The Scotch-Irish
Scotch-Irish were people of Scottish ancestry living in Ireland. The twist to the term is that
it is used only in the USA; in Ireland, the same people are called Northern Irish or Ulster
Scots.
How They Came To Be
James I of England (James VI of Scotland) was a staunch Presbyterian. He wanted to place
English and Scots Protestants in Ireland to help "tame" the country. From 1608 to 1697,
200,000 settlers, mostly Lowland Scots, emigrated to Ireland. The native Irish Catholics
were not, naturally enough, delighted with the situation and hostilities soon began. Those
hostilities are the basis of the Catholic-Protestant problems that continue in Northern
Ireland to this day.
Coming to America
During the reign of King Charles I, the protectorship of Oliver Cromwell and the reigns of
both Charles II and James II, the Scots, both in Ireland and in Scotland, had troubles with
the English government. The Church of England was built around a system of bishops, but
the Presbyterian church believed bishops were unnecessary. Although the two churches
had no significant disagreement on points of theology, all property belonging to
Presbyterians was declaired forfieted to the Church of England unless the Presbyterians
agreed to submit to a system incorporating bishops. Between 1783 and 1812, about 100,000
Ulster Scots left for North America. The peak emigration years were from 1815 to 1845,
when about 500,000 Scotch-Irish left Ireland.
Timeline
1560 - Presbyterianism becomes the established Kirk of Scotland.
1603 - James I (James VI of Scotland) assumes the throne of England upon the death of
Elizabeth I. A Presbyterian himself, under James' rule, Presbyterianism thrives.
1610-1690 - "Plantations" made up primarily of Scottish lowlanders are established in
Ulster to help control the Catholic Irish.
1625 - Charles I becomes King of England
1637 - Charles I requires the Presbyterian form of service be supplanted by a High-Church
Anglican form of service
1649 - Charles I is executed by Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth government
1650 - Cromwell invades Scotland
1660 - Charles II becomes King of England
1662-1679 - The "Killing Times" in Scotland as Charles II tries to force the Kirk of
Scotland to accept bishops; as a result, more Scots emigrate to Ireland
1685-1688 - James II rules England. A Catholic, he vows to destroy Protestantism.
1689 - William of Orange assumes the throne of England and keeps his promise to allow
Scots freedom in religious matters.
1707 - The Act of Union unites Scotland and England as the United Kingdom
1717 - The Great Migration to North America begins.
The English were not very successful in the strange, rugged land, so far away from home,
while the Scots thrived in the new place which was only (for many) a thirty or forty mile trip
from their original homes in Scotland, and much more fertile than their old, worn out farms.
Northern Ireland was a land of relative prosperity for these people who had nothing but
poverty in Scotland.
The Lowland Scots had lived in Ulster for several generations until the early 1700's when
a reduction in the taxes on livestock touched off a movement to convert many small farms
to large sheep ranches. When the long leases (up to 31 years) began expiring around this
time, the landlords raised the rents far more drastically than could be paid with any crop,
and drove the farmers out of business. The unneeded farmers were thus "encouraged" to
migrate to the American Colonies.
The Scotch-Irish (now called this because they were neither Scotch nor Irish, after three
generations in the land, but a distinct new culture) were driven off the land by huge
increases in rent which they could not afford to pay.
A great exodus into Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina established what we can
still see today in the Scotch Irish areas in those states. Some stayed in Ireland until they
were penniless, and when opportunities arose in the Colonies, went over as indentured
servants. Being in many cases on frontier lands, they almost immediately were thrown into
the French and Indian War and suffered terribly.
