Family History: Ulster Scottish Immigration to the U.S.A.

[EagleJCS]

I agree with Alex, this could get to be an interesting thread.

My paternal g-gm (my father's father's mother) came from County Antrim (the immigration record from Ellis Island records site lists Toomebridge as the town of origin) as a child with her family in 1903. She's the most recent immigrant in my direct lineage. That record is the only information I have about her family's origins - long story there.

Supposedly, my Scott family is Scots-Irish, but like WBHenry we, too, have some difficulty tying back to the old country in this line. As I've noted in other thread, a cousin posted his research to Rootsweb (I'm slowly confirming what was posted, as some of the info was incorrect), which indicates our ancestor settled in the Clinch River valley (extreme SW Virginia) around 1774. We haven't been able to determine where he was prior to that time.

[Silk]

I just now posted an article to the Loyalist Highlanders thread that actually talks about all the Highland regiments in North America during the Seven Years War. I'm thinking some of you who are trying to trace Scottish roots in the States might find this useful information too so you may want to check it out!

Silk

[BBNC]

I'll check out the link. Sorry, but I hope I won't be looked down upon for not being of Highland descent. My mother's great grandfather, William Morehead came from Ulster between 1860 and 1870 (Census records) and settled in central New York (my home area). So far, I've tracked the Scottish spelling of the name (Muirhead) to Lanarkshire in the Lowlands. That makes it possible my forebears were involved in the Ulster Plantations of James VI; which begs the question: was he Scot, Irish, or Scots-Irish? I suspect there was eventual mixing between the Scots and the native Irish, although it was frowned upon in the early days of the Plantations, as the native Irish gaels were considered to be barbarians by the crown.