The 1718 Migration
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1718The Migration FROM ULSTER TO NEW ENGLAND 1718 1718 FOREWORD INTRODUCTION he Scotch-Irish are the bedrock t was not by means the irst migration of of the United States. Their people from Ulster to America, but it T deeds have shaped the nation, I was probably the irst that was organised from the Declaration of Independence to successfully to bring groups of settlers from the moon landings and beyond. They have one deinite catchment area, and importantly, provided leadership out of all proportion Perhaps the most important single these were people who wanted to continue to to their numbers, whether as politicians, live together in the new land. soldiers, business people, inventors or clergy. year in the story of the relationship Most people will never have heard of the 1718 Seventeen out of 44 Presidents of the migration, in which signiicant numbers of United States could claim Scotch-Irish roots. between Ulster and America is families from the north of Ireland travelled The contribution of the Scotch-Irish on sailing ships to BOSTON in America, goes far beyond famous deeds and famous 1718 and thence to found towns and communities people, however. It is their character and in America, at irst in MASSACHUSETTS, ideals, especially their love of freedom, that NEW HAMPSHIRE and MAINE, and then have had the greatest impact, for they have onwards throughout the continent. literally deined what it is to be an American. While having special relevance to the areas Every great story has a beginning, and for most directly afected – the BANN and FOYLE the Scotch-Irish the story begins with the river valleys and adjoining districts, along with 1718 migration from Ulster. New England in the United States – 1718 and the events of that year have importance for Ulster and North America and the special IAN CROZIER relationship between the two. CHIEF EXECUTIVE In 2018, we in Ulster along with colleagues ULSTER-SCOTS AGENCY and distant relatives in New England have Newburyport, Massachusetts. Where the Merrimack River meets the Atlantic Ocean. © Carol Neuschul (Flickr Creative Commons). the opportunity to mark a very important, but largely forgotten tercentenary. 1689 1700 1701 1704 1714 1718 1718-19 1719 1720 1722 1729 Siege of Rev. James Rev. James The Rev. A succession Petition to Arrival in Arrival in Rev. Edward Arrival in McGregor Woodside Part of the McGregor Woodside Nutield was Death of Derry Woodside McGregor provisions William of bad Governor Boston of Boston of Fitzgerald Boston of moved to became Aghadowey joined sailed to incorporated McGregor ordained ordained of the Test Holmes harvests Samuel William McGregor leads a party Woodside Dracut, minister of contingent his fellow London as a town (5 March) minister of minister of Act were emigrated began in Shute and Mary and the of migrants, and further Massachusetts Brunswick, spent the emigrants in (January), (21 June) and Dunboe Aghadowey extended from Ulster (26 March) carrying Aghadowey mainly from families (October), Maine winter at Nutield, New having been the name was to Ireland Strabane Rev. contingent the Foyle from the spending (November) Casco Bay Hampshire dismissed as changed to to Boston William (early Valley, to Bann Valley the winter (April) minister of Londonderry Boyd and August) Worcester, (September); ministering Brunswick the petition Massachusetts they soon there (September to Shute (possibly move on to 1719) (21/25 July) August) Merrymeeting Bay, Maine 4 5 1718 1718 BACKGROUND TO THE STORY EARLIER LINKS BETWEEN ULSTER AND AMERICA n 28 July 1689, a boy named The period following the end of the For many members of the establishment, t the beginning of the eighteenth Another Donegal native to emigrate to JAMES McGREGOR is reputed Williamite war in Ireland was to prove Presbyterians were regarded as more of a century Ulster people may only America at this time was WILLIAM Oto have climbed to the top of the hugely disappointing for Presbyterians. threat than Catholics, especially because Ahave had a limited knowledge of HOLMES who, as a young man, moved to tower of St Columb’s Cathedral and ired Having fought for King William, Ulster’s of their numerical superiority over America, but it was certainly not unknown New England; subsequently he returned the cannon that signalled the breaking Presbyterians expected their loyalty to be Anglicans in Ulster. No less a igure than to them. The irst attempt to transplant to Ireland and was ordained minister of of the boom – the barrier that had been rewarded by the government. However, to JONATHAN SWIFT is believed to have families from Ulster to America took place Strabane in December 1692. In 1714 Holmes placed across the River Foyle by Jacobite their considerable frustration they found been the author of a publication which in the mid 1630s. This venture was led by resigned as minister of Strabane and again “The