Colonial America

White Folk in the Colonial Food Chain

27 Jun By Dwight

The English Colonial records of North America and the Caribbean have unfamiliar terms referencing the European population. Confusion arises because we have no context for the lives of the population in the 1600s and 1700s.

This was a world where people were graded economically. Racism was based on social status, not skin color. The economy of colony and wealth building was graded from the few at the top to those in bondage at the bottom. Under this system, slaves (servants, apprentices) could be African, European, Native American or from the Indian Sub-Continent (called East India Indians).

Four Categories of Whites in Colonial North America

There were four main categories for the incoming Europeans, and will be found in court, land, and church registers. However, it is not always clear what is inferred. Just be aware that terminology changes by locality and time period.

White Freeman Who Owned Property: Is defined as a white male over 21 who owned real or personal property of a particular value. He was endorsed by a majority of other Freemen in the community. He had the right to vote and pay taxes.
White Freeman: A free male over 21, not bound, was considered a White Freeman. In the Southern colonies it was freed slaves or anyone who voted or paid taxes.
White Apprentices: A broad term applied to bondage, such as indentured servant, redemptioner, free-willer, and apprentices. Terms such as apprentice and servant, obscured what the terms of bondage may have really meant.
White Slave: This is a person who was bound to a master. Chattel slavery, which was for a lifetime, grew out of the indentured servant system. Slaves could be prisoners, religious or political dissidents, orphans or social outcasts. In the English colonies, African slavery would replace European slavery.

Whites could move up from one grade to the next one. For example, an indentured servant or slave can become a freeman and eventually a landed freeman owning slaves.

This was their world and their values. If you judge them by our standards, you may miss what a particular record is trying to convey.

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American and Baptist: What Kind? (Part 2)

21 Jan By Dwight Leave a Comment

Baptists often divided over cultural, racial, political, polity and doctrinal issues. The listing below will outline major traditions, both white and black.

Major Baptist Denominations in the United States

American Baptist Churches USA: Considered Mainline Protestant, it has historically been known as “Northern Baptists.” The American Baptist Churches traces back to the first Baptists, but the convention itself back to 1814. This multi-ethnic denominations is concentrated in the Midwest and Northeast.

Free Will Baptists: Concentrated mainly in the South and Midwest, although at one time it was strong in New England, the largest organization, the National Association of Free Will Baptists traces its lineage from two different lines dating to 1727 and 1780.

General Baptists: Located mainly in the Midwest, the General Association of General Baptists is rooted back to 1823 in Indiana.

Independent Baptists: Independent Baptists began in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in reaction against liberalism and modernism. Congregations nationwide maintain their autonomy.

National Baptists: An African American denomination founded in 1880, the National Baptist Convention, USA is the world’s second largest Baptist denomination.

Primitive Baptists: Historically known as Hard Shell, Anti-Mission, or Old School Baptists, the Primitive Baptists formed in the early 1800s mainly in and the mountainous regions of the Southeast. The white Primitive Baptists have Internet websites where you can find more general information Primitive Baptist Church as a whole. The African American denomination is the National Primitive Baptist Convention, USA.

Seventh Day Baptists: Coming out of English Baptists, the first congregation was formed in Newport, RI in 1671. The Seventh Day Baptist General Conference worships on Saturday.

Southern Baptist Convention: The Southern Baptist Convention is the largest Baptist denomination in the world. Founded in 1845 over slavery issues; it is heavily concentrated in the South. Historically, it was predominately white.

Each tradition generated a paper trail and wove itself into the local and national experience, helping define what it meant to be an American.

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American and Baptist: What Kind? (Part 1)

17 Jan By Dwight Leave a Comment

The Baptist tradition is so interwoven into American history that it cannot be separated out. This alone makes Baptist Studies an important part of your family history research. For your Irish Studies, vast numbers of Scots-Irish and their descendants joined the Baptist Church in America as did many Irish Catholics after immigrating.

