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It is fitting and
appropriate that the present Scotch-Irish Congress should assemble in the
metropolis founded by Boone, and largely settled by Scotch-Irish whose
rifles won its productive fields from the sway of the Indian.
The Scotch-Irish is a
wonderful race, which has always made the measure of its opportunity the
measure of its responsibility; and by its aptitude, tact, honor,
sincerity, integrity, ability, truth, and energy has made itself a potent
factor in the progress and prosperity of every land in which it has become
an element of population.
Historians have failed to
accord the Scotch-Irish race its rightful place in the colonial history of
the American Republic, or to yield the just tribute duo to the valor and
devotion of unnumbered thousands of Scotch-Irish who have fallen on a
hundred battle-fields throughout the Union, and whose graves, green in the
summer's grass and white in the winter's snow, stretch from the beautiful
gulf-shore of the sunny South to the swelling waters of the great
Northland lakes.
At the opening of the
eighteenth century the Alleghanies constituted the western boundary of
English colonial territory; but in the mountain valleys between the
tide-water regions of the South and the Alleghanies, and in the
longitudinal valleys between the Susquehanna River and the Alleghany
Mountains arose a wonderful class of people whose courage and whoso arms
won the Mississippi Valley and the great West. They will be known in the
future as the backwoodsmen of the Alleghanies, and will soon be recognized
as the equal of the Puritan and the Cavalier.
These backwoodsmen were
nearly all Scotch-Irish from the north of Ireland. They stretched a broad
belt from north to south, a shield of sinewy men thrust in between the
people of the sea-board and the red warriors of the wilderness. They
differed from the world in dress, in customs, and in mode of life. In the
conquest of the West the backwoods ax, shapely, well-poised, with long and
light head, and the long small-bore, flint-lock, frontier rifle were the
national weapons of the American backwoodsmen, who have never been
excelled in their use. Their fringed hunting-shirt, of homespun or
buckskin, was the most picturesque and distinctively national dress ever
worn in America. They crossed the Alleghanies and plunged often into
shadowy and wolf-haunted woodlands in whose tangled depths lurked the
hawk-eyed and wolf-hearted Indian, who was a terrible and cruel foe. The
dark tribesmen of the forest, on their own ground in the woods defeated
the finest drilled veteran troops in the world, and were never whipped
among the trees by any enemy except the backwoodsmen of the Alleghanies.
The founding of this great
republic was on the Atlantic shore by the Cavalier, the Puritan, the
Patroon, the Quaker, the Catholic, and the Huguenot; but an honorable and
important share in the establishment of its independence, and its
wonderful growth and great increase of territory is due to the
backwoodsmen of the Alleghanies, who passed off the stage of action
without ever realizing the importance or magnitude of the work which they
accomplished in the building up of the United States.
By 1763 the American
backwoodsmen had increased in numbers in the valleys along the Alleghanies,
so that they were ready to flood the continent beyond. From Bedford and
York Counties and the Cumberland Valley in Pennsylvania, from Western
Maryland and from the Shenandoah and Kittanning Valleys in Virginia, the
Scotch-Irish poured in a steady stream into South-western Pennsylvania,
despite the King of England's proclamation prohibiting settlement west of
the Alleghanies, in Pennsylvania and North-western Virginia. They
successfully resisted and evaded the English troops sent from Fort Pitt to
drive them away, and bid defiance to the proclamations issued by the
Governors of Pennsylvania and Virginia, who ordered them to leave the
country until its title was obtained from the red lords of the forest.
In 1768 the Indian title
was purchased, and during the next year Pennsylvania and Virginia, who
both claimed the territory of South-western Pennsylvania, commenced
selling land, whose settlement almost led to civil war between the
adherents of the two provinces. Pennsylvania established a court of
justice (the first west of the Alleghanies) at Hannastown, the capital of
her then (1773) created county of Westmoreland, while Virginia organized
the judiciary of her West Augusta District at Fort Pitt, and two years
later made the disputed territory part of her three counties of Ohio,
Monongalia, and Yohogany. The Scotch general, Arthur St. Clair, was the
principal leader of the Pennsylvania settlers, while the Scotch Irish
colonel, William Crawford, whom the Indians burned at the stake at
Sandusky, was one of the active and most successful of the Virginia
magistrates and leaders. The Scotch-Irish, divided in their colonial
allegiance, were thus arrayed in bitter strife against each other, but as
the contest was assuming alarming proportions and was threatening to
culminate in bloodshed, news came of the battle of Lexington.
