The Origin of Scotch-Irish Families Who Settled in Chester County, South Carolina
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Bozeman Adair was born in 1771 in Virginia and died in
1857 in Dallas, Paulding County, Georgia.
Scotch-Irish families began settling in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and then moved to Chester, Lancaster, and York Counties, South Carolina.
Among the Scotch-Irish settlers were individuals who left a lasting impact. The Tennents, Blairs, Francis Allison, and Beaty, who were educated in the Scotch-Irish schools and colleges, were Drs. Stanhope Smith, Patrick Allison, and others; civilians also, Judges Breckenridge and McKean, Chief Justice Williamson, the historian of North Carolina, and Dr. Ramsay, the historian of our State; many distinguished Generals of the Revolutionary War; Robert Fulton, who revolutionized transportation with steam-powered vessels; and many divines and civilians distinguished in the history of Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.
The emigration of Scotch-Irish into the Up Country of North and South Carolina was from Pennsylvania, either by gradual migration of families through the mountain valleys of Virginia and southward or by direct removal from Ireland to the port of Charleston, and by wagon, pack horse, or often on foot to their settlements in Chester County, South Carolina.
The emigration line from Pennsylvania was a fascinating journey through Kittatinny Valley, west of the Susquehanna, to the Potomac, and southward through the valley of the Shenandoah. To a large extent, South Carolina adopted the names of Pennsylvania counties Lancaster, York, and Chester, a testament to the Scotch-Irish influence in the region.
Sources: Sources: Adair History and Genealogy by James Barnett Adair (1924); History of South Carolina by McGrady; Adair Gedcom File; traced Adair families (to 1360) in the Genealogy Vault available to members of GeorgiaPioneers.com