Scots-Irish

How do You Determine the Associates of Your Ancestor?

28 Dec By Dwight

On the recent Salt Lake Christmas Tour, I had the chance to consult a few times with a very knowledgeable woman trying to identify her ancestor’s associates in Augusta County, Virginia prior to 1790. This was no small task. She needed this original cluster of people so she could see who was from Ulster and if her ancestor may have known them there. However, she needed to first move the pack from Augusta County back into some unknown county in Pennsylvania. Remember, this is frontier and very dangerous. Families did not travel alone.

It was in Pennsylvania, she was most likely to identify the original group from Ulster. So we put our heads together and began brainstorming what we could use to reconstruct her ancestor’s neighborhood and associates from Virginia to Pennsylvania.

We came up with land records. Whose land did her ancestor’s land adjoin in Augusta County? That is accomplished by studying the county deeds. Court cases were discovered. With whom was her ancestor involved in court cases? That could help. Then I looked at the published tax lists and realized that the years we needed were divided by district. This in effect divided the county by geographic areas, preserving the theoretical “neighborhood” in which her ancestor lived.

Our solution for her continued efforts was to see where her surname was found in Pennsylvania in the land grant and published tax lists. Then those lists were compared with the residents being taxed in her ancestor’s Augusta County, Virginia tax district. During that time period, was there a common pattern of people coming into Augusta County, Virginia from a particular county in Pennsylvania? That would solve the Virginia to Pennsylvania part of the research.

Once the Pennsylvania county was identified, then she would have townships in which to work. That would automatically help identify her ancestors “neighborhood” and theoretical associates from Ulster geographically within the county. Then she would start the entire process over again. However, this time looking for the original cluster of families who arrived from Ulster along with her ancestor. To identify where some of the group came from would in effect identify from where her ancestor hailed. That’s a good day in frontier American research!

If you would like help with your genealogy please call 385-214-0925.

When to Jump Over the Water in Your Research

21 Dec By Dwight

I just finished consulting with the participants of the wonderful Salt Lake Christmas Tour that comes every year to the Family History Library. It’s been a wonderful experience for more than 20 years.

This year, from teaching classes and consulting non-stop all week, I found myself giving the same advice: “Don’t be so quick to jump over the water in your research.” This principle applies to Catholic and Protestant immigrant research. By way of illustration, I will focus on an early Scots-Irish example.

If tracing a family from Ohio back to Ulster, one must realize that there were possibly stops along the way. The people in the 1700s and early 1800s were on the frontier and traveled in clusters or packs, as I like to call them. It was dangerous times, and families did not travel alone. To eventually find a place of origin in Ulster, research needs to consider the entire pack. To find out where one in the pack was from would be to discover where your ancestor originated. This is great if groups of Ulster Scots families traveled together; however, the stops along the way must be considered.

The theoretical Ohio family in 1810 may have been in East Tennessee by 1800, North Carolina by 1780 and only then back to Ulster sometime in the 1760s. In this case, the original Ulster pack of associates breaks down along the way. If you do not know where in East Tennessee, then trace the frontier group (the pack) from Ohio back to East Tennessee first. Then identify that same or somewhat different group of people, including your ancestor, back from East Tennessee to North Carolina. If that is where the original group settled from Ulster, then it is in North Carolina where you begin to reconstruct the original Ulster pack of immigrants.

If you do not already have a place in Ulster already, then you need to refrain from trying to jumping from Ohio directly back to Ulster. Customarily, the straight jump over the water approach will not work. Identifying the original group of immigrants in North Carolina, and then tracing them back to Ulster is typically how it works.

If you would like help with your genealogy please call 385-214-0925.

Reading Between the Lines as a Research Strategy

13 Nov By Dwight

I was researching a Scots-Irish man, and I had his marriage record from 1818 in Knox County, Tennessee. He had children by 1820, somewhere in Alabama. His remarried wife shows up in Pike County, Illinois by the 1830s. That was all I knew.

The migration pattern itself was not unique, but getting some firm facts about my subject between the 1818 marriage and the early 1830s was most difficult. With no place to really start, I decided, he had to die in the county where his wife remarried. She had little children, which required support rather quickly.

I found her remarriage in neighboring Greene County, Illinois in 1830. That gave me a potential death date for my subject; 1824 when his last child was born and 1830. The potential death place would logically be Greene County, Illinois.

