Thank goodness others are puzzled by this phenomenon. And I'm so glad there's so much traffic on the list about Scots in Delaware Co. Perhaps there's someone else out there researching Campbells and Stewarts from Stamford, Andes, and Bovina around 1775-1840? My research gets stuck in Delaware Co. during that time period. I know they came from Scotland [per a death certificate] but not sure when they arrived in the US. Thanks, Joyce ________________________________________________________________________ AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.

I've been working on the immigration pattern from Scotland and might have some insight, though I'm not as well versed in history as others on this site. In the early 1700's and before in Scotland, the Scots lived under the clan system - working together to produce food and protect each other. In the mid 1700's the clan system changed and the clan chieftans became tenant landlords requiring rent for their land instead of having common ownership of land. Sheep were more profitable and started replacing livestock and things changed. There were clan rivalries and people were being burned out of their homes. There were Highland Clearances and people left Scotland "in droves" to come to America. During the Rev war, Sir William Johnson had acquired a lot of land in America and wanted to colonize his land patents. His good friend, Archibald Leek (working in NYC) made arrangements with the MacDonell brothers of Scotland who came over in 1773 with a ship full of relatives and friends. They bought land in Delaware County, joined the "King's Royal Regiment of NY" and ended up in Canada while their wives and children remained in Del. Co.. When the war was over, their land was confiscated, homes burned and families jailed and the men remained in Canada. More Scots were on their way in the next few years - their expedition led by Capt Cumming. They boarded ships (mine were on "The George" in 1773 - a whole shipfull, mostly from Strathspey) to NY where they took a sloop up the Hudson River (Capt Cumming was a sloop captain). Capt Cumming had purchased a large tract of land in the Catskill area and many of these people settled there for a couple of years (Clavarack, Linlithgo area) War events happened again, Capt Cumming was sent to jail and warned people to leave the area. A number of families moved up to Delaware County where Scots had already settled, as did Barlows who were English and formerly from Connecticut (Stamford, CT, by coincidence!). Friends followed friends. There were language barriers - many Scots spoke Gaelic and they settled in areas where there were other Scots. When people were driven out of the area due to the war, land became available and was sold at a low purchase price and many people moved back. This is a synopsis of the way I've pieced things together, but would appreciate corrections/revisions so I can get it straight. The stopover in Clavarack was a surprise and I need to learn more about that. Seems my Rose and McDonald families may have left some of the family there while the men built log cabins in Delaware County. The Grant family was a big influence in settling Stamford, as were Cummings. Hope this makes sense and gives an idea of what I've come up with! Pat ----- Original Message ----- From: <joycelr@aol.com> To: <nydelawa@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 4:20 PM Subject: [NYDELAWA] For the Scots, why Delaware County? > Thank goodness others are puzzled by this phenomenon. And I'm so glad > there's so much traffic on the list about Scots in Delaware Co. Perhaps > there's someone else out there researching Campbells and Stewarts from > Stamford, Andes, and Bovina around 1775-1840? My research gets stuck in > Delaware Co. during that time period. I know they came from Scotland [per > a death certificate] but not sure when they arrived in the US. Thanks, > Joyce > ________________________________________________________________________ > AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free > from AOL at AOL.com. > To contact list administrator send email to nydelawa-admin@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NYDELAWA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

6/27/07 Hi, My Scot ancesters arrived in Hamden, Delaware Co., NY, prior to the Revolutionary War, they were the McAdam (s) family, MacGregory/McAdam. My great great grandfather was born in Albany, NY in 1801 and served in the War of 1812, kind of young for such activity but I have a copy of his request for a military pension, so it must be true. I understand there was also religous persecution with death warrents if they returned. My McAdam family moved to Byron, Illinois in the 1800s. They were farmers, mariners and carpenters. Any information would be helpful. Thanks, Nancy Blaes Pat Watts <pwatts@metrocast.net> wrote: I've been working on the immigration pattern from Scotland and might have some insight, though I'm not as well versed in history as others on this site. In the early 1700's and before in Scotland, the Scots lived under the clan system - working together to produce food and protect each other. In the mid 1700's the clan system changed and the clan chieftans became tenant landlords requiring rent for their land instead of having common ownership of land. Sheep were more profitable and started replacing livestock and things changed. There were clan rivalries and people were being burned out of their homes. There were Highland Clearances and people left Scotland "in droves" to come to America. During the Rev war, Sir William Johnson had acquired a lot of land in America and wanted to colonize his land patents. His good friend, Archibald Leek (working in NYC) made arrangements with the MacDonell brothers of Scotland who came over in 1773 with a ship full of relatives and friends. They bought land in Delaware County, joined the "King's Royal Regiment of NY" and ended up in Canada while their wives and children remained in Del. Co.. When the war was over, their land was confiscated, homes burned and families jailed and the men remained in Canada. More Scots were on their way in the next few years - their expedition led by Capt Cumming. They boarded ships (mine were on "The George" in 1773 - a whole shipfull, mostly from Strathspey) to NY where they took a sloop up the Hudson River (Capt Cumming was a sloop captain). Capt Cumming had purchased a large tract of land in the Catskill area and many of these people settled there for a couple of years (Clavarack, Linlithgo area) War events happened again, Capt Cumming was sent to jail and warned people to leave the area. A number of families moved up to Delaware County where Scots had already settled, as did Barlows who were English and formerly from Connecticut (Stamford, CT, by coincidence!). Friends followed friends. There were language barriers - many Scots spoke Gaelic and they settled in areas where there were other Scots. When people were driven out of the area due to the war, land became available and was sold at a low purchase price and many people moved back. This is a synopsis of the way I've pieced things together, but would appreciate corrections/revisions so I can get it straight. The stopover in Clavarack was a surprise and I need to learn more about that. Seems my Rose and McDonald families may have left some of the family there while the men built log cabins in Delaware County. The Grant family was a big influence in settling Stamford, as were Cummings. Hope this makes sense and gives an idea of what I've come up with! Pat ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 4:20 PM Subject: [NYDELAWA] For the Scots, why Delaware County? > Thank goodness others are puzzled by this phenomenon. And I'm so glad > there's so much traffic on the list about Scots in Delaware Co. Perhaps > there's someone else out there researching Campbells and Stewarts from > Stamford, Andes, and Bovina around 1775-1840? My research gets stuck in > Delaware Co. during that time period. I know they came from Scotland [per > a death certificate] but not sure when they arrived in the US. Thanks, > Joyce > ________________________________________________________________________ > AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free > from AOL at AOL.com. > To contact list administrator send email to nydelawa-admin@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NYDELAWA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > To contact list administrator send email to nydelawa-admin@rootsweb.com ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NYDELAWA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message Sincerely, Nancy C. Blaes

Thanks Pat for this interesting narrative. Beth Rupert