Genealogy and a few surprises.

[macwilkin]

I had the same thing happen. My Gordon's and Campbell's emigrated to County Down in Ireland from Scotland in the mid-17th century and then two Gordon brothers (whose children married) came to Virginia about 1738. I think that's where the term Scots-Irish comes from.

That's exactly where the term Scots-Irish comes from.

T.

[Jerry]

Hey...we were neighbors!

The McNeil branch of my family was deported to Donegal from Scotland, as was the Adams branch. Both ended up marrying into the Dougherty clan a generation or two after their arrival here in the US, which is another big name in Donegal. But both branches are Scots, not Irish in origin.

Be very careful...kilting and geneaology is a dangerous combination to one's bank account!!!! By the way, the Donegal tartan is quite beautiful...damn..see what I mean?

Another McNeil, I see. My family spells it,McNeill,and we came from County Tyrone. But like most of us, we are also Scots.

[kypnkilt]

So I'm trying to find out more about my family history and have found out that my Crawford line came not from Scotland, but rather County Donegal, Ireland.

Interesting. Your family background is almost the same as mine. Might be related...

Anyway...my aunt traced our family from Ireland that came from Ayrshire area Scotland. There was a small branch of Crawfords listed in the church records in Ayr dated 1799. The direct line of my fathers came from 3 brothers that settled in North/South Carolina in the 1750's. One brothers family stayed in South Carolina, the other 2 brothers' families went west. One settled in Missouri and the other Colorado then California. My mother told me that my great-grandfather told her he had distant relatives in Galway, Ireland and Ayr & Dumfries, Scotland. My aunt is still kooking into those leads. Did find out that 250 years ago there were not that many Crawfords...so the tracibility factor is a little easier as long as the old records are still intact.

[michaelbeeman]

My kin went from Co. Donegal to Ontario, then into the U.P. of Michigan.

[ThreadBbdr]

I'm also from those Ulster Scots (American Scots-Irish). There's a Carnahan (maternal great grandmother) in there somewhere that settled in Kentucy in the mid 1750s. A branch of them came west - homesteading in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Lots of Scots Irish families seem to have settled in the Apalachian Mountains back when that was the western frontier of the colonies.

Cleared, deported, jumped ship, indentured, trying to esacpe famine, immigrating - whatever. Let's face it, we are a motley, hardy and thick headed bunch. And there's a huge part of North American (US/Canada) culture - from our stubborn independence to our music that you can trace back to the various branches of Celtic culture.

Let's hear it for the mutts and hybrid vigor LOL

[CelticSire]

Lots of Scots Irish families seem to have settled in the Apalachian Mountains back when that was the western frontier of the colonies.

I've heard it said from some of my older ancestors that the reason our family settled in the hills of Kentucky was that it reminded them of the Highlands from whence they came.

[macwilkin]

I've heard it said from some of my older ancestors that the reason our family settled in the hills of Kentucky was that it reminded them of the Highlands from whence they came.

Most Ulster-Scots families were of Lowland/Borderers stock, although you will find a few Highlanders in the Ulster mix...

T.

[ThreadBbdr]

Most Ulster-Scots families were of Lowland/Borderers stock, although you will find a few Highlanders in the Ulster mix...

T.

Look at the pictures that Pour1Malt posts of the area around Dumfries - which is considered "lowland", right? Some of those pictures look a LOT like the Smokies and the Ozark Mountain areas to me. That and cheap land with good natural resources and not a lot of "civilization" would probably sound awfully good.

[Cawdorian]

One of the interesting things about the Scots-Irish migration to the USA is that entire families migrated together. In many instances two or three brothers would migrate from Scotland together, many others migrated as an entire family unit. No wonder some folks call us "clannish". Their very difficult life in Scotland made them very well suited to the rigors of frontier living in the US.

Many of the Scots-Irish originally migrated to Pennsylvania and later migrated down the Great Wagon Trail to Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Georgia.