History Can Be a Bit Complicated

European history has always been a bit complicated and full of turmoil. The United Kingdom’s (England, Scotland, N/Ireland) history is no different: battles, unrest, takeovers, famine, oppression, wars, religious conflicts. You name it, they have had it. In attempt to learn more about our family’s times in Scotland and Northern Ireland, we need to review a bit of history. Why did our family go from the Lowlands of Scotland to the Ulster Plantation of Northern Ireland and then to Pennsylvania of the American Colonies? We hear of three primary reasons.

First, better economic opportunities are often cited: from Scotland to N/Ireland, perhaps for a long-term rental of better land for agriculture; from N/Ireland to the American Colonies, perhaps the opportunity to own a farm and property in a more favorable climate. Second, there were at least five-years of famine in Ireland in the early 1700s as the result of crop-failures (due to extreme cold), and a cattle disease (distemper virus). Third, religious, political, and financial harassment was an issue. What forms of harassment were our ancestors subjected to? What were our ancestors for and against? Here’s a brief summary of what we know.

The Start of the Reformation

Up until the early 1500’s, the Roman Catholic Church controlled just about all in Europe when it came to religion, churches, religious practices, etc. In 1517, German monk Martin Luther came up with different ideas, and posted on a church door. They were called the 95 Theses. Luther’s ideas caught on with French theologian John Calvin. In 1529, Luther started Calvinism and the Protestant Reformation.

The two main beliefs of the Reformation were: 1) the Bible is the source of all religious authority and 2) Faith alone is the source for salvation. These ideas were a bit different from the teachings of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church preached that 1) the Bible and the Pope were sources of authority, and 2) faith and good deeds were both needed for salvation. Luther also protested against the practice of selling indulgences. Luther’s and Calvin’s ideas then spread to Scottish reformer John Knox (1505-1572), who proceeded to start Presbyterianism. Presbyterianism became the Church of Scotland. Presbyterianism was brought to N/Ireland during the 1600s and the Ulster Plantation time.

Henry VIII Takes Control of the Catholic Church

Back to the early 1500s in England for a moment, King Henry VIII tried to get his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled by requesting such from Pope Clement VII. The King had fallen in love with another woman, and was discouraged that Catherine could not give birth to a male and potential heir to the throne. The Pope said no to the marriage annulment request. King Henry became angry and removed all authority from the Pope. King Henry then declared himself the Head of the Church.

King Henry VIII Starts the Anglican Church

While keeping many of the trappings and traditions of the Catholic Church, Henry, nonetheless starts a new church, called the Anglican Church around 1530. The Pope has lost his power and control over the church. Henry is in charge. Citizens must listen to the King when it comes to all matters of religion. Henry is followed by Edward VI, Charles I, Charles II, James I, William III, Queen Anne, etc. The Anglican Church is now the Church of England, headed by the monarch. The Monarchs gained control over Scotland and Ireland over the years through various battles and struggles (King James II threw a temporary wrench in the ointment, however, by declaring himself Catholic in the Protestant nation of England. The English did not approve of a Catholic King. They disposed of him quickly. He was kind of a one-off, and abdicated the throne. Anglican Protestants William III (William of Orange) and Mary II are crowned co-Monarchs (The Crown) after a bloodless takeover in 1688 known as the Glorious Revolution.

Parliament is also part of the power structure. Both the English Anglican Protestant Parliament and the Irish Anglican Protestant Parliament (in Dublin) controlled their respective countries working in cooperation with the King.

So Now, Who’s Who?

The Anglican Church originated in England, conveniently coinciding with a) The Protestant Reformation and b) the actions of King Henry VIII to remove the Pope’s power. The Anglicans were not Presbyterians and were certainly not Catholic. They were Episcopalians. While both the Episcopalians (Anglicans) and the Presbyterians were outgrowths of the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s, they were split from each other from the beginning. Through one lens, the Anglicans were a top-down church organization (i.e., led by the King) and the Presbyterians were a bottom-up group (more democratic if you will). So, by the 1700s, there were three main religions in England, Scotland, Ireland: Anglican, Presbyterian, and Catholic.

