Scottish Highlanders in Colonial Georgia: The Recruitment, Emigration, and Settlement at Darien, 1735-1748

199 Pages·2002·9.347 MB·English

by  Anthony W. Parker

Scottish Highlanders in Colonial Georgia
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Scottish Highlanders
in Colonial Georgia
THE RECRUITMENT,
EMIGRATION, AND SETTLEMENT
AT DARIEN, 1735-1748
Anthony W Parker
THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA PRESS
ATHENS AND LONDON
Paperback edition, 2002
© 1997 by The University of Georgia Press
Athens, Georgia 30602
All rights reserved
Designed by Erin Kirk New
Set in 10 on 13 New Caledonia
by G&S Typesetters
Printed digitally in the United States of America
The Library of Congress cataloged the hardcover
edition of this book as follows:
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Parker, Anthony W.
Scottish highlanders in colonial Georgia : the recruitment, emigration,
and settlement at Darien, 1735-17487 Anthony W. Parker.
xiv, 182 p. ; 24 cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. [1671-178) and index.
ISBN 0-8203-1915-5 (alk. paper)
1. Great Britain. Army — Scottish regiments — History — i8th century.
2. Scottish Americans — Georgia — Darien — History — i8th century.
3. Scotland — Emigration and immigration — History — i8th centuiy.
4. Georgia — Emigration and immigration — History — i8th century.
5. Darien (Ga.) — History. I. Title
F294.D26 ?37 1997
975-8'737—dc21 97-015730
Paperback ISBN- 13: 978-0-8203-2456-2
ISBN-IO: 0-8203-2456-6
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
ISBN for this digital edition: 078-0-8203-27 18-1
To the memory of my parents,
Mr. Frank S. Parker and Mrs. Vonnie H. Parker,
and to my teacher, mentor, and friend,
Professor B. Phinizy Spalding,
all of whom were lost to us
during the preparation of this work.
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CONTENTS
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction i
Chapter i. Discovery, Exploration, and First Contests in the
Debatable Land Called Georgia 5
Chapter 2. Changing Conditions in the Highlands of Scotland 23
Chapter 3. Highland Recruitment: Fertile Fields for Georgia Settlers 38
Chapter 4. The Founding of Darien 52
Chapter 5. War Comes to Darien: The Battle at Fort Mosa 68
Chapter 6. Darien and the Aftermath of Fort Mosa, 1740-1748 82
Conclusion 94
Appendix A. List of Jacobite Prisoners Sent to South Carolina, 1716 101
Appendix B. List of Scottish Settlers to Georgia to 1741 106
Appendix C. Petition of the Inhabitants of New Inverness to
His Excellency General Oglethorpe 126
Appendix D. List of Highlanders on the Loyal Judith,
17 September 1741 128
Appendix E. Summons to Disarm to the Mackintosh Clan
in the Highlands of Scotland, 1725 130
Abbreviations 131
Notes 133
Selected Bibliography 167
Index 179
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PREFACE
WHEN I FIRST BEGAN collecting the material for this project, it soon be-
came apparent that the subject offered too much substance and too many
questions for adequate treatment within a single volume without being too
burdensome. Decisions had to be made about the parameters and the ap-
proach to this fascinating topic of Highland Scots in colonial Georgia. The
most logical method was to find some division of chronology and activities
and to work exclusively within those boundaries. In Georgia's unique colo-
nial experience, the division was easily defined. During Georgia's prerevolu-
tionary history, the colony had two distinct phases—one as a trusteeship and
one as a royal province.
During the trusteeship, Highland Scots were recruited as a group and im-
migrated as a community. Georgia's laws under the authority of the trustees
in London were restrictive. Slavery was prohibited, so the Scottish commu-
nity labored together. Land grants were limited, thereby keeping the people
of Darien in close proximity to one another; and the reason for their recruit-
ment—that is, military security—kept the Highlanders together in a regi-
ment stationed in and around the settlement of Darien. The town of Darien
was the center of political, social, and economic activity, and the affairs that
would affect the individual would affect the entire society of the Scottish
settlement.
This situation changed, however, when the colony reverted to Crown con-
trol. During the transition from trustee rule to royal government, the High-
land regiment was disbanded (1749), slavery was permitted (1750), and limi-
tations on land grants were removed (1752). This meant that Darien society
changed with the times. With the regiment gone, the young men were free
to move from the frontier settlement and seek their fortunes in other ways,
such as the Indian trade. Many Darien Scots took up additional land grants
from the Crown, bought slaves, and moved into the countryside. The em-
phasis shifted from corporate contributions to the colony by the Highland
community during the trustee era to individual initiatives working within the