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Archiver > Scotch-Irish > 2004-05 > 1085444583


From: "Anita Cooper" <>
Subject: Re: [Sc-Ir] Favorite Scotch Irish Ancestor?
Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 19:24:49 -0500
References: <200405241602.AA55378812@mail.fea.net>


Thanks for your reply, Linda. I have not researched the emigration of the
Wilson's. You've given me lots of clues that will probably help. You're
probably right about the 1600's and not the 1700's. I was guessing off the
top of my head - usually not a good idea! :)
I am familiar with the naming 'son' and 'datter'. My mother's family is
from Denmark. We've visited there and done research, also. Wonderful
country and people! We also visited my second cousins. What a treat!
Thanks again for your reply.
Anita

----- Original Message -----
From: "Linda Merle" <>
To: <>
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2004 6:02 PM
Subject: Re: [Sc-Ir] Favorite Scotch Irish Ancestor?


> Hi Anita,
>
> Thanks for YOUR story! Maybe someday someone will find it in the
> archives and you'll have provided them with the story of their
> family's origins.
>
> Your ancestor followed the path of 1/3rd of all Americans: he
> came through Canada. (This isn't true of colonials). Unfortunately,
> this means you can search American ship lists till you go blind --
> but 1/3d of all post colonial immigrants are not on any. Of course
> we do not have very good border crossing records either.
> (You can find a complete list of American ship lists at
> www.rootsweb.com/~bifhsusa ).
>
> >I read somewhere recently that the surname Wilson was part of a large
body
> >of people who moved from England to Ireland in the 1700's.
>
> ?? The 1700s were not times of mass migrations to Ireland.
> The 1600s were. Lots of Scots and English moved to Ireland in a
> couple waves. There were Wilsons among them!
>
> The name is English in origin, but this doesn't mean they were
> English. English (Anglish) was spoken in Edinburgh while they
> were still speaking French in London. Much of the south eastern
> coast of Scotland was settled by Angles. Out of "Anglish" grew
> two languages: Scots and English.
>
> Surnames began as a fad -- brought by Normans from France. Though
> only the upper class had them at first, and they took them from
> their lands, eventually everyone had them. Though it took Parliament
> to force the Welsh to take them.
>
> -son means ... eh ... SON! LIke Mc (Gaelic). So Wil son is son
> of Will. Will is of course a diminuative of William. So somewhere
> along the line you had an ancestor whose dad was William.
>
> This holds true for the Scottish lowlands as well as England.
> Many of the surnames are the same. In Northern England I search
> for MASON, GARDNER, ENGLISH, IRWIN, etc -- and there's plenty
> of the same surnames in the villages in Scotland where the other
> side of the family lived. These are occupational surnames. Sometimes
> apparently you can guess where the surname came from by the form:
> BAXTER is apparently the Scottish form of BAKER. This info from
> the front essays of Black "Surnames of Scotland" and a few other
> surname books.
>
> >My husband and I had a delightful visit to Marietta, Ohio last year and
met
> >another Wilson descendant still living there. It is a beautiful town
where
> >the Ohio and Muskegum Rivers merge. We did get quite a bit of
information
> >on our Wilson's while there, among was Hugh's naturalization papers!
>
> That's grand! I've never found my great granddad's in Michigan.
> I have searched and searched. They moved to Ohio too -- Hocking.
> This was much later, 1880s. There was a British colony in south
> east Ohio. Lots of coalminers from Scotland and England.
>
> >We are going to Ireland on June 6th for a 2 week tour. We won't have
time
> >to do any research this trip. Hopefully, we will be able to go back for
> >research sometime soon.
>
> Good! It's a waste of time to try to start Irish research in
> Ireland. Instead enjoy the trip. It's a zillion times easier to
> do Irish research from here in the USA. The records are in one place,
> they are more easy to get, and so on.
>
> So go have fun.
>
> I got WILSONs too back in the 1700s. Antrim to Western PA.
> Married a John ANDERSON. There were six or sevn John A's in
> Lancaster County, PA. Having discovered thism my mother
> gave up on genealogy!
>
> Linda Merle


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