The rifle-shots on "Lexington Common" awoke an
intense patriotism in the hearts of these contending Scotch-Irish, who,
leaving the jurisdiction of the disputed soil to be determined by their
Colonial Legislatures, rushed to arms, and on the same day, May 16, 1775,
both at Port Pitt and Hannastown, pledged their lives and their fortunes
in the cause of the colonies against the oppressive measures of the
English Ministry. Proctor, St. Clair, Mackey, Wilson, Butler, Brady, and
Van Swearingen recruited seven companies of the Eighth Pennsylvania at
Hannastown, while Crawford enlisted the larger part of the Seventh and
Thirteenth Virginia Regiments at Fort Pitt, and Capt. Cresap drew from
this county twenty-two of his famous Maryland company, which joined
Washington at Boston. The larger part of these men, nearly two thousand in
number, were Scotch-Irish and were splendid marksmen. They fought under
Washington from Long Island to Valley Forge while a portion of them were
at Saratoga, where their unerring rifles helped largely to turn the scale
of victory in favor of Morgan and Arnold. They were sent in 1777 to Fort
Pitt to check the Indians, and served along the western border until the
close of the war. The
Scotch-Irish formed the larger part of the forces engaged in Lochry's
(1781), Crawford's (1782), Harmar (1790), and St. Clair's (1791) Indian
expeditions into the Ohio country.
South-western Pennsylvania was the center of
the whisky insurrection—the first rebellion in the United States—which was
principally the work of the Scotch-Irish, who, when they found themselves
lacking in expected war material and the support of a part of the people
of Western Pennsylvania, prudently dispersed before the large army which
came against them under the command of Washington and his ablest
revolutionary generals.
In every war of the republic the Scotch-Irish
of South-western Pennsylvania have taken a prominent and distinguished
part. The pioneers and early settlers of South-western Pennsylvania were
of mixed race: Irish, German, Scotch, English, Welsh, and Scotch-Irish.
But the dominant strain in their blood was the Scotch-Irish, who
constituted the majority of their numbers, and whose churches and
school-houses were built in the shadow of the frontier forts.
These different elements were composed of the
bravest and most daring spirits of their respective races. The Irish
possessed all those traits of national character for which they have been
distinguished for centuries, and bore well their part in the frontier
struggle. The next distinctive class was the German, who laid out a
life-work devoted to labor, and who were sober, plain, economic, honest,
religious, and firm in the discharge of duty. The Scotch were hardy,
moral, and fearless; the English were noted for a high sense of honor and
lofty spirit of independence; and the Welsh, like the English, could not
be excelled for intelligence and bravery, and were ever foremost in times
of danger. The
Scotch-Irish, by weight of numbers and prominence in civil and military
life, stamped their character upon the country whose affairs they
controlled for many years. Strong-willed and self-reliant, distinguished
for intelligence, morality, patient industry, and honest thrift, they were
wise in council, sagacious on the march, and brave on the battle-field.
Besides parts of Alleghany, Westmoreland, and
Somerset Counties, the three entire counties included within the territory
of Southwestern Pennsylvania were named for Washington and his brave and
distinguished generals, Greene and Lafayette. But little effort has ever
been made to collect the local history of Greene County, while Washington
County has achieved national reputation through its Scotch-Irish college
(Washington and Jefferson) and its Presbyterian Churches. In treating of
the part which the Scotch-Irish have played in the history of Fayette
County, I shall notice three events of national importance. In the eastern
highlands of Fayette County, in the dawn of morning light, Washington
fired the first gun of a great war that swept New Franco from the map of
the New World and established the supremacy of the English-speaking race
in North America; in the western hill country of this county the
Scotch-Irish McCormacks and Cochrans first began the manufacture of the
world's typical coke, in one of the richest coal fields in the world ;
while on a great rock in a beautiful valley in Redstone Township,
Alexander Campbell preached his first sermon in the establishment of the
Disciple Church. Col.