What Kind of Baptist Church Did Your Ancestors Belong

In documenting a Baptist family, the first question to ask is: What kind of Baptist? Today, all Baptists combined comprise the second largest religious grouping in the country; with the Southern Baptist Convention being the largest Protestant denomination.

Baptists congregations range from militantly independent conservatives on the right to socially oriented and ecumenically minded on the left. There are those who worship on Saturday or Sunday; small groups in almost compound-like settings and mega churches hosting tens of thousands of worshipers at a time. Congregations also can change their allegiance to a larger convention or association or establish their own governing body or none at all.

The Roots of Baptists in America

The earliest Baptists came from England with the first congregation founded in Providence, Rhode Island in 1639 by William Rogers. If you do not find an ancestor, for example, in the predominant Congregational Church in New England, then they may have been Baptists.

During the Second Great Awakening (1790-1830), Baptists would spread into new areas and people. It was also the Baptists, along with the Methodists who would win the hearts of African Americans. So whether you are tracing a white, black or even a mixed-blood Indian lineage; chances are you will come across Baptist ancestors along the way.

In Part 2 of this blog, I will discuss the major Baptist denominations in the United States as they all left behind records from which to document an ancestor.

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Colonial Laws and the Indentured Servant (Part2)

16 Dec By Dwight Leave a Comment

Laws governing human bondage in the English colonies did not happen overnight. As needed, laws were enacted by the colonial assemblies. The Virginia and Maryland colonies were the two most powerful mainland colonies. They lead the way in defining exactly what human bondage really meant. Lawmakers didn’t think in terms of color, but in people as a commodity. For this reason, colonial laws would apply to all races.

Using Virginia colony as an example; in a December 1662 law, women servants who became pregnant by their masters were to finish out their term and then be bound over to the local church to be sold for an extra two years of servitude. An October 1670 law pronounced that all non-Christians brought by shipping (by sea) shall be a slave for life, but if brought by land (from another colony) as children they were to serve until they are 30 years old. If they were adults and brought by land, they were to serve for only 12 years. In April 1691, all whites, bond or free were forbidden from intermarrying with blacks, mulattos or Indians. This law also stated that free white women who had an illegitimate child by a black, mulatto or Indian would be bound out by the local parish church for five years and the child bound until the age of 30.

It was a series of Virginia laws passed in October 1705 which began to define in detail what a slave was. The main points were:

*Slaves brought into the colony by land or sea (except Turks and Moors) remained slaves regardless of converting to Christianity.

*Free people who were Christians in their own country were not to be sold as slaves.

*No black, mulatto, Indian, Jew, Muslim or other infidel could purchase Christian white servants.

*White men or women intermarrying with blacks and mulattoes were to go to prison for 6 months with no bail.

*If any slave resists their master during correction, it was legal to kill them as part of the correction. Escaped slaves could be killed.

*A Christian baptism does not exempt a person from bondage, and the status of all children was according to the condition of the mother.

This was the world of our colonial ancestors regardless of color!

Colonial Laws and the Indentured Servant (Part 1)

15 Dec By Dwight Leave a Comment

Until the laws caught up governing human bondage in the English New World, several systems were in place. One was outright slavery which included political prisoners, criminals, innocent kidnapped individuals, the homeless and orphans sold into bondage. Once shipped to the Caribbean, Virginia or Maryland colonies, many simply disappeared.

Another was the “indentured servant” which was different than outright slavery, however, this is a technicality if the servant didn’t survive. They were basically slaves for a contracted period of time in exchange for either passage over or for promised land. A study of white bondage using England as the focus reveals the following comparison between indentured servants, transported convicts and free immigrants in the colonial period:

Variable Indentured Servants Transported Convicts Free Immigrants

Emigration Reason escape poverty imposed punishment varies

Average age 15-24 years 20-30 years varies

Companions rarely family/friends rarely family/friends family/friends

Social status lower/lower middle lower class middle/upper middle

Select master could not could not not applicable

Marriage none none not applicable

The America before 1776 was a complex time as human slavery fueled the economy. The line between who was a slave and who wasn’t became thin. It took a century for the laws to be put into place that defined who had rights and what those rights were.

