise and were
able to make a stand.
Ulster bore the brunt of this uprising but the
Enghsh rather than the Scotch settlers were the
chief victims of the first onslaught. The Rev.
Dr. Reid, hunself an Ulsterman, says m his
history :

146 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
"As a body, the Presbyterians suffered
less by the ravages of the rebelhon than any
other class. The more influential of their
ministers, and the principal part of their
gentry, had previously retired to Scotland
to escape the tyranny of Strafford and the
severities of the bishops, and were thus
providentiaUy preserved. Those who re
mained in the country were at first unmo
lested by the Irish, in conformity with the
royal commission. This temporary pres
ervation gave them time to procure arms,
and to take other necessary measures to
protect themselves against the storm which
they saw approaching. When the rebels,
therefore, abandoned their professed neu
trality, and fell upon them, as furiously as
upon the English, they were prepared for
the attack. When they associated together
in sufficient numbers, they were generaUy
enabled to maintain their ground, and fre
quently repulsed their assailants with loss."
The "royal commission" mentioned by Dr.
Reid refers to a document pubhshed by the in
surgents as coming from King Charles author
izing them to seize and disarm the Enghsh
Protestants, but to spare the Scots. This docu
ment is generally regarded by historians as a
forgery. So far from being any advantage to
Charles the Irish insurrection was a most un
toward event. He exerted himself to bring
about a cessation of hostilities, so that he might
draw upon Ireland for aid in his struggle with

FORMATIVE INFLUENCES 147
the Enghsh Parhament, In 1645 he instructed
Ormonde, his deputy, "to conclude a peace with
the Irish, whatever it cost; so that my Protest
ant subjects there may be secure, and my regal
authority preserved," The articles of peace
concluded by Ormonde under this instruction
contain one article which affords remarkable
evidence of persistence of savage customs. One
of the engagements exacted of the King was
that the law "prohibiting the ploughing with
horses by the tail" should be repealed.
The civil war opened by the massacres of |
October, 1641, was not ended until during the
year 1653, During its course the Ulster Scots
formed a distinct interest at variance with all
parts and in danger from aU, Throughout they
had to encounter the steady enmity of the
native Irish who regarded them as intruders and
usurpers. They occupied a middle position
between the royalists and the parliamentarians,
between whose military operations they were
caught as between upper and nether millstones,
and if they were not ground fine that was be
cause they were unusually hard material and the
grindstones were defective in power and appli
cation. In Strafford's time they were on the par
liamentary side and thus became a mark of
royahst hostility. But when the Presbyterian
leaders were ejected from the Enghsh House of

148 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Commons the Ulster Scots turned against the
Rump Parliament and denounced its members
as sectarians. The beheading of Charles I,
brought out an indignant protest from the Bel
fast Presbytery to which John Milton, then be
ginning his career as Latin secretary of
Parliament, made a tart reply, in which he de
scribed the Ulster ministers as "blockish Pres
byters" living in "a barbarous nook of Ireland."
In 1649 General George Monk, who was in
command of the parliamentary forces in Ulster,
actuaUy formed a temporary alliance with the
Irish rebel chief O'NeiU and furnished him with
military supplies so that he could keep the field
against the royahsts and the Presbyterians.
When CromweU's campaign had reduced Ire
land to submission the Ulster Scots were again
in jeopardy of deportation, this time not at the
hands of the royahsts but from the agents of
'lE'arhament. As a part of the Cromwellian set
tlement it was proposed that the Presbyterians
should be cleared out of Down and Antrim,
whose proximity to Scotland was thought to
make the situation dangerous. What is known
as the engagement of 1650, an instrument bind
ing those taking it to support a Government
without King or House of Lords, was pressed
upon the people of Ulster by military force. The
Presbyterian mhiisters as a class refused to take

FORMATIVE INFLUENCES 149
the engagement, and they were strongly upheld
by the people. To break the resistance a plan
was formed to transplant the leading Presby
terians in the counties of Down and Antrim to
Kilkenny, Tipperary and the seacoast of Water-
ford, all districts in the extreme south of Ire
land, and thus remote from Scotland, A list of
260 persons was made up and a proclamation
ordering transplantation was issued on May 23,
1653, This transplantation was part of a gen
eral scheme for repeopling the parts of Ireland
that had been desolated by the long civil war,
and consideration was shown for property
rights. The persons transplanted were to be
compensated for the estates which they lost, in
cluding payment for the crops, and were to be
allowed over a year's remission of taxes on lands
occupied by them in the districts where they
should be settled. It was expressly provided
that: "The said persons shall and may enjoy
the freedom of their religion, and choose
their own ministers: provided they shall be
such as shall be peaceable minded men to
ward the authority they live under, and
not scandalous: and such ministers shall be
allowed a competence for their subsistence,
suitable with others in their condition,"
This scheme got so far forward that some
of the leading men among those proclahned for

150 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
deportation visited the south of Ireland to ex
amine the allotted lands, and other steps were
taken by the people to make ready for the trans
plantation. The Scots of Antrim and Down
who had successfully held out against the arbi
trary power of the King were on the point of suc
cumbing to the arbitrary power of Parliament,
when absolutism intervened in the person of
Oliver Cromwell to end factious tyranny. In
April, 1653, Cromwell turned the Rump Parha
ment out of doors and that event made an end
of the transplantation scheme. The Irish Gov
ernment continued to be hostile to the Ulster
Scots. An entry of February 14, 1656, on the
minutes of the Council of State sets forth a
scheme of driving out of Ulster and County
Louth "aU such of the Scottish nation" as bore
arms against the Commonwealth in England,
Scotland and Ireland, together with all who had
arrived in Ulster or County Louth subsequent
to June 24, 1650. It was further proposed that
"others of the Scottish nation desiring to come
into Ireland" should be prohibited from setthng
in Ulster or County Louth. This scheme of re
pressing the Scottish occupation of Ulster did
not go into effect. It was CromweU's pohcy to
maintain pubhc order without denommational
preference. The Presbyterian ministers of
Ulster were no longer vexed by oaths of fidehty

FORMATIVE INFLUENCES 151
or political engagements, and officiated without
restraint. The Cromwellian epoch marks the end of the ^'
pioneer period of the Scottish settlement of Ul
ster. It had survived persecution, massacre and
war. It emerged from the years of trial scarred
but vigorous, straitened in circumstances but un
daunted in temper. Its vitahty was promptly
exhibited in the rapid growth of its character
istic institution, the Presbyterian Church, in the
seven years of mild political chmate that now
ensued. Reid says :
"It was during this period that Presby
terianism struck its roots so deeply and ex
tremely throughout the province, as to
enable it to endure in safety the subsequent
storms of persecution, and to stand erect
and flourishing, while all the other contem
porary scions of dissent were broken down
and prostrated in the dust. In the year
1653, the church possessed scarcely more
than the half dozen of ministers who had
ventured to remain in the country; now,
however [that is in 1660], she was served by
not less than seventy ministers regularly and
permanently settled, and having under their
charge nearly eighty parishes or congrega
tions, comprising a population of probably
not far from one hundred thousand souls."
This period may be taken as that in which the
Scotch-Irish type of character was deflnitely
fixed. The CromweUian settlement marks the

152 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
end of the old era and the beginning of a new
era, with its own social and economic base dis
tinct from the foundations previously existing.
Old Ireland had been a pastoral country and a
meat diet predominated. At the close of the civU
war meat had to be imported. During this
period the potato rose to the prominence in Ire
land that it has since preserved as a staple food
stuff. Not long after the civil war. Sir Wilham
Petty, a statistician of the period, found that
the people were living on potatoes, their practice
being to dig out the tubers just as they were
wanted. That is to say, potatoes were a con
cealed crop to which the people could resort,
although grain might be easily cut or burned by
enemies and cattle still more easily driven off.
The potato crop seems to have been the mainstay
of the people against the famine that foUowed
the civil war and, accompanied by an outbreak
of plague, increased the desolation caused by
war. According to Petty, out of a population
of 1,446,000, 616,000 had in eleven years per
ished by the sword, by famine or by plague. Ac
cording to this estimate 504,000 of those who
perished were Irish, and 112,000 were of Eng
lish extraction. According to some calculations
the number of victims was even greater, but
Petty's estimates are generally regarded as the
most trustworthy. Moreover, there were ex-

FORMATIVE INFLUENCES 1S3
tensive deportations of native Irish to the West
Indies and great numbers went into European
exile. It is estimated that from 30,000 to 40,000
men left the country to enhst in foreign service.
The details of this tremendous social revolution
do not come within the province of this work.
Probably the most dispassionate and trustworthy
account is that given by Lecky in the sixth vol
ume of his England in the Eighteenth Cen
tury. But from what has been stated it will
readily be inferred that the tribal organization of
society that had heretofore shown such tenacious
vitality was destroyed root and branch. Accord
ing to Petty about two-thirds of the good land
had been possessed by Catholics before 1641 ; in
1660, more than two-thirds had passed into the
possession of the Protestants. The mass of the
people had been converted from clansmen into
a tenant peasantry.
The Ulster breed was formed during these
terrible vicissitudes of Irish history. It had still
to pass through severe trials, but the permanence
of the type was now secure. An amusing in
stance of the thoroughness with which Ulster had^
been Scotticized is supplied by a document in the
Irish State Papers for 1660, entitled "A Short
Memorandum What is to be Looked unto in the
North of Ireland," The writer says that "There
are 40,000 Irish and 80,000 Scots hi Ulster ready

154 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
to bear arms, and not above 5,000 Enghsh in the
whole province besides the army." It is sug
gested that the Scotch should be made to wear
hats instead of bonnets, which the writer calcu
lates would remove from Scotland to Ireland a
trade of about £10,000 a year. Moreover, the
change would help the Enghsh "who in aU fairs
and markets see a hundred bonnets worn for one
hat, which is a great prejudice and doth wholly
dishearten the English there and those who
would come out of England,"
The Presbyterian Church of Ulster was the
'' first to suffer from the proceedings against non
conformity after the restoration of Charles II, to
the throne. In 1661 sixty-one Presbyterian
ministers of Ulster were ejected from their ben
efices, and it was not until the following year
that the non-conforming ministers of England
and Scotland were ejected. But the Ulster
Presbyterians were not called upon to endure
such severe persecution as befell non-conformists
in England and Scotland. As a general thing-
the ministers were able to keep on officiating al
though shut out of parish endowments. Or
monde, then head of the Irish Administration,
was disposed to be indulgent. Reid remarks:
"On the whole, the general mildness of his ad
ministration, which continued during seven
years, presented a remarkable contrast to the

FORMATIVE INFLUENCES 155
unprecedented severity with which the non-con
formists and Presbyterians were treated at this
period both in England and in Scotland,"
The most famous chapter of Ulster history
was that which opened with the Enghsh revolu
tion of 1688 and the Catholic rising in Ireland in
support of James II, The Ulster Presbyterians
were prompt to declare their allegiance to Wil
liam and Mary, and the Presbyterian ministers
took the lead in organizing the people for de
fense against the adherents of James, Ireland,
outside of Ulster, was in the hands of Tyrcon
nel, the deputy of James, and Tyrconnel moved
promptly to reduce Ulster to submission. But
the invaders were decisively repelled at Ennis-
killen in the west of Ulster and at Londonderry
in the north, Londonderry successfully resisted
attack for 105 days. The siege supphed a theme
admirably suited to Macaulay's powers as a
literary artist and the account he has given in his
History of England is a masterpiece of scenic
writing, The war ended in 1691 with the complete over
throw of the Jacobite interest and the entire sub
mission of Ireland to WiUiam and Mary, Fresh
confiscations of land foUowed together with the
exile of many thousands of native Irish, The
famous Irish brigade of Louis XIV. of France
dates from this period, and it was kept up by a

156 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
stream of recruits from Ireland, With the
opening of the eighteenth century Protestant
ascendance was securely established in Ireland,
and yet it was during the period now begun that
the causes that promoted Ulster emigration be
came powerful and influential. These wiU be
dealt with in the next chapter, but before leav
ing the formative period of Ulster it should be
observed that its history is not seen in its proper
setting unless it is viewed as an episode in the
wars of rehgion. The Scotch settlement of Ul
ster began before the Thirty Years War in
Germany (1618-1648), Dreadful as were the
sufferings of Ireland, they were on a smaUer
scale than the misery and depopulation of Ger
many; and Germany was far more advanced than
Ireland in civihzation when the war began. The
Peace of Westphalia was a political reorganiza
tion from which the Europe of today takes its
start, and prior events now possess only an anti
quarian interest. But Ulster history is un
broken in its continuity and it has transmitted
to our own times feehngs, interests, preposses
sions and antipathies derived from the sixteenth
century. This has tended to obscure apprecia
tion of the work accomplished in the Scotch set
tlement of Ulster. It is still too much involved
in pohtical controversy to obtain fair treatment,
consideration of the theme being marred by pre-

FORMATIVE INFLUENCES 157
judice for or agamst the actors in events. The
ardent partisanship that is apt to characterize
treatises upon Irish history is m marked contrast
with the scientific detachment that marks his
torical works deahng with the contemporaneous
periods of European history.
An mcident of this contmuity of Ulster ImH
tory is the constancy of the Ulster type. Scotch- /
Irish character has such depth of root and the 1
growth has been so durable that its fibre is sm-/
gularly hard and strong and it retains this nature
wherever it is planted. The specific quahties o
the breed cannot be accounted for unless the in
fluence of the Presbyterian disciphne is take
into consideration. Influence of this order has'
become so lax in our own times that no idea of
its original stringency can be obtained unless the
nature of church government during the form
ative period is considered.
The essential principle of government is the
subordination of the individual to the com
munity. That principle was not abandoned by
the Presbyterian reformers in their revolt against
the Estabhshed Church. They did not conceive
of hberty as the absence of restraint but as a
state of order repressing brute propensity and
developing the moral sanctions that distinguish
human life from animal existence. That state
of order the Church should institute and the State

158 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
should protect. This principle they apphed by
a disciphne which enfolded individual life and
subjected it to guidance and control. In describ
ing social conditions in Ulster while the Planta
tion was in the making, it has been mentioned
that public penitence was exacted of evil doers.
The affairs of each congregation were presided
over by the session composed of the minister and
the elders and deacons representing the congre
gation. This body took jurisdiction of the morals
of the members of the congregation, and in
flicted penalties for misconduct. The rules of
the Session of Templepatrick adopted in 1646
provided :
"That all complaints come into the Ses
sion by way of bill: the complaintive is to
put one shilling with his bill, and if he proves
not his point, his shilling forfeits to the ses
sion book. This is done to prevent ground
less scandal,
"That all beer seUers that sell best beer,
especially in the night time, till people be
drunk, shall be censured,
"That if parents let their children vague
or play on the Lord's Day, they shall be cen
sured as profaners of the Sabbath,
"All persons standing in the pubhc place
of repentance, shall pay the church officer
one groat,
"Thaf no children be baptized till the par
ents who present them come to some of the
elders and get their children's names regis-

FORMATIVE INFLUENCES 159
tered, that the elders may testify of them to
the minister,"
The character of the penalties imposed in the
exercise of this jurisdiction will appear from the
following record:
"That John Cowan shall stand opposite
the pulpit, and confess his sin, in the face of
the public, of beating his wife on the Lord's
Day." The rule respecting baptism looks to securing
the publicity of that rite. The early Presby
terian ministers strongly condemned the admin
istering of baptism or marriage in private. An
overture considered by the Ulster synod at its
meeting in Belfast, June 17, 1712, sets forth that
"the ancient and laudable custom of publishing
Marriage-Banns three several days of publick
worship, whereof two at least shall be Lord's
days, ought to be carefully observed," Any
minister marrying persons without the consent of
their parents or guardians was to be suspended
from office for six months and "afterward to
make a full and higenuous confession of his sin,
and express unfeigned repentance for the same
before his Presbytery,"
The ministers themselves were subject to strict
supervision, for which purpose there was a pro
cess known as "privy censures" foUowmg a cus
tom that formed part of the Presbyterian

160 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
discipline in Scotland and France, The form of
procedure is thus described:
"In every Presbytery, at least twice a
year, on days for prayer, as should be dune
in sessions hkeways, there ought to be privy
censures, whereby each minister is removed
by course, and then enquiry is made at the
pastors and elders, if there be any known
scandal, fault, or neghgence in him, that it
may be in a brotherly manner censured;
after the ministers, the Presbytery clerk is
to pass these censures hkeways."
Reid, writing in 1837, remarks that these cen
sures "were laid aside at the general relaxation
of discipline in the last century but they ought
to be revived." In the early days the authority
V| claimed by the church was freely and vigorously
c^texercised, and its discipline was a school of
/^ morals for the people that made a deep and per
manent impress upon the character of the Scotch-
Irish — a term, which by the way, they were slow
to accept. They used to describe themselves as
of "the Scottish nation in the North of Ireland,"
and they resented the adjunct appellation
"Irish" as an abatement of their proper nation
ality. But common usage graduaUy overcame
the early antipathy.
From this training school came the stream of
American immigration that has been so distinct
ive an ingredient of American society and so

FORMATIVE INFLUENCES 161
potent in its influence upon American history.
The diffusion of the Scotch-Irish breed in the
United States wiU occupy the remainder of this
work. But before leaving Ulster, completeness
of treatment requires the statement that in Ul
ster it is not oiUy the Presbyterian Church that
affords a signal instance of the value of institu
tional order in perpetuating national life. The
case of the native Irish is even more significant.
Nothing more strongly attests the institutional
efficiency of the Cathohc Counter-Reformation
than the way in which the wasted and impover
ished native Irish were sustained and recuperated
by their church. The work was carried on under
a heavy ban of law backed up by extremely severe
penalties, but there seems to have been no lack
of missionaries wiUing to meet aU hazards. In
1747 the Primate of the Estabhshed Church of
Ireland estimated that there were more than
3,000 Roman Catholic priests m the country
while the Estabhshed Church had incumbents and
curates to the number only of about 800. At the
present tune Ulster itself is more Cathohc than
Presbyterian, the Roman Cathohcs numbering
44 per cent., the Presbyterians 27 and the Episco
palians 23. In Ireland as a whole these three
bodies have respectively 74, 10 and 13 per cent,
of the population. While Cathohc disciphne
must be acknowledged to be the main factor in

162 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
producing this result, yet a powerful accessory
has been the drain of Protestantism from the
country through the effect of the legislation of
the eighteenth century, and of this drain the most
important part was the Ulster emigration now to
be considered.

CHRONOLOGY
The period covered by this chapter was marked by such
sharp vicissitudes of government that the following chron
ology may be of service in enabling readers to keep track
of events:
1625 Accession of Charles I.
1633 Wentworth is appointed Lord Deputy.
1636 Introduction of linen manufacture.
1640 Wentworth created Earl of Strafford.
The Long Parliament opens.
Impeachment of Strafford.
1641 Execution of Strafford.
Rising and massacres in Ulster.
1642 Civil War begins in England.
Parliamentarians, Royalists and Catholic Confeder
ates, each struggling for ascendancy in Ireland.
1644 Ormonde, Lord Lieutenant.
1645 Battle of Naseby in England.
1646 Charles surrenders to the Scots.
1647 Presbyterianism established in England.
The King seized at Holmby.
1648 Scottish army invades England and is defeated at
Preston and Wigan.
Col. Pride expels the Presbyterian majority from
the House of Commons.
1649 Execution of King Charles.

FORMATIVE INFLUENCES 163
The Commonwealth proclaimed.
Cromwell arrives in Ireland.
1650 Cromwell returns to England.
1652 Act for the settlement of Ireland.
1653 Cromwell expels the Rump Parliament and estab
lishes the Protectorate.
1654 The first Protectorate Parliament. Thirty members
sit representing Ireland.
The Cromwellian settlement of Ireland.
1656 Henry Cromwell, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
1658 Death of Cromwell.
1659 Monk marches from Scotland.
1660 He declares for a "free Parliament."
The Restoration. Charles II. seated on the throne
of England.
1662 Act of Uniformity. "
1663 Ireland excluded from the Navigation Act.
1664 The Conventicle Act.
1666 Prohibition of export to England of Irish cattle and "
provisions.
1685 Accession of James II.
1688 William lands at Torbay.
Flight of James.
Closing of the gates of Derry and Enniskillen.
1689 Siege of Derry and Enniskillen.,
1690 Battle of Boyne.
1691 William III. seated on the throne.
1696 Navigation Act unfavorable to Ireland. '''
1699 English Act prohibiting export of Irish wool. '¦'^
Irish Parliament lays prohibitive export duties on
wool.
1702 Accession of Anne.
1704 Penal Act against Roman Catholics, with a test^,
clause excluding Presbyterians from public office.
1711 Persecution of the Presbyterians.
1714 Accession of George I.

164 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
1725 Potato famine.
1727 Accession of George II.
1740-1741 Famine years in Ireland.
1760 Accession of George III.
1761 Agrarian disturbances in the North of Ireland.
1765 Passage of the Stamp Act for American Colonies.
1771 Decline of linen manufacture.
Extensive emigration to America from Ulster.
1776 American Declaration of Independence.

CHAPTER V
Emigration to America _ ,
The beginnings of the Ulster Plantation co
incided with the beginnings of the American
plantation, so that migration across the Atlantic
was from the first a known recourse if condi
tions in Ulster became too hard. When the
Presbyterian ministers in Ulster began to suffer
from Strafford's vigorous measures against non
conformity a start was made that but for a mis
chance might have set in motion at that early
period the stream of Scotch-Irish emigration to
America. In 1635 work was begun on the build
ing of a ship of 115 tons burden at Groomsport,
on Belfast lough. The ship was called the
Eagle Wing in allusion to the text. Exodus
XIX,, 4: "I bare you on eagles' wings, and
brought you unto myself," A number of Pres
byterian ministers, among them Livmgston and
Blair, were interested in this enterprise. On
September 9, 1636, a company of 140 persons
set saU for New England, the number being in
creased on the voyage by the birth of a child who
was named Seaborn, After some hindrance at
165

166 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
the start, the ship had fair weather until more
than half the distance had been traversed when
severe storms were encountered and the ship be
came leaky, so that it was decided to put back
to Ireland,
In reading the account of this voyage as given
in the Life of Robert Blair by his son-in-law
one gets the impression that signs and omens had
more to do with the failure than the weather.
The account says that when the storm struck the
vessel they were "nearer the bank of Newfound
land than any part of Europe." The decision to
return was reached after "Mr. Livingston pro
poned an overture," which was that if in twenty
hours the Lord "were pleased to cahn the storm
and send a fair wind, they might take it for an
approbation of their advancing, otherwise they
should return." But the storm grew worse, and
the matter was then put to Mr. Blair to decide,
whereupon he did "fall into a fit of fainting or a
kind of swarf [Scot for swoon], but shortly re
covering, he was determined to be of their
mind." They made their way without further
mishap, arriving on November 3 in the harbor
whence they had started. Mr. Blair took the
affair as a sign against emigration to America,
"seeing the Lord, by such speaking providences
and dispensations, had made it evident to them
that it was not His will they should glorify Hun

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 167
in America, He having work for them at home."
What troubled them most about the affair was
that "they were hke to be signs and wonders,
and a very mockery to the wicked, who did laugh
and flout at their enterprise."
There is remarkably little of organized exo2>
dus on religious grounds from Ulster. There
were times when it seemed that one was about to
take place, but before it actually started con
ditions were relieved sufficiently to cause action
to be deferred. Instead of seeking refuge in far
places the habitual inclination of the Presbyter
ians of Ulster was to stand their ground and
abide results in common with the Presbyterians
of Scotland. The Ulster settlers regarded them
selves as being Scotch Presbyterians just as much
as though resident in Scotland. The short sea-
ferry between the two countries made intercourse
easy and there was close ecclesiastical fellowship.
Scotland was a regular source of ministerial sup
ply to Ulster and Presbyterian ministers har
assed in Ulster could count upon welcome and
favor in Scotland. Among the Independent
sects ecclesiastical influence could readily tend to
emigration by groups and companies, but among
the Ulster Presbyterians it tended to knit the
community together and to hold them to their
place. Ulster emigration upon any hnportant scale is

168 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
to be attributed to economic and not t" rH'S'""*^
causes. While the conditions were taking form
that eventually produced a great migration of
Ulster Scots, facilities of transportation ?were
developed that familiarized the people with the
possibilities of emigration and acquainted them
with the means. After the first difficulties of
planting colonies in America had been overcome
and the settlements had taken root, popular ap
preciation of the New World as the land of op
portunity spread rapidly. The State Papers of
so early a date as 1649 contain a petition from
Captain John Bayley setting forth that he has
a scheme for ship building in Ireland, in connec
tion wherewith he will be able to plant in Vir
ginia "100 poor people yearly with all necessary
provisions." He says he has already done much
work in explaining the scheme and interesting
people in it, and asks permission to coUect funds
for it in all parishes of England and Ireland.
The first notice in the State Papers of any.
considerable emigration from Ulster to America
appears in May, 1656. A letter written from
Lisnegarvy says : "We are very full of soldiers
come from all parts to ship at Carrickfergus and
where eight or ten are appointed out of a com
pany commonly three times as many are offer
ing and desiring to go." The soldiers referred
to presumably belonged to the Cromwellian army

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 169
in Ireland which the Government was endeavor
ing to disband. Land in Ireland was offered to
them but they showed no disposition to settle on
it, though it appears from the letter quoted that a
chance to get to America was eagerly seized.
But emigration of this character could not be
properly described as a movement of Ulster
Scots. The true beginning of that probably took
place in connection with the growth of the trade
between Scotland and America, in which Ulster
naturally participated. Scotch mercantile enter^;.,
prise which had long been noted for its bold
activity and wide range was not likely to neglect
such a promising field as America, and there are
many indications that a brisk trade between Scot
land, America and the West Indies was estab
lished the latter half of the seventeenth century.
The Enghsh State Papers record urgent com
plaints from English merchants that Scotch ships
were spoiling their trade with the American plan
tations. In 1695 Edward Randolph", a Mary
land official, recommended that in order to check
Scotch trade the three lower counties of Dela
ware should be annexed to Maryland, West
Jersey to Pennsylvania, East Jersey to New
York and Rhode Island to Massachusetts, The
obnoxious trade must have been going on a long
time before it could have acquired such extent
and hnportance as to provoke such sweeping

170 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
measures, 'Scotch predilection for American ad
venture was strikingly illustrated by the un
fortunate Darien expedition of 1698, Three
quarters of a million sterling were subscribed
with the idea of establishing a New Caledonia on
the Isthmus of Darien, Fleets carrying first
1,200 men and later 1,500 men were sent out to
occupy the country, the result being disastrous
failure and complete abandonment.
The first distinctively Scotch-Irish settle
ments known to have taken place in America
were on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. That
"colony, granted to Lord Baltimore in 1632, was
prior to that time chiefly known for its trade in
beaver skins obtained from the Indians. St.
Mary's, the first capital of Maryland, was located
on the site of a trading post. Religious toler
ation was one of the inducements to settlers of
fered by the Proprietors. It was hoped by this
means that people would be attracted from other
colonies as well as from Europe. In 1643 Lord
Baltimore wrote to Captain Gibbons of Boston
describing the land grants Maryland was offer
ing to settlers, "with free liberty of rehgion."
The records are silent as to when and how the
Scotch-Irish entered Maryland but it was a
natural consequence of the large inducements
which the Maryland Proprietary was offering to
settlers. In 1648, when commissioning Wilham

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 171
Stone as Governor of Maryland, Lord Baltimore
set forth that Stone "hath undertaken in some
short time to procure five hundred people of
British or Irish descent to come from other places
and plant and reside within our said province of
Maryland for the advancement of our colony
there." Stone, a Protestant, who had himself
come into Maryland from the Eastern Shore of
Virginia, is known to have promoted a Puritan
emigration from that section into Maryland. In
1649 Lord Baltimore offered 3,000 acres of land
for every thirty persons brought in by any ad
venturer or planter. The influx of settlers that
resulted from such measures is doubtless account
able for the beginnings of Scotch-Irish settle
ment in Maryland. The known facts all
harmonize with this supposition. The earliest
notice of an American minister from Ireland ap
pears in a letter of April 13, 1669, from Matthew
Hill, an English non-conformist minister, to
Richard Baxter, on whose advice Hill had gone
to Maryland. Describing the situation in Mary
land, Hill remarked: "We have many also of
the reformed religion who have a long time lived
as sheep without a shepherd, though last year
brought in a young man from Ireland who hath
already had good success m his work."
The Irish minister thus referred to has never
been identifled. Dr. Briggs in his American

172 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Presbyterianism thinks he may have been one
of those driven into exile from Ireland by the
persecutions beginning in 1663. This is quite
hkely but the fact cannot be established. The
first Presbyterian minister of whom there is cer
tain knowledge was WiUiam TraiU, who, in
1672, was ordained pastor of the Presbyterian
congregation at Lifford, in the Presbytery of
Laggan, Ireland. He was clerk of the Presby
tery and was one of five ministers prosecuted in
1681 for observing a special fast appointed by
the Presbytery. The ministers were sentenced to
pay a fine of twenty pounds each and on their
refusal were sentenced to prison. Reid says:
"They were confined in Lifford, though not very
rigorously, for above eight months, when they
were released by the sheriff, and their fines after
ward remitted by the court of exchequer on pay
ment of their fees," It is probable that upon his
release from prison in 1682 Traill went directly
to Maryland where he knew he would be among
friends. The records of Somerset county, Mary
land, show that he acquired 133 acres on the
Pocomoke River near Rehoboth on May 8, 1686,
and it is probable that he was the founder of
the Presbyterian Church at Rehoboth! He was
evidently held in marked esteem as he received
bequests from John White m 1685 and from
John Shipway in 1687. In November, 1689, he

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 173
was one of the signers of a petition to Wilham
and Mary askmg "protection in securing our
religion, hves and hberty under Protestant Gov
ernors." Somerset County records show that m
February, 1690, he gave a friend a power of at
torney to convey land, which was doubtless done
as an incident of his return to Scotland, where
on September 17, 1690, he became pastor of the
church of Borthwick, near Edinburgh.
It is highly probable that Thomas Wilson, an
other minister known to have been in Somerset
County at this period, was also from the Laggan
Presbytery. The Presbytery records have sev
eral entries in regard to Thomas Wilson between
1674 and 1678. It appears that he was pastor
of Killybegs, a parish on the western coast of
Donegal, where he was having great difficulty in
getting a living. An entry of July 3, 1678, notes
that Killybegs has paid him only twelve pounds
a year for the past two years, with no prospects
of improvement. From 1681 to 1691 there is a
blank in the Presbytery minutes, but when they
resume there is no further mention of Killybegs
or Wilson. But a Thomas Wilson appears in the
Maryland land records as acquiring from Colonel
William Stevens on May 20, 1681, a parcel of
land called Darby, containing 350 acres. He
was the first pastor of the Presbyterian Church at
Manokin, and as its pastor is mentioned in the

174 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
wiU of John Galbraith, 1691, and the wiU of
David Brown, 1697.
Samuel Davis, another Maryland minister at
this period, is supposed to be an Irishman, as it
seems probable that he is meant by a reference
made in 1706 to "an Irish Presbyterian" who
preached in Delaware for some years, A
"Samuel Davies," who was residing in Somerset
County in 1678, may have been the same person.
In 1684 a marriage was celebrated by the Rev,
Samuel Davies in Somerset County, and in Sep
tember of that year he received from Colonel
Stevens a warrant to have laid out a tract of
500 acres upon St, Martin's Creek, southeast
side of the Pocomoke River. He was pastor of
the Presbyterian Church at Snow Hill in 1691,
remaining there until 1698 when he removed
to Hoarkill, now Lewes, Delaware, where he re
sided and preached for a number of years.
The Colonel Stevens who appears in the
records as a conveyer of land to the early Presby
terian ministers of the Eastern Shore of Mary
land seems to have been active in promoting
immigration in pursuance of Lord Baltimore's
policy. He was one of the earliest settlers, in
Somerset County, and was for 22 years a judge
of the county court. In 1684 he was appointed
by Lord Baltimore Deputy Lieutenant for the
province. He died on his plantation near Reho-

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 175
both December 23, 1687, aged 57 years. The in
terest he took m procuring Ulster ministers for
the Eastern Shore of Maryland indicates the
existence of Scotch-Irish settlements there. An
entry of December 29, 1680, on the minutes of
the Laggan Presbytery says:
"CoUonell Stevens from Maryland beside
Virginia, his desire of a godly minister is
presented to us, the meeting will consider it
seriously and do what they can in it. Mr.
John Hoart is to write to Mr. Keip about
this and Mr. Robert Rule to the meetings of
Route and Tyrone, and Mr. WiUiam Traill
to the meetings of Down and Antrim."
No action in response to this application is re
corded, the minutes discontinuing in 1681 and
not resuming until 1690. But the removal of
Traill to Maryland, and the subsequent removal
of Makemie is doubtless to be ascribed to this
call. Francis Makemie, famous as a pioneer or
ganizer of the Presbyterian Church in America,
was born near Ramelton, Ireland, and was edu
cated at the University of Glasgow. When the
letter from Colonel Stevens arrived, Makemie
had been for some time preparing for the min
istry under the supervision of Laggan Presby
tery, The minutes for 1681 note that he
submitted a homily which was approved, and
presumably he was licensed soon thereafter.
Owing to the discontinuance of the minutes there

176 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
is no official record of the date, but it must have
been prior to April 2, 1682, as it is known that on
that date he preached at Burt, Ireland. He is
next heard of in Maryland, whither he went
probably in 1683. He did not settle permanently
for some years, but carried on an itinerant min
istry in Maryland, Virginia and the Barbadoes.
A letter of July 22, 1684, mentions that he was
then on the Ehzabeth River, Virginia (near the
present site of Norfolk) , ministering to a congre
gation "who had a dissenting minister formerly
from Ireland until the Lord was pleased to re
move him by death in August last," The name
of this Irish minister has not been discovered,
and no reference to him has been found other
than that made by Makemie,
Reid says that during 1684 the greater part of
the ministers composing the Presbytery of Lag
gan intimated their intention of removing to
America "because of persecutions and general
poverty abounding in those parts, and on account
of their straits and little or no access to their
ministry," But it does not appear that they put
that design into effect, for with the death of
Charles II, the following year the pressure re
laxed. The persecutions to which the Ulster
Presbyterians were exposed were less severe than
those from which the Scotch Presbyterians were
then suffering. There can be no doubt that the

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 17T
rehgious motive was an important factor in
Scotch emigration at this period. In 1684 and
1685 bodies of Scotch people fleeing from perse
cution landed in East Jersey. George Scot,
Laird of Pitlochie, who was active in the move
ment, gave as his reason for the enterprise that
"there are several people in this kingdom, who,
upon account of their not going that length in
conformity required of them by the law, do live
very uneasy; who, beside the other agreeable ac
commodations of that place may there freely
enjoy their own principles without hazard or
trouble." In a volume which he published in
Edinburgh describing conditions and opportuni
ties in East Jersey, he made this mention of the
Scotch-Irish in Maryland:
"I had an account lately from an ac
quaintance of mine, that the Province of
Ulster, where most of our nation are seated,
could spare forty thousand men and women
to an American plantation, and be suffi
ciently peopled itself. The gentleman who
gave me this information is since settled in
Maryland; the account he sends of that
country is so encouraging that I hear a great
many of his acquaintances are making for
that voyage."
It is evident from this that there was a particu
larly close connection between Ulster and the
Chesapeake Bay settlements at this period. Ad-

178 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
ditional evidence of this is furnished by the
fact that the congregation on Ehzabeth River,
Virginia, to which Makemie ministered for a
time, obtained his successor from the bounds of
Laggan Presbytery, He was Josias McKee, son
of Patrick McKee, of St, Johnstone, County
Donegal, He probably began his ministry in
1691 and he continued pastoral work in the Eliza
beth River country until his death in November,
1716.
""""These particulars, which we owe to the minute
research made by historians of the American
Presbyterian Church, afford conclusive evidence
of the existence of distinctively Scotch-Irish
settlements on the Eastern Shore of Maryland
and Virginia considerably prior to 1680, and
probably dating back to the immigration started
in 1649. Doubtless, in view of the intimacy
between Scotland and Ulster, there was some
Ulster ingredient in Scotch trade and Scotch •
settlements in other American colonies during
the seventeenth century but no record has been
discovered of distinctively Scotch-Irish settle
ments at this period except in the Chesapeake
Bay region. The records of ministerial supply
are of themselves enough to show that the Scotch-
Irish community was well established. More
over, this supposition is confirmed by records
preserved in the State Papers. In a report of

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 179
July 19, 1677, Lord Baltimore gave this account
of rehgious conditions in Maryland:
"That there are now four ministers of the
Church of England residing there who have
plantations of their own, and those who have
not are maintained by voluntary contribu
tions of their own persuasion, as others are
of the Presbyterians, Independents, Ana
baptists, Quakers and Romish church. That
there are a sufficient number of churches and
meeting houses for the people there which
are kept in good repair by voluntary con
tributions. . . . That three-fourths of the
inhabitants are Presbyterians, Independ
ents, Anabaptists and Quakers, the rest be
ing of the Church of England and Romish
church." The Presbyterians mentioned as maintaining
ministers "of their own persuasion" may be taken
to include the Scotch-Irish settlers. A more
distinct reference appears in a later report made
by Lord Baltimore, which was .received by the
Board of Trade on March 26, 1678. Replying
to interrogatories from the English Government,
Lord Baltimore says :
"All the planters in general affect the
style of merchants, because they all sell to
bacco, and their chief estate is the number
of their servants, who serve generally five
or six years, and then become planters and
call themselves merchants. . . . Can give no
probable guess of the number of masters or
servants, nor of the number imported for

180 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
any time, but are generaUy English and
Irish." We are not left to inference as to whether
these "Irish" included Ulster Scots, for some
years later we find the same Chesapeake Bay
settlements appearing in the State Papers as
distinctively Scotch-Irish, In the course of a
long report, June 25, 1695, from Sir Thomas
Laurence, Secretary of Maryland, the foUowmg
occurs :
"In the two counties of Dorchester and
Somerset, where the Scotch-Irish are most
numerous, they almost clothe themselves by
their linen and woolen manufactures and
plant little tobacco, which learning from one
another, they leave off planting. Shipping,
therefore, and the bringing in of aU manner
of English clothing is to be encouraged, and
if they "be brought in at easy rates, the
planter will hve comfortably and will be in
duced to go on planting tobacco,"
Laurence says that cotton weaving has begun
in Virginia and that some few have begun to
grow cotton in Maryland. He suggested that it
be taken into consideration "whether an act of
Parliament should not be passed to prevent the
planting of cotton in these countries," This
mention of the Scotch-Irish exhibits them as a
community so long established that linen and
woolen manufactures had attained considerable
development. This circumstance tallies with the

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 181
fact that so early as 1680 the community was
large enough to issue a caU for ministerial sup
ply. There is no record of any other Scotch-
Irish settlement in America at that tune. The
most hkely place then would have been Massa
chusetts, but a report of Governor Bradstreet of
May 18, 1680, on conditions in that colony says
that very few Enghsh, Scots, Irish or foreigners
had arrived there for seven years ; that there were
there then about 120 negroes "and it may be as
many 'Scots bought and sold for merchants in
the time of the war with Scotland . . , and
about half so many Irish," > 
All accessible data indicate that the Chesa
peake Bay settlements were the first distinctively
Scotch- Irish settlements made in America. But
these settlements left in the wake of .the tobacco
trade do not appear to have been important as a
stage in the Scotch-Irish occupation of America.
When the emigration from Ulster began on a
large scale in the eighteenth century it turned
chiefly to Pennsylvania. The Maryland settle
ments, however, possess much importance in con^
nection with the planting of the Presbyterian
Church in this country, as will appear when that
branch of the subject comes up for consideration
m the course of this history.
The economic conditions that occasioned a
genuine exodus from Ulster early in the eigh-

182 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
'^^nth century were the outcome of the narrow
views of commercial policy that then inspired
governmental action. Colonies and plantations
were valued simply as a convenience to home in
terests and it was considered intolerable that they
should develop industries of a competitive char
acter. The anxiety which Sir Thomas Laurence
expressed over the linen and woolen manufac
tures of the Scotch-Irish on the Eastern Shore
of Maryland is quite typical. Strafford during
his lieutenancy of Ireland showed genuine solici
tude for the development of industry and yet his
correspondence shows that he held that Irish en
terprise in such an important English industry
as woolen manufacture was reprehensible. After
the Restoration, when Ireland began to recover
from the Cromwellian wars, Irish exports of cat
tle excited the alarm of English landowners who
complained that the competition of the Irish
pastures was lowering English rents. Laws
were accordingly enacted in 1665 and 1680 ab
solutely prohibiting the importation into Eng
land from Ireland of all cattle, sheep and swine,
of beef, pork, bacon and mutton and even of
butter and cheese.
This attitude was not peculiar to the Govern
ment of England but was just as strong in Scot
land at that period. The Government of Scotland
complained of the effect of English laws on

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 183
Scottish industry and obtained some concessions,
but meanwhile it subjected Ireland to worse
treatment than that of which it complained when,.^
it was the sufferer. In February, 1667, on the
urgent representation of 'Scottish traders, an
embargo was laid on the importation of Irish
cattle, salt beef, meal and all kinds of grain ; and
subsequently horses were added to the list. This
embargo was probably more detrimental to
Ulster than the English prohibition, and it ex
plains "the general poverty abounding in those
parts" mentioned as one of the reasons that in
1684 caused a general disposition toward emigra
tion among the ministers of the Laggan Presby
tery. One marked effect of this sort of legisla
tion was to build up a smuggling trade that long
abounded in Ulster and on the neighboring
coasts of Scotland.
In addition to shutting Irish produce out of
English markets, English commercial selfishness
was as urgently solicitous that Irish enterprise
should not invade the colonies and interfere with
English trade there. They were England's colo
nies and it was held that Ireland had no right to
participate in colonial trade. Acts passed in
1663, 1670 and 1696 excluded Irish vessels
from the American trade and prohibited any im
portation directly from the colonies to Ireland,
In the presence of such restramts upon the com-

184 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
merce of the country in its natural products, the
industrial activity of the people sought an outlet
in manufactures. Woolen manufacture, whose
beginning in 1636 Strafford had discouraged,
now revived. The quality of Irish wool was ex
ceUent and the cloth obtained such a reputation
that industrial prospects became bright. Al
though shut out of Scotland, England and
America, Ireland might trade with the rest of the
world and in that way establish her prosperity.
The Irish woolen trade became so important that
it attracted capital and manufacturers from
Scotland, England and even Continental Eu
rope, But there was an important woolen
industry in England whose loud complaints
were soon voiced in Parliament, The House of
Lords and the House of Commons both made
urgent representations to King WiUiam that the
Enghsh woolen manufacture was menaced by the
Irish industry. The memorial of the House of
Commons urged William "to enjoin aU those
you employ in Ireland to make it their care, and
use their utmost diligence to hinder the exporta
tion of wool from Ireland, except it be imported
hither, and for discouraging the woolen manu
facture." The King promised to comply with
the request and the Irish Parliament itself was
submissive. At a session begun in September,
1698, the Irish House of Commons pledged its

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 185
hearty endeavors to estabhsh linen and hempen
manufacture in Ireland, with the hope that there
might be found "such a temperament" in respect
to the woolen trade as would prevent it from be
ing injurious to that of England. It then pro
ceeded to impose heavy duties on the export of
Irish woolen goods. But even this was not
enough to satisfy the Enghsh woolen manufac
turers. By existing laws Irish woolen manufac
tures were already excluded from the colonial
market, and were virtually excluded from En^
land by prohibitory duties. In 1699 the work
of exclusion was completed by a law enacted by
the British Parhament prohibiting the Irish from
exporting manufactured wool to any other coun
try whatever, ^X,
The main industry of Ireland was thus de
stroyed. Even the promise that encouragement
would be shown to other manufactures was only
partially and grudgingly fulfilled. It was not
until 1705 that, at the urgent petition of the
Irish Parliament, the Irish were allowed to ex
port white and brown hnens to the British col
onies, but checked, striped and dyed linens were
absolutely excluded, and no colonial goods could
be brought directly to Ireland. Efforts to build
up linen manufacture met with opposition in
England on the ground that the competition of
Irish linen with Dutch Imen might hurt the

186 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Dutch market for Enghsh woolen manufactures,
and would therefore be indirectly injurious to
England. It was only after a hard struggle that
the linen manufacture escaped the fate of the
Irish woolen manufacture. Hempen manufac
ture was discouraged until it ceased. Indeed for
a long period no exactions seemed too great to
make upon Ireland. There was even agitation
in favor of measures to prohibit all fisheries on
the Irish shore except with boats built and
manned by Englishmen.
After the Revolution of 1688 Scotch migra
tion set strongly toward Ulster, Land was of
fered on long lease at low rents and for some
years a steady stream of Scotch Presbyterians
poured into the country. In 1715 Ajchbishop
Synge estimated that not less than 50,000 Scotch
families had settled in Ulster since the Revolu
tion. In 1717 and 1718 as the leases began to
fall in, the landlords put up the rents double and
! often treble, and the smaller farms tended to pass
; from Protestant hands to Catholic tenants who
I were ready to bid higher terms. And whUe the
tenant farmers were rackrented by their land-
j lords they had to pay tithes for the support of
Ithe Established Church whose ministrations they
did not desire or receive. Such condmons, intro
duced at a time when the commercial legislation
of England was uprooting Irish industry.

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 187
created an intolerable situation. MoreoverJ
fresh religious disabilities were put upon the
Presbyterians, The penal act of 1704 against
the Roman Catholics had a test clause which ex- >
eluded Presbyterians from all civU and mihtary
office, Presbyterian ministers were legally hable
to penalties for celebrating marriages, and cases
occurred of prosecutions although as a rule the
Government was more tolerant than the laws.
Entries on the Ulster Synod records show how"
solicitous the ministers were that none of their
communion should provoke the authorities by
marrying members of the Established Church.
To escape from such conditions the people be
gan to flee the country in great numbers, often
accompanied by ministers. An instance of emi
gration under pastoral care is supphed by an
entry on the records of the General 'Synod of
Ulster, June 15, 1714, which at the same time
illustrates the care exercised as to ministerial
qualifications in such cases. It appears that
John Jarvie had been a probationer under the
Presbytery of Down, but had received ordina
tion from the Presbytery of Belfast, and the
Synod called for explanations. The Belfast
Presbytery rephed that:
"Mr, Jarvie having a great inclhiation
to go to some of the Plantations in America,
Down Prebry having signified that to the

188 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
late Synod of Belfast, and gave a very good
character of him — Mr, John Jarvie bringing
testimonies from the Prebry of Down to the
Prebry of Belfast, which was abundantly
satisfying — ^he readily subjected to the
Prebry of Belfast; that Mr, Robert WUson,
mercht in Belfast, wrot to Mr. Kirkpatrick,
to be comunicate to the Prebry of Belfast,
that there was a ship in the Logh of Belfast
bound for South Carohna; that the seamen
and passengers amount to the number of 70,
that it was earnestly desir'd that they may
have a Chaplain on board, and if ordain'd,
so much the better for the voyage, and also
for the person to be ordain'd and the Coun
try whither they are bound."
It was further explained that before ordaining
Mr. Jarvie the Belfast Presbytery had obtained
the consent of Down, and examined him "in
Extemporary Questions, Cases of Conscience,
Church History, Chronolog: Questions" to aU
of which he "gave satisfying answers." Further
more, Mr. Jarvie "had an 'Exegesis de Perfec-
tione Scripturae contra Papistes/ and sustain'd
his Thesis, delivered a popular sermon, in all of
which he acquit himself with approbation."
In the spring of 1718 a minister in Ulster
writing to a friend in Scotland said: "There is
hkely to be a great desolation in the northern
parts of this Kingdom by the removal of several
of our brethren to the American plantations. No
less than six ministers have demitted their con-

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 189
gregations, and great numbers of their people go
with them ; so that we are daily alarmed with both
ministers and people going off,"
The original sympathy between the Puritan
settlements in Ulster and the Puritan settlements
in New England naturally had the effect of di
recting emigration to New England when the
Scotch-Irish began to remove from Ulster. As
in the abortive attempt of 1635, ministers appear
as leaders of the first systematic movement. The
Rev. William Homes, born in 1663 of an old
Ulster family, came over to Martha's Vineyard
about 1686, and obtained a position as a school
teacher. He returned to Ireland, studied for the
ministry, and was ordained December 21, 1692,
as pastor of a church at Strabane, in the Presby
tery of Convoy. On September 26, 1693, he
married Katherine, daughter of the Rev. Robert
Craighead of Londonderry. The Rev. Wilham
Homes and his brother-in-law, the Rev. Thomas
Craighead, decided to move to New England,
and they sailed from Londonderry on the ship
Thomas and Jane, arriving in Boston the first
week in October, 1714. The settling in New
England of these two mmisters with extensive
family connections in Ulster opened a channel
into which immigration soon began to flow,
Homes's eldest son, Robert, born July 23,
1694, in Stragolan, County Fermanagh, became

190 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
captain of a ship engaged in transporting emi
grants to America, He married Mary Franklin
of Boston, a sister of Benjamin Franklin. Cap
tain Homes appears to have been the agent by
whom people at Strabane, Donoghmore, Done
gal and Londonderry were apprised of oppor
tunities of removing to New England. It is re
corded that^Qaptain Homes sailed for Ireland
April 13, \718/'and his ship returned "fuU of
passengers about the middle of October."
""^The regular intercourse between Ulster and
New England thus established led to movements
on a scale approaching the transportation of
^xommunities. The congregations in the vaUey of
the Bann became so interested that the Rev, Wil
liam Boyd, pastor of Macosquin, went to New
England as their agent to see what arrangements
could be made for settling there in a body, Mr,
Boyd was well received and having finished his
mission, preached a valedictory sermon, on March
19, 1718, It was published with an introduction
by the Rev, Increase Mather in which occurs the
following reference to Boyd's mission:
"Many in that Kingdom [Ireland] hav
ing had thoughts of a remove to this part of
the World, have considered him as a Person
suitably qualified to take a voyage hither,
and to make Enquiry what Encouragement
or otherwise they might expect in case they
should engage in so weighty and hazardous

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 191
an undertaking as that of Transporting
themselves & Famihes over so vast an Ocean.
The issue of this Affair has a great depend
ence on the conduct of this Worthy Author.
The Lord direct him in it,"
Boyd brought with hun a petition to Governor
Shute of New England, certifymg that Boyd had
been appointed "to assure his Excellency of our
sincere and hearty Inclinations to Transport our
selves to that very excellent and renowned Plan
tation upon our obtaining from his ExceUency
suitable incouragement," As weU as can be
made out from the faded writing there were 322
signers of this petition, aU but thirteen of them
in fair autograph. Only eleven made their
marks, a remarkably low percentage of illiter
acy. Among the signers were the Rev, James
Teatte of Killeshandra, County Cavan; the Rev,
Thomas Cobham of Clough, County Aaitrim; the
Rev, Robert Neilson, a superannuated minister,
formerly of Kilraughts in the Presbytery of
Route; the Rev, William Leech of Ballymena,
County Antrim ; the Rev, Robert Higginbothan
of Coleraine, the Rev, John Porter of BushmiUs,
the Rev, Henry NeiU of Ballyrashane (the last
three, all members of the Presbytery of Cole
raine) ; the Rev, Thomas Elder of County Down;
the Rev, James Thomson of BallywiUan, near
Coleraine, Three of the signers, Samuel Wil
son, Alexr, Dunlap and Arch, Mc Cook, — have

192 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
the degree M.A. appended to their names, which
was then often a clerical dignity, but they are
not known as belonging to the Presbyterian min
istry of Ulster. The ministers who signed the
petition have appended to their names the initials
V-D,M, a contraction for Verbi Dei Minister —
Minister of the Word of God, The ministers
who signed did not aU emigrate, Boyd himself,
the agent of the emigrants in obtaining assur
ances of lands for settlement, remained in
Ireland. Through those various influences there was an
active emigration from Ulster to New England,
during the period from 1714-1720 inclusive, of
which precise details have been obtained by the
research of Mr. Charles K. Bolton. The hst
given by him in his Scotch-Irish Pioneers in
Ulster and America, shows that five ships ar
rived in New England from Ireland in 1714,
two in 1715, three in 1716, six in 1717, fifteen in
1718, ten ui 1719 and thirteen hi 1720,
So far as the disposition of the Ulster people
was concerned New England would have been
their American home, but their reception and ex
periences were such that the main stream of
Ulster immigration soon turned toward Penn
sylvania, The immigration to New England
was from the first regarded with anxiety and dis
trust by the leading people there. In the letters

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 193
of Thomas Lechmere to John Winthrop at the
period there is a mention of Irish immigration in
1718 with the remark: "20 ministers with
their congregations in general, will come over in
Spring; I wish their comeing so over do not
prove fatall in the End," Even such an ally of
the Irish as Cotton Mather was apparently not
free from anxiety although hopeful of good re
sults and friendly to the movement. In his diary
for August 7, 1718, he vrrote: "But what shall be
done for the great number of people that are
transporting themselves thither from ye North of
Ireland : Much may be done for ye Kingdom of
God in these parts of ye World by this Trans
portation," The records of the General Synod of Ulster
make frequent references to the departure of
ministers for America and to the difficulties ex
perienced in providing subsistence for the min
isters who remained. Representations of the ne
cessitous condition of ministers or their widows
and children formed a staple topic at meetmgs of
the Synod and the difficulty of raising funds is
shown by the frequency with which reiterated ap
peals are made for help in particular cases. At
the meeting of Belfast, June 21, 1720, it was
decided that "a moving letter be writ by this
Synod" to aU the people of the church. The
letter approved by the Synod began by saymg:

194 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
"Dearly Beloved.
You cannot be Ignorant of the deplorable
circumstances that many of our Brethren
are in, and how exceedingly deficient that
fund which was design'd for their support
has prov'd, in so much, that to some scarce
can a third part of what was promist be
obtain'd.. Many of our Congregations who
us'd to contribute, are not now in condition
to maintain their own Minister, and far less
give anything for the relief of others. It is
melanchoUy to hear that many of our Breth
ren are wanting ev'n the necessaries of life ;
others are forc'd to lay down their charge;
and others to transport themselves to
America. The Credit of the Synod sinks
from an inability to perform what they
promist; and notwithstanding all the pains
that have been taken time after time to get
this remedy'd, it grows every year worse
and worse."

Many went not only to America but also to the
West Indies. Archbishop Boulter, Primate of
Ireland, in a letter written in 1728, said:
"Above 4,200 men, women and children,
here have been shipped for the West Indies
within three years, and 3,100 this last sum
mer. . . . The whole North is in a ferment
at present, and people every day engaging
one another to go next year to the West
Indies. The humor has spread like a con
tagious disease. . . . The worst is that it
affects only Protestants and rages chiefly in
the North."

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 195
Writing in March, 1729, Archbishop Boulter
said further: "The humor of going to America still con
tinues, and the scarcity of provisions cer
tainly makes many quit us. There are now
seven ships at Belfast that are carrying off
about 1,000 passengers thither."
The alarm of the authorities over this drain of
population caused letters of inquiry to be sent to
the Presbyteries as to the causes. The reply of
the Presbytery of Tyrone has been preserved. It
gives as the chief cause the rehgious test that ex
cluded Presbyterians from all places of public
trust and honor, and then goes on to say :
"The bad seasons for three years past, to-
.gether with the high price of lands and
tythes, have all contributed to the general
run to America, and to the ruin of many
families, who are daily leaving their houses
and lands desolate,"
The authorities showed themselves incapable
of action going to the root of, the trouble. All
that seemed to occur to them was to extend the
policy of prohibition from the industries of the
people to the movements of the people. The
records of the English Privy Council contain the
following entry of December 4, 1729 :
"Reference to a Committee of a letter
from the Lords Justices of Ireland to the
Lord Lieutenant, Lord Carteret, dated 28

196 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Nov., with a memorial from several noble
men and gentlemen on behalf of themselves
and others of that kingdom, relating to the
Great Numbers of Protestant Subjects who
have lately transported themselves from the
North of Ireland to the Plantations on the
Continent of America, and that Twenty
Thousand have declared their Intentions of
transporting themselves the ensuing Spring
to the great prejudice of the Linnen Manu
facture, and lessening the Protestant Inter
est in those parts, and also relating to the
great Quantities of Corn which have been
lately bought up for Exportation to For
eign ports, and proposing the issuing of
Proclamations to restrain the Exportation
of Corn, and to prohibit the Subjects leav
ing the Kingdom. And likewise to prohibit
the carrying Money or Bullion out of the
Kingdom."
'Some particulars of the way in which emigra
tion was obstructed are given in a letter, written
some time in 1736, preserved among the Penn
manuscripts of the Historical Society of Penn
sylvania. The writer, John Stewart, a sea cap
tain, says:
"As you are the Proprietor of Pennsyl
vania, and being informed of your being in
London, I would beg liberty to inform your
Worship of some of the difficulties of the
poor people who are flying from the oppres
sion of landlords, and tithes, (as they term
it) to several parts of America, viz: — When
last our Irish Parliament was sitting, there

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 197
was a bill brought in respecting the trans
portation of America ; which made it next to
a prohibition. The said bill greatly alarmed
the people, especially in the North of Ire
land, and lest a second should succeed,
greater numbers than usual made ready.
But when said landlords found it so, they
fell on with other means by distressing the
owners and masters of the ships, there being
now ten in the harbor of Belfast. The
method they fell in with, first, was that when
any of said ships advertised that they were
bound for such a port, and when they would
be in readiness to sail, and their willingness
to agree with the passengers for which, and
no other reasons, they issued out their war
rants and had several of said owners and
masters apprehended and hkewise the print
ers of said advertisements, and bound in
bonds of a thousand pounds, to appear at
Carrickfergus assizes, or thrown into a loath
some gaol, and for no other reason, than
encouraging his Majesty's subjects, as they
were pleased to call their indictment, from
one plantation to another. But even after
all this, when the assizes came on, they were
afraid of their enlargement, and begged
very earnestly of the judges to have them
continued upon their recognizances, the con
sequence of which may easily be seen. Most
of said ships being strangers, this would
have effectually ruined them. But the
Judge was pleased to discharge them. Nay
one of the Justices got up in court and
swore by God, if any came to Lisburn the
town in which he lived, to publish an adver-

198 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
tisement he would whip him through the
town. To which the Judge very mildly re
plied, to consider if they deserved it and if
he whipped any person, to do it according, to
law. Money had been offered by some of
them to swear against some of said ships and
rewards actuaUy given, but yet a more hell
ish contrivance has been thought of and is
put in practice by the Collector George
Macartney of Belfast. He will not now,
when said ships and passengers were just
ready to sail, so much as allow the poor
people to carry their old bedclothes with
them, although ever so old, under pretence
of an Act of the British Parliament."
Captain Stewart goes on to say that an appeal
had been made to higher authority but mean
while ten ships are detained and more than seven
teen hundred people are in distress.
¦""ouch an attitude of mind only gave additional
impetus to emigration. The authorities might
harass but could not prohibit the movement of
people, for nothing short of measures reducing
them to the condition of serfs bound to the soil
would have been sufficient to stay the exodus.
A marked increase above the ordinary volume
occurred from time to time owing to bad harvests
and acute industrial distress. The famine years
of 1740 and 1741 gave a great impetus to the
movement. It is estimated that for several years
the emigrants from Ulster annually amounted to
12,000.

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 199
After the first run to New England the main
stream of Scotch-Irish emigration set toward
TPennsyrvania, a destination frequently men-
tioned inHtlie reports made to the Ulster Synod
of ministers demitted. Edmund Burke, in his
Account of the European Settlements in Amer
ica published in 1761, says:
"And as for the province . . , there is no
part of British America in. a more growing
condition. In some years more people have
transported themselves into Pennsylvania,
than into all the other settlements together.
In 1729, 6,208 persons came to settle here as
passengers or servants, four-fifths of whom
at least were from Ireland."
Burke further mentions Pennsylvania as the
center from which Scotch-Irish occupation of
America proceeded. He says:
"The number of white people in Virginia
is between sixty and seventy thousand; and
they are growing every day more numerous
by the migration of the Irish, who, not suc
ceeding so well in Pennsylvania as the more
frugal and industrious Germans, sell their
lands in that province to the latter, and take
up new ground in the remote counties in Vir
ginia, Maryland and North Carolina. These
are chiefly Presbyterians from the northern
part of Ireland, who in America are gener
ally called Scotch-Irish."
Holmes's American Annals, a collection of
historical data, first pubhshed in 1829, repeatedly

300 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
mentions the large immigration from the North
of Ireland. The annalist notes that in 1729 there
arrived in Pennsylvania from Europe 6,208 per
sons with the purpose of setthng in America. Of
these 1,155 were designated as "Irish passengers
and servants," and it was further stated that
there "arrived at New Castle government alone
passengers and servants chiefly from Ireland
about 4,500."
Among the entries in the Annals for 1737 is
the following: "About this time multitudes of laborers
and husbandmen in Ireland oppressed by
landlords and bishops, and unable to procure
a comfortable subsistence for their families
embarked for Carolina. The first colony of
Irish people, receiving a grant of land near
Santee River, formed a settlement, which
was called Williamsburgh township."
Among the events of 1764 it is noted that "be
sides foreign Protestants, several persons emmi-
grated from England and Scotland, and great
multitudes from Ireland, and settled in Caro
lina." Two townships, each containing 48,000
acres, had been laid out for occupancy by set
tlers, one named Mecklenburg, the other
Londonderry. Among the events of 1773 it is noted that
"there were large migrations from Ireland and
other parts of Europe to Aonerica." In the first

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 201
fortnight of August 3,500 passengers arrived in
Pennsylvania from Ireland. In the same month
500 arrived in North Carolina from Ireland. In
September a brig arrived at Charleston from
Ireland, with above 120 settlers. A sad reminder
of the risk of sea travel in that period is contained
in the announcement that a Scotch brig that
brought 200 passengers to New York lost about
100 on the passage. Although those immigrants
from Ireland are not designated as Scotch-Irish
there can be no doubt that generally they came
from Ulster.
In 1760 the exodus to America seems to have
almost ceased. The author of an Essay on the
Ancient and Modern State of Ireland written
in that year remarks that in the region of
George II. :
"the North of Ireland began to wear an
aspect entirely new; and, from being
(through want of industry, business and til
lage) the almost exhausted nursery of our
American plantations, soon became a popu
lous scene of improvement, traffic, wealth
and plenty, and is at this day a well planted
district, considerable for numbers of well
affected useful and industrious subjects."
In less than a decade distress and discontent
were again general and emigration to America
"was^ resumed on a large scale. A note to Kil-
len's History of the Presbyterian Church in Ire-

302 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
land computes that in 1773 and the five
preceding years the North of Ireland was
"drained of one-fourth of its trading cash, and
of a like proportion of the manufacturing
people," KiUen remarks :
"Not a few of the Presbyterian ministers
of the northern province had now to struggle
against the discouragements of a slender and
decreasing maintenance. Some of the mem
bers of the SjTiod of Ulster resigned their
pastoral charges, and joined the stream of
emigration to America."
The movement was greatly stimulated by the
decadence of linen manufacture which set in
about 1771. The principal cause assigned for it
was the interruption of commerce due to the dis
turbed relations with the American colonies. In
vestigation by a Committee of the House of
Commons in 1774 brought out official statements
that one-third of all the weavers had been thrown
out of work and that not less than 10,000 had
within the last two or three years emigrated to
America. Arthur Young, the shrewdest observer of agri
cultural conditions at that period, made his Tour
in Ireland in the years 1776 to 1779, He was in
Belfast in July, 1776, and he notes that for many
years emigration from that port was at the rate
of about 2,000 annually. In 1772 the decline of
the hnen manufacture caused an increase which

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 203
brought the number up to 4,000 in 1773, but in
1775 emigration ceased. In Derry he noted that
"the emigrations were very great from hence, of
both idle and industrious, and carried large sums
with them." At Lurgan he was informed that
"if the war ends in favor of the Americans, they
will go off in shoals." Young notes that in 1760
the shipping of Derry consisted of sixty-seven
sail, from thirty to three hundred and fifty tons.
For eighteen to twenty years the emigrants num
bered 2,400 annually.

As a result of his investigations Young con
cluded that emigration was closely connected
with the vicissitudes of the linen trade. He says
that for forty years "the passenger trade had
been a regular branch of commerce, which em
ployed several ships and consisted in carrying
people to America. . . . When the linen trade
was low the passenger trade was always high."
Young remarks that the ordinary recourse of
factory hands thrown out of employment is to
enhst, but in the North of Ireland the linen
manufacture "is not confined, as it ought to be,
to towns, but spreads into all the cabins of th
country. Being half farmers, half manufac
turers, they have too much property in cattle, etc
to enlist when idle; if they convert it into cash ii
will enable them to pay their passage to America,
an alternative always chosen in preference to the
military hfe."