William Crawford was one of the first of the Scotch Irish to settle in
what is now Fayette County. Within such limited space it would be
impossible to mention all the Scotch-Irish families who have been
residents of this county, and yet such a history is very important. It is
the proper work of a county Scotch-Irish Society, an organization that
should be established in every county in the United States.
In every profession and occupation of life the
Scotch-Irish have been prominent in Fayette County. Daniel Sturgeon, the
"silent Senator," with Edgar C. Cowan, another Scotch-Irishman of
Westmoreland County, have been so far the only two United States Senators
from South-western Pennsylvania. Among the physicians of Fayette County
none stood higher than Dr. Hugh Campbell, while as financier none were
more able or safe than Judge J. Kennedy Ewing, Col. Ewing Brownfield, and
Jasper M. Thompson; and to-day among the leading business men of the
county none have been more successful than Col. Reed, Robert Hogsett, and
the Moores. On the bench, Nathaniel Ewing, Nathaniel Breading, James
Lindsey, and Edward Campbell presided with ability and fairness; while
among the members of the bar, James Veech, Alfred Patterson, and a score
of other Scotch-Irish lawyers have been recognized as an honor to their
profession. The
oldest in active practice of the lawyers at the Fayette County bar to-day
is Col. Thomas B. Searight, a prominent and well-known public man of
extended political influence in Western Pennsylvania. He is Scotch-Irish
like his college classmate, James G. Blaine, and has served in both Houses
of his State Legislature, as well as having served as Surveyor-general of
Colorado. He is a man of good legal attainments as well as fine literary
ability. He is now engaged in preparing an extensive and valuable work on
the "Old National Road," a road which was a pet of Henry Clay in his day.
For over thirty years Col. Searight has been in continuous and active
public service, and within the last two years has been chiefly
instrumental in wresting his county from the hands of the Republican party
and securing an old-time Democratic majority in the county which had
formerly been largely Democratic. He is a brother of James A. Searight,
who is President of the People's Bank of Fayette County, and who was the
first member of the Scotch-Irish Society of America from South-western
Pennyslvania. The
Searight (originally written Seawright) family of Fayette County was
founded by William Searight (the father of Col. T. B. and James A.
Searight), who was Scotch-Irish on both paternal and maternal sides. His
paternal grandfather, William Seawright, came from County Donegal,
Ireland, to Lancaster County, Pa., in 1740. He married Ann Hamilton, who
came from Belfast, Ireland, about the same time and settled in the same
locality. Ann Hamilton was an aunt of Maj, Hamilton, of South Carolina, of
whom Col. Evans, of Columbia, Pa., in his "Notes and Queries" writes as
follows: Maj. James
Hamilton (son of William Hamilton) (father of Gov. James Hamilton, of
South Carolina) was unquestionably the most distinguished member of this
more than ordinary family. He was born upon the parental farm in 1758, in
Leacock Township. He was probably one of the classical scholars of the
Rev. Robert Smith at Pequea Church. When the tocsin of war sounded at
Massachusetts Bay, his heart was fired with patriotic zeal before he
attained his majority. On March 16, 1776, he was enrolled as second
lieutenant in Capt. John Murray's company of riflemen in the Second
Battalion of Col. Miles's regiment. He must have shown an aptitude for
military affairs to an unusual degree in one so young to be placed in the
line of officers. In his future career he demonstrated the wisdom of the
selection. He was in active service in the Jerseys, and participated in
the campaign there. He was in the hottest of the fight on Long Island in
August, taken prisoner, and not exchanged until November 2, 1777. For
gallant conduct in this action, in September, 1778, he was promoted to a
captaincy in the First Pennsylvania, commanded by Col. James Chambers (who
subsequently married a Miss Hamilton). On December 10, 1778, he was
promoted to major of the Second Pennsylvania Regiment of the Line,
commanded by Col. Walter Stewart. In May, 1780, he commanded a detachment,
and, as senior major, his battalion at Yorktown, which was in Gen. Wayne's
command. After the
surrender of Cornwallis, Gen. Wayne with his brigade was sent to the
relief of Charleston, and Maj. Hamilton was in service there when peace
was declared. While there he met Miss Elizabeth Lynch, sister of Thomas
Lynch, Jr., one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence from
South Carolina. They were married, and for years they lived upon his
plantation on the Santee. For some time prior and at the time of his death
he resided in the city of Charleston. Among other children he had a son
James, who was born in Charleston May 8, 1786, and became one of the most
distinguished of the many prominent men of the Palmetto State. He received
a collegiate education and graduated with high honors. His father had in
view the profession of law for his son; but he preferred a military life,
and entered the army, serving with great credit as a major in the Canadian
campaigns under Scott and Brown, in 1812. The battles there were the
hottest and better contested on both sides than any others during that
war. After the war he commenced the study of law with James L. Petigrew.
