I hope this toolkit will be useful to your Scots-Irish genealogy research, particularly if your Scots-Irish ancestors passed through or settled in Pennsylvania.
“Poor and mobile, they scratched out a precarious existence out of the woods beyond the reach of the law and polite society. The people with no name did — and still do — elude easy classification.”1
Peter griffin, the people with no name
Certainly researching a group that is not easy to classify presents challenges. By better understanding how their experiences and their characteristics informed the decisions they made, we can learn how those decisions dictate the types of records they left. If you’d like to learn more about these challenges and strategies to overcome them, check my events calendar or contact me to schedule “From Ulster to the Alleghenies: Researching the Scots-Irish in Pennsylvania” for your organization.
When did the Scots-Irish arrive in Pennsylvania?
Motivated primarily by economic factors, including high rents, poor harvests, and frequent famine-like conditions, the Scots-Irish also included the religious intolerance they experienced during the late 1600s and early 1800s. They left Ireland in marked waves throughout the 1700s.2
- 1718–1720 — the primary cause of emigration was drought, rent-racking
- 1724–1730 — religious toleration had improved in Ireland, but the rise in Catholicism caused large Protestant Groups to leave. The number of migrants caused alarm in Ireland and Pennsylvania.
- 1731–1769 — “The Middle Years.” Consistent immigration, with upticks during times of drought or declines in the linen industry.
- 1770–1775 — The Climax. Large numbers left Ireland to join friends and relatives who had already settled in America.
For Further Reading:
Dickson, R. J. Ulster Emigration to Colonial America 1718–1775. Belfast: Routledge & Keegan Paul Ltd., 1966.
Fischer, David Hackett. Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.
Griffin, Patrick. The People with No Name: Ireland’s Ulster Scots, America’s Scots-Irish, and the Creation of a British Atlantic World, 1689–1764. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2011.
Leyburn, James G. The Scotch-Irish A Social History. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2009.
Where did the Scots-Irish Settle in Pennsylvania?
The Scots-Irish settled in whatever area was the frontier at the time. Considered proud and difficult for other groups to get along with, they were also placed on the frontier as a buffer between both the Native Americans and Maryland and the English settlers.
Look for them beyond the established county (meaning the counties as they were at the time, not as we know them today) lines, during the marked waves of immigration.
- 1680s — low migration rates to Pennsylvania, but look in Bucks, Philadelphia, and Chester County [the first Presbyterian congregation was established in Philadelphia in 1698].
- 1718–1720 — look for them in the recently expanded section of Chester County.
- 1724–1730 — look for them in the area that would become Lancaster County (including modern Dauphin County).
- 1731–1769 — Look for them in the area that would become Cumberland County and Berks County, east of the Appalachian Mountains. Settlement west of the Susquehanna River caused disturbances with the Native Americans. The Pennsylvania government sent men to evict the squatters in 1750. Read more about one such instance at Burnt Cabins (modern Fulton County, Pennsylvania).3 After 1763, settlement was legally allowed west of the Appalachian Mountains in Pennsylvania.
- 1770–1775 —Look in Westmoreland County and Northumberland County.
Maps
The first two maps are a great resource to identify what area was encompassed by a county at a particular time. The second map includes routes of transportation, key ferries, and strong houses/forts (often named for a settler).
[Pennsylvania] Genealogical Map of the Counties
A Map Of The State Of Pennsylvania
Warrantee Township Maps or Connected Draft Maps. *Seach these by the current county and township.
For Further Reading:
Peter Gilmore, “From Rostrevor to Raphoe: An Overview of Ulster Place-Names in Pennsylvania, 1700-1820.” Note: Includes Scots-Irish surnames found in specific locations.
Raymond Martin Bell, Mother Cumberland: Tracing Your Ancestors in South-central Pennsylvania (Alexandria, VA: Hearthside Press, 1989).
How Do I Learn More About My Scots-Irish Ancestors
1. Literature Search
Start with a literature search for your surname. Check the county histories where you knew your ancestor lived. For example, biographical information tells me that my ancestor, Walter Clark, and his family came to what became Lawrence County in 1802 from “what is now Lewisburg, Snyder County, Pa.”4 The “now” referred to when the book was published in 1877. So, I checked the Genealogical Map of the Counties and learned that area would have been Northumberland County in 1802. A quick Google search for Northumberland County, PA, published history books took me to the Annals of the Buffalo Valley, where I found loads of information about Walter, including the names of additional family members, the church he attended, and that he came from Paxton Township [, Lancaster County].5
Now, I had two new locations in which to research and a list of relatives to include in what Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, coined the FAN [friends, neighbors, and associates] club.
Remember that some authored works are more reliable than others. Treat them like finding aids to other more reliable sources and verify each piece of information.
