Just a real quick note. Nobody was "forbidden to land by the intolerant Puritans"- Scotch-Irish were already active in the merchant society of Boston and very familiar to the Church leaders of Boston. They weren't prepared so it was a real concern of "where do you put 500 people??" NOBODY walked (overland) from Maine to Pennsylvania in 1718. That's just crazy. These people used ships like we use bus's. Nobody had Conestoga wagons etc to make long treks. That came much later. Think about this. Londonderry, NH was 100% WILDERNESS. It is 44.5 miles from Boston. If 45 miles is wilderness, then I dare say walking 400 miles would be insane. Especially when you're lugging a family around and got some 70-80 year old people traveling with you. These folks walked all over but 400 miles through wilderness most of it uncharted. NO . It took over 100 more years before Davey Crockett figured out how to do that. Now, taking small leaps ie Maine to Boston; Boston to CT or NY city: NY to NJ; NJ to PA. That could take 6-8 years.There is some anecdotal evidence Hunter came out of CT, NY or NJ. Main reason is the Penn authorities didn't know he was there (unlike Boyd and Craig in the Irish or Allen Township settlement). So ship to Boston or Voluntown, CT or New York City and then....??? Colin Brooks The 1718 Project In a message dated 3/28/2010 9:53:05 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: Below is an excerpt about the 1718 arrival of "the 5 ships" to give the context. The bit of the excerpt that catches my attention is the last sentence beginning "The majority of the Scotts-Irish could not wait any longer...." Here's the paragraph: Elmer Roy Collier begins his book, Weir, Wear, and Ware, by saying, "The... families petitioned in 1718 to the Governor of New England to come to America...they arrived in Boston Harbor in 4 August 1718 but were forbidden to land by the intolerant Puritans. ...Sixteen families sailed to Casco Bay to claim a tract of land there but were frozen in the Bay by early winter weather…When the ice broke in the Spring they journeyed to Haverhill, Mass., where they heard of a fine tract of land about 15 miles northeast called Nutfield…James Gregg and Robert Weir sent a request to the Governor and Court, assembled at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for a township ten miles square. The majority of the Scotts-Irish could not wait any longer and traveled overland to the Scotts-Irish settlement at the Forks of the Delaware (Northampton County, Pennsylvania)." Is anyone familiar with this 1719 movement of families from New Hampshire to PA, after the terrible winter in Casco Bay, ME? Who were they, why there in particular, how did they get there? I am familiar with the families who stayed and settled in Nutfield/Londonderry, NH and environs. The idea makes sense that others, perhaps within the same families, couldn't wait for the decision of Governor and Court, not wanting to endure another tough winter as yet unsettled, and moved on to PA, thus losing contact with siblings, cousins etc. in NH. But I am out of my depth on PA! So any insights or help would be much appreciated. 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

On Wed, Mar 31, 2010 at 3:24 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: Just a real quick note. Nobody was "forbidden to land by the intolerant Puritans"- Scotch-Irish were already active in the merchant society of Boston and very familiar to the Church leaders of Boston. They weren't prepared so it was a real concern of "where do you put 500 people??" NOBODY walked (overland) from Maine to Pennsylvania in 1718. That's just crazy. These people used ships like we use bus's. Nobody had Conestoga wagons etc to make long treks. That came much later. Think about this. Londonderry, NH was 100% WILDERNESS. It is 44.5 miles from Boston. If 45 miles is wilderness, then I dare say walking 400 miles would be insane. Especially when you're lugging a family around and got some 70-80 year old people traveling with you. These folks walked all over but 400 miles through wilderness most of it uncharted. NO . It took over 100 more years before Davey Crockett figured out how to do that. Now, taking small leaps ie Maine to Boston; Boston to CT or NY city: NY to NJ; NJ to PA. That could take 6-8 years.There is some anecdotal evidence Hunter came out of CT, NY or NJ. Main reason is the Penn authorities didn't know he was there (unlike Boyd and Craig in the Irish or Allen Township settlement). So ship to Boston or Voluntown, CT or New York City and then....??? Colin Brooks The 1718 Project > > *A simplistic statement like the one about "intolerant Puritans" make me think the context was a fast-written overly simplified Message Board post. * * * *There were many reasons beyond "intolerant Puritans" for why many of the 1718 folk didn't stay in Boston, that's for sure. Not least, but often not mentioned, was the desire to be out and a w a y from 'under the thumbs' of Governors & councils and the damned Church of England they'd finally given up fighting in Ulster, after a century of aggravation and worse. ;-) * *For whatever reason—I assume, probably because the ship owner of the Casco Bay ship headed home very fast at first open water, leaving them shipless—there is constant reference to some "walking" out of Maine into the NH area. This is something we have talked about and are inclined to accept, even though not everybody (not the old or the too young). Nancy has an examples of Smiths walking from New Boston to Maine and back — one a woman to help a child. So feet may well be what got them (the men anyway) to Haverhill, to Nutfield, to Chester... even to Boston! There were well-worn Indian trails, mapped and used by fur traders for close to 75 years by 1718. * *Like you, I'd like to think the PA trek **surely** HAD to involve ships!! But then, did you read Dr. McMaster's parallel trek, as he called it, all the way cross country from Schoharie, NY to PA.* *Just like today. The generation that 'does it' thinks "nobody would ever be interested in THAT"!! If only someone had left a diary... just too busy surviving!!* * * *Ruth*