For several years in succession Maj. Hamilton was chosen the chief officer
in Charleston, which corresponds to that of Mayor in Northern cities. He
displayed eminent abilities in this position, which brought him into
prominence. In 1822
he discovered the Vesey conspiracy to raise an insurrection among the
slaves. In the same year he was elected to the State Legislature, where he
at once distinguished himself as a debater. He was chosen a representative
to Congress in 1824 and in 1826. He espoused the doctrine of free trade
and advocated direct taxation. He believed in the dueling code, and was
Randolph's second in his duel with Henry Clay, and second to Gov. McDuffie
in his duel with Col. Cummings, of Georgia, and occupied the same position
upon other similar occasions. He was a strong partisan of Gen. Jackson;
and in 1828, when he became President, he offered him the post of Minister
to Mexico, with authority to negotiate the annexation of Texas. This he
declined. He quitted Congress to become Governor of South Carolina in
1830, at the interesting period when his State resolved to nullify the
Federal tariff laws. He became a "nullifier," and was one of the ablest
advocates of "States rights." The war breeze kicked up in South Carolina
caused great excitement throughout the country, and was not entirely
allayed until the compromise of Henry Clay was brought about, when Mr.
Hamilton retired from public life, and devoted himself to the care of his
plantation. In a few years he became ardently interested in the cause of
Texas, to which he gave his personal service and a large portion of his
private fortune. In
1841, while Texas was an independent republic, he was her Minister to
England and France, where he procured the recognition of her independence.
On the death of John C. Calhoun, in 1852, he was appointed his successor
in the United States Senate, but declined the office for domestic reasons.
In his efforts in behalf of Texas he expended his fortune, and became
involved in pecuniary difficulties, which harassed the latter years of his
life. He was on his way to Texas to seek indemnification for his losses,
when he perished by a collision between the steam-boats "Galveston" and
"Opelousas," in the latter of which he was a passenger. With his usual
gallantry he yielded his own chance of safety to a lady among the
passengers, to whom he was an entire stranger. His conduct was in sharp
contrast to that of a prominent lawyer in Lancaster, who witnessed his
wife's struggles in the Hudson River at the "Henry Clay" disaster without
making a supreme effort to save her life. Mr. Hamilton was esteemed by his
native State as one of her greatest citizens. S. P. Hamilton, who resides
at Chester, S. C, is a son. Gov. Hamilton had a brother Robert, who moved
to the West, and it is supposed that Gov. Hamilton, of Illinois, was one
of his descendants.
William Searight, the grandson of William and Ann (Hamilton) Searight, was
born in Cumberland County, Pa., December 5, 1791, and settled in Fayette
County, Pa., where in 1826 he married Rachel Brownfield, who yet survives
him at the age of eighty-seven. William Searight was an ardent Democrat,
and at the time of his death was a candidate for Canal Commissioner of
Pennsylvania, then one of the most important offices of the State. His
children were Thomas B., Ewing, Jane, William, James, and Elizabeth, the
latter of whom is the wife of J. T. Calvin, President of the National Bank
of Commerce, of Pittsburg, Pa. After the death of William Searight a large
meeting of the citizens of the county, irrespective of party, assembled at
the courthouse and passed resolutions of respect to his memory and
character, in which it was stated as a publicly recognized fact that in
the death of William Searight Fayette County and Pennyslvania had lost one
of her best and most useful citizens. |