The Penal Laws

Now we get to why the Presbyterians emigrated from Northern Ireland to the American Colonies. The English government (aka the Parliament and the King) passed a series of laws known as the Irish Penal Laws from 1691-1728. The Penal Laws were meant to hurt not only the Catholics of Ireland but also to hurt the Presbyterians. The Presbyterians were targeted because the Anglicans in the House of Commons (part of the Parliament; the other half is the House of Lords) were suspicious of their support for the Whigs. The Whigs were the opposition party to the Anglicans. The Anglicans were worried about the influence Presbyterians had, particularly in Belfast and Londonderry. In Ireland, the Presbyterians were called The Dissenters, while in Scotland, they were called Covenanters.

The Penal Laws in Ireland were harsh as they required the Presbyterians to pay taxes to the Anglican-controlled government, Presbyterian marriages were declared illegal, children of Presbyterians were recorded as illegitimate, and Presbyterians were not allowed to hold any government office. The laws made Presbyterian life difficult in N/Ireland.

Additionally, the native Irish perceived the Scots-Irish Presbyterians as interlopers and competitors. They competed for jobs and they wanted the best farmland. There were frequent disputes in Ireland between the Scots-Irish (Presbyterians) and the native Irish (mostly Catholics).

These phenomena of famine, the Penal Laws, and the resentment by the local Irish coincide with our knowledge of our family’s emigration to the American Colonies. It is reported that John Wilson traveled to Pennsylvania around 1730-35; Elizabeth McGraudy Thompson and four sons (and brother Samuel McGraudy) came around 1735-1740.

The Emigration Begins

Thus, the emigration of the Scots-Irish to the American Colonies began in the early 1700s (and continued until the start of the American Revolution) on ships leaving from Belfast, Sligo, and Derry. Under horrible and unsanitary conditions, these brave souls boarded unsafe ships for a trip which often took two to three months. They headed for a new land, much of it still uncharted, owned by Quakers, governed by England, frequently raided by native American tribes; a land thought by some to be overrun by wild beasts! With no money and little valuables, and without knowledge of what lie ahead, they came for a better life. A trip not for the faint of heart.

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Additional Scots-Irish History from Judge John Preston

"The story of the Scots-Irish (Ulster Scots) begins about 1595 when two Irish Lords named Tyrone and Tyrconnell launched a rebellion against the crown of England. It went on until just about the time that Queen Elizabeth I died and King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England. You may recall that name as the King James Version of the Bible was written at his request. Tyrone and Tyrconnell had committed treason and their property (about 500,000 acres!) were escheated to the Crown. The King distributed the land to his friends, various groups in London, various Scottish nobles. These folks began to convince Scottish citizens to cross the North Channel of the Irish Sea and to become farmers of their lands.

By 1620, 50,000 settlers, by 1640, 100,000 settlers crossed the water. By 1650 the Presbyterians were the numerical majority in the six counties in Northern Ireland. There was periodic persecution of the Presbyterians by the Church of England (The Anglican Church). In 1639, the King of England required all Ulstermen to pledge what was called the Black Oath. The Oath stated that any Scot living in Ulster (Northern Ireland) must reject the Scottish Covenant (i.e., The Reformation) and therefore not support any religious uprising taking place in Scotland. In 1650, Oliver Cromwell came to Scotland and put down the rebellion.

The Ulster Scots (Scots-Irish) made a good show of it in Northern Ireland. They were quick learners and used good farming techniques. However, in 1663 laws were passed that prevented Irish ships from transporting their goods to any part of the British Empire. In 1698 a law was passed called the Woolens Act, which prohibited the export of Irish wool, except to England and Wales. That ended in 1690 by way of the Glorious Revolution, when William and Mary of Orange came from Netherlands and defeated James II at the Battle of Boyne. James fled to France, and the English Parliament recognized William and Mary as joint successors to James.

This brings us to the migration from Northen Ireland. In 1717 there was a major four-year drought, and an increase in land rent. Many Scots-Irish chose to migrate to the American Colonies. Starting in the early 1700s, there were five periods of migration: 1717, 1725, 1740, 1754, and 1772. Migration ended in 1775 as the American Revolution started. It was estimated that at least 250,000 Ulster Scots migrated to the Colonies during the 1700s. Most of them came to the Port of Philadelphia, where they were welcomed.

