Scotch-Irish-L Archives

Archiver > Scotch-Irish > 2008-08 > 1219771534


From: "Audrey Shields Hancock" <>
Subject: [S-I] Scots-Irish Immigrants to America 1719
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:28:29 -0400
In-Reply-To: <082620081347.14061.48B4096E0005DE89000036ED22007507440A049D0A0304@comcast.net>


>From the story of the my ancestral (Patrick Shields) son of the progenitor,
Daniel Shields, my SHIELDS family came from Ireland in 1791. Patrick says
he was born in the north of Ireland. Another descendant wrote 100y later
that the family arrived at Baltimore, Maryland in 1791. Patrick wrote that
they lived for 3 years in Pennsylvania, before moving to Ohio, so Baltimore
could have been the likely demarcation port. It is said that 3 of the sons
left the family and went into Virginia and were never heard from again. DNA
is pointing to the fact that this family was Scots-Irish.

Does anyone know the climate for immigration into Virginia back in 1791.
Was free land being given to settlers at one time? Or was it cheap land and
perhaps running out in 1791, as it is said that the entire family was to go
to Virginia. However, evidently the family was separated.

Since it is difficult to find manifest ship records of those early
immigrants, where would have been the likely port of departure from Ireland
in this time period. Could it have been Cobh in southern Ireland? Was there
a Virginia Immigrant Society working from Maryland and Pennsylvania to
secure settlers from Ireland to go into the territory of Virginia and into
the Shenandoah Valley?

Would appreciate some enlightenment on that time period.

Audrey Shields Hancock

This thread: