East Jersey Bound: Scottish Immigrants in the 1680s

The Trent House Association will host a virtual talk on Saturday featuring Derrick Johnston of the University of Glasgow, who will discuss Scottish immigrants who settled in the American colony of East Jersey in the 1680s.

Registration for the Zoom program is available at https://tinyurl.com/TalkDec7. A free-will donation to support the program may be made at https://www.williamtrenthouse.org/donate.html.

Between 1683 and 1685, several hundred Scots traveled to East Jersey as part of a colonial effort backed by high-ranking leaders in Scotland. The venture sought to secure Scotland’s stake in the developing American colonies and brought together Quakers, Episcopalians and Presbyterians — a combination marked by religious tension. Many of the Presbyterians were transported Covenanters, while Quakers had also faced religious persecution.

Johnston’s talk will examine who these immigrants were, why they left Scotland and what happened to them after their arrival. He will also introduce his website, East Jersey Bound, which includes a genealogical database of 600 emigrants and more than 2,000 of their relatives and associates.