To solidify this, I found her second husband in the 1830 Census of Greene County and took note of his “neighborhood” since no township was listed. I also looked for other people with the surname of the first husband. I found one in Roodhouse Township in the land grants and the census. Further research revealed this other person served in the War of 1812 in the 1^st East Tennessee Regiment, which recruited in part out of Knox County. Coincidence? I think not.

Since the second husband didn’t live to the 1840 Census, I took the “neighborhood” from 1830 and compared it with grants. I formed a “neighborhood” in White Hall Township which forms the southern border of Roodhouse Township.

So what did I learn? First I figured my subject most likely settled around his relatives in Roodhouse Township. He died leaving no record. Logically he was probably buried in the now abandoned graveyard in Roodhouse Township with no tombstone. This was where others with his surname were buried. His widow met her second husband, who was landless, and living in the designated 1830 “neighborhood” in White Hall Township. They met and married because they did not live that far apart, and she had small children to support.

All this was “reading between the lines.” None of it can be proven other than exploring common surnames and reconstructing “neighborhoods.” Without a probate, guardianship, land or tombstone, the closest I may ever come to documenting my subject’s death is 1824-1830, in Roodhouse Township. All reading between the lines.

If you would like professional help “reading between the lines” of your family history call us at: 385-214-0925.

Baptist Theology and the Written Record

7 Mar By Dwight Leave a Comment

Baptist records are a direct reflection of Baptist attitudes and theology. On the American frontier, Baptists spread like wildfire during the Second Great Awakening (1790-1830). However, records were not always kept for those converting in revival meetings.

Reasons Why Baptists Were Poor Record Keepers

Historically, many frontier ministers were not professionally trained. They “received a call from God” to preach and that was their credentials. A literate frontier minister was secondary to the “call to preach.” The reason for this is based in the idea that a person’s salvation was based upon a personal experience between the individual and God. Literacy was not the focus as salvation and God’s word was open to all people.

Aligned to this is the importance of the local congregation. If patterned after the ancient New Testament Church, then the local congregation of believers was qualified to their own inspiration. They were fully capable of interpreting and living the principles of the New Testament.

As the frontier was settled, congregations established, and education more available, records were generated. This helped document members, transfers in and out, donations, and disciplinary actions. All record keeping was at the judgment of the local congregation. The believers, as the congregation, together make up the body of Christ. The local congregation is a sacred Baptist concept.

Baptist Theology and the Records Left Behinds

In Baptist theology, salvation is an experience based upon the faith and confession of the believer. It is not based upon baptism. Baptism is by total immersion as a sign of commitment, faith and admission into the church. A record of the “believer’s baptism” may or may not have ever been kept.

An excellent introductory text is Bill J. Leonard’s Baptist Questions, Baptist Answers: Exploring Christian Faith (2009). For the development of Baptist doctrine see James Leo Garrett’s work Baptist Theology: A Four Century Study (2009). For contemporary in-depth systematic theologies representing a general Baptist or Baptist-Calvinistic perspective, I recommend:

Akin, Daniel L., ed. A Theology for the Church (2007). Position: Southern Baptist Convention; revised edition due in 2014.

Bird, Michael F., Evangelical Theology: A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (2013). General evangelical approach by an Australian Baptist theologian.

Enns, Paul, The Moody Handbook of Theology: Revised and Expanded (2008). Position: conservative evangelical and dispensationalist.

Erickson, Millard J., Christian Theology (3rd ed., 2013). Position: Baptist-Calvinistic and General Protestant.

Geisler, Norman L. Systematic Theology 4 vols. (2002-2005). Position: Baptist-Calvinistic, conservative evangelical. His four volume series is now condensed into one.

Grudem, Wayne, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (2000). Position: Baptist-Calvinistic, Charismatic and General Protestant.

Lewis, Gordon R. and Bruce A. Demarest, Integrative Theology: Historical, Biblical, Systematic, Apologetic, Practical (1996). Position: conservative Baptist.

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Who Were Your Ancestor’s Associates

21 Feb By Dwight Leave a Comment

I was tracing a Scots-Irish man in Central Pennsylvania. He married at a particular Presbyterian Church in 1808. He never owned land and moved in 1814 without much of a paper trail. Now What?

