Even if you do not have Scottish ancestors who spent time in New Jersey, you’ll enjoy this book review. It will help you understand why and when your Scottish ancestors moved from town to town and with whom they did so.
While researching my own Scottish ancestors, who lived in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in the 1700s, I noticed several patterns. They moved frequently – both westward and eastward – and not necessarily with other family members. However, they did surround themselves with other Scotts (and Ulster Irish) in mostly small rural towns. Their migration patterns were not like my English and German ancestors, and this led me to discover the book, Scotland and Its First American Colony, 1683-1765.[1] In his book, Ned Landsman investigates America’s first Scottish colony in New Jersey.
Scottish Motivations to Leave the Old World
The Scotts who first arrived New Jersey can be broadly categorized into two groups. The wealthier Scotts, who obtained large estates, were called proprietors. They took with them the second group, who were servants and tenant farmers and who would work the land and provide essential services for the estates.
Proprietors were frequently the younger sons of businessmen or gentleman who immigrated for land and profits. Land inheritance laws in Scotland favored first-born sons, and so younger sons often went into business or immigrated to find wealth elsewhere. Another important motivation for proprietors to leave the Old World was to avoid religious prosecution, especially those who were Quaker and Episcopal. Quakers from England had already arrived New Jersey, and the Scottish Quakers felt a bit of kinship with them – at least from a religious perspective.
The servants and tenant farmers who left for New Jersey were motivated by the opportunity for greater economic prosperity. Most had agricultural backgrounds, but some from the urban areas of Scotland were trained craftsman.
In the 1680s, early Scottish immigrants to New Jersey came from the east or northeast of Scotland typically as religious exiles. By the 1720s, immigrants were more broadly from all of Scotland as well as Northern Ireland. While author Ned Landsman observed that most Scottish immigrants arrived through the ports of New York, Philadelphia, and Perth Amboy NJ, I have found at least one potential ancestor who arrived through a port in Maryland in 1728.[2]
Scottish Proprietor Estates in the New World
If you descend from a Scottish proprietor, who were wealthier and thus left far more records, your genealogy is probably well-known. For this reason, I concentrate on the servants and tenant farmers whose circumstances are less known and who left relatively fewer records.
While servants had no expectations of land, tenant farmers were given land to work and livestock to tend. Farmers paid taxes on only 50% of the increase in livestock. Land ownership was typically only possible after 14 years of residence on the estate. Despite the promise of land, many Scottish immigrants never opted to own the land they were promised. Like many rural Scotts back home, who came from tenant circumstances, those in America were content with good tenancies or with good wages wherever they could find work. In fact, many servants and tenant farmers moved away from their homes on proprietor estates within a couple of years of their arrival to America.
Scottish Migration within New Jersey and Beyond
Mobility among the Scots, and the Ulster Irish, were surprisingly great. Their dispersion throughout New Jersey and neighboring areas was quick. Scots moved away from their initial homes in America for several reasons. In part, it was cultural. Movement between towns back in Scotland was frequent among those who did not own land. In fact, many did not view land ownership as the only measure of economic success.
Scots also tended to live near other Scots and in smaller towns or hamlets rather than larger villages. When hamlets became too large, many moved on. For the Scots who purchased land, they did so near other Scotts forming small clusters. Indeed, several Scottish settlements were often found within the same township.
Early Scottish communities in New Jersey relied on “Old World” connections established back in Scotland. Migration to other communities in New Jersey was typically to where friends and relatives from back home had moved. However, this quickly changed as more Scottish immigrants arrived. Migrants then moved to areas where other Scots resided regardless of where in Scotland they originated. In a manner of speaking, Scottish towns became distinctly and broadly Scottish and were populated with families from all over Scotland and Ulster Ireland.
Interestingly, families from Scotland arrived in America in groups, but very few lived near their relatives for long. While they remained in contact with family members who lived elsewhere, they continually migrated between communities following routes that other Scotts had previously traveled. Most appeared to have connections in the new settlement, and migrations occurred in both directions.