204 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
As a result of his inquiry Young concluded:
"The spirit of emigration in Ireland ap
pears to be confined to two circumstances,
the Presbyterian religion, and the linen
manufacture. I heard of very few emigrants
except among manufacturers of that per
suasion. The Cathohcks never went; they
seemed not only tied to the country but al
most to the parish in which their masters
lived," Young, although an unsympathetic was an
acute observer, and he pointed out unsparingly
the evil nature of England's commercial policy.
He drily observed that "emigration should not,
therefore, be condemned in States so ill governed
as to possess many people willing to work, but
without employment,"
'Young's range of vision did not extend be
yond economic factors. There are unmistakable
indications that apart from the decay of the hnen
industry, motive for emigration was supplied by
the spirit of social revolt then prevalent. Inter
course with Ajnerica had become so close and
knowledge of conditions there had become so
general that the whole attitude of popular
thought on political and social arrangements had
been affected, A spirit was abroad that made
the old grievances of rackrents and tithe pay
ments seem more odious and intolerable. There
were agrarian disturbances that were repressed
with severity, but whose effect in promoting emi-

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 205
gration could not be repressed. In the years
precedmg the American Revolution a wave of
discontent with existing conditions swept over
not only Ireland but Scotland as well. At this
period there was a great migration to America
from the western islands and the Highlands of
Scotland, Dr. Samuel Johnson's tour to the
Hebrides under the guidance of Boswell was
made in 1773 and Boswell's account of it makes
frequent reference to emigration. An episode
of their stay on the Isle of Skye affords a curious
bit of evidence as to the way in which emigration
to America had seized the popular imagination.
Under date of October 2, 1773, Boswell noted hi
his diary: "In the evening the company danced as
usual. We performed, with much activity,
a dance which, I suppose, the emigration
from Skye has occasioned. They call it
America. Each of the couples, after the
common involutions and evolutions, success
ively whirls round in a circle, till all are in
motion; and the dance seems intended to
show how emigration catches, tiU a whole
neighborhood is set afloat. Mrs. M'Kinnon
told me, that last year when a ship saUed
from Portree for America, the people on
shore were almost distracted when they saw
their relations go off; they lay down on the
ground, tumbled and tore the grass with
their teeth. This year there was not a tear
shed. The people on shore seemed to think

306 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
that they would soon follow. This indiffer
ence is a mortal sign for the country,"
A suggestion of the hardships to which pas
sengers were then exposed in the American
voyage is made by an anecdote related by Bos-
weU, In the Isle of Ulva he met a Captam Mc-
Clure, master of a vessel belonging to the port
of Londonderry, Boswell says:
"The Captain informed us that he had
named his ship the Bonnetta out of grati
tude to Providence; for once, when he was
sailing to America with a good number of
passengers, the ship in which he then sailed
was becalmed for five weeks, and during
all that time, numbers of the fish Bonnetta
swam close to her and were caught for food;
he resolved therefore, that the ship he should
next get should be called the Bonnetta,"
Long delays through contrary winds or calms
frequently occurred in the days of dependence on
sails, Robert Witherspoon, who emigrated to
South Carolina with his father's family in 1734,
left an account of early experiences in which he
said: "We went on jshipboard the 14th of Sep
tember, and lay Vindbound in the Lough at
Belfast fourteen days. The second day of
our sail my grandmother died, and was in
terred in the raging ocean, which was an
afflictive sight to her offspring. We were
sorely tossed at sea with storms, which
caused our ship to spring a leak : our pumps

EMIGRATION TO AMERICA 207
were kept instantly at work day and night ;
for many days our mariners seemed many
times at their wits end. But it pleased God
to bring us all safe to land, which was about
the first of December."
The case of "the starved ship" was famous
among the New England settlers. In voyaging
to America in 1740 the provisions ran out, and
the starving crew and passengers finally resorted
to cannibahsm. Samuel Fisher, a ruling elder of
the West Parish Church of Londonderry, N. H.,
came out on that ship, and had been picked for
slaughter when a ship was met that gave relief.
Piracy was also a risk to be encountered. .Among
the early settlers of Londonderry, N. H., was a
Mrs. Wilson who was one of a company cap
tured by pirates. Their captain appears to have
been remarkably goodnatured for one of that oc
cupation. While a captive Mrs, WUson gave
birth to a daughter, and the captain was kind and
sympathetic. Upon her promise to name the
child after his own wife, he gave Mrs. Wilson a
silk dress and other articles, and aUowed the
whole party of Scotch-Irish emigrants to pro
ceed on their way. A granddaughter of this
Mrs. WUson was Mrs, Margaret Woodburn, the
maternal grandmother of Horace Greeley, to
whose instruction and influence he attributed his
inteUectual awakening.
Eighteenth century conditions were such that

208 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
the hardy, the energetic, the resolute went to the
making of America, Emigration was then a
sifting process, to the advantage of America.
Arthur Young, a thoroughly prosaic and un
imaginative observer, remarked: "Men who
emigrate are, from the nature of the circum
stance, the most active, hardy, daring, bold and
resolute spirits, and probably the most mischie
vous also."
Every writer on Ulster emigration notes its
bearing upon the American Revolution. KiUen,
a Belfast minister, in his church history says:
"Thousands of them [the Ulster tenant farmers]
sought a home on the other side of the Atlantic,
and a few years afterward appeared in arms
against the mother country as asserters of the
independence of the American republic."
Lecky, the historian who has given the most
complete and impartial account of the circum
stances of the emigration from the English stand
point, says: "They went with hearts burning
with indignation, and in the War of Independ
ence they were almost to a man on the side of
the insurgents. They supplied some of the best
soldiers of Washington." ,

CHAPTER VI
Scotch-Irish Settlements
At the time the stream of Scotch-Irish immi
gration became particularly noticeable in Amer
ica, the country under Enghsh occupation was
a narrow strip along the seaboard, extending
south as far as the Spanish province of Florida.
Actual settlement did not extend far from the
coast, and the interior of the country was in the
possession of Indian tribes with whom hostilities
occurred checking colonial expansion. At the
opening of the eighteenth century, although the
colonies were firmly established, they were not
vigorous in their growth. The early hopes of
rich mines and vast treasure, such as the Spanish
were reputed to have found everywhere in
America, had been dispelled. It had become
generally known that in English territory
America was not a land of golden adventure, and
that such gains as it afforded came as the result
of laborious industry. Add to this that the de
sirable lands along the coast had been taken up
and the movement of the population to the in
terior could be effected only by thrusting back
309

210 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
the Indians, and it wiU be seen that there was a
situation that tended to check colonial develop
ment. Thomas Hutchinson, in his History of
Massachusetts, written in this period, says :
"In 1640 the importation of settlers now
ceased. They, who then professed to be able
to give the best account, say that in 298
ships, which were the whole number from the
beginnings of the colony, there arrived
21,200 passengers, men, women and chil
dren, perhaps about 4,000 families, since
which more people have removed out of New
England to other parts of the world than
have come from other parts to it, and the
number of families to this day [1670] in the
four Governments [of New England] may
be supposed to be less, rather than more,
than the natural increase of 4,000."
Conditions were apparently not so slack in the
middle and southern colonies, but in them also at
this period there was a dechne in colonizing
energy. Accurate statistics of population are
lacking, but on the accession of George I., in
1714, the English Board of Trade, on the basis
of such data as were afforded by muster roUs
and returns of taxables, estimated that the entire
population of the American colonies, including
Nova Scotia, consisted of 375,750 whites and
58,850 negroes. This estimate is the only one
available as to the population of the colonies at
the time Scotch-Irish immigration began. That

SCOTCH-IRISH SETTLEMENTS 211
immigration not only gave an impulse to national
expansion that has operated ever since but it also
cleared the way for that expansion by opening
the interior of the country to occupation. In
the seven years 1714-1720 hiclusive fifty-four
vessels arrived in Boston harbor from Ireland
with companies of immigrants. Although details
of arrivals at other ports are less minute, it is
known that they were much larger at the ports_
of the Delaware. The mass of the Scotch-Irish
arrivals everywhere moved on to the frontier.
They constituted the border garrisons ; they were
the explorers, the vanguard of settlement in the
interior. Their Ulster training had inured them
to hostile surroundings, and their arrival in the
colonies marks the beginning of a period of vigor
ous expansion, the effect of which is plainly vis
ible in the Board of Trade returns. In 1727, on
the accession of George IL, the population of
the American colonies was estimated at 502,000
whites and 78,000 negroes; in 1754 the esti
mated numbers were 1,192,896 whites and 292,-
738 negroes.
There was a Scotch ingredient of colonial
population from the earhest times, and also
Scotch-Irish, although not usually disthiguish-
able as such. Josselyn, in his Two Voyages to
New England, published in 1665, says: "It is
pubhshed in print that there are not less than

213 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
10,000 souls, English, Scotch and Irish, in New
England." The Scotch-Irish settlements in the
Chesapeake Bay region probably had begun at
this period, but taking the earhest distinct men
tion of Scotch-Irish settlements as the safest
"guide, their chronological order appears to be as
follows: 1. Maryland, 1680; 2. South Carohna,
1682; 3. Pennsylvania, 1708; 4. New England,
^8. Of these the Pennsylvania settlements were
the most numerous and the most hnportant in
their bearing upon American national develop
ment. Consideration of them wiU be reserved
until after some account has been given of all the
other settlements.
No record has yet been discovered of the de
parture from Ireland of the founders of the
Maryland settlements. In default of any posi
tive information, it may be plausibly conjectured
that the settlers formed part of the migration to
Barbadoes and Virginia that ran strong in the
middle of the seventeenth century. There was
a close trading intercourse between the Barba
does and Virginia, one evidence of which is the
fact that Makemie, although settled in Mary
land, extended his pastoral care to Barbadoes.
The Scotch-Irish settlers in Virginia were doubt
less among those non-conformists against whom
the acts of 1642 and 1644 were passed, forbid-

SCOTCH-IRISH SETTLEMENTS 21S
dmg any person to officiate in a church who did
not conform to the Book of Common Prayer.
Some of the non-comformists were fined and
three of their ministers were banished. Thus
Virginia was made uncomfortable at a time when
Lord Baltimore was offering the large induce
ments noted in the preceding chapter; and hence
there was an exodus to Maryland where a pohcy
of toleration then prevailed. It can hardly be
doubted that the Scotch-Irish settlements in
Maryland date from this period. The illustrious
Polk falmily dates from these settlements. The
founder of the family was Robert Polk who emi
grated from Ulster m the second half of the
seventeenth century and settled in Somerset
County, Maryland. A grandson, Wilham Polk,
removed from Maryland to Pennsylvania. Two
sons of William became famous in North Caro
lina, to which State they removed from Pennsyl
vania. One of them was Thomas Polk, the
leading man of Mecklenburg County, member of
the legislature, an officer of the militia, chairman
of the famous Mecklenburg convention, and
Colonel of the Fourth Regiment of North Caro
lina. His brother, Ezekiel Polk, was captain of
a company of rangers. Ezekiel's grandson,
James Knox Polk, born at Mecklenburg, No
vember 2, 1795, was the eleventh President of
the United States. Leonidas Polk, Bishop of

314 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
the Protestant Episcopal Church, and also a dis
tinguished Confederate General, was among the
many descendants of the Somerset County im
migrant that have achieved distinction.
Effective occupation of the Carohnas did not
take place until 1665, At that time popular in
terest in colonization had greatly declined in
England, and proprietors of American lands had
to look elsewhere for settlers. Their main re
source was to draw them from the other colonies.
New England, Virginia and Barbadoes each con
tributed to the population of the Carolinas. The
most populous and prosperous of the early set
tlements was that made at Cape Fear, upon a
tract purchased by a company of Barbadoes
planters in August, 1663. The actual settle
ment took place in 1665, and within a year it
numbered 800 inhabitants, but the location was
so unwholesome that eventually the site was
abandoned and the remaining settlers removed
to Charleston, where in 1670 a settlement had
been started with emigrants drawn from Eng
land and Ireland, This settlement eventually
grew into the State of South Carolina,
The first distinct instance of emigration from
Ireland to South Carolina is mentioned in
Chahner's Political Annals, published in Lon
don in 1780, Referring to hberal arrangements
made by the Proprietors in 1682, Chalmers goes

SCOTCH-IRISH SETTLEMENTS 315
on to say: "Incited by these attentions, Fergu
son not long after conducted thither an emigra
tion from Ireland which instantly mingled with
the mass of the inhabitants."
George Chalmers, the author of this statement,
was born in 1742, and practiced law in Maryland
prior to the Revolution, when he returned to
England and became clerk of the Board of
Trade, which office he held until his death. His
information was doubtless accurate, and although
he gives no particulars it is safe to infer that
this Ferguson drew emigrants from Ulster.
There is on record the will of Richard Newton,
dated September 9, 1692, in which he makes a
bequest to his brother, Marmaduke Newton, of
Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Ireland.
Notwithstanding the early beginning of
Scotch-Irish emigration to South Carolina, it
was not marked in extent or influence. The
sultry climate and the malarial fevers of the
swampy lowlands in which the first settlements
were made were pecuharly trying to people of
Scotch blood and habit. There was at one time
a disposition to regard the Carohnas as an asylum
from persecution, but it was practically ex
tinguished by the disastrous experience of the
Scotch colony at Port Royal, which was wiped
out of existence by a force from the Spanish
posts in Florida, It was not untU half a century

216 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
later, when white settlements had penetrated to
the uplands, that emigration from Ulster became
noticeable. In 1732, in response to a petition
from James Pringle and other Irish Protestants,
the Council of South Carolina granted a town
ship twenty miles square to Ulster colonists,
which they named Wilhamsburgh, in honor of
William of Orange. There was a considerable
movement from the North of Ireland to this new
settlement, and by the end of 1736 the inhabi
tants were sufficiently numerous to send to
Ireland for a minister, the Rev. Robert Heron
coming out and remaining for three years.
Among the Williamsburgh settlers were John
Witherspoon, James McClelland, William Syne,
David Allan, WiUiam Wilson, Robert Wilson,
James Bradley, William Frierson, John James,
WiUiam Hamilton, Archibald Hamilton, Roger
Gordon, John Porter, John Lemon, David
Pressly, William Pressly, Archibald McRae,
James Armstrong, the Erwins, Plowdens,
Dickeys, Blakelys, Dobbinses, Stuarts and
McDonalds. When, by the treaty of 1763, France yielded
to England all her possessions east of the Missis
sippi, South Carolina received a large share of
the heavy emigration from Ireland which then set
in. An account of it is given in the earliest his
tory of South Carohna, written by the Rev.

SCOTCH-IRISH SETTLEMENTS 317
Alexander Hewatt, a Presbyterian clergyman
and a resident of Charleston. He went to Eng
land at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War
and published his history in 1779, In it he says :
"Besides foreign Protestants, several per
sons from England and Scotland resorted to
Carolina after the peace. But of all other
countries, none has furnished the province
with so many inhabitants as Ireland, In the
northern counties of that kingdom, the spirit
of emigration seized the people to such a
degree, that it threatened almost a total de
population. Such multitudes of husband
men, laborers and manufacturers flocked
over the Atlantic, that the landlords began
to be alarmed, and to concert ways and
means for preventing the growing evil.
Scarce a ship sailed for any of the planta
tions that was not crowded with men, women
and children. But the bounty allowed new
settlers in Carolina proved a great en
couragement, and induced numbers of these
people, notwithstanding the severity of the
climate, to resort to that province. The
merchants finding this bounty equivalent to
the expenses of the passage, from avaricious
motives pursuaded the people to embark for
Carolina, and often crammed such numbers
of them into their ships that they were in
danger of being stifled during the passage,
and sometimes were landed in such a starved
and sickly condition, that numbers of them
died before they left Charleston. . . .
"Nor were these the only sources from
which Carolina at this time, derived strength.

218 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
and an increase of population. For, not
withstanding the vast extent of territory
which the provinces of Virginia and Penn
sylvania contained, yet such was the nature
of the country, that a scarcity of improvable
lands began to be felt in these colonies, and
poor people could not find spots in them un
occupied equal to their expectations. Most
of the richest valleys in these more populous
provinces lying to the east of the Alleghany
Mountains were either under patent or occu
pied, and, by the royal proclamation at the
Peace, no settlements were allowed to extend
beyond the sources of the rivers which empty
themselves in the Atlantic. In Carolina the
case was different, for there large tracts of
the best land as yet lay waste, which proved
a great temptation to the northern colonists
to migrate to the South. Accordingly, about
this time above a thousand families, with
their effects, in the space of one year resorted
to Carolina, driving their cattle, hogs and
horses overland before them. Lands were
allotted to them on the frontiers, and most
of them being only entitled to small tracts,
such as one, two or three hundred acres, the
back settlements by this means soon became
the most populous parts of the province."
North Carolina, which grew out of a settlement
from Virginia on Albemarle River, remained in
obscurity untU 1729, when the inefficient Pro
prietary government came to an end and the
country became a Crown colony. About the year
1736 a body of emigrants from Ulster settled in

SCOTCH-IRISH SETTLEMENTS 219
Duphn County, founding Scotch-Irish famihes
whose progeny is scattered through the South^
But m the main the Scotch-Irish settlements' of
the South and West were derived from the over
land emigration that had its main source in Penn
sylvania, While there is abundant evidence that
this was large, it is unpossible to give statistics
even approximately. ^^^
The classification of Scotch-Irish has never
figured in official computations of American
population. The first national census was taken
in 1790, The law provided for hsts of free white
males under sixteen and also above sixteen, of
white females, free blacks and slaves. The
Census Bureau in 1909 published an analysis of
the returns obtained by the first census, and a
chapter was devoted to "Nationality as Indicated
by Names of Heads of Famihes," The foUow
ing was given as the proportion of total popula
tion formed by each nationality: English, 83.5
per cent.; Scotch, 6.7; German 5.6; Dutch, 2.0;
Irish, 1.6; French, 0.5; Hebrew, less than one-
tenth of 1 per cent. ; all other 0.1. Despite this
show of statistical precision, a httle consideration
wiU show that the exhibits are fallacious and un
trustworthy. Many Ulster names are also com
mon Enghsh names. There is nothing in such
names as Boyd, Brooks, Brown, Clark, Corn-
waU, Dunlop, Gray, Holmes, Long, Little, Mil-

220 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
ler. Smith, Young and others to suggest that
they did not in all cases belong to Enghsh fami
lies, and doubtless the English proportion as
given above includes many Scotch-Irish families.
Names classed as Scotch or Irish were probably
mostly those of Scotch-Irish families. There was
very little emigration from Ireland, outside of
Ulster, until after the War of 1812. Mr. James
Mooney of the Bureau of American Ethnology
in a paper pubhshed in 1913 on racial elements
of population, said that "the Irish immigration
to the American colonies previous to the Revolu
tion was mainly of the alien Scotch and English
element, known sometimes as Scotch-Irish."
The proportions given in the Census Bureau
publication are admittedly vague and conjec
tural, and they are remote from known facts.
The probability is that the English proportion
should be much smaller, and that the Scotch-
Irish, who are not included in the Census
Bureau's classification, should be much larger
than the combined proportions allotted to the
Scotch and the Irish.

CHAPTER VII
On the New England Frontier
The early ties of rehgious sympathy and com
mon purpose of the two countries were such that
it was natural for Ulster emigration to set
strongly toward New England. But when the
Scotch-Irish began to arrive in Boston in large
numbers, they were not entirely welcome. Their
ministers were received with marked courtesy by
such leading citizens as Cotton Mather and '
Samuel Sewall, but in general the large arrivals
of 1718 appear to have been viewed with anxiety.
In July and August Scotch-Irish arrivals in
Boston numbered between five and seven hun
dred. On August 13 the selectmen chose an
agent to appear in court, "to move what he shall
think proper in order to secure this town from
charges which may happen to accrue or be im
posed on them by reason of the passengers lately
arrived here from Ireland or elsewhere," In the
course of the winter a number were warned to
leave or find sureties for their support. If one
had to depend upon such records alone it would
be natural to infer that emigration from Ulster
221

232 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
was throwing paupers upon the community, but
there is ample evidence that such was not the
case. The Surveyor-General of Customs at Bos
ton, Thomas Lechmere, was a brother-in-law of
John Winthi'op of Connecticut, who requested
him to get a miller from among the immigrants,
John Winthrop, son of Governor John Win
throp of Massachusetts, acquired an extensive
estate in Connecticut in 1646, at a place then
known as Pequot and later as New London,
John Winthrop, the younger, was Governor of
Connecticut in 1657-58, and again in 1659-76.
The John Winthrop who corresponded with
Lechmere in 1718 was a grandson of this John
Winthrop the younger, and he was interested in
developing the family estate at New London.
Writing about this business on August 11, 1718,
Lechmere remarks:
"Whoever tells you that servants are
cheaper now than they were, it is a very
gross mistake, & give me leave to tell you
your informer has given you a very wrong
information about ye cheapness thereof, for
never were they dearer than now, there being
such demand for them, & hkewise pray tell
him he is much out of the way to think that
these Irish are servants. They are generally
men of estates, & are come over hither for
^/ no other reason but upon encouragement
sent from hence upon notice given that they
should have so many acres of land given

ON THE NEW ENGLAND FRONTIER 333
them gratis to settle our frontiers as a bar
rier against the Indians."
In another letter Lechmere says : "There are
none to be sold; have all paid their passages
sterling in Ireland." Nevertheless there were
doubtless some among them who had exhausted
their means in scraping up their passage money,
or who had come upon agreement to pay for
their passage by sale of their services, as was the
custom of the times. Shortly after the arrival of
a shipload of immigrants the Boston News-
Letter contained an advertisement offering for
sale, together with linen and woolen, "sundry
boys' times by indentures, young women and girls
by the year." This, with great probability, is
taken to refer to some of the Scotch-Irish immi
grants, but such indigent persons were compara
tively few in number. The great mass were not
adventurers, but were people of settled character,
seeking a new field of labor. In departing from
Ulster they brought testimonials of their good
standing in the places where they had lived.
Frequent mention of such testimonials is made in
New England records of this period. The usual
style is exhibited in this one brought over by one
of the defenders of Londonderry :
"The bearer, Wilham Caldwell, his wife,
Sarah Morrison, with his children, being
designed to go to New England and
America — These are therefore to testifie

224 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
they leave us without scandal, hved with us
soberly and inoffensively, and may be admit
ted to Church priviledges. Given at Dun-
boe, April 9, 1718, by
James Woodside, Je,, Mhiister."
The explanation of the antipathy excited by
Scotch-Irish immigration hes not in the character
of the arrivals but in the character of the eco
nomic system of the community. It was then an
ordinary duty of pubhc authority to look after
supply and prices of food. There was anxiety
about provision of grain before the Scotch- Irish
began to arrive, and the selectmen had made
purchases on public account. Before the ensuing
winter was over the town authorities had to pur
chase grain in Connecticut to supply the needs of
the community. In his letter of August 11, 1718,
Lechmere remarked: "These confounded Irish
will eat us aU up, provisions being most extrava
gantly dear, & scarce of all sorts." The alarm
seems to be justified, as the stock of provisions
was so closely adjusted to the ordinary needs of
the community, then only a few thousand in
number, that the arrival of over 500 immigrants
was enough to excite fear of famine. Despite the
efforts of the selectmen to import grain and to
moderate prices, provisions became scarce and
dear. On December 18, 1718, the selectmen or
dered that the pubhc granaries should be opened

on THE NEW ENGLAND FRONTIER 225
for the sale of Indian corn, not exceeding one
bushel to each buyer, at the rate of five shillings
a bushel. Wheat went up in price from six
shilhngs to ten shillings a bushel. The price of
smaU fruits and vegetables, however, showed no
material advance. Kitchen garden products in
and about a country town are generally so ample
that increase of demand can ordinarily be met by
more thorough harvesting than usual, ...,,^__
In carrying out the design mentioned by Lech
mere of sending the Scotch-Irish to the frontiers,
"as a barrier against the Indians," arrangements
were made for a settlement at Worcester, Al
though only about fifty miles west of Boston, it
was then a frontier outpost. Everywhere in the
English colonies at that period Indian territory"
lay so close to the coast settlements that any
movement of settlers to the interior was apt to
produce race conflict. At the end of the seven
teenth century Massachusetts was slackening in
growth of population owing to the desertion
of frontier towns. Acts were passed prohibiting
removals without leave from the Governor or
Council; but nevertheless they went on, to the
advantage of Connecticut and Rhode Island,
whose comparative security from Indian attack
was a great attraction. An official estimate made
in 1702 reckons the total population of Massa
chusetts as being then only 50,000, It was a

226 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
matter of importance to the Massachusetts
authorities to strengthen the frontier towns, and
particularly the fertile regions of central Massa
chusetts, in which Worcester is situated. The
country was attractive to settlers, but in 1675 and
again in 1709 Worcester was abandoned because
of Indian hostihties. The place was again oc
cupied in 1713, and at least five garrison houses
were erected, one of them a block fort. About
200 people were living in some fifty log cabins
when the Scotch-Irish began to arrive. They
soon became active and prominent in the affairs
of the settlement, whose population was probably
doubled by their arrival. It was not long before
the military value of the Scotch-Irish was drawn
upon. In 1722 an Indian war broke out, and as
part of the measures of defense two Scotch-Irish
men, John Gray and Robert Crawford, were
posted as scouts on Leicester Hill, west of the
settlement. In September of the same year a
township organization was effected, and that
same John Gray was chosen one of the selectmen.
In 1724 James McClellan was chosen to be town
constable. He was the direct ancestor of Gen
eral George B. McCleUan.
Numerous families of the name of Young in
western Massachusetts are descended from John
Young, probably the oldest immigrant that ever
arrived in this country. He was born in the

on THE NEW ENGLAND FRONTIER 227
island of Burt, near Londonderry, and he was
ninety-five when he landed in Boston. He lived
in Worcester twelve years before he died, June
30, 1730, aged 107. His son, David Young, who
also was an old man when he landed, hved to be
ninety- four. At least two of the settlers in Wor
cester, Abraham Blair and WiUiam Caldwell,
took part in the defense of Londonderry in 1689,
and other survivors of that famous siege partici
pated in the Scotch-Irish settlements in New
England at this period. These men and their
heirs were made free of taxation by acts of
the British Parliament, and their holdings were
known as "exempt farms" in New England until
the American Revolution. The lands occupied
by the Scotch-Irish at Worcester, hke those of
their English neighbors, were generally ob
tained by direct grant of the General Court of
Massachusetts, As the frontier was pushed back and Indian
perils were removed religious differences and
probably racial differences created antipathies
between the English and Scotch-Irish elements
of Worcester, and these led to some migrations.
In 1738 a company consisting of thirty-four
families was organized to purchase and settle a
new town, and this movement originated PeUiam,
about thirty miles west of Worcester, The prin
cipal motive of this migration is indicated by a

228 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
provision of the contract under which the land
was purchased. It was stipulated that "famihes
of good connection be settled on the premises
who shaU be such as were the inhabitants of the
Kingdom of Ireland or their descendants, being
Protestants, and none be admitted but such as
bring good and undeniable credentials or certifi
cates of their being persons of good conversation
and of the Presbyterian persuasion."
John Clark, whose name appears first upon a
petition for himself and feUow signers for exemp
tion from taxation for support of the Congre
gational Church of Worcester, was among the
first settlers of the Scotch-Irish town of Colerain,
fifty miles to the northwest of Worcester. This
settlement, begun about 1740, was participated in
by the Morrisons, PenneUs, Herrouns, Hender
sons, Cochranes, Hunters, Henrys, Clarks, Mc-
Clellans, McCowens, Taggarts and McDoweUs,
many of whom had previously been settlers in
Worcester. In 1741 Western (now Warren) , in Worces
ter County, and Blandford, in Hampden County,
were incorporated by Scotch-Irish from Wor
cester. The famihes of Blair, Boise, Knox,
Carnahan, Watson, Wilson and Ferguson were
prominent in Blandford, and some of the same
names, especially the Blairs, together with Reeds
and Crawfords, appear in the early records of

ON THE NEW ENGLAND FRONTIER 329
Western. Notwithstanding these removals a
strong Scotch-Irish element remained in Wor
cester, such family names continuing there as
McClellan, Caldwell, Blair, McFarland, Rankin,
Gray, Crawford, Young, Hamilton, Duncan,
Graham, Forbush, Kelso, Clark, Ferguson, Mc-
Clintock, McKonkey, Glassford and McGregor.
From the Scotch-Irish centers established in cen
tral and western Massachusetts, in the first half
of the eighteenth century, Scotch-Irish blood
was diffused throughout western Massachusetts.
From western Massachusetts the Scotch-Irish
spread into Vermont, along the west shore of the
Connecticut River, forming strong settlements
in the sections now comprised within Windsor,
Orange and Caledonia Counties, and also east of
the Connecticut River in the section now desig
nated as Rockingham County, New Hampshire.
The Worcester settlement was the fountain head
of a distribution of Scotch-Irish blood all through
the western parts of New England, and many
distinguished American families trace their
ancestry to this source, Matthew Thornton, a
signer of the Declaration of Independence, be
longed to a Worcester family. He was a lad of
four in 1718 when his father landed in Boston,
Professor Asa Gray, the famous botanist, was a
great-great-grandson of the first Matthew Gray
who settled in Worcester.

230 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Next to Worcester in point of time was prob
ably the Scotch-Irish settlement at Casco Bay,
Maine, then belonging to Massachusetts. A
company of about 300 persons sailed from Bos
ton in the autumn of 1718 to explore the coast
northward for a good place of settlement with a
promise from Governor Shute of land grants in
any unoccupied territory. Numerous attempts
had been made to establish settlements on the
Maine coast, but the Indian wars had been par
ticularly violent and desolating in this region,
and there was httle left of former colonizing ven
tures at the time Scotch-Irish emigration began.
The ship which bore the first company appears
to have been the brigantine Robert, which had
arrived in Boston from Belfast on the fourth of
August, James Ferguson, master. They sailed
as far north as Casco Bay, where the ship went
into winter quarters. A town was already in ex
istence there, known as Fahnouth. From a peti
tion sent to the Government in Boston by John
Armstrong and others, it appears that about
thirty families landed in November, 1718, and
began to build shelters for the winter. They
asked allotments of land and supplies of pro
visions. The latter request was backed up by
a petition from the town authorities, desiring
that the provincial Government should consider
"the deplorable Circumstances of the said Place

ON THE NEW ENGLAND FRONTIER 231
by reason of the great Number of poor Strangers
arrived amongst them and take some speedy &
Effectua,l Care for their supply." In response
orders were issued that 100 bushels of corn meal
should be forwarded. Some of these settlers
eventuaUy went to the Kennebec country, or to
Londonderry, New Hampshire, but enough re
mained to form a settlement in Falmouth town
ship known as Pooporduc, now included in the"
city of Portland. Among those who remained
and founded Portland families were John Arm
strong, Thomas Bolton, Robert Means, Wilham
Jameson, Joshua Gray, WiUiam Gyles, Randal
McDonald and Bruce McLellan. Among the
Scotch-Irish settlers arriving at a somewhat later
period was John Motley from Belfast, from
whom descended the historian, John Lothrop
Motley. Andrew and Reuben Gray, sons of the above-
mentioned Joshua Gray, took part in the expedi
tion which Governor Pownall of Massachusetts
fitted out in 1759 to capture from the French the
mouth of the Penobscot River, and the Grays
were in the guard of twenty men who accom
panied the Governor when he occupied an aban
doned French fort and hoisted the King's colors.
The place is now known as Castine, on the east
side of Penobscot Bay, A strong fort was
erected and settlement began in this region, the

233 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
two Gray brothers being among the first to take
up land. Several other brothers followed them,
and eventually their old father and mother joined
them. The Grays are now in large numbers in
the lower Penobscot country, and other Scotch-
Irish families abound, such as the Wears, Orrs
and Doaks. The town of Belfast now stands on
the west shore of Penobscot Bay, opposite Cas
tine, and up the river, about thirty miles north,
is Bangor, the State capital. Bangor in Ulster
is on the southern shore of Belfast Lough, about
twelve miles east of Belfast,
Professor Perry, who has made a careful study
of all accessible data, thinks it probable that of
the company that sailed up coast on the brigan
tine Robert a larger number were deposited at
or near Wiscasset on the Kennebec than were
left at Portland. If this be the case, the Kenne
bec settlement was the third Scotch-Irish settle
ment in New England, antedating that at
Londonderry, N. H., which also was founded
by emigrants belonging to the company on the
Robert. Nothing is certainly known as to the
extent of the first Kennebec settlement, or the
number of the original settlers. The population
was soon augmented by the arrival of another
company of emigrants. The MacCallum, James
Law, master, from Londonderry, Ireland,
arrived in Boston on or about September 6, 1718.

ON THE NEW ENGLAND FRONTIER 333
The MacCallum was originally bound for New
London, Conn., but having had a long passage.
Captain Law put in to Boston. In Lechmere's
correspondence it is remarked that the Mac
Callum brought "twenty odd familys." The ar
rivals at once became the object of colonizing
overtures. Captain Robert Temple, who had
been an officer in the English army, had come to
America with the view of estaibhshing himself as
a large landed proprietor, a purpose which natur
ally excited the interest of those who had lands
for sale. It would seem that he was shown the
Wmthrop holdings at New London, for he had
recently returned to Boston from a trip to Con
necticut when the MacCallum arrived, and it
appears from Lechmere's correspondence that at
first he tried to induce the emigrants to settle at
New London. But more attractive inducements
were offered by the Gentlemen Proprietors of
Eastern Lands, a company with holdings in the
Kennebec country. Writing to Winthrop about
this competition Lechmere said, "The method
they go in with the Irish is to sell them so many
acres of land for 12 pence an acre and allow
them tune to pay it m. I know land is more
valuable with you, and therefore 'twiU be more
difficult to agree veith them."
The Gentlemen Proprietors succeeded in in
teresting Captam Temple himself m the Maine

234 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
lands. Lechmere, writing under date of Septem
ber 8, 1718, tells Winthrop that Temple had re
jected the Connecticut proposals, and had made
arrangements by which the MacCallum would
take her Scotch- Irish passengers to Merrymeet-
ing Bay, at the mouth of the Androscoggin.
These arrangements can have consumed only a
few days, as the MacCaUum both arrived and
cleared at Boston in the week September 1-8,
1718. Temple became an active colonizer of the
Kennebec country. Within two years he char
tered five ships to bring over families from
Ulster, and by 1720 several hundred famihes
were settled on the Kennebec or the Androscog
gin which unites with the Kennebec near its
mouth. The MacCallum's passengers settled
at Merrymeeting Bay in the region now known
as Bath, but then caUed Cork, or Ireland, Many
of the settlers brought in by Temple settled in
and about Topsham, so named from the Devon
shire port from which Temple left England on
his first voyage.
The Kennebec settlements were made in such
force and had such influential support that their
prosperity seemed assured; but Indian wars
broke out with disastrous results, A number of
settlements were abandoned, some of the people
gohig to Londonderry, N, H., but the greater
number removed to Pennsylvania. In 1722 nine

ON THE NEW ENGLAND FRONTIER 235
families belonging to the Merrymeeting Bay set
tlement were captured by the Indians. A strik
ing recital of the experience of the settlers is
contained in the petition of the Rev. James
Woodside to the English Crown in June, 1723,
It sets forth:
"That he with 40 Familys, consisting of
above 160 Persons, did in the year 1718 em-
barque on a ship at Derry Lough in Ireland
in Order to erect a Colony at Casco Bay,
in Your Majesty's Province of Main in New
England," "That being arriv'd they made a settle
ment at a Place called by the Indians Pegip-
scot, but by them Brunswick, within 4 miles
from Fort George, where (after he had laid
out a considerable sum upon a Garrison
House, fortify'd with Palisadoes, & two
large Bastions, had also made great Im
provements, & laid out considerably for the
Benefit of that Infant Colony) the Inhabi
tants were surpris'd by the Indians who in
the Month of July, 1722, came down in
great Numbers to murder your Majesty's
good Subjects there,
"That upon this Surprize the Inhabitants,
naked and destitute of Provisions, run for
shelter into your Pet,''^ House (which is still
defended by his sons) where they were
kindly receiv'd, provided for, & protected
from the rebel Indians,
"That the S^ Indians being happily pre
vented from murdering Your Majesty's
good Subjects (in revenge to your Pet,"")

336 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
presently kiU'd aU his Cattel, destroying aU
the Movables, & Provisions they could come
at, & as Your Pet,'' had a very considerable
Stock of Cattel he & his Family were great
sufferers thereby,"
Captain Temple, who received a mihtary com
mission from Governor Shute, remained in the
country with many of the people he induced to
settle there, and in this region are now found
such Scotch-Irish names as McFadden, Mc-
Gowen, McCoun, Vincent, Hamilton, Johnston,
Malcolm, McClellan, Crawford, Graves, Ward,
Given, Dunning and Simpson,
After leaving some of her company in Casco
Bay and some in the Kennebec, the Robert
turned back to the Merrimac and ascended that
river as far as the town Haverhill, They did not
receive a cordial welcome, as the townspeople
were not pleased to see the Irish coming there.
But the emigrants learned of a fine tract of land
about fifteen miles north called Nuffield, because
chestnut, walnut and butternut trees were unusu
ally thick in that region, A party under the lead
of James McKeen, grandfather of the first
president of Bowdoin College, visited the place
and decided that it would be a good site for a
settlement. It was doubtless a joyful decision to
passengers on the Robert as they had passed
the winter in Maine and were anxious to find

ON THE NEW ENGLAND FRONTIER 237
some place to stay. The settlement at Nuffield
was begun in April, 1719, and among those tak
ing part in it were James McKeen, John Barnett,
Archibald Clendenin, John MitcheU, James
Sterrett, James Anderson, Randall Alexander,
James Gregg, James Clark, James Nesmith,
Allen Anderson, Robert Weir, John Morrison,
Samuel Allison, Thomas Steele and John Stew
art, with their famihes. The settlers at the time
supposed the place to be in Massachusetts but
it turned out to be in southern New Hampshire.
As a frontier post, it was exposed to Indian in
cursions, and two stone garrison houses were
built the first season as places of refuge. The
dwelling houses were of course log cabins, and
for the better protection of the community they
were placed in a definite order which became
known as the Double Range. The houses were
on each side of West Running brook, on home
lots thirty rods wide, and extending back until
they enclosed sixty acres each. Sawmills were
built and in a few years good frame houses be
gan to go up, the first one for the Rev. James
McGregor, and the second for John McMurphy,
who bore a commission as Justice of the Peace,
issued in Ireland. The settlement was never at
tacked by the Indians, and through the influence
of Pastor McGregor a valuable resource was dis
covered through information obtained from the

S38 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Indians. He was told of a place some nine miles
distant where fish were abundant. With the help
of his compass the pastor was able to mark a
course to Amoskeag FaUs, where the city of Man
chester now stands. The Merrimac at this point
abounded in salmon, and shad at some seasons,
and the stores of salted fish laid in by the settlers
were an important source of food supply. The
original settlers were soon joined by others, and
it appears from a petition for incorporation as a
township, subscribed on September 21, 1719, that
the inhabitants then numbered seventy families.
In June, 1722, Nuffield was incorporated as a
town containing ten square miles, laid out so as
to extend to the fishing station at Amoskeag
Falls, that portion becoming known as Derry-
field, and now as Manchester, At its incorpora
tion the town was entitled Londonderry after the
famous Ulster city in whose defense some of the
settlers had taken part. Pastor McGregor was
one of these. He used to tell how he had hunself
fired a gun from the cathedral tower to announce
the approach of the ships up the Foyle to reheve
the besieged garrison. After the death of Mc
Gregor his pastoral duties were for a time dis
charged by the Rev, Matthew Clark, then seventy
years old, who came direct from Ireland, He
wore a black patch over the outer angle of the
right eye to cover a wound that refused to heal.

ON THE NEW ENGLAND FRONTIER 339
received in one of the salhes of the besieged at
Londonderry. When he died in January, 1735,
at the age of 76, it was in comphance with his
deathbed request that his remains were borne to
the grave only by those who were survivors of
the Londonderry siege.
An authentic account of the manners and cus
toms of the Scotch-Irish settlers is preserved in
the Rev. Edward L. Parker's History of Lon
donderry. The author, born in 1785 in Litch
field, N. H., was for a time a student at the
academy in Londonderry, and in 1810 became
pastor of the Presbyterian church in the East
Parish of Londonderry, remaining until his death
in 1850. Thus he spent his life in and about
Londonderry and was in the best possible posi
tion to acquaint himself with its history, to which
he devoted such painstaking investigation that
he died before the final completion of the work.
It was in such shape that his son was soon able to
prepare it for publication. The work itself testi
fies to its accuracy by its transparent honesty of
statement. The foUowing account is given of
early customs :
"The bridegroom selected one of his inti
mate friends for the 'best man,' who was to
officiate as master of the ceremony, and the
bride likewise one of her companions, as
'best maid.' The morning of the marriage
day was ushered in with the discharge of

34,0 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
musketry, in the respective neighborhoods of
the persons who were to be united. This
practice it seems originated in Ireland, in
consequence of the Cathohcs having been,
after the Revolution, deprived of the use of
firearms. The Protestants, proud of the su
perior privilege which they then enjoyed,
made a display of their warlike instruments
on all public occasions. Seldom was a re
spectable man married without his sword by
his side. At the appointed hour, the groom
proceeded from his dwelling with his select
friends, male and female ; about half way on
their progress to the house of the bride, they
were met by her select male friends ; and, on
meeting, each company made choice of one
of their number to 'run for the bottle' to the
bride's house. The champion of the race
who returned first with the bottle, gave a
toast, drank to the bridegroom's health, and,
having passed round the bottle, the whole
party proceeded, saluted by the firing of
muskets from the houses they passed, and
answering these salutes with pistols. When
arrived at the bride's residence, the bride
groom's company were placed in an apart
ment by themselves, and it was considered
an act of impoliteness for any one of the
bride's company to intrude. When the cere
mony was to commence the 'best man' first
introduced the bridegroom; then, entering
the bride's apartment, led her into the room,
and, placing her at the right hand of her
'intended,' took his station directly behind,
as did the 'best maid.' The minister com
menced the marriage service with prayer ; on

ON THE NEW ENGLAND FRONTIER 341
requesting the parties to join hands, each put
the right hand behhid, when the glove was
drawn off by the best man and maid. Their
hands being joined, the marriage covenant
was addressed to them, with appropriate re
marks on the nature and responsibilities of
the connection thus formed. Having con
cluded with another prayer, he requested the
groom to salute his bride, which being done,
the minister performed the same ceremony,
and was immediately foUowed by the male
part of the company ; the female in hke man
ner saluted the bridegroom.
"The ceremony being concluded the whole
company sat down to the entertainment, at
which the best man and best maid presided.
Soon after the entertainment, the room was
cleared for the dance and other amusements,
'and the evening,' remarks our aged in
formant, kindling at the recollection of by
gone scenes, 'was spent with a degree of
pleasure of which our modern fashionables
are perfectly ignorant.'
"Their funeral observances were of a
character, in some respects, peculiar. When
death entered their community, and one of
their number was removed, there was at once
a cessation of all labor in the neighborhood.
The people gathered together at the house
of mourning, and during the earher periods
of the settlement, observed a custom which
they had brought with them from Ireland,
called the 'wake,' or watching with the
dead, from night to night, until the inter
ment. These night scenes often exhibited a
mixture of seriousness and of humor which

342 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
appear incompatible. The Scriptures would
be read, prayer offered, and words of coun
sel and consolation administered; but ere
long, according to established usage, the
glass, with its exhilarating beverage, must
circulate freely; so that, before the dawn,
the joke and the laugh, if not scenes more
boisterous, would break in upon the slum
bers of the dead.
"At the funeral, whatever might have been
the age, the character, or condition of the
deceased, the assemblage would be large.
Every relation, however distant the con
nection, must surely be present, or it be
regarded as a marked neglect; and it was
expected that all the friends and acquain
tances of the deceased, within a reasonable
distance, would attend. Although funeral
sermons were seldom if ever delivered on the
occasion, yet there would be usuaUy as large
a congregation as assembled on the Sabbath.
Previous to the prayer, spirit was handed
around, not only to the mourners and bear
ers, but to the whole assembly. Again, after
prayer, and before the coffin was removed,
the same was done. Nearly aU would follow
the body to the grave, and usually the
greater number walked. Processions, from
a third to a half a mile in length, were not
unfrequent. At their return, the comfort
ing draught was again administered, and
ample entertainment provided. Many a
family became embarrassed, if not impover
ished, in consequence of the heavy expenses
incurred, not so much by the siclmess which
preceded the death of one of its members, as

ON THE NEW ENGLAND FRONTIER 34S
by the funeral services as then observed, and
which as they supposed respect for the dead
required. "Their diversions and scenes of social in
tercourse were of a character not the most
refined and cultured; displaying physical
rather than intellectual and moral powers,
such as boxing matches, wrestling, foot
races, and other athletic exercises. At all
public gatherings, the 'ring' would be usu
aUy formed; and the combatants, in the
presence of neighbors, brothers, and even
fathers, would encounter each other in close
fight, or at arms length, as the prescribed
form might be; thus giving and receiving
the well directed blow, until the face, limbs,
and body of each bore the marks of almost
savage brutality. All this was done, not in
anger, or from unkind feeling toward each
other, but simply to test the superiority of
strength and agility,"
Parker could speak from his own knowledge
of the arrangements in the meetinghouses as
they were still in force when his pastorate began.
He remarks: "The construction of the pulpit with its
appendages, in Presbyterian communities
corresponded with their form of ecclesiastical
government. As you entered the pulpit,
you first came to the deacons' seat, elevated
like the pews, about six inches from the floor
of the aisles, or passages. In the deacons'
narrow slip usually sat two venerable men,
one at each end. Back of the deacons' seat
and elevated ten or twelve inches higher.

244 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
was the pew of the ruling elders, larger than
that of the deacons and about square. Back
of the elders' pew, and two or three feet
higher, and against the waU, was the pulpit,"
[ The town grew so fast that in 1734, only fif-
ten years after the first settleirient, the church
records note 700 communicants present at the
sacrament. Londonderry was a source from
/ which Scotch-Irish blood was diffused through-
j out Rockingham, Hillsboro, and Merrimack
I counties in New Hampshire. At least ten dis-
\ tinct settlements were made by emigrants from
i Londonderry during the quarter of a century
\ preceding the Revolution, all of which became
important towns. An emigration spread into
yermont, joining with that which moved north
ward from the Worcester settlement. Numerous
families moved northward and westward and
over the ridge of the Green Mountains. The
/_Spotch-Irish were active in the French and In
dian War, and participated in the Conquest of
Canada in 1759. Major Robert Rogers, com
mander of three companies of rangers raised in
New Hampshire in 1756, was a native of Lon
donderry and most of his men were from that
place. John Stark, who commanded one of these
companies, was in 1777 commander of the Ameri
can troops that won the battle of Bennington,
Robert McGregor, a grandson of the London-

ON THE NEW ENGLAND FRONTIER 345
derry pastor, served on Stark's staff. Col.
George Reid, who served throughout the entire
war of the Revolution in command of the New
Hampshire forces, was a native of Londonderry.
Col, James Miller, who led the decisive charge at
Lundy's Lane in the War of 1812, was of Lon
donderry stock, although his people were settled
at Peterborough, N. H., at the time of his birth
in 1776, He became Territorial Governor of
Arkansas, and on retiring from that post an in-
vahd in 1823 he was appointed collector at Salem
and Beverly, Mass., where he had as a subordin
ate Nathaniel Hawthorne, who in his writings
made some appreciative notices of the Scotch-
Irish veteran. Parker mentions that from Lon
donderry stock came six Governors of New
Hampshire, nine members of Congress and five
justices of the Supreme Court of the State.
A decade after the first Scotch-Irish settle
ments in New England an Ulster colonization of
eastern Maine was begun by the activity of a
stout hearted adventurer who had a romantic
career. David Dunbar, a native of Ulster who
had been a colonel in the British army and had
served in Spain, was in 1728 appointed Surveyor
of the Woods. It was the pohcy of the Enghsh
Government to make forest reservations for the
use of the navy, and there had been much com
plaint about the way these reservations had been

246 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
plundered. The attitude of colonial juries was
such that it was practicaUy impossible to convict
or punish for such offenses in Massachusetts or
New Hampshire. Dunbar conceived the idea of
making the country east of the Kennebec a dis
tinct province which he undertook to settle from
Protestant Ireland. In 1729 he obtained an
order appointing him Governor of the Province
of Sagadahock, which was placed at his disposal
upon condition that he should preserve 300,000
acres of the best pine and oak for the use of the
Crown. With the aid of troops sent from Nova
Scotia Dunbar took possession, ignoring the
Massachusetts claim of jurisdiction. He rebuilt
the fortification at Pemaquid, naming it Fort
Frederick, and with it as the seat of his Govern
ment he addressed himself energeticaUy to the
work of planting and setthng the country. His
career was brief. Jonathan Belcher, who was ap
pointed Governor of Massachusetts in 1730,
pressed the claims of Massachusetts so effectively
that in 1732 orders were issued revoking Dun
bar's powers. Dunbar obeyed orders like a good
soldier. His enterprise had involved his finances
so that on returning to England in 1737 he was
imprisoned for debt; but his friends were able
to obtain his release. In 1743 he was appointed
Governor of St. Helena. Brief as was Dunbar's
career in Mahie, he brought in about 150 fami-

ON THE NEW ENGLAND FRONTIER 247
lies, some coming from Massachusetts or New
Hampshire, and some direct from Ireland.
IncidentaUy, Dunbar's enterprise led to an
other Ulster colonization of eastern Maine.
Samuel Waldo, who was active in London as an
agent of Massachusetts in the proceedings
against Dunbar, was himself holder of a grant to
lands between the St, George and the Penobscot
Rivers, Impressed by the vigor and capacity of
the settlers brought in by Dunbar, Waldo sought
to get some of the same sort on his lands. The
first company consisted of twenty-seven families,
who arrived in 1735, each family receiving 100
acres of land on the bank of the 'St. George in
the present town of Warren. Among them were
Alexanders, Blairs, Kilpatricks, Pattersons, Mc
Leans, McCrackens and Morrisons. /^
These successive settlements in Massachusetts,
Maine and New Hampshire were the original
centers from which the Scotch-Irish strain spread
through New England, The Ulster men amply
fulfilled aU that was expected of them as fron
tier barriers for the protection of the older set
tlements. They were the chief colonizing agency
in Maine, in which State the infusion of Scotch-
Irish blood was greatest, but the strain was also
strong in western Massachusetts, New Hamp
shire and Vermont. It spread into Connecticut
and Rhode Island but is not so marked in those

248 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
States. It was borne in the current of emigration
from New England as the settlement of the in
terior of the country progressed and many wes
tern families of Scotch-Irish derivation have
New England antecedents. The main stream of
Scotch-Irish influence in the growth of the nation
was, however, that which issued from the settle
ments in Pennsylvania, in which the character
istic institutions of the race were better preserved
than in New England.

CHAPTER VIII
In New York and the Jerseys
When the Dutch colony of New Netherlands
became the Enghsh colony of New York by the
Peace of 1674 there was a movement of popula
tion thither from the older Enghsh colonies.
The Rev, John Livingston, whose ineffectual at
tempt to go to America on the Eagle Wing has
been narrated, became progenitor of an iUus-
trious American family through an immigrant
who settled in New York at this period, Robert
Livingston, born in 1654 while his father was
pastor of Ancrum, Scotland, emigrated to Mass
achusetts in 1673, The next year he removed to
New York and proceeded to Albany, then a fron
tier settlement doing a large trade with the In
dians, Livingston had hved several years in
Holland, while his father was a religious exile
there, and his knowledge of the Dutch language
was now of great service. He obtained employ
ment as . clerk to the Board of Commissaries
which then governed the Albany district, and
thus began a prosperous official career in the
course of which he acquired an extensive tract of
land stiU known as the Livingston Manor. He

250 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
had numerous descendants and it is doubtful
whether any other family in the Revolutionary
period contributed so many of its members to the
army and navy. There were certainly seven and
probably eight Livingstons of his blood among
the officers of General Gates' army at Saratoga,
three of them in command of regiments. Among
his descendants are William Livingston, Gover
nor of New Jersey throughout the Revolutionary
War, and a f ramer of the Constitution ; Chancel
lor Livingston, a member of the committee that
framed the Declaration of Independence, who
administered the oath to Washington as first
President of the United States, and who as Min
ister to France began the negotiations which re
sulted in the cession of Louisiana; and Edward
Livingston, United States Senator from Louis
iana, Secretary of State under Jackson and a
jurist of international celebrity.
About 1682 a Scotch migration to East Jersey
set in, promoted by a group of eminent Scots
who had acquired Proprietors' shares in that
Province. George Scot, of Pitlochie, whose
colonizing activity has been heretofore noted, was
one of the movers in this enterprise. Samuel
Smith, the first historian of the Province, says:
"There were very soon four towns in the Prov
ince, viz., Elizabeth, Newark, Middletown and
Shrewsbury: and these with the country round

IN NEW YORK AND THE JERSEYS 251
were in a few years plentifully inhabited by the
accession of the Scotch, of whom there came a
great many." It is quite probable that this
Scotch immigration had Ulster ingredients, but
this is a matter of inference and not of positive
knowledge. It is not until the great wave of Ulster emi
gration in 1718 that Scotch-Irish settlement in
New York and New Jersey becomes distinctly
noticeable. In 1720 Scotch-Irish settlers in the
vicinity of Goshen, Orange County, New York,
were numerous enough to form a congregation.
In the succeeding decade some forty families
from the North of Ireland settled in the country
west of the Hudson in what became Orange and
Ulster counties. A congregation was formed at
Bethlehem, Orange County, and one also at
WaUkiU, Ulster County; and in 1729 a caU for
ministerial supply was sent to the Philadelphia
Synod, These settlements, which were in the
valley of the Wallkill River, were augmented in
1731 by a body of emigrants from the North of
Ireland in whose number were Charles Clinton
and his sister, Christiana Chnton Beattie, Chn
ton was the founder of the New York family of
that name, that produced two Revolutionary gen
erals and two of the early Governors of New
York, Mrs. Beattie was the mother of two noted
Presbyterian clergymen. In 1742 another com-

352 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
pany of Scotch-Irish families arrived in Orange
County, settling in Monroe Township, In 1740
sixteen families from Ulster made a settlement
as far north as Glen Township, Montgomery-
County, but the danger from Indian attack was
so great that the settlement was eventually
abandoned, A marked infusion of Scottish blood in New
York came through settlements made in response
to a proclamation issued in 1735 by the Gover
nor, inviting "loyal Protestant Highlanders" to
settle the lands between the Hudson and the
Northern Lakes, Attracted by this offer. Cap
tain Lauchlin Campbell of the Island of Islay
brought over eighty-three families of Highland
ers by November, 1740, but his expectations in
regard to land grants were disappointed, and
some of the people left the country. It was not
until 1764, after Lauchlin CampbeU's death,
that tardy justice was done to these emigrants
by grants of land in Washuigton County, This
county borders on western Massachusetts, from
which at this period Scotch-Irish emigration had
penetrated New York, Scotch-Irish settlements
were made in Salem Township, Washington
County, m 1762, The lands granted to the High
landers were in the township immediately west
of Salem,
A strong addition to this Scotch-Irish settle-

IN NEW YORK AND THE JERSEYS 253
ment made hi 1765 illustrates the motive of re
ligious freedom that operated so strongly on
American colonization. The Rev. Thomas Clark
of Scotland had been called to Cahans, near
Ballybay, County Monaghan, Ireland, as the re
sult of a split in the Presbyterian congregation
there. Clark ministered to the seceders, and had
to encounter much opposition. In 1754 he was
arrested through the agency of some elders of
the rival Presbyterian church at BaUybay. He
lay in Monaghan jail for ten weeks, mean
while preaching to as many of his people as
could attend. The charge against him was
eventuaUy dismissed. In 1763 he received caUs
from America which he was inclhied to accept.
An emigration movement ran through his con
gregation and when he went to sail from Newry,
on May 16, 1764, some three hundred persons
were ready to go with him. They arrived in New
York, whence some removed to the Abbeville
district of South Carolina. The majority went to
Stillwater on the Hudson, pending arrangements
for their permanent settlement. At StiUwater
James Harshaw, one of the elders, died during
the summer of 1765. From him descended at
least ten Presbyterian ministers, among them the
Rev. Dr. William W. Harsha, professor of sys
tematic theology in the Presbyterian Seminary
of Nebraska.

354 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Clark procured a grant of twelve thousand
acres of land in Washuigton County, New York,
free of charge for five years after which there
was to be paid an annual rent of one shilling
an acre. The congregation removed thither in
1766, settling at a place variously known as
White Creek or New Perth, but which hi 1786
became definitely known as Salem. An interest
ing feature of this settlement was that it was the
transplantation of a congregation. The pastoral
relation between Clark and his people remained
unbroken. There was httle if any interruption
in the regular services, and when the congrega
tion was settled in Salem Clark was pastor of
eight ruling elders and 150 communicants who
had come with him from Cahans. The first
church building was the usual log cabin; in use
only three years, it then became a school house
and finally, in 1777, its timbers were used in
building a block house as a defense against attack
by the Indians, The second meeting house, built
in 1770, has also disappeared, but the third one,
built in 1797, is still standing, much altered and
enlarged, with a congregation including some
eighty families of the original stock. Among
names connected with the original congregation
are Adams, Armstrong, Beatty, Boyd, Cars-
well, Crozier, Cruickshank, Graham, Harshaw,
Henderson, Lytle, Matthews, McClelland, Mc-
DougaU, McCrea, McFarland, McMiUan, Mc-

IN NEW YORK AND THE JERSEYS 255
Murray, McNish, McWhorter, Reid, Rowan,
Steele, Stevenson, Stewart, WiUiams,
Dr. Clark severed his relation with the Salem
congregation in 1782, owing to difficulties in
which he was involved because he was in a way
landlord as well as pastor. He had made him
self responsible for the shilling an acre rent and
in making collections he pressed tenants in ar
rears, causing hard feelings that made his
position uncomfortable. It is said that the con
gregation voted, with only two dissenting voices,
that he should remain, but he resolved to leave.
He appears to have resided at Albany for several
years and then he removed to the Abbeville dis
trict in South Carolina, where a portion of his
original flock had settled. He organized the
Cedar Spring and Long Cane congregations
over which he was installed pastor in 1786, The
records of these early congregations have per
ished, Dr, Clark died on December 26, 1792,
and was buried at Cedar Spring,
Washington County, New York, became a
strong Scottish centre through repeated coloniza
tions both from Scotland and Ulster. From
1764 to 1774 the township of Hebron, lymg
north of Salem, was largely granted to the offi
cers and men of Montgomery's Highlanders,
who had served m. America for seven years and
had received their honorable discharge. In 1761

256 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Cambridge Township in the southern part of the
county became the scene of Scotch-Irish settle
ment, the emigrants coming probably from
Massachusetts and Connecticut, The settlement
of all of the country east of the Hudson was
largely due to immigration from New England.
Central New York was first occupied by set
tlers moving up the Hudson River vaUey. Emi
grants from Scotland, with some from Ulster,
settled in Albany in such numbers that in 1760
a Presbyterian Church was organized there. A
Presbyterian settlement was begun in Boston
township, Saratoga County, in 1770, by the
Reverend Eliphalet Ball and some members
of his congregation who removed from Bedford,
New York. Emigrants went to this settlement
from New Jersey, New England, Scotland and
Ulster. StiUwater Township, in the same
county, was settled largely by Scotch-Irish emi
gration from New England.
In pursuance of the same design of garrison
ing the frontier by Scotch-Irish settlements as
was pursued in New England, a tract of 8,000
acres in what is now Otsego County was granted
in 1738 to John Lindesay and three associates.
The grant covered the present township of
Cherry VaUey in the upper watershed of the
Susquehanna, Lindesay, a Scottish gentleman
of some fortune, bought out his associates and

IN NEW YORK AND THE JERSEYS 257
addressed himself to the work of attracting set
tlers. While in New York City he became
acquainted with the Rev. Samuel Dunlop, a min
ister of Ulster birth, and pursuaded him to take
part in the enterprise. Mr. Dunlop visited
Londonderry, N. H., and induced some of his
friends there to accompany him to Cherry Valley,
where, about 1743, he opened a classical school
in his home. People came from both Scotland
and Ulster to settle in this region, Middlefield
was established by Scotch-Irish famihes in 1755,
but the settlements grew slowly because of their
exposed position on the frontier. In 1765 there
were about forty families at Cherry Valley, and
there were also some small settlements in the
vicinity along the valley of the upper Susque
hanna, The fears that retarded settlement were
sadly justified by the Cherry Valley massacre,
on October 11, 1778, when many of the inhabi
tants were kiUed, others carried off as prisoners,
and all the buildings hi the settlement were
burned in an attack by Tories and Indians, It
was not untU 1784 that people began to return
and rebuild.
Ulster participation in the settlement of New
York, although distmctly marked, seems to have
been inferior in extent to that of Scotland, from
which country schemes of New York colonization
were actively promoted. It seems probjible that

358 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
emigration from Ulster to the interior counties
of New York was incidental to emigration from
Scotland, which usuaUy took in Ulster ports on
the way. To this day Londonderry is a regular
port of call in the voyage between America and
Scotland. At one time it looked as if New York
was about to become New Scotland. Sir Wil
liam Johnson, an Ulster man, belonging to an
English family that took part in the Plantation
and settled in County Down, came to America
in 1738. For his services in the French and In
dian War he received from the Crown a grant of
100,000 acres north of the Mohawk River in
what is now Fulton County. Sir William in
duced over 400 of the Highland Clan MacDon-
nell to settle on his lands, coming from the
districts of Glengarry, Glenmorison, Urquhart
and Strathglass. It was a complete transplanta
tion, the Highland families going out under four
chiefs, the MacDonnells of Aberchalder, Leek,
CoUachie and Scotas. The settlement, which
was made in and about the present town of
Gloversville, was after the feudal pattern,
with tenantry grouped about the lord of the
manor. These Highlanders strongly attached
themselves to the interests of Sir WiUiam John
son and when he died in 1774 their allegiance
was transferred to his son. Sir John Johnson.
When the Revolutionary War broke out they

IN NEW YORK AND THE JERSEYS 259
foUowed him into the British army, the majority
of them serving in the first and second battahons
of the Kmg's Royal Regiment of New York. In
recognition of their loyalty and as a compen
sation for their losses the British Government
granted them lands in Canada. They settled in
districts of Ontario, which still remain intensely
Gaelic. The Scotch element in Canada eventu
ally became proportionately larger than in the
United States. The colonies of Highlanders
once estabhshed were augmented by emigration
from among friends and neighbors in the home
country. Nova Scotia, which as its name im
plies originated as a Scotch colony, has been
even more retentive of the folk ways of old Scot
land than modern Scotland itself. The Scotch
settlements in Canada attracted emigrants even
from the United States, Emigrants from Lon
donderry, N. H,, took part in a settlement at
Truro, Nova Scotia, in 1760, while on the other
hand there was some migration from Nova Scotia
to New England, But in general the Canadian
provinces became and still remain a favored field
for 'Scottish emigration while Ulster has always
favored the United States,

CHAPTER IX
Pennsylvania — ^the Scotch-Irish Centre
If one examines the relief map of the United
States issued by the Geological Survey, it will
appear that the leading position taken by Penn
sylvania in Scotch-Irish settlement has a physi
cal basis. In the color scale of the map the tint
which indicates elevation from 0 to 100 feet is
a narrow fringe in New England, but south of
New York it becomes a broad belt, the greatest
width being in the Carohnas, where it averages
about 75 miles. During the period of coloniza
tion there were numerous swamps in this coast
belt of low land, 'abounding with the germs of
malarial fever. This belt does not extend into
Pennsylvania, and ' emigrants arriving in that
State had immediate access to salubrious up
lands. Moreover, in Pennsylvania the Appala
chian Range lies farther from the coast than it
does north of Pennsylvania, and at the beginning
of the eighteenth century this meant that the
French were not such close neighbors as they
were to New York and New England, From
central Pennsylvania broad valleys stretch to
360

PENNSYLV/VNIA— SCOTCH-IRISH CENTRE 361
the southwest along the eastern side of the Ap
palachians and toward the south convenient gaps
occur in the mountahi barrier. The tints on the
rehef map indicating elevation from 100 to 1,000
feet broaden from Pennsylvania southward and
narrow from Pennsylvania northward. It was
along these broad terraces that emigration first
moved to the interior of the United States, its
trend being southwest, Kentucky became a
State in 1792; Tennessee in 1796; while Ohio,
immediately west of Pennsylvania, did not be-__
come a State until 1803, It was owing to her
situation and not because of any favor or en
couragement from the authorities that Pennsyl
vania became the Scotch-Irish centre in the
United States, and the chief source from which
the race was diffused through the South and
West. —
The province was so accessible either by New
York harbor and across the narrow width of
New Jersey, or by the Delaware Bay and River,
or by Chesapeake Bay and the Susquehanna
River, that it is unpossible to determine exactly
where the first Scotch-Irish settlement took
place. The grant of the country west of the
Delaware River to Wilham Penn was made in
1681. Emigrants usually landed either at Lewes
or at Newcastle in Delaware, or in Philadelphia.
There were Presbyterian congregations in all

263 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
these ports before 1698. From any of them
sections of Pennsylvania are in easy reach, a
circumstance which a glance at the map makes
plain at once. The earhest record that points to
Scotch-Irish settlement relates to the triangular
projection between Delaware and Maryland that
now belongs to Chester County, Pennsylvania.
In 1683 a tract on the east side of Elk Creek,
Cecil County, Maryland, was surveyed for Ed
win O'Dwire and "fifteen other Irishmen." This
tract was known as New Munster, which together
with the name of the principal grantee would
indicate that this group of settlers came from
the South of Ireland. Nevertheless, the New
Munster district received so many settlers from
the North of Ireland that they founded two Pres
byterian churches, "Head of Christiana" and
"The Rock." The church at the head of Christ
iana Creek was organized before 1708. The
Rock church, subsequently known as East Not
tingham, was at the head of Elk Creek. In the
records of the Presbytery of Newcastle, May 18,
1720, the following minute occurs:
"A certain number of people, lately come
from Ireland, having settled about the
branches of the Elk River, have by Thomas
Reed and Thomas Caldwell, their commis
sioners, supplicated this Presbytery, that,
at what time this Presbytery think conven
ient, they would appoint one of their number

PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH CENTRE 263
to come and preach among them, and then
to take such note of their circumstances and
necessities as by his report made to this
Presbytery at their next session, the Presby
tery may the more clearly know how to
countenance their design of having the
Gospel settled among them."
The Rev, Samuel Young was sent by the Pres
bytery and made such a favorable report as to
the ability of the people to support a minister
that the Presbytery voted in favor of organizing
the congregation at the head of Elk.
The genesis of this Scotch-Irish settlement,
while not definitely known, is readily explained.
The grant to Penn overlapped the previous grant
to Lord Baltimore. The boundary lines between
Maryland and Pennsylvania were not finally set
tled until 1774. The New Munster tract was
claimed by both Maryland and Pennsylvania,
but the Maryland authorities were in possession.
The opening of lands for settlement in that
region drew Scotch-Irish families, among them
four that bore the name of Alexander. John Mc-
Knitt Alexander, who was active in the Mecklen
burg (N. C.) convention of 1775, was descended
from one of these New Munster settlers. The
Scotch-Irish immigrants, in seeking new lands,
moved north of the older Maryland settlements,
entering Pennsylvania. The early date at which
a congregation is known to have existed there is a

364 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
strong indication that the first Scotch-Irish set
tlement in Pennsylvania took place in this region,
which is only about thirteen miles west of New
castle, a port at which emigrants frequently de
barked, and which was originaUy supposed to be
in Pennsylvania territory. It was to this section
of the country that Scotch-Irish immigration first
turned. Writing to the Perms in 1724, James
Logan, Secretary of the Province, said that the
Ulster emigrants had generally taken up lands
on the Maryland line. He refers to them as
"bold and indigent strangers, saying as their ex
cuse when challenged for titles, that we had
solicited for colonists and they had come accord
ingly." In a letter of November 23, 1727, Logan
says: "The Irish settle generally toward the
Maryland line, where no lands can honestly be
sold till the dispute with Lord Baltimore is
decided." In this same letter Logan gives some particu
lars that indicate the great volume of migration
from Ulster to Pennsylvania. He says: "We
have from the North of Ireland great numbers
yearly. Eight or nine ships this last FaU dis
charged at Newcastle." In 1729 Logan writes :
"It looks as if Ireland is to send aU its inhabi
tants hither, for last week not less than six ships
arrived, and every day, two or three arrive also."
It appears that from December, 1728, to Decem-

PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH CENTRE 365
ber, 1729, the immigrants numbered 6,208, of
whom 5,605 were Scotch-Irish. Later on the ar
rivals exceeded 10,000 in the year. Proud's
History of Pennsylvania, written before 1776,
mentions that in 1749 about 12,000 immigrants
arrived from Germany, and he adds that there
are "in some years nearly as many annually from
Ireland," He says that "Cumberland County is
mostly settled by the Irish, who abound through
the whole province," In 1735-1736 there was a
great rush of emigration from Ireland through
fear of restrictive legislation. In 1749 it was esti
mated that the Scotch-Irish population of Penn
sylvania was one-fourth of the whole, and in
1774 Benjamin Franklin computed the propor
tion as one-third in a total of 350,000.
The early emigration followed the river val
leys. One stream moved up the Delaware River
and it could not have been much, if any, later than
1720 that Scotch-Irish settlers began to arrive in
Bucks County. In 1726 there was quite a settle
ment of Scotch-Irish in Warwick, Warrington,
Warminster and Northampton. Among the
earliest arrivals were the families of Craig,
Jamison, Baird, Stewart, Hair, Long, Weir,
Armstrong, Gray, Graham and WaUace. A
venerable monument of this settlement is Ne-
shaminy Church, established about 1726 in War-

266 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
wick Township.* The northern expansion of the
Scotch-Irish settlements on the western bank of
the Delaware River is marked by the organiza
tion of two churches in Northampton County in
1738, one the East AUen Church in the town
ship of that name, the other at Mount Bethel.
This stream of Scotch-Irish settlement lay be
tween the Quaker settlements in and around
Philadelphia and the Quaker settlements in West
Jersey. To the northward there was great risk
of Indian incursion. The Gnadenhutten mas
sacre took place in 1755 not far west of the
Northampton Coimty hne.
The principal field' of Scotch-Irish occupation
and settlement was the valley of the Susque
hanna. From the original settlements on the
Maryland hne the Scotch-Irish moved into the
interior along the east side of the Susquehanna,
setthng by the side of the creeks whose waters
they used for their mills. Marks of these early
settlements are Upper Octorara Church, organ
ized in 1720; Donegal, in 1721; Pequa, in 1724;

* The foimding of Neshaminy Church has been dated as far
bacl£ as 1710 by church historians. The evidence has been ex
amined by William W. H. Davis, president of the Bucks County
Historical Society, and he concludes that the church could hardly
have been in existence much before 1726 when William Tennent
became pastor. The assertion that the church dates to 1710 rests
upon the fact that Bensalem church, of which Paulus van Vleck
was pastor in 1710, had a branch at Neshaminy; but Mr. Davis
holds that this branch had no connection with the Warwick
Township church, of which Tennent became pastor. See Davis,
History of Bucks County, Vol. I, pp. 300, 302.

PENNSYLVANIA^SCOTCH-IRISH CENTRE 367
Middle Octorara, in 1727; Derry, in 1729; and
Paxtang, m 1729. Thus large Scotch-Irish set
tlements were made in Chester, Lancaster and
Dauphin Counties in the first third of the cen
tury. From Dauphin County the stream of
settlement crossed to the west side of the Susque
hanna. This region was at that tune Indian
country, and was known as Kittochtinny, a beau
tiful valley lying between the Susquehanna River
and the Tuscarora Mountains, extending south
ward into western Maryland and Virginia, It is
a natural thoroughfare between the North and
the South, a fact which during the Civil War
made it the scene of the manoeuvres culminating
in the Battle of Gettysburg, The upper portion,
now Cumberland County, was the scene of the
first settlements. The provincial authorities ac
quiesced in the Scotch- Irish occupation after title
had been obtained from the Indians by a treaty
concluded in 1736. Under date of 1743, Wat
son's Annals contains the following note:
"The Proprietaries, in consequence of the
frequent disturbances between the Governor
and Irish settlers, after the organization of
York and Cumberland Counties, gave orders
to thgMP%^ents to sell no lands in either York
or Lancaster Counties to the Irish ; and also
to make advantageous offers of removal to
the Irish settlers in Paxton and Swatara and
Donegal townships to remove to Cumber
land County, which offers, being hberal,
were accepted by many."

368 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
From Cumberland Coimty emigration turned
southward. Cumberland County was organized
in 1750; Franklin County, to the southwest, in
1764 ; Adams County, to the southeast, not until
1800. The main stream of Scotch-Irish emigra
tion to the interior moved northwest up the vaUey
of the Susquehanna to the junction with the
Cumberland valley, and thence moved southwest,
following the trend of the mountain ranges.
Scotch-Irish pioneers penetrated the country
west of the mountains at an early date, and in
1750 there were sixty-two inhabitants of this out
lying settlement. Their presence there was such
a provocation to the Indians that the provincial
authorities compeUed them to remove, and their
dweUings were destroyed. This withdrawal was
undoubtedly wise; even the Cumberland VaUey
settlements were such advanced outposts that
they suffered severely by Indian incursions after
Braddock's defeat in 1755.
All the Presbyterian congregations organized
in Pennsylvania before 1760 were either in the
valley of the Delaware or in the arc formed by
the junction of the Cumberland valley with the
valley of the Susquehanna. From 1766 onward
Scotch-Irish emigration pressed further up the
valley of the Susquehanna, the familiar place
names now making their appearance in the
records. The congregations of Tyrone and To-

PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH CENTRE 369
boyne in Perry County were organized in 1766 ;
Derry, Mifflin County, in 1766. Juniata County
has a Fermanagh township with a congregation
organized hi 1766. The Scotch-Irish settlement
of western Pennsylvania did not take place until
after the stream of Ulster emigration had reached
the southwest. The oldest trans- Alleghany con
gregations date from 1771. The greater number
of the first settlers of the southwestern counties of
Pennsylvania came from Maryland and Virginia,
over what was then known as Braddock's Trail,
This trail extended from Cumberland, Maryland,
to the vaUey of the Youghiogheny, crossing the
country now included in Somerset and Fayette
counties. At Uniontown, Fayette County, where
there was a settlement as early as 1767, there was
a trail' westward to the valley of the Mononga-
hela, along which settlers moved into Greene and
Washington Counties, There was another trail,
farther north, from Fort Bedford in what is now
Bedford County to Fort Ligonier, and thence
northwesterly to Fort Pitt, This was known as
General Forbes's Route, This trail traversed
Westmoreland County, and many Scotch-Irish
families settled in this region. Emigration was
so heavy that the organization of counties made
rapid progress, the most remote of aU, Greene
County, datmg from February 9, 1796, at which
time some of the present counties in the eastern

370 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
section of the State were as yet unorganized. It
is a general rule that outside of the original
counties the oldest counties lie along the track
of Scotch-Irish emigration,
A letter has been preserved written by Robert
Parke, in 1725, to his sister in Ireland, giving an
account of the conditions which settlers then en
countered. He was living in what is now Dela
ware County, west of Philadelphia. His sister
had written to him that report had reached Ire
land that emigrants thence to Pennsylvania were
dissatisfied. This prompted hun to go into de
tails. He declares it is :
"The best country for working folk &
tradesmen of any in the world. . , , Land is
of all Prices, Even from ten Pounds to one
hundred Pounds a hundred, according to the
goodness or else the situation thereof, &
Grows dearer every year by Reason of Vast
Quantities of People that come here yearly
from Several Ports of the world,"
He mentions that the rate for passage between
Philadelphia and Ireland is nine pounds. Sup
plies are plentiful, the market price for beef, pork
or mutton being two and one-half pence a pound.
The country abounds with fruit,
"As for chestnuts, wallnuts, & hasel nuts,
strawberrys, bilberrys, & mulberrys, they
grow wild in the woods and fields in Vast
Quantities. ... A Reaper has two shills. &
3 pence a day a mower has 2 shills. & 6 pence
& a pint of Rum, beside meat & drink of the

PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH CENTRE 371
best; for no workman works without their
victuals m. the bargain throughout the Coun
try. A Laboring man has 18 or 20 pence a
day in winter,"
He advises his sister to bring plenty of clothes,
shoes, stockings and hats, for such things are
dear. Stockings cost four shillings and a pair of
shoes, seven shillings,
"A saddle that will cost 18 or 20 ShiUs. in
Ireland will cost here 50 Shills. or 3 pounds
& not so good neither."
The writer remarks that notwithstanding high
prices for manufactured articles, "a man will
Sooner Earn a suit of Cloths here than in Ire
land, by Reason workmen's Labour is so dear."
The reference to the increasing price of land
of course apphes chiefly to the region between
the Delaware and the Susquehanna first opened
to settlement. Scotch-Irish immigration flowed
around the Quaker settlements and poured into
the interior with a force that annoyed provincial
authorities. Writing in 1730, Secretary Logan
complains that the Scotch-Irish in an "audacious
and disorderly manner" settled on the Conestoga
Manor, a tract of 15,000 acres reserved by the
Perms for themselves. Logan says the settlers
alleged that it "was against the laws of God and
nature, that so much land should be idle while so
many Christians wanted it to labor on and to
raise their bread."

