Hi Linda & all, Not wishing to split hairs, but in your 12/7 response to Sarah you said: "...In colonial America 90% of the population owned land..." Linda, when you have opportunity to get settled in I suspect your books will show the percentage of land-owners in colonial America was much less, no more than 50-60% generally and even less in some areas heavily populated by Scotch-Irish. This may help [Sc-Ir] researchers to understand why they may come up empty-handed when researching land deeds in pre-RW America. For example, my earliest proved ancestor of VA>MD>sw PA>flatboat to Maysville, KY 1790>OH (all during 1760-1796) apparently did not own land until 1791 in KY before he moved his family across river into Northwest Territory in 1796. As a Christmas gift, especially for those who have ancestors in the southwestern PA area during pre-1800 times, try: "The Transformation of Western Pennsylvania, 1770-1800 by R. Eugene Harper, University of Pittsburgh Press 1991." This frontier area was heavily settled by Scotch-Irish, mostly from VA and MD. This book explains the above land ownership percentage with references to scholarly studies in other areas having similar results. "Harper shows that the landholding yeoman farmer, long recognized in frontier 'mythology' (my emphasis) as the backbone of early American society, constituted only about one-third of the population of the region by the 1790s." (from a review.) Harper uses tax records of the several counties in sw PA for his research, describing in detail how the frontier society so quickly developed. (Amazon.com used to have it at $20+/-, maybe less elsewhere -- I have no financial interest.) As to Sarah's original question about NI emigration _of the 1700's_ (basic pre-RW 'Scotch-Irish' definition), such researchers have little specific interest in steamship times of the mid-1800's and later. In pre-RW times, ships' captains and agents were scouring Ulster to recruit emigrants. Yes, people could board rather small sailing vessels of those times at many local ports, a few being Londonderry and Portrush along the north coast of County Londonderry, Larne and Belfast on the east coast of Antrim, and Newry in Armagh -- and many other minor ports as well, with Groomsport in Down as just one example. As to land travel in NI, many people walked to a port, sometimes alongside a cart of belongings if they were lucky, much like was done in colonial America -- or I suspect a ship's agent sometimes provided means. Expanding on the recruiting of Ulster emigrants, whether they could afford passage mattered not; in fact, agents tried to persuade mostly the poorer Ulstermen to leave for America as indentured servants, a very profitable business with servants in great demand in colonial America. For benefit of a few [Sc-Ir] listers who may not know, some scholars indicate that half to two-thirds of 'all' European emigrants to colonial American were indentured servants upon arrival, with 90% not being an unreasonable estimate for the Scotch-Irish. With so many, no stigma was apparent and even the practice of 'binding out' children seemed to be readily accepted. Those who could afford passage were definitely in the minority. Further posts expanding on the above topics may be found in our list's archives by using: http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl and entering "scotch-irish-l" <--(el) without the quotes, then entering search words found in the 'Subject' of this posting for the years 2002 and 2003. Searches with other words and years will bring up fascinating postings by many. Oh, try entering "James PATTON" for the year 2002 to learn specifics of this 'very' interesting pre-RW ship captain and about NI emigration in his ships, along with info concerning American ports of entry and settlements. Such archival research raises the importance of listers selecting an appropriate 'Subject' for their postings (in order to help others later.) This is especially important for 'Digest' subscribers, where a subject such as "Re: [Sc-Ir] Re: Scotch-Irish-D Digest V05 #211" wastes archival space. Regards to all, Neil McDonald

Hi, I know my Mathew SHANKS, a widower, and his 4 yr old son left from Belfast for Charleston, S. Carolina, USA in 1767 and received land grants upon arrival. He was destitute but both were given land, so were not indentured servants, though very poor. Mary Shanks Widener ----- Original Message ----- From: "macbd1" <macbd1@arthur.k12.il.us> To: <Scotch-Irish-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 3:03 PM Subject: [Sc-Ir] Re: Land ownership; indentured servant; ports of emigration; Early Scotch-Irish arrivals > Hi Linda & all, > > Not wishing to split hairs, but in your 12/7 response to Sarah you said: > "...In colonial America 90% of the population owned land..." > Linda, when you have opportunity to get settled in I suspect your books > will show the percentage of land-owners in colonial America was much less, > no more than 50-60% generally and even less in some areas heavily > populated by Scotch-Irish. This may help [Sc-Ir] researchers to understand > why they may come up empty-handed when researching land deeds in pre-RW > America. For example, my earliest proved ancestor of VA>MD>sw PA>flatboat > to Maysville, KY 1790>OH (all during 1760-1796) apparently did not own > land until 1791 in KY before he moved his family across river into > Northwest Territory in 1796. > > As a Christmas gift, especially for those who have ancestors in the > southwestern PA area during pre-1800 times, try: > "The Transformation of Western Pennsylvania, 1770-1800 by R. Eugene > Harper, University of Pittsburgh Press 1991." > This frontier area was heavily settled by Scotch-Irish, mostly from VA and > MD. This book explains the above land ownership percentage with references > to scholarly studies in other areas having similar results. "Harper shows > that the landholding yeoman farmer, long recognized in frontier > 'mythology' (my emphasis) as the backbone of early American society, > constituted only about one-third of the population of the region by the > 1790s." (from a review.) Harper uses tax records of the several counties > in sw PA for his research, describing in detail how the frontier society > so quickly developed. (Amazon.com used to have it at $20+/-, maybe less > elsewhere -- I have no financial interest.) > > As to Sarah's original question about NI emigration _of the 1700's_ (basic > pre-RW 'Scotch-Irish' definition), such researchers have little specific > interest in steamship times of the mid-1800's and later. In pre-RW times, > ships' captains and agents were scouring Ulster to recruit emigrants. Yes, > people could board rather small sailing vessels of those times at many > local ports, a few being Londonderry and Portrush along the north coast of > County Londonderry, Larne and Belfast on the east coast of Antrim, and > Newry in Armagh -- and many other minor ports as well, with Groomsport in > Down as just one example. As to land travel in NI, many people walked to a > port, sometimes alongside a cart of belongings if they were lucky, much > like was done in colonial America -- or I suspect a ship's agent sometimes > provided means. > > Expanding on the recruiting of Ulster emigrants, whether they could afford > passage mattered not; in fact, agents tried to persuade mostly the poorer > Ulstermen to leave for America as indentured servants, a very profitable > business with servants in great demand in colonial America. For benefit of > a few [Sc-Ir] listers who may not know, some scholars indicate that half > to two-thirds of 'all' European emigrants to colonial American were > indentured servants upon arrival, with 90% not being an unreasonable > estimate for the Scotch-Irish. With so many, no stigma was apparent and > even the practice of 'binding out' children seemed to be readily accepted. > Those who could afford passage were definitely in the minority. > > Further posts expanding on the above topics may be found in our list's > archives by using: > http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl > and entering "scotch-irish-l" <--(el) without the quotes, > then entering search words found in the 'Subject' of this posting for the > years 2002 and 2003. > Searches with other words and years will bring up fascinating postings by > many. > > Oh, try entering "James PATTON" for the year 2002 to learn specifics of > this 'very' interesting pre-RW ship captain and about NI emigration in his > ships, along with info concerning American ports of entry and settlements. > > Such archival research raises the importance of listers selecting an > appropriate 'Subject' for their postings (in order to help others later.) > This is especially important for 'Digest' subscribers, where a subject > such as "Re: [Sc-Ir] Re: Scotch-Irish-D Digest V05 #211" wastes archival > space. > > Regards to all, > Neil McDonald > > > >