Search for county, family, and church histories, many are out of copyright and have been digitized and are available online through Google Books, Internet Archive, HathiTrust, FamilySearch and/or Ancestry. Or click the link below to check a library near you:
Additional Useful Publications
Jordan, John Woolf, ed. Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania, vol. 1, vol. 2, and vol. 3. New York: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1911. See index for all in vol. 3
Also, indexed and searchable as “Colonial and Revolutionary families of Pennsylvania: genealogical and personal memoirs,” Ancestry.com
Egle, William Henry. Notes and Queries Historical and Genealogical Chiefly Relating to Interior Pennsylvania, Vols.1–3; and updates.
Also, indexed and searchable as “Notes and queries: historical, biographical and genealogical, chiefly relating to interior Pennsylvania, [1st-2d ser., v. 1-2,” Ancestry.com
—— Pennsylvania Archives. 32-volume series with various publication dates. Indexed and searchable as “US, Pennsylvania Archives, 1660-1780,” at Fold3. A free registration, but no subscription, is required to view this collection.
—— Pennsylvania Genealogies, Chiefly Scotch-Irish and German. Harrisburg: Harrisburg Publishing Company, 1896.
Newspapers
Your Scots-Irish ancestors may have been mentioned in the newspaper.
Check the Pennsylvania State Library Newspapers Archives for a listing of their historic newspapers. Many of the newspapers are on microfilm and can be sent through inter-library loan.
Newspapers.com has several newspapers published in the 1700s, including the oldest, The Pennsylvania Gazette, which began publication during the first wave of Scots-Irish migration in 1728.
2. Local Research
Many of the records that will best help you trace your Scots-Irish ancestors were created at the county or local level. My starting point for determining where those records may be held today is the FamilySearch Research Wikis. Search for the county of residence, and the parent and subsequent counties. Also, Google the county+genealogy to point you toward the records.
a. Land Records are my go-to for researching the Scots-Irish. Tracing a tract of land can help identify relationships, maiden names, and differentiate same-named people. The good news is that most of Pennsylvania’s early land records are available online. Read my post about where to find Pennsylvania Land Records.
b. Legal Records can often be used in conjunction with land records as a way of identifying a family. Searching for a will has become fairly easy. Check the “Pennsylvania, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993,” Ancestry.com (whose indexing is being updated to include additional names mentioned in the will), or check the county directly.
Orphans Court Records: If your ancestor owned land, and died intestate, you will likely find probate records in the Orphans Court naming the heirs. Even if you find a will, and it mentions young children or minors (or you know the deceased had young children), check the Orphan’s Court for guardianship records. The availability of Orphan’s Court Dockets online varies, so you may find yourself visiting the county courthouse or archives, or the new Pennsylvania Archives.
Search also for Oyer & Terminer Court Records, Court of Common Pleas, or Civil Court records in your county(ies) of research. The previously mentioned published Pennsylvania Archives can also be useful for searching for court records.
Livengood, Candy Crocker. Genealogical Abstracts of the Laws of Pennsylvania & the Statues at Large. Berwyn Heights, Md.: Heritage Books, 2013.
“Call this war, dearest friend, by whatsoever name you may, only call it not an American Revolution, it is nothing more nor less than an Irish-Scotch Presbyterian Rebellion.”6
Capt. Johann Heinrichs
3. Military Records
Your Scots-Irish ancestor very likely participated in the military or a formal or informal militia. Check for participation in the French & Indian War, the Revolutionary War, or in the Whiskey (or should we say Whisky?) Rebellion. Though the Scots-Irish likely made up the “Paxton Boys,” none of them were ever identified.
Check the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Ancestor Search or the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) Patriot Search.
In addition to the previously mentioned published Pennsylvania Archives, check:
“US, Pennsylvania Revolutionary War Battalions and Militia Index, 1775-1783,” Ancestry.com and “Pennsylvania, U.S., Veterans Card Files, 1775-1916,” Ancestry.com. These records are originally from the Pennsylvania Archives.
View the Pennsylvania Revolutionary War Pension Index, and the imaged records here. If you are a Pennsylvania resident and want to learn how to access the Pennsylvania Archives Ancestry collections for free or need hints to use the pension index, read this post.
For Further Reading:
Hogeland, William. The Whiskey Rebellion. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006.
“The Christian White Savages of Peckstang and Donegall,” [chapter 6 in the aforementioned The People with No Name].
Vaughan, Alden T. “Frontier Banditti and the Indians: The Paton Boys’ Legacy, 1763–1775.” Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies 51, no. 1 (1984): 1–29.