Irish Catholics were an important part of this colonial trade. By the 1600s English began to colonize a conquered Ireland. They planted Ireland with Scots and English. Workers left Ireland not only by force as convict slaves, but also were persuaded to leave as indentured servants. Ireland was so bad at the time that many gladly took up the offer to be enslaved for a set number of years. This went on for at least 100 years. The Caribbean islands, Virginia and Maryland were where most of the Irish were transported. Indentured servants would later go in large numbers to the Pennsylvania and New York colonies.

In tomorrow’s blog, I will discuss the laws which governed the practice of bondage and defined human rights, and what constituted slavery. Once the laws were in place, then slavery and servitude became color based.

Kidnapped to Quebec

12 Nov By Dwight Leave a Comment

Often in tracing Colonial New England Scots-Irish families, you find the unexpected. What you find is these Presbyterians living in Quebec as Roman Catholics, married to Indians, and having both an Indian and French name. What the heck?

It turns out that with a little historical research into the “French and Indian Wars,” it all makes sense. Many Scots-Irish families were kidnapped by Indians and traded in what is now Quebec. The obvious implication is that who you thought were French Catholics or even mixed-bloods from the First Nations were originally Scots-Irish Presbyterians from New England and Ulster with a totally different name!

They are documented in two works: Emma Lewis Coleman’s New England Captives Carried to Canada Between 1677 and 1760 During the French and Indian Wars (1925); and C. Alice Baker’s True Stories of New England Captives Carried to Canada During the Old French and Indian Wars (1897). These can be found online, and don’t forget to look for online indexes.

Now for the historical background. These series of wars can be divided up and named. In the United States the war was named after the ruling English Monarch at the time. In Canada, either the larger European conflict or the term “Intercontential War” is used.

1688-1697: King William’s War (1^st Intercolonial War (Quebec))

1702-1713: Queen Ann’s War (2^nd Intercolonial War)

1744-1748: King George’s War and War of Jenkins’ Ear (3^rd Intercolonial War)

1754-1763: The French and Indian War (4^th Intercolonial War and 6^th Indian War)

These wars were tied to the larger European conflicts as they played out in North America. These wars pitted England/UK, its colonies and Indian allies against France, its colonies and Indian allies. The causes of the wars were the desire of both nations to control the interior of North America, and the region around the Hudson Bay. The winner would dominant the fur trade. The French were effective in mobilizing the Indians, who raided the English colonies, and brought captives back to Quebec. New Hampshire, and its Scots-Irish population, were particularily ravaged during the last two wars.

In tomorrow’s blog, I want to continue the other side of this native theme by exploring people who willingly were trying to claim Native American heritage, whether they were or not.

American Presbyterian Ministers and their Ulster Origins

11 Nov By Dwight Leave a Comment

One of the strategies I’m always preaching in Scots-Irish immigrant research is to make sure you research the minister of the congregation where your ancestor’s attended. The reason is that during the 1700s, it was common for ministers to bring all or parts of their congregations to North America with them. To find out where the minister pastored in Ireland may be to find out where your ancestors were from in Ulster.

To assist you in this search, there is a source which I would like to bring to your attention. It is Rev. David Stewart’s Fasti of the American Presbyterian Church: treating of ministers of Irish origin who labored in America during the eighteenth century (Belfast: Bell and Logan, 1943). This work contains record of 156 ministers who immigrated to the United States from Ulster. After much hunting, I finally found a copy at the Presbyterian Historical Society in Ireland: www.presbyterianhistoryireland.com. It’s most impressive. It’s a lesser known resource which should be added to the works already in print on Irish Presbyterian ministers.

