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Archiver > Scotch-Irish > 2002-04 > 1019181719


From: "Thomas L. Mowbray" <>
Subject: [Scotch-Irish] moving
Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 21:01:59 -0500


RE: Why did they move so much?

There are more questions to ask: Did they own land in NIR? Most of the
Scotch-Irish
leased land or farmed land owned by others if they were farmers, but
not all were farmers. Some worked in trades, and some were merchants. This
carries over in the USA after the immigration period. Their moving was not a
matter of whether the immigrants were Catholic, Anglican or Protestant, as
much as the way they earned a living. The farmers would have sought the best
and least expensive farmland, those who raised livestock would have sought
grazing land, and those who were merchants or worked in trades would
certainly have remained in urban areas where they could prosper.

What kind of roots did they have in NIR? The Irish had roots in Ireland, but
the Scotch-Irish did not; most families had lived in NIR only 1 or 2 or 3
generations. If they had no land of their own, that would certainly have
been a BIG
motivating factor to move on, even without the famine. AND they had left
Scotland because there was no reason to stay there.

Thomas Mowbray
(Researching the Mowbrays/Mooberrys of County Londonderry)

Thomas L. and Mary K. M. Mowbray

http://mowbray.homestead.com



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