272 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
It was, however, Logan himself who introduced
them into that country, which took its name from
the Susquehannock town of Conestoga, lying
northwest of the creek of the same name. The
title of the Indians was extinguished by the treaty
concluded by Penn in 1718, but Indian towns
were still so thick along the valley of the Sus
quehanna that it was deemed advisable to use
the Scotch-Irish as a frontier garrison. In a
letter dated November 18, 1729, Logan says :
"About that time [1720] considerable
numbers of good, sober people came in from
Ireland; who wanted to be settled. At the
same time, also, it happened that we were
under some apprehensions from ye Northern
Indians. ... I therefore thought it might
be prudent to plant a settlement of such men
as those who formerly had so bravely de
fended Londonderry and Inniskillen, as a
frontier, in case of any disturbance. Ac
cordingly, ye township of Donegal was set
tled, some few by warrants at ye certain
price of 10s. per hundred [acres] but more
so without any. These people, however, if
kindly used will, I believe, be orderly, as they
have hitherto been, and easily dealt with.
They will also, I expect, be a leading ex
ample to others."
It was the policy of Penn and his associates to
make large reservations for themselves. Peim
sold nearly 300,000 acres to persons in England
who had never seen the land but who acquired it

PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH CENTRE 373
with a view to its prospective value. If their
desires had been gratified there might have de
veloped in Pennsylvania a tenant system with
absentee landlords like that from which Ireland
is now extricating herself. The chief instrument
by which this system was frustrated appears to
have been the Scotch-Irish. As the available
lands in Donegal Township were taken up these
people spread into the manor, and the Proprie
tors had to make terms with them.
Logan's successor, Richard Peters, had a simi
lar experience in what is now Adams County,
The Penns had reserved for themselves a tract of
some 40,000 acres including the site of Gettys
burg and the land southward to the Maryland
line. Scotch-Irish emigrants settled in this coun
try, and in 1743 Peters undertook to dispossess
them. Seventy of the settlers confronted Peters,
who had with him a sheriff and a magistrate, and
strongly protested. Peters had brought survey
ors to plat the region but the settlers would not
allow them to proceed. A number of indictments
were brought, but in the end the cases were com
promised, the Scotch-Irish settlers being left in
possession of their holdings with titles from Penn
for a nominal consideration.
The Proprietors, while thus reserving to them
selves large manors, and quite willing to use the
Scotch- Irish to ward off Indian incursions, were

274 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
unwiUing to help bear the pubhc burdens. This
was a chronic issue between the Governor and the
Assembly, the Governor importuning the As
sembly to lay taxes for the pubhc defense, and
yet rejecting aU biUs that did not exempt
the Proprietary estates. In his Autobiography
Benjamin Franklin mentions a biU which set
forth "that aU estates, real and personal, were to
be taxed; those of the Proprietaries not ex
cepted," The Governor agreed to approve the
biU, with the change of only a single word. His
amendment was that "only" should be sustituted
for "not," Franklin says that the account of these
proceedings, transmitted to England, "raised a
clamor against the Proprietaries for their mean
ness and injustice in giving their Governor such
instructions ; some going so far as to say, that, by
obstructing the defense of their province, they
forfeited their right to it,"
That was a view of the case upon which the
Scotch-Irish were inchned to act. It is noted as
a racial characteristic that they were opposed to
paying any rent, however small. This aversion
is amply explained by their experience in Ulster,
where rents had been raised after they had set
tled the country and made the lands valuable by
their industry.
In habits and mode of hving there was httle
to distinguish the Scotch-Irish from other set-

PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH CENTRE 375
tiers, except their attachment to Presbyterianism.
There were some Scotch-Irish among the Qua
kers, James Logan himself was one of these,
but the proportion was very small. Many of the
Irish Quakers who emigrated to Pennsylvania
were natives of England who had lived only a few
years in Ireland. The Scotch-Irish who settled
in America had to adapt their ways of life to the
new conditions. Their style of dress was that
which was common among the backwoodsmen,
and in general they fell into the folkways of
the frontier. Particular information about their
manners and customs is meagre. Journals kept
by pioneer ministers have been preserved, but
they rarely contain any descriptive matter. In
the Diary of the Rev. David McClure there is
an entry under date of October 17, 1772, when
he was in the Youghiogheny region:
"Attended a marriage, where the guests
were all Virginians. It was a scene of wild
and confused merriment. . , , The manners
of the people of Virginia, who have removed
into these parts, are different from those of
the Presbyterians and Germans, They are
much addicted to drinkmg parties, gam-
blmg, horseracing and fightmg. They are
hospitable and prodigal,"
These Virginia customs have been somethnes
exhibited as Scotch-Irish, An account which
has been drawn upon for that purpose is one
written by the Rev, Joseph Doddridge, whose

276 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
father settled in Washington County in 1773,
His Notes which were prepared for publication
in 1824 give a vivid and authentic account of
pioneer society, Mr, Fisher, in his Making of
Pennsylvania, refers to it as "the best descrip
tion we have of the colonial Scotch-Irish," But
Doddridge did not describe the Scotch-Irish.
The people with whom he. was reared came from
Maryland and Virginia, and he expressly dis
claims any particular knowledge of the Scotch-
Irish settlers. He says :
"With the descendants of the Irish I had
but httle acquaintance, although I hved
near them. At an early period they were
comprehended in the Presbyterian Church,
and were, therefore, more reserved in their
deportment than their frontier neighbors,
and from their situation, being less exposed
to the Indian warfare, took less part in that
war," The reference is to the outbreak of Indian hos
tilities in 1774, known as Dunmore's War.
Doddridge attributes to the Presbyterians the
introducing of religious worship and the found
ing of educational institutions in the western
country. There is no denominational bias in
his testimony, as he was reared in the Methodist
Church, entered its ministry and eventually be
came an Episcopal clergyman. Writing to
Bishop White in 1818, to give an account of re
ligious conditions, Doddridge declared:

PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH CENTRE 277
"To the Presbyterians alone we are in
debted for almost the whole of our litera
ture. They began their labors at an early
period of the settlement of the country,
and have extended their ecclesiastical and
educational establishments so as to keep
pace with the extension of our population;
with a Godly care which does them honor,"
Doddridge was educated at a Presbyterian
institution, Jefferson CoUege, at Canonsburg,
Pa., and he never forgot his indebtedness to
it. The account he gives of frontier conditions
doubtless describes dress, home crafts and cus
toms which the Scotch-Irish adopted in common
with other settlers. They may have made some
contribution to the stock, a possible aUusion fo
which is Doddridge's mention that among the
dances was one caUed the "Irish trot," In gen
eral frontier customs reflected frontier condi
tions. The dress of the men showed the influence
of Indian example. In colonial times this
style of dress prevailed throughout the interior.
It should be remembered that the frontier was
for a long period close to the coast. There were
Indian camps even in Bucks County, the oldest
section under European occupation, Dodd
ridge's account, although made from observa
tions in western Pennsylvania in the last quarter
of the century, may be taken as characteristic of
frontier conditions everywhere before the growth

278 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
of factories and the construction of railroads
transformed hving conditions. He says:
"The hunting shirt was universaUy worn.
This was a kind of loose frock, reaching
half way down the thighs, with long sleeves,
open before, and so wide as to lap over a
foot or more when belted. The cape was
large and sometimes handsomely fringed
with a ravelled piece of cloth of a different
color from that of the hunting shirt itself.
The bosom of this dress served as a wallet to
hold a chunk of bread, cakes, jerk, tow for
wiping the barrel of the rifle, or any other
necessary for the hunter or warrior. The
belt, which was always tied behind, answered
several purposes besides that of holding the
dress together. In cold weather the mittens,
and sometimes the bullet bag, occupied the
front part of it. To the right side was sus
pended the tomahawk, and to the left the
scalping knife in its leathern sheath. The
hunting shirt was generally made of linsey,
sometimes of coarse hnen, and a few of
dressed deerskins. These last were very cold
and uncomfortable in wet weather. The
shirt and jacket were of the common fashion.
A pair of drawers, or breeches and leggins,
were the dress of the thighs and legs ; a pair
of moccasons answered for the feet much
better than shoes. They were made of
dressed deerskin. They were mostly made
of a single piece with a gathering seam along
the top of the foot, and another along the
bottom of the heel, -vrithout gathers as high
as the ankle joint or a httle higher. Flaps

PBNNSYLVANIA-^COTCH-IRISH CENTRE 279
were left on each side to reach some distance
up the legs. These were nicely adapted to
the ankles and lower part of the leg by
thongs of deerskin, so that no dust, gravel
or snow could get within the moccason.
"The moccasons in ordinary use cost but
a few hours labor to make them. This was
done by an instrument denominated a moc
cason awl, which was made from the back
spring of an old clasp knife. This awl with
its buck's horn handle was an appendage of
every shot pouch strap, together with a roll
of buckskin for mending the moccasons.
This was the labor of almost every evening.
They were sewed together and patched with
deerskin thongs, or whangs, as they were
commonly called. In cold weather the moc
casons were well stuffed with deers' hair or
dry leaves, so as to keep the feet comfortably
warm; but in wet weather it was usually said
that wearing them was 'a decent way of
going barefooted,' and such was the fact,
owing to the spongy texture of the leather
of which they were made.
"The women usually went barefooted in
warm weather. Instead of the toilet, they
had to handle the distaff or shuttle, the
sickle or weeding hoe, contented if they
could obtain their linsey clothing and cover
their heads with a sunbonnet made of six or
seven hundred linen. The coats and bed
gowns of the women, as well as the hunting
shirts of the men, were hung in full display
on wooden pegs round the walls of their
cabins, so while they answered in some de
gree the place of paper hangings or tapes-

380 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
tries, they announced to the stranger as well
as neighbor, the wealth or poverty of the
family in the articles of clothing.
"The fort consisted of cabins, block
houses and stockades. A range of cabins
commonly formed one side at least of the
fort. Divisions or partitions of logs sepa
rated the cabins from each other. The walls
on the outside were ten or twelve feet high,
the slope of the roof being turned wholly
inward, A very few of these cabins had
puncheon floors; the greater part were
earthen. The block houses were built at the
angles of the fort. They projected about
two feet beyond the outer walls of the cabins
and stockades. Their upper stories were
about eighteen inches every way larger in di
mensions than the under one, leaving an
opening at the commencement of the second
story to prevent the enemy from making a
lodgment under the walls. In some forts,
instead of block houses, the angles of the fort
were furnished with bastions. A large fold
ing gate made of thick slabs, nearest the
spring, closed the fort. The stockades, bas
tions, cabins and blockhouse walls were fur
nished with portholes at proper heights and
distances. . . . The whole of this work was
made without the aid of a single nail or
spike of iron, and for this reason — such
things were not to be had. In some places
less exposed, a single blockhouse, with a
cabin or two, constituted the whole fort.
Such places of refuge may appear very
trifling to those who have been in the habit
of seemg the formidable mihtary garrisons

PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH CENTRE 281
of Europe and America ; but they answered
the purpose, as the Indians had no artillery.
They seldom attacked, and scarcely ever
took one of them."
The settlers were naturally loath to leave their
own cabins, abandoning their live stock and other
possessions, until absolutely compelled to do so,
and usually they did not repair to the fort until
actual bloodshed showed that the Indians were
on the ground. Doddridge gives a vivid account
of his own experience. He says :
"I well remember that, when a httle boy,
the family was sometimes waked up in the
dead of night, by an express with a report
that the Indians were at hand. The express
came softly to the door, or back window, and
by a gentle tapping waked the family. This
was easily done, as an habitual fear made us
ever watchful and sensible to the slightest
alarm. The whole family were instantly in
motion. My father seized his gun and other
implements of war. My stepmother waked
up and dressed the children as well as she
could, and being myself the oldest of the
children, I had to take my share of the bur
dens to be carried to the fort. There was no
possibility of getting a horse in the night to
aid us in removing to the fort. Besides the
little children, we caught up what articles
of clothing and provision we could get hold
of in the dark, for we durst not light a candle
or even stir the fire. All this was done with
the utmost dispatch, and the silence of death.
The greatest care was taken not to awaken

282 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
the youngest child. To the rest it was
enough to say Indian and not a whimper
was heard afterward. Thus it often hap
pened that the whole number of families be
longing to a fort who were in the evening at
their homes, were all in their little fortress
before the dawn of the next morning. In
the course of the succeeding day, their house
hold furniture was brought in by parties of
the men under arms."
Doddridge's accoimt of the domestic crafts of
his region is doubtless applicable to all the back
woods settlements. It depicts conditions that
were once general outside of the coast settlements
where supplies could be obtained from Europe.
In colonial times society in such centres as Bos
ton, New York, Philadelphia, Annapolis, Rich
mond and Charleston was ornate and even
luxurious among the weU-to-do, but the people
who tamed the wilderness and gave the nation its
continental expansion lived in the style Dodd
ridge describes, and these include the mass of
the Scotch-Irish immigrants. Some extracts
from his account will exhibit living conditions:
"The hominy block and hand mills were
in use in most of our houses. The first was
made of a large block of wood about three
feet long, with an excavation burned in one
end, wide at the top and narrow at the bot
tom, so that the action of the pestle on the
bottom threw the corn up the sides toward
the top of it, from whence it continuaUy

PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH CENTRE 2
fell down into the centre. In consequence
of this movement, the whole mass of the
grain was pretty equally subjected to the
strokes of the pestle. In the fall of the year,
while the Indian corn was soft, the block
and pestle did very well for making meal
for Johnny cake and mush, but were rather
slow when the corn became hard. . . .
"A machine, stiU more simple than the
mortar and pestle, was used for making
meal, while the corn was too soft to be
beaten. It was called a grater. This was a
half circular piece of tin, perforated with a
punch from the concave side, and nailed by
its edges to a block of wood. The ears of
corn were rubbed on the rough edges of the
holes, while the meal fell through them on
the board or block to which the grater was
nailed, which being in a slanting direction,
discharged the meal into a cloth or bowl
placed for its reception. This to be sure
was a slow way of making meal; but neces
sity has no law. . , ,
"The hand mill was better than the mor
tar and grater. It was made of two circular
stones, the lowest of which was called the
bedstone, the upper one the runner. These
were placed in a hoop ; with a spout for dis
charging the meal. A staff was let into a
hole in the upper surface of the runner near
the outer edge, and its upper end through
a hole in a board, fastened to a joist above,
so that two persons could be employed in
turning the mill at the same time. The
grain was put into the opening in the run
ner by hand, . . .

284 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
"Our first water mills were of that de
scription denominated tub miUs, It consists
of a perpendicular shaft, to the lower end
of which an horizontal wheel of about four
or five feet diameter is attached, the upper
end passes through the bed stone and carries
the runner after the manner of a trimdle-
head. These mills were built with very little
expense, and many of them answered the
purpose very well.
"Instead of bolting cloths, sifters were in
general use. These were made of deerskin
in a state of parchment, stretched over an
hook and perforated with a hot wire. Our
clothing was all of domestic manufacture.
We had no other resource for clothing, and
this, indeed, was a poor one. The crops of
flax often failed, and the sheep were de
stroyed by the wolves, Linsey, which is
made of flax and wool, the former the chain
and the latter the filling, was the warmest
and most substantial cloth we could make.
Almost every house contained a loom, and
almost every woman was a weaver.
"Every family tanned their own leather.
The tan vat was a large trough sunk to the
upper edge in the ground. A quantity of
bark was easily obtained every spring, in
clearing and fencing the land. This, after
drying, was brought in and in wet days was
shaved and pounded on a block of wood with
an axe or mallet. Ashes were used in place
of lime for taking off the hair. Bear's oil,
hog's lard and tallow answered the place of
fish oil. The leather, to be sure was coarse;
but it was substantially good.

PENNSYLVANIA— iSCOTCH-IRISH CENTRE 285
"Almost every family contained its own
tailors and shoemakers. Those who could
not make shoes, could make shoe packs.
These like moccasons, were made of a single
piece of leather, with the exception of a
tongue piece on the top of the foot. This
was about two inches broad, and circular at
the lower end, to this the main piece of
leather was sewed, with a gathering stitch.
The seam behind was hke that of a moc
cason. To the shoe pack a sole was some
times added. The women did the tailor
work. They could all cut out and make
hunting shirts, leggins and drawers,"
Such were the living conditions to which the
Scotch-Irish subjected themselves as they poured
into the country. They were not at all repelled
by them, as they were inured to privation, and
skilled in self-help through their Ulster training.
The abundance of game and wild fruits made the
basis of subsistence more ample and varied than
they had been accustomed to in Ulster, That
they took to backwoods life with relish is shown
by the alacrity with which they moved forward
wherever lands could be obtained for settlement.
The rapid expansion of the United States from
a coast strip to a continental area is largely a
Scotch-Irish achievement.
The practices peculiar to them as a class be
long to their religious system, which was a cul
ture and a discipline whose effects upon American

286 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
national character have been very marked. From
old church records that have been preserved
some idea may be obtained of the thoroughness
with which rehgious instruction was diffused
through Scotch-Irish settlements. Big Spring
congregation, in the western part of Cumberland
County, was organized not later than the spring
of 1737, for in June of that year a minister was
caUed, This congregation had a succession of
pastors, either natives of Ulster or born of Ulster
parents. One of these early pastors was the Rev,
Samuel Wilson, He was born in 1754 in Let-
terkenny township, now included in Frankhn
County, was graduated from Princeton in 1782,
licensed by Donegal Presbytery on October 17,
1786, and was instaUed pastor of the Big Spring
Church, June 20, 1787. Some records of his
pastorate have been preserved, and they give an
instructive view of the workings of the system,
the details showing that Ulster traditions were
still vigorous after the lapse of over half a cen
tury. He used a form of address in the marriage
ceremony which illustrates the plainness and
directness of speech then stiU in vogue. After
searching inquiry whether or not objections to
the marriage existed Mr. Wilson proceeded to
address the couple as follows:
"The design of marriage is, that fornica
tion may be avoided, and as our race is more

PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH CENTRE 287
dignified than the lower creations, so then,
our passions should be regulated by reason
and rehgion. It is likewise intended for
producing a legitimate offspring, and a seed
for the church. There are duties incumbent
upon those who enter this relation, some of
them are equaUy binding upon both parties,
some upon one party, some upon the other.
"First, it is equally binding upon you both
to love each other's persons, to avoid free
dom with all others which formerly might
have been excusable, to keep each other's
lawful secrets, fidelity to the marriage bed,
and if God shall give you an offspring, it
will be mutually binding upon you both, to
consult their spiritual, as well as their
temporal concerns,
"Secondly, it will be particularly binding
upon you. Sir, who is to be the head of the
family, to maintain the authority which God
hath given you. In every society there must
be a head, and in famihes, by divine author
ity, this is given to the man, but as woman
was given to man for an helpmeet and a
bosom companion, you are not to treat this
woman in a tyrannical manner, much less as
a slave, but to love and kindly entreat her,
as becomes one so nearly alhed to you.
"Lastly, it is incumbent upon you.
Madam, who is to be the wife, to acknowl
edge the authority of him who is to be your
husband, and for this, you have the example
of Sarah, who is commended for calhng
Abraham, Lord, It seems to be your privi
lege in matters in which you and he cannot
agree, that you advise with him, endeavor-

288 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
ing in an easy way by persuasion to gain
him to your side; but if you cannot in this
way gain your point, it is fit and proper that
you submit in matters in which conscience
is not concerned. It wiU be your duty in
a particular manner, to use good economy
in regard to those things which may be
placed in your hands. In a word, you are
to be industrious in your place and station,"
The congregation was regimented under the
elders, John Carson, John Bell, Wilham Lind
say, John McKeehan, David Ralston, Robert
Patterson, Robert Lusk, Samuel M'Cormick,
Hugh Laughlin and John Robinson, One of the
elder's duties was to visit the members in his
district and catechize them upon questions pre
pared by the minister, whose duties included not
only the conduct of religious worship, but also
the systematic instruction of the people ; and the
elders discharged among other functions, that of
district examiners. Lists of questions used by
the elders of Big Spring Church in 1789 have
been preserved. Here is a specimen:
John Bell's District
1. What do you understand by creation?
Is it a work peculiar to God?
2, How will you prove from Scripture
and reason in opposition to Aristotle and
others, that the world is not eternal?
3. How will you defend the Mosaic ac
count, which asserts that the world has not
existed 6,000 years, against ancient history.

PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH CENTRE 289
which tells us of Egyptian records for more
than thirteen thousand years, and the Baby
lonians speak of things done four hundred
and seventy thousand years before, and the
Chinese tell of things still longer done?
The third chapter of the Confession of
Faith also to be examined upon.
The elders did not use the same set of ques
tions, although some questions appear in more
than one paper, particularly the following:
What are those caUed who do not
acknowledge divine revelation? What ob
jections do they offer against Moses and his
writings, and how are their arguments
confuted? Is the doctrine of the saints' perseverance
founded on Scripture? If so, how will you
prove it, and defend the doctrine against
those who deny it?
What do you understand by the law of
nature? The extracts make a fair exhibit of the range
of the questions. The papers were prepared by
the pastor, and in view of the large size of
parishes in those days it is to be presumed that
the elders were coached by the pastor and made
the medium of instruction supplementary to his
pulpit discourses. It is plain that the questions
assume a considerable degree of knowledge on
the part of the people. In considermg such

290 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
records the historian feels that he is peering
into the source of the extraordinary zeal for edu
cation displayed by the Scotch-Irish, which made
them as a class superior in literacy and knowl
edge to the general run of American colonists.

CHAPTER X
The Indian Wars
A trait frequently attributed to the Scotch-
Irish is that of cruelty to the Indians. Accusa
tion of this nature goes back to the beginnings
of Scotch-Irish settlement. In a letter of James
Logan, written in 1729, he remarks that "the
Indians themselves are alarmed at the swarms
of strangers and we are afraid of a breach be
tween them, for the Irish are very rough to
them." In 1730 Logan wrote that "the settle
ment of five famihes from Ireland gives me more
trouble than &£tj of any other people." At a
later period the Scotch-Irish are charged with
provoking Indian outbreaks, and atrocious mas
sacres of friendly Indians are laid to their ac
count. Such charges are so inveterate and so
general that a detailed examination is desirable.
When the planting of Enghsh colonies in
America began the Indians were everywhere
thick along the coast, and accounts of collision
between the two races appear in the history of all
the early settlements. The Massachusetts Bay
colonists had less difficulty of this kind to en-
291

293 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
counter, because not long prior to their landing
some epidemic sickness swept away the Indians.
Cotton Mather remarks in his Magnolia: "The
woods were almost cleared of those pernicious
creatures, to make room for a better growth."
The attitude of thought manifested by this Puri
tan divine is typical of the sentiment which close
contact with the Indians has inspired at every
stage of the settlement of the country. Through
out the world's history, when peoples of different
culture systems are brought into contact, the in
stinct of self preservation naturally operates to
produce conflict. The white settlers in America
impaired the natural basis of subsistence of the
Indian tribes by their clearings and homesteads,
and while they thus instiUed a deep sense of
grievance, at the same time they aroused cupidity
by their possessions. Out of such a situation hos
tilities have always emerged, be the scene
America on one side of the world, or Australia
on the other. There are early stages of Aus
tralian history that equal in atrocity anything
that American history can show. The Tasman-
ians, whose habit of regarding aU animals as their
natural prey made it hard for them to discrimi
nate in favor of sheep or cattle belonging to a
settler, came to be regarded as so much vermin,
to be extirpated by the handiest means, and it is
charged that even poison was used for the

THE INDIAN WARS 293
purpose. The American Indians, a race of
much higher grade than the Australian black-
feUows, had a sense of law and public obligation
that could be availed of in the negotiation of
treaties and the purchase of titles ; and as a rule
arrangements of this character either preceded or
closely attended the advance of white settlement.
The superior knowledge and astuteness of the
whites enabled them to get the better of the In
dians in such negotiations, and dealings between
the two races were to the disadvantage of the
Indians who from time to time made bloody
reprisals for their wrongs.
The conflict of race interest was aggravated by
personal antipathy. Accounts of the Indian
tribes with which the colonists came in contact
describe them as filthy in their persons and
licentious in their behaviour. The account given
by William Penn is a sharp exception to the
general tenor. He beheved the Indians to be
derived from the ancient Hebrews, and he ideal
ized their persons, their hving and their manners
to an extent that makes his account read more
like a rhapsody than a description. No doubt
Penn was enabled to hold such idyllic behefs by
the fact that he was an absentee landlord. Those
who lived in the colonies and knew what the In
dians were through familiar observation had a
very different opinion, "More dirty, foul and

294 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
sordid than swine," says the early New England
historian Hutchinson, "being never so clean and
sweet as when they were well greased." The
common charge that they had no more sense of
decency in the relations of the sexes than so
many brutes is now known to be an error, due
to inability to apprehend the classificatory sys
tem upon which the domestic institutions of the
Indians rested, Lewis H, Morgan, whose work
on Ancient Society first delineated the archaic
types of family organization, based his theories
upon minute study of the customs of the Ameri
can Indians. He pointed out that by Indian
law the husband of the eldest daughter of a
family was entitled to treat her sisters also as
wives. This polygamy appears to have been orig
inally part of a system of group marriage.
Champlaiii, who lived a whole winter about 1615
among the Algonquins, is quoted by Hutchin
son as saying that "the young women, although
married, run from one wigwam to another, and
take what they like ; but no violence is offered to
the women, aU depending upon their consent.
The husband takes like hberty, without raising
any jealousy, or but little between them; nor is
it any damage or loss of reputation to them, such
being the custom of the country." Group rela
tions of this kind have been found among savages
in many parts of the world, and they are reaUy

THE INDIAN WARS 395
regulated by a stringent system of tribal moral
ity, although on the surface they appear as abom
inable promiscuity.
Early New England historians say that the
Indians did not make advances to white women,
Hutchinson remarks that "the English women
had nothing to fear as to any attempt upon their
honor," The families of settlers who were made
captives in the French and Indian wars in New
England seem to have been on the whole well
treated. This was probably due to the influence
of the French in Canada to which country the
captives were taken. It was different in the In
dian wars in the middle colonies and the South;
women captured by the Indians might suffer the
worst indignities. The victims, if they eventu
ally escaped, were naturaUy reticent upon such
matters, but it was common knowledge that they
occurred, and this intensified frontier hatred of
Indian character, A well known case on the
Virginia frontier was that of an Indian child
born to a married woman who had been an In
dian captive. The child was reared as a member
of the family, but resisted efforts to educate him,
and after enlisting in the Revolutionary Army
was never heard from again.
The cruelty of the Indians is remarked by all
observers of their characteristics. They dis
played a positive enjoyment of the spectacle of

396 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
suffering, so that children would be put to the
torture for their amusement. A family named
Fisher were among the captives made by an In
dian raid in 1758 in what is now Shenandoah
County, Virginia. After the band reached its
village Jacob Fisher, a lad of twelve or thirteen,
was set to gathering dry wood. He began to
cry, and told his father that he was afraid they
were going to burn him. His" father replied "I
hope not," and advised him to obey. When a
sufficient quantity of wood was gathered the In
dians cleared a ring around a saphng to which
they tied the boy by one hand; the wood was
arranged about the boy in a circle and then fired.
The boy was compelled to run around in this ring
of fire until his rope wound him up to the sap
ling, and then back again until he was in contact
with the flames. Meanwhile he was prodded
with long, sharp poles whenever he flagged, and
thus the child was tortured to death before the
eyes of his father and brothers,
Doddridge, who is a careful narrator, and who
does not write in a spirit of animosity toward the
Indians, gives the foUowing account of the ex
perience of settlers in what is now Greenbrier
County, West Virginia:
"Before these settlers were aware of the
existence of the war, and supposing that the
peace made with the French comprehended

THE INDIAN WARS 297
their Indian allies also, about sixty Indians
visited the settlement on Muddy Creek.
They made the visit under the mask of
friendship. They were cordially received
and treated with all the hospitality which it
was in the power of these new settlers to
bestow upon them; but on a sudden, and
without any previous intimation of anything
like a hostile intention, the Indians mur
dered in cold blood all the men belonging
to the settlement, and made prisoners of the
women and children. Leaving a guard with
their prisoners, they then marched to the
settlement in the Levels, before the fate of
the Muddy Creek settlement was known.
Here, as at Muddy Creek, they were treated
with the most kind and attentive hospitality
at the house of Mr, Archibald Glendennin,
who gave the Indians a sumptuous feast of
three fat elks which he had recently killed.
Here, a scene of slaughter similar to that
which had recently taken place at Muddy
Creek, occurred at the conclusion of the
feast, "Mrs, Glendennin, whose husband was
among the slain, and herself with her chil
dren prisoners, boldly charged the Indians
with perfidy and cowardice, in taking ad
vantage of the mask of friendship to commit
murder. One of the Indians, exasperated at
her boldness, and stung no doubt at the jus
tice of the charge against them, brandished
his tomahawk over her head, and dashed
her husband's scalp in her face. In defiance
of all his threats, the heroine still reiterated
the charges of perfidy and cowardice against

398 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
the Indians. On the next day, after marchT
ing about ten miles, while passing through a
thicket, the Indians forming a front and
rear guard, Mrs, Glendennin gave her in
fant to a neighbor woman, stepped into the
bushes, without being perceived by the In
dians, and made her escape. The cries of
the child made the Indians inquire for the
mother. She was not to be found. 'Well,'
says one of them, 'I will soon bring the cow
to her calf,' and taking the child by the feet,
beat its brains out against a tree, Mrs.
Glendennin returned home in the course of
the succeeding night, and covered the corpse
of her husband with fence rails, , , , It was
some days before a force could be collected
in the eastern part of Botetourt and the ad
joining country, for the purpose of burying
the dead,"
These are typical cases of Indian outrages
that occurred along the track of Scotch- Irish set
tlement. There were like incidents on the fron
tier at every stage in the settlement of the
country, and they produced everywhere an in
veterate hatred of the Indians, It was not a
Scotch- Irish characteristic but a frontier charac
teristic, and while the Scotch-Irish settlers cer
tainly evinced this feehng, it was not pecuhar to
them as a class. Everywhere in colonial annals,
whether the scene be in New England, or hi
Pennsylvania or in the South, there is the same
story of the mutual hatred and ferocity of the

THE INDIAN WARS 399
two races. At the same time to those who be
came accustomed to it the Indian mode of hfe
seems to have had a decided charm, for there
are many instances of captives becoming gen
uinely incorporated in the tribe, A noted case
is that of a young daughter of the Rev. John
Williams, pastor of Deerfield, Mass. She mar
ried an Indian, and although she eventually re
turned to Deerfield to visit her family and early
friends, she could not be induced to return to
civilized life.
The Indian wars were not systematic military
operations, but a succession of guerilla raids.
The colonial Governments were so poorly organ
ized, so deficient in resources and so crude in
their methods, thalt they were apparently in
capable of any steady exertion of public author
ity for the protection of the frontier. In the
early wars of the New England settlements
Indian methods were adopted. The attitude of
the authorities and the state of public opinion in
that period are instructively displayed in Pen-
hallow's History. Samuel Penhallow was a na
tive of Cornwall, England, who arrived in
Massachusetts in 1686 originally with a view of
becoming a missionary to the Indians, He mar
ried a wealthy heiress, by whom he acquired
property at Portsmouth, N. H., where he set
tled. He was appointed a member of the Provin-

300 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
cial Council, was Treasurer of the Province for
several years, and for many years before his
death in 1726 he was Chief Justice of the Su
perior Court. His History was published in 1726
with an introduction by the Rev. Dr. Benjamin
Colman, of Boston, who likened the experience
of the New England settlers with the Indians to
that of the children of Israel with the Canaanites.
Judge PenhaUow's History is a document of the
highest value, as it is a first-hand record of events.
He gives a detailed account of massacres com
mitted on both sides along the border, whither
Scotch-Irish immigration to New England was
directed. His account shows that all the pro
vincial authorities did ordinarily was to incite
reprisals upon the Indians. Referring to the
year 1706 he says:
"The state of affairs still looking with a
melancholy aspect, it was resolved for a
more vigorous prosecution of the war, to
grant the following encouragement, viz. :
To regular forces under pay £10
To volunteers in service .... 20
To volunteers without pay. 50 (per
To any troop or company (scalp
that go to the relief of any
town or garrison  30
"Over and above was granted the benefit
of plunder, and captives of women and chil
dren under twelve years of age, which at

THE INDIAN WARS 301
first seemed a great encouragement, but it
did not answer what we expected."
The bounty was later raised to £100 a scalp to
volunteers serving at their o'wn expense, and £60
to soldiers drawing pay. The war was therefore
carried on principally by expeditions of scalp
hunters. On one occasion a party of them
paraded the streets of Boston with ten scalps
stretched on hoops and borne aloft on poles.
Sullivan, in his History of Maine, published in
1795, mentions that in 1756 James Cargill was
charged with the murder of two of the Norridge-
wock tribe of Indians, "but was acquitted and
drew a bounty of two thousand dollars from the
treasury for their scalps."
This method of making war was as inconclu
sive as it was expensive. In 1706 Penhallow es
timated that every Indian kiUed or taken "cost
the country at least a thousand pounds." Of the
three years war, 1722 to 1725, he says: "The
charge was no less than one hundred and seventy-
five thousand pounds, besides the constant charge
of watching, warding, scouting, makhig and re
pairing of garrisons &c, which may modestly be
computed at upward of seventy thousand pounds
more." And yet after aU, the Indians were never
reaUy formidable in numbers or resources. Pen
hallow remarks that "it is surprising to think that
so small a number of Indians should be able to

303 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
distress a country so large and populous to the
degree we have related."
In Pennsylvania the customary inertia of the
Government was aggravated by the positive un
willingness of the Assembly to permit the use of
force, Benjamin Franklin in his Autobiography
speaks of the unwillingness of "our Quaker As
sembly to pass a militia law and make other
provisions for the security of the Province." He
relates that even when they did yield to stress of
public necessity they would use "a variety of
evasions to avoid complying, and modes of dis
guising the compliance when it became unavoid
able," He gives as an instance that when an
appropriation was needed for purchasing sup
plies of gunpowder the Assembly would not
make the grant, but did make an appropriation
"for the purchase of bread, flour, wheat, or
other grain," the Government construing "other
grain" to cover the purchase of gunpowder, and
the Assembly not objecting to that interpreta
tion. The usual situation was, however, that the
Governor and Council were left without ade
quate funds for pubhc defense.
This state of affairs should be kept in mind
when the events are considered that have made
a deep stain upon the record of the Scotch-Irish
settlers in Pennsylvania, The Province was
peculiarly exposed to Indian incursion through

THE INDIAN WARS 303
the easterly course of the mountahi ranges. The
Kittatinny mountain range or Blue Ridge,
which was the western boundary of white set
tlement up to 1758, extends from Western
Maryland to Northern New Jersey. After
Braddock's defeat, on July 9, 1755, there were
Indian raids all along this extensive frontier. By
November 1, 1755, the magistrates of a region
so far southeast as York County were calling for
help to resist an Indian band moving down the
Susquehanna. On the 24th of the same month
the Indians struck into the region now included
in Carbon, one of the easternmost counties of
Pennsylvania, and massacred the inhabitants of
the Moravian settlement of Gnadenhutten.
Reports of Indian atrocities poured in upon the
Government from every part of the frontier.
The settlers in Cumberland County, who were
mainly Scotch-Irish, suffered greatly owing to
their exposed position. Upon August 22, 1756,
the Rev. Thomas Barton wrote to the Provincial
Secretary relating that Indians had ambushed
and killed a number of people at the funeral of
a young woman "and what is unparallel'd by any
Instance of Brutality, they even open'd the
Coffin, took out the Corpse, and scalp'd her."
Petition after petition went up from Cumber
land County for help from the Government, par
ticularly in the way of ammunition. The phght

304 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
in which the people were left through the supine-
ness of the Government is set forth in the foUow
ing statement from the magistrates of York
County, whose action cannot be imputed to
Scotch-Irish prejudice as in that region the Ger
man element predominated :
"We believe there are Men enough wiU
ing to bear Arms, & go out against the
Enemy, were they supphed with Arms, Am
munition & a reasonable Allowance for their
Time, but without this, at least Arms, and
Ammunition, we fear httle to purpose can
be done.
"If some Measures are not speedily faUen
upon, we must either sit at home tiU we are
butcher'd without Mercy, or Resistance, run
away, or go out a confused Multitude des
titute of Arms & Ammunition & without
Disciphne or proper Officers or any way
fixed to be supphed with Provisions."
The then Governor of the Province, Robert
Hunter Morris, was alive to his duties, but he
lacked means to discharge them; and the situa
tion tried his temper. He wrote to Governor
Shirley of Massachusetts, August 27, 1756: "I
am unfortunately linked with a set of men that
seem lost to ^U sense of duty to their Country,
or decency to their Superiors, who wiU oppose
whatever I recommend, however beneficial to the
public." The Assembly was opposed to creat
ing a militia, and argued that the way to deal

THE INDIAN WARS 305
with the situation was by friendly overtures to
the Indians, inquirhig into their grievances, ap
peasing their complaints, and thus winning them
from their alliance with the French. The im
minence of the danger did not prevent the raising
of the old issue, the Assembly insistmg upon
taxing the lands of the proprietors, and the Gov
ernor, acting under their instructions, pertina
ciously resisting it. This issue was eventuaUy
compromised, the Penns agreeing to make a con
tribution in lieu of taxes, and means were ob
tained to erect forts along the frontiers to which
the people could resort for protection. Lacking
an organized force to repel the Indians, the New
England policy of offering bounties for scalps
was adopted. On April 9, 1756, the foUowing
schedule was proclaimed:
"For every Male Indian pris
oner above ten years old, that
shall be delivered at any of the
Government's Forts, or Towns $150
"For Female Indian Prisoner
or Male Prisoner of Ten years
old and under, delivered as above $130
"For the Scalp of every Male
Indian of above Ten years old $130
"For the Scalp of every In
dian woman  $ 50"
Such measures disgraced the Provincial Gov
ernment by adopting the methods of savages and
were quite futile as a means of pubhc defense.

306 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
They made the war just such a game as the In
dians liked to play. To give and take in the
matter of scalps was what they expected. The
outrages committed by them were as a rule the
work of small parties who would surprise the
settlers in the fields or at their homes, slay and
scalp, and then make off. The alarm would
crowd the forts for a while, but the settlers could
not permanently abandon their fields and crops
and would eventually leave the fort to become
exposed to another raid. Thus the war dragged
along for years attended by inconceivable misery.
The cry of distress was heard across the ocean,
and on June 24, 1760, the Ulster Synod author
ized a coUection for the relief of the affiicted
Presbyterian ministers in Pennsylvania and
New York. The number of refugees gathered
about the forts of Shippensburg in July, 1763,
is computed at 1,384 — 301 men, 345 women, and
738 children. Every shed, barn or possible place
of shelter was crowded with people who had
been driven from their homesteads, losing their
live stock and harvests and reduced to beggary.
There was persistent complaint that aid and
comfort to Indian incursions were given by the
Indians still resident in the area of white settle
ment. An official report was made to the As
sembly in October, 1763, that the Moravian In
dians in Northampton County were supplying

THE INDIAN WARS 307
the hostiles with arms and ammunition. It was
ordered that these Indians should be brought in
from the frontier. Similar complaints were
made against the Conestoga Indians in Lancas
ter County, and it was strongly urged that they,
too, should be removed to some other place where
they would be out of the way of frontier events,
but nothing was done until there was a terrible
catastrophe. Among a number of companies organized for
frontier defense was one under the command
of the Rev. John Elder, which was recruited
from the Scotch-Irish of the Paxtang district,
now in Dauphin County. The outrages from
which the settlers were now suffering were the
work not of war bands but of a few Indians
moving furtively, who would ambuscade and
kill some traveler or attack some one working
in the fields, and only by finding mutilated bodies
would the settlers know that Indian marauders
were about. It was generally beheved that such
acts were facilitated by the existence of Indian
villages in which the stray hostiles could find
shelter. It was charged that strange Indians
were seen going to and coming from the village
of the Conestoga Indians. Under date of Sep
tember 13, 1763, Colonel Elder wrote to the
Governor: "I suggest to you the propriety
of an immediate removal of the Indians from

308 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Conestoga, and placing a garrison in their room.
In case this is done, I pledge myself for the fu
ture security of the frontiers." The reply to this
letter was written by John Penn, who about this
time became Governor of the Province. He said
that "The Indians of Conestoga have been rep
resented as innocent, helpless, and dependent
upon the Governor for support. The faith of
this Government is pledged for their protection.
I cannot remove them without adequate cause."
At last the people decided to act for them
selves. On December 13, 1763, a party of
frontiersmen moved upon the Conestoga In
dians. According to one version the intention
was to apprehend some prowling Indians who
had taken refuge in Conestoga, and the massacre
that ensued was due to a show of resistance by
some Indians who rushed out, brandishing their
tomahawks. According to Governor Penn the
affair was "barbarous murder," committed "in
defiance of all Laws & Authority," by "a party
of Rioters." Colonel Elder, in a letter to Gover
nor Penn, under date of October 16, 1763, gave
this account: "On receiving intelligence the 13th inst.
that a number of persons were assembhng
on purpose to go & cut off the Connestogue
Indians, in concert with Mr. Forster, the
neighboring Magistrate, I hurried off an
Express with a written message to that

THE INDIAN WARS 309
party, entreating them to desist from such
an undertaking, representing to them the
unlawfulness & barbarity of such an action,
that it's cruel & unchristian in its nature, &
wou'd be fatal in its consequences to them
selves & famihes; that private persons have
no right to take the lives of any under the
protection of the Legislature; that they
must, if they proceeded in that affair, lay
their accounts to meet with a Severe prose
cution, & become hable even to capital pun
ishment; that they need not expect that the
Country wou'd endeavour to conceal or
screen them from punishment, but that they
would be detected & given up to the resent
ment of the Governm't. These things I
urged in the warmest terms, in order to pre
vail with them to drop the enterprise, but
to no purpose; they push'd on, & have de
stroyed some of these Indians, tho' how
many, I have not yet been certainly in
formed; I, nevertheless, thought it my duty
to give your Honour this early notice, that
an action of this nature mayn't be imputed
to these frontier Settlem^s. Yot I know not
of one person of Judgm'' or prudence that
has been in any wise concerned in it, but it
has been done by some hot headed, ill ad
vised persons, & especially by such, I
imagine, as suffer'd much in their relations
by the Ravages committed in the late In
dian War."
That the affair was indeed an outburst of
mob cruelty inspired by race hatred is shown by
the sequel. The Indians killed in the attack on

310 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Conestoga were six in number. The survivors
were now removed to Lancaster, where they were
lodged in the workhouse. On December 27 a
party of men from Paxton and Donegal stormed
the workhouse and killed the Indians. One
version is that the original intention was to seize
one of the Indians, who was charged with mur
der, and take him to Carlisle jail where he would
be held for trial; but as resistance was encount
ered, shooting began and did not cease until
every Indian was kiUed, The dead numbered
fourteen, among whom there were three women,
eight children, and only three men. Such facts
do not support the pretext that the massacre
was occasioned by resistance to arrest. Colonel
Elder wrote at once to Governor Penn deplor
ing the affair which he attributed to the failure
of the Government to remove the Indians as had
been frequently urged. "What could I do ¦with
men heated to madness," Elder went on to say.
"I expostulated, but hfe and reason were set at
defiance." Public sentiment in the Scotch-Irish settle
ments strongly condemned the mob outbreak.
Writing to the Governor from Carlisle on De
cember 28, Col, John Armstrong said: "Not
one person of the County of Cumberland so far
as I can learn, has either been consulted or con
cerned in that inhuman and scandalous piece of

\
THE INDIAN WARS 311
Butchery — and I should be sorry that ever the
people of this County should attempt avenging
their injuries on the heads of a few inoffensive
superannuated Savages, whom nature had al
ready devoted to the dust," Cumberland was
more strongly Scotch-Irish in population than
any other county in Pennsylvania, Colonel Arm
strong, of Ulster nativity, was an elder in the
Presbyterian Church,
Under date of December 31, 1763, Governor
Penn received an anonymous letter from Leba
non, advising him that "Many of the Inhabitants
of the Townships of Lebanon, Paxton & Han
over are Voluntarily forming themselves in a
Company to March to Philadelphia, with a De
sign to KiU the Indians that Harbour there."
This view of the situation was at once adopted by
the Governor in his official announcements. On
January 3, 1764, he sent a message to the Assem
bly notifying it of "the cruel Massacre of the
Indians" at Lancaster, and adding that "the
party who perpetrated this outrage do not intend
to stop here, but are making great additions to
their numbers, and are actually preparing to
come down in a large Body and cut off the In
dians seated by the Government on the Province
Island; and it is difficult to determme how far
they may carry their designs, or whei'e the mis
chief may end."

313 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
The provincial records of this period con
tained much about this threatened attack upon
friendly Indians. But what was reaUy impend
ing was a popular revolt against the supine,
nerveless and bewildered rule of the narrow
oligarchy that controlled the policy of the As
sembly. The Government made extensive prep
arations to repel attack. General Gage, who
was in chief command of the British forces in
America, supplied a detachment of regulars to
guard the barracks in which the Indians were
lodged. Cannon were posted and the place was
strongly fortified. If an attack upon the In
dians had been the controlling purpose of the
frontiersmen they would now have desisted, as
such an undertaking was plainly hopeless, but
they were not deterred from continuing their
march toward Philadelphia, as their main object
was a redress of grievances. At Germantown
they were met by commissioners with promises of
a hearing of their complaints. Col, Matthew
Smith and James Gibson went forward with the
commissioners to meet the Governor and the As
sembly, and the body of frontiersmen now dis
solved, most of them returning at once to their
homes. The statement of grievances presented
to the provincial authorities is of such value as
an historical record, and is so iUuminative of the
ideas of the times, that it is given in fuU in
Appendix D.

THE INDIAN WARS 313
The Assembly did nothing to the point. The
petitions were referred to a committee which
recommended a conference with representatives
of the back counties, the Governor to take part.
The Governor sent a pedantic message declining
to participate, and declaring that he "doubts not
but the House will take into Consideration such
parts of the Remonstrance as are proper for
their Cognizance, and do therein what in their
Wisdom and Justice they think Right, as he
will with Regard to such other parts as Relate
to the executive Branch of the Government."
The Assembly proceeded no further with the
matter of the petitions. An act providing for
removing the trial of persons charged with killing
Indians in Lancaster Coimty was passed despite
the remonstrance, but no convictions were ob
tained under it.
Contemporary opinion among the Scotch-
Irish themselves, while deploring the occurrence,
was inclined to make excuses on the score of the
exigencies of the case. The Rev, John Ewmg,
D,D., writing to Joseph Reed at London in
1764, gave the following accoimt:
"There are twenty-two Quakers in our
Assembly, at present, who, although they
won't absolutely refuse to grant money for
the King's use, yet never fail to contrive
matters in such a manner, as to afford httle
or no assistance to the poor distressed fron-

314 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
tiers; while our pubhc money is lavishly
squandered away, in supporting a number
of savages, who had been murdering and
scalping us for many years past. This has
enraged some desperate young men who
had lost their nearest relatives by these very
Indians, to cut off about twenty Indians,
that lived near Lancaster, who had, during
the war, carried on a constant intercourse
with our other enemies; and they came
to Germantown to inquire why Indians,
known to be enemies, were supported, even
in luxury, with the best that our markets
afforded, at the public expense, while they
were left in the utmost distress on the fron
tiers, in want of the necessaries of life.
Ample promises were made to them, that
their grievances shall be redressed, upon
which, they immediately dispersed and went
home. These persons have been unjustly
represented as endeavoring to overturn the
Government, when nothing was more dis
tant frqm their minds. However this matter
may be looked upon in Britain, where you
know very little of the matter, you may be
assured that ninety-nine in a hundred of the
Province are firmly pursuaded that they
are maintaining our enemies, while our
friends, who are suffering the greatest ex
tremities, are neglected; and that few, but
Quakers, think that the Lancaster Indians
have suffered anything but their just
deserts." It is now known that Dr. Ewing's letter cor
rectly describes the state of public opinion, but

THE INDIAN WARS 315
the opponents of the Scotch-Irish secured a last
ing advantage in getting historical authority on
their side. The first history of Pennsylvania
was written by Robert Proud, an Enghsh
Quaker, who arrived at Philadelphia in January,
1759. At the time of the march of the frontiers
men he was teaching Greek and Latin in the
Friends' Academy. His History is a dry, color
less narrative of events, except when he describes
the approach of the frontiersmen, and then the
heat of his language reflects the alarm and ex
citement felt in the section of the community to
which Proud himself belonged. He says that
"This lawless banditti advanced, in many hun
dreds, armed, as far as Germantown, within
about six miles of the city, threatening death
and slaughter to all who should dare to oppose
them," Proud's History stood alone in its field until
Thomas F, Gordon's work was published in
1829. Gordon wrote in a judicial spirit, and in
an appendix he gave a list of Indian outrages
that had exasperated public senthnent, but he
treats the march to Philadelphia as of a piece
with the riots at Conestoga and Lancaster, and
declares that "nothing but the spirited measures
of the inhabitants of the city, saved it from the
fury of an exasperated armed multitude, who
would not have hesitated to extend their ven-

316 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
geance from the Indians to their protectors."
Gordon also declares that "there is every reason
to infer, from the profound veneration the In
dians entertained for the Quakers, and the at
tention they paid to their messages, that had the
Friends been permitted to follow out their plans
of > benevolence, the Indian War would never
have existed or would have been of short
duration." The verdict of history as thus pronounced by
Proud and Gordon was generally accepted until
Dr. William H. Egle's History appeared in
1876, in which there was a weighty presentation
of the case in behalf of the Scotch-Irish, and it
was shown by citations from the private corre
spondence of Governor Penn that he was really
of the opinion that the frontier complaints were
well founded, although he was so situated that
he did not feel able to act on that belief.
The ground upon which Quaker policy to
ward the Indians rested, from which nothing
could budge it, was that by it the Province had
escaped the Indian wars from which other colo
nies had suffered, and peaceful relations had
been maintained until the breaking out of hos
tilities with the French and Indians in 1754.
This is an impressive fact that has beeri much
remarked by historians. The circumstances
however indicate that the success of this policy

THE INDIAN WARS 317
was due more to particular conditions than to its
intrinsic merit. At the time the settlement of
Pennsylvania began the Indians hving in that
Province had been so broken and humbled by
wars with other tribes that they were ready for
peace on any terms. In submitting themselves
to the conquering Iroquois they even accepted
the humiliation of declaring themselves to be
women, and putting on women's dress. In 1742,
when Governor Thomas had some trouble with a
tribe of the Delawares, he solicited the influence
of the Six Nations, That powerful Indian con
federacy sent a delegation whose spokesman
gave the Delawares a scolding that cowed them
at once. One of the delegates, Canassatego,
a Mengwe chief, addressing the Delawares in
the presence of Governor Thomas said:
"We conquered you; we made women of
you; you know you are women, and can no
more sell land than women ; nor is it fit you
should have the power of selling lands, since
you would abuse it. This land that you
claim is gone through your guts; you have
been furnished with clothes, meat and drink,
by the goods paid you for it, and now you
want it again, like children as you are."
In conclusion Canassatego bade them talk no
tnore about their claims but to depart at once,
as he had some business to transact with the
English. The Delawares meekly complied, leav-

318 THE SCOTCH-IRlfeTI IN AMERICA
ing the council at once, and soon thereafter re
moving from the region to which they had been
laying claim. These broken spirited tribes were
ready enough to hold peace conferences and re
ceive presents, and they became artful in prac
ticing upon the inexhaustible pacificism of the
Quakers, This policy of tribute was condemned
by the settlers both as a drain upon the public
treasury and as an incentive to aggression.
Even Gordon admits:
"Their hostility has been rewarded rather
than chastised by Pennsylvania; every
treaty of peace was accompanied by rich
presents, and their detention of the prison
ers was overlooked upon shght apologies,
though obviously done to afford opportuni
ties for new treaties and additional gifts."
The policy of soft words and tribute, while
tolerably successful so long as only the Indians
of the Province had to be dealt with, was entirely
futile when the French were stirring up the In
dians, and the entire frontier was in a blaze. The
notion of the Quaker oligarchy at Philadelphia
that the Pennsylvania situation could be local
ized and the Indians be pursuaded to be good
within that area was grotesquely inept, and its
practical effect was to facihtate Indian outrages
by paralyzing the Government,
Gov. John Penn took office in November,
1763, when frontier exasperation over the su-.

THE INDIAN WARS 319
pineness of the Government had reached a mad
dening pitch. A grandson of WiUiam Penn, he
was born in the Province and lived there for ten
years before taking office; so he was personally
familiar with conditions. His father, Richard
Penn, and his uncle, Thomas, were at that time
the Proprietors as heirs of WiUiam Penn, and
his commission as Governor came from them.
Soon after taking office he wrote as follows to
Thomas Penn, imder date of November 15,
1763: "I have had petitions every day from the
Frontier Inhabitants requesting assistance
against the Indians, who still continue their
ravages in the most cruel manner, and as
they say themselves, are determined not to
lay down the Hatchet till they have driven
the English into the Sea, We had news
yesterday of two families being murdered
near Shippensburg, I have not yet heard
the particulars, but the fact may be de
pended upon. We have been obliged to
order the Moravian Indians down to Phila
delphia to quiet the minds of the Inhabi
tants of Northampton County, who were
Determined either to quit their settlements
or take an opportunity of murdering them
all, being suspicious of their having been
concerned in several murders in that
County, These Indians came down two
days ago & were immediately sent to the
Pesthouse, where they were quartered."

320 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
But with regard to the Conestoga Indians
Governor Penn pursued an altogether different
policy, and yet it appears from his private cor
respondence that he did not believe the Cones-
togas to be so innocent as they were represented
to be. Why then did he refuse to remove them,
although he did remove the Moravian Indians?
It is a reasonable conjecture that he was trying
to avoid difficulties with the controlling element
in the Assembly. Moravian missionaries and
Quakers were suffering from the Indian incur
sions into Northampton County, and about their
welfare there was more concern than about the
Scotch-Irish of Lancaster County. It may be
noted that he does not himself undertake to ex
onerate the Conestoga Indians, but merely says
that they "have been represented as innocent."
In the following letter to Thomas Penn, the
manuscript of which is undated, he expresses a
different opinion:
". . . . You will see by the commotion
the Province has been in for a long time past,
the Impossibility of apprehending the mur
derers of the Conestoga Indians. There is
not a man in the County of Cumberland but
is of the Rioters' Party. If we had ten
thousand of the Khig's troops I don't be
lieve it would be possible to secure one of
these people. Though I took all the pains
I could, even to get their names, I could not
succeed, for indeed nobody would make the

THE INDIAN WARS 331
discovery, though ever so well acquainted
with them, & there is not a magistrate in the
County would have touch'd one of them.
The people of this Town are as Inveterate
against the Indians as the Frontier Inhabi
tants, for it is beyond a doubt that many of
the Indians now in Town have been con
cerned in committing murders among the
back settlers ; & I believe, were it not for the
King's troops, who are here to protect them,
that the whole power of the Government
would not be able to prevent their being
murder'd. Nothing can justify the madness
of the people in flying in the face of Gov
ernment in the manner they have done, al
though what they have suffer'd from these
cruel savages is beyond description. Many
of them have had their wives and children
Murder'd and sca,lped, their houses burnt to
the ground, their Cattle destroy'd, and from
an easy, plentiful life, are now become beg
gars. In short this Spirit has spread like
wildfire, not only through this Province, but
the neighboring governments, which are to
the full as Inveterate against the Indians
as we are. The 14th of this month we ex
pect two thousand of the Rioters in Town to
insist upon the Assembly's granting their
request with regard to the increase of Rep
resentatives, to put them upon an equality
with the rest of the Counties. They have
from time to time presented several peti
tions for that purpose, which has been al
ways disregarded by the House; for which
reason they intend to come in person."

322 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
It may be argued that the passage in the above
referring to the comphcity of the so-called
friendly Indians in the outrages on the frontier
does not necessarily include the Conestoga In
dians, Dr, Egle in his History cites a letter from
John Penn to Thomas Penn in which the Gov
ernor says:
"The Conestoga Indians, but also those
that lived at Bethlehem and hi other parts
of the Province, were aU perfidious — ^were
in the French interest and in combination
with our open enemies,"
Another circumstance, significant as indicative
of Governor Penn's own opinion, is that he
transmitted to Thomas Penn a pamphlet en
titled The Conduct of the Paxtons Impartially
Represented, with the information that it is by
a Mr, Barton, for whom he vouches as a sensible
and honest man. Writing under date of June
16, 1764, Governor Penn mentions that Barton's
authorship "is a secret; for it seems the Assembly
have vow'd vengeance against all who have
ventur'd to write anything, that may have a
tendency to expose their own iniquitous meas
ures," The Assembly took very high views of
prerogative and regarded any comment upon
its behavior as a breach of privilege to be
severely punished. The pamphlet transmitted by
Governor Penn was published anonymously in

THE INDIAN WARS 323
March, 1764, and it is a very severe arraignment
of Quaker policy, holdmg that upon it the guilt
of bloodshed chiefly rests. The pamphlet is
loaded with classical erudition and Scriptural ci
tation to an oppressive extent, but it contains
some sharp home thrusts, as in the following:
"When a Waggon Load of the scalped
and mangled Bodies of their Countrymen
were brought to Philadelphia and laid at the
State House Door, and another Waggon
Load brought mto the Town of Lancaster,
did they rouse to Arms to avenge the Cause
of their murder'd Friends? Did we hear any
of those Lamentations that are now so plen
tifully poured for the Connestogoe Indians?
— O my dear Friends! must I answer — No?
The Dutch and Irish are murder'd without
Pity." The author of this pamphlet was the Rev.
Thomas Barton, a native of Ireland belonging
to an English family which settled there in the
reign of Charles I. He was graduated at Dub
lin University, went to America and was for a
time a tutor in the Philadelphia Academy that
was the germ of the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1754 he received Episcopal orders in Eng
land, and returned as a missionary for the So
ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel. He
accompanied General Braddock's expedition as a
chaplain, and later settled in Lancaster as rector
of St. James parish, where he remained until his

324 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Tory principles made his position untenable and
caused his removal to New York. He was a
resident of Lancaster at the time of the riots,
and as an Anglican clergyman he was not hkely
to have any partiality for the Scotch-Irish Pres
byterians, He disclaims approval of the acts
of the rioters, but he contends that the blame
chiefly rests upon the policy of the Provincial
Assembly, which in view of all the evidence now
appears to be a just verdict.
The light of history at times has the effect of
coming from a bull's eye lantern, bringing its
object into unnatural relief. Such has been the
case with the affair of the Conestoga Indians,
which is only one, and that far from being the
greatest, among the innumerable cases of lynch
law which have resulted from the weakness and
incompetence of American public authority.
Note — The letters of John Penn quoted in this chapter were
copied by the writer from the original manuscripts in the
archives of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,
with the exception of one letter, which is not in the Philadelpliia
collection, but is given on the authority of Dr. W. H. Egle, who
cites it in his History of Pennsylvania. Dr. Egle was for twelve
years State Historian of Pennsylvania, and availed himself of
manuscript collections at Harrisburg.

CHAPTER XI
Planting the Church
Although all the church historians recognize
the important influence which Scotch-Irish emi
gration exerted in introducing and spreading
Presbyterianism in the American colonies, yet
owing to the usual mode of treatment which re
gards Presbyterianism as a phase of the Puritan
movement, the architectonic character of the
Scotch-Irish influence does not stand out with
the distinctness that is its due. Thus Dr. Briggs
in his American Presbyterianism first mentions
the Puritan settlements in New England. A
much older History by the Rev. Richard Webster
gives a more correct view of genetic order, by
taking Ulster as the starting point of the his
tory of the Presbyterian Church in America.
The still older History by the Rev. Charles
Hodge regards the beginnings of American Pres
byterianism as involved in Puritan emigration to
America, All these historians have solid grounds
for the positions they have taken, but for a clear
understanding of the matter certain distinctions
should be borne in mind. We must distinguish
325

326 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
between Puritanism and Presbyterianism; be
tween Presbyterianism and the Presbyterian
Church in the United States of America,
The use of the term "Puritan" has been traced
to the year 1564, Fuller, in his Church History,
says that in that year "the English Bishops, con
ceiving themselves empowered by their canons,
began to show their authority in urging the
clergy of their dioceses to subscribe to the
hturgy, ceremonies and discipline of the Church,
and such as refused the same were branded with
the odious name of Puritans, a name which, in
this nation, first began in this year." Arch
bishop Parker, in his letters of this period, uses
the terms "Precision," "Puritan" and "Presby
terian" as nicknames for the reforming party in
the Church. In 1574 Dr, Thomas Sampson, who
was himself one of those that sought to purify the
order and disciphne of the Church, wrote to
Bishop Grindal, protesting against the use of the
odious epithet "Puritan" to designate "brethren
with whose doctrine and life no man can justly
find fault." This repugnance to an appellation
that later was accepted as honorable was due to
the fact that as originally used it carried with it
an imputation of schism, whereas the early Puri
tans considered themselves loyal Churchmen,
seeking to rid the Church of abuses and corrup
tions. The Puritan movement in its inception

PLANTING THE CHURCH 337
had a marked infusion of the joyous spirit of the
Renaissance, of which indeed it was intellectually
a derivative. The Puritan gentry united the
elegance of Elizabethan culture with a keen ap
preciation of the Biblical scholarship that was
exposing as unwarranted the episcopal juris
diction against which there were strong practical
grievances, Hallam's Constitutional History
remarks that "the Puritans, or at least those who
rather favored them, had a majority among the
Protestant gentry in the Queen's [Elizabeth]
days," and "they predominated in the House of
Commons," Puritanism was a spirit of resis
tance to current pretensions of high prerogative
in both Church and State, in natural association
with demands for such reforms in both those
spheres of government as would establish con
stitutional order. There was originally nothing
narrow or ascetic in Puritanism, The strength
of the movement that thwarted the strivings of
James I. toward absolute dominion in Church
and State was in the country gentry, a pleasure-
loving class. The biography of Colonel Hutchin
son gives the portrait of a Puritan gentleman of
tht original type. He was fond of painting,
sculpture and all liberal arts; was devoted to
gardening and gave much attention to the im
provement of his grounds ; he had a great love for
music, and often played upon the violin.

328 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
"Presbyterian" was originally synonymous
with "Puritan," because the term denoted the his
torical theory which Puritanism advanced in
opposition to the current claims of episcopal
authority. The theory asserted the parity of
presbyters and denied that the bishopric was a
distinct and superior order, OriginaUy this doc
trine was advanced as a principle of reform within
the Church, and not as the mark of a particular
denomination, as it has since become. In Chapter
III, of this work it was noted that the early Pres
byterian preachers in Ulster accepted a Presby
terian form of episcopal ordination, and sat in
convocation with the clergy of the Church of
Ireland. At that time one could be a Puritan, a
Presbyterian and a Churchman. At a later
period, when the Presbyterian order had been
overthrown by the Independents, the Presby
terian clergy of Ulster denounced the revolution
and became a mark for the scurrilous invective of
John Milton. The Independent sects which
through CromweU's military supremacy obtained
a temporary control of the Government of Eng
land also took to themselves the term of "Puri
tan," associating it with austere behavior, while
"Presbyterian" became the title of a particular
Church, which was Established in Scotland, but
which in England and Ireland was a form of
dissent from the Established Church,

PLANTING THE CHURCH 339
Puritanism then originaUy signified hardly
more than the championship of constitutional
order and opposition to absolutism in Church and
State. Like all opposition parties it embraced
various elements that in course of time came to
differ in their particular aims and methods. The
intellectual ferment of the times produced doc
trines and principles at variance with Presby
terianism, and eventually sects claimed the name
of "Puritan" that had little in common with
original Puritanism. The term has become so
amplified that now any denomination that dates
from the Puritan period is apt to lay claim to
Puritan ancestry and include Puritan achieve
ment in its denominational history.
Puritanism as a doctrine of Church pohty had
a following that extended far beyond the
bounds of Enghsh Puritanism. As is well
known, the doctrine received its most logical and
authoritative exposition from the French theolo
gian John Calvin, who was settled in Geneva,
Switzerland. Presbyterian sentiment flowed into
America from many sources, so that an exami
nation of the beginnings of American Presby
terianism must consider many elements. But if
the inquiry be narrowed to the question of the
corporate derivation of the Presbyterian Church
of the United States, the evidence points un
mistakably to Ulster as the source.

330 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
In Chapter V, some account was given of the
reasons why Puritan migration to America took
place more readily among the Independents than
among the Presbyterians. Hence that particu
lar element among the Puritans heavily predomi
nated in the settlement of New England; but
there was a Presbyterian element in Puritan mi
gration, and it was strongly evident even in New
England. It is estimated that about 21,200 emi
grants arrived in New England before 1640, and
according to Cotton Mather about 4,000 of them
were Presbyterians. Calvinists from HoUand
and France brought Presbyterianism with them
to America, as well as the immigrants from Ire
land, Scotland and England. Germs of Presby
terianism were stre'wn throughout the colonies as
far south as the Carolinas, and some isolated con
gregations were formed at a very early date.
But while Presbyterianism was thus diffused by
many riUs the organization of the Presbyterian
Church of the United States was the particular
achievement of the Scotch-Irish element.
Although evidence of record is meager, there
is enough to estabhsh a direct connection between
Ulster and the formation of the first American
Presbytery. In Chapter V. mention was made of
the Scotch-Irish settlements on the Chesapeake
Bay in the last quarter of the seventeenth cen
tury, and of their caU to Ulster for ministerial

PLANTING THE CHURCH 331
supplies. Francis Makemie, who went to Mary
land in response to this call, organized the first
American Presbytery. About that time the
Presbyterians were hard pressed by an energetic
movement started in 1701 to build up the Church
of England in the colonies. Makemie, who had
been long in the American field, went to London
in the summer of 1704, and appealed to the
Presbyterian and Puritan leaders for men and
funds to sustain them. Support was pledged for
two missionaries for two years, and Makemie re
turned to America with two young ministers,
John Hampton, who like Makemie himself
prepared for the ministry under the supervision
of Laggan Presbytery, and George McNish, who
was doubtless a Scotsman as no nationality is
specified in the record of his admission to the
University of Glasgow and that was the custom
in case of students from Scotland, The three ar
rived in Maryland in 1705, and in the spring of
1706 they united with Jedediah Andrews, John
Wilson, Nathaniel Taylor and Samuel Davis,
four ministers already at work in Pennsylvania,
Delaware and Maryland, to form the Presby
tery of Philadelphia, Andrews came to Phila
delphia from Boston in 1698 and appears to have
been ordained in Philadelphia in 1701. Wilson
came from Boston to Newcastle, Del., in 1698.
Taylor was minister to the Presbyterians on

332 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
the Patuxent River, Md. The date when his
ministry began and his derivation are uncertain,
but Dr, Briggs thinks it most likely that he came
from New England. Davis was settled at
Lewes, Del., prior to 1692, and was probably an
Irish Presbyterian. The membership of the
Presbytery was therefore pretty evenly divided
between Irish Presbyterians and New England
Presbyterians, but the formative influence un
doubtedly proceeded from the Scotch-Irish mis
sionary Makemie. The organization affected
was Scotch-Irish in type. The analysis made by
Dr. Briggs brings this out clearly. After de
scribing the organization of the Ulster Pres-
bjrteries, he observes: "The first American
classical Presbytery was such an Irish meeting of
ministers, but without subordination to a higher
body. ... It was very different from a West
minster classical Presbytery, or a Presbytery of
the Kirk of Scotland." Makemie writing about
the Presbytei'y said that among its rules was one
"prescribing texts to be preached on by two of
our number at every meeting, which performance
is subject to the censure of our brethren." Dr.
Briggs remarks: "This also was an Irish cus
tom. The records of the early Irish Presbyteries
contain frequent references to it."
At that time Presbyterianism was weak in
Philadelphia, and it remained so until the great

PLANTING THE CHURCH 333
Scotch-Irish immigration poured Presbyterian
ism into the country and the preaching of George
Whitefield gave a marked impetus to rehgious
zeal. When the Presbytery of Philadelphia was
organized only one member was settled in Phila
delphia, and so far as the composition of the
membership was concerned the Presbytery might
well have had another location and another name.
But sound strategic reasons controlled the choice.
George Keith, once a zealous Quaker, but who
had become quite as zealous a Church of Eng
land man, had made Philadelphia the base of a
controversial activity that took a wide range.
In 1692 Keith visited Makemie's parish on the
Eastern Shore of Virginia and challenged him to
a public disputation. There was a forward move
ment on the part of the Church of England all
along the line, and Puritans of every sort, Pres
byterian or Congregational, were impressed
with the necessity of energetic action for the com
mon defense. New England Congregationalists
and English, Scotch and Irish Presbyterians co
operated in this crisis. The organization of the
Presbytery of Philadelphia was a stroke in the
Puritan interest. Soon after the first meeting
of the Presbytery Makemie wrote to Dr. Benja
min Coleman of Boston, March 28, 1707: "Our
design is to meet yearly, and oftener if necessary,
to consult the most proper measures for advanc-

334 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
ing rehgion and propagating Christianity in our
various stations." The results of this action were
of profound importance. Dr. Briggs says of the
work of Makemie and his associates :
"They organized an institution which was
a rallying point for Presbyterianism in the
Middle 'States. It enabled them to license
and ordain their ministers in a regular man
ner; it enabled them to cooperate with the
organized forces of Puritanism and Pres
byterianism in all parts of the world ; it was
a master stroke of wise pohcy which now
gave Presbyterianism an advantage over
Episcopacy, in spite of the strong influences
and active oppression by the authorities in
Church and State."
An incident occurring immediately after the
first meeting of the first American ~ Presbytery
showed that organization for the common wel
fare was the urgent need of the non-conformists.
After the adjournment of the Presbytery, Oc
tober 27, 1706, Makemie and John Hampton
set out on a journey to Boston, probably to con
sult with the Puritan ministers there. On the
way they stopped in New York, and preached
hi that city and on Long Island. Both were ar
rested on a charge of preaching without license.
The charge against Hampton was not pressed,
but Makemie had to sustain trial. He was de
fended by three of the ablest lawyers in the
Province, and was acquitted on the groimd that

PLANTING THE CHURCH 335
he had comphed with the Toleration Act; but the
costs of the trial were thrown upon him, amount:
ing to £83, 7s., 6d. The affair outraged Puritan
sentiment on both sides of the Atlantic. Feeling
against Governor Cornbury of New York was
so strong owing to this and other arbitrary ac
tion that hi April, 1707, the New York Assembly
made a strong indictment of his administration.
He was eventually recaUed by the home Govern
ment and his successor took office in 1709.
The Presbytery of Philadelphia was the centre
from which the organization of American Pres
byterianism proceeded. In 1716 the Presbytery
had grown so that it divided itself into subordi
nate meetings or Presbyteries, three in number
at first, with expectations soon realized of a
fourth, organized on Long Island. These Pres
byteries were represented in the first American
Synod, which met in 1717. At the first meet
ing of this Synod a "fund for pious uses" was
founded, and Jedediah Andrews was appointed
treasurer. Dr. Briggs remarked that "this was
the basis of all the schemes of missionary enter
prise which have arisen from tune to time in the
American Presbyterian Church."
An instance of Scotch-Irish pugnacity is fur
nished by the struggle of 1741 over some pohits
of doctrine, discipline and practice which it does
not lie within the provmce of this work to dis-

336 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
CUSS. From the accounts given by Church his
torians it appears that an energetic minority,
only twelve in number, got control of the Synod,
the membership of which was four times their
number. Dr. Briggs says that the twelve were
all Irishmen with the possible exception of one,
whose nativity is uncertain. Seven belonged to
the Presbytery of Donegal. One result of this
struggle was the organization of the Synod of
New York, with three Presbyteries, New York,
New Brunswick and New Castle. The two
Synods remained separate until 1758, when they
were united as the Synod of New York and
Philadelphia. In 1788 this great Synod organ
ized the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church, the first session of which was held in
Philadelphia in May, 1789. This.^was the con
summation of the work of organization begun by
the Scotch-Irishman Francis Makemie in 1706.
Thus it appears that both in historical connec
tion and in nature of organization the Presby
terian Church in the United States was a Scotch-
Irish enterprise. Still another mark of Scotch-
Irish influence is the name borne by early Pres
byteries. In or about 1729 the first New Eng
land Presbytery was organized, and was named
Londonderry. In 1732 Donegal Presbjrtery
was formed, with such an extensive area in Penn
sylvania and Maryland that from it other large

PLANTING THE CHURCH 337
Presbyteries eventually issued, Carlisle in 1765
and Baltimore in 1786. From place names alone,
the historian could infer that Scotch-Irish in
fluence was active in the American colonies from
about 1715, but fortunately many records remain
of ministerial supplies furnished by Ulster, that
were of iUustrious service in planting religion and
in spreading learning and culture.

