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One of my many-times great-grandfathers, Samuel Ferguson, came to America from Ulster and settled in Virginia, fought in the Revolutionary War, and moved further west in Virginia and died in Wayne County, WV, in 1825. He was married to Mary Jameson who died in 1827. Here's his will
The fading of the green: Fewer Americans identify as Irish
In 2015, 32.7 million Americans, or one-in-ten, identified themselves as being of Irish ancestry, making it the second-largest ancestry group in the U.S. after Germans. In addition, nearly 3 million Americans claimed Scotch-Irish ancestry, or just under 1% of the entire population. (The Scotch-Irish were mainly Ulster Protestants who migrated to the British colonies in the decades before independence, while Irish Catholics didn’t begin arriving in large numbers until the 1840s.) By comparison, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland have a combined population of about 6.6 million
The Scotch-Irish, who arrived earlier than the Irish in the early 1700s, moved to the more mountainous interior of what were then Britain’s American colonies. To this day, the states with the highest share of residents claiming Scotch-Irish ancestry are North Carolina (2.6%), South Carolina (2.4%), Tennessee (2.2%) and West Virginia (2.0%).
The Census Bureau has asked Americans to identify their ethnic ancestry since 1980, and annually since 2005. Because they can pick one or two, we counted everyone who chose Irish or Scotch-Irish as their primary or secondary ancestry. We used one-year estimates for nationwide Irish and Scotch-Irish populations, and 2011-2015 five-year estimates for state-level populations.
One branch of my mothers family was moved from English soil in the late 1600's, and settled in Tennessee. The earliest known was a norse farmer named Spirg. His name became Suprgeon, which means 'of Spirg' when describing his offspring. But the Norse version would be Sprigsdottor or son, so by then the Norse farmers and those there before had merged. The early scots irish were Hustin's, later related to Sam. So in a sense when the farmers deemed in excess who were shipped to the colonies, they were carrying a mix of diverse cultures which had merged including scots irish.
My great grandmother was a Houston. They were a different mix of those who came before with much the same sources. She was related to Sam, probably a cousin. But what all those who had come, voluntarily or not, share is a strong sense of independence and survival. Their surname Huston, my great grandmother was related to Sam Houson in some direct way. They moved more west and eventually set up long term housekeeping in Iowa (where much of the family remains).
What all of them share was a deep drive to use any opportunities to make it better and that carried with it a lot of history and a spirit of independence which has deeply defined our nation since. I have a finger into several, but I know where the temper comes from....
Dad's family was all scotts irish. They settled and many still live in Alabama. It was settled early by shipments of Scotts Irish to hold it, so family history may go deep.
Somehow Mom got one of those temperments where she kept the peace, but Dad an I knew all the right buttons to push and did fairly often, and both of us are very stubborn.
One branch of my mothers family was moved from English soil in the late 1600's, and settled in Tennessee. The earliest known was a norse farmer named Spirg. His name became Suprgeon, which means 'of Spirg' when describing his offspring. But the Norse version would be Sprigsdottor or son, so by then the Norse farmers and those there before had merged. The early scots irish were Hustin's, later related to Sam. So in a sense when the farmers deemed in excess who were shipped to the colonies, they were carrying a mix of diverse cultures which had merged including scots irish.
My great grandmother was a Houston. They were a different mix of those who came before with much the same sources. She was related to Sam, probably a cousin. But what all those who had come, voluntarily or not, share is a strong sense of independence and survival. Their surname Huston, my great grandmother was related to Sam Houson in some direct way. They moved more west and eventually set up long term housekeeping in Iowa (where much of the family remains).
What all of them share was a deep drive to use any opportunities to make it better and that carried with it a lot of history and a spirit of independence which has deeply defined our nation since. I have a finger into several, but I know where the temper comes from....
Dad's family was all scotts irish. They settled and many still live in Alabama. It was settled early by shipments of Scotts Irish to hold it, so family history may go deep.
Somehow Mom got one of those temperments where she kept the peace, but Dad an I knew all the right buttons to push and did fairly often, and both of us are very stubborn.
LOL, and you are quite accurate about the Scots-Irish temperament of being stubborn, phew-wee!
LOL, and you are quite accurate about the Scots-Irish temperament of being stubborn, phew-wee!
Yeah, it sure is. I sometimes wonder how much that has to do with the migration of each generation a little away from home. My dad grew up on the family farm in Alabama, and his father believed work on the farm needn't be paid for, since its all family. But Dad wanted a little money and cleared one field by himself and even planted it. He showed his father and ask for a little money so he could get something he wanted.
Dad said no. Wasn't his land, and family didn't need money. Dad packed up, when Dad was gone told his mother he was leaving and and did, and stayed with cousins for a little while and went and joined the Navy. Dad had very fixed ideas about what his daughter wore to school, and said no to current fashion then (mini skirts especially) but Mom waited until he cooled off and talked to him. Not that he liked the idea but she could get past the stubborn.
I loved my father dearly, but we could also get into some of the most stubbors arguments every heard. My so inherited all that stubborn too.
The US presidents with the strongest Scottish roots
Only ten of the 43 men to have been elected as President of the United States can claim absolutely no Scottish heritage at all. According to a theory publicized on the official Scotland.org website, the first African-American President of the United States has ancestry which can be traced back to William the Lion, who ruled Scotland for 49 years between 1165 and 1214.
While 33 US Presidents have had ancestral links to Scotland, many of these men have heritage that is classified as Ulster-Scots.
Is ruling in the genes? All presidents bar one are directly descended from a medieval English king
What do Barack Obama, Thomas Jefferson, George W. Bush and the other past U.S. presidents have in common? Besides holding the coveted title of commander-in-chief, it appears that all of them but one are cousins.
The remarkable discovery was made by 12-year-old BridgeAnne d’Avignon, of Salinas, California, who created a ground-breaking family tree that connected 42 of 43 U.S. presidents to one common, and rather unexpected, ancestor: King John of England.
History detective: It took d'Avignon several months to search through more than 500,000 names and trace the male and female lineages of American leaders.
Prior to d’Avignon’s discovery, genealogists were only able to link 22 families of presidents, likely because they only focused on male bloodlines.
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