When consulting this work, or any others, just be aware, just because a minister was born in Ulster, does not mean he actually pastored in Ulster. He may have immigrated as a child and studied in America. This is one consideration. The main reasons you would check Stewart’s work is if your ancestor was the minister or you suspect a congregational migration from Ulster. If this is found to be true, it goes a long way towards solving your immigration problem.

The average Presbyterian register in Ireland begins in the 1820s and 1830s. If your ancestors immigrated in the 1700s, then church registers in Ireland will not help. Books about ministers trained in Ireland or Scotland may or may not help, making Stewart’s work from the American angle extremely valuable. Definitely consult it. Most research guides actually miss this one source.

Colonial Powers in the Caribbean

10 Nov By Dwight Leave a Comment

In this blog, I’d like to share an important historical accounting of which European powers had colonial governments on the various Caribbean islands. Many of the islands switched many times between various governments. This does affect the records you will be looking for. The Irish, both Catholic and Protestant, were on most of these islands from at least the early 1600s.

Often seventeenth and eighteenth century records, or transcripts of the records, were sent back to the parent country. This means that even if the island copy was destroyed (think war, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, mold and mildew) that a second copy may have survived. These second copies are often microfilmed and at the Family History Library: www.familysearch.org.

The island and the colonial powers which you will need to be familiar with are below (see a modern reference map below). The listing was taken from the incredible reference work by Christina K. Schaefer, Genealogical Encyclopedia of the Colonial Americas (1998): www.genealogical.com (pp. 127-128), a book worthy of any genealogical library collection:

Anguilla: England (1650), France (1666), England (1671), France (1689), Great Britain (1713).

Antigua: England (1631), France (1666), England (1671), Moravian settlement added in 1754.

Aruba: The Netherlands (1634).

Bahamas: England (1645), Spain (1684), England (1694), pirates from Spain and France (1703), Great Britain (1708).

Barbados: England (1627).

Barbuda: England (1629), France (1666), England (1671).

Bermuda: England (1612).

Bonaire: The Netherlands (1634).

Cuba: Spain (1511).

Curacao: The Netherlands (1634).

Dominica: England and France (1627), neutral (1748), Great Britain (1756), France (1778), Great Britain (1783).

Dominican Republic: see Hispaniola.

Grenada: England (1609), France (1650), Great Britain (1762), France (1779), Great Britain (1783).

Guadeloupe: France (1635), Great Britain (1759), France (1763).

Haiti: see Hispaniola.

Hispaniola (Dominican Republic/Haiti): Spain (1493), France takes over western end of island (1697).

Jamaica: Spain (1509), England (1655).

Martinique: France (1635), Great Britain (1762), France (1763).

Montserrat: England and Ireland (1632), France (1666), England (1671).

Nevis: England (1628).

Providence Island: England (1630), Spain (1641).

Puerto Rico: Spain (1508).

Saba: The Netherlands (1634).

Saint Bartholomew: France (1648), Sweden (1784), France (1878).

Saint Kitts (Saint Christopher): England (1623), France and England (1625), France (1666), England (1667), France (1689), Great Britain (1713).

Saint Croix: England, The Netherlands and France (1625), England (1645), France (1650), Denmark (1733).

Saint-Domingue: see Hispaniola

Saint Eustatius: The Netherlands (1600).

Saint John: Denmark (1672).

Saint Lucia: France (1639), England (1663), France (1667), Great Britain and France (1713), France (1723), neutral (1748), Great Britain (1756), France (1763), Great Britain (1778), France (1783).

Saint Martin: France and The Netherlands (1648).

Saint Thomas: Denmark (1672).

Saint Vincent: England (1627), neutral (1660), Carib Indians (1672), Great Britain (1722), neutral (1748), Great Britain and France (1756), Great Britain (1763), France (1779), Great Britain (1783).

Tobago: England, The Netherlands and France (1632), neutral (1748), Great Britain (1763), France (1781), Great Britain (1793).

Tortola: The Netherlands (1666), England (1672).