4. Church Records
The Scots-Irish settled on the frontier, and established “meetings” in their communities. The first Presbytery was established in 1706 in Philidelphia, and by 1716, seventeen ministers were serving congregations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. They were circuit-rider ministers, and what early records may exist are likely in the minister’s account book or journal.
Once a congregation was established, look for congregational-level records. These may still exist at the local church or may have been transferred to another repository. If you can view the congregation records, be sure to ask to view the session minutes. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Communion) are sacraments, so the records most likely to have been kept are lists of baptisms and admissions (members eligible to receive communion). In the Presbyterian tradition, baptism is not required for salvation. Further, marriage is not a sacrament. It was not imperative to record a marriage or baptism.
Try to identify where your ancestors lived, and what pastor may have visited that area (check the published county histories) or who the early pastor of a congregation was. Keep in mind that several Presbyterian denominations exist(ed). Mergers and separations may cause the records not to be where you would expect. For a diagram, see “The Presbyterian Family Connections,” Presbyterian Historical Society.
Rev. John Cutherbertson’s original journal is the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and his Register of Marriages and Baptisms (1751–1791) has been transcribed and available at FamilySearch. Rev. John Roan’s original journal is at the Dauphin County Historical Society. Many other account books are housed in historical societies or are included in published church histories.
Check the “Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985” collection on Ancestry.com for the digitized church records from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Search HSP’s collection for the terms “Presbyterian” or Scots-Irish for additional resources.
You may also have success with presbytery records, synod-level records, or publications, many of which have been transferred to the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia.
Many early marriages were published in the Pennsylvania Archives. These have been indexed on “Pennsylvania, U.S., Compiled Marriage Records, 1700-1821,” on Ancestry.com. These are not inclusive. For example, the list from Paxtang and Derry Churches, Paxtang, 1741-1810, does not contain all of the names of the marriages of Rev. John Elder and Rev. John Roan, as recorded in the church’s published history.
For Further Reading:
Fisher, Charles A., comp. Central Pennsylvania Marriages 1700–1896. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2020. Note: this book does not contain the source of the information in “Part I, Miscellaneous Marriages.” I’m still trying to verify a few included in this section.
Gilmore, Peter. Irish Presbyterians and the Shaping of Western Pennsylvania 1770-1830. Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2020.
McKinney, William W., ed. The Presbyterian Valley. Pittsburgh: Davis & Warde Inc., 1958.
Miscellaneous
Many Scots-Irish retained Scottish naming practices, while just as many did not. Even if they did not follow the traditional pattern, you will likely encounter many same-named people in your research.
Alex Cox, “A handy guide to traditional Scottish naming patterns,” Find My Past, 14 July 2020.
Due to the Scots-Irish “clannish” nature, they isolated themselves from others. If you are attempting to use DNA to determine a relationship, be aware of the possibility of pedigree collapse and/or endogamy. You may be genetically related to a match in several ways. The estimated relationships given in testing databases are based on the number of shared cM in a non-endogamous population. If you have one or more couples filling more than one spot on your family tree, you may like to see what that looks like.
B.F. Lyons Visualizations, “Exploring Family Trees” [upload a Gedcom file, to see pedigree collapse in your family tree].
1. Patrick Griffin, The People with No Name: Ireland’s Ulster Scots, America’s Scots-Irish, and the Creation of a British Atlantic World, 1689–1764 (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2011), pg. 3.
2. R. J. Dickson, Ulster Emigration to Colonial America 1718–1775 (Belfast: Routledge & Keegan Paul Ltd., 1966).
3. Elsie S. Greathead, The history of Fulton County, Pennsylvania (McConnellsburg, Pa.: Fulton County News, 1936), 1–6; digital images, Pennsylvania State University Libraries.
4. Samuel W. Durant and Pliny A. Durant, History of Lawrence County, Pennsylvania with Illustrations Descriptive of Its Scenery, Palatial Residences, Public Buildings, Fine Blocks and Important Manufactories (Philadelphia: L.H. Everts and Co., 1877), 65; digital images, Pennsylvania State University Libraries.
5. John Lynn Blair, Annals of Buffalo Valley Pennsylvania 1755–1855 (Harrisburg: Lane S. Hart, 1877), 39–40; digital images, Google Books (https://books.google.com/).
6. Mathias Wilson McAlarney, History of the Sesqui-centennial of Paxtang Church (Harrisburg, Pa.: Harrisburg Publishing Co., 1890), pg. 260–276; digital images, Google Books.
- Peter Griffin, The People With No Name ↩︎
![Some library data on this site is provided by WorldCat, the world's largest library catalog [WorldCat.org]](https://i0.wp.com/www.oclc.org/content/dam/developer-network/badges/wc_badge1.png?resize=88%2C31){kind=small}