CHAPTER XII
On Stony Ground
Some account has already been given of the
earhest arrivals of Scotch-Irish ministers, in con
nection with the Chesapeake Bay settlement.
Ministerial activity next becomes noticeable in
New England immigration. In October, 1714,
the Rev. WiUiam Homes and his brother-in-law,
the Rev. Thomas Craighead, with their families
arrived in Boston from Londonderry. Mr.
Homes was born in 1663 of an old Ulster family,
and went to New England about 1686 as a school
teacher. A desire to enter the ministry caused
him to return to Ireland, and at the meeting of
Laggan Presbytery in 1692 he was reported as
"on trial to ordination." He was ordained De
cember 21, 1692, as pastor at Strabane. He re
ceived the M.A. degree from the University of
Edinburgh in 1693. On September 26, 1693, he
married Katherine, daughter of the Rev. Robert
Craighead of Londonderry. When he emi
grated to America he was over fifty years old,
and had had ten children. He was a man of
note and consequence in the Irish Church and
338

on stony GROUND 339
was elected Moderator of the General Synod that
met at Belfast in 1708. His knowledge of ad
ministration incited him to publish Proposals
of Some Things to be done in our Administring
Ecclesiastical Government, printed at Boston in
1732. Mr. Homes settled at Chihnark, in Mar
tha's Vineyard, where he remained until his
death, June 27, 1746, in his eighty-fourth year.
The Rev. Mr. Craighead came of distinguished
Scotch-Irish stock. He was graduated at the
University of Edinburgh as Scoto-Hibernus, De
cember 10, 1691, and became pastor of Dearg,
in the Presbytery of Convoy, Ireland. On May
3, 1715, the Presbytery approved his demission
from the congregation of Dearg, and gave him a
testimonial to go to America. The Synod cen
sured the Presbytery for not acting with greater
deliberation. This minister, whom the Scotch-
Irish church was so loath to lose, did not at first
meet with favorable acceptance in America. He
settled at Freetown, Mass., where the support he
received was so inadequate that he petitioned the
General Court for assistance. In June, 1718, he
was allowed ten pounds for six months services.
In 1719 he appealed to the Justices of the Peace
for Bristol County, and at the Court of General
Sessions the town was ordered to lay a rate for
his support. There was a violent resistance to
this measure, many refused to pay, and some

340 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
were imprisoned. A petition went up to the
General Court, which on June 19, 1719, ordered
that the prisoners should be liberated, the rate be
annulled and Craighead's election as minister of
Freetown should be void. Craighead then peti
tioned for relief, setting forth that he had served
for four and a half years, and had received no
pay for three years. In December the General
Court granted him twenty pounds. Craighead
then left Freetown, but was unable to settle him
self in New England. He joined New Castle
Presbytery, January 28, 1724. This was the
opening of a new career whose lustre made
amends for his unfortunate New England ex
perience. On February 22, 1724, he was in
stalled pastor of the church at White Clay Creek,
in Delaware. He labored in that region for
seven years greatly promoting the spread of
Presbyterianism by his eloquence and zeal. In
1733 he moved to Lancaster, Pa., and joined
Donegal Presbytery. He was pastor of the
church at Pequea from October 31, 1733, thence
he went to Hopewell, within the bounds of the
present town of Newville, a few miles west of
Harrisburg. It was a frontier settlement, pre
senting a difficult post for an old man to fill, but
he was now at the close of his career. He died in
the pulpit in April, 1739, just as he had pro
nounced the benediction.

ON STONY GROUND 341
Father Craighead, as he was generally known
in Pennsylvania, was progenitor of families
prominent in southern and western Presbyterian
ism. One son, Thomas, born in 1702, married
Margaret, daughter of George Brown, London
derry, Ireland, and coming to America, became a
farmer at White Clay Creek, Del. Another son,
Alexander, became an eloquent minister whose
stirring activities were exerted in Pennsylvania,
Virginia and North Carohna, Jane, a daugh
ter of the Rev, Thomas Craighead, married,
October 23, 1725, the Rev, Adam Boyd, pastor
of a church at the Forks of the Brandywine,
The difficulties which Mr, Craighead experi
enced in Massachusetts are said to have been
largely due to a contentious disposition, but it
is difficult to reconcile this opinion with the judg
ment of him expressed by Cotton Mather in a
letter written July 21, 1719, to a leader of the
opposition to Craighead, Mather said: "Mr.
Craighead is a man of singular piety and humil
ity and meekness, and patience and self denial
and industry in the work of God. All that are
acquainted with him, have a precious esteem of
him." While this particular controversy may have
been aggravated by personal differences (John
Hathaway, a kinsman, was conspicuous among
the minister's enemies) yet the underlying causes

342 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
were such as to make it symptomatic of condi
tions unfavorable to Scotch-Irish Presbyterian
ism hi New England. The Independents were
virtually an Estabhshed Church. Notwithstand
ing the common Puritanism of both Independ
ents and Presbyterians, and the sympathetic
attitude of leading clergymen in both parties, the
differences in order and discipline were bound to
tell. The seat of authority in the Presbyterian
polity is the council of presbyters and elders of
the member congregations. This implies the
existence of ecclesiastical units as a condition pre
cedent. An isolated body is practicaUy a Congre
gational church, and as Presbyterianism entered
New England it found a Congregational field in
which its adherents could feel at home. On the
other hand, attempts at separate organization
would raise practical difficulties as regards the
support of the Church, At that time it was con
sidered entirely proper to levy taxes for ecclesi
astical use, OriginaUy among the New England
Puritans the town meeting was virtuaUy the con
gregation in session upon pubhc business, an
integral part of which was care of the meeting
house and the support of the minister. So the
plantmg of a Presbyterian Church would raise
the question for the Congregationahsts whether
provision for its support should be included in
the town rates, and for the Presb3rterians,

ON STONY GROUND 343
whether they should have to pay a town rate for
public worship while providing for themselves at
their own expense. It is pretty clear that diffi
culties of this nature inflamed the situation with
which Craighead had to deal at Freetown, and
were too much for him, notwithstanding his
eloquence, zeal and fortitude. Removed to
Pennsylvania, his quahties were such as to secure
for him an illustrious and fruitful career.
At the same time that Craighead was having
his troubles at Freetown there was an event at
Worcester significant of the clash of interests
that retarded Presbyterianism in New England.
The Scotch-Irish immigrants who settled in
Worcester were accompanied by the Rev. Ed
ward Fitzgerald, whose antecedents have not
been traced. They began to erect a building
of their own, but one night a crowd of towns
people destroyed the framework. According to
local historians Deacon Daniel Heywood of the
Congregational Church encouraged the attack,
and the "best people in town" were present.
The explanation of this outburst is that the
people did not want to have to support two
Churches when one would suffice for all. The
affair was a crushing blow to the Presbyterian
interest. The settlers clung to their own form
of worship, some going to Sutton to be under the
Rev. John McKinstry, who began his ministry

344 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
there about 1720; some removing to London
derry in New Hampshire. The Rev. Mr. Fitz
gerald departed when it was found that no
regular place of worship could be had, but he
returned occasionally to preach, and there is men
tion of his presence as late as 1729.
Some years later another attempt was made
to establish a Presbyterian Church and a call was
sent to the Rev, William Johnston of MuUagh-
moyle. County Tyrone, a graduate of the Uni
versity of Edinburgh, In 1737 John Clark and
nine others petitioned the town to free them from
taxation for rehgious purposes. It is recorded
that "ye Irish petition" was voted down by "a
grate majority," The point of the apphcation
was that the petitioners wanted to be rid of the
burden of contributing to the support of the
estabhshed Congregational Church, in addition to
supporting their own Presbyterian Church,
Johnston, unable to maintain himself in Worces
ter, removed to Windham, N, H,, where in July,
1742, he became the first minister of the town.
In July, 1752, the poverty of the parish forced
him to withdraw, and he went into the State of
New York, where he held a number of charges
and gave years of service before his death. May
10, 1782, in Florida, Montgomery County,
A still more violent clash between Presbyterian
tendency and the estabhshed Congregationalism

ON STONY GROUND 345
occurred in Connecticut in or about 1741. In
Milford, New Haven Coimty, some people re
volted against the doctrinal views of the town
minister, and formed a Presbyterian congrega
tion which sent a call to the Rev. Samuel Finley.
For the offense of preaching to them, Mr. Finley
was arrested and sentenced to be transported out
of the colony as a vagrant and a disturber of the
public peace. Mr. Finley eventuaUy became
President of the CoUege of New Jersey.
Although Presbyterianism was checked in New
England, there were no theological barriers to
the incorporation of the Scotch-Irish in the Con
gregational Church, and that is what generaUy
took place. The seating lists of the Worcester
Congregational Church for 1733 have been pre
served and show many Scotch-Irish names.
What probably happened is that the Scotch-Irish
became enroUed in the local Puritan congrega
tion and as such were members of the Church
and of the town meeting, although gathering for
church services of their own when some Presby
terian minister visited the community. A like
process doubtless went on in other places. For
instance, James Smith, who settled in Needham,
Mass., is thus mentioned in the record of the
Congregational Church of that town:

346 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
"Jan. 9, 1726 — James Smith & Mary his
Wife, admitted into the Church, came from
Ireland A. D. 1718, & Brought a Testimon
ial with them from M"" John Stirling, Min
ister of the Congregation of BallykeUy in
the County of Londonderry."
Thus Scotch-Irish emigration to New Eng
land tended rather to furnish recruits to Con
gregationalism than to spread Presbyterianism.
The ministers, too, apparently found it hard to
preserve their Ulster type of organization in a
land without Presbyteries or Synods, and they
allowed themselves to be converted into Congre
gational ministers, a process that not only was
without theological shock but made httle
practical difference in the status of a particular
congregation. It has already been noted that Ulster immigra
tion to New England in 1718 was promoted and
attended by ministers. The five ships that ar
rived in August, 1718, brought among their
passengers the Rev. William Boyd, of Macos
quin, Londonderry, and the Rev. James Mc
Gregor, of Aghadowey, a neighboring village.
Boyd came rather as a guide than as an emi
grant and he returned to Ireland; McGregor in
tended to remain. His charge at Aghadowey
was unable to support him, and eighty pounds
were due him at the time of his departure. Lit
tle is known of Mr. McGregor's antecedents,

ON STONY GROUND 347
but it is thought that he came from the Scotch
Highlands, inasmuch as he had such a knowl
edge of Celtic that he took a leadhig part in
missions organized for work among Celtic
speaking people. He was ordained at Agha
dowey June 25, 1701. He arrived in Boston
August 4, 1718. The records show a blot upon
his career of a sort likely to occur at that
period. It was an age of hard drinking among
all classes of people. In 1704 McGregor was
admonished before the Ulster Synod for his be
havior in having taken several cans of ale at
Coleraine, when, as he admitted, "less might have
served." But the charge of drunkenness was
declared to be not proven, and except for that
one affair he appears to have led an exemplary
life. Cotton Mather, after two months of inter
course, exerted himself to obtain employment for
McGregor, writing of him as "a person of a very
excellent character: and considerably qualified
for the work of ye ministry as well for his min
isterial abilities, as his Christian piety, serious
gravity, and as far as we have heard, every way
unexceptionable Behaviour." Upon Mather's
recommendation the town of Dracut, a little
north of the present city of Lowell, gave Mc
Gregor a trial. It makes rather a strong sug
gestion that even at that early period the min-

r

348 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
isterial profession was overcrowded when it
appears that McGregor was chosen from among
some fifteen candidates for the place. In town
meeting on October 15, 1718, it was voted that
Mr. McGregor should be invited "to settle in
Dracut to preach the Gospel and do the whole
work of a settled minister" at a stipend of £65
a year, rising to £70 after four years, and until
there should be fifty families in the town, when
the amount should be increased to £80. Mc
Gregor accepted the call and in addition to his
work as pastor taught the village school.
In this there is no mark of gain to the Presby
terian Church. A Scotch-Irish Presbyterian
minister had been settled as a Congregationalist
minister in a Massachusetts town; that appears
to be all. There is no evidence that any of the
Scotch-Irish who landed in Boston with Mc
Gregor accompanied him to Dracut. The mass
of them were at that time looking forward to a
collective occupation of new territory, and this
desire was before long realized in the settlement
of Nuffield subsequently known as Londonderry.
This place, although in New Hampshire, is not
very far north of Dracut, and a number of the
Scotch-Irish settlers stopped at Dracut on their
way. They induced McGregor to go with them,
and the first religious services in the new settle
ment were conducted by him. It says much for

ON STONY GROUND 349
McGregor's constancy to his people that as soon
as they were thoroughly established in their new
home he gave up his secure position at Dracut to
join them. He settled hi Londonderry in May,
1719, and died there on March 5, 1729, leavhig a
widow and seven children. One of the sons,
David, became famous as a Presbyterian leader,
through his ability as a preacher and as a contro
versialist. The widow, Mary Ann McGregor,
was married, January 9, 1733, to the Rev. Mat
thew Clark, McGregor's successor at London
derry. Clark came to America from Ireland in
1729 with credentials from the Presbytery of
Coleraine. In 1719, the Rev. James Woodside arrived in
Maine with some Ulster emigrants who settled
at Merrymeeting Bay, but Woodside remained
behind in Falmouth with his family, probably
awaiting more settled conditions. The people at
Brunswick, Me., at a town meeting November 3,
1718, caUed him as pastor at a stipend of forty
pounds a year. Apparently he did not get on
well with his parishioners. In May, 1719, the
town meeting voted to continue his services for
six months "provided those of us who are Dis
satisfied with his Conversation (as afore Said)
Can by Treating with hun as becomes Christians
receive Such Satisfaction from him as that they
wiU Heare him preach for ye Time Afores'^."

350 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
The town voted on September 10, 1719, to dis
miss him, and not long thereafter he returned to
Boston. In a letter of January 25, 1720, Cotton
Mather writes that "poor Mr. Woodside, after
many and grievous calamities in this uneasy
country, is this week taking ship for London."
There is a local tradition to the effect that
Woodside was dishked by some for not being
sufficiently Puritanical, and this appears to have
been a reproach brought against the Scotch- Irish
clergy as a class. In a letter written to a friend
in Scotland Cotton Mather spoke of them as
having an "expression full of levity not usual
among our ministers." It is evident that Puri
tanism had by this time come to connote austere
manner and repressed behavior. That Puritan
ism should take this turn among the Independ
ents instead of among Presbyterians exemplifies
the familiar principle that custom is more exact
ing than law. Presbyterians had a systematized
authority within whose bounds they were at ease.
The Independents rejected systematized author
ity but custom established a formal pattern of
behavior, from which it was dangerous for min
isters to deviate.
The Rev. James Hillhouse was born about
1688 at Freehall, County Londonderry. He
studied divinity at Glasgow and was ordained by
Derry Presbytery October 15, 1718. He came

ON STONY GROUND 351
to America in 1720 and in 1722 was called to a
church in the second parish at New London,
Conn., where he died December 15, 1740. HiU-
house came of a distinguished Ulster family, and
he founded a distinguished American family.
His grandfather, Abraham Hillhouse of Artkill,
Londonderry, was in the famous siege. His
father, John HiUhouse, was owner of a large
estate known as Freehall. James, an uncle of
the emigrant, was Mayor of Londonderry in
1693. A son of the Rev. James Hillhouse was
a member of the Continental Congress, a grand
son was a member of the United States Senate,
and a great-grandson was the James Abraham
HiUhouse who was famous as a poet in the first
third of the nineteenth century.
Mrs, Hillhouse was a Mary Fitch of a family
that was among the earhest settlers of New
England, Her second husband was the Rev.
John Owen of Groton, Conn., whom also she
survived, and she married the Rev. Samuel Dor-
rance, who like her first husband, was an Ulster
clergyman. Dorrance was registered as Scotch-
Irish, of Glasgow University in 1709. He was
licensed by Dumbarton Presbytery in Scotland
and in 1719 was received by the Presbytery of
Coleraine. He came to America and settled at
Voluntown, now Stirling, Conn., together with
several brothers and friends. He was installed

353 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
as town pastor in 1723, and served until March
5, 1771. He died November 12, 1775, at the age
of ninety, leaving a large family.
The early arrivals of Scotch-Irish appear to
have gone into the country, but later the flow
made deposits in Boston and in connection with
these a notable pastorate was created. The Rev.
John Moorhead, son of a farmer at Newton,
near Belfast, was born there in 1703. He was
educated at the University of Edinburgh, and
upon his return to Newton was influenced to go
to America. He came to Boston in 1727 and
soon began services, gathering about him a con
gregation which was known as the "Church of the
Presbyterian Strangers." He was ordained as
its pastor, March 30, 1730. John Little, a
market gardener, was a member of the congrega
tion, and for several years services were held in
his bam. EventuaUy Mr. Little conveyed this
barn and some land to the church, and in 1744 a
building was erected which later became known
as the Federal Street Church. Mr. Moorhead
was an assiduous pastor, making periodical
visits to each family under his care, to converse
with the parents, catechize children and servants,
and pray with the household. He died Decem
ber 2, 1773. The funeral sermon was preached
by the Rev. David McGregor of Londonderry.
The Scotch-Irish settlements on the Maine

ON STONY GROUND 353
coast attracted a number of ministers of whom
Woodside and Cornwall have already been men
tioned. The Rev, Hugh Campbell, who ob
tained his M,A, degree at Edinburgh in 1714,
spent a year at Scarboro, Me., in 1720, and was
succeeded by the Rev. Hugh Henry in June,
1722, The Rev. Robert Rutherford came over
in 1729 and preached at Bristol, Nobleboro, and
Boothbay, Me, He was minister at Brunswick
from about 1735 to 1742, and died at Thomaston,
October 18, 1756, aged sixty-eight. The Rev,
Robert Dunlap was born in County Antrim in
August, 1715. He received his M.A, degree at
Edinburgh about 1734 and emigrated to America
in 1736. In December, 1746, he was called to
Brunswick and preached there until October,
1760. He died June 26, 1776.
It would seem that so large a migration ac
companied by so many ministers should have
made an extensive planting of Presbyterianism
in New England, and so it did; only Presby
terianism did not seem to take root and thrive,
except at Londonderry where the Scotch-Irish
had the field to themselves. As the settlement
grew, it sent out colonies and in this way a
church was planted at Windham in 1747
and at Bedford in 1757. Another colony went
to Antrim and in 1775 formed a congregation
that was organized into a church in 1778, The

354 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Scotch-Irish settlements on the Maine coast
were not so fruitful. Between 1745 and 1791
churches were formed at Georgetown, New
castle, Brunswick, Boothbay, Bristol, Topshew,
Warren, Gray, Canaan, Turner and other
places, all of which either died out or became
Congregationalist, From the Londonderry settlement appears to
have issued the first New England Presbytery,
constituted in or about 1729, by James Mc
Gregor of Londonderry and Edward Fitzgerald,
together with LeMercier, pastor of the Hugue
not Church at Boston, and some others. The
career of Londonderry Presbytery affords an
other illustration of the difficulties occasioned by
the contact of such diverse disciplines as Pres
byterianism and Independency. On March 30,
1730, it ordained John Moorhead to the charge
of the Presbyterian congregation in Boston.
Thompson, a probationer of the Presbytery of
Tyrone, Ireland, was received and ordained Oc
tober 10, 1733. In 1736 the Presbytery was
disrupted by a struggle over the admission of
the Rev. James HiUhouse, who although a Pres
byterian, was pastor of the Congregational
Church at New London, Conn. Only five minis
ters were present when he was admitted by a
majority of one vote. At the same meeting the
Presbytery ordained David, son of the Rev.

ON STONY GROUND 355
James McGregor. Three of the ministers pres
ent protested against the proceedings as unlaw
ful. At the next meeting of the Presbytery
there was a large attendance and the majority
refused to recognize Hillhouse and McGregor
and suspended Joseph Harvey and John Moor
head, who had voted for their admission. The
effect was to break up the Presbytery.
On April 16, 1745, Boston Presbytery was
constituted through the efforts of John Moor
head, David McGregor and Robert Abercrom-
bie. They represented the party that had been
excluded from the Presbytery of Londonderry
hi 1736. In 1768 they had grown to a body of
twelve members. The original Presbytery of
Londonderry appears to have died of inanition
through the scattering of its members and ina
bility to hold sessions. So late as 1771, however,
there is record of an appeal to this Presbytery
with reference to the organization of a Synod.
Nothing appears to have come of it, and the
Presbytery was probably then dead, although its
name had survived. The Presbytery of Boston,
however, developed such strength that on June
2, 1775, it organized as a 'Synod, composed of
three Presbyteries: Newburyport with six min
isters, Londonderry with four, and Palmer with
six; in all, sixteen ministers and twenty-five
churches. This Synod declined to receive the

356 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Presbytery at the Eastward, started by the Rev.
John Murray of Boothbay, Me., who had been
a member of the Presbytery of Philadelphia
but had been deposed by that body. There was
another independent Presbytery of Grafton,
N. H., constituted by Eleazar Wheelock and
others. The strength of Presbyterianism of
New England at the outbreak of the Revolution
ary War was one Synod of three Presbyteries
and two independent Presbyteries. Dr. Briggs
computes that these five had in all thirty -two mhi
isters, at a time when the Synod of New York
and Philadelphia had 132 ministers and the total
number of Presbyterian ministers in the colonies
was 186. This number is exclusive of the Dutch,
German and French Reformed Churches, having
the same polity but maintaining their separate
organization. It is computed that these Re
formed Churches had sixty-one ministers in 1775.
It therefore appears that notwithstanding the
early start of Presbyterianism in New England
it did not thrive there. Independency, which
had overthrown the Presbyterian order in Eng
land, clogged its introduction in New England,
and although New England obtained increase of
population from Ulster, Congregationalism was
a greater gainer thereby than Presbyterianism.
While Presbyterianism was rapidly spreading in
the West and South, the New England field was

ON STONY GROUND 357
for the most part resigned to the Congregational
variety of Puritanism. The common ancestry of
the two denominations was however kept in re
membrance, and served as a basis for fraternal
association. Through the efforts of the Synod of
New York and Philadelphia a convention was
held at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, in Novem
ber, 1766, attended by delegates from the Synod
and from the Consociated Churches of Connecti
cut. It was decided that an annual convention
should be held to which all the Congregational,
Consociated and Presbyterian Churches in
North America should be invited to send dele
gates. The following year the convention met
at New Haven, and at that convention two dele
gates from Boston Presbytery were present.
Thereafter the convention was exclusively com
posed of delegates from the Synod and the
churches of Connecticut. The chief motive for
the formation of this convention was opposition
to the creation of an American episcopate.
Hodge observed that this was "the great and
almost the only subject which occupied their at
tention." The meetings of the convention were
held alternately in Connecticut and at Elizabeth-
town, N. J., but were discontinued during the
Revolutionary War.
When the General Assembly of the Presby
terian Church was constituted in 1789 no New

358 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
England Presbytery or ministerial association
was represented, and New England was without
any representation whatever, save for the fact
that the Synod of New York and PhUadelphia
had some ministers under its jurisdiction in Con
necticut. The General Assembly at its meeting
in 1790 unanimously adopted the foUowing:
"Whereas there existed, before, the late
revolution, an annual convention of the
clergy of the Congregational Churches in
New England, and of the ministers belong
ing to the Synod of New York and Phila
delphia, which was interrupted by the
disorders occasioned by the war; — this As
sembly, being peculiarly desirous to renew
and strengthen every bond of union between
brethren so nearly agreed in doctrine and
forms of worship, as the members of the
Presbyterian and Congregational Churches
evidently are, and remembering with much
satisfaction the mutual pleasure and advant
age produced and received by their former
intercourse, — did resolve that the ministers
of the Congregational Church in New Eng
land, be invited to renew their annual con
vention with the clergy of the Presbyterian
Church."A committee was appointed through whose
efforts a plan was adopted of fraternal associa
tion through delegates. The General Assembly
seated as members delegates from the general
association of Connecticut, and from the general

ON STONY GROUND 359
convention of Congregational and Presbyterian
ministers from Vermont; and in its turn elected
delegates to those New England bodies. Associa
tions in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachu
setts, Maine and Rhode Island were eventuaUy
included in these arrangements; but this inter
course languished, and by 1837 or 1838 had al
most dechned. In 1840 it was revived, but
embarrassments through differences in disciphne
occurred, and the slavery controversy also made
trouble. In 1857 the General Assembly decided
not to send delegates to any of the Congrega
tional bodies of New England.

CHAPTER XIII
The Source of American Presbyterianism
The foregoing review of the situation in New
England brings out more clearly the importance
of Pennsylvania in the planting of Presbyterian
ism in America. The Presbytery of Philadel
phia, founded by Makemie, was the tap root from
which the institutional growth of Presbyterian
ism proceeded. Presbyterianism in New York
City and vicinity, which early became an im
portant factor in the development of the Church,
was an offshoot from the Presbytery of Phila
delphia. The first movement for the organiza
tion of a Presbyterian church in New York City
dates from the visit of Makemie and Hampton in
1707. The first regular congregation was consti
tuted in 1717, and the Rev. James Anderson, a
native of Scotland and a member of the Presby
tery of Philadelphia, was the first pastor. In
1718 a lot was purchased in Wall Street, and the
following year a meetinghouse was erected. Ow
ing to its inability to obtain a charter, and
alarmed for the security of its property, the
congregation eventually vested the fee of its
360

source of AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM 361
lot and building in the General Assembly of the
Church of Scotland. The property was recon-
veyed to the trustees of the church after the
Revolution. Notwithstanding legal hindrances, Presbyter
ianism throve so that, in 1738, New York Presby
tery was constituted through the action of the
Synod of Philadelphia, which ordered that the
Presbytery of Long Island and the Presbytery
of New Jersey should be united and thenceforth
known as the Presbytery of New York. When
erected it consisted of sixteen ministers and
fourteen churches — ^Woodbridge, Hanover, Eliz
abethtown, Westfield, Newark and Connecticut
Farms, in New Jersey ; Wallkill, Bethlehem, and
Goshen in and about the Highlands of the Hud
son ; Jamaica, Newtown, Setauket and Mattituck,
on Long Island; together with the church in
New York City. The churches of Elizabeth
and Newark and those on Long Island were
originally Congregational in their government,
so it appears that in this section Presbyterian
ism gained at the expense of Congregationalism,
although having no advantage in legal position.
Probably we shall not err if we attribute the
early prosperity of Presbyterianism outside of
N^-England to the early formation and vigor
ous activity of the Presbytery of Philadelphia.
The fountainhead influence of that Presbytery

362 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
is distinctly manifested when the ecclesiastical
antecedents of the original membership of New
York Presbytery are considered. The oldest
and most distinguished member of the new Pres
bytery was Jonathan Dickinson. Dr. Briggs
says of him: "Dickinson was the ablest man
in the American Presbyterian Church in the
colonial period. It is due chiefly to hun that
the Church became an American Presbyterian
Church, and that it was not spht into fragments
representing and perpetuating the differences of
Presbyterians in the mother countries of Eng
land, Scotland, Ireland and Wales." He took
an active part in establishing the College of New
Jersey, the corporate predecessor of Princeton
University, and was its first President. Dickin
son was born at Hatfield, Mass., and was grad
uated at Yale in 1706. He received a call to the
Independent Church at Elizabethtown, New
Jersey, and was ordained in 1709 by the Conso
ciated ministers of Fairfield, Conn., who came on
invitation to perform that service.
It therefore appears that his position was
originally just hke that of other Congregational
ministers. His subsequent career was deter
mined by the fact that the existence of the
Philadelphia Presbytery provided a basis for ec
clesiastical organization that appealed to him.
He joined the Presbytery in 1717, and soon after

SOURCE OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM 363
the church of which he was mhiister put itself
under the care of the Presbytery. In 1733 the
Presbytery of East Jersey was created and Dick
inson became its leading member, which position
he also held in the New York Presbytery into
which the East Jersey Presbytery was merged.
John Pierson, who was second on the roll of
original members, was also a New Englander.
He was the son of Abraham Pierson, the first
President of Yale College, where he graduated in
1711. In 1714 he received a call to Woodbridge,
N. J., where he was ordained April 27, 1717, by
the Presbytery of Philadelphia.
Joseph Houston, the next on the roll, was a
Scotch-Irishman who emigrated to New Eng
land, whence he removed to the Delaware Bay
region. On July 24, 1724, he was taken under
the care of the New Castle Presbytery as a pro
bationer, and on October 15 of the same year he
was installed as pastor of Elk Church, Md, In
or about 1739, he was installed pastor of Wallkill
Church, New York,
Among other members of the New York Pres
bytery who owed their ordination to the Phila
delphia Presbytery was Joseph Webb, son of a
pastor of the same name at Fairfield, Conn, He
was graduated at Yale in 1715, and received a
caU to Newark, N, J., where he was ordained by
the Presbytery of Philadelphia, October 22, 1719.

364 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
John Nutman, a native of Newark, graduated at
Yale in 1727, was ordained by the Presbytery
of Philadelphia in 1730, and settled at Hanover,
N. J. Samuel Pumroy was descended from an
old Puritan stock of Northampton, Mass. In
1708 he came to Newtown, L. I., as a Congrega
tional minister, but on September 23, 1715, he
was admitted to the Philadelphia Presbytery,
and in 1717 was one of the three ministers who
formed the Presbytery of Long Island. The
Church at Newtown to which Mr. Pumroy min
istered remained Independent until 1724, when it
put itself under the care of the Presbytery. Mr.
Pumroy continued in this charge until his death,
June 30, 1744.
These instances suffice to show the influence
exerted by the Presbytery of Philadelphia in
gathering all congenial elements into the Pres
byterian Church. Apart from that influence
there is little in the antecedents of the ministers
forming the New York Presbytery to suggest
that they would have preferred Presbyterianism
to Congregationalism. Of the sixteen only
one, Houston, was of Scotch-Irish nativity.
Nearly all of them were from New England.
Twelve were graduates of Yale and three of
Harvard. The circumstance that determined
their adherence to the Presbyterian disciplme is
to be attributed chiefly to Makemie's foresight in

SOURCE OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM 365
making a timely start of church organization in
a strategic position. In population and position
Philadelphia then more closely approximated the
character of a national capital than any other
town in the colonies, and in planting the first
Presbytery at that point Makemie associated its
growth with the growth of the nation. Demon
strative evidence of this fact is afforded by the
speedy appearance of a brood of Presbyteries all
mothered by the Presbytery of Philadelphia.
All the great organizers of American Presby
terianism were connected either with the Phila
delphia Presbytery or with directly affiliated
Presbyteries, Next to the work of Dickinson in structural
value was that of the Tennents, The founder of
the famous family, William Tennent, was born
in Ireland and was a cousin on the mother side
of James Logan, Secretary of the Province of
Pennsylvania. He married. May 15, 1702, a
daughter of the Rev, Gilbert Kennedy, a distin
guished Presbyterian minister, who having been
ejected from his charge in Girvan, Ayrshire,
Scotland, took refuge in Ireland and became
minister of Dondonald, He died February 6,
1688, William Tennent was graduated at the
University of Edmburgh, July 11, 1695, Not
withstanding the fact that he married into a
Presbyterian family, he turned to the Established

366 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Church and was ordained by the Bishop of Down
as deacon, July, 1704; as priest, September 22,
1706, After becoming a clergyman he is said to
have held a chaplaincy in a nobleman's family,
but he became unwiUing to conform to the re
quirements of the Established Church and he
decided to go to America, He arrived in Sep
tember, 1716, with his wife, a daughter and four
sons, who became ministers. On September 17,
1718, he applied to the Synod of Philadelphia
for admission. In so doing he made a statement
of his reasons for dissenting from the Established
Church, of which he had formerly been a member,
being in the main that episcopal government
was anti-Scriptural.
It is clearly a fact of great tactical importance
that at the time Tennent arrived there was in
existence an ecclesiastical organization of which
he could become an adherent. Otherwise he
might just as readily have become an Independ
ent or a Congregational minister, as happened in
so many cases in New England. As it was, his
ability as an organizer became of great value to
the cause of American Presbyterianism. He set
tled at East Chester, N. Y., November 22, 1718,
and did effective work in spreading Presbyterian
ism in Westchester County, He removed to Bed
ford, New York, m May, 1720, In 1721 he took
charge of Bensalem and Smithfield in Bucks

SOURCE OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM 367
County, Pa. In 1726 he accepted a caU to
Neshaminy, where he established the famous Log
CoUege, thus becoming, says Dr. Briggs, "the
Father of Presbyterian Colleges in America."
He died May 6, 1746.
Gilbert Tennent, eldest son of William, was
born in the county of Armagh, Ireland, Febru
ary 5, 1703. He was educated by his father and
was licensed as a preacher by the Philadelphia
Presbytery in May, 1725. An indefatigable
worker and an eloquent preacher, his career
is prominent in church history, owing to his
vigorous initiative which made a stir wherever
he went. A friend of Whitefield, who admired
his eloquence, Gilbert Tennent exemplified the
same type of fervent and emotional religion, and
like Whitefield, he became an itinerant evange
list. After a conference with Whitefield in New
Brunswick, in November, 1740, Tennent went
to New England, where he preached numerous
sermons with marked effect in arousing popular
interest. He frequently preached three times a
day. His tour included a number of towns in
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and
Connecticut. At New Haven he preached
seventeen sermons, and a large number of stu
dents were dra'wn into the ministry. He re
turned to New Brunswick in 1741, and soon
became as active in 'writing as in teaching. In

368 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
1744 he removed to Philadelphia and took charge
of the Second Presbyterian Church, but he does
not appear to have been successful in routine
pastoral work, which was probably too restricted
a field for his powers. In 1763 he went to Great
Britain in company with Samuel Davies to raise
funds for the College of New Jersey, in which
they had marked success. In 1755 Tennent was
again with the Second Church of Philadelphia,
and his labors at this period appear to have been
more fruitful in parish results. He died Janu
ary 23, 1764.
William Tennent, brother of Gilbert and sec
ond son of the first William Tennent, was born
in County Antrim, Ireland, June 3, 1705, He,
too, became a distinguished Presbyterian minis
ter. He settled at Freehold, N, J., and like his
brother he was active in evangelistic work, visit
ing Maryland and Virginia in such labors. John
Tennent, third son of the first William, was born
in County Armagh, Ireland, November 12, 1707.
He was licensed September 18, 1729, and in 1730
was ordained by the Philadelphia Presbytery as
pastor at Freehold, N. J,, in which charge he
preceded his brother William, He died April
23, 1732, aged twenty-five. His brother WiUiam
carried on his pastoral work for him six months
prior to his decease, A younger brother, Charles
Tennent, bom in County Down, May 3, 1711,

SOURCE OP AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM 369
was also an eminent minister. He was pastor of
Whiteday Church under New Castle Presbytery,
but in 1763 removed to Buckingham, now Berlin,
on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, He died
in 1771.
The Tennent family afford an extraordinary
instance of hereditary faculty, and their services
were of inestimable value in popularizing the
Presbyterian type of worship. Dr. Briggs says
that "William Tennent is one of the grandest
trophies won by Presbyterianism from Episco
pacy in the first quarter of the eighteenth
century," Among the early recruits gained by the Synod
of Philadelphia were a number of Scotch-Irish
clergymen, some coming by way of New Eng
land and some direct, Adam Boyd, born at
Ballymoney, Ireland, in 1692, came to New Eng
land in 1722 or 1723, He followed Craighead to
Pennsylvania and was ordained at Octorara Sep
tember 13, 1724. The Forks of the Brandywine
was included in his field until 1734. He spent
his life in this region, dying November 23, 1768.
He left a widow, five daughters and five sons.
The eldest son is said to have entered the min
istry but he died young. One of the sons, Adam,
went to Wilmington, N. C, where he started
the Cape Fear Mercury, in 1767. He was a
leading member of the Committee of Safety,

370 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
formed among the Revolutionary patriots of that
region. In 1776 he entered the mhiistry and be
came chaplain of the North Carolina brigade.
Archibald McCook was received as a student
from Ireland by New Castle Presbytery m
March 1726, and was licensed September 13, of
that year. In 1727 he was sent to Kent in Dela
ware, his charge embracmg several congrega
tions. He was ordained June 7, and died within
a few months.
Hugh Stevenson, a theological student from
Ireland, was received by the New Castle Pres
bytery, May 11, 1726. He was licensed Septem
ber 13, and employed in temporary supply of
pulpits until 1728 when he was called to Snow
Hill, Md. In 1733, while preaching in Virghiia,
he experienced treatment of which he made for
mal complaint to the Synod. The Synod sent a
copy to the Church of Scotland with a request
that that body use its influence with the British
Government to lay "a restraint upon some
gentlemen in said neighboring Province as may
discourage them from hampering our mission
aries by iUegal persecutions." In 1739 or 1740
Stevenson opened a grammar school in Philadel
phia. He was a teacher of high reputation, but in
turning from ministerial work to education he
discontinued ministerial labor and fell into some
irregularities for which in 1741 he was suspended

SOURCE OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM 371
by the Synod. He died some time before May,
1744. John Wilson, of whose antecedents nothing is
recorded save that he was a minister from Ire
land "coming providentially into these parts,"
was received by the Synod of Philadelphia in
1729. He preached at Lower Octorara and es
tablished himself in the favor of the congregation,
but in January, 1730, the Presbytery of New
Castle received a letter from Armagh Presbytery
of such tenor that the Presbytery resolved not to
employ him. He was then preaching at New
Castle and the congregation stood by him. Rob
ert Gordon, Judge of New Castle County Court,
appealed to the Synod in Wilson's behalf, but the
Synod upheld the Presbytery. Wilson soon af
ter removed to Boston, and died there January 6,
1733, aged sixty-six. It is supposed that the
Rev. John Wilson was his son, who was born in
Ulster, and was ordained pastor of the Presby
terian Church in Chester, N. H., in 1734, and
who died there, February 1, 1779, aged seventy-
six. Dr. Hodge writing in 1839 gives a list of the
ministers who entered the Presbyterian Church
from 1729 to 1741, but he states that the records
are so imperfect that the hst cannot be regarded
as complete. He mentions thirty-eight and of
these nineteen were from Ireland; the others so
far as kno'wn being natives of America.

373 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Most of the information we now have about
the early ministers of the Presbyterian Church
prior to 1760 we owe to the antiquarian zeal of
the Rev. Richard Webster, pastor of the Presby
terian Church of Mauch Chunk, Pa., whose writ
ings on the subject were put in shape in 1853
although they were not published until shortly
after his death in 1856. Mr. Webster leaves out
of account the Scotch-Irish ministers that were
absorbed by New England Congregationalism as
he is intent upon the history of the Presbyterian
Church and the work of her ministry prior to
1760, Out of 200 early ministers mentioned by
him there were thirty-three whose place of nativ
ity could not be determined, but of the remainder
fifty-five were from Ireland, twenty-six from
Scotland, six from England, five from Wales,
two from Continental Europe and seventy-three
were American born, many of Scotch-Irish an
cestry. The Scotch-Irish preponderance is par
ticularly marked in the early period before
American schools began to graduate fit candi
dates for the ministry. The American field long
continued to attract ministerial supply from
Ulster. Numerous cases are on record of the
application to an American Presbytery of a pro
bationer of an Ulster Presbytery indicating that
the candidate had prepared for the ministry with
a view to going to America for admission. Some

SOURCE OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM 373
defective material got into the American minis
try in this way, but the Presbyteries were firm in
maintaining discipline and a few Scotch-Irish
ministers were deposed for heterodoxy or misde
meanor. One case of the sort became famous
owing to the part which Benjamin Franklin took
in it. He gave the following account of it in his
Autobiography :
"About the year 1734 there arrived among
us a young Presbyterian preacher named
Hemphill, who delivered with a good voice,
and apparently extempore, most excellent
discourses ; which drew together considerable
members of different persuasions, who
joined in admiring them. Among the rest
I became one of his constant hearers, his
sermons pleasing me, as they had little of the
dogmatical kind, but inculcated strongly the
practice of virtue, or what in the religious
style are called good works. Those however,
of our congregation who considered them
selves as orthodox Presbyterians, disap
proved his doctrine, and were joined by most
of the old ministers, who arraigned him of
heterodoxy before the Synod, in order to
have him silenced. I became his zealous
partisan and contributed all I could to raise
a party in his favor and combated for him
awhile with some hopes of success. There
was much scribbling pro and con upon the
occasion; and finding that though an ele
gant preacher he was but a poor writer, I
wrote for him two or three pamphlets and a
piece in the Gazette of April, 1735. These

374 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
pamphlets as is generally the case with con
troversial writhigs though eagerly read at
the time, were soon out of vogue, and I ques
tion whether a shigle copy of them now
exists. "During the contest an unlucky occur
rence hurt his cause exceedingly. One of
our adversaries having heard him preach a
sermon, that was much admired, thought he
had somewhere read the sermon before, or
at least a part of it. On searching he found
the part quoted at length, in one of the
British Reviews, from a discoiirse of Dr,
Foster's, This detection gave many of our
party disgust, who accordingly abandoned
his cause, and occasioned our more speedy
discomfiture in the Synod, I rather ap
proved his giving us good sermons com
posed by others, than bad ones of his own
manufacture; though the latter was the
practice of our common teachers. He after
ward acknowledged to me, that none of
those he preached were his own ; adding that
his memory was such as enabled him to re
tain and repeat any sermon after once read
ing only. On our defeat, he left us in search
elsewhere of better fortune, and I quitted
the congregation never attending it after;
though I continued many years my sub
scription for the support of its ministers,"
. This minister was Samuel Hemphill, who
while a probationer in Ireland acted as supply
to the congregation at Burt, propounding doc
trines to which exceptions were taken by the
Rev, Patrick Vance, After Hemphill went to

SOURCE OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM 376
America Vance wrote to his brother-in-law, an
elder at Nottingham, Pa,, expressing an unfav
orable opinion of Hemphill. Hemphill however
presented credentials from the Presbytery of
Strabane, Ireland, and was hcensed to preach
and eventually he settled in Philadelphia as
Franklin has described. Although his sermons
gave such great satisfaction to Frankhn, who was
a deist, orthodox Presbyterianism promptly re
sented his teachings. The Rev. Jedediah An
drews, in a letter written June 14, 1735, gave the
following account of the situation:
"There came from Ireland one Mr.
Hemphill to sojourn in town for the winter,
as was pretended, till he could fall into busi
ness with some people in the country, though
some think he had other views at first, con
sidering the infidel disposition of too many
here. Some desiring that I should have as
sistance and some leading men, not disaf
fected to that way of Deism as they should
be, — ^that man was imposed upon me and
the congregation. Most of the best people
were soon so dissatisfied that they would not
come to the meeting. Free thinkers, deists,
and nothings, getting a scout of him, flocked
to hear, I attended all winter, but making
complaint brought the ministers together,
who acted as is shown in the books I send
you," Hemphill, when cited before the Presbytery,
asserted that Andrews was actuated by jealousy,

376 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
because there was always a larger audience
when Hemphill preached than when Andrews
preached. The ecclesiastical court met April 17,
1735, and the indictment of Hemphill's theology
was formulated in a series of articles. Hemp
hill's mode of defence seems to have been chiefly
the making of imputations on the motives of his
accusers. He also took the ground that his ut
terances had been misrepresented, meanwhile
displaying reluctance to declare just what he
did say and just what he did believe. Sufficient
was eventually extracted from him to elicit an
unanimous verdict that his teachings were un
sound and dangerous and he was suspended from
the ministry. Hemphill posed as a martyr, and
issued a statement that the commission of the
Presbytery which tried him had "no pattern for
their proceedings but that helhsh tribunal the
Spanish Inquisition." The Synod approved the
action of the Presbytery and Hemphill sent a
communication in which he said: "I shall think
you do me a deal of honor if you entirely excom
municate me."
At one time Hemphill had such a following
that Presbytery and Synod were the tar
gets of a pamphlet warfare. In the midst of
this hubbub came the announcement of Hemp-
hill's systematic plagiarism. The evidence was
incontrovertible as the sermons by various authors

SOURCE OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM 377
which he had taken and passed off for his own
had been published in England, and he made the
mistake of supposing that copies would not get
into the American colonies. Franklin, as ap
pears from his own account, continued to uphold
Hemphill even after the exposure, but the martyr
was now shown to be an impostor and his popu
larity suddenly collapsed. He moved away and
nothing is known of his subsequent career. He
was an early example of the clever, plausible
sophist, a type that from time to time appears
in the ministry, but is better assured of a career
in our own time than it was in the pioneer stage
of the American church. Although the need of
ministers was so great that easy judgment of
qualifications would have been a natural ten
dency, yet the early Presbyterians seem to have
been firm in their discipline. Notwithstanding
HemphiU's marked success as a popular preacher
and the formidable championship that rallied to
his support, the Presbytery did not flinch from
discharging its duty, and the commission that
tried HemphiU was unanhnous in its decision.
The incident seems worthy of particular detail
for perhaps more than any other event it iUus-
trates the courage and loyalty of the founders
of the Presbyterian Church of the United States.

CHAPTER XIV
Expansion South and West
The introduction of Presbyterianism in South
Carolina was almost coeval with the Chesapeake
Bay settlements. The first Presbyterian settlers
were Scotch, being part of the migration to
America from Scotland that set in after the
battle of BothweU in 1684. A body of twenty-
two sailed from Glasgow to Carohna and set
tled at Port Royal on the Broad River. Wilham
Dunlap served as minister to this flock, which
eventually dispersed as the place proved un
healthy and the colony broke up. Dunlap re
turned to Scotland and eventually became Prin
cipal of the University of Glasgow.
A number of Puritan ministers from New
England went to Carolina and founded churches
of the Congregational pattern, but distinctive
Presbyterianism again entered the region in
1699, as an accidental consequence of the attempt
made to establish a Scotch colony on the Isthmus
of Darien. With the breakup of that colony the
majority of the emigrants sought refuge in New
England, but one of the ministers, Alexander
Stobo, was with a party that set sail for Scotland.
378

EXPANSION SOUTH AND WEST 379
The vessel was so damaged by a storm that it
made for America and Stobo was landed at
Charleston, S. C. The Puritan congregation
there had just lost its pastor, John Cotton, who
died September 8, 1699. Stobo received a caU
and he settled with them, remaining there the rest
of his life. It was not, however, until the Church
had been recruited by Scotch-Irish immigration
that Presbyterianism became strong enough to
display its characteristic organization in the
Carolinas. When the General Assembly was
formed three Carolina Presbyteries were repre
sented. Orange, South Carolina and Abing
don. But all three Presbyteries were derived
from the activities of the Synod of Philadelphia.
New Castle Presbytery, created in 1716 by
subdivision of the original Presbytery of Phil
adelphia, was the parent in 1755 of Hanover
Presbytery, Virginia, out of which were formed
Orange Presbytery in 1770 and Abingdon in
1785. South Carolina Presbytery was formed
out of Orange Presbytery in 1784.
Organized Presbyterianism was communicated
to the South by the ministers who accompanied
Scotch-Irish emigration from Pennsylvania
southward, moving down the valleys that stretch
from Pennsylvania and Maryland into Virginia.
Beginning in 1732 a stream of Scotch-Irish emi
gration poured into the Shenandoah VaUey in

380 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Virginia and the first Presbyterian minister in
that region was probably Samuel Gelston. He
was born in the North of Ireland in 1692, and
emigrated to America in 1715. After having
held a number of charges in Pennsylvania and
New York, he seems to have visited Virginia
in 1735. Little is known of his labors there ex
cept that they were so acceptable that a call for
his services was sent to Donegal Presbytery of
which he was then a member. In 1736 the
Presbyterjr directed him to supply Pequea
church, but in the following spring he notified
the Presbytery that he was about to remove from
its bounds and was dismissed. No record of his
subsequent career seems to have been preserved,
although he is said to have lived to the age of
ninety. The records of the Synod of Philadelphia note
an application for ministerial supply made in
1719 by "the People of Potomoke," beheved to
be identical with the congregations of Falling
Water and Tuscorara, near the present town of
Marthisburg. The Rev. Daniel MagiU, who
came from Scotland in 1713, was appointed to
visit them. He made a stay of several months
and reported the following year that he had "put
the people into church order." The people de
sired him to settle as their pastor but he declmed
the call.

EXPANSION SOUTH AND WEST 381
The first minister to settle in Virginia under
the jurisdiction of the Synod of Philadelphia was
John Craig. He was born in Ireland, September
21, 1710, but was educated in America. He
presented himself to Donegal Presbytery in the
faU of 1736, was taken on trial the following
spring and was hcensed August 30, 1738. He
was at first employed as a supply in Maryland,
but toward the close of 1739 he was sent to Irish
Tract and other places in Virginia. He formed
two congregations in the south part of what is
now Augusta County, Va. In April, 1740, he re
ceived a call from what was described as the con
gregation of the Triple Forks of Shenandoah,
but the places where the meeting-houses were
situated were known as Augusta and Tinkhng
Springs. This region, being southwest of the
Blue Ridge, was exposed to Indian raids and
Braddock's defeat imperiled the safety of the
settlement. Craig encouraged his people to
stand their ground. The church was fortified,
and men brought their rifles and posted sentries
when attending service. Through the measures
taken the community held together and sustained
little loss although Indians prowled in the
vicinity. Craig resigned the pastoral care of Tinkling
Springs church in November, 1764, but he re-
mamed in charge till his death, April 21, 1774,

882 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
aged sixty-three. He appears to have had in a
marked degree the adaptabihty and resourceful
ness of a pioneer. It is related of him that when
asked how he found suitable persons for elders in
new settlements, where he organized churches,
he replied, "When there were no hewn stone I
just took dornicks," When he resigned the
Tinkling Springs charge in 1764 he was able to
say to the congregation: "Few and poor and
without order, were you when I accepted your
call; but now I leave you a numerous, wealthy
congregation, able to support the Gospel and of
credit and reputation in the Church,"
Thus far the work of Presbyterian ministers
in Virginia had been mainly in the nature of
supply to congregations formed by the Scotch-
Irish settlers. But a period of active missionary
and evangehstic work foUowed in which the
leader was William Robinson, He was of Eng
lish Quaker ancestry and on coming to America
he settled in Hopewell, N, J., as a school teacher.
While teaching he also studied at the Log Col
lege, so he was a recruit to Presbyterianism made
by the Tennents. In the winter of 1742 Robin
son went into the Valley of Virginia, traveling
southward until he penetrated North Carohna,
where he spent the winter enduring hardships
that affected his health. He returned along the
eastern slope of the Blue Ridge, achieving great

EXPANSION SOUTH AND WEST 383
success as an evangehst. His missionary tour
had a marked effect in spreading Presbyterian
ism, His aptitude was for evangehstic work
rather than for the work of a settled pastor.
From Virginia he went to New York State and
thence to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where
in 1745 there was a marked revival under his min
istrations. The Synod of New York at its first meeting,
September, 1745, considered the situation in Vir
ginia and was unanimously of the opinion that
Mr, Robinson was the most suitable person to be
sent, and earnestly recommended him to visit
that field as soon as his circumstances would per
mit. Robinson was present at that meeting and
probably intended to go, but meanwhile he be
came interested in a congregation at St, George's,
Del,, where there had been a revival under
his visit, and the last six months of his life was
spent in their services. He died August 1, 1746.
He bequeathed most of his books to Samuel
Davies and left it as a last request that Davies
should take up the work in Virginia. The mhi
istry of Davies was the great organizing influence
of pioneer Presbyterianism in Virginia, but there
were others prior to him in point of tune among
Robinson's successors.
John Blair, bom in Ireland in 1720, educated
at the Log College and hcensed by the New Side

384 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Presbytery of New Castle, was ordained Decem
ber 27, 1742, as pastor of congregations in Cum
berland County, Pa. He visited Virginia soon
after Robinson and organized congregations east
and west of the Blue Ridge. In 1746 he made
another visit to Virginia and again organized a
number of congregations. He resigned his pas
toral charge in Pennsylvania in December, 1748,
owing to Indian invasions. He became associ
ated with his brother, Samuel Blair, in carrying
on the school at Fagg's Manor. In 1767 he be
came Professor of Divinity and Moral Philos
ophy in the CoUege of New Jersey, Princeton,
and for a period acted as President, until Dr.
Witherspoon was elected to that office in 1769.
Blair resigned and accepted a caU to WaUkill, in
the Highlands of New York. He died, Decem
ber 8, 1771.
John Roan, bom in Ireland, educated at the
Log College, was licensed by the New Side Pres
bytery of New Castle and sent to Virginia in the
winter of 1744, He made trouble by his attacks
on the Established Church, and was indicted for
libelous utterances. Gilbert Tennent and Sam
uel Finley interested themselves in his defense
and the case broke down, as there was no evi
dence that he had used the expressions imputed
to him. The man who made the information on
which the indictment was found practicaUy con-

EXPANSION SOUTH AND WEST 385
fessed perjury by fleeing. His Virgmia mission
flnished. Roan settled in Pennsylvania as pastor
of the congregations of Derry, Paxton and
Mount Joy. Toward the close of his life he
again went on extensive missionai-y tours and at
one time spent eight weeks on the South Branch
of the Potomac. He died October 3, 1775, and
was buried at Derry meeting-house on the
Swatara. Wilham Dean went with Eliab Byram of the
Synod of New York to the Valley of Virginia
and preached there in 1745-1747. Dean was one
of the graduates of Log College, was taken on
trial by New Brunswick Presbytery August 3,
1741, was licensed October 12, 1742, and was sent
to Neshaminy and the Forks of the Delaware, by
which term was designated the country in the
angle between the Lehigh River and the Dela
ware. It was then Indian country but Scotch-
Irish settlements had been made in the region.
Later he was appointed to supply at the Forks
of Brandywine and Pequea. He went to Vir
ginia and as a result of his labors there he re
ceived a call from the church at Tunber Ridge
and Forks of James River, May 18, 1748. Be
fore action was taken on the call he died, July 29,
1748, aged only twenty -nine, Byram, his asso
ciate in the Virginia field, was of New England
stock and was graduated at Harvard University

3S6 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
in 1740. He became minister of Roxiticus, now
Mendham, N. J,, in October, 1743, under the
care of New York Presbytery, His work in
Virginia was limited to the tour made with Dean,
and although he received a call he declined to
settle in Virginia, He joined New Brunswick
Presbytery May 22, 1751, and settled at Am-
well, June 25, He died before May, 1754,
Samuel Davies, whom Dr, Briggs declares to
be "one of the greatest divines the American
Presbyterian Church has produced," was born
November 3, 1723, in the county of New Castle,
now in the State of Delaware, but then in the
Province of Pennsylvania, He is supposed to
have been of Welsh descent. He lived on a farm
and did not attend school until he was ten, learn
ing meanwhile what his mother could teach him.
He went to school first to the Rev, Abel Morgan,
afterward the Baptist minister at Middletown,
N, J, He pursued his studies under the Rev,
Samuel Blair, at Fagg's Manor, Chester County,
Pa, The influence of Blair and Gilbert Tennent
attracted him to the Presbyterian ministry. He
was licensed by New Castle Presbytery, July. 30,
1746, at the age of twenty-three and ordained an
evangelist February 19, 1747. The same year he
went to Virginia and in 1748 settled at Hanover
as pastor.
At that time there were three Presby-

EXPANSION SOUTH AND WEST 387
terian ministers in Virginia, Samuel Black, in
Albemarle County near Rockfish Gap, of the
Blue Ridge ; the Rev. John Craig and Alexander
Miller in what was then Augusta County, west
of the Blue Ridge, These were all Irish born
and were connected with the Presbytery of Done
gal, belonging to what was then called Old Side,
Davies as a member of New Side Presbytery
would not count on any assistance from them.
Of the situation with which he had to cope
Davies himself gave the following account:
"There are meeting-houses licensed in five
different counties in this part of the State,
but the extremes of my charge lie 80 or 90
miles apart; and the dissenters under my
care are scattered through six or seven dif
ferent counties, , , . The counties are large,
generally 40 or 50 miles in length, and about
20 or 30 in breadth ; so that though members
may live in one county, it would be impossi
ble for them all to convene at one place,
and much more so when they are dispersed
through so many counties. Though there
are now seven places of worship licensed, yet
the nearest to each other are 12 or 15 miles
apart ; and many have to travel from 10, 15
or 20 miles to the nearest, and from 40 to 60
mUes to the other places licensed; nay some
of them have from 30 to 40 miles to the near
est place of worship,"
Of the effect of his labors the amplest acknowl
edgment has come from opponents. In Dr.

388 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Hawks' history of the Protestant Episcopal
Church in Virginia, he mentions Davies as the
chief instrument in the upbuilding of Presbyter
ianism. When he settled in Hanover County
"there were not ten avowed dissenters within one
hundred miles of him." Inside of three years he
had established seven meeting-houses, three in
Hanover County, one in Henrico, one in Caro
line, one in Louisa and one in Goochland.
Among these houses, some of them forty miles
apart, he divided his labors. In addition to be
ing a zealous missionary and an eloquent preacher
he was an able man of affairs. He was harassed
in his work by a contention that his proceedings
were illegal, on the ground that the Enghsh Act
of Toleration did not extend to Virginia. That
position was taken by Peyton Randolph, Attor
ney-General of Virginia, On one occasion Davies
argued the point with him in court. Mr. Hawks
remarks: "He was frankly acknowledged to have
sustained his cause with great learning and elo
quence." It eventually turned out that Davies
was in the right on the law of the case. When
Davies visited England, in 1753, with Tennent to
collect funds for Princeton College, he took the
matter up with the Attorney- General, Sir Dud
ley Rider, and obtained from him an opinion that
the Enghsh Act of Toleration was the law of
Virginia,

EXPANSION SOUTH AND WEST 389
Davies returned to Virgmia in Febmary, 1755,
and resumed his indefatigable labors. There
were two months of 1757 in which he traveUed
500 miles and preached forty sermons. On
August 16, 1758, he was elected President of
Princeton, but he doubted whether he should for
sake the Virginia field, and recommended Samuel
Finley as better quahfied than hunself. But the
trustees reelected him. May 9, 1759, and the
Synod of New York and Philadelphia dissolved
his pastoral relation, Davies was inaugurated
September 26, and apphed himself energetically
and successfully to the duties of his position but
his term was brief. At the close of 1760 a friend,
alluding to the sermon expected from Davies on
New Year's day, remarked that his predecessor
Aaron Burr had begun the last year of his life
with a sermon on Jeremiah, xxviii, 16: "This
year thou shalt die." Davies selected the same
text, and died a little more than a month later,
February 4, 1761.
Davies's picture in Nassau Hall, Princeton
University, shows a man of plethoric habit, the
ruddiness of his face emphasized by his large wig.
Yet in early life he came near dying of consump
tion. He married October 23, 1746, and on Sep
tember 15, 1747, his wife was dead with her infant
son. His own health was such that it seemed
there was nothing more for him to do than to

380 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
spend freely what was left of it. He went to the
Eastern Shore of Maryland, engaged actively hi
evangelistic work, suffering from fever by night
and riding and preaching day and evening in the
extremest cold of winter. As it turned out, in
thus losing his hfe he was saving it as he was un
wittingly taking what is now known as the fresh
air cure. His health had been restored when he
went to Virginia and after settling in Hanover
he married again, October 4, 1748. When he
went to Princeton he became an indoor man.
He left off his habit of riding and gave himself
up to study, rising with the dawn and continuing
his labors till midnight. The ailment of which he
died started as a bad cold and then fever set in,
ending fatally after an illness of ten days. He
was only in his thirty-eighth year.
Although Davies was not himself of Scotch-
Irish stock yet his career is so intimately asso
ciated with the spread of the Scotch-Irish
settlements in the South and Southwest and was
such a formative influence that it merits special
consideration. For one thing the evidence points
strongly to the fact that Davies was the founder
of a school of oratory that profoundly affected
forensic method in Ajnerica, whether in the
forum, in the pulpit or at the bar. It is known
that Patrick Henry as a child used to be taken to
hear Davies preach, and in after life he used to

EXPANSION SOUTH AND WEST 391
say that he had drawn inspiration from Davies
for his own oratory, which certainly bears the
marks of Davies's style. An extract wiU be suf
ficient proof. After Braddock's defeat in 1755
Davies was active in rousing the people to defend
the frontier against the French and Indians, and
on May 8, 1758, by invitation he preached a ser
mon to the militia of Hanover County, at a gen
eral muster. In this discourse Davies said:
"Need I inform you what barbarities and
depredations a mongrel race of Indian sav
ages and French Papists have perpetrated
upon our frontiers ? How many deserted or
demolished houses and plantations? How
wide an extent of country abandoned ? How
many poor families obliged to fly in conster
nation and leave their all behind them?
What breaches and separations between the
nearest relations? What painful ruptures
of heart from heart? What shocking dis
persions of those once united by strongest
and most endearing ties? Some lie dead,
mangled with savage wounds, consumed to
ashes with outrageous flames, or torn and de
voured by the beasts of the wilderness, while
their bones lie whitening in the sun, and
serve as tragical memorials of the fatal spot
where they fell. Others have been dragged
away as captives and made the slaves of cruel
and imperious savages; others have made
their escape, and live to lament their butch
ered or captivated friends and relations. Ik
short, our frontiers have been drenched with
the blood of our fellow-subjects through the

393 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
length of a thousand miles, and new wounds
are still opening. We, in those inland parts
of the country are as yet unmolested,
through the unmerited mercy of Heaven.
But let us glance a thought to the western
extremities of our body-politic, and what
melanchoUy scenes open to our view! Now
perhaps while I am speaking, now while you
are secure and unmolested, our fellow sub
jects there may be feeling the calamities I
am now describing. Now, perhaps, the sav
age shouts and whoops of Indians and the
screams and groans of some butchered fam
ily, may be mingling their horrors and cir
culating their tremendous echoes through the
wilderness of rocks and mountains,"
Davies had a successor in the Valley of Vir
ginia who perhaps attained even greater fame as
an orator, though this was probably due to acci
dental circumstances rather than to real pre
eminence. This was James Waddel, who was
born at Newry in the North of Ireland in July,
1739, but emigrated with his parents to Pennsyl
vania while a child. He was educated at the
school of Dr, Samuel Finley (later President of
the college at Princeton), at Nottingham, Cecil
County, Md. He intended to practice medicine
but entered the ministry through Davies's influ
ence. He was licensed in 1762 and in 1764 re
ceived a call to Tinkling Springs Church to
succeed Craig, who had retired, but dechned it in

EXPANSION SOUTH AND WEST 393
favor of a charge on the Northem Neck, where
he remained until his health was broken by the
malarial fever prevalent in that region. In 1776,
another call having been made by Tinkling
Springs Church, he accepted it and his health im
proved in the mountain air. In 1783 he organized
a congregation at Staunton to which he minis
tered in conjunction with his Tinkling Springs
charge, the joint salary being forty-five pounds,
A few years later he removed to an estate which
he had purchased in Louisa, where he taught a
select school. He was a fine classical scholar, and
a man of cultivated literary taste. Some of his
pupils became men of distinction, such as Gover
nor Barbour of Virginia and Meriwether Lewis,
the explorer of the Rocky Mountains. After his
removal to Louisa he lost his sight from cataract,
but continued to preach, and it was during that
period that William Wirt, then a rising lawyer,
later Attorney-General of the United States, was
thrilled by Waddel's eloquence, and wrote an
account of it that has become classic.
Wirt relates that he was travehng through
Orange County when his eye "was caught by a
cluster of horses tied near a ruinous, old wooden
house, hi the forest not far from the roadside."
Moved chiefly by curiosity he stopped, "to hear
the preacher of such a wildemess." On entering
he saw "a tall and very spare old- man; his head,

394 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
which was covered with a white linen cap, his
shriveled hands and his voice, were all shaking
under the influence of the palsy; and a few mo
ments ascertained to me that he was perfectly
blind," Evidently there was nothing in the ap
pearance of the preacher to prepare Wirt for
what was to follow. He goes on to say : "It was
a day of the administration of the sacrament;
and his subject, of course, was the passion of the
Saviour, I had heard the subject handled a
thousand times ; I thought it exhausted long ago.
Little did I suppose that in the wild woods of
America, I was to meet with a man whose elo
quence would give to this topic a new and more
sublime pathos, than I had ever before wit
nessed," Wirt gives a 'vivid account of the effect
upon the congregation of the picture drawn by
the preacher of the scene of the Crucifixion :
"I began to be very uneasy for the situ
ation of the preacher. For I could not con
ceive how he would be able to let his audience
down from the height to which he had wound
them, without impairing the solemnity and
dignity of his subject, or perhaps shocking
them by the abruptness of the fall. But —
no ; the descent was as beautiful and subhme
as the elevation had been rapid and enthusi
astic. . . .
"The first sentence with which he broke
the awful silence, was a quotation from
Rousseau: 'Socrates died like a philosopher,
but Jesus Christ hke a God.'