Creating a Research Strategy

I began studying the records of that particular Presbyterian congregation concentrating on the period 1800-1814. I figured he had to be associated with someone in that congregation for some reason. On the frontier, people just did not travel alone. My logic was to identify a group of people whom he may have known and immigrated with from Ulster. This period put me in touch with the 1800 and 1810 censuses. Fortunately, the admissions to communion (1807-1842), dismissals (1807-1840), marriages (1807-1841), baptisms (1807-1839) and deaths (1808-1839) had all been extracted and published in 1895 in the periodical Notes and Queries: Historical and Genealogical Chiefly Relating to Interior Pennsylvania.

Developing the Research Strategy

While most of the records began in 1807, I learned it was an older congregation from an 1884 church history also published in this periodical. I learned it shared a minister with a nearby congregation for many years. That other congregation had records back to 1741.

The key here was my subject was not among the older established families, but a latecomer after 1800. Also published for the congregation was a Subscription List (1771). This helped me identify older established family from the latecomers. The associates of my targeted frontiersman would have been among the latecomers.

I now have a method of separating out the old families from those who arrived after 1800. I can begin studying who was associated with the person I was researching. This would further open up tax lists, wills and land records. Remember, the idea here is that to identify where one of the potential associates came from in Ulster is to potentially identify where my subject also originated.

If you need the help of a professional in developing and implementing a research strategy Contact Us.

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.

If Your would like some help in tracing your Baptist ancestors Contact Us.

The Dawes Rolls in Mixed-Blood Research

23 Dec By Dwight Leave a Comment

Were your Scots-Irish ancestors part Native American? This can be difficult to determine for mixed-blood families who were not removed to Indian Territory (Oklahoma). These families merged into the white, black or tri-racial communities where memory of the native line may have become sketchy. However, if you look at the mixed-blood families who were removed you might find some clues.

An ancestor’s surname may be found among the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek) or Seminole tribes as documented by the Dawes Commission (1894-1914). These are applications compiled to determine who qualified for tribal membership.

The Purpose of the Dawes Commission

The Dawes Commission began the U.S. Government process of breaking up tribal nations and allotting the lands to individuals. Its purpose was to change how the tribes owned land and abolish tribal governments. It was expanded by 1896 to authorize an official membership roll for the tribes. Even today, membership in the Oklahoma tribes, are based upon documenting descent from an ancestor enrolled through the Dawes Commission. An excellent guide to the history and use of the records is Kent Carter’s The Dawes Commission: And the Allotment of the Five Civilized Tribes, 1893-1914 (1999).

This source is important in mixed-blood research because it provides access to the surnames documented within the tribes. A Scots-Irish connection into the tribes was usually prior to the final 1838 Removal. The Dawes Commission records can help identify who stayed with the tribe or if the surname crossed into another tribe.

Indexes to the Dawes Commission Records

Enrollments in 1896 were considered invalid and the process began again in 1898. The majority of people enrolled 1898-1907; with a few added in 1914. The final rolls consist of 101,000 names. Only one-third of those who applied were accepted. The records also list the black Freedmen who were adopted into the tribes being descendants of their slaves (many were mixed-blood themselves).

An index to the Dawes Commission records can be found on Ancestry and the National Archives with microfilm of the applications themselves widely available.

Click Here if you would like to learn more about your Native American ancestry and their Scots-Irish connections.

Landmarkism and Your American Scots-Irish Ancestors

25 Oct By Dwight Leave a Comment

Knowledge of regional religious movements can help forward your research. In the case of Landmarkism, theology affected the descendants of Scots-Irish immigrants who had already joined the Baptists in America. It can be found mainly in the Southeastern and Southwestern United States.

In 1851, Baptists in Kentucky and Tennessee began questioning whether a non-immersed minister from another denomination could preach in a Baptist congregation. The question spoke to the very nature of the church. The conclusion for many was such ministers had a false baptism and a false view of the church.

The Meaning of Landmark

The term Landmark comes from Proverbs 22:28 “Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set” (KJV). In their reasoning, these landmarks included congregational autonomy, believer’s baptism by immersion, closed communion and a belief the true church has always been on the earth since New Testament times. The unbroken succession of the true church means the Baptist Church.

