Chasing the Frontier: Scotch-Irish in Early America

The story of the Scots-Irish is one of the struggles and achievements of an American immigrant group that existed for only a short period, whose descendants continued to make their marks on the young country for generations. From the North of Ireland to the backwoods of the American frontier, the tale of the Scots-Irish includes a massive exodus to the New World, where they founded communities in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and the Irish Tract of North Carolina during the Revolutionary War era.

Containing nearly six thousand names of documented settlers of the primarily Scots-Irish settlements of Virginia and North Carolina, Chasing The Frontier includes materials from church records, military records, early wills and deeds, and newspapers of the time. For the frontier families, life was a daily test of endurance and hardship, but the Scots-Irish also found time for horseracing, gambling, and socializing, and the migration of this hardy race and the lure of the frontiers of Kentucky and Tennessee led to the founding of churches and state charters, and elections to some of the highest offices in the country.

Chasing the Frontier is a snapshot of everyday life for the pioneering Scots-Irish in early America.