EXPANSION SOUTH AND WEST 395
"I despair of giving you any idea of the
effect produced by this short sentence, un
less you could perfectly conceive the whole
manner of the man, as well as the peculiar
crisis in the discourse. Never before did I
completely understand what Demosthenes
meant by laymg such stress on delivery.
You are to bring before you the venerable
figure of the preacher; his blindness, con
stantly recalling to your recollection old
Homer, Ossian and Milton, and associating
with his performance the melanchoUy gran
deur of their geniuses; you are to imagine
that you hear his slow, solemn, well accented
enunciation, and his voice of affecting,
trembling melody ; you are to remember the
pitch of passion and enthusiasm to which the
congregation were raised; and then the few
moments of portentous deathlike silence
which reigned throughout the house; the
preacher removing his white handkerchief
from his aged face (even yet wet from
the recent torrent of his tears), and slowly
stretching forth the palsied hand which holds
it, begins the sentence, 'Socrates died like a
philosopher' — then pausing, raising his other
hand, pressing them both clasped together,
with warmth and energy to his breast, lift
ing his sightless eyes to heaven and pouring
his whole soul into his tremulous voice, — 'but
Jesus Christ — like a God!' If he had been
indeed and in truth an angel of light, the
effect could scarcely have been more
divine, , , .
"If this description gives you the impres
sion, that this incomparable minister had

396 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
anything of shallow, theatrical tricks in his
manner, it does him great injustice. I have
never seen in any other orator such a union
of simphcity and majesty. He has not a
gesture, an attitude or an accent, to which
he does not seem forced by the sentiment
which he is expressing. His mind is too
serious, too earnest, too solicitous, and at the
same time, too dignified, to stoop to artifice.
Although as far removed from ostentation
as a man can be, yet it is clear from the train,
the style, and substance of his thoughts that
he is, not only a very polite scholar, but a
man of extensive and profound erudition.
"This man has been before my imagina
tion almost ever since. A thousand times,
as I rode along, I dropped the reins of my
bridle, stretched forth my hand, and tried to
imitate his quotation from Rousseau ; a thou
sand times I abandoned the attempt in de
spair, and felt persuaded that his peculiar
manner and power arose from an energy of
soul, which nature could give, but which
no human being could justly copy. . . .
"Guess my surprise, when on my arrival
at Richmond, and mentioning the name of
this man, I found not one person who had
ever before heard of James Waddel!! Is it
not strange, that such a genius as this, so ac
complished a scholar, so divine an orator,
should be permitted to languish and die in
obscurity, within eighty miles of the me
tropolis of Virginia?"
These rather copious extracts have been given
of Wirt's description of a pioneer Scotch-Irish

EXPANSION SOUTH AND WEST 397
preacher because of the force with which they dis
play the fact that although preachers of his class
may have been poor in circumstances and ob
scure in social position they could be great
orators and erudite scholars. At the time Scotch-
Irish immigration became a notable influence in
the population of the colonies the American sea
board had been settled over a century, and a
social elegance had been established in the older
capitals vying with that of the old country, whose
fashions in life and literature were assiduously
copied by provincial coteries. As has already
been pointed out Scotch-Irish immigration flowed
around and beyond the old settlements into new
territory, carrying with the stream an educated
clergy whose high attainments were unkno-vvn to
the centers of American culture. As Mr, Wirt
remarked, nobody in Richmond had ever heard
of Waddel, But despite this obscurity Waddel
was the exponent of a forensic method that
founded a school of oratory and had a marked
effect upon literary style. The evidence points
strongly to the fact that the Scotch-Irish preach
ers were the agents by whom heavy prose style
derived from England was superseded by the
warm, vivid, direct energetic expression of
thought and feelings characteristic of American
oratory from the time of Patrick Henry down to
the present time. The eighteenth century stands

398 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
out in Enghsh hterature as a transition period.
The luxuriance of Elizabethan forms was trim
med and repressed. Literature was made neat
and formal. In the hands of such masters as
Johnson and Gibbon prose style attained a stately
elegance that suggests the silk waistcoats and the
full bottomed wigs of the period. In the hands
of less skillful practitioners it was a style that
inclined to ungainly affectations and cumbrous
pedantry. Illustrations of these characteristics
abound in the works of the Mathers, particularly
in Cotton Mather's Magnalia. Jonathan Ed
wards exhibits probably the highest colonial at
tainment in the classic form of eighteenth century
style. Together with precision of form and logi
cal force he combined a pithy directness of ex
pression that was the precursor of the simplicity
and ease of nineteenth century prose. But eman
cipation of pulpit style and political oratory from
the artificiahty of eighteenth century method was
the work of Wesley and Whitefield hi England,
men whose zeal and emotion needed ampler chan
nels for expression than were afforded by the
conventional forms. The Tennents, particularly
Gilbert Tennent, substituted the new hortatory
method for the old pulpit dissertation, under
the direct influence of Whitefield and in close
association with hun during his American tour.
How effective that method was in hnpressing the

EXPANSION SOUTH AND WEST 399
feehngs and in influencing conduct, we have im
pressive testimony from Benjamin Franklin,
than whom there could be no more prudent and
circumspect an observer. In his Autobiography
he tells in the plain, matter-of-fact, unemotional
style characteristic of the man how in spite of
himself he had to yield his judgment to the per
suasion of Whitefield's eloquence.
The new style, which was in effect a personal
harangue, was liable to serious defects. It ad
mitted possibilities of rant and incoherence
against which the older method guarded. Criti
cism on this score was directed against Gil
bert Tennent himself. It appears to have been
the special work of Davies and his successors to
systematize the new method, imparting to it dig
nity and character, and establishing its artistic
canons. In so doing a distinctively American
school of oratory was founded, whose best ex-
amplies vie with the finest passages of literature
the world can furnish. But it is also a method
that in incapable hands produces the style that
has become popularly known as "highfalutin."
Tinsel rhetoric, affected emotion and pumped
enthusiasm became ordinary adjuncts of public
discourse, and dreadful examples of this sort
may still be found in the Congressional Record.
But the fact that the style has degenerated untU
it is now insufferable does not detract from the

400 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
merit of the masters who unconsciously originated
it, in adapting pulpit method to the needs of the
times. With them that style was unaffected,
natural and sincere. The literary emancipation
in which they were leaders remains as a perma
nent gain since to it modern prose owes its ease
and freedom.

CHAPTER XV
Some Pioneer Preachers
The first settled pastor in North Carolina ap
pears to have been Hugh McAden who was born
in Pennsylvania, of Scotch-Irish parentage. He
was graduated at Nassau Hall in 1753, was li
censed by New Castle Presbytery in 1755, and
set out soon after on a missionary tour through
out North Carolina, his journal of which has
been preserved. He was in the Valley of the
Shenandoah when the news reached him of Brad
dock's defeat. He made the following entry in
his journal: "Here it was I received the most melan
choUy news of the entire defeat of our army
by the French at Ohio, the General killed,
numbers of the inferior officers, and the
whole artillery taken. This, together with
the frequent account of fresh murders being
daily committed upon the frontiers struck
terror to every heart. A cold shuddering,
possessed every breast, and paleness covered
almost every face. In short, the whole in
habitants were put into an universal con
fusion. Scarcely any man durst sleep in his
own house, but aU met in companies with
401

403 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
their wives and children and set about build
ing little fortifications, to defend themselves
from such barbarian and inhuman enemies,
whom they concluded would be let loose
upon them at pleasure."
McAden crossed the Blue Ridge with an
armed escort, and went southward, holding meet
ings as he went along. The first religious services
by him in North Carolina were held August 3,
1755. Although there was no settled pastor in
North Carolina at that time there were already
some Presbyterian meeting-houses in which the
people "used to gather for worship, McAden
went from place to place preaching and organiz
ing, using any convenient place for the purpose.
He records that at one place he preached in a
Baptist meeting-house to a people "who seemed
very inquisitive about the way to Zion," At
another time he "came up with a large company
of men, women and children who had fled for
their lives from the Cow and Calf pasture in
Virginia, from whom I received the melanchoUy
account that the Indians were still doing a great
deal of mischief in those parts, by murdering and
destroying several of the inhabitants, and banish
ing the rest from their houses and livings, where
by they are forced to fly into desert places,"
McAden himself was exposed to peril from
the Indians in North Carolina, when he extended
his missionary tour into the country occupied by

SOME PIONEER PREACHERS 403
the Catawba Indians, south of the river that
perpetuates their name. He uitended to visit
some settlements on Broad River, two young
men from which had come to guide him. At one
place just as they stopped to get breakfast they
were surrounded by Indians, shouting and hal
looing, and prying into their baggage. The
travelers moved off as fast as possible and the
Indians did nothing more than to make noisy
demonstrations. Later on they passed a camp
of Indian hunters who shouted to them to. stop
but they pushed on as fast as possible. Not
until they had ridden twenty-five miles did they
feel it safe to stop and get breakfast. McAden's
tour extended into the northwestern section of
South Carolina, never previously visited by
clergymen. He notes on November 2 that he
preached to people "many of whom I was told
had never heard a sermon, in all their lives before,
and yet several of them had families." McAden
relates an anecdote told him of an old man, who
said to the Governor of South Carolina, when in
those parts in treaty with the Cherokee Indians,
that he "had never seen a shirt, been in a fair,
heard a sermon or seen a minister." The Gover
nor promised to send a minister, that he might
hear one sermon before he died. A minister came
and preached; and this was all the preaching that
had been heard in the upper part of South Caro
lina before McAden's visit.

404 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
From this country McAden returned to North
Carolina, and preaching as he went he reached
Virginia and passed through Ameha County to
the house of a friend on the James River, at
which point his diary abruptly closes on May
9, 1756. McAden returned to South Carolina
and became the settled minister of the congrega
tions in Duplin and New Hanover. In 1759 he
joined Hanover Presbytery which then included
the greater part of Virginia and extended in
definitely southward. After a pastorate of ten
years his health became so poor that he resigned
his charge and moved to Caswell County, where
he resided until his death, June 20, 1781. To
the extent that his health permitted he continued
preaching up to the close of his career. Two
weeks before his death British forces encamped
in the grounds about the Red House Church,
close to McAden's dwelling. They ransacked
his house, destroying many of his private papers.
His remains lie in the burial ground of that
Church, about five miles from the present town
of Milton, N. C.
Presbyterianism in Kentucky as in the Caro
linas was introduced by Scotch-Irish mfluence.
Originally Kentucky was regarded as a part of
Fincastle County, Virginia. It was set off as a
separate county, with a municipal court, in 1776,
Among the first settlers such Scotch-Irish names

SOME PIONEER PREACHERS 405
occur as McAfee, McCoun and McGee. The set
tlers drew their ministerial supphes from the
Virginia Synod, the period being so late that as
a rule they were Ajnerican born. Among them
however was Robert Marshall, who was born in
County Down, Ireland, November 27, 1760, His
parents came to Western Pennsylvania in the
stream of emigration that flowed strongly just
before the outbreak of the War of Independence,
He enlisted in the army, although only a youth of
sixteen, and took part in six general engage
ments, one of which was the battle of Monmouth,
where he made a narrow escape, a bullet grazing
the hair of his head. He kept up his study of
mathematics while in the army and after the
war began studying for the ministry, being then
twenty-three. He was licensed by Redstone
Presbytery and entered the Virginia field. He
removed to Kentucky in 1791, as a missionary
appointed by the Synod. He was ordained June
13, 1793, as pastor of Bethel and Blue Spring
Churches, An early missionary whose activities extended
not only into Virginia and North Carolina but
also western Pennsylvania and eventually Ohio
was Charles Beatty, He was born in County
Antrim, Ireland, some time between 1712 and
1715, He accompanied a party of Scotch-Irish
who emigrated to America in 1729, and after a

406 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
stay in New England made a settlement in what
is now Orange County, New York, Although he
had received a classical education Beatty became
a pedlar and his entrance in the ministry is at
tributed to an accidental encounter with Wilham
Tennent, Beatty happened to call at the Log
College while on a trading tour, and as a jocose
recognition of its pretensions as an institute of
learning used Latin in offering his wares, Ten
nent rephed in Latin, and the conversation de
veloped such evidences of capacity in Beatty that
Tennent counseUed him to give up his pedlar's
business and prepare for the ministry. He pur
sued his studies at the Log College and was
licensed by New Brunswick Presbytery in 1742.
He was called to the Forks of Neshaminy, May
26, 1743. In 1754 the Synod sent him to Vir
ginia and North Carohna.
This was not long prior to Braddock's defeat
and that event probably interrupted Beatty's
Southern labors for he was back again in Penn
sylvania in 1755, and acted as chaplain to the
forces led by Benjamin Franklin. Franklin had
been commissioned by the Governor of Pennsyl
vania to take charge of the frontier and provide
for the defense of the settlers by building forts
and establishing garrisons. He recruited a force
of 560 and set out for Gnadenhutten, a viUage
settled by the Moravians. Indians had attacked

SOME PIONEER PREACHERS 407
it slaying the inhabitants, and Franklin thought
it was important that one of the proposed
forts should be erected there. Frankhn estab
lished his base at Bethlehem, which although-
in a county now in the tier immediately west of
New Jersey was at that tune close to Indian
country. Detachments were sent out to various
points, Franklin himself accompanying one that
went to Gnadenhutten. During the march ten
farmers who had received from Franklin supplies
of ammunition, with which they thought they
could defend their homes, were killed by the In
dians. Franklin himself had some anxiety as it
rained heavily, and he remarked: "It was well
we were not attacked in our march, for our arms
were the most ordinary sort, and our men could
not keep the locks of their guns dry. The In
dians are dexterous in contrivances for that pur
pose which we had not." The first night out
from Bethlehem the party took shelter from the
rain in a bam, where says Franklhi "we were all
huddled together as wet as water could make us."
The next day they arrived at Gnadenhutten
where their first task was to bury the bodies of the
massacred inhabitants. Beatty accompanied the
troops through these scenes, lookmg zealously
after their welfare. Franklin describes Beatty's
activity with sly humor:

408 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
"We had for our chaplain a zealous Pres
byterian minister, Mr. Beatty, who com
plained to me that the men did not generaUy
attend his prayers and exhortations. When
they were enlisted they were promised, be
sides pay and provisions, a giU of rum a day,
which was punctuaUy served out to them,
half in the morning and the other half in the
evening ; and I observed they were punctual
in attending to receive it ; upon which I said
to Mr. Beatty, 'It is perhaps below the dig
nity of your profession to act as a steward of
the rum ; but if you were only to distribute it
out after prayers, you would have them all
about you.' He liked the thought, under
took the task, and with the help of a few
hands to measure out the liquor, executed it
to satisfaction ; and never were prayers more
generaUy and more punctually attended."
A fort was erected at Gnadenhutten and soon
afterward Beatty left to go into Bucks County
and aid in recruiting. His services in that re
spect were speciaUy valuable as the Scotch-Irish
were a leading source of supply for soldiers both
in the Indian wars and later in the Revolutionary
War. In 1756 the Synod made a dispensation
of his services in favor of his service to the
Government, but in 1759 when there was another
call by the Pennsylvania authorities for his ser
vices, the Synod on accoimt of the state of his
congregation advised him not to go, but he was
permitted to act as chaplain to Colonel Arm
strong's regiment.

SOME PIONEER PREACHERS 409
Beatty's ability and energy made hun much in
request for missionary work of any kind. In
1760 the Corporation for the Widows' Fund sent
him to Great Britahi to raise funds and he went
with letters of introduction from Davies and
others. He was quite successful in this mission,
making collections in England and inducing the
General Assembly of the Scottish Kirk to order
a national collection. After his return to
America Beatty engaged in missionary work
that carried him through Western Pennsylvania
into Ohio. In 1766 the Synod sent Beatty on
a missionary tour to the frontiers of the Province.
Starting from Carhsle, Pa., in August of that
year, he penetrated as far west as the Indian
coimtry on the Muskingum River, Ohio, 130
miles beyond Fort Pitt, now Pittsburgh, and he
made an encouraging report as to the prospects
of missionary work among the Indians. In 1768
Beatty made another visit to Great Britain, this
time to put his wife under surgical treatment,
but she died soon after landing. Beatty returned
to his ministerial labors in America, but a few
years later he was again called to solicit funds
for the CoUege of New Jersey. In that interest
he sailed for the West Indies, but died August
13, 1772, soon after reaching Bridgetown in
Barbados. Another pioneer of Presbyterianism in the

410 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
West was John Steele, who came to America in
1742, as a probationer from Londonderry Pres
bytery. He was ordained by New Castle Pres
bytery, some time before May, 1744. He was
sent to the frontier and ministered to a congre
gation in the Upper West Settlement, now Mer-
cersburg, Franklin County, Pa. This region in
the southern part of the central section of the
State was then Indian country. Steele, who
was a man of courage and determination, put
himself at the head of his flock as its leader in
war as well as peace. He fortified his church,
and if it became necessary to send out a force
against the Indians he led it. A captain's com
mission was issued to him and he held it several
years. He spent his life in the western country.
In 1768 Penn solicited his aid to make a peace
able settlement "with people who had squatted on
land in the Youghiogheny region, and Steele
visited the country for that purpose, assembling
the people and reasoning with them. He died in
August, 1779.
Another noted pioneer in the western advance
of Presbyterianism was James Finley, who was
bom in County Armagh, Ireland, in February,
1725, but was educated in America under Samuel
Blair at the Fagg's Manor school. He was
hcensed by New Castle Presbyteiy and in 1752
was ordained pastor of East Nottingham Church,

SOME PIONEER PREACHERS 411
Cecil County, Md. In addition to pastoral work
he engaged in teaching. As lands in the
West became open for occupation emigration
among Finley's people began on so large a scale
that he joined the movement. He crossed the
mountains in 1765 and again in 1767. Thirty-
four heads of families belonging to Finley's con
gregation settled in Western Pennsylvania, and
the emigrants included three of Finley's sons.
He asked for a demission from his charge, that
he might follow them, but the congregation was
loath to give him up, and the Presbytery refused
his application. He appealed to the Synod
which dissolved the pastoral relation. May 17,
1782. He was caUed to Rehoboth and Round
Hill, both in the Forks of the Youghiogheny, in
the fall of 1784. He was commissioned by the
State Government both as Justice of the Peace
and as Judge of the Common Pleas. He retained
his Youghiogheny charge until his death, Janu
ary 6, 1795.
Church organization in western Pennsylvania
was later than in Virginia for the reason that
early emigration from the seaboard tended south
ward rather than westward. The valleys stretch
ing from middle Pennsylvania and Maryland
into Virginia supplied the fines of least resistance
upon which the settlement of the interior pro
gressed. Hanover Presbytery in Virginia was

412 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
organized in 1755; Carhsle Presbytery in cen
tral Pennsylvania was not organized until 1765.
The first Presbytery organized in western Penn
sylvania was Redstone in 1781, which became the
parent of Presbyteries in the western country
north of the Ohio just as Hanover Presbytery
became the parent of Presbyteries in the South
and Southwest.
Although Presbyterianism was historically the
ecclesiastical form with which the Scotch-Irish
stock was originally identified, transplantation to
the United States was soon followed by variation.
New England Congregationalism was recruited
by Ulster emigration. After the Revolutionary
War the Protestant Episcopal Church attracted
adherents. The son of James Wilson resigned
a judgeship to enter the Episcopal ministry, and
Bishop Mcllvaine came of a stock that origi
nally belonged to a Scotch-Irish settlement in
Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Bishop McKen-
dree, whose labors did much to extend the mem
bership of the Methodist Church, came of Scotch-
Irish stock. Alexander Campbell, who in 1827
founded a denomination that now ranks sixth
among American ecclesiastical bodies in number
of adherents, was born at Shaws Castle, County
Antrim, 1786.

CHAPTER XVI
Scotch-Irish Educational Institutions
The fact that originally Presbyterianism was
the product of historical research naturally set
up standards of scholarship for its ministry. The
grounds upon which rested the doctrhie of the
parity of ministerial orders in the primitive
Church were not to be discerned by inward hght
nor apprehended by emotional fervor. It was a
matter calling for historical knowledge, involv
ing familiarity with the languages in which the
records of the primitive Church were preserved,
Presbyterian ministry thus implied educated
ministry from its very nature.
Institutions of learning were therefore a
necessary accompaniment of the Presbyterian
Church, In Ulster it was the regular thing for
a candidate for the ministry to go to Scotland to
get a classical education as the foundation of his
theological studies. This insistence upon schol
arship as a ministerial qualification was sharp
ened by sectarian tendencies in favor of substi
tuting zeal for knowledge and private inspiration
for historical evidence. To fortify the ministry
413

414 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
against such tendencies particular attention was
paid to education from the earliest times. The
records of the Ulster Synod show that the edu
cational qualifications of the ministry received
steady care. Conditions in the New World put
fresh stress upon the need of an educated minis
try. The very freedom found there admitted of
vagaries that were repugnant to the orderly in
stincts of historical Presbyterianism, Zealots
appeared who claimed prophetic authority so
that they assumed the right to examine ministers
as to their opinions and behavior and pass judg
ment upon their spiritual state. An enthusiast
who once had a large following required his fol
lowers to give a practical exhibition of their re
nunciation of idolatry by casting into the flames
some ornament or finery in which they had taken
pride. A fire was actually kindled for the pur
pose, and his foUowers each took off some article
of dress or some ornament and tossed it into the
flames. A number of religious books which he
adjudged heretical were also cast into the fire.
Among them was one by the noted Puritan di
vine Dr. Increase Mather. Dr, Hodge remarks
of this period that an "enthusiastical and fanati
cal spirit , , . swept over the New England
churches," Gilbert Tennent, who himself gave counte
nance to the movement in its early stages, in a

SCOTCH-IRISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 415
letter dated February 12, 1742, remarked that
"experience had given him a clear view of the
danger of every thing which tends to enthusiasm
and divisions in the visible Church," He added:
"The sending out of unlearned men to teach
others, upon the supposition of their piety, in
ordinary cases, seems to bring the ministry into
contempt; to cherish enthusiasm, and to bring
all into confusion. Whatever fair face it may
have, it is a most perverse practice," This con
clusion was not reached until after controversies
engendered by the situation had disrupted the
Church, but in the end the effect was to impress
anew the need of an educated ministry and to
incite special exertions to supply the means.
As has been set forth in preceding chapters, an
educated ministry accompanied the Scotch-Irish
settlements in America, But Ireland was so far
away and communications were so hard and sb
slow that America could not depend upon Ulster
as a source in the way that Ulster so long de
pended upon Scotland, It was a comparatively
brief and easy matter for a student to go and
come between Ulster and Scotland by the short
sea-ferry; but if there was to be in America a
native born educated ministry, institutions of
learning had to be set up. Considerations of
this nature had impelled the New England Puri
tans to found Harvard and Yale, SimUar edu-

416 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
cational activity was evinced by the Ulster
Presbyterians when they settled in Pennsylvania.
In 1726 William Tennent, an Ulster clergyman
for some years resident in America, became pas
tor of the church at Neshaminy, Bucks County,
Pennsylvania. In 1728 James Logan gave Ten
nent fifty acres of land on Neshaminy Creek "to
encourage him to prosecute his views, and make
his residence near us permanent," On this tract
Tennent put up a school house and as it was
built of logs, it was familiarly known as the Log
College. But humble as was the building the
scholarship it sheltered was sound in quality and
ample for the times. No vestige of the building
remains but its work goes on.
This foundation, since so famous, passed al
most unnoticed at the time. The only contempo
rary reference appears to be that contained in
the journal of George Whitefield, the evangelist,
who visited the region during his preaching tours.
He made the following quaint entry in his jour
nal for 1739:
"The place wherein the young men study
now is, in contempt, called The College. It
is a log house, about twenty feet long, and
near as many broad, and to me, it seemed
to resemble the school of the old prophets,
for their habitations were mean; and that
they sought not great things for themselves
is plain from those passages of Scripture

SCOTCH-IRISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 417
wherein we are told that each of them took
a beam to build them a house; and that
at the feast of the sons of the prophets, one
of them put on the pot, whilst the others
went to fetch some herbs out of the field.
All that we can say of most of our universi
ties is they are glorious without. From this
despised place seven or eight worthy minis
ters of Jesus have lately been sent forth,
more are almost ready to be sent, and the
foundation is now laying for the instruction
of many others,"
Tennent carried on this school almost single-
handed. It was said of him that Latin was as
familiar as his mother tongue. According to a
biographical notice published in 1805, "his at
tainments in science are not so weU known, but
there is reason to believe that they were not so
great as his skill in language," As a teacher he
was singularly successful. He educated for the
ministry his four sons who added to the reputa
tion of the family name. Among his pupils were
such distinguished men as Samuel Blair, John
Rowland, James McCrea, WiUiam Robinson,
John Blair, Samuel Finley, John Roan, Charles
Beatty, Daniel Lawrence and Wilham Dean.
Probably no other school ever produced so many
eminent men in proportion to the number of its
pupUs. It was in this way the Log College be
came progenitor of numerous institutions of
learning, and not through any corporate connec-

418 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
tion. It was the expression of the powers of one
individual and did not survive him.
The Log CoUege was only one of a number of
schools that were precursors of the Princeton
foundation. There was not until 1746, in aU the
region between Connecticut and Virginia, any in
stitution authorized to confer degrees. But the
influx of Ulster clergymen led to the establishing
of schools that did valuable work. Samuel Blair,
born in Ireland, June 14, 1712, studied for the
ministry at the Log College, He was instaUed
pastor of a congregation at Fagg's Manor, Pa,,
in 1740, where he established a school which pro
duced such men as Samuel Davies, John
Rodgers, Alexander Cumming, James Finley,
Robert Smith and Hugh Henry, He died in
July 5, 1751.
Francis Alison, bom in Ireland in 1705 and
educated at the University of Glasgow, came to
America in 1734 or 1735, On the recommenda
tion of Benjamin Franklin he was employed by
John Dickinson of Delaware as tutor for his
son, with permission to take other pupils. He is
said to have had an academy at Thunder Hill,
Md. He was ordained pastor of New London,
Chester County, Pa., by New Castle Presbytery
in 1737, and in 1743 he started a school there,
which the Synod took under its patronage. In
1749 he was invited to Philadelphia to take

SCOTCH-IRISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 419
charge of a school there, which had been founded
through subscriptions obtained by Benjamin
Frankhn, This institution was the germ of the
University of Pennsylvania. Among his pupils
were Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Conti
nental Congress, and three signers of the Decla
ration of Independence, Thomas McKean,
George Read and James Smith.
Samuel Finley, born in County Armagh, Ire
land, in 1715, arrived in Philadelphia, September
28, 1734. He completed his studies at the Log
College. In 1741 he was appointed to the care
of several congregations, one of which was at
Nottingham, Md,, where he estabhshed a school
that became famous. Among his pupils were
Governor Martin of North Carolina, Ebenezer
Hazard of Philadelphia, Benjamin Rush and
Judge Jacob Rush, Dr. McWhorter of Newark,
Dr. Tennent of Abingdon and the famous James
Waddel, the blind preacher of A^irginia. John
H. Finley, Commissioner of Education of the
State of New York, is a descendant of the Rev.
James Finley, brother of Samuel Finley.
When the movement known as Methodism
stirred the Church, chiefly through the preaching
of George Whitefield, the controversies engen
dered by practices attending this movement in
cidentally put new emphasis upon education as
a qualification for the mhiistry. At the meeting

420 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
of the Synod of Philadelphia in 1738 the foUow
ing proposal from the Presbytery of Lewes was
adopted by a large majority:
"That every student who has not studied
. with approbation, passing the usual course
in some of the New England or European
CoUeges, approved by pubhc authority,
shaU, before he be encouraged by any Pres
bytery for the sacred work of the ministry,
apply himself to this Synod, and that they
appoint a committee of their members
yearly, whom they know to be weU skilled in
the several branches of philosophy and di
vinity, and the languages, to examine such
students in this place, and finding them weU
accomplished in those several parts of learn
ing shall aUow them a public testimonial
from the Synod, which till better provision
be made, will in some measure answer the
design of taking a degree in the College."
In 1739 the order was revised so as to provide
that the candidate for the ministry "shall be ex
amined by the whole Synod, or its commission as
to those preparatory studies, which we generally
pass through at the College, and if they find him
qualified, they shall give him a certificate, which
shall be received by our respective Presbyteries
as equivalent to a diploma or certificate from the
College." This action of the Synod was objected
to by the Tennents and other adherents of Log
College, as it seemed to ignore that institution
and to erect a Synodical CoUege. Trouble soon

SCOTCH-IRISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 421
broke out. The New Brunswick Presbytery dis
regarded the Synod's rule and licensed John
Rowland, a Log CoUege graduate. The Synod
declared this proceeding disorderly, admonished
the Presbytery and ruled that Rowland was not
to be admitted as a preacher until he submitted
to the Synodical examination. The Synod at the
same time appointed its commission to meet at
Philadelphia and "prosecute the design of erect
ing a school or seminary of learning." Ebenezer
Pemberton, Jonathan Dickinson, John Cross and
James Anderson were nominated, two of whom
were to go to Europe to solicit aid. This design
was not carried out at the time, but it traced the
lines on which eventually the College of New
Jersey was planned.
Underlying the dispute about ministerial quali
fications were differences as to church standards
and discipline, stirred up by the Methodist
movement and particularly by the preaching of
George Whitefield. President Ashbel Green, in
a historical sketch pubhshed in 1822, traced the
origin of the College of New Jersey to the rup
ture of 1741, by which the Synod of Philadelphia
was divided and the Synod of New York was or
ganized as a rival body. President Green says:
"Both Synods, from the time of their sep
aration, made strenuous exertions to educate
youth for the Gospel ministry; not only from

422 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
the laudable desire of extending the bless
ings of the Gospel to those who, in every di
rection, were then destitute of them, but
also from the less commendable motive of
strengthening and extending each its own
party. Thus circumstanced and disposed,
it was to be expected that the members of the
Synod of New York would endeavor to or
ganize their plans of education, in a province
where their peculiar views were prevalent
and popular. New Jersey was their undis
puted territory; and here if anywhere, they
might hope to found an institution in which
all their wishes might be realized. It hap
pened also that in this Province the ablest
champions of their cause, and the man of
their Synod who, in all respects, was the best
qualified to superintend and conduct the
education of youth, had his residence. This
was the Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, of Eliza
beth Town."
With the probable view of putting Dickinson
at the head of such an institution as could grad
uate recruits to the learned profession, a charter
was obtained from the Province of New Jersey,
the official attestation under the Great Seal being
made by Acting Governor John Hamilton, of
His Majesty's Council, October 22, 1746. This
charter was not recorded but its substance is
given in an advertisement which appeared in the
Pennsylvania Gazette of August 13, 1747, con
cluding with the announcement that the

SCOTCH-IRISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 423
"trustees have chosen the Rev. Mr. Jona
than Dickinson president, whose superior
Abilities are well known; and Mr. Caleb
Smith, tutor of the said college; and that
the college is now actually opened, to be kept
at Elizabeth Town, till a building can be
erected in a more central place of the said
Province for the residence of the Students;
that all who are qualified for it, may be im
mediately admitted to an academick educa
tion, and to such class and station in the
college, as they are found upon examination
to deserve ; and that the charge of the college
to each student, will be Four Pound a year .
New Jersey money, at Eight Shilhngs per
ounce, and no more."
It appears that the opening of the college thus
referred to took place in the fourth week of May,
preceding the announcement. Hatfield in his
History of Elizabeth states that "the first term
of the College of New Jersey, was opened at
Mr. Dickinson's house, on the south side of the
old Rahway road directly west of Race Street."
President Dickinson's term of administration
was brief, beginning in April, 1747, and closing
with his death on October 7, 1747. His educa
tional labors appear however to have been much
more extensive than his brief presidency might
indicate, as he had previously taken private
pupils. It is also certain that his pupils had
made very considerable progress, for less than a
year after his decease six persons received their

424 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Bachelor's degree. In addition to his activities as
minister and teacher Dickinson was also a prac
tising physician, in which profession he had con
siderable reputation.
Wilham Tennent died May 6, 1746. Log
College graduates had already joined forces with
the men from New York and northern New
Jersey in the formation at Elizabethtown, in Sep
tember, 1745, of the Synod of New Jersey. This
union of forces resulted in the application for a
charter for the College of New Jersey. Although
there is nothing in the nature of legal succession
to the Log College there is a strong tradition
of institutional filiation. The two institutions
are directly connected through devotion to the
same ideals and attachment to the same stand
ards. Both belonged to what was called the New
Side; both were in sympathy with the spiritual
revival, led by Whitefield. Practical expression
of this community of purpose was given by the
action of the trustees in associating with them
selves some distinguished graduates of the Log
College. The trustees named in the original
charter were William Smith, Peter Van Brugh
Livingston and William Peartree Smith, gentle
men, and Jonathan Dickinson, John Pierson,
Ebenezer Pemberton and Aaron Burr, minis
ters. These seven or any four of them were
granted power to select five more trustees and

SCOTCH-IRISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 425
they chose Gilbert Tennent, WiUiam Tennent,
Samuel Blair, Richard Treat and Samuel Fin
ley, all ministers. Of those five two were sons
of the founder of the Log College and all were
graduates, except Treat who hved at Abington
near the Log College.
What in the beginning differentiated the Col
lege of New Jersey from other early schools was
not its plant nor its equipment but its high pur
pose and broad pohcy. Its founders sought to
establish an institution of higher learning not as
a denominational agency but as an educational
foundation from which all the learned professions
would benefit. The original charter provided
that no person should be debarred "on account
of any speculative principles of religion," and
this policy was maintained from the first.
The original charter was not recorded and has
disappeared, although its substance is known
from the published announcements of the trus
tees. Its legality was open to suspicion, and the
arrival of Governor Belcher in the Province af
forded a happy opportunity of procuring a new
charter. Jonathan Belcher, son of a member of
the Royal Council in Massachusetts, was bom in
1681, and was graduated at Harvard in 1699.
His father then sent him to Europe to com
plete his education and he remained abroad six
years, during which time he became known to the

426 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Princess Sophia and her son, afterward King
George II, an acquaintance which eventuaUy led
to public honors. After his return to Boston he
lived there as a wealthy and pubhc spirited mer
chant. He was appointed a member of the
Council and in 1722 the Massachusetts Legisla
ture sent hhn to England as agent of the Prov
ince. In 1730 the King appointed him Governor
of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He held
this position for eleven years making enemies who
resorted even to forgery to discredit his adminis
tration. On being superseded he went to Eng
land and vindicated his character and conduct so
effectually that he was restored to royal favor
and promised the first vacant Governorship in
America. The vacancy occurring in New Jer
sey, he was sent to that Province, arriving in 1747
and remaining the rest of his hfe. As "Captain
General and Governor in Chief of the Province
of New Jersey, and territories thereon depend
ing in America, and Vice Admiral of the same,"
he lived in a style and practised a hospitahty be
fitting the dignity of his titles. He promptly
interested himself in the affairs of the nascent
College of New Jersey and actively exerted his
influence to make it worthy of its title. Not long
after his arrival he sent the following letter to his
cousin Wilham Belcher in England:

SCOTCH-IRISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 437
Sr. — This is a fine Clhnate and Countrey
of Great plenty tho' but of Little profit to a
Governour. The inhabitants are generaUy
rustick and without Education. I am there
fore attempting the buildhig up of a College
in the province for Instructing the youth in
the Principles of Religion in good Liter
ature and Manners and I have a Reasonable
View of bringing it to bear.
I am Sr
Your Friend and Very humble servant
J. Belcher.
Burlington, N. J.
Sept. 17, 1747.
Governor Belcher granted a new charter,
which passed the seal of the Province on Septem
ber 14, 1748. The preamble sets forth that "the
said Petitioners have also expressed their earnest
Desire that those of every rehgious Denomina
tion may have free and equal Liberty and Ad
vantages of Education in the said CoUege, any
different Sentiments in Religion notwithstand
ing." Under this charter the lay trustees were
made equal in number to those who were clergy
men and its undenominational character was
firmly established.
At the time of the granting of the second
charter the Rev. Aaron Burr was the Acting
President of the CoUege which after President
Dickinson's death had been removed to Newark.
The formal election of Mr. Burr to the presi-

428 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
dency did not take place until November 9, 1748,
at a meeting of the trustees in Newark. On the
same day the first commencement was celebrated
with much ceremony, although the graduating
class numbered only six. A set of laws for the
government of the coUege, probably prepared by
President Burr, was adopted by the trustees at
this time. The high standard of education al
ready set up is attested by the following pro
visions : "None may be expected to be admitted
into College but such as being examined by the
President and Tutors shaU be found able to ren
der Virgil and TuUy's Orations into Enghsh;
and to turn English into true and grammatical
Latin; and to be so well acquainted with Greek
as to render any part of the four Evangehsts in
that language into Latin or Enghsh ; and to give
the grammatical connection of the words."
During the ten years of President Burr's ad
ministration the infant coUege surmounted the
difficulties that confronted the struggling httle
school in which it had its beginning, and became
established in its permanent home. Its early
years undoubtedly owed much to the hearty sup
port of Governor Belcher. Named in the charter
as the first member of the Board of Trustees, he
was an active member, attending the meetings of
the board and interesting himself in the success
of the enterprise. At the meethig in Newark,

SCOTCH-IRISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 429
September 27, 1752, he made an address in which
he said that for the present there was no prospect
of aid from friends in Great Britain, but urged:
"In the meantime I think it our duty, to exert
ourselves, in all reasonable ways and measures
we can, for the aid and assistance of our friends
nearer home; that we may have wherewith to
build a house for the accommodation of the stu
dents, and another for the President and his
family. And it seems therefore necessary that,
without further delay, we agree upon the place
where to set those buildings."
In 1751 the trustees had voted in favor of
New Brunswick upon the strength of expecta
tions that were not realized. The trustees now
turned to Princeton and in response to Governor
Belcher's appeal it was voted, "That the CoUege
be fixed at Prmceton upon Condition that the In
habitants of sd. Place secure to the Trustees that
two Hundred Acres of Woodland, and that ten
Acres of clear'd land; which Mr. Sergeant
view'd; and also one thousand Pounds proc.
Money." The allusion is to Jonathan Sergeant,
the treasurer of the board, to whom the land
had been shown that the Princeton people pro
posed to give to the college. The conditions
were complied with to the satisfaction of the
board, and the business of collecting funds was
taken in hand. At a meeting of the board in

430 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Burlington, May 23, 1758, a committee was ap
pointed "to draw up an address in the name of
the trustees, to his ExceUency Governor Belcher,
humbly to desire that he would use his influence
in Europe, recommending the affair of the Col
lege by the gentlemen appointed to take a voyage
there to solicit benefactions for it." The two
gentlemen referred to were the Rev. Gilbert
Tennent of Philadelphia and the Rev. Samuel
Davies, then in Hanover Coimty, Va. They
went on their mission with strong credentials
and recommendations from Governor Belcher
and were able to coUect sufficient funds to
enable the trustees to proceed with the erection of
the main building. Ground was broken on July
29, 1754. Before the building was occupied Gov
ernor Belcher presented the college with his h-
brary, comprising 474 volumes, many of them
highly valuable. His dead of gift, after a cata
logue of the books, goes on to say that they are
given "together with my own picture at full
length, in a gilt frame, now standing in my blue
chamber; also one pair of globes, and ten pic
tures in black frames, over the mantelpiece in
my library room, being the heads of the Kings
and Queens of England; and also my large
carved gilded coat of arms." The trustees voted
an address of thanks, concluding with this
proposal:

SCOTCH-IRISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 431
"As the college of New Jersey views you
in the light of its founder, patron and bene
factor, and the impartial world wiU esteem
it a respect deservedly due to the name of
Belcher; permit us to dignify the edifice now
erecting at Princeton, with that endeared
appellation, and when your Excellency is
translated to a house not made with hands
eternal in the heavens, let Belcher Hall
proclaim your beneficent acts, for the ad
vancement of Christianity, and the emolu
ment of the arts and sciences, to the latest
ages." To this address Governor Belcher made a re
ply in which he said that it had seemed to him
"that a seminary for religion and learning should
be promoted in this Province; for the better en
lightening of the minds and pohshing the man
ners, of this and the neighboring colonies."
Hence "this important affair, I have been, during
my administration, honestly and heartily prose
cuting, in aU such laudable ways and measures
as I have judged most hkely to effect what we
all aim at." In conclusion he said:
"I take a particular grateful notice, of the
respect and honour you are desirous of do
ing me and my family, in calhng the edifice
lately erected in Princeton by the name of
Belcher Hall; but you will be so good as to
excuse me, while I absolutely decline such
an honour, for I have always been very fond
of the motto of a late grand personage.

433 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Prodesse quam conspici. But I must not
leave this without asking the favor of your
naming the present building Nassau HaU;
and this I hope you wiU take as a further
instance of my real regard to the future wel
fare and interest of the coUege, as it will ex
press the honor we retain, in this remote part
of the globe, to the immortal memory of the
glorious King William the third, who was
a branch of the illustrious house of Nassau."
In accordance with this recommendation
the trustees, at their meeting in Newark, Sep
tember 29, 1756, voted "that the said edifice be
in all tune to come, called and known by the
name of Nassau Hall." Thus it was that the
College of New Jersey received the name by
which it was best known. In fact its corporate
title was rarely used.
The building was ready for occupancy in the
fall of 1756 and in that year the students, then
about seventy in number, moved from Newark
into their new quarters. Governor Belcher did
not live to witness the prosperity of Nassau Hall
as he died at Elizabeth, August 31, 1757, aged
seventy-six. His body was taken to Cambridge,
Mass., for burial. He was a fine example of the
educated Puritan gentleman, combining dignity
of manners, refinement of taste and stately hos
pitality with sincere piety. He was Governor of
Massachusetts when Whitefield visited that

SCOTCH-IRISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 433
Province in 1740, and he showed the eloquent
preacher marked respect. He not only attended
Whitefield's meetings in Boston but followed hun
as far as Worcester, and urged him to continue
his faithful instructions sparing neither ministers
nor rulers. Belcher's picture in the faculty room
of Princeton University is a half length, showing
a gentleman in all the elegance of attire of his
period, full bottomed wig, lace ruffles and a
red vest. The handsome face is rather long, with
firmly moulded, strong features, expressive of
energy and resolution. The present picture is
not the one he gave to the college but is a copy
of a portrait. It is now one among a number of
portraits of Princeton worthies and does not in
dicate the distinction given to him in the hall as
arranged in 1761, the year in which the royal
portrait arrived. The hall then had a gallery at
one end, and at the other end was a stage for use
in the public exhibitions of the students. On one
side was the full length portrait of George II,
and on the other side was a like portrait of Gov
ernor Belcher, with his family arms above it,
carved and gilded. These fittings and adorn
ments were ravaged by the alternate occupancy
of the contending armies during the Revolution
ary War, the library presented by Governor
Belcher being also a sufferer. What survived
was consumed in a fire, on March 6, 1802, which

434 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
destroyed all of Nassau Hall except the bare
walls. The chief source of the funds for the
erection of Nassau Hall was the collection made
in Great Britain by Tennent and Davies, who
went out in 1753 and returned in the following
year. The Presbyterians both in England and
Scotland made contributions liberal for the times ;
and Ulster attested its own direct interest by
making special effort to raise money for the
New Jersey college. In view of the necessitous
condition of the Ulster people and clergy at that
period the action taken is a marked evidence of
the close tie between Ulster and American Pres
byterianism. As the official record of this event
does not appear in the church histories, it has
been transcribed from the Minutes of the General
Synod of Ulster, in session at Antrim, Thurs
day, June 27, 1754, as foUows:
"A Petition was presented to this Synod
by the Rev'd M^-. Gilb' Tennent in the name
of the Synod of N. York, & the Trustees of
the infant CoUedge of N. Jersey, & many of
the Inhabitants of the neighbouring Prov
inces representing that as they had laid a
foundation for a CoUedge & Seminary of
learning, w= they apprehend may be of im
portant service to the Interests of Religion
& Learning : & as they are not able to carry
this design to such perfection as is necessary

SCOTCH-IRISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 435
to answer the exigencys of Church & State
in these parts of His Majesties Dominions:
they therefore humbly supplicate for such
assistance as this Synod shall think proper,
particularly one Sab. days Collection hi the
several Congregations subject to this Synod
w* previous intimation for s^. Collection,
The Synod Judging the above s*^ Seminary
to be of great importance to the promotion
of the Interests of Rehgion & Learning in
several Provinces of N, America, unani
mously granted the Petition : & ordered that
public CoUections be made in aU the Con
gregations under their care, some time be
fore the first of Nov"^. next, in y^ meantime
recommending it to all the Members of this
Synod, to excite by proper exhortations
their several societies to this important
Charity."This is an exceptionally long minute to appear
upon the Synod's records. In addition to its earn
est recommendation the Synod appointed a col
lector in each Presbytery, to receive and transmit
the contributions. The circumstances of the
people were then such that it was very difficult
to get money for any purpose, but the Synod was
persistent in its efforts. At the meeting of the
General Synod, June 24, 1755, the following
minute was entered upon the records:
"There has been very little done by the
Pbys in the affair of the Charity to the Col
lege in N. Jersey, as appointed at last
Synod. This Synod renews the recommo-

436 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
dation, & enjoins the several Minrs to
represent it, in the warmest manner to their
Congregations: & to pay their CoUections
to the Gentlemen formerlie appointed, be
fore the first of Nov"", next,"
At the meeting in 1756 the matter is again
mentioned with the remark that "as some B".
here made contributions for that purpose the
Synod is well pleased with them," There is no
record of the exact amount obtained through
these coUections, but the entire amount raised in
Ireland was about 500 pounds ; in Scotland, over
1,000 pounds; in England, about 1,700 pounds.
It is remarkable that with such pressing needs
in the home field the Ulster Synod should have
taken such an active interest in a far distant
enterprise. This may be attributed to a con
sciousness that the Church in America was a
transplantation of the Church of Ulster, Prince
ton is undoubtedly a Scotch-Irish educational
foundation made upon their cherished principle
that what makes for learning and scholarship
makes for Presbyterianism.
Princeton was the fourth college to be estab
lished in the colonies, Harvard in 1638 being the
first, William and Mary in Virginia coming sec
ond in 1691, Yale third in 1701 and then Prince
ton in 1746. It was very advantageously situated
and from the first drew attendance from all the

SCOTCH-IRISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 437
region south of New England. A record of the
commencement exercises of September, 1764, in
President Finley's time, has been preserved
from which it appears that they were mainly in
Latin with the exception of "an Enghsh foren-
sick Dispute," concerning which President Fin
ley noted that it had been introduced because "it
entertains the English part of the Audience;
tends to the cultivation of our native Language,
and has been agreeable on former occasions;
which I presume are sufficient apologies for con
tinuing the custom," President Finley was a
Scotch-Irishman, a native of Coimty Armagh,
Ulster, The tenor of his note on the admission
of an English feature into the exercises shows
that he instinctively assumed that Latin was the
proper language of scholarship.
Mortality was very marked among the early
Presidents of Princeton, Dickinson, the first
President, did not live to see the first commence
ment. His successor. Burr, held the office for
ten years, and it was during his administration
that the college was securely established in
Princeton. In the next nine years Jonathan
Edwards, Samuel Davies and Samuel Finley
died, each while President of the University.
The vacancy created by Finley's death July 17,
1766, was not filled for two years, during which
time the Rev. Wilham Tennent, Jr., acted as

438 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
President. He was put in charge of that office
by the vote of the trustees at their meetmg June
25, 1766, at which time President Finley was
disabled from performing its duties by the ill
ness of which he soon afterward died. Mr,
Tennent, the second son of the founder of the
Log College, was pastor of the Presbyterian
church at Freehold, about twenty-three miles
from Princeton, so he could extend his activities
to cover both places, A charter member of the
Board of Trustees, he had always taken an active
interest in the management of the coUege,
In 1768 John Witherspoon, D,D., LL.D,, of
Paisley, Scotland, yielded to repeated sohcita-
tions and came to America to become the sixth
President of the CoUege of New Jersey. With-
erspoon's administration is of special importance
as it extended from 1768 to 1794, covering the
whole period of the Revolutionary War and the
formation of the national Government through
the adoption of the Constitution of the United
States. In those events through advantage of
position and through Witherspoon's personal
ability and influence Princeton played a great
part. Witherspoon was the son of a minister
whose parish was about eighteen miles from
Edinburgh. He was educated at the University
of Edinburgh where he distinguished himself for
his scholarship. From Beith where he was first

SCOTCH-IRISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 439
settled as a pastor he was called to the large and
flourishing toAvn of Paisley, where his labors es
tablished for hhn such a reputation that he
received numerous calls, among them one to
Dublin, Ireland, and one to Rotterdam, HoUand.
When called by the trustees of the College of
New Jersey to its presidency, he at flrst declined
owing to his wife's extreme aversion to leaving
Scotland; but when the call was reiterated he
accepted, moved by the conviction that it was
an opportunity of service that ought not to be
rejected. Witherspoon threw himself into the
cause of American learning and American liberty
with his whole heart and -wiU, Not only did his
administration enlarge the scholarship and aug
ment the instruction of Nassau HaU but the
active part which Witherspoon soon took in poli
tics gave a distinction to Princeton that had im
portant results. His pubhc activities hurt as
well as helped, for some youth from Tory fami
lies passed by Princeton to go to Yale, but on
the other hand there were New England students
who passed by Harvard and Yale to go to
Princeton, The result was that the College of
New Jersey became more of a national institu
tion than any other American college during the
colonial period, and it became a school of states
manship for the forming of the nation. Gaillard
Hunt, in his Life of James Madison, has made

440 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
an instructive analysis of Princeton influence in
the Revolutionary period. In discussing the rea
sons why James Madison of Virginia went to
Princeton rather than WiUiam and Mary Col
lege in his own State, Mr. Hunt says:
"He had the advantage of broader sur
roundings than would have been possible if
he had completed his education elsewhere in
America ; for Wilham and Mary was a local
college, and so were Harvard and Yale, ¦vrith
few students coming from any other colony
than the one in which each was situated. At
the College of New Jersey, on the other
hand, every colony was represented among
the students; and while New Jersey had a
few more than any other one colony, she had
not a fourth part of all the students, the
actual number being, when Madison en
tered, only nineteen Jerseymen out of
eighty-four students. Of the twelve stu
dents who graduated with Madison only
one, Charles McKnight, afterward dis
tinguished in the medical department of
the army of the Revolution, came from
New Jersey. Chief among Madison's com
panions in his own class were Gunning
Bedford of Delaware, Hugh Henry Brack-
enridge of Pennsylvania, and Philip Fre-
neau of New York."
To this unique position of Princeton must be
attributed its preponderating influence in the
formation period of American history. Before
Witherspoon's time Nassau Hall did its part in
turning out men quahfied for political emi-

SCOTCH-IRISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 441
nence. Richard Stockton, a member of the first
graduating class, was a member of the Conti
nental Congress of 1776-1777 and a signer of the
Declaration of Independence, Prior to the ac
cession of Witherspoon in 1768 the College of
New Jersey graduated 301 students of whom
the majority entered the ministry, but there were
many who turned to law and politics and became
eminent in pubhc life. Eighteen graduates of
this period became members of the Continental
Congress, Men of such national reputation as
Samuel Livermore of New Hampshire, Joseph
Shippen, Jr,, of Pennsylvania, Alexander Mar
tin of North Carolina, Joseph Reed of Pennsyl
vania, Benjamin Rush of Pennsylvania, William
Paterson of New Jersey, Oliver Ellsworth
of Connecticut and Luther Martin of Mary
land were graduated during this period. With
the accession of Witherspoon the trend of the
times began to shift the interest of the students
strongly to pubhc affairs. In the twenty-six
years of his incumbency 469 young men were
graduated of whom only 114, or less than a
quarter, became clergymen. Of the 230 grad
uates from 1766 to 1776, twelve became mem
bers of the Continental Congress, twenty-four
became members of the Congress of the United
States, three Justices of the Supreme Court, one
Secretary of State, one Postmaster-General,

442 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
three Attorney-Generals, one Vice-President of
the United States and one President.
The most critical period of our history was the
formation of the national Government, the fruit
of the constitutional convention of 1787. Of its
fifty-five members thirty-two were of academic
training, including one each from London, Ox
ford, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, five
from William and Mary, one from the Uni
versity of Pennsylvania, two from Columbia,
three from Harvard, four from Yale and nhie
from Princeton. Moreover those nine included
the leaders of the convention. They were as
follows, the graduation class to which each be
longed being bracketed after the name: Alex
ander Martin (1756) of North Carolina,
William Paterson (1763) of New Jersey, Oliver
Ellsworth (1766) of Connecticut, Luther
Martin (1766) of Maryland, WiUiam ChurchiU
Houston (1768) of New Jersey, Gunning Bed
ford, Jr., (1771) of Delaware, James Madison
(1771) of Virginia, William Richardson Davie
(1776) of North Carolina, and Jonathan
Dayton (1776) of New Jersey. With these
should be named Edmund Randolph of Virginia
who studied at Princeton although he did not
graduate. James Madison was the wheeUiorse of the
federal movement. Although the Virginia plan

SCOTCH-IRISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 443
in which representation was based on population
was submitted by Randolph, it was inspired by
Madison. The Jersey plan, based on the prin
ciple of State equality, was devised by Paterson.
The great controversies of the convention were
over the issue raised by these two plans. Ells
worth and Davie took a leading part in arrang
ing the compromise that finally ended the dis
pute, the small States being accorded equal rep
resentation in the Senate, while in the House
representation was based upon population.
Madison was active and influential at every
stage of the proceedings, and he assisted in put
ting the final touches to the Constitution as he
was a member of the committee on style. To his
Princeton training may be attributed the fact
that such a complete record of the work of the
convention has been preserved. Gaillard Hunt's
Life of James Madison is the most exact and
authoritative biography. He remarks that Madi
son went to the convention with carefully pre
pared notes on Government. "They were the
results of profound study begun twenty years
before at Princeton and continued unremit
tingly." We learn from Madison himself that
he derived from his Princeton experience the
motive of this exceptional industry. In the in
troduction of his journal of convention proceed-

444 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
ings, which he left for publication after his death,
he says: "The curiosity I had felt during my re
searches into the history of the most distin
guished confederacies, particularly those of
antiquity, and the deficiency I found in the
means of satisfying it, more especially in
what related to the process, the principles,
the reasons and the anticipations, which pre
vailed in the formation of them, determined
me to preserve, as far as I could, an exact
account of what might pass in the Con
vention. . . .
"In pursuance of the work I had as
sumed, I chose a seat in front of the
presiding member, with the other members
on my right and left hands. In this favor
able position for hearing all that passed, I
noted in terms legible and in abbreviations
and marks intelligible to myself, what was
read from the chair or spoken by the
members ; and losing not a moment unneces
sarily between adjournment and reassem
bling of the Convention, I was enabled to
write out my daily notes during the session,
or within a few finishing days after its
close." That is to say he took notes of convention
proceedings in the same way and by the same
method that he had become accustomed to at
Princeton in attending lectures in his course of
study.

SCOTCH-IRISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 445
In addition to the Princeton graduates who
were members of the constitutional convention
of the United States there were at least thirty-
six Princeton graduates who took part in State
constitutional conventions including those of
New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Con
necticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carohna,
Georgia and Kentucky. Such a wide distribu
tion is signal evidence of the national scope of
Princeton influence.
Besides this close association of Princeton
with the organization of American independence
the accidents of the Revolutionary War invested
Princeton with distinctive historical interest.
Nassau Hall was pillaged and wrecked during
the war, and since then it has been burned out
twice, but it was so well built that the original
waUs form part of the present structure, a
tablet upon which gives the following record :
"This building erected in 1756 by the Col
lege of New Jersey, and named Nassau
Hall in honor of King William III, was
seized by British forces for mihtary pur
poses in 1776 and retaken by the American
army January, 3, 1777. Here met from
June 30, 1783, until November 4, 1783, the
Continental Congress, and here August 26,
1783, General Washington received the
grateful acknowledgments of the Congress
for his services in establishing the freedom

446 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
and independence of the United States of
America." Elias Boudinot of New Jersey, a Princeton
trustee, was President of Congress in 1783. As
a special compliment to the college Congress
adjourned to attend the commencement exer
cises of that year, and General Washington was
present. At the meeting of the Board of Trus
tees on the same day a committee was appointed
to request General Washington:
"to sit for his picture to be taken by Mr.
Charles Wilson Peale of Philadelphia. —
And, ordered that his portrait when finished
be placed in the hall of the college in the
room of the picture of the late King of
Great Britain, which was torn away by a
ball from the American artillery in the bat
tle of Princeton."
This portrait now hangs in Nassau Hall in
the same frame that had formerly contained the
picture of George II. The college familiarly
known as Nassau Hall in its earlier days was
later known generally by its place name of
Princeton, its legal title as the College of New
Jersey being used only on formal occasions. In
October, 1896, on the 150th anniversary of the
founding of the college the present title of
Princeton University was assumed.

CHAPTER XVII
The Spread of Popular Education
Everywhere along the track of Scotch-Irish
emigration into the South and West institutions
of learning sprang up in the making of which
the influence of Princeton was marked since the
younger institutions naturally drew upon it for
supplies of scholarship. In this way Princeton
has had a numerous progeny. The first of the
brood was Hampden Sidney College, Virginia.
It was founded in 1774, with the active support
and approval of Hanover Presbytery and the
site was fixed in Prince Edward County at a
point convenient for the Scotch-Irish settlements
in Virginia and North Carolina. The Rev.
Samuel Stanhope Smith of the class of 1769,
tutor at Princeton 1770-1773, was the first Presi
dent of Hampden Sidney. The college was
opened during the Revolutionary year, 1776, and
soon a military company was organized among
the students, John Blair Smith, Jr., being cap
tain. He was a Princeton graduate of the class
of 1773, and was a young brother of President
Smith. The members of this mihtary company
447

448 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
wore purple hunting shirts as a uniform. A
number of them became officers in the army
and others enhsted as common soldiers, Samuel
Stanhope Smith left Hampden Sidney to be
come Professor of Philosophy at Princeton in
1779, In 1795 he became President of that col
lege, continuing in that office until 1812, when
he resigned. His brother succeeded him in the
presidency of Hampden Sidney, occupying that
position from 1779 to 1789, The influence of
Hampden Sidney throughout the South was
strongly marked. In the period before the Civil
War more teachers were graduated from it than
from any other institution in the South.
The selection of a site for Hampden Sidney
convenient to the Scotch-Irish settlements in
North Carolina established that institution in
the southeastern portion of the State. The first
academy in the region kno'WTi as the VaUey was
founded in 1776 in a log house at Timber Ridge,
Rockbridge County, through the efforts of the
Hanover Presbytery. The school was named
Liberty HaU, and it was conducted by the Rev.
William Graham, a Princeton graduate of the
class of 1773. This institution, which was char
tered in 1772, was endowed by General Wash
ington in 1796. In that year the Legislature of
Virginia, as a mark of its appreciation of
Washmgton's public services, voted to him one

THE SPREAD OF POPULAR EDUCATION 449
hundred shares of stock in the James River im
provement then in progress. UnwiUing to ac
cept the present for his own use, Washington
conveyed it to Liberty Hall. To perpetuate the
memory of his kindness the trustees by unani
mous vote changed the name to Washington
Academy; from it the present Washington and
Lee University has developed.
In 1768 Joseph Alexander, a Princeton
graduate of the class of 1760, was ordained
pastor of the Sugar Creek Congregation, a few
miles from the present town of Charlotte, N. C.
He opened there the first classical school in the
upper part of Carolina, He was the founder of
Liberty HaU, from which developed Queens
College, which eventuaUy became the Univer
sity of North Caroluia, The second classical
school in upper North Carolina was founded by
David CaldweU, a Princeton graduate of the
class of 1761. After serving as a missionary in
Virginia and North Carolina he settled as pastor
of the congregations in Buffalo Creek and at
Alamance. He fixed his residence in what
was then Rowan County but is now in Guilford
County. It is claimed for his school that it
brought more men into the learned professions
than any other individually conducted academy
in the same period of time, the list including five
Governors, about fifty ministers and a large num-

450 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
ber of physicians and lawyers. CaldweU was a
member of the convention of 1776 which framed
the State Constitution of North Carolina. He
suffered many privations and hardships during
the Revolutionary War in the course of which
his house was plundered and his library de
stroyed, while he lay in hiding in the woods. He
continued his pastoral labors until 1820 when the
infirmities of extreme old age compelled him to
retire but he lived until 1824 lacking only about
seven months of a century when he died.
Samuel Doak, a Princeton graduate of the
class of 1775, was the first minister to settle in
Tennessee, His parents emigrated from Ulster
to Pennsylvania whence they emigrated to
Augusta County, Va, After graduating at
Princeton, Doak became a tutor in Hampden
Sidney college while he was preparing for the
ministry. Being hcensed by Hanover Presby
tery he preached in Virginia for a short period
and then removed to Tennessee, where he even
tually settled as pastor of a congregation on
Little Limestone, in Washington County, He
built a church, put up a log schoolhouse and in
1785 opened a school which was incorporated in
1788 as the Martin Academy, It was the first
school of classical learning hi the Mississippi
Valley, In 1795 the institution was incorporated
as Washuigton College, He continued as Presi-

THE SPREAD OF POPULAR EDUCATION 451
dent until 1818, when he resigned in favor of his
son, the Rev, John M. Doak, M.D,, and removed
to Bethel, Here he opened an academy to
prepare youth for college, and under his son
Samuel W. Doak this school grew into Tus-
culum College,
Hezekiah Balch, a Princeton graduate of the
class of 1766, was licensed by Donegal Presby
tery, Pa. His ministerial labors took him into
Tennessee where he founded a school from which
Greenville College developed. Samuel Carrick,
who went from Virginia to Tennessee about the
same time, organized a church at Knoxville, and
founded a school which grew into Blount College.
The educational beginnings of Kentucky were
due to Scotch-Irish emigration from Virginia.
The Rev. David Rice, a Princeton graduate of
the class of 1761, was one of the founders of
Transylvania Seminary in 1783, which began
operations in 1785, under Mr, Rice's care in his
own house, at or near the present site of Dan
ville, Kentucky, This was the first school opened
in the State. In 1788 the seminary was removed
to Lexington, where it had a troubled career.
What was known as free thought or liberalism
had an aggressive championship in Kentucky at
that period. The leaders managed to get control
of the corporate organization of the Seminary,
and reorganized it in accord with their views.

453 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
In 1794 the Presbytery of Transylvania pro
ceeded to estabhsh another school, Mr. Rice ap
pearing before the Legislature in behalf of the
Presbytery. A charter was granted for the Ken
tucky Academy which was opened at Pisgah.
Collections were taken up in its behalf and among
the contributors was President Washington.
The Kentucky Academy was soon in a sound and
prosperous condition. Meanwhile the institution
at Lexington suffered so much in reputation and
attendance that peace overtures were made from
those in control there, and on petition of both
boards in 1798 the Legislature passed an act
amalgamating the two institutions under the title
"Transylvania University." This institution
eventuaUy fell under management so obnoxious
to its founders that the Synod again took action
and in 1824 Centre College was founded at
DanviUe. The westward movement of Scotch-Irish set
tlement, like the southward, was marked by the
erection of schools. In 1781 the population in
the region of Pennsylvania west of the moun
tains was still small and scattered but Redstone
Presbytery was organized and the founding of
schools began. Three of the early clergymen,
Thaddeus Dod, John McMiUan and Joseph
Smith opened schools in their own houses or in
the immediate neighborhood, in the usual fashion

THE SPREAD OF POPULAR EDUCATION 453
of which Tennent's Log College on the
Neshaminy was the prototype. Dod was a
Princeton graduate of the class of 1773. In
1782 he put up a building on his own farm in
which he opened a school. It continued in oper
ation, for three years and a half, during which
time a number of students were prepared for
the ministry. The sale of the farm led to the
closing of the school, which occurrence trans
ferred a number of pupils to a school opened in
1785 by Joseph Smith, a Princeton graduate of
the class of 1764, pastor of the Buffalo and
Cross Creek congregations. Owing to failing
health, Mr. Smith was able to conduct the
school only a few years; and most of the pupils
then went to the "Log Cabin" school of Dr.
John McMillan, at Chartiers. McMillan was a
Princeton graduate of the class of 1772. He
first visited the Western country as a missionary
in 1775, but he did not settle until 1778, when
he took charge of the congregations of Chartiers
and Pigeon Creek, in Washington County.
It is in dispute whether Dod's school or
Smith's or McMillan's was prior in point of
time, but they were all nearly coeval, and it is
certain that the Log Cabin Academy was the only
pioneer school that survived. From it issued a
progeny of famous educational institutions. In
1787 a charter was obtained for Washuigton

454 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Academy, mainly through the influence of Dr.
McMillan and his two elders. Judges AUison
and McDowell, then members of the Legislature.
The original list of trustees embraced all of the
settled Presbyterian ministers west of the Mo-
nongahela. It was not until 1789, that the
Academy went into operation at Washington,
Pa., under the presidency of Thaddeus Dod, who
had agreed to take the position temporarily.
The institution lacked equipment and eventually
the burning of the court house, in which classes
met, caused a suspension of operations. In
1791 another academy was founded in Canons
burg, Dr. McMillan taking a leading part in the
movement. In later years. Dr. McMillan in
giving an account of his own school at Chartiers
said: "I collected a few who gave evidence of
piety, and taught them the Latin and Greek
languages some of whom became useful and
others eminent ministers of the Gospel. I had still
a few with me when the academy was opened at
Canonsburg, and finding I could not teach and
do justice to my congregation, I immediately
gave it up and sent them there." The Canons
burg school was incorporated in 1794, and in
1802 it was chartered as Jefferson College, un
der the presidency of John Watson, a Princeton
graduate of the class of 1797. Washington
Academy, which was suspended in 1791, was

THE SPREAD OF POPULAR EDUCATION 455
shortly afterward reopened, and after strug
gling along for years under difficulties it devel
oped such strength that on March 28, 1806,
it received a charter as Washington College.
There were then two colleges occupying the same
field and appealing to the same sources of sup
port. Neither was able to make satisfactory
progress and in 1865 they were united under one
management as Washington and Jefferson Col
lege. A few years later the operations of
the college were all concentrated at Washington,
Pennsylvania. Dickinson College at Carlisle, Pa., was
founded in great measure by the Scotch-Irish
Presbyterians of Cumberland and neighboring
counties in Pennsylvania. Chartered in 1783, it
was named after John Dickinson, President of
the Executive Council of the State. Its first
President was the Rev. Charles Nesbit of Mont
rose, Scotland, and the other members of the
faculty were of Scotch-Irish ancestry. After Dr.
Nesbit's death in 1804 the institution languished
through lack of means and in 1833 the Methodist
Episcopal Church obtained control of the insti
tution, which has prospered under the patronage
of that great denomination.
The early educational foundations in Western
Pennsylvania have had an illustrious progeny,
among them being Western University at Pitts-

456 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
burgh, Allegheny CoUege at Meadville, Frank
hn College at New Athens, Ohio, which got its
first President from Jefferson College; Western
Reserve College at Hudson, Ohio; Wooster
University, Wayne Co., Ohio; besides numerous
academies. Throughout the middle West as in
South and Southwest the course of Scotch-Irish
settlement is marked by educational foundations.
Although the influence of Princeton was most
strongly manifested in the South and West, it
is distinctly marked in one great northern insti
tution. Brown University, originally Rhode Is
land College. The college was the outcome of
a movement started by the Philadelphia Baptist
Association, whose agent was James Manning,
a Princeton graduate, born in Elizabethtown,
N. J., October 22, 1738. He made a tour of the
Southern colonies, but finally decided in favor of
a Rhode Island location. He was the first Presi
dent of the coUege, which was opened at Warren
in 1764, but was removed to Providence six
years later. The first of the college buildings
erected in Providence was University Hall,
which was in general a copy of Nassau Hall at
Princeton. With the growth of the country in population
and the blending of the Scotch-Irish with the
general mass of American citizenship the influ
ence of that particular element while still

THE SPREAD OF POPULAR EDUCATION 457
strongly operative becomes less distinctly trace
able. In the early period the influence of Prince
ton is as strongly marked as the f ertihzing effects
of the rise of the Nile, but progress is now sus
tained by so many influences and is carried on
through so many channels that it is no longer
possible to distinguish particular sources in
American education. It is however clear enough
that Scotch-Irish emigration carried with it a
scholarly activity that laid the foundations of
popular education throughout the South and
West. Ample recognition of Princeton influ
ence is given in the histories of education in the
various States issued by the United States
Bureau of Education.

CHAPTER XVIII X
The Revolutionary Period
Although in the eighteenth century the ocean
made a vast separation in space between the two
countries, the sense of pohtical communion be
tween Ireland and America was very crose.
They had interests in common that excited strong
political sympathy. Both were dependencies of
the British Crown; both resented the claims of
the English Parliament to legislate for them, par
ticularly in the matter of taxation; both were
addicted to constitutional arguments on such
subjects, and an issue of the kind in either coun
try attracted close attention in the other. The
active part which the Scotch-Irish took in the
American Revolution was a. continuation of
popular resistance to British pohcy that began in
Ulster. In 1771 the counties of Antrim and
Do'RTi were thro-vm into disorder by rackrenting
practices of landlords, in which the Marquis of
Donegal, an absentee landlord, took the leading
part; as leases expired he made exactions for
renewal so exorbitant that the total is estimated
at $500,000. The tenant farmers were utterly
458

THE revolutionary PERIOD 459
unable to pay so they were dispossessed, losing
the value of their improvements. What is known
as the Steelboy insm'rection resulted. Its sub
sidence was attributed by the English historian
Lecky "to the great Protestant emigration which
had been long taking place in Ulster. The
way had been opened, and the ejected ten
antry, who formed the Steelboy bands and
who escaped the sword and the gaUows, fled
by thousands to America. They were soon
heard of again. In a few years the cloud of
civil war which was already gathering over
the colonies burst, and the ejected tenants of
Lord Donegal formed a large part of the
revolutionary armies which severed the New
World from the British Crown."
In 1771 Benjamin Franklin visited Dublin
where he conferred with some of the leaders of
the Irish National party, at that time a Protes
tant organization. "I found them," he wrote,
"disposed to be friends of America, in which I
endeavored to confirm them with the expectation
that our growing weight might in time be thro'wn
into their scale, and by joining our interests with
theirs, a more equitable treatment from this na
tion [England] might be obtained for them
selves as well as for us." Frankhn recommended
that if possible an exception should be made in
favor of Ireland in carrying out the non-impor
tation agreement of the American colonies. This

460 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
was found to be impracticable but the Conti
nental Congress was sufficiently concerned about
the matter to make an apology. The address to
the people of Ireland, adopted on July 28, 1775,
declared :
"Permit us to assure you, that it was with
the utmost reluctance we could prevail upon
ourselves to cease our commercial connexion
with your island. Your Parliament had
done us no wrong. You had ever been
friendly to the rights of mankind; and we
acknowledge with pleasure and gratitude,
that your nation has produced patriots,
who have nobly distinguished themselves in
the cause of humanity and America. On the
other hand we were not ignorant that the
labor and manufactures of Ireland, like
those of the silkworm, were of little mo
ment to herself; but served only to give
luxury to those who neither toil nor spin.
We perceived that if we continued our com
merce with you, our agreement not to im
port from Britain would be fruitless, and
were, therefore, compelled to adopt a meas
ure to which nothing but absolute necessity
would have reconciled us. It gave us, how
ever, some consolation to reflect, that should
it occasion much distress, the fertile regions
of America would afford you a safe asylum
from poverty, and, in time, from oppression
also; an asylum, in which many thousands
of your countrymen have found hospitality,
peace and affluence, and become united to
us by all the ties of mutual interest and
affection."

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 461
Benjamin Franklin was a member of the
Committee on Trade appointed by the Continen
tal Congress in 1775, Its report submitted on
October 2, 1775, set forth that:
"The Cessation of the American Trade
with Ireland originated in Policy dictated
by Principles of self Preservation and may
be attended with Distress to a People who
have always manifested a Noble Regard to
the Rights of Mankind and have ever been
friendly to these much injured Colonies."
The committee then recommended that the
non-intercourse agreement be relaxed to the ex
tent that "our Friends and Fellow Subjects in
Ireland should be admitted to take Flax seed
from these Colonies in Exchange for all such
Powder and other military Stores and woolen
Yarn of their Manufacture as they shall bring
to America."
This attitude of good will was cordially recip
rocated in Ireland and it was manifested in the
Irish Parliament, notwithstanding the control
ling influence assiduously maintained by the
English Government. UsuaUy the address to
the Throne at the opening of Parliament passed
unopposed but at the session of October, 1775,
an amendment was proposed and was warmly
advocated, strongly urging the necessity of "con
ciliatory and healing measures for the removal
of the discontent which prevails in the colonies."