The Impact of Landmarkism

The impact of Landmarkism can be still felt among those who reject it. For example, many Baptist will rebaptize non-immersed Christians from other denominations who wish to become Baptists. Landmarkism also became somewhat of a litmus test of the true church and proof Baptists are not Protestants. In 1859, the Southern Baptist Convention rejected Landmarkism. This caused many to withdraw forming their own Landmark congregations.

Landmark Baptist Websites

The website Landmark Baptist: Non-Protestant Baptists holds a wealth of background information. In its “Reference” section are scanned older works documenting people in the movement. The Baptist History Homepage includes biographies, links to old periodicals and is continually adding old documents and books.

It is within journals, books and controversies that your ancestor may have been named as a participant. For further information, see the chapter “Baptist Landmarkism” in James Leo Garrett’s Baptist Theology: A Four Century Study (2009).

If you would like to learn more about your Landmark Baptist ancestors or research your family tree Click Here.

Baptist Archives in the United States

9 Oct By Dwight Leave a Comment

One of the most difficult tasks in Baptist research in the United States is the congregation was the most important entity. For this reason, records may or may not have been kept depending on the congregation. Another difficulty is determining what happened to a congregation, let alone it records. Types of records which can be helpful would include memberships, transfers in and out, disciplinary, adult baptisms and general minutes. The occasional death, marriage and biographical sketches are always handy.

Congregations are Created and Dissolved

In rural areas, congregations came and went. On the frontier, especially in places such as Mid-South in the 1830s, entire congregations were swept up in the rising tide of the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement. Thus, a one-time Baptist Church became a Christian Church! In settled areas, such as New England, a Baptist congregation may have been in the same town for several hundred years. Some congregations united with others or changed their names when they moved.

In your search for Baptist records, if you do not live locally in the area of your research, then contact the local genealogical society in the county starting with the links found on sites such as the USGenweb. The local state archive may also have deposited records. Never neglect the microfilm at the Family History Library

Major Baptist Historical Archives

For specific Baptist archives, your search query could use a combination of the word Baptist with Archives, Library or Genealogy. Main repositories are:

American Baptist Historical Society

Free Will Baptist Historical Commission

The Primitive Baptist Library of Carthage, Illinois

Southern Baptist Historical Library & Archives

Seventh Day Baptist Historical Society

If you are wondering about your Baptist ancestry, click here to begin your journey…

Guion Miller Rolls

13 Nov By Dwight Leave a Comment

The Guion Miller Roll accepted applications to determine membership in the Eastern Cherokee Nation. This source documents families not removed to Indian Territory in 1838. It is an excellent resource for mixed-blood families. As with all my blogs about the Cherokee, this by default usually also means Scots-Irish ancestry.

Between 1906 and 1909, some 45,940 applications were submitted from throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Guion Miller Rolls lists an estimated 90,000 individual applicants each of whom had to trace lineage to someone in the 1835 Henderson Roll, prior to the removal. Most applications were rejected based on a lack of evidence. Unless clearly fraudulent, the rejected applications still preserve the genealogy back to the 1835 time period. They also provide insight into mixed-blood families long separated from the tribe.

Indexes to the Guion Miller Rolls can be found on the National Archives website: www.archives.gov/research/arc/native-americans-guion-miller.html ; “Access Genealogy”: www.accessgenealogy.com/native/guion.php ; and on “Fold3”: http://www.fold3.com/title_81/guion_miller_roll/ The applications are widely available on microfilm.

The Guion Miller Rolls is as a guide posts as to who may have considered themselves Cherokee. Remember, even if the government didn’t consider a claim valid, DNA may prove otherwise! Then again, there were fraudulent claims of people who were only seeking government money.

Two mistakes people make when using these rolls is: 1.) They are only for Cherokee families. This is incorrect as many mixed-bloods applied, who were not Cherokee. Other, then unorganized native groups applied because there was no place else for them to apply; 2.) If an ancestor was part of a denied claim that there is no native heritage. This is also incorrect as the denied claims not only include fraudulent claims, but also ones which could not be sufficiently documented. That was the reason for rejection, not fraud.

Concerning those who were fraudulent, an excellent blog on “Thoughts from Polly’s Granddaughter” provide some thought provoking insights on the Guion Miller Roll: www.pollysgranddaughter.com/2011/06/fortune-hunters-guion-miller-roll-and.html I would also like to direct you to my two part blogs “What Does Cherokee Mean?” which appeared on 27-28 August 2012.

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