Questions of Kinship

[Ulster-Scotsman]

Hello All;

My name is Christopher Matthews. I originally hail from New Orleans, Louisiana in the southeastern part of the USA. I am matrilineally descended from a man named Joseph Brooks, who was my great-grandfather. According to Grandpa, his family is descended from an Ulster-Scots family, more popularly referred to here in the States as Scots-Irish. I was wondering how I could go about validating this information and finding out about my heritage. i only know so far that the Scots-Irish immigrated to the New World in the late 17th century, and that many of the families settled in the southern United States. Can someone assist me in this endeavor? Thanks.

[Polwarth]

Hello Christopher
The only way to find out about your family pre-emigration from Ireland or Scotland is to trace back to the original immigrant ancestor to your country. From that point, you may be able, via passenger lists and immigration records, to find out where he/she got on the ship....! From those records, it may be possible to find out where in Ireland his family had settled after leaving Scotland - and this could be two or more generations. You may then be able to trace back to the specific area in Scotland in which your ancestors lived.

Many Scots went to Ireland during the Plantation of Ireland, and your ancestors may have been among their number.

Good luck with your research!

[Ulster-Scotsman]

Polwarth,

Thank you very much for your informative reply! I'll keep you posted on what I discover. I am currently researching through http://www.ancestry.com, so far I've only managed to track down my French ancestors. Oh well....