Tortuga: Buccaneers from England, France, The Netherlands, Portugal and Spain (1630), Spain (1635).

Trinidad: Spain (1509), French settlement added in 1777, Great Britain (1797).

The Irish Connection to Montserrat (Part 2)

21 Oct By Dwight Leave a Comment

Genealogy in Montserrat was changed beginning with the 1995 eruption of Mount Chance which buried the capitol Plymouth. Most of the island’s population became refugees.

Even with the losses of some records and cemeteries, many earliest records had already been microfilmed or published. For example, microfilmed deeds can be found at the University of the West Indies (UWI), and the earliest Anglican registers are at the National Archives in Kew. No primary records survive prior to 1712 as they were burned in the French invasion.

The island historically was divided into four parishes for administrative purposes: St. Peter (north), St. Anthony (central), St. Patrick (south) and St. George (east). A newer parish of St. John’s was created. All five had Anglican parishes.

Historic cemeteries were destroyed in the eruption, others abandoned or inaccessible. Fortunately, the tombstones from select ones had been transcribed in 1913-14 in Vere Langford Oliver’s More Monumental Inscriptions: Tombstones of the British West Indies. Historic residents of all denominations would have been buried in the Anglican parish graveyards.

Important early records such as censuses and church registers have been published in Caribbeana: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00075409/00002/allvolumes Early censuses, housed at the National Archives have been extracted in Caribbeana: 1677/8 (Vol. 2, pp. 216-320) and 729 (Volume 4, p. 302). Early eighteenth century Anglican Church registers published in Caribbeana include: St. Anthony (Volume 1, pp. 42-44, 86-88, 92-93, 138-139); St. George: (Volume 1, pp. 88-90, 139); St. Patrick (Volume 1, p. 92); St. Peter (Volume 1, pp. 90-92, 139-140); various (Volume 1, pp. 361-364).

The earliest Catholic registers (1771-1838) are at the UWI. In regard to the Catholic graveyard at St. Patrick’s, it was destroyed in the eruption with no surviving records or transcripts.

Some Internet resources include “Caribbean Genealogy Research: www.candoo.com/genresources/#MONTSERRAT ; “Caribbean Surname Index”: www.candoo.com/surnames/viewforum.php?f=89 and the Montserrat GenWeb Project: www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~msrwgw

The Irish Connection to Montserrat (Part 1)

20 Oct By Dwight Leave a Comment

The Caribbean Island of Montserrat has a long history with the Irish. It is a small island. This first of a two blog will focus on the early Irish Catholic history of the island. Many North Americans, white and black, are descendants of these the colonial Irish Catholic indentured servants, white slaves, prisoners and settlers.

Montserrat was founded as an English colony in 1632, by Irish Catholic indentured servants from St. Kitts. It became a Catholic colony ruled by Protestants. A second wave of settlers came in 1634; Catholic refugees fleeing persecution in Virginia.

Recruiting schemes successfully brought Irish to the island to grow tobacco. Additional waves of settlers arrived in 1641-45 as the term for many white indentured servants in St. Kitts and Barbados expired. In 1649 the island was used as a dumping ground for Irish slaves and prisoners following the Cromwellian victory in Ireland. By 1666, the population consisted of 3,250 including 300 English, 2,000 Irish and 650 African slaves.

In 1667 many left during war between France and England, both which had colonies in the Caribbean. The Irish Catholics sided with the French, and were sent to Nevis. Montserrat lay in ruins. By 1678 the island was being rebuilt with the economy based on a few large plantations. The census for that year showed 2,682 whites and 992 slaves. About two-thirds of the whites were Irish subsistence farmers. With little opportunity for advancement, the white population steadily decreased.

The wars between England and France (1689-1714) would cause most of the Irish farmers to abandon their holdings and leave. Catholics who remained were subject to harsh laws. The 1756 Census showed a population of 10,283, of whom 1,430 were white and 8,853 black.

In tomorrow’s blog, I will discuss the records of Montserrat.

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