Impact and Importance of the Ulster (Scots)-Irish from Colonial American Times

Much has been written about the influence of various groups of peoples and cultures who have emigrated to America since it's beginnings, from colonial times until now. Several, to numerous to tell, serious and extensive works can be easily found just about anywhere on the subject. No one can deny the impact these various groups have had and will continue to have on our nation made up as a collection of immigrants of all peoples and cultures of the world. However, the Ulster-Scots settlers of Colonial New England have a special place amongst these earliest immigrants..

The term Scots-Irish and Ulster-Scots are often used interchangeably, although originally they had completely different meanings. Ulster-Scots are those people of Scottish origins and parentage who repopulated northern Ireland (Ulster Province) during the plantation period beginning in 1606. These Ulster-Scots lived somewhat autonomously, retaining their culture and traditions. Intermarriages of the Scots with the native Irish were exceedingly rare, as such the Scotch race remained nearly as distinct as it was prior to its settlement in this new land. They attended their own churches and continued life pretty much as it was known to them in Scotland. The term Scots-Irish is more general and originally referred to those Highlander Scots of Celtic origins who moved to Ireland and intermarried with Irish Celts, and presumably too, those Irish Celts who moved to Scotland and married amongst the Highland Celts. The term Scots-Irish is actually older than the plantations in Ulster and can be found first used in 1573 by Queen Elizabeth. Nowadays these term Scots-Irish is used loosely and pretty much to mean any immigrant from Ireland who is of Scottish origins, including the Ulster-Scots.

Between about 1717 and 1775, as many as a quarter of a million Scotch-Irish entered North America. A huge migration, especially at that time. Almost all of these were Ulster-Scots and most of these settled in northern states, especially New England, although many came to more southern Atlantic states, as well as Canada. Over time many of these Ulster-Scots, now assimilated Americans, migrated throughout the country and many with great success. But not with a lot of notoriety, at least not with that like the Pilgrims one hundred years earlier.

Charles Knowles Bolton wrote about this in his 1910 book, Scotch Irish Pioneers in Ulster and America[1] - "Parker, in his History of Londonderry[2] says that the pioneers embarked on five ships for Boston, and arrived there Aug. 4, 1718. This statement has been repeated wherever the Scotch Irish have been mentioned, but with no added information since Parker's day. In one place only can the names of the ships be found, and it is not a little strange that no student of the subject up to this time has had the curiosity to bring these names to light. They are, to many thousands of people, as important as the Mayflower and the Speedwell are to those of pilgrim descent. Only one newspaper was being issued in North America in 1718, and of the files of July, August, and September, but one copy of each is known to exist. At the rooms of the Massachusetts Historical Society I examined these papers, and here print every known detail regarding arrivals from Ireland at the port of Boston for these three months. It is our phenomenal good fortune that at this precise moment a gentleman in Boston was watching each ship as it discharged its passengers, and was writing his impressions to Governor Winthrop of Connecticut. The Scotch Irish had no Bradford nor John Winthrop to chronicle their transplanting, but the "Boston News-Letter" and Thomas Lechmere's letters give us a not unworthy picture of the arrival nearly two centuries ago. To these sources let us add the diary of Cotton Mather, the patron of the Poor Scotch."

It goes on to lists the five ships that arrived in Boston.

1. "William and Mary" - Brought over Rev. William Boyd, James Montgomery master, Ireland to Boston. (arrived July 21-28,1718)
2. "Robert" - James Ferguson master, From Glasgow, Belfast to Boston (believed to carry Rev. James McGregor, Greggs, & McKeens. (arrived Aug 4-11, 1718).
3. "William" - Archibald Hunter master, from Coleraine (April or May) to Boston. (arrived Aug 4-11, 1718). It is believed this ship carried the Nutfield founding families.
4. "Mary Anne" - Andrew Watt master, Dublin to Boston. (arrived Aug. 4-11, 1718).
5. "Maccallum" - James Law master, From Londonderry (arrived Sep 1, 1718), 20 some odd families, intended for New London.

Francis Newton Thorpe also wrote of this and was early to recognized and emphasize the impact of these Scots-Irish, in his 1890 memoriam of Chicago Judge John Alexander Jameson:[3]

"About the middle of the eighteenth century a body of Scotch emigrants came from northern Ireland to northern New England,

The Scotch-Irish element that settled in New England was a more aggressive body of men than was the Puritan of whom more has been written. But the Puritan expired by limitation of time. He lost his identity as soon as he left the old New England home. He was a founder of States it is true, but his range westward was narrower than tradition suggests. The Puritan never got farther west than the Western Reserve, or "New Connecticut" as it was called a century ago. His children are proud of their parentage; but his children were never Puritans.

The Scotch-Irish immigrant of New England and his children have a different history from that of their Puritan neighbors. To the New England Puritan and his posterity came a communal success; to the son of the Scotch-Irish New Englander came an individually brilliant career. Central New York, northern Pennsylvania, northern Ohio, owe their wealth and prosperity to the men and women of Puritan stock, who transformed the wilderness into a civilized community, and made the country from the five lakes of New York to Lake Superior such a land as we now know. But upon examination of the record of brilliant men who, in the several cities from Syracuse to Chicago, from time to time during the last ninety years have sprung into fame at the bar, in the organization of great mercantile companies, or in the management of mighty enterprises, it will be found that these brilliant carers were run generally by New England men, but by New England men of Scotch-Irish blood. Of that stock were Horace Greeely and Stephen A. Douglass and John A. Jameson. From northern New England issued at various times men and women of Scotch-Irish parentage who have made the lasting fame of western communities."

Although more recently the Scots-Irish impact on this country has become better recognized and respected, It's original importance and the specific importance of the Ulster-Scots has not had a wide understanding. The Ulster-Scots are just some grey area part of the larger Scots-Irish immigrant phenomena.

Our particular Jameson family was part of the original Ulster-Scots migration, and part of the Nuttfield (Londonderry) New Hampshire, settlement.