463 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
The amendment was defeated by ninety-two to
fifty-two, Harcourt, then the viceroy of Ire
land, was much displeased by the vigor with
which the amendment was supported, particu
larly since more than half of the members ab
stained from voting. Many of these owed their
seats to government influence, and therefore felt
themselves precluded by the received code of
parhamentary honor from voting against the
Ministers, Hence their abstention indicated
American sympathies and made the Government
victory merely nominal. In his report to the
English Government Harcourt wrote that:
"The Opposition to the King's Government in
this country , , , are daily gaining strength upon
this ground." He added that "the Presbyterians
in the North (who in their hearts are Americans)
are gaining strength every day." In a later
report Harcourt complained of "the violent op
position made by the Presbyterians to the
measures of Government" and he described them
as "talking in all companies in such a way that
if they are not rebels, it is hard to find a name
for them."
It can hardly be doubted that the political
ideas derived from Irish experience and poured
into the colonies by Ulster immigration exerted a
powerful influence in moulding American insti
tutions. The principles involved were however

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 463
but the staples of the Enghsh constitutional
system. The chief objects of the Irish National
party, during the period of Protestant ascend
ency, were short Parliaments, secure tenure of
judicial authority, and a habeas corpus act. In
those things no more was sought than England
enjoyed. The struggle was against peculiar
privations to which Ireland was subject. The
duration of a Parliament in England was limited
to seven years ; in Ireland there was no limit and
a Parliament had been known to continue for
thirty- three years. In England judges held office
during good behavior ; in Ireland, at the pleasure
of the Crown. The writ of habeas corpus
was not aUowed in Ireland, although it was the
ordinary privilege of the subject in England,
As early as 1768 the English Government made
a concession on the Parliament issue by approv
ing a bill limiting the term to eight years, but the
Ministers did not yield on the other points until
Ireland was up in arms and they were powerless
to resist. The English Government then yielded
to Ireland what it had refused to America, The
old system of commercial restriction was abol
ished, the writ of habeas corpus was granted, the
permanent tenure of judicial authority was
established, and the legislative independence of
Ireland was acknowledged. All those conces
sions were results of the American war. It does

464 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
not fall withhi the province of this work to trace
the history of Ulster since this period. It may be
noted however that the most determined oppo
sition to English rule over Ireland, up to the
period when England and Ireland were united
under the jurisdiction of one legislature, the
Parliament of the United Kingdom, came from
Ulster, The United Irishmen movement, which
was the prelude to the rebellion of 1798, started
in Belfast, and the chief strength of the rebeUion
was in Ulster, The union of Ireland with Eng
land was originally intensely unpopular in
Ulster, but with the removal of commercial dis
abilities and with enlarged opportunities of trade,
Ulster has become so reconciled to the union that
it has been a centre of violent opposition to the
movement in favor of home rule for Ireland,
The particular source of the ideas that presided
over American constitution making was the po
litical experience of English dependencies dur
ing the eighteenth century, Scotland, Ireland
and the American colonies had the same general
grievances and the same general attitude of con
stitutional protest against English policy. It is
a significant circumstance that James Boswell,
although indulging an almost abject admiration
of the massive old Tory, Dr, Samuel Johnson,
could not follow him hi antipathy to the Ameri
can colonists. Boswell's own Toryism could not

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 466
escape modification through his Scottish environ
ment. Such considerations make inteUigible the
extraordinary political career of Dr. John
Witherspoon, brought from Scotland in 1768, to
become President of the College of New Jersey.
He was a member of the New Jersey Provincial
Congress in 1776; member of the Continental
Congress, 1776-83; signer of the Declaration of
Independence, 1776; member of the New Jersey
Senate, 1780; member of the New Jersey As
sembly, 1783; member of the New Jersey con
stitutional convention, 1789. These political
activities he combined with incessant activity as
an educator and continual occupation as a clergy
man. In one of his political articles he observed
that "a man will become an American by resid
ing in the country three months," The consti
tutional ideas which the Americans asserted in
opposition to the policy of the British Ministry
they brought with them whether they came from
England, Scotland or Ireland, But the general
conviction was intensified among the Scotch-
Irish by deep resentment of the injuries they had
sustained from English rule, "They went," says
the English historian Lecky, "with hearts burn
ing with indignation, and in the War of Inde
pendence they were almost to a man on the side
of the insurgents,"
Hence it was noted early in the American

466 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
struggle that the Scotch-Irish were pecuharly
energetic, united and formidable in their oppo
sition to British policy. John Hughes, who was
appointed Distributer of Stamps for Pennsyl
vania, in a report under date of October 12,
1765, said:
"Common justice calls upon me to say,
the body of people called Quakers, seemed
disposed to pay obedience to the Stamp Act,
and so do that part of the Church of Eng
land and Baptists, that are not some way
under Proprietary influence. But Presby
terians and Proprietary minions spare no
pains to engage the Dutch and lower class
of people, and render the royal government
odious." In September, 1765, writing to Benjamin
Franklhi, then in England, Hughes remarked:
"When it is known that I have received my com
mission, I fancy I shall not escape the storm of
Presbyterian rage," At that time Franklin
himself was inclined to submit to the Stamp Act.
Joseph Galloway, than whom there could be
no better informed witness, held that the under
lying cause of the American Revolution was the
activity and influence of the Presbyterian inter
est. Galloway was an eminent Philadelphia
lawyer and an intimate friend of Benjamin
Franklin, who on going to England as agent of
the Province left his private and public papers

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 467
in Galloway's charge. GaUoway entered the
Provincial Assembly in 1757, continuing a mem
ber until the Revolution. From 1766 to 1774 he
was the Speaker of the Assembly. He was a
member of the first Continental Congress in
1774, and was active in the measures taken to ob
tain redress of colonial grievances. He was not
however wilhng to go to the length of actual re
bellion and when the Declaration of Independ
ence was issued he went over to the Loyalist side.
He went to England in 1778 where he was active
in spreading information about the American
situation, advocating redress of grievances and
a settlement of differences between the mother
country and the colonies, Galloway's course can
not be attributed to self-interest, as in maintain
ing his English allegiance he abandoned estates
which were estimated to be worth £40,000, He
never returned to America, In 1788 his property
was confiscated by the Pennsylvania Legislature,
but a large portion was eventually restored to
his daughter.
Galloway, whose attitude to the English Gov
ernment was that of the candid friend, held that
it was the Presbyterians who supphed to colonial
resistance a lining without which it would have
collapsed. In testimony before a committee of
the House of Commons in 1779 he declared that
at the beginning of the revolt not one-fifth of the

468 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
people "had independence in view" and that in
the army enlisted by the Continental Congress
"there were scarcely one-fourth natives of
America, — about one-half Irish, the other fourth
were English and Scotch."
In 1780 Galloway published in London his
Historical and Political Reflections, in which he
gave the inside histoi'y of the American revolt.
His account is too important and significant to
be summarized, and a verbatim extract is given
in Appendix E, According to Galloway the re
volt derived its formidable character from the
organized activity of the Presbyterians, His use
of the term includes the New England Congre
gationalists, but the creation of an organization
of continental scope he expressly imputes to the
leadership of the Pennsylvania Presbyterians
who were mostly Scotch-Irish,
This is a view of the origin of the Ajnerican
war quite different from that which has been
adopted by popular history, too intent upon
dramatic effects to give much consideration to
what is going on behind the scenes to produce
those effects. But Galloway speaks from abun
dant personal observation of the springs of ac
tion and the purpose of his argument is such as
to repel any suspicion as to the sincerity of his
opinion. He is arguing in favor of redressing
the legitimate grievances of the American colo-

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 469
nies, holding that in this way the revolt may be
ended and peace restored. Analyzing the situ
ation from this point of view he could have no
disposition to exaggerate obstacles to the policy
he was commending, and his point is that al
though what he calls the Presbyterian faction is
an implacable element, yet by judicious measures
it may be so isolated and its influence so restricted
that it will be unable to maintain the struggle for
independence. He said:
"Sincerely disposed, as the greater part
of the people in America are, to be more
firmly united with Great Britain on consti
tutional principles, is it not much to be
lamented, that the British legislature, see
ing the defect in its constitutional authority
over the Colonies and knowing that it is the
great foundation of their discontent, have
not taken it into their serious consideration,
and adopted the measure most proper for
removing it? Had this been done in the
beginning of the opposition to the authority
of Parliament, the repubhcan faction must
have been destitute of the means by which
they have inflamed the minds of the Ameri
cans, and led them to a revolt. But I am
not fond of dwelling on past errors, further
than is necessary to amendment. It is not
now too late, and perhaps all circumstances
considered, this is the most proper time for
doing it."
His opinion is strongly corroborated by the
wide diffusion of Loyahst sentiment in the colo-

470 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
nies, the accessible facts in regard to which are
coUated in Sabine's American Loyalists. Of the
thirty-seven newspapers pubhshed in the colonies
in April, 1775, seven or eight were openly Loyal
ist, and twenty-three championed the Whig in
terest, but no less than five went over to the
Loyalist side durmg the war. A distinguished
New Jersey Loyalist declared that "most of the
colleges had been the grand nurseries of rebel
lion" but he may have been unduly impressed
by his proximity to Princeton, which was a centre
of Whig influence under the presidency of
Witherspoon. Upward of one hundred and
fifty persons educated at Harvard or some other
institution of learning were among the Loyahsts.
In a number of Massachusetts to^wns, among
them Marshfield, Freetown, Worcester and
Sandwich, the Loyahsts were strong enough to
form associations to oppose the Whigs. In
Boston itself the opponents of the Whigs,
known as "the Protesters," were upward of one
hundred and they included emment citizens.
When the British evacuated Boston upward of
1100 Loyahsts left at the same time. Sabine
says : "Of members of the council, commission
ers, officers of the customs and other officials
there were 102; of clergymen 18; of mhabitants
of country towns, 105; of merchants and other
persons who resided in Boston, 213; of farmers,
mechanics and traders, 882."

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 471
In New York State Tories were so numerous
that in some counties Whigs were hard to find.
In New Jersey the Tories were strong enough
to wage war upon the Whigs, and to perpetrate
dreadful outrages. In parts of North Carohna
the Tories so far outnumbered the Whigs as to
ravage their estates long before any British
troops entered the State. General Green esti
mated that some thousands had been killed in
South Carohna in fighting between the Whigs
and the Tories, and he declared that "if a stop
cannot be soon put to these massacres, the coun
try will be depopulated." Some twenty-nine or
thirty regiments or battalions of American Loy
alists were regularly organized, armed and offi
cered. In an address to the King from American
Loyahsts presented in 1779 it was declared that
their counti'ymen then in his Majesty's army "ex
ceeded in number the troops enhsted [by Con
gress] to oppose them." At the tune of Com-
Walhs's surrender at Yorktown a part of his
army was composed of native Axnericans, and
failing to obtain special terms for them in the
articles of capitulation, he availed himself of the
privilege of sending a ship northerly without
molestation, to convey away the most noted of
them. Sabine computes that the number of
American Loyalists who took up arms for the
British could not have been less than twenty
thousand.

4'73 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
With such sharp division of sentiment among
the colonists it was clearly a factor of inestimable
importance that there existed what GaUoway
designates as the "union of Presbyterian force."
It supplied a systematic influence that in the
circumstances was probably decisive. The foren
sic leadership of American resistance was mainly
supplied by the older settled portions of the colo
nies in which the governing class was of English
origin, but it could not have been successful with
out such organized popular support as was sup
plied through the Ulster settlements in the
colonies. The most dispassionate and balanced account
of the Revolutionary War is that contained in
Lecky's History of England in the Eighteenth
Century. The great English historian repeat
edly caUs attention to the direct connection be
tween Ulster emigration to America and the
successful vigor of American resistance. The
Scotch-Irish were no more forward in protests
against British pohcy than the mass of the popu
lation during the period of agitation and contro
versy before the fighting began. They met in
their frontier settlements and passed resolutions,
but that was what the colonists were doing all
over the country; and they were apparently fol
lowing in the wake of an agitation started by the
seaboard cities, which naturally made common

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 473
cause with Boston, since if that port might be
closed by the British Parliament any other port
might be made to suffer likewise. It was, how
ever, rather remarkable that an issue of such a
character should have roused frontier settlements
as it did, and secured the prompt adherence of the
leading men. The bill closing the port of Boston
went into operation June 1, 1774. A meeting
held at Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsyl
vania, July 12, was presided over by John Mont
gomery, of Irish nativity. The resolutions
adopted were of the usual tenor at the meetings
of this period, condemning the proceedings of
the British Ministry and favoring the united ac
tion of the colonies to obtain redress of griev
ances. Three deputies were chosen to a provin
cial convention and among them was James Wil
son, born in Scotland, who became a member of
the Continental Congress, was a signer of the
Declaration of Independence, was an active and
influential member of the constitutional conven
tion of 1787, and eventually a justice of the Su
preme Court of the United States. The other
deputies, both bom in Ireland, were William Ir
win, who became a general, and Robert Magaw,
who became a colonel, in the army of the
Revolution. The historian Bancroft notes as a striking co
incidence that on the day on which Lord Chat-

474 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
ham was making his peace proposals to the House
of Lords, January 20, 1775, the people of a re
mote frontier settlement, "beyond the AUeghe-
nies, where the Watanga and the forks of the
Holston flow to the Tennessee" were meetmg to
make formal protest against British policy.
They were, says Bancroft, "most of them, Pres
byterians of Scotch-Irish descent." They passed
resolutions in favor of united action and ap
pointed a Committee of Safety.
The Ajnerican revolt began as a movement to
enforce redress of grievances. Imputations that
the movement aimed at independence were re
sented as libels rendering their utterers liable to
be called to account by the local Committee of
Safety. It was not until the news came, early
in May, 1776, that the British Government was
using Hanoverian and Hessian soldiers, that the
opposition to independence succumbed. In the
struggle to commit Congress to that decisive step
the Scotch-Irish influence was active and effect
ive, but in this respect the truth of history has
been somewhat obscured by a vehement contro
versy that has gone on about a document known
as the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independ
ence. The legend is that at a meeting of settlers,
mainly Scotch-Irish, in Charlotte, Mecklenburg
County, N. C, on May 20, 1775, resolutions were
adopted renouncing all allegiance to the British

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 475
Crown and declaring the American people
to be free and mdependent. The document
was first brought to public notice in 1819 and its
authenticity while energetically asserted has
been strongly impugned. Those interested in
the details will find a complete record in Wil
ham Henry Hoyt's work with that subject title.
Even were the Mecklenburg Declaration authen
tic it would possess merely antiquarian interest
rather than historical importance for no recog
nition of such action or mark of its influence ap
pears in the records of the times. There is how
ever recorded action taken by a Mecklenburg
County Convention on May 31, 1775, which is
of such signal importance as marking the begin
ning of American independence that it is given
in its entirety in Appendix F.
These resolutions practically constitute a state
of political independence. Crown authority is
annulled, provincial authority under the direction
of Congress is substituted, and it is declared that
no other authority is in existence. Such lan
guage asserts independence, and the resolutions
then go on to make provision for giving practical
effect to the decision by arranging for the col
lection of taxes, the administration of justice and
the public defense. Resolutions providing for
organized opposition to British policy were
abundant at this period, but the Mecklenburg

476 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
County Convention was the first to announce m-
dependence. The leaders in the meeting were
Thomas Polk, an ancestor of President Polk;
Abraham Alexander and Ephraim Brevard,
and the movement derived its strength from the
Scotch-Irish settlers while the opposition came
from other elements of the community. Gover
nor Martin, the royalist Governor of the Prov
ince, in a dispatch of August 28, 1775, to the
home Government, mentions that "a considerable
body of Germans, settled in the County of
Mecklenburg," had forwarded to hhn "a loyal
declaration against the very extraordinary and
traitorous resolves of the Committee of that
Coimty." The Mecklenburg Resolves were not
only the first to make a virtual declaration of
independence but they also indicated the course
that had to be foUowed to attain independence,
namely, the setting up of a system of govern
ment independent of Crown authority. The in
stitutions of colonial government were rooted in
Crown authority, and they served as intrench-
ments for the opposition to independence. As a
matter of fact it became necessary to revolution
ize colonial government before the Declaration of
Independence could be carried through Congress.
The Mecklenburg Resolves were the first step in
this direction, and proclaimed a policy that nearly
a year later was adopted by Congress. On May
10, 1776, Congress voted:

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 477
"That it be recommended to the respective
assembhes and conventions of the United
Colonies, where no government sufficient to
the exigencies of their affairs has been
hitherto established, to adopt such govern
ment as shall in the opinion of the represen
tatives of the people, best conduce to the
happiness and safety of their constituents
in particular and America in general."
This action was completed on May 15 by
the adoption of a preamble which pursues the
some line of argument adopted in the Mecklen
burg Resolves, namely, that since the American
colonists had been excluded from the protection
of the Crown "it is necessary that the exercise of
every kind of authority under the said Crown
should be totally suppressed." The language
differs ; the argument is the same.
At the time Congress took this decisive step
delegates from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New
York, Delaware and Maryland were under in
structions to vote against independence. Penn
sylvania was the keystone of the conservative
opposition. The action of Congress on May
15 marks the beginning of the movement that
overthrew the colonial charter and substituted
State government. In this struggle Scotch-Irish
influence was strongly manifested. A petition
from Cumberland County was presented to the
Assembly on May 22, requesting the withdrawal

478 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
of the instructions given to the Congressional
delegates. On May 25 the City Committee
of Philadelphia issued a caU for a conference of
County Committees with a view to holding a con
vention to reconstitute the Government. The call
was signed by Thomas McKean, chairman. He
was born at Londonderry, Pa., March 19, 1734,
the son of William and Lsetitia (Finney) Mc
Kean, both natives of Ireland. Thomas Mc
Kean was a leader of the Whig party in the
Pennsylvania Assembly, He became a mem
ber in 1765 and was reelected consecutively
for seventeen years. At the time when as chair
man of the City Committee he started the move
ment for a convention to remodel the State Gov
ernment the Assembly, based upon an inequit
able apportionment and chosen by narrowly
limited suffrage, was controlled by the conserva
tives. The Quakers had issued an address ex
pressing "abhorrence of all such writings and
measures as evidence a desire and design to break
off the happy connection we have hitherto en
joyed with the kingdom of Great Britain." The
County Committee of Philadelphia opposed any
change in the existing status. The western coun
ties had sent Whig representatives to the As
sembly. The city of Philadelphia, which had
four members, had elected three Conservatives
and one Whig, after a close contest. The As-

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 479
sembly was strongly disinchned to rescind its
instructions agahist independence. Threats were
made to Congress that if it made a declaration
of mdependence the delegates from the middle
colonies could retire and possibly those colonies
might secede from the Union. But the Con
gressional leaders were now assured of popular
support and the movement for independence
steadily advanced.
At this juncture Joseph Reed threw his ui
fluence in favor of rescinding. He was born,
August 27, 1741, at Trenton, New Jersey, of
Scotch-Irish ancestry, his grandfather emigrat
ing from Carrickfergus, The family were well
to do, and Joseph received a thorough education.
He was graduated at Princeton, after which he
studied law under Richard Stockton of New Jer
sey and was admitted to the bar in 1763, He
went to London to complete his legal studies,
and from December, 1763, to the spring of 1765
was a student in the Middle Temple, Returning
to America he settled in Philadelphia to practice
his profession. When the news arrived in May,
1774, of the bill closing the ports of Boston, Reed
in conjunction with the Scotch-Irishman, Charles
Thomson, and Thomas Mifflin, of Quaker an
cestry, issued a call for a massmeeting of pro
test. From that time on he was active and
prominent as a champion of colonial rights.

480 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
When Washington took the field Reed accom
panied him as his military secretary, and
thereafter remained his close friend and
correspondent. In 1776 Reed was a member of the Pennsyl
vania Assembly. Both he and Thomson were
classed as Moderates. While both were promi
nent Whigs, both were in favor of working with
and through the Assembly. While the move
ment in favor of independence was advancing
Reed was exerting his influence to bring the As
sembly into accord. Congress was sitting in
Philadelphia and the leaders were in close touch
with the Pennsylvania situation. On June 7
Richard Henry Lee of Virginia moved in Con
gress his resolution for independence, and on
June 8 the Pennsylvania delegation voted
against it five to two. On June 14 the
Assembly adopted cautiously worded resolutions,
framed by a committee of which Reed was a
member, which in effect rescinded the previous
instructions and authorized the delegates to use
their discretion in "adopting such other measures
as shall be judged necessary." On July 2 the
vote of Pennsylvania was recorded in favor of
independence, the delegation standing three to
two, two members absenting themselves to facil
itate this result. As soon as Pennsylvania was
committed to independence Reed rejoined

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 481
Washington as his adjutant-general, to which
position he was appointed by Congress on June
5, at Washington's request.
Charles Thomson, whose name frequently ap
pears in the records of the times as a man of
sound judgment and of great influence, is one
of the most interesting characters of the period.
He was born hi Maghera, County Derry, Ire
land, November 29, 1729. While on his way to
America with his father and three brothers, the
father died at sea. An elder brother already
settled in America was the only person the boys
could look to for aid. Charles attracted the at
tention of Dr. Francis AUison, who took him
into his Academy at New London, Pa,, and gave
him such a good education that he became prin
cipal of the Friends' Academy at New Castle,
Del, He had marked success as a teacher and
also attracted notice through his writings upon
public affairs. He took an active interest in the
welfare of the Indians, and in 1756 the Dela
wares adopted him into their tribe bestowing
upon him the name of "Man of Truth," A
marked trait of Thomson's character was self-
abnegation. While from the first active in the
cause of American liberty he was interested in
results rather than in his personal distinction and
his activity was mainly behind the scenes. By a
fortunate accident a letter of his has been pre-

4^2 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
served that gives a specimen of his address as a
political tactician and a view of inside politics m
the revolutionary period.
In 1774, when the news of the British port
bill arrived, and Reed, Thomson and Mifflin were
laying plans to commit Pennsylvania to joint
action with the other colonies, it was deemed of
supreme importance to secure the cooperation of
John Dickinson, who was of Quaker stock and
had great influence with that element of the
population, which if no longer dominant was
stUl weighty. It was therefore arranged to
create an opportunity for Dickinson to appear
in a moderate and conciliatory attitude, Thom
son himself, in an account which he wrote in later
years as an act of justice to Dickinson, says:
"It was agreed that his friend who was
represented as a rash man should press for
an immediate declaration in favor of Boston
and get some of his friends to support him
in the measure, that Mr, D  should op
pose and press for moderate measures, and
thus by an apparent dispute prevent a far
ther opposition and carry the point agreed
on," Thomson himself took the part of "the rash
man." A meeting of leading citizens was held in
the City Tavern. Reed addressed the assembly
"with temper, moderation, but in pathetic terms."
Mifflm spoke next "with more warmth and fire."

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 483
Thomson then "pressed for an immediate dec
laration in favor of Boston and making, common
cause with her." The room was hot, Thomson
had scarce slept an hour for two nights and he
fainted and was carried into an adjoining room.
Dickinson then addressed the company. As
soon as Thomson recovered he returned to the
meeting and took an active part in its proceed
ings. Upon his motion it was decided that a
committee should be appointed to voice the sense
of the meeting. Two sets of nominees were pro
posed but the matter was compromised by ac
cepting them all as the committee. As a result
of this management the movers in the business
got all they desired. Thomson relates:
"The next day the Committee met and
not only prepared and sent back an answer
to Boston but also forwarded the news to
the southern colonies accompanied with let
ters intimating the necessity of a Congress
of delegates from all the colonies to devise
measures. [In furtherance of this it was]
necessary to call a general meethig of the
inhabitants of the City at the State
House. This required great address. The
Quakers had an aversion to town meetings
and always opposed them. However it was
so managed that they gave their consent,
and assisted in preparing the business for
this public meeting, agreed on the persons
who should preside and those who should
address the inhabitants,"

484 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
There is a touch of humor in the selection of
the classical scholar Thomson, a noted edu
cator, in which capacity he was widely known
and respected by the Quakers, to act the part
of "the rash man," It was shrewdly calculated
to impress the conservative portion of the com--
munity with the need of associathig themselves
with the movement in order to moderate it.
Although Thomson's influence was chiefly ex
erted in shaping action, leaving the front of the
stage to others, his ability was weU known.
John Adams characterized him as "the Sam
Adams of Philadelphia, the life of the cause of
liberty." In 1774, when the Conthiental Con
gress was first constituted, his assistance was
sought and without any effort on his part he
was installed in the important position of Secre
tary of Congress, He refused to accept any
salary the first year, but he found that in addi
tion to his ordinary duties his services were so
much in request for consultation and advice that
his work absorbed his time and strength, and in
order to provide for his family he had to accept
compensation. He continued to serve as Sec
retary of Congress all through the Revolution
ary War, and afterward until the Constitution
of the United States was adopted. He resigned
in 1789, His modesty, tactfulness and unselfish
ness made him very popular with the members,

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 486
and in this way he wielded a great but unobtru
sive influence. When the Count de Rochambeau
arrived in America in 1780 in command of the
body of regulars sent by France, he had with
him as a chaplain Abbe Robin. As a result of
Robin's observations of Thomson's work in Con
gress he remarked that "he was the soul of that
political body."
One effect of the kindliness of Thomson's char
acter must ever be deeply regretted by his
torians as it caused a great and irreparable
loss. During his secretaryship, which covered
the whole existence of the Continental Congress,
he accumulated material which he embodied in a
historical accoimt ; but eventually he destroyed it
for fear that its publication should give pain to
the descendents and admirers of some of the
notables of the Revolutionary period. The rea
son seems inadequate for so great an offense
against the truth of history. Sufficient consider
ation for personal feelings could have been dis
played by sealing the documents for publication
at some future period. It was, however, a char
acteristic display of self-abnegation for there can
be no doubt that Thomson himself took an im
portant part in promotmg the adoption of the
Declaration of Independence. As Secretary of
Congress he was in constant touch with the ad
vocates of that measure. As a leader of the

486 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Whig party of Pennsylvania he was active m
promoting measures to bring that State in line
with the movement. But with the destruction of
his manuscript the details are lost. Their pre
servation would be particularly desirable as re
gards the promulgation of the Declaration of
Independence, the curt entries of the official
record being insufficient to prevent a rank
growth of fiction. Independence was actually
declared on July 2, 1776, by the adopting of a
resolution, "that these United Colonies are,
and of right, ought to be. Free and Independent
States ; that they are absolved from all aUegiance
to the British Crown, and that aU political con
nexion between them, and the State of Great
Britain, is and ought to be, totaUy dissolved."
This resolution was a report from the Com
mittee of the Whole, which report is in the
handwriting of Charles Thomson. Writing to
his wife the next day, John Adams said: "The
second day of July, 1776, will be the most me
morable epocha in America. ... It ought to be
commemorated as the day of dehverance by
solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty."
But the commemoration settled on the Fourth
of July, as that was the day when Congress made
its action public. It was the practice of Congress
in arriving at an important conclusion to appoint
a committee to propose a preamble. This course

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 487
was foUowed with respect to the Declaration of
Independence and as Lee had been called to his
home by the ilhiess of his wife Jefferson became
chairman of the committee which was appointed
in anticipation of the passage of the resolution.
Jefferson draughted the document which was
adopted on July 4, and on the same day Congress
directed that copies should be sent "to the several
assemblies, conventions and committees or coun
cils of safety, and to the several commanding offi
cers of the Continental troops; that it be pro
claimed in each of the United States and at the
head of the army." In pursuance of this reso
lution. Secretary Thomson sent a copy to the
printer, a Scotch-Irishman named John Dunlap.
The printer's copy is lost, but presumably was
in the writing of Thomson, who used the broad
side print received back from Dunlap as part of
the record by wafering it in the proper place in
the journal. The only signatures were those of
John Hancock, President; and Charles Thom
son, Secretary. One of the printed copies was
sent to the Committee of Safety in Philadelphia
which directed that it should be publicly pro
claimed at the State House Monday, July 5.
This meeting was the first pubhc demonstration
over the passage of the Declaration.* The copy
*Dr. Herbert Friedenwald in his monograph on The Decla
ration of Independence, ascribes the legend of the ringing of the

488 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
of the Declaration to which signatures of mem
bers of Congress were attached was engrossed on
parchment under a resolution adopted July 19,
1776. It was presented to Congress August 2,
and was signed by members present. Other sig
natures were appended later. Some of those
who subsequently signed were not members of
Congress when the Declaration was adopted and
some who were members at that time never did
sign.
Liberty Bell, when the Declaration was adopted, to "the fertile
imagination of one of Philadelpliia's early romancers, George
Lippard." The story was first published in a worlc entitled
Washington and his Oenerals or Legends of the Revolution, by
George Lippard; Pliiladelpliia: G. B. Zeiber & Co., 1847. It is
written in a style of turgid melodrama, disregarding the actual
facts. In giving a fancy picture of the debate in Congress on July 4
Lippard says: "Then the deep-toned voice of Richard Henry
Lee is heard swelling in syllables of thunder-like music," But
as a matter of fact Lee was not present, having left Philadelphia
on June 13, because of sickness in his family. On July 4 he
was attending the Virginia convention. Lippard relates how
"a flaxen-haired boy, with laughing eyes of summer blue" waited
at the door of Congress for a message to be given by "a man
with a velvet dress and a. kind face." Meanwliile in the belfry
stood "an old man with white hair and sunburnt face," anxiously
waiting for the message that the Declaration of Independence
had been adopted. He was almost in despair when "there
among the crouds on the pavement stood the blue-eyed boy,
clapping his tiny hands, while the breeze Wowed his flaxen hair
all about his face. And then swelling his little chest, he raised
himself tiptoe, and shouted, a single word — Ring!"
This account, which by its style and matter plainly announces
itself to be fiction, is the original version of the ringing of the
Liberty BeU. It has since been taken into popular history and
the mythical legend was widely propagated through the Centen
nial Exhibition of 1876, in which year a new edition of Lip-
pard's work was issued and vigorously pushed.

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 489
Robert R. Livingston of New York, who was
a member of the committee to draft the Declar
ation of Independence, appears in TrumbuU's
famous picture of the signers, but his name does
not appear on the hst, as he was absent when
the actual signing took place.
Dr. Zubly of Georgia had been detected in
correspondence with the Crown Governor of the
Province, and took flight. Congress requested
John Houston, a Georgia delegate of Scotch-
Irish ancestry who was an ardent supporter of the
movement for independence, to follow Zubly to
counteract his plots. Owing to his absence on
this service his name does not appear among the
signers. The name of Thomas McKean of Pennsyl
vania did not appear on the list of signers as
first pubhshed, and he did not append his signa
ture until some time in 1781.
The explanation of such circumstances is that
the adoption of the Declaration of Independence
was a means to an end, and the leaders were too
intent upon that to concern themselves at the
time about the formalities that have since become
so precious to popular history. McKean was
active in Congress in support of the adoption of
the Declaration, and as chairman of the Phila
delphia City Committee he took a leading part in
overthrowing the Pennsylvania opposition to in-

490 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
dependence. At the same time he was raising
troops to strengthen General Washington's
forces then in New Jersey. Upon the same day
the Declaration was adopted. Congress ap
pointed a committee to confer with the Pennsyl
vania Committee of Safety on the subject, and
the conference took place on July 5. As a re
sult McKean left for the scene of war as colonel
of a regiment, so he was absent when the Decla
ration came up for signatures on August 2, 1776.
The annual celebration of July 4, as Inde
pendence Day, started the following year. A
letter preserved in the North Carolina Records,
written from Philadelphia, July 5, 1777, notes
that at the celebration on the preceding day "a
Hessian band of music which were taken at
Princeton performed very dehghtfuUy, the
pleasure being not a httle heightened by the re
flection that they were hired by the British court
for purposes very different from those to which
they were apphed."
Of the fifty-six signers, three were natives of
Ireland, Matthew Thornton of New Hamp
shire and James Smith and George Taylor of
Pennsylvania. AU three were probably from
Ulster, although that fact is not of record in the
case of Smith and Taylor. Two signers, James
Wilson and John Witherspoon, were natives of
Scotland. Two were natives of England, But-

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 491
ton Gwinnett and Robert Morris. Francis
Lewis of New York was born at Llandaff, Wales.
Forty-eight of the signers were American-bom,
five of them of Irish ancestry, Carroll, Lynch,
McKean, Read and Rutiedge. But of these only
McKean and Rutiedge were of Ulster deri
vation. Lynch's people came from Connaught,
Read's from Dublin and Carroll's from King's
County, in central Ireland. Two signers.
Hooper and Philip Livingston, were of Scotch
descent. Four, Jefferson, Williams, Floyd and
Lewis Morris, were of Welsh descent, John
Morton, one of the Pennsylvania signers, was of
Swedish stock. Thirty-six of the American bom
signers were, so far as known, of English an
cestry. Combining these data we have the fol
lowing apportionment: English thirty-eight,
Irish eight (including five of Ulster ancestry),
Scotch four, Welsh five, Swedish one.

CHAPTER XIX
The Birth of the Nation
The extensive participation of the Scotch-Irish
in the Revolutionary War has been generally set
forth in preceding chapters. Consideration of
particulars shows how vitaUy important was the
support of that element. Its military traditions
and its tenacity of character were specially valu
able in the discouraging circumstances under
which American resistance was kept up. There
was much to dishearten and even to repel patri
otic sentiment in the way in which the war was
conducted and there were periods when it seemed
that the cause would coUapse from its own
weakness. There was one such period soon after
the Revolutionary War was fairly started.
The actual beginning of hostilities was a casual
explosion. The battle of Lexington, AprU 19,
1775, was brought on by an expedition sent out
by General Gage to destroy some military stores
collected by the Americans at Concord. The
British troops accomplished their purpose but the
countryside rose against them and on their way
back they were sniped at from behind hedges,
493

the BIRTH OF THE NATION 493
walls and farm buildings, so that they sustained
heavy losses. The battle of Bunker Hill, June
17, 1775, was brought on by the attempt of the
British commander to strengthen his position by
occupying an eminence commanding Boston har
bor. The Americans heard of his intention, shp-
ped in ahead of him during the night and threw
up some earthworks. The engagement that en
sued illustrated both the strength and the weak
ness of American volunteers and militia.
The Americans, long accustomed to meeting
frontier perils, had a general familiarity with
firearms, the use of which among the middle and
lower classes of England was almost unknown,
owing to the game laws and to the sheltered con
dition of their lives. Hence American militia
excelled in marksmanship even when confronted
with the regular troops of England. But the
Americans were without the discipline that keeps
troops steady and obedient to command. Their
instinct was to look out for themselves and if
the notion seized them that the issue was turning
against them they were likely to break precipi
tately. At Breed's HiU a force of about 1,500
men endured for hours the fire from British ships
in the harbor, and then repulsed two attacks
made by a superior force of British regulars.
But they gave way before the third attack,
largely owing to the fact that their ammunition

494 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
had run out. The troops on Bunker HiU, seehig
the retreat from Breed's HiU, could not be held
in hne, although General Putnam stormed, im
plored, raged and pleaded. The English gained
the field, but at such a heavy cost in killed and
wounded as to open their eyes to the fact that the
Americans were really formidable foes, and sel
dom if ever has any other battle made such a
favorable impression for the defeated side.
So far, however, the warfare was reaUy on a
tiny scale, and the British troops in Boston were
so encompassed by a hostile population that only
defective organization on the American side en
abled them to hold their ground so long as they
did. It was not until after the battle of Bunker
Hill that Washington was appointed comman
der-in-chief of the American forces. His cor
respondence from the American camp at
Cambridge gives a picture of continual vexation
and perplexity as to the material from which he
was seeking to fashion an army. The British in
Boston remained quiescent until Washington
was ready to move. On the night of March 4,
1776, Washington made their position untenable
by occupying Dorchester Heights, The British,
then numbering about 7,600, got into their ships
and sailed for Halifax, But this smaU force had
held Boston for eleven months, after aU the
country around had risen in revolt with help
coming from the other colonies.

THE BIRTH OF THE NATION 495
The Boston campaign hardly belongs to the
strategy of the Revolutionary War. It was es
sentially an insurrection with which the British
forces were not strong enough to cope and be
fore which they retreated. General Washington
himself thought that if they had used their op
portunities energetically it might have gone hard
with his command, but allowance must be made
for the doubts and uncertainties which beset the
British general, confronted not by an avowed
public enemy but by fellow subjects having emi
nent support even in the British Parhament. It
was not until after the Boston campaign that the
business of suppressing American resistance was
seriously taken in hand as a military problem.
The center of operations then shifted from Bos
ton never to return, and in view of the promi
nence of Massachusetts in the transactions bring
ing on the war her actual experience of its stress
was remarkably smaU.
The httle army which General Howe took
with him from Boston to Halifax in March, 1776,
he transferred from Halifax to New York har
bor in the foUowing June and on July 8 he
estabhshed his camp on Staten Island. Rein
forcements soon arrived on an English fleet com
manded by his brother. Admiral Howe, and
additional reinforcements were obtained through
troops withdrawn from Virginia, South Carolina

496 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
and the West Indies, making his total force
about 30,000 strong.
Field operations by the British opened on
August 22, with the landing of troops on Long
Island. The American army was defeated at the
battle of Long Island, August 27; and agahi at
the battle of Harlem Plains, September 16, and
again at the battle of White Plains, October 28,
1776. Washington saved the remnant of his army
by crossing the Delaware River into Pennsyl-r
vania, but his situation seemed almost desperate.
His letters during this period complain bitterly
of the character of the officers and men with
whom he was expected to defend his country.
Writing to his brother on November 19, 1776,
Washington said: "The different States, without
regard to the qualifications of an officer, are
quarreling about the appointments, and nominate
such as are not fit to be shoeblacks, from the
local attachments of this or that member of As
sembly," Joseph Reed, who was Washington's
adjutant-general throughout the campaign of
1776 in New York and the Jerseys, wrote that
"a spirit of desertion, cowardice, plunder, and
shrinking from duty when attended by fatigue or
danger, prevailed but too generally through the
whole army,"
Washington's difficulties were greatly aggra
vated by the widespread disaffection to the

THE BIRTH OF THE NATION 497
American cause which existed in all the middle
colonies and was particularly strong in Penn
sylvania where many people had been alienated
by the revolutionary subversion of the charter
Government. After he had crossed the Dela
ware he wrote to a friend, "We are in a very dis
affected part of the Province, and between you
and me I think our affairs are in a very bad con
dition; not so much from the apprehension of
General Howe's army as from the defection of
New York, the Jerseys and Pennsylvania." The
capture of Philadelphia seemed so imminent that
Congress fled to Baltimore.
The Pennsylvania revolution was mainly the
work of the Scotch-Irish element of the popula
tion, but it was not approved by aU the Scotch-
Irish, Charles Thomson always regarded it as
an untoward event that hurt much more than it
helped the American cause. Close study of the
period in our own time has on the whole corrobo
rated Thomson's views. Paul Leicester Ford
concludes a minute account of the revolution that
overthrew the charter institutions of Pennsyl
vania with this statement of the consequences :
, "The price paid is hard to compute. The
division in the State had far reaching re
sults. It prevented Washington from re
ceiving the full aid of the most important
State of the Union at Long Island, at White
Plains and hi the campaign of the Jerseys.

498 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
It ahenated the richest city and the best
grain and beef region from the American
cause. It made Tories of many and ren
dered Howe's eventual occupation of Phila
delphia almost the occupation of a friendly
country. It so weakened the Government of
Pennsylvania that for months, at the most
critical period of the war, it not only was
powerless to aid the Continental side but had
actually to rely on the Congress for support.
It created a lawlessness in the people that
led to riots and confusion equalled in no
other State, to the mutiny of the Pennsyl
vania line, the driving of Congress from
Philadelphia and the later civil insurrec
tions. Finally it built up a powerful 'popu-
larist' party, opposed to commerce, to sound
finance and to federal union, that for many
years hung like a dead weight on aU at
tempts tending to advance those measures."
But if the Scotch-Irish were mainly responsi
ble for these consequences by outrunning public
opinion in general by their radical measures, they
retrieved the situation by their staunch loyalty
to the American cause. As soon as Washington
had crossed the Delaware he was in touch with
the Scotch-Irish settlements in Bucks and North
ampton Counties and felt the sustaining influ
ences of active popular support. Clothing and
blankets were collected by committees of citizens
for the use of his soldiers. The Rev. John Ros-
brugh, pastor of the Presbjrterian Church at
Allen and Lower Mount Bethel, Northampton

THE BIRTH OF THE NATION 499
County, raised a company and brought it to
join the Continental army. The patriotic
clergyman was killed by the enemy a few weeks
later. More important even than the direct aid
was the assurance of protection against surprise
by volunteer scouts in every direction. The
Scotch-Irish farmers could be depended upon to
watch the roads and convey prompt inteUigence
of a movement in any quarter.
With his base of operations thus made secure
Washington was in a position to conceive and
execute the briUiant exploits by which he gained
military renown in the crisis. The initiative
was Washington's own. On December 14 he
wrote to Governor Trumbull of his purpose "to
attempt a stroke upon the forces of the enemy,
who he a good deal scattered," hi the hope that
success would "rouse the spirits of the people,
which are quite sunk by our late misfortunes."
The particular stroke actually attempted ap
pears to have been due to the suggestion of Reed,
who wrote from Bristol, N. J., December 22,
1776, giving detailed information of the location
of the British forces, and asking, "Will it not be
possible, my dear general, for your troops, or
such part of them as can act with advantage, to
make a diversion, or somethhig more, at or about
Trenton?" He went on to urge that "our cause
is desperate and hopeless, if we do not take the

500 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
opportunity of the collection of troops at present,
to strike some stroke," On receipt of this letter
Washington at once sent for Reed to come to his
headquarters and the arrangements were made
for the attack upon the Hessians at Trenton on
the night of Christmas, The stroke was com
pletely successful. The Hessians were defeated
and their commander was mortally wounded.
Washington having secured his prisoners re-
crossed the Delaware and resumed his former
position in Bucks County.
Meanwhile Reed was active in getting infor
mation of the position of the enemy and on
December 28 he was able to send to Washington
an account of conditions offering an opportunity
for another stroke. Washington at once set the
troops in motion and on the 30th he reoccupied
Trenton. The General directed Reed, who was
a Princeton graduate and knew the country well,
to make a reconnoissance. Reed at once set out
accompanied by six horsemen, members of the
Philadelphia city troop — ^John Dunlap, James
Hunter, Thomas Peters, William Pollard, and
James and Samuel Caldwell. This httle detach
ment performed a remarkable exploit, thus re
lated by Reed:
"We met with little success on our way, or
in the immediate vicinity of Princeton, to
which we had approached within three miles.
The ravages of the enemy had struck such

THE BIRTH OF THE NATION 501
terror that no rewards would tempt the in
habitants, though otherwise well disposed,
to go into Princeton on this errand. But
it being fully resolved not to return while
there was a chance of success, it was con
cluded to pass on, and even to go round
Princeton, expecting that in the rear they
would be less guarded. As we were passing
slowly on, almost within view of the town,
a British soldier was observed passing from
a barn to the dwelling house without arms.
It being supposed that he was a marauder
two of our party were sent to bring him in,
but they had scarcely set out before another
was seen, and then a third, when orders were
given for our whole party to charge. This
was done, and the house surrounded. Twelve
British soldiers, equipped as dragoons, and
well armed, their pieces loaded, and having
the advantage of the house, surrendered to
seven horsemen, six of whom had never be
fore seen an enemy."
Reed returned to headquarters with these and
other prisoners the same evening. The British
began to concentrate against Washington's po
sition in Trenton and began an attack on Jan
uary 2, 1777. He decided to make a forced
march during the night and attack the British
in Princeton, This movement brought on the
battle of Princeton, in which the British were
signally defeated.
The effect of these brilliant successes upon
the fortunes of war was far greater than the

503 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
actual gains would indicate. Congress returned
to Philadelphia and adopted measures for re
organizing the army. The Jerseys were practi
cally abandoned by the British. The Enghsh
historian Lecky says that "a fatal damp was
thrown upon the cause of the Loyahsts in
America from which it never wholly recovered,"
The British Government planned a campaign
in 1777 which if successful would have cut the
theatre of war in two. General Burgoyne, who
had served with distinction in the war in Portu
gal, was in command of the British forces in
Canada, The plan was that he should move
southward to the Hudson, and in cooperation
with General Clinton, stationed in New York,
and General Howe, stationed in Philadelphia,
hold the line of the Hudson, severing New Eng
land from the rest of the country. The southern
part of the campaign was carried out according
to the design, Clinton held New York and
Howe was able to occupy Philadelphia after de
feating General Washington at the battle of
Brandywine. Meanwhile Burgoyne was pushing
southward. He drove the Americans out of their
fortifications at Ticonderoga and during their re
treat inflicted upon them crushing defeats, the
remnants that escaped fleeing in the direction of
Albany. Affairs seemed in a desperate state,
when the New Hampshire authorities appealed

THE BIRTH OF THE NATION 503
to John Stark to take charge of the defense of
that State.
Stark's career is flnely illustrative of the mili
tary aptitude implanted in the Scotch-Irish by
their Ulster training and by their frontier ex
perience in America. Bom in Londonderry,
N. H., in 1728, he experienced Indian captivity
in his boyhood and gained a knowledge of the in
terior that enabled him to act as a scout for an
expedition sent into the Indian country in 1753,
In 1755 he was commissioned lieutenant of a
company stationed at Fort Edward, While this
company was upon an expedition it was at
tacked in overpowering numbers by the French
and Indians, and all the superior officers were
killed or wounded, so that the command devolved
upon Stark. He managed the retreat so skill
fully that he was successful in reaching Fort
George with his men, bringing all his wounded.
He was at once commissioned captain and served
throughout the French War, gaining a high
reputation as a cool and intrepid tactician.
It was only natural that a man of his military
experience and ability should be prominent in
the Revolutionary War. At the outbreak of hos
tihties he received a colonel's commission and
raised a regiment almost in a day. That regi
ment formed the left of the American line at the
battle of Bunker Hill, and covered the retreat.

504 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
After the evacuation of Boston Colonel Stark
with his regiment was sent to New York which
he assisted in fortifying. The foUowing spring
he took part in the Canadian campaign, at the
close of which he joined Washington in New
Jersey, a few days before the battle of Trenton,
in which engagement he commanded the van of
the right wing. Although his efficiency in the
New Jersey campaign was generally recognized
he was passed over in the promotions made by
Congress, while colonels whom he outranked be
came brigadiers. Stark resented the slight so
deeply that he resigned his commission and re
tired to his New Hampshire farm. As it turned
out this retirement was the prelude to a most im
portant military service.
In response to the call of his State he formed
an independent corps, the strength of which was
largely dra-vni from the Scotch-Irish settlements.
Stark had stipulated that he should not be sub
ject to any orders save from his o"vvn State, He
refused to recognize orders reaching him from
the commander of the Continental troops oppos
ing Burgoyne, This discord seemed to Burgoyne
to afford a good opportunity for striking a blow,
but the actual result was a severe reverse that
was the beginning of the end of his campaign.
Burgoyne dispatched a well appointed force to
attack Stark's independent corps which, being

THE BIRTH OF THE NATION 505
composed of volunteers and State mihtia, seemed
to be an easy prey. The only uniformed troops
in Stark's command were the Green Mountain
rangers who wore hunting frocks with green
facings. On August 13, 1777, Stark received
word that Indian scouts acting for the British
had appeared twelve miles from Bennington,
Vt., and he began preparations at once.
The British commander took position upon high
ground, made intrenchments and mounted two
pieces of ordnance. During the fifteenth there
was skirmishing which had the effect of driving
off the Indian scouts. Meanwhile Stark made a
shrewd plan of attack, involving a feint divert
ing attention from the main assault. The attack
was completely successful. The British were
driven out of their intrenchments, although the
Americans had not a single cannon to support
their attack. The British fled abandoning their
baggage and artiUery.
It was rather a characteristic incident of
American warfare at this period that the battle
was nearly lost after it had been won. With the
retreat of the British the Americans dispersed to
coUect plunder. Reinforcements sent by Bur
goyne came up, arresting the retreat and renew
ing the battle. Stark had difficulty in holding his
position. At the nick of time fresh troops ar
rived from Bennington and by their aid Stark

506 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
kept up the battle which was fought with obsti
nacy until sunset when the enemy finaUy broke
and fled. Among the numerous prisoners made
by the Americans was the British commander
who was badly wounded and died soon afterward.
Although known as the battle of Bennington the
action really took place about seven miles distant
in New York territory, two miles west of the
Vermont boundary. Congress now appointed
Stark a brigadier-general, and he served until the
close of the war, when he retired, declining all
public office. He lived to be ninety-four, dying
at Manchester, N. H., May 2, 1822.
The battle of Bennington led to the failure of
Burgoyne's campaign. His line of march was
flanked by a tier of Scotch-Irish settlements,
from which volunteers and militia poured into
the American camp. The spirit of the soldiers
was animated by Stark's victory and Burgoyne
at last found himself in a position from which he
could neither advance nor retreat. All his com
munications were cut off and he was hopelessly
outnumbered. On October 17, 1777, Burgoyne
surrendered his entire command. The event
practically decided the issue of the struggle
for it secured the French alliance. Previously
the French Government had been undecided but
when the news reached Europe the American
commissioners were notified that France was now

THE BIRTH OF THE NATION 507
ready to acknowledge and support American in
dependence. The carrying on of the war with France so
occupied the British Government that operations
in Ajnerica languished for several years. In
June, 1778, the British evacuated Philadelphia,
and although they still held New York, no syste
matic American campaign was undertaken until
1780, when the Southern States became the
theatre of operations. Clinton, with forces sent
from New York, landed in the vicinity of
Charleston, South Carolina, in March, 1780, and
although the American garrison made an obsti
nate defense it was at last, on May 12, obliged
to capitulate. Soon after Clinton returned to
New York, leaving Cornwallis to prosecute the
war. What followed is like the story of Bur
goyne's campaign, over again, with a similar
turning point.
On August 16, 1780, the American army
under General Gates was defeated by CornwaUis,
near Camden, S. C, and its organization was
shattered. Two days later Tarleton routed
Sumter at Fishing Creek. American resistance
for the time was crushed out except in the
western section where Scotch-Irish settlements
were thick. ComwaUis detached Major Patrick
Ferguson with a force of regulars and Tories, to
scour the country west of the Wateree, beat back

508 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
the Mountain Men, as the frontiersmen were
caUed, and raUy the Loyahsts. Major Ferguson
came of the same stock as those who were soon
to end his career, up to this time one of briUiant
promise. He was born in Scotland, son of the
eminent jurist James Ferguson, and nephew of
Lord Ehbank. He served with the army in
Flanders when only eighteen years old. He
came to America with his regiment in 1777 and
was active in the battle of the Brandywine in
September of that year. He was engaged in
operations on the Hudson in 1779, establishing
his reputation as an able and energetic officer.
At the siege of Charleston in 1780 he so distin
guished himself that he received special mention
from the commander-in-chief.
As Ferguson moved toward the mountain
country. Colonel Charles McDowell of Burke
County, North Carolina, put himself in com
munication with Colonel John Sevier of Wash
ington County, and Colonel Isaac Shelby of
Sullivan County. Expresses were sent out along
the western tier of settlements for help and nearly
1,400 men responded to the call. The largest
contingent came from Washington County, Vir
ginia, under Colonel WiUiam CampbeU, who took
the general command in the engagement that fol
lowed, Campbell's father was one of the Scotch-
Irish settlers in Augusta County, Virginia, and

THE BIRTH OF THE NATION 509
Wilham was bom there in 1745. In 1767 he
settled in Washington County, where he became
a justice of the peace, a mihtia officer and a lead
ing man of affairs. He married a sister of
Patrick Henry.
Learning of the concentration of force against
him, Ferguson occupied a strong position on
King's Mountain. He had over eleven hundred
men in his force, in part regulars and in part
Loyalist mihtia. The position was stormed by
the Americans, who not only drove the British
from their lines but also cut off their retreat.
Ferguson fought with conspicuous gaUantry, re
peatedly leading charges upon the American
lines, but his men feU rapidly under the deadly
accuracy of the frontiersmen's fire, and at last
he too was shot dead. This disheartened the
defense, and the officer upon whom the command
devolved raised the white flag, and surrendered
his entire force, October 7, 1780.
Colonel Campbell received votes of thanks
from the Virginia Legislature and the Conti
nental Congress, while Washington sent him a
congratulatory letter. He was appointed briga
dier-general but while in the service he contracted
a fever of which he died in 1781.
Colonel Charles McDowell who was active in
the arrangements for collecting the frontiersmen
was the son of Joseph McDoweU, an Ulster emi-

510 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
grant who arrived in America in 1730. Charles
McDowell was not present at the battle of King's
Mountain. When the frontier militia colonels
came together, it was a question who should take
command, and it was finally settled that Mc
DoweU should proceed to headquarters and have
a general officer detailed to take over the com
mand which meanwhile should be held by Camp
bell. In McDowell's absence the mihtia from
Burke and Rutherford Counties, North Caro
lina, were led by his brother. Major Joseph Mc
DoweU. Another brother, WiUiam, also fought
in the battle. Joseph McDoweU led a force of
his Mountain Men at the battle of Cowpens, Jan
uary 17, 1781. In 1788 he was a member of the
North Carolina constitutional convention and in
1792 he was elected a member of Congress.
King's Mountain and Cowpens were fatal to
the plans of the British, At the end of the cam
paign they held no part of the Carolinas except
the country immediately round Charleston, Ad
ditional British troops were landed in Virginia,
and Cornwallis, marching from the Carolinas, ef
fected a junction and took charge of the entire
force. He experienced Burgoyne's fate, as he
had to surrender with his whole army on October
19, 1781, This virtually ended the Revolution
ary War, When the news reached England
there was a change of Government and the new
Ministry negotiated hberal terms of peace.

THE BIRTH OF THE NATION 511
Both Bennington and King's Mountain
showed that the British thrust was stopped when
it met the solid resistance of the Scotch-Irish
settlements along the frontier. These events
marked the turning point of the British campaign
both in the North and in the South, Such ex
ploits by local militia do not become intelligible
until one considers how mihtary aptitude was in
stiUed hi the Scotch-Irish by Ulster training and
American experience,
A signal example of this aptitude is presented
by the career of Henry Knox, Born in Boston,
July 25, 1750, of Coimty Antrim stock, he took
an ardent interest in military affairs from his
boyhood. At the age of eighteen he was a mem
ber of a military company and when the Boston
Grenadier Corps was organized he was chosen
second in command. Meanwhile he was engaged
in the book trade and he became proprietor of a
shop much frequented by the officers of the Brit
ish garrison and also by ladies of literary tastes.
In this way he became acquainted with Miss
Lucy Flucker. His marriage with her on June
16, 1774, made a stir in Boston society, as her
father, Provincial Secretary under Gage, and
a high Tory, had more ambitious plans for his
daughter and was opposed to the match. Most
of her friends thought she had sacrificed her pros
pects in life and they were confirmed in this belief

512 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
when Knox rejected the efforts of General Gage
to attach him to the Loyahst side. His vigorous
personahty, together with his active mterest in
mihtary affairs, made him such a marked man
that when he decided to to go to the American
camp he had to slip out of Boston in disguise.
After placing his wife in safe quarters at Wor
cester he joined the American forces.
At the battle of Bunker HiU Knox acted as a
staff officer, reconnoitring the British move
ments. During the campaign that followed he
was active in planning and constructing works
of defense for the various positions held by the
Americans. His abihty as a military engineer
and as an artillerist attracted attention and
obtained General Washington's esteem. On
November 17, 1775, although Knox was only
twenty-five years old, he was commissioned col
onel of the only artiUery regiment in the Conti
nental Army. He served throughout the war
with distinction, enjoying the steady confidence
and friendship of Washington. He took part in
all the important engagements do'wn to the siege
of Yorktown, his arrangements for which were
such that Washington reported to the President
of Congress that "the resources of his genius sup
plied the deficit of means."
Knox reached the grade of major-general in
1782, and in 1785 he was appointed by the Con-

THE BIRTH OF THE NATION 513
thiental Congress to the office of Secretary of
War, which he contuiued to hold under General
Washington after the national Government was
organized under the Constitution. He was also
Secretary of the Na-vy, the two portfohos being
then united. He retained office until the close
of 1794 when he withdrew from pubhc life, retir
ing to an extensive estate in Maine, upon which
he created and built up the town of Thomaston.
He had here a fine library, part of it in the
French language, and he was living the life of
a hospitable coimtry magnate when he died sud
denly in his fifty-seventh year. It was a singular
fate for a man who had escaped the perils of so
many battlefields, for he choked to death on a
chicken bone.
The War Department also owes much to the
administrative genius of another Scotch-Irish
man whose career presents a marked example of
hereditary faculty. Among the early emigrants
from Ulster to the Cumberland Valley, Pennsyl
vania, was John Armstrong. Some time before
1748 he settled in Carlisle and became a surveyor
under the Proprietary Government. He took a
leading part in organizing the settlers to repel
Indian raids and was commissioned a colonel of
mihtia. He was also a justice of the peace and
was active and energetic in the discharge both of
his mihtary and of his civil functions. In 1755 he

514 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
led a force of about two hundred and eighty
frontiersmen against the Indian settlement at
Kittanning, about twenty miles northeast of
Fort Duquesne. Although Colonel Armstrong
was severely wounded in the engagement, he com
pletely routed the Indians and destroyed their
stronghold, to the great relief of the frontier set
tlements. In 1758 he commanded a body of
troops in the vanguard of the army with which
General Forbes retrieved Braddock's defeat and
captured Fort Duquesne. During this campaign
he formed an acquaintance with Washington
which ripened into lifelong friendship. He was
a leader in the protest against the closing of the
port of Boston in 1774 and was a member of the
Committee of Correspondence appointed to con
cert measures of joint action by the colonies.
His commission as brigadier-general in the Con
tinental Army bears date March 1, 1776, and in
1777 he appears as a major-general in command
of the Pennsylvania troops at the battle of
Brandywine. In that year he left the regular
army, his action being due to some grievance, but
he did not abandon the cause. At the battle of
Germantown he commanded the Pennsylvania
militia. In 1778-1780, and also in 1787-1788, he
was a member of Congress. His election was
warmly recommended by General Washington,
who recognized the value of having one of his

THE BIRTH OF THE NATION 515
mihtary knowledge in the governing body. He
died March 9, 1795, aged seventy-five years.
John Armstrong, Jr., born at Carlisle, Novem
ber 25, 1758, was a student at Princeton when the
Revolutionary War broke out, and he left his
books to become an aide on the staff of General
Mercer. When Mercer received his mortal
wound at the battle of Princeton Armstrong
bore him off the field. After the death of Mer
cer Armstrong joined the staff of General Gates
and was with him in the campaign that culmi
nated in the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga,
In 1780, when he was only twenty-two years old,
he was made adjutant-general of the southern
army, but owing to an attack of illness served
only a short time in that position. He rejoined
the staff of General Gates, continuing in that
capacity until the end of the war.
Upon the close of the war Armstrong entered
public life in which he rose rapidly. He filled
successively the offices of Secretary and ad
jutant-general of Pennsylvania, and in 1787 he
was elected to Congress. In 1789 he married a
sister of Chancellor Livingston, and removed to
that State. Early in the next year he was chosen
United States Senator from New York, serving
untU 1804 when he entered the diplomatic service.
He was Minister to France and Spain until 1810,
when he returned to the United States, When

516 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
the War of 1812 began he was appointed briga
dier-general and placed in command of the dis
trict of New York, In March, 1813, he was
caUed to the Cabinet as Secretary of War.
Armstrong's career as Secretary of War ended
in apparent failure. The blame for American
defeats was laid upon him and the British in
vasion of Washington was the finishing stroke,
forcing him out of the Cabinet and retiring him
to private life. The verdict of history is never
theless in his favor as disinterested consideration
of the case shows that he was the victim of cir
cumstances that he tried to remedy, accomplish
ing results of permanent value. The bane of the
army has been and still is government by
Congressional committees. Armstrong selected
officers for their merits, disregarding Congres
sional influence to an extent that excited a mahg-
nant opposition which pursued him relentlessly
until it compassed his downfall. The chief au
thority for this period of our national existence
is Henry Adams's History of the United States.
While charging Armstrong with defects of
temper and manners, the historian says :
"Whatever were Armstrong's faults, he
was the strongest Secretary of War the
Government had yet seen. Hampered by
an inheritance of mistakes not easily cor
rected, and by a chief [Madison] whose
methods were non-military in the extreme.

THE BIRTH OF THE NATION 517
Armstrong still introduced into the army an
energy whoUy new. . . . The energy thus
infused by Armstrong into the regular army
lasted for half a century."
The confldence with which he inspired the army
was one of the causes of his downfall. He was
charged with aiming at a military domination of
the Government. His action in issuing a major-
general's commission to Andrew Jackson ag
grieved General Harrison and his friends and
was at the time regretted by President Madison.
The opposition to Armstrong became so strong
that Madison dismissed him from office. He
lived for nearly thirty years afterward but he
never again accepted public office. He published
a number of treatises on military and agricultural
topics ; and he prepared a military history of the
Revolution, which from his intimate knowledge
of the subject would doubtless have been a work
of great value, but unfortunately the manu
script was destroyed by flre.
Andrew Jackson, the recognition of whose
military genius by Armstrong was based upon
his behavior in the Creek Indian War, splendidly
vindicated Armstrong's judgment by his conduct
of the southern campaign and his brilliant victory
at New Orleans. His career is a weU known in
stance of the military aptitude of the Scotch-
Irish strain in American citizenship.

518 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
The origin of all the officers of the Revolu
tionary army cannot be determined with sufficient
accuracy to admit of any statistical exhibit, but
Scotch-Irish of Ulster nativity were so numerous
that a provision of the Constitution of the United
States was drawn so as to meet their case. When
the qualifications for membership in the House
of Representatives were considered in the con
vention it was in question whether natives only
should be eligible or else how long a term of
citizenship should be a prerequisite. In the
course of the debate Wilson of Pennsylvania re
marked that "almost all the general officers of
the Pennsylvania line of the late army were
foreigners," and he mentioned that three mem
bers of the Pennsylvania delegation in the con
vention, he himself being one, were not natives.
The term was finally fixed at seven years, which
admitted to Congressional eligibility the gener
ation that participated in the Revolutionary War,
whether native born or not. The immigrants
thus provided for were mainly Scotch-Irish.
In the formation of the Constitution of the
United States no racial or denominational in
fluence can be traced. Such claims have been
made but they belong rather to political mythol
ogy than to serious history. The breach in the
continuity of pohtical development due to the
circumstances of the American struggle precipi-

THE BIRTH OF THE NATION 519
tated the States into constitution-making with
unsatisfactory results. The character of the new
State Governments was distrusted and their be
havior viewed with dismay by the statesmen un
der whose leadership American independence
had been achieved. Such feelings energized the
movement for a strong national Government
whose outcome was the Convention of 1787 and
the framing of the Constitution of the United
States. The winding and shifting of individual
activity on the issues arising during the formative
period sustain no relation to racial origins or to
denominational attachments, but cut across them
with entire facility. The debates of the Conven
tion show that the accident of hailing from a
small State or a large State had more to do with
a delegate's course than any other consideration.
The Scotch-Irish supplied leaders both for and
against the adoption of the Constitution. The
movement for liberalizing the Constitution, ex
tending the suffrage, and substituting popular
election of the President for choice by the Elec
toral CoUege derived its strongest support from
the Scotch-Irish element of the population, and
it triumphed in the national Government under
the leadership of Andrew Jackson.

CHAPTER XX
A Survey and an Appreciation
From time to time objections have been raised
to the term "Scotch-Irish." In his Dutch and
Quaker Colonies, John Fiske says:
"The name Scotch-Irish is an awkward
compound, and is in many quarters con
demned. Curiously enough, there is no one
who seems to object to it so strongly as the
Irish Catholic. While his feelings toward
the 'Far-Downer' are certainly not affec
tionate he is nevertheless anxious to claim
him with his deeds and trophies, as simply
Irish, and grudges to Scotland the claim to
any share in producing him. It must be ad
mitted, however, that there is a point of view
from which the Scotch-Irish may be re
garded as more Scotch than Irish. The
difficulty might be compromised by calling
them Ulstermen, or Ulster Presbyterians."
The Century Magazine for September, 1891,
contained an article by Henry Cabot Lodge on
"The Distribution of Ability in the United
States," in which he classified the Scotch-Irish
as a distinct race-stock. This was the subject
of criticism, in replying to which he said :
530

A SURVEY and AN APPRECIATION 631
"I classified the Irish and the Scotch-Irish
as two distinct race-stocks, and I beheve the
distinction to be a sound one historically and
scientifically. . . . The Scotch-Irish from
the North of Ireland, Protestant in religion
and chiefly Scotch and English in blood and
name, came to this country in large numbers
in the eighteenth century, while the people
of pure Irish stock came scarcely at all dur
ing the colonial period, and did not immi
grate here largely until the present century
was well advanced."
The term does not matter so much as the thing
signified. That there is a particular breed of
people in the North of Ireland introduced there
by the Ulster Plantation, is indisputable. In
that region itself the term Ulster Scot seems to
be preferred as an appellation. The people there
habitually regarded and spoke of themselves as
belonging to the Scottish nation, and the term
appears in Ulster documents. The term Scotch-
Irish is also ancient, being the designation used in
the Scottish universities for the students resort
ing to them from Ulster, Their Scottish char
acter was fully recognized, but at the same time
they were not of Scotland, so the Ulster student
was registered as Scoto-Hibernus.
When Ulster emigration to America became
noticeable it was a common practice in the colo
nies to speak of the arrivals as Irish. As they
certainly came from Ireland the designation

532 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
could not be wholly disowned, yet the arrivals
strongly objected to being described as Irish,
They regarded themselves as Scottish people who
had been hving in Ireland, The circumstances
were such as naturaUy to engender the term
Scotch-Irish, which is a sufficiently accurate de
scription of a distinct race-stock. It is true that
the Ulster Plantation was designed to be Eng
lish rather than Scotch, but for reasons set forth
in preceding chapters, the Plantation became a
Scottish settlement into which the English in
gredient was absorbed, Ulster emigration to
America was distinctly Scotch-Irish in its compo
sition. The use of the term is therefore not only
justifiable but is required by accuracy of state
ment. The use of that or some corresponding term is
forced upon historians because it is impossible to
tell the story of the American nation with any
completeness without considering the Scotch-
Irish, That is how John Fiske came to make
the mention already cited. He was speaking of
early emigrants from Germany, and he tells how
some "pressed onward and spread along the Ap
palachian frontier." In pursuing this particular
theme the truth of history compels him to bring
in the Scotch-Irish, although rather abruptly.
He remarks: "Here they [the Germans, from
the Rhenish Palatinate] have played an impor-

A SURVEY AND AN APPRECIATION 633
tant part, usually in association with a race of
men of still more vigorous initiative, the so-called
Scotch-Irish." And then he proceeds to give a
brief account of the Ulster Plantation and Ulster
emigration to the colonies as an essential feature
of American history. Mr. Fiske computed that
"between 1730 and 1770 more than half the Pres
byterian population of Ulster came to America,
where it formed more than one-sixth part of our
entire population at the time of the Declaration
of Independence,"
Theodore Roosevelt experienced the same ne
cessity of considering Scotch-Irish influence, in
his Winning of the West. The leaders in
national expansion were the backwoods moun
taineers. He says that "the dominant strain in
their blood was that of the Presbyterian Irish —
the Scotch-Irish as they were often called," He
remarks that "it is doubtful if we have wholly
realized the importance of the part played by that
stern and virile people, the Irish whose preachers
taught the creed of Knox and Calvin"; and he
declares that "the West was won by those who
have been rightly called the Roundheads of the
South, the same men, who, before any others,
declared for American independence."
The fact has not been duly observed that upon]
every computation of numbers Scotch-Irish im
migration far exceeded all other Puritan immi^

634 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
gration. The Massachusetts immigration of
Puritan Independents about which so much has
been written, was comparatively smaU, as may
be seen by the figures of the colonial historian
Hutchinson, given m Chapter VI, of this work.
He estimated the total arrivals at 21,200 men,
women and children up to 1640 after which until
Scotch-Irish immigration began more people left
New England than arrived there. It was not
until after the extensive infusion of Scotch-Irish
blood that New England developed traits since
regarded as characteristic. This fact is incident
ally displayed by the considerations which
Charles Francis Adams notes in his Massachu
setts — Its Historians and Its History. He
points out that the intellectual influence and ht
erary distinction of New England are late
developments. That section was once character
ized by such mental sterihty and moral insensibil
ity that he designates the years from 1637 to
1760 as the glacial period. Then began the po
litical activity that made Massachusetts promi
nent in the Revolutionary period; but the
associations of literary culture now attaching to
New England were not estabhshed until the first
quarter of the nineteenth century.
Even upon such a restricted view of history as
that which makes it simply a narrative of events
the Scotch-Irish can not be left out. When his-

A SURVEY AND AN APPRECIATION 635
tory performs its proper function of tracing the |
causes which form national character and decide I
national destiny, the Scotch-Irish factor becomes j
prominent. Since American history has im-j
proved in scientific character and in philosophic j
spirit, it is noticeable that there has been increas- j
ing recognition of the importance of the Scotch-
Irish contribution to American nationality. 5
There are considerations, some of which will now
be instanced, that indicate that this recognition
will be stiU more enlarged in the future.
As the events of the Revolutionary period are
reduced to scale, the more disproportionate they
seem in relation to the vast results. In aU his
tory there appears to be no paraUel instance of
the founding of a great nation as an incident of
controversies over constitutional principles. In
surrection and revolt were nothing new in the
experience of England, but whatever the particu
lar conclusion, the national sovereignty emerged
stronger than before. It was very difficult for
Enghsh statesmen to admit the idea that Ameri
can independence was an actual possibility, and
even after the fact was f ormaUy recognized the
notion was long held that it would surely be
transient. The American cause was throughout
most of the Revolutionary period in a precarious
state. There were sharp divisions of sentiment
among the people, and the Government of the

536 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
improvised confederation was never able to com
mand even the limited resources within its juris
diction, or to act with steady vigor. The more
one studies the details of the struggle the more
remarkable appears the successful issue. It
seemed little less than a miracle to Washington
himself, when he calmly reviewed it in later days.
The affair remains a mystery until the effect of
the Ulster migration is considered. Here is a
factor, whose extent and activity puts it fore
most in any scientific study of cause and effect.
I If, as Mr. Fiske computes, the Scotch-Irish
j population must have amounted to one-sixth of
I the entire population at the time of the Decla
ration of Independence, and remembering that
they were all hot for independence while every-
; where else there were streaks of cold or luke-
' warm feeling, there can be hardly any question
as to where lay the decisive influence.
In the opinion of Lecky, who is with justice
regarded as the most impartial historian of this
period, the issue of the Revolutionary War once
rested upon the action of the Pennsylvania line,
whose "privates and non-commissioned officers
consisted chiefly of immigrants from the North
of Ireland." Lecl^y remarks, "no troops in that
army had shown themselves more courageous,
more patient, and more devoted." But their pay
was a whole year in arrears ; they were left nearly

A SURVEY AND AN APPRECIATION 537
naked and destitute of provisions; their com
plaints had not received attention, and early in
1781 they rebelled. Although some officers were
killed or wounded in attempting to suppress the
mutiny, the force stuck together and acted as a
disciphned body. They left camp at Morris-
town, about 1,300 strong, with their muskets
and six field-pieces; and marched to Princeton,
apparently with the intention of proceeding
to Philadelphia. The situation caused great
alarm, Lecky remarks that "in the weak condi
tion of the American forces such a body, if
it had gone over to the English, might have
turned the fortunes of the war," The English
commanders had hopes that this might be ac
complished, and there was much to encourage
them for many deserters from the Ajnerican
army had already gone over to the British camp.
But the Scotch-Irish were not of that sort. Sir
Henry Chnton sent confidential messengers with
offers of amnesty and payment of all arrears due
them, leaving it entirely to them whether they
would render military service or be discharged.
The offers were rejected, the emissaries were ar
rested and sent to the American camp to be dealt
with as spies. The mutineers kept together as a
disciplined body, committed no depredations and
proclahned their loyalty to the American cause
and their readiness to resume service as soon as

628 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
their grievances were redressed. The affair was
finally settled by a partial satisfaction of their
just demands. Congress was dehghted at get
ting out of so serious a difficulty, and a purse of
one himdred guineas was made up for those who
had delivered up the British emissaries. But the
men who had gone to such extreme lengths to
force the payment of what was due them, now re
fused to accept the present of money, saying that
they had only done their duty. The whole affair
was characteristically Scotch- Irish.
The logic of the American controversy has not
worn well, and at present deeper reasons are
sought for the conflict than those assigned at
the time. It is now regarded as having its source
in the fact that the colonies had outgrown their
tutelage, and that a nationality was developing,
which, to get its breath and live its life, had to
burst its bonds. The manifestation of this in
cipient nationahty was a sudden phenomenon,
and it corresponds to the great increase of
American population through Ulster emigration.
Prior to that the colonies had been separated
by intense antipathies. Now a marked unifying
and nationalizing influence makes its appearance,
together with an energetic movement toward
territorial expansion. Prior to the Ulster emi
gration the population of the colonies had been
stagnant and, in New England especiaUy, even

A SURVEY AND AN APPRECIATION 539
tended to decline. The Scotch-Irish immigra
tion changed that and set in motion forces of 1
national expansion whose attainments soon ex
ceeded the bounds that colonial imagination dared
to think possible. So late as 1775 the poetic '
fancy of Philip Freneau was satisfied with this
modest anticipation:
'The time shall come when strangers rule no more,
Nor cruel mandates vex from Britain's shore;
When commerce shall extend her shortened wing,
And her rich freights from every climate bring;
When mighty towns shall flourish free and great, —
Vast their dominions, opulent their state;
When one vast cultivated region teems
From ocean's side to Mississippi's streams.
American settlements extended beyond the
Mississippi in the poet's own hfetime. Freneau
died in 1832. Missouri was admitted as a State
in 1821, This rapidity of national expansion
beyond all early expectation is a direct conse
quence of Scotch-Irish immigration, and is un
accountable until that factor is considered.
This national expansion was accompanied by|
an industrial development quite as remarkable
for the rapidity of its process. An economic
transformation took place in which Scotch-Irish
immigration was an influential factor. It has
been noted that the development of manufactures
in the first distinctively Scotch-Irish settlements
in America, was so great as to excite the anxious

530 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
concern of English officials in Maryland. When
Ulster immigration poured into New England
the culture of the potato, practicaUy unknown
there before, was introduced. Spinning and
weaving were widely diffused by the same agency.
In the three years prior to 1774, the number of
Ulster weavers who had emigrated to America
was officially computed in England to be not
less than ten thousand. The rapid rise of manu
factures in the first part of the nineteenth cen
tury was a development prepared mainly through
Scotch-Irish influence. New England, the domi
nant interest in which had been navigation, ex
perienced an industrial revolution. Important
developments took place wherever the Scotch-
Irish settled. The invention of the reaper, which
has created a vast American industry and has
worked a revolution in agricultural conditions,
was an incident of Scotch-Irish occupation of the
Valley of Virginia. Cyrus McCormick made his
great invention by improving a mechanism origi
nally devised by his father as a labor-saving con
trivance in the work on his Rockbridge County
farm. The industrial history of Pennsylvania is a
wonderful record of Scotch-Irish achievement.
Conditions there were such as to give special
stimulus to the racial capacity and at the same
time to provide rich material for its exercise.