After five years of war, the Revolution had approached stalemate. While the Americans
had won in the North, the British were largely in control in the South. The British
commander, Cornwallis, prepared a master plan, intending to move up the interior,
through land held by the seemingly quiet Scots/Irish heartlands. [Needless to say, the
British advance was met by the scrappy frontier fighters who were descendants of the
border reevers, and who were blooded in their battles with the Indians.] After the British
defeat, Charles Thompson who began life as an indentured servant, was virtually in
control of the US administration, it was he who designed the seal of this country. It was
through his efforts that the constitution was ratified. John Smiley served in Congress but
remained a radical until his death. Ulster men in Washington's army were Scots/Irish
settlers from PA to SC. "Oh Shenandoah", was considered a Scots/Irish ballad.
The Scots/Irish were so reproductive that they dominated the South where their leisure
oriented lifestyle worked but they were uncomfoable with too many neighbors.The
Scots/Irish, were clannish, agressive, violent and devoted to their livestock, and they
influenced the South more than any other group. A lot of the modern Country & Western
music out of Nashville resembles so much the Irish ballads that the styles are almost
indistinguishable. The Clog Step of the Nashville square dances is no less than an Irish jig.
It was in Nashville that the foundation of Scots/Irish political power was laid. In 1829,
Andrew Jackson, an Ulsterman, was the first "people's President". Jacksonian democracy
was to be the foundation of American politics with one man, one vote, and was rooted in
Scots/Irish Presbyterianism. For the first half of the 19thcentury, the S/I dominated the
Presidency. James Polk of NC, James Buchanan, son of an immigrant from Co. Donegal,
Andrew Johnston a grandson of a Co. Antrim farm laborer, and Ulysses S. Grant were
all Scots/Irish. The Civil War divided the S/I into both camps, but most fought on the
southern side. Stonewall Jackson was a Scots/Irish Presbyterian deacon. His Shenandoah
Valley campaign became a classic in military textbooks. Will McGuffie, who had Ulster
roots, was schoolmaster to America (McGuffie Reader).
There were five great waves of emigration: 1717-18, 1725-29, 1740-41, 1754-55, and
1771-75. Some further notes about the third wave: 1740-41 An estimated 400,000 died
from famine in Ireland during these years and there was a tremendous exodus to america.
This third wave marked, on the American side, the first movement in any numbers beyond
the confines of Pennsylvania to the southwest. As land became scarce, more of the
emigrants travelled south into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and on into the Piedmont
region of North Carolina.
The first actual settlement of Scotch-Irish in North Carolina was not in the Piedmont, and
arrived by sea rather than by way of Pennsylvania. On November 29th 1735, Governer
Johnston informed his council that....had written him 'respecting their intention of sending
over to this province several poor protestant families with design of raising flax and hemp.'
They asked for a grant of sixty thousand acres in New Hanover County. Their request
was granted, and the next year the settlers arrived at their land on the Black River (now
DUPLIN County). The Scotch-Irish arrived in 1736 from Ulster, Northern Ireland with
Henry McCulloch, a wealthy London merchant, to settle on a rich and fertile 71,160 acre
land grant to him from the British Crown.
Duplin County was created from the northern part of New Hanover County by the
General Assembly in New Bern on March 17, 1749. At that time the bounds of Duplin
County included what was to become Sampson County. The county was named in honor
of Sir Thomas Hays, Lord Dupplin, who served on the board of Trade and Plantations
for the Crown in the 1740's.
Our David Thompson's probable father, I'm told, came from NC, and would be named
David, like he named his first son. His 2nd son also named HIS first son David.
The following Will is from NC, with this same name...
DUPLIN county, NC Wills- 427. DAVID THOMSON 6 Mar 1773 0
26 Oct 1773 (before Jo Martin) Of Duplin Co. 'very sick and weak in body'
Son WILLIAM - negroes Jo & Theana; 100 acres in the fork between brickhall &
Spring Branch. Son DAVID - negroes Boson & Jack; 144 acres on Cornmash.
Son-in-law ROGER SNELL - negro wench Dinah. Son-in-law JESSE DARDEN -
negro wench Phillis. Son JAMES - negroes Brister & Peter; 190 acres on Buckhall.
