Where to Find Scottish Ancestors

The term "Scotch-Irish" has been used for centuries. But how does that affect genealogy research?

Let us go back a little to the 17th century when families from Ulster and the Highlands in Scotland began migrating to Northern Ireland. They were Presbyterians suffering religious persecution. By the 18th century, many Scottish families were in Northern Ireland, beginning their migration to the American Colonies.

Most Scottish families from Ulster landed in Pennsylvania, while Highlanders landed in Charleston, South Carolina. Although the Scots had once resided in Northern Ireland, they were not Irish and did not wish to be referred to as Scotch-Irish!

Scottish emigrants settled along the Cape Fear River in North Carolina during the early 17th century and later established communities in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Again, they were known as Scottish clans. Georgia had a settlement of Highlanders in Danien (McIntosh County) as early as 1734, as well as a containment of Highland soldiers residing on St. Simon's Island.

The Scots from Northern Ireland made many trips to America. Before the Revolutionary War, Flora Macdonald delivered her entire clan to the North Carolina shore and requested land. She was granted 40,000 acres in Moore County, North Carolina. The Scots had settled on large plantations around Savannah, Georgia. Still, during the Revolutionary War, they mostly sided with the Tories. As a result, they were traitors and had to leave America to avoid being hanged McGillivanys and other Scots in Georgia went to Barbados and established sugar plantations. Flora Macdonald's clan in North Carolina departed from North Carolina and returned to Scotland. But a young 16-year-old boy, Hugh Macdonald, joined the cause for which he later received a land grant in Elbert County, Georgia.

The search for Scottish emigrants includes North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The easiest way to locate Scottish families is to search the old wills and estates in county records.
Here is an example in Moore County, North Carolina. https://northcarolinapioneers.com/country/moore/
The names are listed on (county) pages. All that one need do is, search for specific surnames!

This is easy to do on georgiapioneers.com, northcarolinapioneers.com, kentuckypioneers.com, southcarolinapioneers.net, and virginiapioneers.net

The following articles contain lists of counties where you can search for Scottish and Irish relatives. Also, a list of books available online to gather more genealogical data.

1. How to Find your Scottish Ancestors, 27 pp. PDF format.
2. How to Find your Irish Ancestors, 19 pp.. PDF format.

Where to order--
https://genealogy-books.com/booksforsale.html