Phytophthora infestans
(Late Blight or Potato Blight)
The first Scots-Irish had been in the colonies for 123 years before the Irish potato famine started. (1845-1849) When genealogy was a new interest to me several years ago I "assumed" the Irish potato famine was the "push" that drove people from Ireland to our shores. Wrong! My rush to judgement was similar to many inexperienced people who start in genealogy. Probably you have seen the same type of inexperienced mistakes. For example most of you have probably encountered a Peter X. Wiseley and smiled that someone had mistaken his "mark" for his middle initial.
Understanding history unlocks information not contained in family trees. Understanding the times and events that were the daily life of ancestors can guide us to where we can find answers. So did the Wiseleys arrive here in 1717 or 1845? The definitive answer is yes! To explain such a contradictory answer we need to look at a little history, geography, economics, and most importantly, agriculture. (Reminds me of high school where I slept through such classes. But I still have fond memories of the 6 years I spent getting through the 9th-12th grades)
If you have not done so Google "Scotch-Irish" and spend 10 minutes reading some of the many sites that will pop up. I have covered some of this material in previous blogs. So for now I will just give a brief sketch of who the Scotch-Irish are. First of all they are not Irish.
"Nay laddy, we are no Eerish" was a commen response to the question of nationality, in the vernacular of the day.
So how did Scotsmen wind up in Ireland?
Briefly, King James I managed to confiscate large portions of northern Ireland and drive the Irish out. Ireland was mainly Catholic, much to the chagrin of the British King and Parliament. The solution to the Catholic "problem" was to repopulate the land with Protestants. The Scottish Presbyterians were as Protestant as you could get, especially a group known as the Covenanters.
King James set up a plantation system in Northern Ireland which essentially meant he would lease large portions of land to men who would then rent out the land at low rates to Protestant farmers from Scotland and England. The work was too hard for the city dwelling English who soon returned from their adventure. But the Scots had come from harsh conditions, poor soil, few opportunities and a hard scrabble way of living. Ulster (Northern Ireland) had better soil, more opportunites, low rents, and improved living conditions. For the next hundred years Scots crossed the 5 or 6 miles of ocean that seperated Scotland from Northern Ireland. There was little mixing with the Catholic Irish so the Scots of Northern Ireland were a seperate culture, living in Ireland but through and through Scots. Thus the name Scotch-Irish, or Ulster-Scots.
The Ulster plantations were very profitable. They exported agricultural products as well as goods they produced. But all good things eventually come to an end. The London Merchants saw Ireland as a nation seperate from the British Isles, and as such a competitor for world trade. Parliament started to pass laws to help their London merchants. Nothing could be exported except to England.(The Staple Act 1663) Next nothing could be imported except from England. (1671) By 1680 the manufacture of woolen and linen cloth had made Ulster a prosperous place. The men tended the sheep and flax while the women made cloth in their homes. Every cottage was a little industry, until the merchants of London could not stand the competition and added even more restrictions on woolen goods. (1699 Woollen Act)
Farming was tied to the woolen and linen production. The collapse of these markets hurt every Ulster cottage.
In addition there was the increased rents. Originally rent was very low. There was plenty of land and low rent was used to induce people to come to Ulster. And they came, transforming a near wilderness into productive farms with houses, buildings, fields and a working community. The land was leased for a period of 31 years during which rent remained the same low rate. Now the land was much more valuable. Economic conditions had change during the previous 31 years and landlords often raised rents beyond the tenants ability to pay.
In addition the year 1714 saw the first of 5 years of severe drought. Then in 1716 a disease known as "the rot" destroyed sheep herds. With severe frosts over northern Europe and years of drought destroying crops, the price of food soared. People were being thrown out of their homes due to high rents, and a form of Smallpox began to spread in Ireland.
The year 1717 saw the first 5000 Scotch-Irish head for the colonies. When they sent word back that the colonies were wonderful others left to join them. Later more problems would send other waves of immigrants from Ulster to America. The years 1717, 1725, 1740, 1754, and 1771 were all years that were the start of a few years of mass migration from Ulster to America. The reasons are many and complex, but were not related to a potato famine. These are the years when about 250,000 Scotch-Irish came to this country.
The potato famine was the cause of the Irish, not Scotch-Irish, to come to America. Go here to read more on the famine.
In short the famine reduced the Irish population by about 30%. One million died of starvation or related diseases and one million fled to other nations, with most coming to America. (1845-51)
There were distinct differences between the Scotch-Irish immigation and the Irish (potato famine) immigration. The Scotch Irish were described as hard working people who moved to the wilderness, built Presbyterian (or Protestant)churches and schools and in general were prosperous people.
The Irish on the other hand preferred to stay in large cities, (Boston, New York, Philadelphia), were Catholic, took whatever jobs they could find, and due to their large numbers were less prosperous.
But to answwer the question I asked at the start of this post, Yes, there were Wiseleys who came during the potato famine. But the vast majority of Wiseleys were Scotch-Irish and came during the 1700's. Some Wiseley's were lowland Scots (see sidebar) and sailed from Scotland to America.
But there were also Wiseleys that arrived along with the Famine victims.
Here is a list I compiled from a wonderful set of books named "The famine Immigrants" which lists people by name, the ships, and the dates of arrival. If you cannot trace your Wiseley family back farther than about 1850 perhaps this will give you some new clues.
John Wisely
16 Arrived in New York
Dec 16, 1847 on board the Queen of the
West from Liverpool
Margaret Wisely 15
Mary Wiseley
50 Servant Arrived NY 17 September 1847
aboard Cambridge from liverpool
Mary 20 Servant
John 17 Laborer
Samuel 15 Laborer
Isaac 10 Laborer
James Wisely 18 Laborer Arrived NY Jul
10 1848 aboard the Roscius from Liverpool
Maryarett
Wisely 12 Spinster (skilled in spinning) Arrived NY 30 September 1848
Lawrence
Wiseley 30 Laborer Arrived in New York first
of march from Liverpool
Mary Wiseley
19 Domestic Arrived NY 29 jan from Liverpool aboard Virginia
James
Wiseley 16 Laborer Arrived NY 6
May rom Liverpool aboard the Reliance.
Esther
Wiseley 20 Spinster
James
Wiseley 59 N/A
Esther
Wiseley 59
Mary Wiseley 3
John Wiseley 54 Laborer Arrived NY 4 December 1849
from Liverpool on Marmion
Rose Wisley 30 None Arrived NY 20 Sept 1851
from liverpool on the Isaac-Webb
Lawrence
Wisley 3
Sorry I didn't have more pictures and ran a little long on this post. Thanks again for reading my blog.
David Wiseley