inclination of the Ulster Scots to look for troops – which led to the lifting of the themselves excluded from full access to declared that Ulster Presbyterians were a four Ulster-Scots ministers who had fallen sailed for New England. In the following emancipation across the Atlantic was manifested siege of Londonderry. As many as 30,000 political and civil power as a result of ‘more knavish, wicked, thievish race than foul of the civil and religious authorities year he became pastor of a congregation as early in 1636, when the Eagle Wing set out people as well as a garrison of 7,000 men the Penal Laws that were passed by the even the natural Irish of the other three on account of their Presbyterian beliefs. in Chilmark, Martha’s Vineyard. His son from Belfast Lough for New England with a had been packed into the city for over three Anglican-dominated Irish Parliament. provinces’. In the circumstances, it is hardly They commissioned the building of a ship, Robert was a ship’s captain with trading company of would-be emigrants. By the end of the months and it is reckoned that 15,000 of surprising that Presbyterians were restive Eagle Wing, and set sail in September 1636. connections to Ireland. Father and son seventeenth century there were small settlements of them died of fever or starvation, or were Presbyterians were particularly aggrieved and ready to look beyond Ireland for Due to severe storms, however, the ship was are believed to have played a pivotal role Ulster Scots in America, especially on Chesapeake killed in battle. The siege was an event of when the provisions of the Test Act were alternative places to live and worship. forced to turn back. in promoting New England as a land of Bay, but there was nothing like a general immense importance in the lives of many of extended to Ireland in 1704. Henceforth opportunity to audiences in Ulster. movement prior to 1718.” the subsequent 1718 emigrants, McGregor those wishing to hold public oice would By the 1680s the city of Londonderry among them. Memories of this time were have to produce evidence that they had and town of Coleraine were part of Another igure who seems to have been T. W. Moody, ‘The Ulster Scots in carried with them to the New World and taken communion in the Church of Ireland; a transatlantic trading network that important in this regard was ARCHIBALD Colonial and Revolutionary America’, passed down through the generations. this efectively disbarred Presbyterians connected America, Ireland and Britain, MACPHEADRIS who actively sought out Studies, vol. 34 (1945) from public appointments. Furthermore, and individuals and families began to take families from Ulster for New England. marriages conducted by Presbyterian advantage of these links to emigrate from Probably from Ballymoney, MacPheadris ministers were not considered valid and Plaque in First Derry Presbyterian Church to those who resigned Ulster to the New World. Among these established a successful business in from the Londonderry Corporation as a result of the Test Act children born of such marriages were early emigrants was Donegal-born Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where his regarded as illegitimate. REV. FRANCIS MAKEMIE who left for home – now called the Warner House – Maryland in 1683. His pioneering ministry still stands. earned him the title, ‘Father of American Presbyterianism’. Londonderry’s historic walls St Columb’s Cathedral Above: Old Meeting House, Ramelton, Warner House, Portsmouth and Makemie blue plaque Right: Makemie statue in Philadelphia 6 7 1718 1718 REV. WILLIAM BOYD AND THE PETITION TO GOVERNOR SHUTE n the early 1700s, Presbyterians in The signatories, including nine ministers On his arrival in Boston in July 1718 Boyd Ireland felt under pressure on a of the gospel, can be identiied as coming negotiated with the authorities there. Inumber of fronts. In addition to from an area centring on the Bann Valley, They were quite keen to have new settlers, the religious and legal hindrances noted in counties Antrim and Londonderry – especially people used to farming and already, there were economic diiculties as a region that had strongly afected by frontier life; the colonial government well, with a large number of 21-year leases migration from Britain, especially from thought that Ulster settlers could be placed falling in and higher rents being demanded. Scotland, and where there was strong on the outer reaches of their colony. Boyd Added to that, there was a succession of bad support for the Presbyterian Church – made a favourable impression on those harvests in the 1710s, and the manufacture with others from further south and west. whom he met. The Puritan divine, REV. of linen had become less proitable. There were 319 signatories to this petition, INCREASE MATHER, wrote that Boyd of whom only a handful did not write their was a man distinguished ‘by the Exemplary In early 1718, men who were dissatisied with own names.