A SURVEY AND AN APPRECIATION 531
The particular history of each of the leadhig
industries of that great State is crowded with
Scotch-Irish names. The movement to the ul
terior characteristic of Scotch-Irish immigration
developed an interest in agencies of transporta
tion, which was strongly manifested in the im
provement of water-ways even before the Revo
lutionary War. One of the early commissioners
appointed to remove obstructions to river traffic
was Colonel Ephraim Blaine, grandfather of
James G. Blaine, When the steam-engine was
invented the importance of applying it to navi
gation was strongly impressed by the extent of
river traffic. Robert Fulton, who successfully
accomplished this with the aid of Chancellor
Livingston, was born in Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania, in 1765, of Scotch-Irish ancestry.
The building of canals and railways, was power
fully stimulated by needs created through Scotch-
Irish settlement of the Western country, and
Scotch-Irish names figure abundantly in such
enterprises. The list of the chief officers of the
Pennsylvania Railroad from its inception to the
present day presents very much the character of
a Scotch-Irish dynasty.
The influence of Scotch-Irish immigration in
estabhshing and propagating the Presbyterian
Church in the United States is generally
recognized. But its influence upon American re-

633 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
ligious life is of far wider scope. Almost from
the time Scotch-Irish immigration began, the
old identification of Ulster Scot and Ulster Pres
byterian began to fail. For reasons heretofore
presented in this work there was a large leakage
from Presbyterianism to Congregationahsm in
New England, which section was, and still is,
stony groimd for Presbyterianism, At the
same time Congregationahsm has not shown
proportionate gains. But even out of New Eng
land the strength of the Presbyterian Church is
far from being commensurate with the strength
of the Scotch-Irish element of the population
and its diffusion throughout the United States.
The case recalls the old fable of the traveler
and his cloak, which he held tight during the
storm but laid aside when the sun came out.
The Scotch-Irish strain has participated in the
religious variation that has been so marked in
the United States. The Puritan movement origi
nally aimed at reformation, not sectarianism.
The actual consequences involve multiplication
of agency with dissipation of energy quite op
posed to the original intention. The final judg
ment of history upon the value of that movement
will depend largely upon the solution of
the problems raised by existing ecclesiastical
conditions. Early in our national history interest in

A SURVEY AND AN APPRECIATION 533
popular education became noted as a distinctive
American characteristic. School facilities for the
masses of the people certainly did not figure in
the institutional equipment inherited by America
from England, in which respect the latter has
not been a leader among nations. In this field
the effect of Scotch-Irish immigration has been
distinct and indubitable. The high rank speedily
attained by the United States for literacy of
citizenship must be ascribed to that stream of
hifluence. There was no more familiar flgure in
American society in the formative period than
the Scotch-Irish schoolmaster. Everywhere one
hears of him in the early records.
In tracing this particular influence to its origi
nal source one must turn not only to Ulster but
beyond it to Scotland. To this day the Ameri
can school system has a Scottish stamp, and
American Universities have still a closer resem
blance to the Scotch than to the Enghsh. Ex
actly why it was that Scotland originaUy
developed its peculiar zeal for popular education
is not quite clear. While the Reformation had
much to do with it, that crisis did not originate
it. Three great Scottish universities were
founded before the Reformation. In the fif
teenth century interest in popular education
was as distinctively characteristic of Scotland
as interest in art was of Italy. The heredi-

534 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
tary jurisdiction then exercised in Scotland by
the landlord class was doubtless one source of
this interest. This is hidicated by the remarkable
law enacted in 1496 by the Scotch Parhament
requiring all persons and freeholders of sub
stance, under pain of a heavy fine, to send their
eldest sons to school until they had obtained a
competent knowledge of Latin and sufficient
familiarity with jurisprudence to distribute jus
tice among their people. The statesmen of the
Reformation built upon the existing educational
foundations and enlarged their scope. In 1560
John Knox proposed an elaborate system of
national education, A system of parochial
schools, imitaited from Geneva, was established
during the seventeenth century. The system was
accompanied by arrangements for special aid to
deserving students which, according to Lecky,
"brought the advantage of University education
within the range of classes wholly excluded from
it in England," Although the material welfare
of the people was "considerably below the aver
age standard in England, the level of intelhgence
among them was distinctly higher, the propor
tion of national faculties called into active exer
cise was distinctly greater than in any other
part of the empire," This judgment of the
English historian necessarily includes Ulster,
since both ecclesiasticaUy and educationally that
was a Scottish annex.

A SURVEY AND AN APPRECIATION 535
The foregoing pages contain numerous par
ticulars showing the educational intimacy of Ul
ster and Scotland. A striking evidence of the
general literacy of the people of Ulster is sup
plied by the petition to Governor Shute in 1717
signed by 322 persons, nearly all of the signa
tures being in fair autograph. Only eleven of
the signers had to make their marks. Nowhere
m England at that time would so little illiteracy
have been found in so large a body of poor people
planning to emigrate to better their condition.
And wherever the Scotch-Irish went the estab
hshment of schools was one of their first cares.
As has been pointed out, education was a neces
sary incident of their ecclesiastical system, and
concern for education was a deeply implanted
race instinct, abundantly manifested in their his
tory. To the activity of that characteristic the
remarkably prompt and rapid spread of popular
education throughout America is to be mainly
attributed. Generally in new settlements professional vo
cation does not set in until after the community
is well rooted. The first call is for the artificer,
and this class of employment usually absorbs the
energies of the first generation. But among the
Scotch-Irish the aptitude for scholarship was so
strong that almost from the first this stream of
immigration brought recruits to all the learned

536 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
professions, John Rutiedge who arrived in
South Carolina about 1735, became a practicing
physician in Charleston, Two sons were distin
guished lawyers, one becoming a signer of the
Declaration of Independence, the other a mem
ber of the constitutional convention of 1787 and
eventuaUy justice of the Supreme Court of the
United States. James McHenry, after whom
the fort was named whose bombardment in
spired the Star Spangled Banner, was surgeon
to the Fifth Pennsylvania battalion in the Revo
lutionary War. He was a delegate from Mary
land to the constitutional convention of 1787 and
was Secretary of War during Washington's sec
ond term, continuing under Adams, The Breck
inridge family of Kentucky, which has produced
numerous clergymen, military officers, lawyers
and statesmen, is derived from Alexander Breck
inridge who emigrated from Ulster to Pennsyl
vania in 1728 and a few years later settled m
Augusta Coimty, Virginia,
In preceding chapters numerous particulars
have been given showing the influence of the
Scotch-Irish schools in recruiting the Presby
terian ministry with men of sound scholarship.
The effect upon the legal profession was almost
as strongly marked. This profession became
strong and influential in the colonies at an early
date. Recruits to it were numerous from all the

A SURVEY AND AN APPRECIATION 537
Scotch-Irish settlements. The importance of
this element has been specially marked in Penn
sylvania and in the settlement of the West. John
Bannister Gibson, born at Carlisle, November 8,
1780, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania from 1827
to 1851, is regarded by students of jurisprudence
as one of the greatest jurists America has pro
duced. The rapidity with which legal and po
litical institutions, in advance of provision by
central authority, were erected in the interior of
the national domain, is an extraordinary occur
rence that is hardly intelligible until one con
siders the character of the Scotch-Irish immi
gration that was the dominating influence in the
westward movement of population. So many
Scotch-Irish lawyers were prominent in public
affairs in the formative period of the West that
any attempt to give particulars would transcend
the bounds of a general history.^
With the growth of the nation and the blend
ing of its elements comphcations of heredity in
crease and the race dominant in particular cases
may be brought into question. The Scotch-Irish
in America have never organized on racial lines, j
'The report of the Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish Society for 1898
contains a paper by the Hon. John B. McPherson of Dauphin
County, now a member of the United States Circuit Court of Ap
peals for the Third Circuit, giving particulars of the strength of
the Scotch-Irish element in the Pennsylvania judiciary. An
address by Governor James E. Campbell of Ohio, contained in
the report of the Scotch-Irish Congress of 1890, gives many par
ticulars of the prominent part taken by the Scotch-Irish in or
ganizing and developing the Western States,

538 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
Their social and political activities have mixed
freely and spread freely through the general
mass of American citizenship. Hence when one
turns from the collective aspect of the case to
genealogical particulars one enters a region of
controversy. An instance is supplied by the va
rious classifications made of the racial origins of
Presidents of the United States. Whitelaw
Reid's examination of the subject is carefuUy
done. According to it Andrew Jackson, James
K. Polk, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson,
Chester A. Arthur and William McKinley are
of Ulster ancestry. General Grant has Scotch
ancestry on his father's side, Scotch-Irish on his
mother's side. Benjamin Harrison, Grover
Cleveland and Theodore Roosevelt have Scotch-
Irish ancestry on the mother's side. The pater
nal ancestry of James Munroe and Rutherford
B. Hayes goes to Scotland direct. Since Mr.
Reid's book was published, the Presidency has
been attained by Woodrow Wilson, whose pre
sumably authorized biography in Who's Who
states that he is Scotch-Irish on both sides. Mr.
Reid gives a long roU of distinguished Americans
of Scotch-Irish ancestry.^
' A great mass of information is contained in the published pro
ceedings of the Scotch-Irish Society of America, organized in
1889, under the presidency of Robert Bonner of New Yorls. Its
iirst congress was held at Columbia, Tennessee, in May, of that
year. Subsequently congresses were held at Pittsburgh, Louisville,
Atlanta, Springfield, Ohio, Des Moines, Lexington, Va., Har
risburg, Knoxville, and Chambersburg, Pa. Ten volumes of

A SURVEY AND AN APPRECIATION 639
Whatever questions be raised as to the con-i
troUing heredity in particular cases there can be j
no question that there is a distinct Scotch-Irish;
type of frame and physiognomy. It is weU;
known and easily recognized. The long chin
gives a characteristic square effect to the lower
part of the face. One may notice it in the pic
tures of Woodrow Wilson as in the pictures of
Andrew Jackson, And the race character is as ]
persistent as the physical type. Professor Her- ;
on's description of the distinguishing character
istics of the Ulster Scots is applicable also to their;
kmsmen, the Scotch-Irish in America: '
"An economy and even parsimony of {
words, which does not always betoken a pov- !
erty of ideas ; an insuperable dislike to wear
his heart upon his sleeve, or make a display ;
of the deeper and more tender feelings of his
nature ; a quiet and undemonstrative deport
ment which may have great firmness and de- '
termination behind it ; a dour exterior which ;
may cover a really genial disposition and i
kindly heart; much caution, wariness and
reserve, but a decision, energy of character,
and tenacity of purpose, which, as in the case
of Enoch Arden, 'hold his will and bear it
through'; a very decided practical faculty
which has an eye on the main chance, but
proceedings were issued by this Society, malting an expressive ex
hibit of the achievements of the Ulster breed in America.
The only Scotch-Irish Society l£nown now to exist is the Penn
sylvania Scotch-Irish Society, which was organized in the fall of
1889 as a branch of the National Society. It holds annual
meetings, the transactions of which are published in a series of
reports containing much information on Scotch-Irish history.

540 THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA
which may co-exist with a deep-lying fund
of sentiment; a capacity for hard work and
close application to business, which, with
thrift and patient persistence, is apt to bear
, fruit in considerable success; in short, a re
serve of strength, self-reliance, courage and
endurance, which, when an emergency de
mands (as behind the Walls of Derry) , may
surprise the world."
The activity and influence of that race have a
securely estabhshed importance among the fac
tors of American history.

APPENDIX A
IRELAND AT THE TIME OF THE PLANTATION
Documents illustrative of the condition of Ireland at
the time of the Ulster Plantation will be found in a volume
of the Carisbrooke Library published by George Eoutledge
& Sous, London and New York, entitled Ireland under
Elizabeth and James," edited by Professor Henry Morley
of University College, London. Accounts by Edmund
Spenser, Sir John Davies and Fynes Moryson are included.
Moryson, born in Lincolnshire in 1566, obtained a fellow
ship at Cambridge University. In 1589 he obtained leave
of absence for travel until July, 1600. He spent ten years
in foreign travel and his account of his observations has
been republished in recent years under the title of Shake
speare's Europe. In 1600 he went to Ireland, where his
brother was Vice-President of Munster. Moryson was a
plodding, unimaginative writer, and his works now possess
no interest save as records of fact in which respect they
have great documentary value. The following is extracted
from his account of Ireland:
"The fields are not only most apt to feed cattle, but yield
also great increase of corn. I will freely say that I ob
served the winter's cold to be far more mild than it is in
England, so as the Irish pastures are more green, and so
likewise the gardens all winter-time, but that in summer,
by reason of the cloudy air and watery soil, the heat of
the sun hath not such power to ripen corn and fruits, so as
their harvest is much later than in England. Also I ob
served that the best sorts of flowers and fruits are much
641

643 APPENDIX A
rarer in Ireland than in England, which notwithstanding is
more to be attributed to the inhabitants than to the air ; for
Ireland being often troubled with rebellions, and the rebels
not only being idle themselves, but in natural malice de
stroying the labors of other men, and cutting up the very
trees or fruit for the same cause or else to burn them, for
these reasons the inhabitants take less pleasure to till the
ground or plant trees, content to live for the day, in con
tinual fear of like mischiefs. Yet is not Ireland altogether
destitute of these flowers and fruits, wherewith the County
of Kilkenny seems to abound more than any other part.
And the said humidity of the air and land making the
fruits for food more raw and moist, hereupon the inhabi
tants and strangers are troubled with looseness of the body,
the country disease. Yet for the rawness they have an
excellent remedy by their Aqua Vitae, vulgarly called
Usquebaugh, which binds the belly and drieth up moisture
more than our Aqua Vitae, yet inflameth not so much. Also
inhabitants as well as strangers are troubled there with an
ague which they call the Irish ague, and they who are sick
thereof, upon a received custom, do not use the help of the
physician, but give themselves to the keeping of Irish
women, who starve the ague, giving the sick man no meat,
who takes nothing but milk and some vulgarly known reme
dies at their hand.
"Ireland after much blood spilt in the civil wars became
less populous, and as well great lords of countries as other
inferior gentlemen laboured more to get new possessions for
inheritance than by husbandry and by peopling of their
old lands to increase their revenues ; so as I then observed
much grass, therewith the island so much abounds, to have
perished without use, and either to have rotted or in the
next springtime to be burnt, less it hinder the coming of
new grass. This plenty of grass makes the Irish have in
finite multitudes of cattle, and in the heat of the last rebel
lion the very vagabond rebels had great multitudes of cows.

APPENDIX A 543
which they still, like the nomades, drove with them whither
soever themselves were driven, and fought for them as for
their altars and families. By this abundance of cattle the
Irish have a frequent though somewhat poor traffic for their
hides, the cattle being in general very little, and only the
men and greyhounds of great stature. Neither can the
cattle possibly be great, since they eat only by day, and
then are brought at evening within the bawns of castles,
where they stand or lie all night in a dirty yard without
so much as a lock of hay; whereof they make little, for
sluggishness, and that little they altogether keep for their
horses. And they are thus brought in by nights for fear
of thieves, the Irish using almost no other kind of theft, or
else for fear of wolves, the destruction thereof being ne
glected by the inhabitants, oppressed with greater mis
chiefs, they are so much grown in number as sometimes in
winter nights they will come to prey in villages and the
suburbs of cities. . , ,
"In cities passengers may have feather beds, soft and
good, but most commonly lousy, especially in the highways,
whether they came by their being forced to lodge common
soldiers or from the nasty filthiness of the nation in gen
eral. For even in the best city, as at Cork, I have ob
served that my own and other Englishmen's chambers,
hired of the citizens, were scarce swept once in the week,
and the dust then laid in a corner, was perhaps cast out
once in a month or two. I did never see any public inns
with signs hanged out, among the English or English-Irish ;
but the officers of cities and villages appoint lodgings to the
passengers, and perhaps in each city they shall find one or
two houses where they will dress meat, and these be com
monly houses of Englishmen, seldom of the Irish, so these
houses having no signs hung out, a passenger cannot chal
lenge right to be entertained in them, but must have it of
courtesy and by entreaty.
"The wild and (as I may say) mere Irish, inhabiting

644 APPENDIX A
many and large provinces, are barbarous and most filthy
in their diet. They scum the seething pot with an handful
of straw, and strain their milk taken from the cow with a
like handful of straw, none of the cleanest, and so cleanse,
or rather more defile, the pot and milk. They devour great
morsels of beef unsalted, and they eat commonly swine's
flesh, seldom mutton, and aU these pieces of flesh, as also
the entrails of beasts unwashed, they seethe in a hollow
tree, lapped in a raw cow's hide, and so set over the fire,
and therewith swallow whole lumps of filthy butter. Yea
(which is more contrary to nature) they will feed on horses
dying of themselves, not only on small want of flesh, but
even for pleasure; for I remember an accident in the
army, when the Lord Mountjoy, the Lord Deputy, riding
to take the air out of the camp, found the buttocks of
dead horses cut off, and suspecting that some soldiers had
eaten that flesh out of necessity, being defrauded of the
victuals allowed them, commanded the men to be searched
out, among them a common soldier, and that of the English-
Irish, not of the mere Irish, being brought to the Lord
Deputy, and asked why he had eaten the flesh of dead
horses, thus freely answered, "Your Lordship may please
to eat pheasant and partridge, and much good do it you
that best likes your taste; and I hope it is lawful for me
without offence to eat this flesh, that likes me better than
beef." Whereupon the Lord Deputy, perceiving himself
to be deceived, and further understanding that he had re
ceived his ordinary victuals (the detaining whereof he
suspected, and purposed to punish for example), gave the
soldier a piece of gold to drink in usquebaugh for better
digestion, and so dismissed him.
"The foresaid wild Irish do not thresh their oats, but
burn them from the straw, and so make cakes thereof; yet
they seldom eat this bread, much less any better kind,
especially in the time of war. Whereof a Bohemian baron
complained who, having seen the Courts of England and

APPENDIX A 646
Scotland, would needs, out of his curiosity, return through
Ireland in the heat of the rebellion; and having letters
from the King of the Scots to the Irish lords then in rebel
lion, first landed among them in the furthest north, where
in eight days' space he found no bread, not so much as a
cake of oats, till he came to eat with the Earl of Tyrone;
and after obtaining the Lord Deputy's pass to come into
our army, related this their want of bread, to us as a mir
acle, who nothing wondered thereat. Yea, the wild Irish
in time of greatest peace impute covetousness and base
birth to him that hath any corn after Christmas, as if it
were a point of nobility to consume all within those festival
days. They wiUingly eat the herb Shamrock, being of a
sharp taste, which, as they run and are chased to and
fro, they snatch like beasts out of the ditches.
"Neither have they any beer made of malt or hops, nor
yet any ale, no, nor the chief lords, except it be very
rarely. But they drink milk like nectar, warmed with a
stone first cast into the fire, or else beef broth mingled
with milk. But when they come to any market town, to
sell a cow or horse, they never return home till they have
drunk the price in Spanish wine (which they call the King
of Spain's daughter) or in Irish usquebaugh, and till they
have outslept two or three days' drunkenness. And not
only the common sort, but even the lords and their wives,
the more they want this drink at home the more they
swallow it when they come to it, till they be as drunk as
beggars. "Many of these wild Irish eat no flesh but that which
dies of disease or otherwise of itself, neither can it scape
them for stinking. They desire no broth, nor have any
use for a spoon. They can neither seethe artichokes nor
eat them when they are sodden. It is strange and ridicu
lous, but most true, that some of our carriage horses fall
ing into their hands, when they found soap and starch
carried for the use of laundresses, they, thinking them to

546 APPENDIX A
be some dainty meats, did eat them greedily, and when
they stuck in their teeth cursed heartily the gluttony of us
English churls, for so they term us. They feed most on
white meats, and esteem for a great dainty sour curds,
vulgarly called by them Bonaclabbe. And for this cause
they watchfully keep their cows, and fight for them as for
religion and life; and when they are almost starved, yet
will they not kill a cow except it be old and yield no milk.
Yet will they upon hunger, in time of war, open a vein of
the cow and drink the blood, but in no case kill or much
weaken it. A man would think these men to be Scythians,
who let their horses blood under their ears and for nourish
ment drink their blood; and indeed, as I have formerly
said, some of the Irish are of the race of Scythians, coming
into Spain and from thence into Ireland. The wild Irish,
as I said, seldom kill a cow to eat, and if perhaps they kill
one for that purpose, they distribute it all to be devoured
at one time; for they approve not the orderly eating at
meals, but so they may eat enough when they are hungry,
they care not to fast long. . . .
"These wild Irish never set any candles upon tables —
what do I speak of tables ? since indeed they have no tables,
but set their meat upon a bundle of grass, and use the
same grass as napkins to wipe their hands. But I mean
that they do not set candles upon any high place to give
light to the house, but place a great candle made of reeds
and butter upon the floor in the midst of a great room.
And in like sort the chief men in their houses make a great
fire in the midst of the room, the smoke whereof goeth out
at a hole in the top thereof. An Italian friar coming of
old into Ireland and seeing at Armagh this their diet and
the nakedness of the women, is said to have cried out:
"Civitas Armachana, civitas vana.
Games crudae, mulieres nudae."
"Vain Armagh city, I thee pity.
Thy meat's rawness and women's nakedness."

APPENDIX A 547
' I trust no man expects among these gallants any beds,
much less feather beds and sheets, who, like the Nomades
removing their dwellings according to the commodity of
pastures for their cows, sleep under the canopy of heaven,
or in a poor house of clay, or in a cabin made of the boughs
of trees and covered with turf, for such are the dwellings
of the very lords among them. And in such places they
make a fire in the midst of the room, and round about it
they sleep upon the ground, without straw or other thing
under them, lying. in a circle about the fire, with their feet
towards it. And their bodies being naked, they cover their
heads and upper parts with their mantles, which they first
make very wet, steeping them in water of purpose ; for they
find that when their bodies have warmed the wet mantles,
the smoke of them keeps their bodies in temperate heat all
the night following. And this manner of lodging not only
the mere Irish lords and their foUowers use, but even some
of the English-Irish lords and their followers when, after
the old but tyrannical and prohibited manner vulgarly
called coshering, they go, as it were on progress, to live
upon their tenants till they have consumed all the victuals
that the poor men have or can get."

APPENDIX B
THE SCOTTISH UNDERTAKERS
The first list of Scottish applicants for Ulster allotments
was completed by September 14, 1609. The following is
the list as given in volume VIII of the official edition of
the Register of the Privy Council of Scotland:
Adamson, James, brother of Mr. William Adamson of Gray-
crook [Craigcrook] : surety, Andrew Heriot of Ravels-
ton: 2,000 acres.
AiTCHisoN, Harry, in Edinburgh: surety, Mr. James Cun
ningham of Mountgrennan : 2,000 acres.
Alexander, Robert, son of Christopher Alexander, bur
gess of Stirling: surety, his said father: 1,000 acres.
Anderson, James, portioner of Little Govan: surety, John
Allison in Carsbrig: 1,000 acres.
Anderson, John, burgess of Edinburgh: surety, Thomas
Anderson, burgess there.
Bellenden, John, son of the late Justice-Clerk Sir Lewis
Bellenden: surety. Sir George Livingstone of Ogilface:
2,000 acres.
Bellenden, William, also son of the late Sir Lewis Bel
lenden: surety, Mr. John Hart, younger, in the Canon-
gate: 2,000 acres.
Borthwick, David, chamberlain of Newbattle: surety,
George Thorbrand, burgess of Edinburgh: 2,000 acres.
Brown, John, in Gorgie Mill: surety, Harry Aikman, in
Brumehouse: 2,000 acres.
Carmichael, David, son of James Carmichael of Potti-
shaw: surety, Mr. John Ross, burgess of Glasgow:
1,000 acres. 648

APPENDIX B 649
CoLQUHouN, Mr. Malcolm, burgess of Glasgow: surety,
Alexander Colquhoun of Luss: 2,000 acres.
CouTTS, Robert, of Corswoods: surety, John Coutts, skin
ner, burgess of Edinburgh: 1,000 acres.
Cranstoun, Nathaniel, son of Mr. Michael Cranstoun,
minister of Cramond: surety, Robert Wardlaw in Edin
burgh: 1,500 acres.
Crawford, Daniel, goldsmith in Edinburgh: surety,
George Crawford goldsmith there: 1,000 acres.
Crawford, David, son of Andrew Crawford of Bedlair:
surety, Robert Montgomery of Kirktown: 2,000 acres.
Crawford, James, goldsmith, burgess of Edinburgh: surety,
Archibald Hamilton of Bairfute: 2,000 acres.
Crawford, Robert, of Possil: surety, John Montgomery of
Cokilbie: 2,000 acres.
Crichton, Abraham, brother of Thomas Crichton of Brun-
stone: surety, said Crichton of Brunstone: 2,000 acres.
Crichton, Thomas, of Brunstone: surety, Mr. James Cun
ningham of Mountgrennan: 2,000 acres.
Cunningham, Alexander, of Powton: surety, George
Murray of Broughton: 2,000 acres.
Cunningham, John, of Raws: surety, James Guidlet in
Strabrock: 2,000 acres.
Dalyrymple, James, brother of Dalyrymple of Stair:
surety, George Crawford, younger of Auchincorse: 2,000
acres.
Douglas, George, of Shiell: surety, Douglas of Pumpher-
ston: 2,000 acres.
Douglas, James, of Clappertoun: surety, George Douglas
of Shiell: 1,000 acres.
Douglas, William, son of Joseph Douglas of Pumpher-
ston: surety, his said father: 2,000 acres.
Dunbar, Alexander, of Egirness: surety, George Murray
of Broughton: 2,000 acres.
Dunbar, John, of Avach, surety, David Lindsay, Keeper
of the Tolbooth of Edinburgh: 2,000 acres.

650 APPENDIX B
FiNLAYSoN, Mr. John, heir apparent of Killeith: surety,
John Dunbar of Avach: 2,000 acres.
Forres, John, in Dirleton: surety, Walter Ker of Cockle-
mill: 2,000 acres.
Forster, William, in Leith: surety, John Forster in Edin
burgh: 1,000 acres.
FowLEK, William, merchant-burgess in Edinburgh: surety,
James Inglis, skinner, burgess of Edinburgh : 2,000 acres.
Guidlet, James, in Strabrock: surety, John Cunningham of
Raws: 2,000 acres.
Hamilton, Claud, of Creichness : surety, Archibald Hamil
ton of Bairfute: 2,000 acres.
Hamilton, George, of East Binnie: surety, Mr. Edward
Marshall, clerk of commissary of Edinburgh : 2,000 acres.
Hamilton, Robert, of Stanshouse: 2,000 acres.
Hamilton, Robert, son of the late Gilbert Hamilton:
surety, Gavin Hamilton of Raploch: 2,000 acres.
Hepburn, Alexander, of Bangla: surety. Sir Robert Hep
burn of Alderstoun: 2,000 acres.
Home, Robert, of Blackhills : surety, Mr. John Home of
Swansheill: 2,000 acres.
Inglis, Thomas, younger of Auldliston: surety, James,
Lord Torphichen: 1,000 acres.
Irving, Robert, at the mill of Cowie: surety, Edward
Johnston, younger, merchant in Edinburgh : 2,000 acres.
Johnstone, John, bailie of Water of Leith : surety, Daniel
Coutts in Dairy Mill: 2,000 acres.
Ker, Walter, of Cocklemill: surety, John Forres in Dirle
ton: 1,500 acres.
Lauder, Alexander, son of William Lauder of Bellhaven:
surety, his said father: 2,000 acres.
Lindsay, Mr. Jerome, in Leith: surety, David Lindsay,
keeper of the Tolbooth of Edinburgh: 2,000 acres.
Lindsay, Mr. Robert, in Leith: surety, George Smailholm
in Leith: 2,000 acres.
Livingston, Sir George, of Ogilface: surety, John Craw
ford of Bearcrofts: 2,000 acres.

APPENDIX B 661
Lockhart, Stephen, of Wicketshaw: surety, Thomas Weir
of Kirktoun: 2,000 acres.
McClellan, Herbert, of Grogrie: surety, George Murray
of Broughton: 2,000 acres.
McCuLLOcH, James, of Drummorell: surety, George Mur
ray of Broughton: 2,000 acres.
McGiLL, M. Samuel, burgess of Glasgow: surety, Robert
Gray, brother of Patrick, Lord Gray: 2,000 acres.
Mac Walter, Pahlane, of Auchinvennell : surety, Alex
ander Colquhoun of Luss: 2,000 acres.
Marjoribanks, Thomas, son of Thomas Marjoribanks of
Ratho: surety, John Marjoribanks, apparent of Ratho:
2,000 acres.
Meldrum, John, brother of the Laird of Seggie: surety,
Ramsay of Balmonth: 2,000 acres.
Melville, James, son of John Melville of Raith: surety,
James Melville of Fodinche: 2,000 acres.
Montgomery, Robert, of Kirktown: surety, Robert Craw
ford of Possill: 2,000 acres.
Mowbray, William, son of John Mowbray of Groftangry:
surety, his said father: 2,000 acres.
Mure, James, portioner of Both-Kenner: surety, Cuthbert
Cunningham, provost of Dumbarton: 2,000 acres.
Murray, George, of Broughton: surety, Alexander Dunbar
of Egirness: 2,000 acres.
Orrock, Captain David: surety. Lord Ochiltree: 2,000
acres.
Pont, Mr. Timothy, minister: surety, Alexander Borth
wick of Nether Laich: 2,000 acres.
Purves, Thomas, in Bald: surety, John Purves, cordiner
in Edinburgh: 1,000 acres.
Ramsay, Alexander, brother of Thomas Ramsay of Bal
month: surety, Meldrum of Seggie: 2,000 acres.
Ross, Mr. John, burgess of Glasgow: surety, James Car
michael of Pottishaw: 1,500 acres.
Smailholm, George, in Laith: surety, Mr. Robert Lind
say in Leith: 2,000 acres.

652 APPENDIX B
Stewart, Harry, of Barskimming: surety. Lord Ochiltree:
2,000 acres.
Stewart, James, of Rossyth: surety, William Stewart of
Dunduff: 2,000 acres.
Stewart, Robert, uncle of Lord Ochiltree: surety, said
Lord Ochiltree: 2,000 acres.
Stewart, Robert, of Robertoun: surety, William Stewart
of Dunduff: 2,000 acres.
Stewart, Robert, in Edinburgh: surety, William Stewart
of Dunduff: 2,000 acres.
Stewart, William, of Dunduff: surety. Lord Ochiltree:
2,000 acres.
Tarbet, James, servitor to the Earl of Dumfermline:
surety, Thomas Inglis, younger of Auldliston: 1,000
acres.
Thorbrand, Alexander, son of George Thorbrand, bur
gess of Edinburgh: surety, his said father: 1,500 acres.
Watson, Mr. James, portioner of Sauchton: surety, John
Watson, portioner of Sauchton: 2,000 acres.
Watson, John, portioner of Sauchton: surety, James
Crawford, goldsmith, burgess of Edinburgh: 2,000 acres.
Weir, Thomas, of Kirktoun: surety, Stephen Lockhart of
Wicketshaw: 2,000 acres.
Wilkie, John, burgess of Edinburgh: surety, James Mur
ray, burgess there: 2,000 acres.
Wood, Andrew, brother of John Wood of Galstoun : surety,
his said brother: 2,000 acres.

THE SECOND LIST
The Scottish Undertakers who were actually granted al
lotments in Ulster were those on the list made up in 1610
by the King and his English Privy Council sitting in Lon
don. The following schedule is taken from Vol. IX of the
Register of the Privy Council of Scotland:
Undertakers for S,000 Acres Each
LuDovic Stewart, Duke of Lennox (in Donegal County).

APPENDIX B 653
James Hamilton, Earl of Abercorn (in County Tyrone).
EsME Stewart, Lord D'Aubigny, brother of the Duke of
Lennox (in County Cavan).
Michael Balfour, Lord of Burley (in County Ferma
nagh).
Andrew Stewart, Lord Ochiltree (in County Tyrone).
Undertakers for 2,000 Acres Each
John Clapen (in County Tyrone).
Sir James Cunningham, of Glengarnock (in County
Donegal),
Sir James Douglas (in County Armagh).
Sir Alexander Hamilton (in County Cavan).
Sir Claud Hamilton (in County Tyrone).
Sir John Home (in County Fermanagh).
Sir Robert MacLellan, of Bomby (in County Donegal).
Undertakers for 1,500 Acres Each
 Balfour, Younger of Montquhany (in County
Fermanagh).
Sir Thomas Boyd (in County Tyrone).
William Fowler (in County Fermanagh).
James Haig (in County Tyrone).
Robert Hamilton (in County Fermanagh).
Sir Robert Hepburn, late Lieutenant of the King's Guard
in Scotland (in County Tyrone).
George Murray, of Broughton (in County Donegal).
William Stewart, brother of Lord Garlies (in County
Donegal).
Sir John Wishart of Pitarro (in County Fermanagh).
Undertakers for 1,000 Acres Each
Henry Aitchinson (in County Armagh).
Alexander Auchmutie (in County Cavan).
John Auchmutie (in County Cavan).
William Baillie (in County Cavan).
John Brown (in County Cavan).
 Crawford, of Liefnoreis (in County Tyrone).
John Craig (in County Armagh).

664 APPENDIX B
Alexander Cunningham, of Powton (in County Donegal).
Cuthbert Cunningham (in County Donegal).
James Cunningham (in County Donegal).
John Cunningham, of Granfield (in County Donegal).
Sir John Drummond, of Bordland (in County Tyrone).
Alexander Dunbar (in County Donegal).
John Dunbar (in County Fermanagh).
William Dunbar (in County Cavan).
James Gibb (in County Fermanagh).
Sir Claud Hamilton (in County Cavan).
Claud Hamilton (in County Armagh).
George Hamilton (in County Tyrone).
Alexander Hume (in County Fermanagh).
William Lauder (in County Armagh).
Barnard Lindsay (in County Tyrone).
John Lindsay (in County Fermanagh).
Robert Lindsay (in County Tyrone).
Alexander Macaulay, of Durling (in County Donegal).
James MacCulloch (in County Donegal).
Sir Patrick M'Kie (in County Donegal).
 Moneypenny, of Kinkell (in County Ferma
nagh).
John Ralston (in County Cavan).
George Smailholm (in County Fermanagh).
John Stewart (in County Donegal).
Robert Stewart, of Haltoun (in County Tyrone).
Robert Stewart of Robertoun (in County Tyrone).
Sir Walter Stewart, of Minto (in County Donegal).
William Stewart, of Dunduff (in County Donegal).
James Trail (in County Fermanagh).
Patrick Vaus (in County Donegal).

APPENDIX C
THE MAKING OF THE ULSTER SCOT
By the Rev. Professor James Heron, D.D., of
The Assembly's College, Belfast, Ireland
As to the parts of Scotland from which the Ulster set
tlers came there is no controversy, and they may be
indicated in a sentence or two. As we gather from such
records as the Hamilton and Montgomery MSS., Hill's ac
count of the Plantation, the State Calendars, Commis
sioners' Reports in the "Carew MSS.," Pynnar's "Survey,"
and other contemporary documents, the districts of Scotland
which supplied the Ulster colonists of the seventeenth cen
tury may be grouped conveniently under three heads —
namely :
Whence They Came
(1) Galloway and the Scottish counties included in the
ancient kingdom of Strathclyde — Dumbartonshire, Ayr
shire, Renfrewshire, Lanarkshire, and Dumfriesshire;
(2) The counties around Edinburgh — Edinburghshire,
Haddingtonshire, and Berwickshire; and
(3) The district lying between Aberdeen and Inverness,
corresponding to the ancient province of Moray.
It should be noted here, however, that a certain portion
of Scotland was expressly excluded from the privilege (if it
was a privilege) of sharing in the Ulster Plantation. It
was made a necessary condition that the colonists, both of
the higher and lower ranks, must have been "born in Eng
land or the inward parts of Scotland." This restric
tion of authorised Scottish settlers to those born in "the
inward parts" of the country was evidently designed to
565

556 APPENDIX C
exclude Argyllshire and the Isles ; that is to say, the Scot
tish Dalriada, the parts of Scotland inhabited by Celts
from Ireland. It was manifestly for the express purpose
of excluding them that the restriction referred to was made.
They were not the sort of people that were wanted.
Now, let us trace the history of the several regions
named, note the successive races by whom they were oc
cupied, the numerous invasions, the incessant conflicts, the
devastations and colonisations they passed through, and
the probable outcome as regards the blood, race, and moral
quality of the residue. A superficial view on a perfunctory
survey of the history might be quite misleading. As the
history reaches back far so as to touch even prehistoric
tracts of time, and as the events and movements to be ob
served, even within the historic period, are often involved
and complex, and extend over more than a thousand years,
both patient study and a fair share of trained insight and
of the historic imagination are requisite to realise those
movements in their operation and outcome. In the present
brief statement of the case I can only attempt to place
before you the elementary facts of a somewhat difficult
problem, and thus put you in a position to judge for your
selves. And for obvious reasons I have though it better, as
far as possible, to state the facts in the words of recognised
historians rather than in my own.
The Picts
As a necessary preliminary, however, to our consideration
of the districts I have named, some notice must be taken
of the Picts, who held almost the whole of the country we
now call Scotland when it begins to emerge into the light
of history. A keen controversy as to the racial connection
of the Picts, in which the Scottish historians, Pinkerton and
Chalmers, toward the end of the eighteenth century, were
the chief protagonists, raged for many years, Pinkerton
maintaining that they were Teutons, and his opponent
arguing with equal vigour that they were Celts. Sir Walter

APPENDIX C 557
Scott, in his tale of the "Antiquary," has a most amusing
skit on that controversy. At the dinner-table of Monkbarns
a sharp debate arises between the Antiquary and Sir Arthur
Wardour on this very question, who were the Picts? Mr.
Oldbuck asserts with Pinkerton that they were Goths, while
Sir Arthur asseverates quite as strenuously with Chalmers
that they were Celts. The discussion, like many a similar
one, gets more heated as it proceeds, till at length the
combatants lose their temper, and Sir Arthur rises from the
table in high dudgeon and "flounces out of the parlour."
Dr. Hill Burton, in his "History of Scotland," describes the
controversy between Pinkerton and Chalmers as quite in
conclusive. In fact, the verdict of the latest and best
modern experts is that both were wrong, and that the Picts
were neither Celts nor Teutons ! Dr. Skene, writing more
than a generation ago, held that they were Celts; but I
suppose the highest living authority on the subject is Sir
John Rhys, Principal of Jesus College, Oxford, and Pro
fessor of Celtic in Oxford University, and Sir John Rhys,
led by philological, ethnological, and topographical con
siderations, affirms that "the most tenable hypothesis may
be said to be that the 'Picts' were non-Aryan, whom the
first Celtic migrations found already settled" in the coun
try. "The natural conclusion is," he says, "that the Picts
were here before the Aryans came; that they were in fact
the aborigines." He adds that "it is not too much to say
that the theory of the non-Aryan origin of the Pictish
language holds the field at present" ("The Welsh People,"
pp. 13-16). The judgment of the late eminent Professor
of Celtic Philology in the University of Berlin, Professor
Zimmer, coincides with that of Rhys. His opinion is that
"Pict" was the Roman translation of the name given to the
aborigines by the British and Irish Celts. And I see that
Dr. Macewen, in the volume of his "History of the Church
in Scotland," which has just appeared — a work of very
careful research and scholarship — adopts this view. Note,

658 APPENDIX C
then, that, according to such distinguished experts as Sir
John Rhys and Professor Zimmer, of Berlin, the original
inhabitants of the greater part of North Britain, including
the aborigines of Galloway and of the North of Scotland
from the Firth of Forth to the Pentland Firth, and by the
Romans called "Picts," were not Celts.
I. We turn now, then, to the first of the three groups
of districts I have named as having supplied a very large
number of Ulster colonists — namely, Galloway and the
Northern portion of the ancient British kingdom of
Strathclyde, which included the modern counties of Dum
bartonshire, Renfrewshire, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire, and
Dumfriesshire. Galloway
(1) As to Galloway, the remarks just made with regard
to the Pictish aborigines have to be kept in mind. Even in
the time of Bede we find here a people called by him
"Niduari Picts," and at a still later time known as "Gallo
way Picts."* According to Sir John Rhys Ihey were neither
Goidelic nor Brythonic Celts, but non-Aryan aborigines,
who had been subdued by the Celts, and had adopted the
language of their Celtic invaders. When they were sub
jugated by a Celtic people, and became in a measure Celti-
cised, is quite uncertain. In Strathclyde also, embracing
the counties I have mentioned, there appears to have been
a considerable substratum of Pictish aborigines. But over
lying them, and constituting the dominant element in the
population, were the Britons, or Brythonic Celts, who
formed the British kingdom of Strathclyde. They were in
close kinship with the Welsh. That, then, is the first thing
to be noted with regard to this region — that prior to the
coming of the Romans, and later, Galloway is chiefly popu
lated by Pictish aborigines, and Strathclyde by Britons,
who were Brythonic Celts, akin to the Welsh.
* See Life of St. Cuthbert, chap. XI, sec. 18. The designation
"Niduari" appears to be derived from the river Nith, which
bounded Galloway on the east.

APPENDIX C 659
(2) The second fact to which I have to direct your notice
is the invasion of North Britain by the Romans. The Ro
man occupation began in the year 80 of our era, con
tinued till 410, and left, without doubt, some lasting effects.
The six campaigns in which Agricola sought to subdue
North Britain, and the numerous campaigns of later Roman
invaders, laid waste the country, and exterminated a con
siderable proportion of a population which was already
sparse, for the forests, moors, and marshes were then ex
tensive; while in the course of the three centuries of the
Roman occupation there would be more or less inter
marriage with the Britons, and some infusion of Roman, or
at least foreign blood. Remains of Roman camps have been
found in various places. We hear of one (at Bar Hill),
where, with a cohort of auxiliaries from Germany, about
a thousand settlers continued to live for nearly half a
century. Dr. Macewen, in his recent "History of the
Church in Scotland" (p. 18) says that with the Picts and
Britons there was "blended a mongrel, half-foreign element,
the residue of the Roman population. This element is
difficult to explain in its relations to native life, but it is
extremely historical both in itself and in its influences."
He describes the people even at this early date as "the
hybrid inhabitants of Strathclyde" ; while Dr. Zimmer
points out that Patrick in his letter to Coroticus speaks of
the subjects of Coroticus in Strathclyde as being of both
British and Roman descent.
(3) We have next to record the influx into the whole
province of Galloway and Strathclyde of a Teutonic people.
In the words of Skene "Galloway was for centuries a pro
vince of the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria" ("Celtic
Scotland," Vol. I., p. 311) ; and the same is true of Strath
clyde also. Bede informs us, for example, that in the year
603 Aethelfrid, king of Northumbria, "ravaged the Britons
more than all the great men of the Angles. He conquered
more territory from the Britons, either making them tribu-

660 APPENDIX C
tory or expelling the inhabitants, and planting Angles in
their places, than any other king" ("Eccl. Hist.," B. I., e.
34). Mark the policy of the Northumbrian king, as de
scribed by Bede, of "expelling the inhabitants and planting
Angles in their places" — a policy which seems to have been
pursued by his successors. Bede also states that Oswald,
another Northumbrian king (635-642), "brought under his
dominion all the nations and provinces of Britain"; and
that his brother and successor, Oswiu, even extended his
realm ("Eccl. Hist.," B. III., c. 6). As Mr. Andrew Lang
puts it: "Oswiu dominated Strathclyde and Pictland up to
the Grampians, the English element for the time extending
itself, and Anglicising more and more the Scotland that
was to be" (Article on "Scotland" in "Encycl. Britan.").
Under Ecgfrid, Oswin's successor, they tried to throw off
the yoke of servitude, but Ecgfrid "made so great a
slaughter of them that two rivers were almost filled with
their bodies, and those who fled were cut to pieces" (Eddi's
"Life of Wilfrid," c. 19). A century later, in 756, "the
successes of Eadbert reduced the fortunes of the Britons in
this quarter of the lowest ebb," and Cunningham and Kyle
were taken possession of, with Alclyde itself, the bulwark
of the North Britons (Robertson's "Scotland Under Her
Early Kings," Vol. I., p. 18). By the repeated ravages,
slaughter, and expulsion of the native Britons, they must
have been immensely reduced in number, while the posses
sion and domination of the province for so long a period by
a Teutonic people, whose policy it was to "expel the natives
and to plant Angles in their stead," cannot but have added
a large and powerful Teutonic element to a population al
ready much reduced and mixed with other than Celtic
ingredients. The Scandinavian Invasion
(4) But we come now to another Teutonic invasion which
must have still more profoundly affected them — ^the seizure
and occupation of both Galloway and Strathclyde by the

APPENDIX C 561
Scandinavians. There is a record in the Ulster Annals to
the effect that in 822 "Galloway of the Britons was laid
waste with all its dwellings and its Church." But in 870
again both Strathclyde and Galloway were devastated by
the terrible Northmen; Alclyde was taken and demolished,
and many captives and much booty carried away. And the
chronicler, Symeon of Durham, records another desperate
invasion of the same territories by the Danes in 875, when
they laid waste the country and "made great slaughter" of
the inhabitants ; and this is confirmed by the Ulster Annals.
Referring to the same incursion in his "History of the
County of Ayr" (p. 15), Paterson says that they "laid
waste Galloway and a great part of Strathclyde," and that
thus harassed by the insatiable Northmen, many of the in
habitants "resolved on emigrating to Wales. Under Con-
stantin, their chief, they accordingly took their departure.
. . . The Strathclyde kingdom was, of course, greatly
weakened by the departure of their best warriors, and it
continued to be oppressed both by the Scots and the Anglo-
Saxon princes." "And with the retreating emigrants," says
Robertson, "the last semblance of independence departed
from the Britons of the North" (Scotland Under Her Early
Kings,' Vol. I., p. 54). But in 944 we find the Danes,
Ronald and his sons, in possession of Galloway, and con
tinuing in possession till the end of the century, when the
Danes are displaced by the Norwegians, who remain in
occupancy till the end of the next century (see Sir Herbert
Maxwell's "History of Dumfries and Galloway," p. 48;
Skene's "Celtic Scotland," and the "Annals of the Four
Masters"). "From the end of the ninth century," says
Rait, "Norse settlements continued for 300 years. The
districts of Dumfriesshire and Galloway, all of the Western
islands, the West coast of the Firth of Clyde northwards,
and the coasts from Caithness and Sutherland to the Moray
Firth were deeply affected by the influx of a Scandinavian
population" (Rait's "Scotland," p. 7). As was inevitable,

562 APPENDIX C
these Northmen left their mark deep on Galloway and
Strathclyde, and added a strong Teutonic ingredient to the
population. "It is plain," says Sir Herbert Maxwell, "from
the place names of Norse origin scattered through the
stewartry and the shire that there was a permanent Scan
dinavian settlement there" ("History of Dumfries and Gal
loway," p. 38).
"A sure and certain test of a colonisation of this descrip
tion," says Robertson, "is afforded by the topography of the
districts occupied, the 'caster' and 'by' invariably marking
the presence of the Northmen not only as a dominant, but
as an actually occupying class." He then proceeds to give
clear evidence of such colonisation by the Northmen in the
South-West of Scotland. Sir Herbert Maxwell also refers
to "the remains of Scandinavian occupation preserved in
the place-names of the South-West. Many hUls," he says,
"bear the title 'fell' — the Norse 'f jail' — as in 'Fell a' Bar-
huUian' in Glasserton parish, or disguised as a suffix, as in
'Criffel.' The well-known test syllable, 'by,' a village,
farm, or dwelling, so characteristic of Danish rather than
of Norse occupation, takes the place in southern districts
which 'bolstadr' holds in northern. 'Lockerby,' the dwell
ing of Locard or Lockhart ; Canonby and Middleby in Dum
friesshire, -Busby, Sorby, and Corsby in Wigtonshire are
instances in point. 'Vik,' a creek, or small bay, gives the
name to Southwick (sand-vik = sandbay), and 'n'es,' a
cape, appears in Sinniness (south point), and Borness
(burgh or fort point). Pastoral occupation is implied in
Fairgirth (sheep-fold). . . . Tinwald, like Dingwall in the
North, is the Assembly-field, and Mouswald the Mossfield"
(Maxwell's "Dumfries and Galloway," pp. 44, 45). A
Norwegian writer, quoted by Mackerlie, states that "the
language of the Lowlands of Scotland is so much like that
of Scandinavia that the Scottish seamen wrecked on the
coasts of Jutland and Norway have been able to converse
without difficulty in their mother-tongue with the people
there."

APPENDIX C 563
In short, nothing in Scottish history is more certain than
that a very large infusion of Danish and Norse blood has
been given to the people. of Galloway and Strathclyde. In
view of the repeated devastation and depopulation of the
country by war and by emigration of the natives, and the
large influx and colonisation by Scandinavians, that in
fusion must have been very large indeed.
The Normans and Saxons
(5) But we have to notice in the next place the greatest
revolution of all in the history of this region, and of nearly
all Scotland, the revolution caused by the influx of Saxons
and Normans.
"Through the troubles in England consequent on the
Danish and Norman invasions," says Dr. "Hume Brown, a
"succession of Saxon settlers crossed the Tweed in search
of the peace they could not find at home. In itself this im
migration must have powerfully affected the course of
Scottish history; but under the Saxon Margaret and her
sons the southern influence was directed and concentrated
with a deliberate persistence that eventually reduced the
Celtic element to a subsidiary place in the development of
the Scottish nation." And here it is most important to take
note of and to carry in our memory the emphatic statement
of Dr. Hume Brown with regard to the district under con
sideration when the Saxon and Norman colonisation began.
"From all we know of Strathclyde and Galloway previous
to the time of the Saxonised and Normanised kings" (Dr.
Brown says) "extensive districts must have consisted of
waste land" ("History of Scotland," Cambridge Historical
Series, pp. 50, 89).
The movement which began under Malcolm II. (1005-
1034) went on on a still larger scale in the time of Malcolm
Canmore (1057-1093). He had long resided as an exile
at the Court of Edward the Confessor, and had become
thoroughly English in sentiment and sympathy. It was
in his time that the Norman Conquest took place, and had

564 APPENDIX C
a profound influence on the history of Scotland — an in
fluence which appears not only in the copious inflow of
Englishmen into Scotland, but in the gradual transforma
tion of Scottish society and Scottish institutions. "The
form in which the Conquest was first felt in Scotland," says
Dr. Hill Burton, "was by a steady migration of the Saxon
people northward. They found in Scotland people of their
own race, and made a marked addition to the predominance
of the Saxon and Teutonic elements" (Hill Burton's "His
tory of Scotland," Vol. I., p. 373).
On the death of their king at Hastings, Edgar the
Atheling had been chosen by the English people to suc
ceed him, but he and his mother and two sisters, driven
from England by the Conqueror, took refuge at the Court
of Malcolm Canmore. And not only the Royal family, but
"many of the Saxons fled into Scotland," says Cunning
ham, "to escape from their Norman masters. . . . From
this period," he adds, "we find a stream of Saxon and
Norman settlers pouring into Scotland. They came not as
conquerors, and yet they came to possess the land. With
amazing rapidity, sometimes by Royal grants, and some
times by advantageous marriages, they acquired the most
fertile districts from the Tweed to the Pentland Firth; and
almost every noble family in Scotland now traces from
them its descent. The strangers brought with them English
civilisation" (Cunningham's "Church History of Scotland,"
Vol. I., p. 105). Edgar's sister, Margaret, who became
Malcolm's queen, was an able and ambitious, as well as an
intensely religious woman after the Roman fashion, bent on
the predominance of the English interest and of the Eng
lish, that is, of the Roman Church. In 1070 Malcolm, her
husband, made a raid into England, harried Cumberland,
and carried back with him to Scotland as captives large
numbers of young people of both sexes. "So great was
the number of these captives," says the chronicler, Symeon
of Durham, "that for many years they were to be found in

APPENDIX C 665
every Scottish village, nay, in every Scottish hovel. In
consequence, Scotland became filled with menservants and
maidservants of English parentage; so much so that even
at the present day," says Symeon, writing in 1120, "not
only is not the smallest village, but not even is the humblest
house to be found without them." "And besides the Saxons,
many of the Norman nobility, dissatisfied with the rule of
the Conqueror, retired to Scotland, where they were en
couraged by every mark of distinction that could be heaped
upon them" (Paterson's "History of the County of Ayr,"
Vol. I., p. 18). After referring to Symeon's testimony. Dr.
Macewen adds that "in the next half-century there arrived
with the monks a stream of settlers engaged in trade and
agriculture, who frequented the towns or markets which
were usually established in the vicinity of monasteries.
According to another chronicler, William of Newburgh, all
the inhabitants of Scottish towns and burghs were English
men" ("History of the Church in Scotland," Vol. I, pp.
172, 173). It is certainly not going too far to say, as Mr.
Andrew Lang does, that "the long reign of Malcolm Can-
more intensified the sway of English ideas, and increased
the prepotency of the English element" (Article on "Scot
land" in "Encyclop. Brit.").
And the policy of Malcolm was followed by his succes
sors. Of his son Edgar (1097-1107) we are informed that
"he welcomed the stream of settlers who poured into Scot
land in ever-increasing volume," while Edgar's brother,
Alexander I. (1107-1124) "did his utmost to Anglicise both
Church and State to the north of the Forth."
It was, however, by David I. (1124-1153), who has been
called "the maker of Scotland," that more was done in the
way of Anglicising, Teutonising, and revolutionising that
country than by any of his predecessors. And now it is by
Norman rather than by Saxon agency and influence that
the revolution is effected. Instead of describing in my
own words the change that was now wrought, I think it

566 APPENDIX C
better here, for obvious reasons, to put before you the
statements of Dr. Hume Brown in his "History of Scot
land." "When during the reign -of David the Eastern
Lowlands became the heart of his dominions," he says,
"the future course of Scotland may be said to have been
determined; it was then finaUy assured that the Teutonic
races were to be the predominating force in fashioning the
destinies of the country." "It was during David's reign
that the Norman element attained such a predominance as
to become the great formative influence in the Scottish
kingdom." "The dominating fact of the period is the ex
tensive assignment of lands within the bounds of Scotland
to men of Norman, Saxon, or Danish extraction. Wherever
these strangers settled they formed centres of force, com
pelling acceptance of the new order in Church and State
by the reluctant natives. . . . This gradual apportionment
of lands by successive kings had begun at least in the reign
of Malcolm Canmore; but it was David who performed it
on a scale which converted it into a revolution." As ex
amples of what was done Dr. Hume Brown notices the
grant of Annandale to de Bruce, of Cunningham in Ayr
shire to de Moreville, and of Renfrew, with part of Kyle,
to Fitzalan; but these are only specimens of a colonisation
which took place on a most extensive scale. Referring to
Strathclyde, Lothian, and the East country north of the
Forth, Dr. Hume Brown proceeds — "In the case of these
three districts, the revolution was at once rapid and far-
reaching. Following the example of his fellows elsewhere,
the Southern baron planted a castle on the most advantage
ous site on his new estate. With him he brought a body
of retainers, by whose aid he at once secured his own
position, and wrought such changes in his neighborhood as
were consistent with the conditions on which the fief had
been granted. In the vill or town which grew up beside
his castle were found not only his own people, but natives
of the neighbourhood who, by the feudal law, went to the

APPENDIX C 667
lord with the lands on which they resided. ... In the
East country to the north of the Forth a change in nomen
clature is a significant indication of the breach that was
made with the old order" ("History of Scotland," Vol. I.,
pp. 88, 89, 90). "Of the nation itself, it may be said," Dr.
Brown adds, "that the Teutonic element had now the pre
ponderating influence in directing its affairs. The most
valuable parts of the country were in the hands of men
of Norman and Saxon descent, and the towns owed their
prosperity to the same people" (p. 131).
The Flemish Advent
So much with regard to the Saxons and Normans, who,
for more than a century and a half, continued to flood
Scotland, and to make the race predominant in the country.
(6) But the entrance of yet another Teutonic element
has now to be recorded. "One great cause of the wealth
and prosperity of Scotland during these early times," says
the well-known historian, Mr. Fraser Tytler, "was the set
tlement of multitudes of Flemish merchants in the country,
who brought with them the knowledge of trade and manu
factures, and the habits of application and industry. In
1155 Henry II. banished all foreigners from his dominions,
and the Flemings, of whom there were great numbers in
England, eagerly flocked into the neighbouring country,
which offered them a near and safe asylum. We can trace
the settlement of these industrious citizens during the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries in almost every part of
Scotland, in Berwick, in St. Andrews, Perth, Dumbarton,
Ayr, Peebles, Lanark, Edinburgh, and in the districts of
Renfrewshire, Clydesdale and Annandale, in Fife, in
Angus, in Aberdeenshire, and as far north as Inverness and
Urquhart" (Tytler's "History of Scotland," Vol. II., c.
iii., § 4).
Try now to realize the transformation which in the
course of more than 1,000 years of eventful history — of
repeated slaughterings, emigrations, and colonizations — the

568 APPENDIX C
inhabitants of Galloway and Strathclyde have undergone.
We have, first of all, as aborigines the Picts, who were not
Celts, but who continued to survive in considerable num
bers. We have next the British, or Brythonic, Celts, akin
to the Welsh, who subjected, but did not expel the Picts.
We have the numerous Roman campaigns against the
British, in which large numbers of the latter were slain or
carried captive, and in the course of a Roman occupation
of 300 years' duration the addition of more or less of a
Roman element. We have next for a long period measured
by centuries its possession and domination by the Teutonic
Northumbrians, an immense reduction of the number of
the native inhabitants by war, captivity, and actual emi
gration, and the settlement there of many Angles. We
have, then, its capture and occupation by the Northmen,
and a powerful addition of Danish and Norse blood to the
population. Most important of aU, we have for a period
of more than a century pouring into the country a con
tinuous stream of Saxon and Norman colonists, who, in
conjunction with other Teutonic settlers, soon took the
upper hand and became predominant. And finally, we
have the inflow of a multitude of Flemings, who were also
Teutons. There was unquestionably in "the remains of the old
Midland Britons" a Celtic element, which, however, through
inter-marriage and fusion of the races in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries, soon ceased in the Lowlands to be a
separate and appreciable quantity. By that inter-marriage
race distinctions were obliterated, and the Scottish people
of the Lowlands amalgamated and consolidated into a
compact unity, in which the Celtic element had become
decidedly exiguous. As Mr. Andrew Lang puts it: "A
Dumfries, Ayr, Renfrew, Lanark, or Peebles man, as a
dweller in Strathclyde, has some chance of remote British
(Brython) ancestors in his pedigree; a Selkirk, Roxburgh,
Berwickshire, or Lothian man is probably for the most

APPENDIX C 569
part of English blood" (Article on "Scotland" in "Encycl.
Britannica"). "Since the twelfth age," says Father Innes, "We have
no further mention of- the Walenses or Welsh ["the remains
of the old Midland Britons"] in those parts as a distinct
people, they being insensibly so united with and incor
porated into one people with the rest of the inhabitants of
that country, that in the following age they appeared no
less eclipsed or vanished than if they had left the coun
try." "Thence come," he adds, "the expressions of the
preface to the Chartulary of Glasgo, that the remains of
the old Britons or Welsh in the Western parts of Scotland
had been by the invasions and ravages of the Picts, Saxons,
Scots, and Danes forced to leave the country" ("Critical
Essay on the Ancient Inhabitants of the Northern Parts
of Britain or Scotland," Book I., c. ii., p. 41, in Vol. VIII.
of the "Historians of Scotland"). Father Innes is recog
nized as one of the most learned, best informed, and ac
curate of Scottish historians.
The Second Territory
II. We turn now to the second territory, including Edin
burghshire, Haddingtonshire, and Berwickshire, which pro
vided a considerable number of the Ulster colonists of King
James's Plantation. These are all named in the records as
having supplied not a few of the Ulster undertakers and
settlers. Now, the whole district from the Tees to the
Forth, embracing these counties, was early taken possession
of by a Teutonic people. Prior even to 449, a tract of
country south of the Forth had received a considerable set
tlement of Frisians, a Teutonic race. But under a leader
of the Angles called Ida an English kingdom was founded
there in 547 called the kingdom of Bernicia. Later, with
Deira added, it became the kingdom of Northumbria, con
sisting of a thoroughly Teutonic people. Angles or English
both in blood and speech. Later still, Northumbria was

670 APPENDIX C
taken by the Northmen, who added another powerful in
gredient to the Teutonic blood of the people there, which
was stiU further strengthened by two causes already
noticed — first, by the immigration of the discontented refu
gees who followed Edgar, the Atheling, from England on
the invasion of the Normans, and, secondly, by the numer
ous captives carried into Scotland by Malcolm Canmore.
By the victory of the Scottish King, Malcolm II., over
Northumbria at Carham in 1018, the whole territory from
the Tweed to the Forth, containing the counties named,
was ceded to Malcolm. This cession of what was now
called Lothian was one of the most momentous and epoch-
making events in Scottish history, for it added a rich,
fertile, Teutonic, and English-speaking province to the
Scottish kingdom, which before long became the central
and predominating influence in the nation. "It involved
nothing less than the transference to another race of the
main destinies of a united Scottish people," and the Angli
cising of all Lowland Scotland (Hume Brown, p. 43).
But what I ask you very particularly to notice is that
the people occupying that region of Lothian, which sent a
very considerable number of colonists to Ulster, were
Angles or English, so that it is quite certain that the Ulster
immigrants from that area were to all intents and purposes
of purely Teutonic blood. "The annexation of Lothian,"
says Paterson, "occupied for centuries chiefly by the
Angles, brought them into closer contact with the inhabi
tants of the adjacent districts, while a body of Saxons
actually effected a settlement in Kyle and Cunningham.
. . . The many Saxons brought into Scotland by Malcolm
Canmore . . . must have tended greatly to disseminate a
language already constituting the vernacular tongue of the
East Coast from the Forth to the Tweed. ... In the
next, or Anglo-Saxon period, the growth of the Scottish
dialect can be still more distinctly traced" ("History of
County of Ayr," Vol. I., pp. 16, 17).

APPENDIX C 571
Pictland
III. We pass finally to that wide territory north of the
Forth, known in early times as Pictland, and which gave
many emigrants to Ulster. It is known that a good many
years later than the actual Plantation under King James,
a large number of people came from the region that lies
between Aberdeen and Inverness, the ancient province of
Moray. In a curious book of "Travels" by Sir William
Brereton, the author states that in July, 1635, he came to
the house of Mr. James Blare, in Irvine, Ayrshire, who in
formed him that "above 10,000 persons have within two
years last past left the country wherein they lived, which
was betwixt Aberdine and Ennerness, and are gone for
Ireland; they have come by one hundred in company
through this town, and three hundred have gone hence to
gether, shipped for Ireland at one tide." Now, what is
the previous history of that province of ancient Moray,
lying between Aberdeen and Inverness, from which they
emigrated? It was originally inhabited by Picts, a non-
Celtic people. But its later history is noteworthy.
It was one of the territories which the Northmen took
possession of and made their own. In 875 Thorstein the
Red, a Danish leader, added Caithness, Sutherland, Ross,
and Moray to his dominions. Later the same territory was
seized by the Norse jarl, Sigurd, who ruled over it till his
death at the battle of Clontarf, when he was succeeded by
his son Thorfinn, so that for a long period it was practically
a province of Norway. Skene says that the Mormaers and
men of Moray "had as often been subject to the Norwegian
earls as they had been to the Scottish kings." It is known
that, occupying that province for so long a series of years,
the Northmen added a strong Norse element to the blood
of the residents; while it was the scene of many conflicts
which must have greatly diminished the native population.
But another vigorous Teutonic ingredient was still to be
given to it. The old province of Moray was one of those

572 APPENDIX C
specially favoured by a large and liberal Norman coloniza
tion. The Mormaer of Moray and his brother in 1130 took
advantage of David's absence in England to raise a force
hostile to the king's interest, and they were defeated with
heavy loss — ^the "Annals of Ulster record that 4,000 of
the Morebh were slain," "and so complete was the victory,"
says Dr. Hume Brown, "that the district of Moray was
definitely attached to the Scottish Crown, and its lands
divided among the Normans, and such of the natives as
the king could trust" ("History of Scotland," Vol. I., p.
76). He adds that it "was largely colonized by Norman
settlers." Another rising was attempted in 1162 under
Malcolm IV., "who," we are informed, "expeUed very
many of the rebellious inhabitants of Moray, and planted
new colonists in their place, chief among whom were the
Flemings or natives of Flanders" ("Critical Essay," &c.,
by Thos. Innes, M.A., p. 102). In those 10,000 emigrants
who went to Ulster from this region there may have been
some infusion of Pictish blood, but it is probable that by
that time its main ingredient was Teutonic.
Variety of Races
In the rapid survey I have given the thing that most
strikes one is the great variety of races that have combined
to produce the Lowland Scot, whether he resides on the
other side or on this side of the Channel. Pict and Celt,
Roman, Frisian, Angle, and Saxon, Dane and Norwegian,
Norman and Fleming — ten different nationalities— have
all gone to the making of him. It is not to any one con
stituent, but to the union and combination in himself of
such a great variety of vigorous elements that he owes
those distinctive traits and qualities which distinguish him
from other men. If you ask what proportion the Celt bears
to the other nationalities which have united in the amalgam
which we call the "Ulster Scot," my own impression is
that the Angle and the Saxon, the Dane and the Nor
wegian, the Norman and the Fleming, all of which have

APPENDIX C 573
gone to his formation, when taken together, make a com
bination by which, I imagine, the Celt in him is over
powered and dominated. That is my impression, but you
can gauge the justice of it by the facts which I have placed
before you. And the course of the subsequent history seems
to justify this view. It is significant that,. after the amal
gamation of the races to which I have referred, the people
of the Lowlands should be habitually regarded and spoken
of as Sassenachs, and the Highlanders of the West as
Celts. After the Teutonisation of the former, and the
fusion of the races, and when the unabsorbed Celtic popu
lation was confined mainly to the Western Highlands and
Islands, it was almost inevitable that there should be a
determined and final struggle on the part of the latter to
maintain, if not their predominance, at least their inde
pendence. Such a decisive struggle actually occurred at
the famous and desperate battle of Harlaw in 141 1.
Donald, Lord of the Isles, a Celtic chieftain, with many
Highland chiefs at the head of their clans, and an army
o^ 10,000 men, set out to seize Aberdeen, bent on making
himself master of the country as far south as the Tay,
when he was met at Harlaw by the Earl of Mar, son of
"the wolf of Badenoch," defeated in "one of the bloodiest
battles ever fought in Scotland," driven back to his fast
nesses, and compelled to make submission. By both High
land and Lowland historians the battle of Harlaw is de
scribed as "a decisive contest between the two races," the
Saxon and the Celt. The authors of "The Clan Donald"
assert that "Donald's policy was clearly to set up a Celtic
supremacy in the West"; and Dr. Hume Brown affirms
that "as a decisive victory of the Saxon over the Celt," the
battle of Harlaw "ranks with the battle of Carham in its
determining influence on the development of the Scottish
nation," and in "ensuring the growth of a Teutonic Scot
land" ("History of Scotland," Vol. I., p. 206).
Sir Walter Scott was more than a mere writer of ro-

574 APPENDIX C
mance. From his early years he had given special interest
and continued attention to antiquarian pursuits, and to the
past history of his country, an interest which appears in
the historical cast and character of so many of his tales.
It is true he wrote under a personal bias against the men
of the Covenant, but that he was exceptionaUy familiar
with antiquarian lore, and had an intimate knowledge of
the past history of Scotland is beyond question. Now, Sir
Walter Scott habitually represents the Lowlanders as
"Saxons" (which he uses as an equivalent for "Teutons")
and the Highlanders as Celts. In the "Fair Maid of
Perth," for example, the Booshalloch says to Simon the
Glover from Perth, "These are bad manners which he [the
young Celtic Highland chief] has learned among you Sas
senachs in the Low Country." Then at the desperate com
bat on the North Inch of Perth between the warriors of
the two Highland Clans, Clan Qubele and Clan Chattan,
when the latter discovered the absence through funk of
one of their heroes: "Say nothing to the Saxons of his
absence," said the chief, MacGillie Chattanach; "the false
Lowland tongues might say that one of Clan Chattan was
a coward." To the great literary artist, the Lowlanders
are to all intents and purposes "Saxons." Was an anti
quarian expert, such as Scott was, likely to put into the
mouth of a Highland chief what he believed to be a gross
historical blunder?
But Scott is not alone in this representation. I have
given the statements of Dr. Hume Brown, the Historiogra
pher Royal of Scotland, and Professor of Ancient Scottish
History and Palaeography in Edinburgh University. I
shall only trouble you with the deliberate judgment of
another modern historian, who has traversed the whole field
of Scottish history. "The Scots, originaUy Irish," says
Mr. Andrew Lang, "have given their name to a country
whereof, perhaps, the greatest part of the natives are as
English in blood as they are in speech" ("History of Scot
land," Vol. I., p. 37).

