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Archiver > Scotch-Irish > 1997-11 > 0880164963


From: "Aaron Orr" <>
Subject: Re: A New Proposal
Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 21:16:03 -0500


Hi Dan and Everyone:

I think you can get this boat under sail by getting in touch with the
Presbyterian Church in Ireland and enquiring if they have records of names
of Presbyterian ministers who left Ulster en mass. This was a fairly
common occurrance in the early Eighteenth Century.

I'll try to get you all some information from an inside source in the
Presbyterian church in Ireland - but be a wee bit patient, now.

Aaron

----------
> From: Dan Wilson <>
> To: linda Merle <>
> Cc:
> Subject: Re: A New Proposal
> Date: November 21, 1997 11:59 AM
>
> On Thu, 20 Nov 1997, linda Merle wrote:
>
> > Hi, all, I had an idea about something we could do that would be
> > interesting and would kind of assist us in our genealogy because
> > it would build "paths" that mirror those traveled by our ancestors.
>
> > As many of us have learned, our ancestors often left Ulster in groups:
> > a minister and his flock. They came from the same town in Ulster and
> > they settled together in the new world. Their descendents often
> > spread out, but often the clues that you have as to their origin
> > is that they came with a certain minister.
>
> <snip>
>
> > I need a name, too.
> >
> > Linda Merle
> >
>
> This is a dynamite idea! Not all immigrants relocated with a specific
> minister, but certainly the SI Presbys, as they migrated to the south and
> west, tended to relocate where there was a Presby Ch. If one wasn't
> convenient, they organized one. The ministers and churches went
> hand-in-hand except for those few who labored in the open air. So
> following the ministers and their congregations could provide some real
> unique rooting roads.
>
> I have the records of an important emigrant church - the Fisrt Presby Ch.

> of Mauch Chunk in Carbon Co., PA from 1835 - 1850 or so. The church was a

> collecting point for a large number of emigrants from Co. Derry. Mauch
> Chunk (now called Jim Thorpe, PA) was the gateway to the Lehigh Valley
> anthracite coal fields, and many emigrants came to MC because of the
> mining. The 1st Presby Ch, of neaby Summit Hill, PA (now the Panther
> Valley Presby Ch.) was founded by a group from the MC church. There were
> close ties between the 1st Presby Ch. of MC and the 1st Presby Ch of
> Easton, PA, and I have the membership list for that church too.
>
> The 1st Presby Ch of Easton was closely connected with the one at MC, as
> well as several others in Northampton and Lehigh Cos. including the
> Brainerd Presby Ch of Easton, the 1st Presby Ch and Bridge St Presby Ch
of
> Catasauqua, PA and the Settlement or Allen TWP Presby Ch. at Bath. The
> church members, as they moved around looking for employment, often moved
> from church to church. Oh, and there's a mysterious link between these
> church and Quincy, IL that I have yet to discover. I have seen a number
> of transfer notices among the records for people migrating from these
> churches to Quincy during the mid-1800s. One of those was Rev. Leslie
> Irwin, who had been the long-time minister at the Settlement Church in
> Allen TWP, and the founder of the Bridge St. Presby Ch in Catasauqua.
>
> Anyway, following the congregations and minister sounds like a great
> idea. How do we proceed?
>
> Dan Wilson

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