The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania.Pdf

THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES -~~~ LIBRARY OF THE PENN5YLVMIA STATE COLLEGE PENN SATE COLLECTION PrtNN STATE COtECTON (p THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARI ES The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania It The SCOTCH-IRISH of Colonial Pennsylvania By Wayland F. Dunaway Chapel Hill THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS 1944 COPYRIGHT, I944, BY THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS _ , z ,Xr PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. BY THE WILLIAM BYRD PRESS, INC. RICHMOND, VIRGINIA Preface IT HAS OFTEN BEEN SAID of the Scotch-Irish that although they make history they leave to others the task of writing it, and this is largely true. The unfortunate part of it, however, is that the others who write history have often done so from a point of view unfriendly to this racial group; at least, this is the attitude of certain authors who have written the history of Pennsylvania, beginning with Proud. The notable contribution made by the Scotch-Irish to the development of Pennsylvania has not received from historians the attention it merits. It is our purpose, in some measure at least, to supply this lack. The scope of our study is restricted in time to the colonial era, and in place to the province of Pennsylvania. In reality, however, it is somewhat more comprehensive than its title indicates, inasmuch as the activities of the Scotch-Irish in the later period are often passed in review, and much of the narrative, especially the first three chapters and the sixth chapter, applies to this group throughout the whole country no less than in Pennsylvania. On the other hand, their story as a distinct racial group is confined largely to the colonial period, being less clearly traceable in later times when they had merged with the general body of the people. Their later history is well worth narrating, to be sure, but this is not the story that we have set out to tell. It is our purpose to tell this story objectively, nothing extenuat- ing and setting down naught in malice. Though conscious that they have played a great part in history, the Scotch-Irish are well aware of the fact that there is no halo of sanctity around their heads. All they ask is that they be painted as they are, and this is all that we aim to do. Nothing more is required than that the v vi PREFACE evidence be assembled and that they be given their day in court; their deeds speak for themselves. Grateful acknowledgement is made of the courtesies extended the author by the library staffs of The Pennsylvania State College, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Library of Congress, the Presbyterian Historical Society, the Ridgway Branch of the Library Company of Philadelphia, the Historical Society of West- ern Pennsylvania, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the Univer- sity of Pittsburgh, and the State Library of Pennsylvania. The publication of this study has been made possible by grants extended from the Lamberton Fund by The Historical Society of Pennsylvania to the Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish Society. Although the Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish Society is not responsible for the inception or contents of the study, it was kind enough to endorse it when completed and to use its good offices in securing the grant to aid in its publication. This work is presented to the public as an authorized publication of the Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish Society, for whose aid and encouragement the author gratefully acknowledges his indebtedness. For the imperfections of the monograph the author alone is responsible. W. F. DUNAWAY State College, Pa. CONTENTS Chapter PAGE Preface v I. Introduction 3 II. The Ulster Background of the Scotch-Irish 13 III. Emigration of the Ulster Scots to Pennsylvania 28 IV. Scotch-Irish Settlements in Pennsylvania: First Phase 50 V. Scotch-Irish Settlements in Pennsylvania: Second Phase 72 VI. The Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish of the Dispersion 102 VII. Politics, Law, and Government ii8 VIII. The Scotch-Irish in War I43 IX. Economic Activities of the Scotch-Irish I65 X. Social Life and Customs of the Scotch-Irish i8o XI. Religious Life of the Scotch-Irish 201 XII. Educational and Cultural Contribution of the Scotch-Irish 2I8 Bibliography 233 Index 259 The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania 1 Introduction They regarded themselves as Scottish people who had been living in Ireland. HENRY CABOT LODGE PENNSYLVANIA has been characterized by great racial diversity from the beginning. In this colony the major racial groups were the English, the Germans, and the Scotch-Irish, each of which occupied in predominant numbers a distinct geographical area- the English in the east, the Scotch-Irish in the west, and the Germans between the two. Inasmuch as