According to Historian Judge John Preston, the Ulster Scots were not welcomed in all areas of the American Colonies because “they had a reputation of being a bit rough. They were welcomed in Pennsylvania because they provided a buffer against the Indians.” Pennsylvania was run by the pacifist Quakers/Friends, who avoided fighting as much as possible. But the Quakers were willing to have the Ulster Scots farm land in the `frontier’ areas as the `Ulster Scots had no qualms about taking up the cause against the Indians’. Some of the immigrants were indentured servants. The immigrants first rented farmland or became farm share-croppers, and later after they had saved enough money, purchased farms in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the Carolinas. They migrated to this country because it represented an economic opportunity that was unavailable in Northen Ireland. The new country held the promise that the Ulster Scots could own productive farmland, sell their goods and products as they wished, and practice their religion free of persecution by the government."

Source: edited speech by Historian Judge John David Preston

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John Wilson & Lady Isabella?

An often-repeated family story is the one where John Wilson and Lady Isabella(e) Kennedy fall in love and flee from Scotland to County Antrim Ireland in an effort to avoid the rath of Isabella’s father Gilbert Kennedy, the Earl of Cassilis. The story reports that John Wilson worked for the Earl and found the Earls’ daughter quite attractive (“…the fair and blue veined Isabella..."). Given that Wilson was a commoner, the Earl would certainly not approve of the marriage. Afterall, an Earl held an important rank among royalty. An Earl's rank was below a Duke or a Marquess, but above a Viscount or a Baron. Supposedly, the couple in their flight to freedom, ran to a dock near the North Channel between Scotland and Ireland, found a boatman, and said “Boatman, do not tarry. I'll give thee a silver pound to row us o'er the ferry. Oh, I'm a hardy Highland wight (unfortunate person), and this is Lord Cassilis' daughter." Sounds like something out from Shakespeare eh? The story has been cited in the Wilson-Thompson Genealogy 2016 edition, then repeated in the Essay of 1893, then cited more than once through the Family Reunion minutes (starting with the first reunion of 1891). But does it have merit? Did this love story really happen? Is there verifiable evidence? Here's where a discrepancy exists.

Family lore cites the above-named John Wilson to be the father of the John Wilson (~1710-1767). The son married Jennet Stinson and emigrated to the American Colonies in the early 1700s. The life dates of John Wilson, the father, would be approximately 1680-1745 (that's an educated guess of course). The various sources for this story cite that the love birds married and fled around the middle of the 1600s. So we're a little off with the dates between when John Wilson lived and when the marriage took place, perhaps by a decade or two. But that's not the real problem. The biggest discrepancy lies between when the elder John Wilson lived and when Lady Isabella(e) lived. The only Lady Isabella(e) Kennedy that we could find lived from 1542 to 1598, and married Sir Patrick McElwain (not John Wilson). Lady Isabella(e) was daughter of Gilbert Kennedy, 3rd Earl of Cassilis and his wife Margaret. This would be a full 140+ years before the oldest John Wilson lived! Something is amiss. Also, from the late 1500s on, there were no Earl of Cassilis Gilbert Kennedys. Succeeding Earls included several John Kennedys and Thomas Kennedys, but no Gilbert Kennedy's, and no Isabella(e) Kennedys.

How can this timeline contradiction and apparent story mix-up be explained? Here are a couple of possibilities. First, the story could be totally fiction (but we doubt that the story is total fiction). Second, the story could be truthful but reporting incorrect names that throw off the research. Third, the story may have mixed up the Earls, e.g., maybe it wasn't the Earl of Cassilis Kennedy lineage that a John Wilson married into, but rather a different Earl lineage (there are many Earls to research). Fourth, it may not have been an Earl lineage at all, but rather a different royalty, such as a Duke or Baron. Are there other possibilities? We want to believe that the essence of the story is true, but we need to find the necessary correction (and a verifiable one) to make it so (a great family research project for someone).