Hi Ruth, thanks for this information! I alas have not researched anyone in this Casco Bay to PA migration, though it is believed many left New England for Pennsylvania in the early 1700s. Not only was the climate improved, but Pennsylvania offered freedom of religion and, in the early 1700s, welcomed them. So wonder is any remained. Once in PA, the next generation moved down the wagon road into Virginia. Many VIrginianas moved to Tennessee after the Revolution, esp. eastern TN. Depending on the area of TN, they might have gotten a grant due to military service in North Carolina. Virginia soldiers received land in the future Kentucky, not TN. But by the time the soldiers came to TN, eastern TN was largely in private hands so the military grants are in the middle and west, with some federal land grants as well. I had to do some research in the area. I'm no expert. A lot of the indexes are microfimed and in LDS, but in the end we had to use an expert to search the original North Carolina landgrants, which he found. The grant was missing from the TN state copy. The guy charged us $3 or some such amount to send us the grant. (not $300 like we were charged for a probate packet once....grrrrrr.....). However your experience where a surprising DNA match sets you off on another direction is somewhat typical. In my one situation, where we were looking for matches to Virginia (To TN) settlers from the 1770s, our match was to an Australian! He had excellent proof of descent from a man in a town in Tyrone. We knew about this man but no proof of relationship till the DNA match half the way around the world. It's possible that the Londonderry family sent other sons to America independently of Casco Bay. This is called 'chain migration'. So you cannot create a link between Casco Bay and TN because the link is back to Ireland. With a common name like Smith a good DNA match is really appreciated. Linda Merle ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ruth McLaughlin" <[email protected]> To: [email protected], [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 2:45:42 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [S-I] Migration of 1718 group from Casco Bay to Northampton Co., PA This is fascinating, Dan. Maybe a Casco to PA migration is not a chimera! If you ever come upon the source and even the full quote at some point, I'd love to receive them. And I'd appreciate it if you'd remembered me in your future research, as I will you, from now on! What family surname are you tracking in this potential Casco to PA and thence to East TN? Mine is a County Londonderry Smith family. Current exploration in faraway East Tennessee (quite out of the normal comfort zone for me in research) is the result of DNA testing – as Linda reminds us very good value for the money spent! A stunning DNA match (66 markers out of 67) between a Smith with a strong paper trail to the Smith family probably on the 1718 Ulster ship that wintered in Casco Bay, settled in NH in 1719, and whose specific line emigrated to Quebec c1800 and an East Tennessee Smith, without much paper trail, but who *might* be connected to a Smith family in Northhampton, PA in the 1700s and migrated to NC and TN from there. These PA-NC-TN Smiths were Scotch-Irish and theoretically, might have split from the Smith family who remained in NH. That's the theoretical construct for analysis at the moment. Anybody with insight on *any* aspect of this, info much appreciated. Ruth Ottawa, Canada On Tue, Mar 30, 2010 at 1:17 PM, Daniel Wilson <[email protected]> wrote: > > I too have been searching for some hard evidence of the migration from > Casco Bay to Northampton Co., PA. I haven't read Collier's book, but > I've seen a quote attributed to William Egle, former PA State Historian > and prolific writer of PA history. I don't have the exact quote on hand > but it was something in his attempt to explain the so-called "irish > Settlement" which began at Mt. Bethel, PA not far from Easton, PA, and > spread west to the Lehigh River around Allentown, PA. In his statement > he mentions the difficult winter at Casco Bay and the migration to > eastern PA. There is also an anecdote that the group got lost on the > way, and thought they were settling in NY, so they named their > settlement the "Hunter Settlement" supposedly in honor of the Governor > of NY at the time. A contingent from the Hunter Settlement moved on to > E. TN and settled around Greenville, Greene Co., TN ca. 1791, where they > founded the Mt. Bethel Presbyterian church, named in remembrance of > their former home in PA. If you want more specific information, let me > know, and I'll dig out what I have. > > Dan Wilson >>From: "Ruth McLaughlin" <[email protected]> >>Sent: Sunday, March 28, 2010 9:52 PM >>To: <[email protected]> >>Subject: [S-I] a question about a possible Scotch-Irish migration from NH to PA in 1719 >>Is anyone familiar with this 1719 movement of families from New Hampshire to PA, after the terrible winter in Casco Bay? >>Ruth ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

That concept of 'chain migration' is something that *has to* be thought about but trying to get a handle on some connections in American history, for the moment in terms of theorizing seems infinitely easier than late 17th-early 18th c. County Londonderry!! <groan> The for-sure common ancestor of the so-called Group 26 Smiths within the Northeastern Smith Project who came to America in 1718 is a Thomas Smith, born Derry 1688. You've had a lot of DNA experience, Linda — does a 66 out 67 match imply, in your mind, that the intersect would be within a certain number of generations? All the TN connection seems to be very East TN—Carter and Sullivan and seemingly from NC more than VA. There is a Jarvis Smith family who oral history says may have come to Wilkes Co. NC from York Co. PA and established iron bloomery. Could this family be the family we need to find a connection to —or not? A road we have to go down and hopefully have already found a willing DNA testor which will save time barking up a wrong tree. This Jarvis family also clearly has connections within Carter Co. TN! Jarvis and his siblings and many of his sons including Caleb fought in the Revolutionary War, including all of them fighting in the Battle of Kings Mountain, 1780. Jarvis' will is extant and a team member (we are lucky to have a strong team) is going to try and see the original in the next two weeks where its now resides in Raleigh. But what catches my eye, Linda, is your reference to land records. Will be back in time to wonder about that and the indexes etc... to find a land grant that had been lost—somebody was looking out for you! If it weren't for DNA, we would know nothing of related Smiths in Tennessee. I'm into matches in Australia too, but for my Ulster Croziers. The Aussies just don't have paper trails and I do, and so how to connect?! Arrrgh! Ruth On Tue, Mar 30, 2010 at 3:10 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi Ruth, thanks for this information! I alas have not researched anyone in this Casco Bay to PA > migration, though it is believed many left New England for Pennsylvania in the early 1700s. Not only was > the climate improved, but Pennsylvania offered freedom of religion and, in the early 1700s, welcomed them. > So wonder is any remained. Once in PA, the next generation moved down the wagon road into Virginia. Many VIrginianas moved to Tennessee after the Revolution, esp. eastern TN. Depending on the area of TN, > they might have gotten a grant due to military service in North Carolina. Virginia soldiers received land in > the future Kentucky, not TN. But by the time the soldiers came to TN, eastern TN was largely in private > hands so the military grants are in the middle and west, with some federal land grants as well. I had to do > some research in the area. I'm no expert. A lot of the indexes are microfimed and in LDS, but in the end > we had to use an expert to search the original North Carolina landgrants, which he found. The grant > was missing from the TN state copy. The guy charged us $3 or some such amount to send us the grant. > (not $300 like we were charged for a probate packet once....grrrrrr.....). > > However your experience where a surprising DNA match sets you off on another direction is somewhat > typical. In my one situation, where we were looking for matches to Virginia (To TN) settlers from the 1770s, > our match was to an Australian! He had excellent proof of descent from a man in a town in Tyrone. We > knew about this man but no proof of relationship till the DNA match half the way around the world. > > It's possible that the Londonderry family sent other sons to America independently of Casco Bay. This is called 'chain migration'. So you cannot create a link between Casco Bay and TN because the link is back > to Ireland. > > With a common name like Smith a good DNA match is really appreciated. > > Linda Merle