each of these groups long preserved its own customs and traditions, there were three distinct civilizations in the Pennsylvania of colonial times. The story of the Scotch-Irish as a peculiar people occupying a given area on the Pennsylvania frontier is confined largely to the provincial era, and it is not proposed to bring it down much be- yond that period. The right is reserved, however, to trace them farther afield whenever it seems expedient. In later times they have spread all over the state and all over the country, and have lost to a considerable degree their distinctive characteristics as they became merged with the general body of the people. While still retaining the basic qualities that made them great, it was not their desire nor their destiny to remain localized in some particular spot or to continue to maintain their racial peculiarities and customs. Americans of the Americans, they think of themselves primarily as such, and only incidentally as a special racial group. They have never been greatly concerned about traditions of father- land, nor encumbered by these, as is the manner of some. Enter- ing heartily and unreservedly into the new life of the western 3 4 THE SCOTCH-IRISH OF COLONIAL PENNSYLVANIA world, they promptly became Americanized and are of the very warp and woof of that American civilization which they did so much to promote. Once an isolated group, they are no longer so, being characteristic Americans in thought, word, and deed. We are confronted at the outset with the word "Scotch-Irish," a designation which is objected to in some quarters though it has been in general use for two hundred years. The objection seems unreasonable in view of the fact that this term has been the cus- tomary usage in the nomenclature of American history and litera- ture for so long a time, and is so commonly understood by the people, that it appears to be straining a point to challenge it at this late day, as some are inclined to do. There was a time, no doubt, when the Scotch-Irish themselves did not particularly care for the name because they thought it might cause them to be con- fused with the Irish, whereas they thought of themselves as Scotchmen; but that objection is not now raised by the Scotch- Irish, who are satisfied with the name and consider it a title of honor.'1 Those who object most seriously to the name are the Catholic Irish of the United States, chiefly it seems, because they want to claim the achievements of the Scotch-Irish for their very own. Michael J. O'Brien, for instance, calls the distinction between the Scotch-Irish and the Irish "a bogus distinction that has been manufactured by the Irish immigrants, especially those from the province of Ulster;"8 and Joseph Smith informs us that certain writers have "invented that ethnical absurdity, the Scotch- Irishman, and Scotch-Irish race." Smith further declares it to be "the duty of the American-Irish Historical Society to rebuke these things wherever found."4 These writers, and those who hold with them, represent a point of view which flies into the face of fact by maintaining that the Scotch-Irish, who are of Scottish blood, are identical in race with those who are of Irish blood, merely because they sojourned for a time in Ireland. Such reasoning is far from convincing, and would be like claiming that a man born of American parents in China is of the same race as the Chinese; i. C. A. Hanna, The Scotch-Irish, 1, 26n. 2. John Fiske, The Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America, 11, 352. 3. Michael J. O'Brien, A Hidden Phase of American Nationality, 343. 4. Joseph Smith, The "Scotch-Irish" Shibboleth Analysed and Rejected, 4, 19. INTRODUCTION 5 and we feel quite sure no man born of Irish parents residing at the time in China would consider himself a Chinaman, or, as an old Ulster Scot put it, "If a man is born in a stable, does that make him a horse ?" Really now, it is as simple as that, and it requires no great discernment to distinguish between things so obviously different. The mere fact of a temporary residence of Scots in Ire- land before emigrating to America does not transform them into people of a different race. The term "Scotch-Irish" means nothing more than a convenient name for Americans whose ancestors were Scots living in Ireland before they came to this country. It is a race-name primarily, with the term "Irish" tacked on as a place designation reminiscent of a sojourn in the Emerald Isle. If a large number of Scots emigrated to Ireland and maintained themselves there as a distinct racial group, as is the case, and a name is used to designate this particular group after they emigrated to America, as is also the case, one is at a loss to under- stand why the Irish-Americans, a different race with a different background, should insist so strenuously that they are the same people unless, indeed, it be due to the desire of the Irish to claim the deeds of the Scotch-Irish for themselves.

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