APPENDIX C 675
In Conclusion
The exact proportion of the Celt in the Lowland Scots
man or the Ulsterman it is now impossible to measure with
precision. It is the fact that so many different races have
united in producing him — ^that the blood not only of the Pict
and the Celt, but of the Frisian, the Angle, and the Saxon,
the Norwegian and the Dane, the Norman and the Fleming,
all intermingled, is flowing in his veins — that seems to me
the main thing to be noted in the making of him, the secret
to which he owes the distinguishing features in his char
acter. What are they? To summarize them in a sentence,
are they not something like these? An economy and even
parsimony of words, which does not always betoken a
poverty of ideas; an insuperable dislike to wear his heart
upon his sleeve, or make a display of the deeper and more
tender feelings of his nature; a quiet and undemonstrative
deportment which may have great firmness and determina
tion behind it; a dour exterior which may cover a really
genial disposition and kindly heart; much caution, wari
ness, and reserve, but a decision, energy of character, and
tenacity of purpose, which, as in the case of Enoch Arden,
"hold his wiU and bear it through;" a very decided prac
tical faculty which has an eye on the main chance, but
which may co-exist with a deep-lying fund of sentiment;
a capacity for hard work and close application to business,
which, with thrift and patient persistence, is apt to bear
fruit in considerable success ; in short, a reserve of strength,
self-reliance, courage, and endurance which, when an
emergency demands (as behind the Walls of Derry), may
surprise the world.

APPENDIX D
STATEMENT OF FRONTIER GRIEVANCES
"We, Matthew Smith and James Gibson, in behalf of
ourselves and his Majesty's faithful and loyal subjects, the
inhabitants of the frontier countries of Lancaster, York,
Cumberland, Berks, and Northampton, humbly beg leave
to remonstrate and lay before you the following griev
ances, which we submit to your wisdom for redress.
"First, We apprehend that as Freemen and English sub
jects, we have an indisputable title to the same privileges
and immunities with his Majesty's other subjects who re
side in the interior counties of Philadelphia, Chester, and
Bucks, and, therefore, ought not to be excluded from an
equal share with them in the very important privilege of
legislation; nevertheless, contrary to the Proprietor's char
ter and the acknowledged principles of common justice and
equity, our five counties are restrained from electing more
than ten Representatives, viz., four for Lancaster, two
for York, two for Cumberland, one for Berks, and one
for Northampton; while the three counties and City of
Philadelphia, Chester, and Bucks, elect twenty-six. This
we humbly conceive is oppressive, unequal, and unjust, the
cause of many of our grievances, and an infringement of
our natural privileges of Freedom and equality; where
fore, we humbly pray that we may be no longer deprived
of an equal number with the three aforesaid counties, to
represent us in Assembly.
"Secondly, We understand that a bill is now before the
House of Assembly, wherein it is provided that such per
sons as shall be charged with killing any Indians in Lan-
676

APPENDIX D 677
caster County, shaU not be tried in the County where the
act was committed, but in the Counties of Philadelphia,
Chester, or Bucks. This is manifestly to deprive British
subjects of their known privileges, to cast an eternal re
proach upon whole counties, as if they were unfit to serve
their county in the quality of jurymen, and to contradict
the well-known laws of the British nation in a point where
on life, liberty, and security essentially depend, namely,
that of being tried by their equals in the neighborhood
where their own, their accusers, and the witnesses' char
acter and credit, with the circumstances of the fact, are
best known, and instead thereof putting their lives in the
hands of strangers, who may as justly be suspected of
partiality to as the frontier counties can be of prejudices
against Indians; and this, too, in favor of Indians only,
against his Majesty's faithful and loyal subjects. Besides
it is well known that the design of it is to comprehend a
fact committed before such a law was thought of. And if
such practices were tolerated, no man could be secure in
his most valuable interest. We are also informed, to our
great surprise, that this bill has actuaUy received the
assent of a majority of the House, which we are persuaded
could not have been the case, had our frontier counties been
equally represented in Assembly. However, we hope that
the Legislature of this Province will never enact a law of
so dangerous a tendency, or take away from his Majesty's
good subjects a privilege so long esteemed sacred by
Englishmen. "Thirdly. During the late and present Indian War, the
frontiers of this Province have been repeatedly attacked
and ravaged by skulking parties of the Indians, who have
with the most savage cruelty murdered men, women, and
children, without distinction, and have reduced near a
thousand families to the most extreme distress. It grieves
us to the very heart to see such of our frontier inhabitants
as have escaped savage fury with the loss of their parents.

678 APPENDIX D
their children, their wives, or relations, left destitute by
the public, and exposed to the most cruel poverty and
wretchedness, while upwards of an hundred and twenty of
these savages, who are with great reason suspected of
being guilty of these horrid barbarities, under the mask
of friendship, have procured themselves to be taken under
the protection of the Government, with a view to elude the
fury of the brave relatives of the murdered, and are now
maintained at the public expense. Some of these Indians,
now in the barracks of Philadelphia, are confessedly a
part of the Wyalusing Indians, which tribe is now at war
with us, and the others are the Moravian Indians, who,
living with us under the cloak of friendship, carried on a
correspondence with our known enemies on the Great
Island. We cannot but observe, with sorrow and indigna
tion, that some persons in this Province are- at pains to
extenuate the barbarous cruelties practiced by these sav
ages on our murdered brethren and relatives, which are
shocking to human nature, and must pierce every heart
but that of the hardened perpetrators or their abettors;
nor is it less distressing to hear others pleading that al
though the Wyalusing tribe is at war with us, yet that
part of it which is under the protection of the Government,
may be friendly to the English, and innocent. In what
nation under the sun was it ever the custom that when a
neighboring nation took up arms, not an individual should
be touched but only the persons that offered hostilities?
Who ever proclaimed war with a part of a nation, and not
with the whole? Had these Indians Disapproved of the
perfidy of their tribe, and been willing to cultivate and
preserve friendship with us, why did they not give notice
of the war before it happened, as it is known to be the
result of long deliberations and a preconcerted combina
tion among them? Why did they not leave their tribe
immediately, and come among us before there was ground
to suspect them, or war was actuaUy waged with their

APPENDIX D 579
tribe ? No, they stayed amongst them, where privy to their
murders and revenges, until we had destroyed their pro
visions, and when they could no longer subsist at home,
they come, not as deserters, but as friends, to be main
tained through the winter, that they may be able to scalp
and butcher us in the spring.
"And as to the Moravian Indians, there are strong
grounds at least to suspect their friendship, as it is known
they carried on a correspondence with our enemies on the
Great Island. We killed three Indians going from Bethle
hem to the Great Island with blankets, ammunition, and
Provisions, which is an undeniable proof that the Moravian
Indians were in confederacy with our open enemies; and
we cannot but be filled with indignation to hear this action
of ours painted in the most odious and detestable colors, as
if we had inhumanly murdered our guides, who preserved
us from perishing in the woods, when we only kiUed three
of our known enemies, who attempted to shoot us when we
surprised them. And, besides all this, we understand that
one of these very Indians is proved, by oath of Stinson's
widow, to be the very person that murdered her husband.
How, then, comes it to pass that he alone, of all the
Moravian Indians, should join the enemy to murder that
family? Or can it be supposed that any enemy Indians,
contrary to their known custom of making war, should
penetrate into the heart of a settled country to burn,
plunder, and murder the inhabitants, and not molest any
houses in their return, or ever to be seen or heard of? Or
how can we account for it, that no ravages have been com
mitted in Northampton County since the removal of the
Moravian Indians, when the Great Cove has been struck
since? These things put it beyond doubt with us that the
Indians now at Philadelphia are his Majesty's Perfidious
enemies, and, therefore, to protect and maintain them -at
the public expense, while our suffering brethren on the
frontiers are almost destitute of the necessaries of life.

680 APPENDIX D
and are neglected by the public, is sufficient to make us
mad with rage, and tempt us to do what nothing but the
most violent necessity can vindicate. We humbly and
earnestly pray, therefore, that those enemies of his
Majesty may be removed as soon as possible out of the
Province. "Fourthly. We humbly conceive that it is contrary to
the maxims of good policy, and extremely dangerous to
our frontiers, to suffer any Indians, of what tribe soever, to
live within the inhabited parts of this Province while we
are engaged in an Indian war, as experience has taught us
that they are all perfidious, and their claim to freedom
and independency puts it in their power to act as spies, to
entertain and give intelligence to our enemies, and to fur
nish them with provisions and warlike stores. To this fatal
intercourse between our pretended friends and open ene
mies, we must ascribe the greatest of the ravages and
murders that have been committed in the course of this
and the last Indian war. We, therefore, pray that this
grievance be taken under consideration and remedied.
"Fifthly. We cannot help lamenting that no provision
has been hitherto made, that such of our frontier inhabi
tants as have been wounded in defence of the Province,
their lives and liberties, may be taken care of, and cured of
their wounds at the public expenee. We, therefore, pray
that this grievance mjiy be redressed.
"Sixthly. In the late Indian war, this Province, with
others of his Majesty's colonies, gave rewards for Indian
scalps, to encourage the seeking them in their own county,
as the most likely means of destroying or reducing them to
reason, but no such encouragement has been given in this
war, which has damped the spirits of many brave men, who
are willing to venture their lives in parties against the
enemy. We, therefore, pray that public rewards may be
proposed for Indian scalps, which may be adequate to the
dangers attending enterprizes of this nature.

APPENDIX D 581
Seventhly. We daily lament that numbers of our near
est and dearest relatives are stiU in captivity among the
savage heathen, to be trained up in all their ignorance and
barbarity, or to be tortured to death with all the contriv
ances of Indian cruelty, for attempting to make their
escape from bondage; we see they pay no regard to the
many solemn promises they have made to restore our
friends who are in bondage amongst them. We, therefore,
earnestly pray that no trade may hereafter be permitted
to be carried on with them until our brethren and relatives
are brought home to us.
"Eighthly. We complain that a certain society of peo
ple in this Province, in the late Indian War, and at several
treaties held by the King's representatives, openly loaded
the Indians with presents, and that J. P., a leader of the
said society, in defiance of all government, not only abet
ted our Indian enemies, but kept up a private intelligence
with them, and publicly received from them a belt of
wampum, as if he had been our Governor, or authorized by
the King to treat with his enemies. By this means the
Indians have been taught to despise us as a weak and
disunited people, and from this fatal source have arose
many of our calamities under which we groan. We humbly
pray, therefore, that this grievance may be redressed, and
that no private subject be hereafter permitted to treat
with, or carry on a correspondence with, our enemies.
"Ninthly. We cannot but observe with sorrow, that
Fort Augusta, which has been very expensive to this
Province, has afforded us but little assistance during this
or the last war. The men that were stationed at that
place neither helped our distressed inhabitants to save
their crops, nor did they attack our enemies in their towns,
or patrol on our frontiers. We humbly request that proper
measures may be taken to make that garrison more service
able to us in our distress, if it can be done,

682 APPENDIX D
"N. B. — We are far from intending and reflection
against the commanding officer stationed at Augusta, as
we presume his conduct was always directed by those from
whom he received his orders.
"Signed on behalf of ourselves, and by appointment of
a great number of the frontier inhabitants.
"Matthew Smith,
"James Gibson.
"February 18th, 1764."

APPENDIX E
GALLOWAY'S ACCOUNT OF THE AMERICAN
REVOLT
The following is extracted from Historical and Political
Reflections, by Joseph Galloway; London: 1780:
In the beginning of the year 1764, a convention of the
ministers and elders of the Presbyterian congregations in
Philadelphia wrote a circular letter to all the Presbyterian
congregations in Pennsylvania, and with it enclosed the
proposed articles of union. The reasons assigned in them
are so novel, so futile, and absurd, and the design, of ex
citing that very rebellion, of which the congregationalists
of New England, and the Presbyterians in all the other
Colonies are at this moment the only support, is so clearly
demonstrated, that I shall make no apology for giving them
to the Reader at full length, without any comment:
The Circular Letter and Articles of "Some Gentle
men of the. Presbyterian Denomination," in the Prov
ince of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, March 24, 1764.
Sir, The want of union and harmony among those
of the Presbyterian denomination has been long ob
served, and greatly lamented by every pubUc-spirited
person of our society. Notwithstanding we are so
numerous in the province of Pennsylvania, we are
considered as nobody, or a body of very little strength
and consequence, so that any encroachments upon our
essential and charter privileges may be made by evil-
minded persons who think that they have little fear
from any opposition that can be made to their measures
by us. Nay, some denominations openly insult us as
acting without plan or design, quarreling with one
583

584 APPENDIX E
another, and seldom uniting together, even to promote
the most salutary purposes: And thus they take oc
casion to misrepresent and asperse the whole body of
Presbyterians, on the account of the indiscreet con
duct of individuals belonging to us.
It is greatly to be wished that we could devise some
plan that would cut off even the least grounds for such
aspersions, that would enable us to prevent the bad
conduct of our members, and that would have a ten
dency to unite us more closely together; so that, when
there may be a necessity to act as a body, we may be
able to do it whenever we may be called to defend our
civil or religious liberties and privileges, which we
may enjoy, or to obtain any of which we may be
abridged. "A number of gentlemen in this city, in conjunction
with the clergymen of our denomination here, have
thought the enclosed plan may be subservient to this
desirable purpose, if it be heartily adopted and prose
cuted by our brethren in this province, and three
lower counties ; and in this view we beg leave to recom
mend it to you. It cannot possibly do any hurt to us,
and it will beyond doubt make us a more respectable
body. We therefore cannot but promise ourselves
your hearty concurrence from your known public
spirit, and desire to assist anything that may have a
tendency to promote the union and welfare of so
ciety, and the general good of the community, to
which we belong. We are yours, &c."
The Plan or Articles
Some gentlemen of the Presbyterian denomination,
having seriously considered the necessity of a more
close union among ourselves, in order to enable us to
act as a body with unanimity and harmony &c. have
unanimously adopted the following plan viz.:
1st, That a few gentlemen in the city of Phila
delphia with the ministers of the Presbyterian de
nomination there, be chosen to correspond with their
friends in different parts, to give and to receive ad
vices, and to consult what things may have a tendency
to promote our union and welfare, either as a body,

APPENDIX E 586
or as we are connected together in particular congre
gations, so far as it will consist with our duty to the
best of Kings, and our subjection to the laws of
Government. 2d, That a number of the most prudent and public-
spirited persons in each district in the province, and
those lower counties, be chosen with the ministers in
said districts, to correspond in like manner with one
another, and with the gentlemen appointed for this
purpose in Philadelphia; or
3d, That the same be done in each congregation or
district where there is no minister; a neighboring
minister meeting with them as oft as it is convenient
and necessary.
4th, That a person shall be appointed in each com
mittee thus formed who shall sign a letter in the
name of the committee, and to whom letters shall be
directed, who shall call the committee together, and
communicate to them what advice is received, that
they may consult together what is best to be done.
5th, That one or more members be sent by the
committee in each county or district, yearly or half-
yearly, to a general meeting of the whole body, to
consult together what is necessary for the advantage
of the body, and to give their advice in any affairs
that relate to particular congregations ; and that on
stated meeting of said delegates be on the last Tues
day of August yearly.
6th, That the place of the general meeting be at
Philadelphia or Lancaster, on the last Tuesday of
August, 1764.
7th, That each committee transmit to the commit
tee in Philadelphia their names and numbers, with
what alterations may at any time be made in them.
8th, That the committee in town consist of ministers
of the Presbyterian denomination in this city, and Mr.
Treat, together with
Mess. Samuel Smith Mess. T. Montgomery
Alex Huston Andrew Hodge
George Brian John Redman
John Allen Jed Snowden
William Allison Isaac Snowden
H. Williamson Robert Harris

586 APPENDIX E
Mess. Thomas Smith Mess. Wm. Humphreys
Sam Purviance John Wallace
John Merse T. Macpherson
H. McCuUough John Bayard
P. Chevalier, jun. John Wikoff
Isaac Smith William Rust
Charles Petit S. Purviance, jun.
William Henry
In consequence of this letter, an union of all the Pres
byterian congregations immediately took place in Pennsyl
vania and the Lower Counties. A Uke confederacy was
estabUshed in aU the Southern Provinces, in pursuance of
similar letters wrote by their respective conventions. These
letters were long buried in strictest secrecy. Their design
was not sufficiently matured, and therefore not proper for
publication. Men of sense and foresight, were alarmed
at so formidable a confederacy, without knowing the ulti
mate extent of their views; however, at length, in the year
1769, the letters from the conventions of Philadelphia and
New York were obtained and published.
A union of Presbyterian force being thus established in
each Province, these projectors then took salutary steps
(as they were caUed in a letter from one of the Com
mittee at Philadelphia to his friend) to get the whole Pres
byterian interest on the Continent more firmly united.
These steps ended in the establishment of an annual Synod
at Philadelphia. Here all the Presbyterian congregations
in the Colonies are represented by their respective minis
ters and elders. In this Synod all their general affairs,
political as well as religious, are debated and decided.
From hence their orders and decrees are issued throughout
America; and to them as ready and implicit obedience is
paid as is due to the authority of any sovereign power
whatever. But they did not stop here; the principal matter recom
mended by the faction in New England, was an union of
the congregational and Presbyterian interest throughout the

APPENDIX E 587
colonies. To effect this, a negotiation took place which
ended in the appointment of a standing committee of cor
respondence with powers to communicate and consult, on
all occasions, with a like committee appointed by the con
gregational churches in New England. Thus the Presby
terians in the Southern Colonies who while unconnected in
their several congregations, were of little significance, were
raised into weight and consequence, and a dangerous com
bination of men, whose principles of religion and polity
were equally averse to those of the established Church and
Government was formed.
United in this manner throughout the Colonies, those
republican sectaries were prepared to oppose the Stamp
Act, before the time of its commencement, and yet sensible
of their own inability without the aid of others, no acts or
pains were left unessayed to make converts of the rest
of the people; but all their industry was attended with
little success. The members of the Church of England,
Methodists, Quakers, Lutherans, Calvinists, Moravians,
and other dissenters were in general averse to every mea
sure which tended to violence. Some few of them were, by
various arts, and partial interests, prevailed on to unite
with them ! and those were either lawyers or merchants,
who thought their professional business would be affected
by the act, or bankrupt planters, who were overwhelmed in
debt to their British factors. But the republicans, pre
determined in their measures, were unanimous. It was
these men who excited the mobs, and led them to destroy the
stamped paper; who compelled the coUectors of the duties
to resign their offices, and to pledge their faith that they
would not execute them; and it was these men who pro
moted, and for a time enforced the non-importation agree
ment and by their personal applications, threats, insults,
and inflammatory publications and petitions, led the As
semblies to deny the authority of Parliament to tax the
Colonies, in their several remonstrances.

APPENDIX F
THE MECKLENBURG RESOLVES
Charlotte-Town, Mecklenburg County, May 31, 1775.
This day the Committee of this county met, and passed
the following Resolves:
WHEREAS by an Address presented to his Majesty by
both Houses of Parliament, in February last, the American
colonies are declared to be in a state of actual rebellion, we
conceive, that all laws and commissions confirmed by, or
derived from the authority of the King or Parliament, are
annulled and vacated, and the former civil constitution of
these colonies, for the present, wholly suspended. To
provide, in some degree, for the exigencies of this country,
in the present alarming period, we deem it proper and
necessary to pass the following Resolves, viz.
I — That all commissions, civil and military, heretofore
granted by the Crown, to be exercised in these colonies, are
null and void, and the constitution of each particular colony
wholly suspended.
II — That the Provincial Congress of each province, un
der the direction of the great Continental Congress, is in
vested with all legislative and executive powers within their
respective provinces; and that no other legislative or ex
ecutive power, does, or can exist, at this time, in any of
these colonies.
Ill — As all former laws are now suspended in this
province, and the Congress have not yet provided others,
we judge it necessary, for better preservation of good order,
to form certain rules and regulations for the internal
government of this county, until laws shaU be provided for
us by the Congress. 688

APPENDIX F 689
•^^ That the inhabitants of this county do meet on a
certain day appointed by this Committee, and having
formed themselves into nine companies, (to wit) eight in
the county, and one in the town of Charlotte, do chuse a
Colonel and other military officers, who shall hold and
exercise their several powers by virtue of this choice, and
independent of the Crown of Great-Britain, and former
constitution of this province.
V — That for the better preservation of the peace and
administration of justice, each of those companies do
chuse from their own body, two discreet freeholders, who
shall be empowered, each by himself and singly, to decide
and determine all matters of controversy, arising within
said company, under the sum of twenty shillings; and
jointly and together, all controversies under the sum of
forty shillings; yet so as that their decisions may admit of
appeal to the Convention of the Select-Men of the county;
and also that any one of these men, shall have power to
examine and commit to confinement persons accused of
pettit larceny.
VI — That those two Select-Men. thus chosen, do jointly
and together chuse from the body of their particular com
pany, two persons properly qualified to act as Constables,
who may assist them in the execution of their office.
VII — That upon the complaint of any persons to either
of these Select-Men, he do issue his warrant, directed to the
Constable, commanding him to bring the aggressor before
him or them, to answer said complaint.
VIII — That these eighteen Select-Men, thus appointed,
do meet every third Thursday in January, April, July, and
October, at the Court-House, in Charlotte, to hear and
determine all matters of controversy, for sums exceeding
forty shillings, also appeals; and in cases of felony, to
commit the person or persons convicted thereof to close
confinement, until the Provincial Congress shall provide
and establish laws and modes of proceeding in all such
cases.

590 APPENDIX F
IX — That these eighteen Select-Men, thus convened, do
chuse a Clerk, to record the transactions of said Conven
tion, and that said clerk, upon the application of any person
or persons aggrieved, do issue his warrant to one of the
Constables of the company to which the offender belongs,
directing said Constable to summons and warn said offender
to appear before the Convention, at their next sitting, to
answer the aforesaid complaint.
X — That any person making complaint upon oath, to the
Clerk, or any member of the Convention, that he has
reason to suspect, that any person or persons indebted to
him, in a sum above forty shillings, intend clandestinely to
withdraw from the county, without paying such debt, the
Clerk or such member shaU issue his warrant to the Con
stable, commanding him to take said person or persons into
safe custody, until the next sitting of the Convention.
XI — That when a debtor for a sum below forty shillings
shall abscond and leave the county, the warrant granted as
aforesaid, shall extend to any goods or chattels of said
debtor, as may be found, and such goods or chattels be
seized and held in custody by the Constable, for the space
of thirty days; in which time, if the debtor fail to return
and discharge the debt, the Constable shall return the
warrant to one of the Select-Men of the company, where
the goods are found, who, shall issue orders to the Con
stable to sell such a part of said goods, as shall amount
to the sum due: That when the debt exceeds forty shil
lings, the return shall be made to the Convention, who
shall issue orders for sale.
XII — That all receivers and collectors of quit-rents,
public and county taxes, do pay the same into the hands
of the chairman of this Committee, to be by them dis
bursed as the public exigencies may require; and such re
ceivers and collectors proceed no further in their office,
until they be approved of by, and have given to, this
Committee, good and sufficient security, for a faithful re
turn of such monies when collected.

APPENDIX F 691
^^^i — That the Committee be accountable to the county
for the application of all monies received from such public
officers. •XIV — That aU these officers hold their commissions dur
ing the pleasure of their several constituents.
XV — That this Committee wUl sustain aU damages that
ever hereafter may accrue to all or any of these officers
thus appointed, and thus acting, on account of their obed
ience and conformity to these Resolves.
XVI — That whatever person shall hereafter receive a
commission from the Crown, or attempt to exercise any
such commission heretofore received, shaU be deemed an
enemy to his country, and upon information being made
to the Captain of the company in which he resides, the
said company shall cause him to be apprehended, and con
veyed before two Select-Men of the said company, who
upon proof of the fact, shall commit him, the said of
fender, to safe custody, until the next sitting of the Com
mittee, who shall deal with him as prudence may. direct.
XVII — That any person refusing to yield obedience to
the above Resolves, shall be considered equally criminal,
and liable to the same punishment, as the offenders above
last mentioned.
XVIII — That these Resolves be in fuU force and virtue,
until instructions from the Provincial Congress, regulating
the jurisprudence of the province, shall provide otherwise,
or the legislative body of Great-Britain, resign its unjust
and arbitrary pretentions with respect to America.
XIX — That the eight militia companies in the county,
provide themselves with proper arms and accoutrements,
and hold themselves in readiness to execute the commands
and directions of the General Congress of this province and
this Committee.
XX  That the Committee appoint Colonel Thomas Polk,
and Doctor Joseph Kenedy, to purchase 300 lb. of powder,
600 lb. of lead, 1000 flints, for the use of the militia of

692 APPENDIX F
this county, and deposit the same in such place as the
Committee may hereafter direct.
Signed by order of the Committee,
EPH. BREVARD, Clerk of the Committee.

LIST OF AUTHORITIES CONSULTED
Adaib, p. a True Narrative of the Presbyterian Church in
Ireland.
Adams, H. History of the United States.
Alexandeh, S. D. The Presbytery of New York, 1738 to 1888.
American Archives.
AvEET, E. M. History of the United States.
Bagwell, R. Ireland Under the Stuarts.
Bakcroft, C. History of the United States.
Blenehhassett, T. a Direction for the Plantation of Ulster.
Bolles, a. Pennsylvania: Province and State.
Bolton, C. K. Scotch-Irish Pioneers in Ulster and America.
BowEK, L. P. The Days of Makemie.
Briggs, C. A. American Presbyterianism.
Burke, E. Account of the European Settlements in America.
Bury, J. B. Life of St. Patrick.
Calendar of State Papers. America and West Indies.
 , Carew Manuscripts.
 , Ireland.
Calvin, J. Institutes of the Christian Religion.
Cambridge Modern History.
Campbell, C. History of "Virginia.
Carsok, j. The Cahans Exodus.
Chalmers, G. Political Annals of the present United Colonies.
Chamberlaiit, M. John Adams and Other Essays.
Chambers, G. Irish and Scotch Early Settlers of Pennsylvania.
Collins, V. L. Princeton.
Craighead, J. G. Scotch and Irish Seeds in American Soil.
Centenary Memorial of the Planting and Growth of Presby
terianism in Western Pennsylvania.
Davtoson, R. History of the Presbyterian Church in the State
of Kentucky.
Davis W. W. H. History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Day, S. Historical Collections of the State of Pennsylvania.
Doddridge, J. Settlement and Indian Wars of Virginia and
Pennsylvania. 693

594 LIST OF AUTHORITIES CONSULTED
DoTLE, J. A. The English in America.
DwiGHT, N. The Lives of the Signers.
Egle, W. H. History of Pennsylvania.
Encyclopaedia Brittanica.
Ettikg, F. M. Independence HaU.
Falkineh, C. L. Illustrations of Irish History and Topography.
Fisher, S. G. The Making of Pennsylvania.
Fiske, J. The Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America.
Foote, W. H. Sketches of Virginia.
 , Sketches of North Carolina.
Franklin, B. Works Edited by J. Sparks.
Friedenwald, H. The Declaration of Independence.
Gardiner, S. R. History of England.
Gordon, T. F. History of Pennsylvania.
Graham, G. W. and A. The Mecklenburg Declaration of In-
dejjendence.
Green, A. Discourses Delivered in the College of New Jersey.
Green, A. S. Irish Nationality.
Green, S. S. The Scotch-Irish in America.
Hanna, C. A. The Scotch-Irish.
 , The Wilderness Trail.
Hamilton, W. F. and others. History of the Presbytery of
Washington.
Harting, j. E. Extinct British Animals.
Hawks, F. L. Contributions to the Ecclesiastical History of
the United States.
Henderson, T. F. Scottish Vernacular Literature.
Heron, J. A Short History of Puritanism.
Hewatt, A. Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of
the Colonies of South Carolina and Georgia.
Hickson, M. Ireland in the Seventeenth Century.
Hill, G. The Plantation in Ulster.
Hodge, C. Constitutional History of the Presbyterian Church
in the United States.
Holmes, A. The Annals of America.
Howarth, O. j. R. a Geography of Ireland.
Howe, G. History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina.
Howe, H. Historical Collections of Virginia.
HoYT, W. H. The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.

LIST OF AUTHORITIES CONSULTED 595
Hutchinson, T. History of Massachusetts Bay.
Johnston, A. Connecticut.
Journals of the Continental Congress.
Kercheval, S. History of the Valley of Virginia.
Kernohan, j. W. Two Ulster Parishes.
KiLLEN, W. D. Ecclesiastical History of Ireland.
Lang, A. History of Scotland.
Lanman, C. Biographical Annals of the United States Civil
Government.
Lecky, W. E. H. History of England in the Eighteenth Cen
tury.
Lee, F. B. New Jersey as a Colony and a State.
Lincoln, C. H. The Revolutionary Movement in Pennsylvania.
Livingston, E. B. The Livingstons of Livingston Manor.
LossiNG, B. J. Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution.
Macaulay, T, B. History of England.
M'Crie, T. Autobiography and Life of Robert Blair.
McIlvain, j. W. Early Settlements in Maryland.
Mayer, B. Logan and Cresap.
Michael, W. H. The Declaration of Independence.
Morgan, L. H. Ancient Society.
Morley, H. Ireland Under Elizabeth and James I.
Myers, A. C. The Immigration of the Irish Quakers into Penn
sylvania.
Neal, D. The History of the Puritans.
Nevin, a. Churches of the Valley.
 , Encyclopaedia of the Presbyterian Church.
 , Men of Mark of Cumberland Valley, Pennsylvania.
Palfrey, J. G. History of New England.
Parker, E. L. History of Londonderry.
Penhallow, S. History of the Wars of New England with
the Eastern Indians.
Pennsylvania Archives.
Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish Society. Reports beginning 1890 and
continued since.
Perry, A. L. The Scotch-Irish in New England.
Presbytery of Carlisle. Centenary Memorial.
Princeton University General Catalogue 1746-1906.
-Proud, R. History of Pennsylvania.

596 LIST OF AUTHORITIES CONSULTED
Records of the General Synod of Ulster.
Reed, W. B. Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed.
Register of the Privy Council of Scotland.
Reid, J. S. The History of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
Reid, W. The Scot in America and the Ulster Scot.
Roberts, W. H. One Hundred Years of the Presbyterian Church
in America.
Roosevelt, T. The Winning of the West.
Sabine, L. American Loyalists.
Scotch-Irish Society of America. Ten volumes of proceedings of
the Congress held annually, 1889-1901 inclusive.
Sharpless, I. A Quaker Experiment in Government.
Sheafeh, P. W. Historical Map of Pennsylvania.
Sloane, W. M. Princeton in American History.
Smith, S. History of the Colony of New Jersey.
Spence, I. Early History of the Presbyterian Church.
Stewart, A. A Short Account' of the Church of Christ.
Stewart, G. B. Centennial Memorial English Presbyterian Con
gregation, Harrisburg, Pa.
Still^, C. j. The Life and Times of John Dickinson.
Sullivan, J. History of the District of Maine.
SwoPE, G. E. Big Spring Presbyterian Church.
Traill, H. D. Social England.
 . Lord Strafford.
Turner, D. K. History of Neshaminy Presbyterian Church.
Ttlek, M. C. The Literary History of the American Revolution.
A\alpole, C. G. The Kingdom of Ireland.
Watson, J. F. Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania.
Webster, R. History of the Presbyterian Church in America.
Weeden, W. B. Economic and Social History of New England.
Williams, J. R. The Handbook of Princeton.
Williamson, W. D. A History of the State of Maine.
WiNSOR, J. Narrative and Critical History of America.
Winthrop Papers. Massachusetts Historical Collections, Sixth
series.
Wirt, W. Letters of the British Spy.
Woodburn, J. B. The Ulster Scot.
Young, A. Tour in Ireland.
Young, R. M. Old Belfast.
Ziegler, j. L. History of Donegal Presbyterian Church.

INDEX

Abercorn, Earl of, 100.
Abercrombie, Rev. Robert, 355.
Absolutism in government, 130-
133.
Adair, Rev. Patrick, historian,
103, 105.
Adams, C. F., historian, 524.
Adams, H. historian, 616.
Adams, John, 484, 486.
Alans, the, 50.
Alexander, Rev. Joseph, 449.
Alexander, Sir William, 92.
Algerine pirates, 97.
Alleyne, Capt. George, 39.
Allison, Francis, 418, 481.
Anderson, Rev. James, 360, 421.
Andrews, Rev. Jedediah, 331,
376.
Angles, the, 121.
Argyle, Earl of, 86.
Armstrong, John, on Conestoga
massacre, 310; surveyor, 613;
colonel in Indian wars, 514;
general in Revolutionary
War, 514.
Armstrong, John, Jr., aide to
Gen. Mercer, 515; adjutant-
general, 616; career as a
statesman, 515; secretary of
war, 516.
Armagh, Bishop of, 36.
Aubigny, Lord, 117.
Australia, 292.
Bacon, Lord, on Ulster Plan
tation, 2-5, advises creation
order of baronets, 7; on state
of Ireland, 65.
Baker, Lieut., defense at Derry,
16.
Balch, Rev. Hezekiah, 461.
Ball, Rev. Eliphalet, 266.
Baltimore, Lord, 170, 171, 179,
213. . .
Baltimore, sacked by pirates,
97.

Bancroft, G., historian, 473.
Barbados, 213, 214.
Barbary Coast, 97.
Barbour, Gov., 393.
Bards, 73.
Baronets, order founded, 7.
Baxter, Richard, 171.
Bayley, Capt.. John, 168.
Bedford, Gunning, 440, 442.
Belcher, Gov. Jonathan, 246,
425-433.
Belfast, Presbytery, 148, 187.
BeU, John, 288.
Blackmail, 64.
Blaine, Col. Ephraim, 531.
Blair, Rev. Robert, historian,
103, 166.
Blenerhassett, Thomas, 116.
Board of Trade, EngUsh, sta
tistical returns, 210.
Bolton, Charles K., historian,
192.
Bonner, Robert, 638n.
Borders, suppression of lawless
ness in the, 86-89, 103.
BosweU, James, 305, 464.
Boudinot, Elias, 446.
Boyd, Rev. WilUam, 190.
Boulter, Archbishop, 194.
Brackenridge, H. H., 440.
Braddock's defeat, 268, 303, 401.
Braddock's Trail, 269.
Bradstreet, Gov., 181.
Breckenridge family, 536.
Brehon Laws, 2.
Briggs, C. A., historian, 171,
325, 332, 334, 336, 356, 362,
367, 369.
Bunker HiU, battle of, 493.
Burgoyne, Gen., 602-506.
Burke, Edmund, 199.
Burr, Rev. Aaron, 424, 427.
Bury, J. B., historian, 50.
Byram, Rev. Eliab, 386.
Cahans Exodus, 253.

697

698

INDEX

Cain, 43.
Caldwell, Rev. David, 449.
CaldweU, James, 600.
CaldweU, Samuel, 500.
Calvin, John, 137, 329.
Camden, WiUiam, 65.
Campbell, Gov. J. E., S37n.
CampbeU, Capt. Lauchlin, 252.
CampbeU, Col. WiUiam, 508.
Canassatego, Indian chief, 317.
Cannibalism, 207.
Canute, King, 52.
Carew Papers, 37-40.
Carrick, Rev. Samuel, 451.
Carson, John, 388.
Caulfield, Sir Toby, 116.
CecU, Sec'y of state, 3, 22.
Celtic Culture, 45-49, 51.
Celts, 46, 60, 120.
Census Bureau nationality sta
tistics, 319.
Chalmers, George, historian,
315.
Charlemagne, S3.
Charles I, 143, 146.
Charles II, 154, 176.
Cherry VaUey massacre, 357.
Chichester, Sir Arthur, early
career, 16; Lord Deputy of
Ireland, 17; characteristics,
18; recommends Ulster Plan
tation, 31; reviews the situa
tion, 24; remarks on London
agents, 31; on comynes, 61;
his liberal policy, 76; deports
swordmen, 78-80; on Planta
tion prospects, 78, 79; on
piracy, 94; on character of
Undertakers, 119; on the na
tive Irish, 131.
Chronology of Ulster Planta
tion, 40-41; of events bear
ing on Ulster, 163.
Civilization, 31.
CUnton, Gen., 503, 507, 537.
Cobham, Rev. Thomas, 191.
Coleraine Presbytery, 191.
Coleraine, rebuilt by London
guilds, 33; plot to burn, 133.
College of New Jersey, see -
Princeton.
Colleges, see Educational In
stitutions.
Colman, Rev. Benjamin, 300,
333.

Comynes, Irish custom, 67, 68.
Congregational Church absorbs
Scotch-Irish immigrants in
New England, 345.
Continental Congress, action
respecting Ireland, 460; rec
ommends formation State
governments, 477 ; adopts
Declaration of Independence,
486; signatures not appended
until Aug. 2, or later, 488.
Constitutional Convention of
1787, its composition, 443.
Convoy Presbytery, 339.
Cornbury, Gov. 335.
CornwalUs, Lord, 471, 507, 510.
Coronation Stone, its history,
44.
Coshering, 61, 85.
Counter-Reformation, in Ire
land, 9, 68-71, 161.
Cowpens, battle of, 610.
Cranstoun, Sir WiUiam, 86, 87.
Creaghting, 60.
Crete 43.
Cromwellj 139, 148, ISO.
Cross, Rev. John, 431.
Culmore, fort of, 14.
Cumming, Alexander, 418.
Davie, W. R., 442.
Davies, Sir John, early career,
15; characteristics, 20, 24, 26;
letter to SaUsbury, 31; on
state of Ireland, 54; on land
tenure, 58; on religion, 67;
on Irish traits, 77.
Davies, Rev. Samuel, work in
Virginia, 386-389; President
of Princeton, 389 ; his oratory,
390; collects funds for
Princeton, 430; death, 437.
Davis, Rev. Samuel, 174.
Davis, W. W. H., historian,
266n.
Dayton, Jonathan, 443.
Dean, Rev. WilUam, 385, 417.
Declaration of Independence,
first step taken by Mecklen
burg convention, 475; move
ment in Congress, 476; action
of Pennsylvania Assembly,
478; Thomas McKean's ac
tivity, 478; Joseph Reed's
management, 479; R. H. Lee's

INDEX

699

resolution, 480; Charles
Thomson's participation, 481;
Declaration adopted, 486 ;
the signers, 491.
Denmark, 53, 74.
Derry, Bishop of, 11, 18.
Derry, attacked by O'Dogher
ty, 14; King's plan for, 29;
London guilds to rebuild, 32;
plot to burn, 125; seige of,
155.
Derry presbytery, 350.
Devonshire, Earl of, 17.
Dickinson, John, 418, 483.
Dickinson, Rev. Jonathan, 363,
431, 434.
Doak, Rev. John M., 451.
Doak, Rev. Samuel, 450.
Doak, Rev. Samuel W., 451.
Dod, Rev. Thaddeus, 462.
Doddridge, Rev. Joseph, his
torian, 275, 296.
Drake's Expedition, 16.
Dublin University, 110.
Dumbarton Presbytery, 351.
Dunbar, Col. David., 345-347.
Dunlap, Alexander, 191.
Dunlap, John, 500.
Dunlop, Rev. WiUiam, 378.
Eagle Wing, ship, 166.
Educational Institutions, Alle
gheny, 456; Blount, 451;
Bowdoin, 236; Brown, 456;
Centre, 462; Chartiers, 453;
Dickinson, 455; Fagg's Man
or, 418; Franklin, 456;
GreenviUe, 451 ; Hampden
Sidney, 447; Jefferson, 277,
454; Kentucky, 452; Log
CoUege, 367, 416, 424; Mar
tin, 460; New Jersey, 431-
446; New London, Pa., 418;
North CaroUna, 449; Not
tingham, 419 ; Philadelphia,
418; Queen's, 449; Thunder
Hill, 418; Transylvania, 451;
Tusculum, 451; Washington
and Jefferson, 455; Washing
ton and Lee, 449; Western
¦ Reserve, 456; Western, 455;
Wooster, 456.
Edwards, Rev. Jonathan, 39»,
437.

Egle, W. H., historian, 316,
334n.
Elder, Rev. John, advises re
moval of Conestoga Indians,
307; account of massacre,
308, 310.
Elder, Rev. Thomas, 191.
EUzabeth, Queen, 9, 54, 65, 73,
115.
EUsworth, Oliver, 441, 442.
Encyclopaedia Brittanica, 51.
EngUsh settlers, 119, 120, 127,
145.
Enniskillen, 155.
Essex, Earl of, 17.
Ewing, Rev. John, letter on
Conestoga massacre, 313.
Exempt farms, 337.
Ferguson, Capt. James, 330.
Ferguson, Major Patrick, 507-
509.
Figgis, Mr., 137.
Finley, John H., N. Y. Com
missioner of Education, 419.
Finley, Rev. Samuel, charged
with vagrancy, 345; men
tioned, 384, 417; President of
Princeton, 437.
Fisher, S. G., historian, 276.
Fitzgerald, Rev. Edward, 343.
Fiske, John, historian, 520-623.
FUght of the Earls, 10, 22.
"Flower of Yarrow," 88.
Forbes' Route, 269,
Ford, P. L., historian, 497.
Fourth of July, first celebra
tion, 490.
France, 97, 143, 155, 506.
Franklin, Benjamin, 366, 374,
373, 399, 406, 418, 459, 461.
FrankUn, Mary, 190.
French Revolution, 131.
Freneau, PhiUp, 440, 639.
Friedenwald, H., historian,
487n.
Fuller, Thomas, historian, 326.
Fulton, Robert, 631.
Gage, Gen., 312, 493.
Galloglasses, 65.
GaUoway, Joseph, his account
of American Revolution, 466-
469. 583.

600

INDEX

Gardiner, S. R., historian, 144.
Gates, Gen., 507.
Gavelidnd, 74.
Genoa, 133.
Gentlemen Proprietors of East
ern Lands, 333.
George I., 310.
George II., 201, 311.
Germany, 166.
Gettysburg, 367, 373.
Gibson, James, 313.
Gibson, J. B., chief-justice of
Penna., 537.
Gildas, 91.
Glendennin, Archibald, 397.
Glendinning, Ulster fanatic,
113, 113.
Gnadenhutten massacre, 366,
303, 406.
Goldsmith, Oliver, 132.
Gordon, T. F., historian, 315,
318.
Graham, Rev. WiUiam, 448.
Gray, Matthew, ancestor of
Prof. Asa Gray, 229.
Greece, 43.
Green, AUce S., historian, 61.
Green, President Ashbel, 421.
Gregory XIII., Pope, 9.
Grindal, Bishop, 326.
Guiana, 21.
Gypsies, 91,
HaUam, H., historian, 327.
Hamilton, John, 117.
Hamilton, Sir James, 117.
Hancock, John, 487.
Harsha, Rev. W. W.. 253.
Hart, Capt. Henry, his courage,
13; betrayed, 14.
Hatfield, historian, 423.
Hawks, F. L., historian, 388.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 245.
Hay, Sir Alexander, 33.
Hazard, Ebenezer, 419.
Hebrides, 96.
Henderson, T. F., historian, 81.
Henry IV., of France, 16.
Henry VIII., of England, 53,
64, 66.
Henry, Hugh, 418.
Henry, Patrick, 390, 397.
Hepburn, Sir Robert, 90, 99.
Herodotus, 46.
Heron, Rev. James, ethnic ori

gins of Scotch-Irish, 128n., 655.
Hewatt, Rev. Alexander, his
torian, 217.
Higginbothan, Rev. Robert, 191.
Highlands of Scotland, 64.
HiU, Rev. Matthew, 171.
Hodge, Rev. C, historian, 335,
357, 371, 414.
Holland, 97, 133, 141.
Holmes, A., annaUst, 199.
Homes, Captain Robert, 189.
Homes, Rev. WiUiam, 189.
Houston, John, member Conti
nental Congress, 489, 490.
Houston, W. C, 443.
Howe, Gen., 503.
Hoyt, W. H., historian, 475.
Hughes, John, stamp distribu
ter, 466.
Hunt, G., historian, 439, 443.
Hunter, James, 600.
Hutchinson, T., historian, 294,
395.
India, 72,
Indians, American, Scotch-Irish
as barriers against, 233-335;
wars in Massachusetts, 336;
wars in Maine, 230; attacks
on Maine settlements, 234-
336; frontier forts, 380; fron
tier experiences, 281; Indian
hostiUties, 291-324; personal
traits, 293-296; their cruelty,
295-298; outrages upon wo
men, 295; captives adopted in
tribe, 299 ; bounties for scalps,
300, 305; cost of New Eng
land war, 301; incursions in
Penna., 303; atrocities, 303;
settlers appeal for protection,
304; refugees at Shippens
burg, 306; Moravian Indians
removed, 307; complaints of
Conestoga Indians, 307; char
acter of Pennsylvania In
dians, 317; outrages encour
aged by Quaker poUcy, 318.
Ireland, Bacon on, 3; EngUsh
poUcy in, 3, 86 ; social and po
litical conditions, 5; Pope ac
cepts Crown for nephew, 9;
chiefs quarrel, 10; O'Dogher
ty's insurrection, 13-15 ; physi
cal characteristics, 43; le-

INDEX

601

gendary history, 43; ancient
commerce with Spain, 49;
scholarship, 51; archaic so
cial structure, 52-58; military
prowess, S2; nationaUty a
modern concept, 62; Norman
invaders, 53; the Pale, 53; di
vision into counties completed
by James I., 53; ancient land
tenure, 66; comynes, 57; liv
ing conditions, 60, 61, 641;
archaic institutions, 63; war
rior class, 63, 66; Ulegitimacy,
66; reUgious desolation, 66-
68; Counter-Reformation, 69;
character of people, 71, 75;
tribal institutions, 77; depre
dations of pirates, 93-97; na
tives remaining in Ulster, 121 ;
become tenants of Under
takers, 122; civil war, 144;
beginning of a new era, 162;
potato culture, 153 ; decUne in
population, 153 ; deportation
of natives, 153; national mis
ery, 156; church statistics,
161; commercial restrictions,
183-186 ; American friendli
ness, 459 ; political grievances,
463.
Irish Established Church, 139,
130.
J[rish Trot, 377.
Irwin, Gen. WilUam, 473.
Jackson, Andrew, 517, 519.
James I., makes Ulster Plan
tation, 1; institutes order of
baronets, 7; mentioned, 77;
energetic measures in Scot
land, 86, 88; selection of Un
dertakers, 98.
James II., 155,
Jesuits, 69.
Johnson, Sir John, 258.
Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 21, 89, 132,
205, 464.
Johnson, Sir WiUiam, 268.
Josselyn's voyages, 211.
Keith, George, 333.
Kerdiffe, Rev. John, 145;
Kerns, Irish, 67, 116, 117.
KiUen, W. D., historian, 201,
308,

King's Mountain, battle of, 609.
Kittochtinny VaUey, 267.
Knox, G«n. Henry, early career,
611; at Bunker HiU, 512;
Yorktown, 613; Secretary of
War, 613.
Knox, John, 534.
Laggan Presbytery, 173, 173,
176, 176, 338.
Lang, Andrew, historian, 80.
Laud, Archbishop, 129, 133.
Laughlin, Hugh, 388.
Laurence, Sir Thomas, 180, 182.
Law, Capt. James, 232.
Lechmere, Thomas, 193, 232-224,
333.
Lee, R. H., moves resolution
for Independence, 480.
Leech, Rev. WiUiam, 191.
Lecky, W. E. H., historian, 59,
153, 308, 459, 466, 473, 503,
636, 534.
Lewis, Meriwether, 393.
Lexington, battle of, 492.
Ley, chief-justice, 24.
Lia Fail, 44.
Liberty BeU myth, 488n.
Liberty, religious, 138.
Lindesay, John, 356.
Lindsay, WiUiam, 288.
Lippard, George, 487n.
Lithgow, WilUam, traveler, 92.
Livermore, Samuel, 441.
Living conditions, 370, 378-386.
Livingston, Rev. John, 108, 165;
his American descendants,
249.
Livingston, ChanceUor, 631.
Livingston, Peter Van Brugh,
trustee, 424.
Livingston, Robert R., 489.
Lodge, H. C, 520.
Logan, James, Provincial Sec'y,
264, 271, 376, 291.
Logan, James, endows Log Col
lege, 416.
Lockhart, biographer, 61, 88.
London, City of 26, condition in
1610, 27; King's appeal, 28,
29; City's action, 29-31; joins
in Plantation, 32; Ulster
management, 135-127.
Londonderry, Ireland, see
Derry.

603

INDEX

Londonderry, N. H., 207, 331,
333, 334, 238, 244, 245.
Londonderry township, N. C,
200.
Lowlands of Scotland, 64, 83.
Lusk, Robert, 388.
McAden, Rev. Hugh, 401.
Macaulay, historian, 155.
MacCallum, ship, 333-234.
McClellan, James, ancestor of
Gen. McClellan, 236.
McClure, Rev. David, 275.
McCormick, Cyrus, 530.
McCormick, Samuel, 288.
McCrea, Rev. James, 417.
McDoweU, Col. Charles, 608,
509.
McDowell, Major Joseph, 510.
MacGregor, clan, 84, 85.
McGregor, Rev. David, 355.
McGregor, Rev. James, 237.
McGregor, Robert, 344.
McHenry, James, 536.
Mcllvaine, Bishop, 412.
McKean, Thomas, 419, 478, 489.
McKee, Rev. Josias, 178.
McKeehan, John, 388.
McKendree, Bishop, 413.
McKinstry, Rev. John, 343.
McKnight, Charles, 440.
McMillan, Rev. John, 453.
McMurphy, John, 337.
McNish, Rev. George, 331.
McPherson, Hon. J. B., 537n.
McWhorter, Dr., 419.
Madison, James, 440, 443, 443,
517.
Magaw, Col. Robert, 473.
MagiU, Rev. Daniel, 380.
Maguire, Conor Roe, 37.
Maguire, Cuconnaught, 11.
Maine, Sir Henry, 64.
Maitland, Prof. F. W., 135.
Manning, Rev. James, foimder
Brown University, 456.
Mar, Earl of, 91.
Martin, Alexander, 441, 443.
Martin, Gov., 419.
Martin, Luther, 441, 442.
Maryland, Ulster, settlements
in, 170, 176, 178, 181, 199; re
ligious conditions, 179; manu
factures, 180

Mather, Rev. Cotton, 193, 321,
393, 339, 341, 347, 350, 398.
Mather, Rev. Increase, 190, 414.
Mecklenburg township, 300.
Mecklenburg Resolves, 474-476.
Medes, 44,
Middle Shires of Great Britain,
86.
MiUer, Col. James, 345.
Milton, John, 138, 148, 338.
Monk, Gen., 148.
Montgomery, John, 473.
Mooney, James, ethnologist, 330.
Moore, Thomas, 65, 56.
Morgan, L. H., ethnologist, 394.
Morris, Gov. 304.
Motley, John, ancestor of his
torian, 331.
Mountjoy, see Devonshire.
Neal, D., historian, 106, 110.
NeiU, Rev. Henry, 191.
Neilson, Rev. Robert, 191.
Nesbit, Rev. Charles, President
Dickinson, 455.
Netherlands, 16.
New England, 165, 189, 193, 313,
314; Ulster immigration, 331-
248.
Normans in Ireland, 63.
North Carolina, 199, 301, 218.
Norway, 52.
Nova Scotia, 92.
Nutfield (afterwards London
derry, N. H.), 236, 238.
Nutman, Rev. John, 364.
O'Cahan, 10.
Ochiltree, Lord, 84, 98, 99.
O'Dogherty, rebels, 12, 13, 83;
seizes Culmore, 14; attacks
Derry, 14; slain, 15.
O'Donnell, Neale, 56.
O'Donnell, Rory, see Tyrcon
nel.
O'NeUl, Hugh, see Tyrone.
O'NeiU, Shane, 66.
Orkneys, 96.
Ormonde, Lord Deputy, 147.
Ostend, 16.
Pale, Irish, 53, 73.
Parke, Robert, 270.
Parker, Rev. E. L., historian,
239, 245.

INDEX

603

Parthians, 44
Paterson, WilUam, 441, 442.
Patterson, Robert, 288.
Paulet, Sir George, 13; at
tacked, 14; killed, IS.
Peace of WestphaUa, 156.
Peale, C. W., paints Washing
ton's portrait, 446.
Pemberton, Rev. Ebenezer, 431,
444.
Penhallow, S., historian, 399,
301.
Penn, Gov. John, 308, 311; ac
count of Indian atrocities,
319, 333.
Penn, WiUiam, 361, 273, 393.
Pennsylvania, 212, 248, 260,
269, 477, 497.
Pennsylvania Line, mutiny of,
536; arrest British emissar
ies, 537.
Pennsylvania railroad, 631.
Perry, Prof. A. L., historian,
232.
Persians, 44.
Peters, Richard, 273.
Peters, Thomas, 500.
Petty, Sir WilUam, statistician,
152.
PhUip II. of Spain, 9.
Picts, 80, 91.
Pierson, Rev. John, 362, 424.
Piracy, 93-97, 207.
Plunkett, Col. Richard, 145.
Poland, 44, 74, 92.
Pollard, William, 500.
Pope, Gregpry, XIII., 9.
Population of colonies, 210, 265.
Pownall, Gov., 231.
Presbyterianism, significance of
term, 328; checked in New
England, 338-369; favors
scholarship, 413; promotes
popular education, 276, 389,
415, 535.
Presbyterian church in Ulster,
its strict discipline, 108, 109,
158; attitude to liberty, 139,
157; growth, 151; suffers un
der Charles II., 154; compar
ative statistics, 161.
Presbyterian church in U. b.,
origin, 339-337, 360-373, 531;
expansion, 378-400.
Presbyterian ministers of Ul

ster, early arrivals, 103; ac
cept episcopal ordination. 111,
328; repress fanaticism, 113;
separate from Established
Church, 139; refuse to swear
aUegiance to Commonwealth,
148; ejected from benefices,
154; active against James II.,
155; privy censures, 159; at
tempt to emigrate, 165; penal
legislation against, 187; re
moving to America, 188; set
tling in America, 199; ar
rivals in New England, 330;
in Pennsylvania, 331; re
proached for levity, 350 ; their
number in America, 372; see
also, Ulster.
Presidents of the United States,
their racial origins, 538.
Princeton University, early his
tory, 421-446, educational in
fluence, 447-467; its national
character, 440; graduates in
public Ufe, 441, 442, 443, 445;
Nassau Hall piUaged, 445.
Proud, R., historian, 316.
Pumroy, Rev. Samuel; 364.
Puritans, influence in Ulster,
106, 110; emigration to New
England, 210, 624; character
istics 326-388.
Putnam, Gen., 494.
Pynnar, Nicholas, 117, 119, 123.
Quakers, their pacificism, 303;
neglect of pubUc defense,
314; Indian poUcy, 316-323.
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 31.
Ralston, David, 288.
Randolph, Edward, complains
of Scotch commerce, 169.
Randolph, Edmund, 442.
Read, George, signer, 419.
Reed, Joseph, mentioned, 313,
441; early career, 479; in
Pennsylvania Assembly, 480;
cooperates with Mifflin and
Thomson, 483; on demoraliza
tion of army, 496; advises at
tack on Hessians at Trenton,
499; reconnoisance at Prince
ton, 600; report on captures
made, 501.

604

INDEX

Reid, Col. George, 245.
Reid, J. S., historian, 106, 141,
145, 146, 151, 160.
Reid, Whitelaw, 538.
ReUgious liberty, 138.
Rice, Rev. David, 461.
Robert, brigantine, 230, 236.
Robin, Abbe, 485.
Robinson, John, 288.
Robinson, Rev. William, 382,
417.
Rochambeau, Count de, 486.
Rodgers, John, 418.
Rogers, Major Robert, 244.
Romans, 43, 44, 61.
Rome, church of, 68-71, 161.
Roosevelt, T., historian, 623.
Route Presbytery, 191.
Rowland, Rev. John, 417, 421.
Rush, Benjamin, 419, 441.
Rush, Judge Jacob, 441.
Russia, 76, 92.
Rutiedge, John, 636.
Sabine, L., historian, 470.
St. Patrick, 49, SO.
Salisbury, Earl of., see Cecil.
Sampson, Rev. Thomas, 326.
Saxey, chief-justice, 67.
Saxons, 48, 121.
Scalps, bounties for, 300, 305.
Schools, see Educational Insti
tutions.
Scot, George of Pitlochie, 177,
350.
Scotch-Irish, origin, 1; forma
tive influences, 129-161; op
posed to Rump parliament,
148; threatened with deporta
tion, 148; antagonized by gov
ernment, 150; characteristics,
161, 163, 157, 539; reUgious
practices, 158; morals, 159;
emigration to America, 165;
first settlements in America,
170, 179, 181; causes of exo
dus, 182-187; start of emi
gration to New England, 189 ;
attempts to restrain, 196-198;
settlements in Pennsylvania,
199, 248, 260-290; effects on
population, 211; volume of
immigration, 219 ; manners
and customs, 239-244, 275,
278-385; reUgious and family

discipline, 386-390; feeling to
ward Indians, 291-398; Cones
toga massacre, 308-310
march on Philadelphia, 311
statement of grievances, 676,
estabUsh Presbyterian church
in U. S., 325-331; influence
in spreading popular educa
tion, 416-467; start movement
for Independence, 476; domi
nant element in army, 468,
498, 518; propriety of term,
520-521; importance as a fac
tor in American history,
633-536; decisive influence in
American struggle, 636; in
fluence on national develop
ment, 638-533; see also, Ul
ster.
Scotch-Irish Immigrants men
tioned: Adams, 354; Allan,
216; Alexander, 237, 347, 263;
AlUson, 237; Anderson, 237;
Armstrong, 216, 230, 231, 254,
265; Baird, 265; Barnett, 237;
Beattie, 351; Beatty, 254;
Blair, 227, 228, 239, 347;
Blakely, 316; Boise, 228;
Bolton, 231; Boyd, 254; Brad
ley, 216; Caldwell, 223, 237,
229; Carnahan, 338; CarsweU,
364; Clark, 338, 337, 338;
Clendenin, 237; CUnton, 261;
Cochran, 228; Craig, 265;
Craighead, 189 ; Crawford,
226, 229, 236; Crozier, 254;
Cruickshank, 264 ; Dickey,
316; Dobbins, 316; Doak, 332;
Duncan, 339; Dunning, 336;
Erwin, 316; Ferguson, 328,
229, 230; Fisher, 207; For
bush, 227; Frierson, 216;
Given, 236; Glassford, 229;
Gordon, 216; Graham, 239,
254, 265; Graves, 236; Gray,
226, 229, 231, 232, 265; Gregg,
337; Gyles, 231; Hair, 265;
Hamilton, 216, 229, 236;
Harshaw, 363, 264; Henry,
228; Henderson, 338, 354;
Herroun, 338; Hunter, 328;
James, 316; Jameson, 331;
Jamison, 365; Johnston, 336;
Kelso, 329; Kilpatrick, 247;
Lemon, 216 ; Long, 265 ; Lytle,

INDEX

605

264; McAfee, 406; McCleUan,
328, 229, 236; McCleUand, 216^
354; McClintock, 229; Mc
Cook, 191 ; McCoun, 236, 346
McCowen, 338 ; McCracken!
347; McCrea, 264; McDonald
216, 331; McDougal, 354; Mc
Dowell, 328; McFadden, 236
McFarland, 229, 264; McGee!
406; McGregor, 339; Mc-
Gowen, 236; McKeen, 236
McKonkey, 229 ; McLean,
247; McLeUan, 231; McMil
lan, 354; McMurray, 255; Mc
Nish, 255; McRae, 216;
McWhorter, 355 ; Malcolm,
236; Matthews, 354; MitcheU,
237; Morrison, 237, 347; Ne
smith, 337; Newton, 315; Orr,
332; Patterson, 247; PenneU,
228; Plowden, 216; Polk, 213;
Porter, 216; Pressly, 216;
Rankin, 229; Reid, 245, 255;
Rowan, 356; Simpson, 336;
Steele, 337, 365; Stevenson,
355; Sterrett, 337; Stewart,
337, 355, 365; Stuart, 316;
Syne, 316; Taggart, 328; Vin
cent, 236 ; WaUace, 265 ; Wat
son, 228; Ward, 236; Wear,
232; Weir, 237, 265; Wil-
Uams, 255; Wilson, 216, 228;
Witherspoon, 206, 216.
Scotland, ethnic origins, 80;
language, 82; suppressing dis
order, 84-89; purging the
Borders, 86-89 ; migrations
from, 92; easy access to Ul
ster, 93; action against pi
rates, 95 ; transportation
rates, 100; trade with Amer
ica, 169; Darien expedition,
170; emigration, 177, 206, 378;
legislation against Ireland,
183; colony at Port Royal,
215; devotion to education,
633.
Scott,' Sir Walter, 61, 88, 92.
Scottish Privy CouncU, 34.
Septs, 2.
Servitors, 23, 35.
Sevier, Col. John, 508.
SewaU, Samuel, 221.
Shanachies, 73.
Shelby, Col. Isaac, 608.

Shippen, Joseph, Jr., 441.
Shute, Gov. petition to, 191.
Sidgwick, H., historian, 63, 130.
Smith, James, signer, 419.
Smith, Rev. Joseph, 452.
Smith, J. B., Jr., 447.
Smith, Matthew, 312.
Smith, Robert, 418.
Smith, Samuel, historian, 250.
Smith, Rev. S. S., 447, 448.
Smith, William, trustee, 434.
Smith, W. Peartree, trustee,
434.
Sorning, 85,
South CaroUna, 313, 314, 316.
Spain, 9, 143.
Stark, Gen. John, 344; his ca
reer, 503; wins battle of Ben
nington, 505.
Starved ship, 307.
State, modern, 6; formation of,
63, 134, 136.
Steelboy Insurrection, 459.
Stevens, Col. WUUam, 173, 174.
Stewart, Rev. Andrew, histor
ian. 101, 103. 130.
Stewart, Capt. John, 196.
StirUng, Lord, 92.
Stobo, Rev. Alexander, 378.
Stockton, Richard, signer, 441.
Stone, Gov. WiUiam, 171.
Strabane Presbytery, 375.
Strafford, suppresses piracy, 97;
Lord Deputy, 129; his poUcy,
130-136, 140, 184; beheaded,
141.
Sueves, 53.
Sweden, 52, 74, 76, 93.
Swordmen, 63.
Taylor, Rev. Nathaniel, 331.
Tanistry, 74.
Tara, HiU of, 44.
Teatte, Rev. James, 191.
Temple, Capt. Robert, 233-236.
Thirty Years' War, 156.
Thomas, Gov., 317.
Thomson, Charles, early career,
481; poUtical leader, 483, 483;
secretary of congress, 484;
his historical account de
stroyed, 486; connection with
Declaration of Independence,
487; opinion of Penna. revo
lution, 497.

606

INDEX

Thomson, Rev. James, 191.
Thornton, Matthew, signer, 339.
Torture, 125, 396.
Traill, H. D., historian, 134.
TraiU, Rev. WilUam, 172.
TrumbuU, Gov., 499.
Tuesday, day of English luck,
16.
Tyrconnel, Earl of, 10, 11.
Tyrone, Earl of, 8-11.
Tyrone Presbytery, 196.
Tunis, 93.
Turks, 93.
Ulster, General Synod, 187, 193,
306; coUects money for
Princeton, 434-436.
Ulster Nativity, American cler
gymen of: Allison, Francis,
418; Beatty, Charles, 406, 409,
417; Black, Samuel, 387;
Blair, John, 383, 417; Blair,
Samuel, 384, 386, 417, 418,
426; Boyd, Adam, 369; Camp
bell, Alexander, 412; Camp
beU, Hugh, 353; Clark, Mat
thew, 238; Clark, Thomas,
253; Craig, John, 381; Craig
head, Thomas, 189, 338; Davis,
Samuel, 331; Dorrance, Sam
uel, 351; Dunlap, Robert,
353; Dunlop, Samuel, 257;
Finley, James, 410, 418; Fin
ley, Samuel, 419, 425 ; Gelston,
Samuel, 380; Hampton, John,
331, 334; Hemphill, Samuel,
374; Henry, Hugh, 353; Her
on, Robert, 316; Hillhouse,
James, 350; Homes, WiUiam,
189, 338; Houston, Joseph,
363; Jarvie, John, 187; John
ston, William, 344; McCook,
Archibald, 370 ; McGregor,
James, 337, 346; McKee, Jo
sias, 178; Makemie, Francis,
175, 331, 333, 364; MarshaU,
Robert, 405; MiUer, Alexan
der, 387; Moorhead, John,
359; Roan, John, 384, 417;
Rutherford, Robert, 363 ;
Steele, John, 410; Stevenson,
Hugh, 370; Tennent, Charles,
368; Tennent, Gilbert, 367,
384, 398, 414, 425, 430; Ten
nent, WilUam, 266, 365, 416,

424; Tennent, William, Jr.,
368, 425, 437; Thompson,  ,
354; TraiU, WiUiam, 172;
Waddel, James, 392; 419;
Wilson, John, 371; Wilson,
Thomas, 173 ; Woodside,
James, 349.
Ulster Plantation, projected 1-
6; first plan, 33; orders and
conditions, 35; Scottish par
ticipation, 33; allotments, 37-
40; chronological record 40-
41; morality of settlers, 101-
108; early conditions, 114;
physical geography, 115; pop
ulation, 118; Scotch predomi
nate, 118, 126, 137, 153; Irish
natives retained, 131-134 ;
perils of settlers, 135; the
Black Oath, 140; flax intro
duced, 141; massacres, 143;
civil war, 147; close of pio
neer period, 151 ; economic
causes of emigration, 168;
agrarian disorders, 458; sym
pathy with America, 463;
high standard of literacy, 535.
Ulster Scots, see Scotch-Irish.
Undertakers, the, Bacon, on, 3-
5; Scotch applications, 34; ob
ligations of, 36; Scottish Ust,
98, 548; character of EngUsh,
119.
United Irishmen movement, 464.
Venetians, 94, 133.
Vergil, 43.
Visigoths, 60.
Voltaire, 133.
Waldo, Samuel, 347.
Ward, John, pirate, 94.
Washington, Gen., portrait for
Nassau Hall, 446; gift to
Washing-ton Academy, 449 ;
contributed to Kentucky
Academy, 453; Boston cam
paign, 494; in New York and
Jerseys, 496; surprises Hes
sians at Trenton, 500; battle
of Princeton, 501 ; defeated at
Brandywine, 603 ; regarded
American success as almost
a miracle, 636.
Watson, J. F., historian, 267.

INDEX

607

Watson, John, President of Jef
ferson CoUege, 454.
Webb, Rev. Joseph, 363.
Webster, Rev. Richard, histor
ian, 325, 372.
Wentworth, see Strafford.
West Indies, 28.
Whitefield, Rev. George, 333,
367, 398, 416, 419, 421, 433.
Widcairn, see Kerns.
WiUiams, Rev. John, 299.
Williamsburgh township, N. C,
201, 216.
Wilson, James, statesman, 412,
518.
Wilson, Rev. John, 331.
WUson, Rev. Samuel, 286.
Wilson, Rev. Thomas, 173.
Winthrop, John, 193, 332.

Wirt, WiUiam, account of Wad
del's oratory, 393.
Witherspoon, Rev. Dr. John,
President of Princeton, 438-
441, 466.
Wolves in Ireland, 114, 116, 117.
Woodburn, Rev. J. B., histor
ian, 137n., 144.
Woodburn, Mrs. Margaret, 207.
Woodside, Rev. James, account
of Indian raid, 335.
Young, Arthur, economist, 302,
208.
Young, John, oldest immigrant,
226.
Zante, 94.

Jli

i|:|i:^;.«i'^x