Many of the early settlers to Western North Carolina were the "Scot-Irish".

The "Scot-Irish" were not Irish, but mostly Scotchmen and some English men who lived in Northern Ireland which was also known as Ulster during the 1700's and 1800's. In 1603 James VI, king of Scotland, inherited the thrones of England and Ireland from Elizabeth I. He began a bold plan of resettling Ulster with Scotchmen to help calm what he considered the unruly Irish who had been defeated by the English armies. He also introduced the Presbyterian church to Ireland to replace the Catholic church. King James established a plan known as The Plantation that would take over most of Northern Ireland and give grants of land to loyal Scotchmen. This land had belonged to the Irish earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell who had fled to France after the English armies had imposed peace on the area. The earls left behind almost 4 million acres. Soon over 8000 Scotish families had come in to settle the region. By 1715 perhaps a quarter million Scots had settled in Ulster.

Starting in the mid 1700's several Scotish families had become disenchanted with their new life in Ireland and had decided to seek out new lands to move to. The American colonies were an obvious choose since it held the promise of plenty of land.

EARLY FAMILIES

COOK HERITAGE

Carolina Scots

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