RELEASE DATE: JULY 5, 2009
KINSEARCHING
by
Marleta Childs
P. O. Box 6825
LUBBOCK, TX 79493-6825
[email protected]
As we celebrate another anniversary of our declaration of independence from Great Britain, many genealogists are aware of the part their Scots-Irish (often called Scotch-Irish in America) forebears played in the Revolutionary War. Tying their immigrant ancestors to their origins in Northern Ireland and then in Scotland, however, can be difficult. To help researchers find that elusive connection, David Dobson began compiling data on Scottish families who may have settled in Ulster and whose descendants may have participated in the exodus to North America. Dobson recently completed his third volume in his new series, SCOTLAND DURING THE PLANTATION OF ULSTER: THE PEOPLE OF LANARKSHIRE, 1600 - 1699.
As Dobson reiterates in his introduction to this volume, seventeenth-century Scotland was a country in transition after its union with England in 1603. Major transformations in the relationship between the two nations led to some degree of collaboration. Through cooperation, Scotland and England eliminated reiving (cross-border rustling, which had existed for centuries), expanded trade, and joined in colonial ventures, such as the "planting" of Ulster. Under King James, Scottish "undertakers" received large estates in northern Ireland, which they were required to develop and to bring in colonists. Because many of the "undertakers" were from southwestern Scotland, they typically recruited from among inhabitants in the area, which included Lanarkshire, once known as Clydesdale. Although most Scots probably moved to the Emerald Isle for economic reasons, some of the region's residents were Covenanters (militant Presbyterians) who fled to nearby Ireland to avoid religious persecution.
Using the same format as his earlier volumes, Dobson arranges the names of the main men and women alphabetically. Entries generally give the name of an individual and a place (usually a town or parish), a date, and the source of the facts. Information about John FREELANDS, for instance, states that he was "a mason in Glasgow" in 1620. Some entries provide additional facts, as in the case of Gabriel COCHRANE of Glasgow. Cochrane was admitted as a burgess in 1614 and as a guildsbrother in 1627, "by right of his father Thomas Cochrane a burgess, and by the right of his wife Elspeth, daughter of William Love a skinner guildsbrother."
Dobson discovered names of some Lanarkshire residents who definitely moved to Ulster, such as Andrew BAIRD and Hew (sic) BROWN of Glasgow and the heirs of John FRAME. A few individuals from Lanarkshire went voluntarily or were banished to the New World. Several Covenanters from Cambusnethan, for instance, were transported in the mid-1600s to North America: Gavin MUIRHEAD to New York and James FORREST to East New Jersey. Other people went to "Carolina" and various islands in the West Indies.
Since the backbone of Scottish genealogical research is the Church of Scotland parish records, the county of Lanark is fortunate because the survival of fifty-three church registers, dating from 1576 into the eighteenth century, is better than average. Supplementing the religious material is information extracted from the Register of Deeds of the Court of Session, Lanarkshire Sasines, the Register of Testaments for Lanark and Glasgow, the Register of Burgesses and Guildsbrethren of Glasgow, the Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, and Monumental Inscription lists. The accumulation of data in SCOTLAND DURING THE PLANTATION OF ULSTER: THE PEOPLE OF LANARKSHIRE, 1600 - 1699 will aid numerous researchers in locating crucial familial links overseas. Dobson's latest volume is another worthy additional to library genealogical collections.
The 159-page paperback has interesting illustrations, maps, and a key to references. Particularly helpful to Americans is the glossary (crealman, for example, is a "man who carries goods to market in a basket"). An index to other people mentioned in the entries would also be useful to family researchers. Genealogists tracing MCCONNELL lines, for example, may not realize that Katherine MCCONNELL (a surname that does not appear as an entry) was the wife of Walter ANDERSON. Unless researchers already know the name of Katherine's spouse, they will overlook the connection.
To the book's price of $18.50, buyers should add the cost for postage and handling charges. For U. S. postal mail, the cost is $5.00 for one book or the first volume of a set and $2.50 for each additional copy or each additional volume of a set; for UPS, the cost is $7.00 for one copy and $2.50 for each additional book. The volume (item order #9019) may be purchased by check, MasterCard, or Visa from Clearfield Company, 3600 Clipper Mill Rd., Suite 260, Baltimore, Maryland 21211-1953 (for phone orders, call toll free 1-800-296-6687; fax 1-410-752-8492; website www.genealogical.com).
Bonnie Bright Johannes, 5594 North 10th, Apt. 103, Fresno, CA 93710-6586 (e-mail: [email protected]) would appreciate information about Elizabeth PERRY, who was born in Mississippi in the area of Holmes and Yalobusha counties. She first married a LANE, but they had no children. Then she married a CADE, by whom she had a daughter, Alice. On the 1870 census, she was listed as a widow and was living with her brother's family in West Carroll Parish, LA. Next, Elizabeth married Enoch FLEMING in 1870 and they had two sons. Dr. William H. BERRY became her husband in 1880 and they had one son. Her daughter Alice CADE, who would have been about thirteen years old, was not listed on the 1880 census. What happened to her?