Son STEPHEN - 401 acres where I now live; negroes Andrew, Tom, Cloe. Daughter
AMELIA THOMSON - negro girls Peg, Cate, Moll. Daughter MARTHA
THOMSON - negroes Hannah, Doll, London. My sheep that are with THOMAS IVEY
& EDWARD BYRD to be my sd 2 sons-in-law. Other legacies & provisions.
Ex. brother ANDREW THOMSON, son-in-law ROGER SNELL.
Wit. HENRY HOLLINGSWORTH, JOHN THOMSON, THOMAS THOMSON.
More on David- From: Laverne = lavernebrown@cstel.net Hi Kerry,
DAVID THOMSON was of Bertie County, later Dulpin Co NC. He was born abt
1715 and married the first time to Sarah Howell, daughter of John. They had
one child, WILLIAM (b ab 1738). Sarah died and DAVID remarried. His 2nd
wife may have been a Murray or Hollingsworth.)
DAVID was a Justice of Dulpin CO NC in 1759 and died there in 1773.
CHILDREN OF DAVID THOMPSON: 1. WILLIAM b ab 1738 Bertie Co NC
2. STEPHEN b ab 1742 New Hanover (Dulpin) Co NC
3. AMELIA b ab 1746 m Roger Snell of Tyrell Co NC
4. DAVID JR b ab 1749 m ? Mary Turner 12 Nov 1774 of Bertie Co NC
(Kerry's note- could he have married our Elizabeth, around 1780?)
5. MARY b ab 1751 m 23 Apr 1771 Jesse Darden of Sampson Co NC
6. MARTHA JANE b ab 1753 m 24 Jul 1773 Orson Bell 7. JAMES b ab 1755
DUPLIN county- David Thompson; land patent Apr-7-1770 (Book 20) 73 acres.
Sep-27-1740 New Hanover county, James Murray ack. deed to David Thompson's
300 acres on the sound. Duplin County was created from the northern part of New
Hanover County on March 17, 1749.
Tryon county NC- a David Thompson bought land deed Jul-24-1771 from John
Alexander. Tryon county NC- a David Thompson sold land FORMERLY
Mecklenburg county to James Smith.
Abraham Kuykendall is in the minutes of Old Tryon Co, NC, where he was named a
Captain of a Safety Committee and credited with public service during the Revolutionary
War. A NSDAR marker was placed on his grave. Abraham had apparently gone to
Washington Co, TN, with a group of people who included William Byers, John Thomas,
and Andrew Thompson. Abraham Kuykendall and John Thomas returned to Buncombe
Co, NC, where they had land in the area of Mud Creek where Samuel Byers, a brother
of William Byers, above, had settled.
Abraham Kuykendall was GrandUncle to Richmond Kuykendall who had the son -
James Kuykendall, born b. Dec-25-1795 in Barren county KY, married Celia Thompson,
on Sep-4-1820 in Garrard Co KY. Celia was David Thompson's daughter.
Three Kuykendalls, John, Peter and James received grants on Kings Creek from the State
of North Carolina prior to the Revolutionary War in what was then Anson County. Peter
and James sold their land. John died in 1766 (the land was called Mecklenburg Co.) His
children inherited his land which included other land purchased or granted with his
brother-in-law partner Joseph Harden. The information furnished was that Richmond was
born in 1768 at the foot of Kings Mountain where his father Jacob was killed during the
Battle of Kings Mountain (7 Oct 1780). House and all burned by the Tories. His mother
died soon after. Richmond was adopted and carried to Barren Co., then to Garrard Co.,
KY by a family who travelled with Daniel Boone. This family may have been John and
Elizabeth Reed who moved from the Greenville Co., SC district, to Garrard and
Barren Co., KY.
KUYKENDALL ANCESTORS
A REASON FOR DAVID TO SETTLE NEAR CRAB ORCHARD, KY
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