These seemingly peculiar migration tendencies were evident with my own Scottish ancestors. They were surprisingly mobile moving further into Pennsylvania and then back to New Jersey and then again back to Pennsylvania. My McMasters family seemed to have first appeared in the 1740s in Solebury, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which is located on the Delaware River just across from New Jersey. There were at least four probable brothers and a sister: John, Thomas, Alexander, James, and Mary.
- John McMasters removed to Amwell, Hunterdon County, NJ in the 1750s, then back to Bucks County in the 1760s, and later died in Philadelphia County in 1768.
- Records suggest Thomas McMasters may have spent some time in Amwell but largely appeared to have settled near the Neshaminy Scottish settlement in Northampton and Warwick Townships in Bucks County by the 1770s. One of Thomas’ sons married in New Jersey.
- Mary McMasters removed to Amwell in the 1750s and resided in the vicinity until her death about 1784.
- Alexander McMasters moved to the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania in the 1760s but later returned to Bucks County.
- James McMasters remained near Solebury in adjacent Upper Makefield Township in Bucks County. One of his sons married and resided for a time in Hopewell in Hunterdon County, NJ.
Early Scottish Towns in New Jersey
If you’re searching for locations of possible records for your Scottish ancestors in New Jersey, the author Ned Landsman mentions several towns in his book where Scots frequently resided. From his work, I was able to construct a list of Scottish communities. The map below visually presents some of these prominent locations and serves a great reference point for those researching their Scottish ancestors in New Jersey.
The above map reflects the current county boundaries so researchers can more easily identify where these towns or townships are located today. Like elsewhere in the U.S., county boundaries changed frequently over time and with population growth. Researchers should check out the Map of US website to view an interactive map of New Jersey county formation across time beginning in 1683.
Online Research Tools
I have found two online sources quite helpful in moving my Scottish research forward in Colonial New Jersey. The first is the New Jersey State Archives’ searchable databases index. There are three databases in particular I have found to be the most useful. Some document detail is provided in the index results to help you determine if you should order the original records. Costs are reasonable, and staff are responsive. If you find something of interest, take the advice from three of my earlier posts (derivative records, original records, and genealogical indexes) and order it.
- Early Land Records, ca 1650-1900. This database does not include all land records, but it provides a searchable index for anyone mentioned in the deed.
- Supreme Court Case Files, 1704-1844. If your ancestors didn’t own land, you might get lucky here as an alternate source if they were a defendant, plaintiff, or witness in a court case.
- Colonial Marriage Bonds, ca 1666-1799. The database includes 11,533 bonds and 23,066 names.
The second helpful source is the Internet Archives where you can find and easily search transcripts of New Jersey’s Calendar of Wills and Administrations by volume. Volume 1 begins in 1670. FamilySearch also provides access to these volumes.
Concluding Thoughts
To keep the book review manageable and the blog post abbreviated, I opted to focus on early Scottish migration within New Jersey. The book, Scotland and Its First American Colony, 1683-1765, reveals so much more than internal migration, which was the focus of this post. It also discusses society in Scotland during the age of colonization, details the Scottish proprietors who initially obtained land in New Jersey, and the religious and national identities of Scots in colonial New Jersey. I encourage those interested in researching their Scottish ancestors or simply wishing to learn more about the English and Scottish colonization of New Jersey to read Ned Landsman’s book.
Sources
[1] Landsman, Ned C. (1985). Scotland and Its First American Colony, 1683-1765. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
[2] U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s, Christopher Search (1728), port in Maryland; database (www.ancestry.com); citing Coldham, Peter Wilson (1992), The Complete Book of Emigrants: A Comprehensive Listing Compiled from English Public Records of Those Who Took Ship to the Americas for Political, Religious, and Economic Reasons; of Those Who Were Deported for Vagrancy, Roguery, or Non-Conformity; and of Those Who Were Sold to Labour in the New Colonies. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co.
Thanks Rick.