The Early History of One Particularly Large Jameson Family of Early Maine

This particular Jameson family, regardless of it's various spellings and translations,[1] is from a single immigrant ancestor, William Jameson (1675-1734), who has his earlier history in Ulster, Ireland and in Scotland before that. Although we don't know much about his early existance before immigrating to America, we do know he emigrated from Ulster, Ireland as part of the great migration of 1718[2] and that his family was from Scotland before his move to Ulster. Although they may be, or have been, other Jam?sons in Maine, this particular family was a very early arrival and most if not all Jamesons found in Maine in the early part of it's history, owe their existence to this one immigrant. Since that time, Jamesons from this family have proliferated and can now be found all over the United States.

MOST ANCIENT ANCESTORS

Modern genetic science is able to help us identify our earliest possible ancestors, although mostly in just a somewhat general way, going back thousands of years ago. Although the categorical results are clear, there is some question of dating and the actual path of the eventual migration into what is now the British Isles. Modern YDNA testing indicates this Jameson family would have belonged to a specific group of people, they themselves undoubtedly descended from others originally of the African continent, who can be found some 15,000 to 20,000 years ago in the Iberian Refugia (Spain), during the last ice age. Their subsequent migration patterns, after the ice finally began it's slow retreat, would have been a northern movement through France and then on to a northeastern loop into what is now Germany and Denmark, then into all of Scandinavia. Eventually, some from this group migrated westward into the British Isles and Iceland. Some say this particular ancestral group didn't genetically format into it's present profile until about 3,000 to 5,000 years ago (3000-1500 BC), somewhere in northern Europe, probably Denmark.[3] Nevertheless, everyone pretty much agrees with the general migration patterns, as well as all other modern results.

The oldest verifiable traditional records of this particular Jameson family are from the early 1700s in Ulster, Ireland and only a generation or so before that, in Scotland. The very nature of this existence and the circumstances surrounding this, clearly indicate that we were not indigenous where we could find them, but relatively recent arrivals, probably less then a generation or two.

Given this particular family's known genetic make up and because we know they were from Scotland, they would have probably been of Nordic forefathers, through Viking conquests and migrations, possibly dating back as far as the seventh or eighth century. This patriarchal genetic profile appears to substantiate this. We do not know when or where they may have first arrived. However, it would be safe to say they were definitely there before the use of surnames in the twelfth or thirteenth century. Long enough ago to now be considered as an integral and structural part of that ethnicity.

It may be interesting to know that this family's known general genetic group[4] is shared by at least two different known migrations into the British Isles, from the same ancient peoples. One from the massive and well known migration in the early fifth century, from the area of what is now Denmark and Germany into England, by a people known as Anglo-Saxons who are sometimes thought of as the "permanent invaders."[5] This general genetic group is also the same as that from a later migration of Vikings westward into Scotland, as mentioned above. In addition it can also be said that this general genetic group, can also be found amongst the Normans who came to Britain in the tenth century, probably Franco forebears of those who ended up migrating eastward from ancient times, or Vikings who could be found in Normandy at the time the Normans invaded England. Further advances with DNA testing will most likely help in a better understanding of all particular genetics groups.

SCOTLAND

Most earlier traditions have it that this Jameson family's ancestors emigrated, from Argyllshire (Argyll), in the middle western part of Scotland, not far from the northern part of Ireland where they can then be found as early as the 1600's.[6] In those days Argyll was a fairly large region of western Scotland and included several nearby islands. It is however possible that the traditions of an Argyll homeland are not accurate[7] and there are persuasive arguments to support this. Foremost and well documented is that the Ulster migration of that period (1600-1700), was generally accomplished by Lowlands Scots. Indeed various Ulster Plantation mandates and charters excluded those from the Highlands of which Argyll is specifically mentioned.[8] It is also known that Ulster immigration from the western coastal area of Lowlands Scotland, immediately south of Argyllshire was widespread and common. Significant here was Ayrshire a region known to have many families with the surname Jam?son. In fact that (Ayreshire) is exactly where we can find this William Jameson, at the very beginning of the eighteenth century, immediately before we find him in Ulster and before his 1718 emigration to America. The similarity between the names Argyllshire and Aryshire should not go unnoticed and one can speculate if they were perhaps somehow intertwined, transposed or mistaken during the two centuries of handed down oral tradition about his original homeland. Some say this William Jameson was born in the Edinburgh area of Scotland, but it is also possible these Jamesons came from elsewhere, including perhaps even the troublesome Middle Marches area of the Scottish/English border region where Jameson families were also known to exist.[9]

Although there were those with the Jameson surname in any number of likely Scottish regions, there is no known specific connection to any of these and this Jameson family. Recent YDNA genetic analysis however, suggests older connections with this family in a more northeastern part of Scotland. One such connection is with a family from the Alloa area of Clackmannanshire. Completely separate, is another connection with a family just north of there in Aberdeen and other parts of Aberdeenshire in what is known as North East Scotland. However, any details about connections to either of these families, apart from the Y-DNA similarities, has yet to be found. Intriguingly, any possible connections with these families, is reinforced by the discovery of documents[10] from late seventeenth century Ulster, Ireland, where members of what we believe were this family ancestors using an uncommon spelling of the surname found in those same Alloa families and others in the north east parts of Scotland including Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee.[10] A more careful examination of the families found in and around the Jamesons in the County Tyrone or Bann Valley area of Ulster, Ireland compared with those same surnames in Scotland around the same or just earlier period might bring a better understanding of these Jameson's earlier homelands.

Regardless of where, it is very likely that these Jamesons were members of a Scottish clan during the time they lived there. Almost everyone was a member of a clan as this "rule by clan" was generally accepted as a way of life in Scotland during those times, although less so in the Lowlands by the end of the 17th century. There were many clans in the areas where we are thought to be from, including: Stewarts, Campbells, MacNabs, MacLarens, Grahams, etc. Although no known clan affiliation exists with this Jameson family, the Jam?son surname is often associated with Clan Stewart and especially one of it's main branches, Clan Stuart of Bute, from the Island of Bute, of which the surname Jameson is often specifically listed as a sept. Jameson was also a well known sept of the Clan Gunn from the far northeastern part of Scotland, to which many Jameson families consider their heritage. However no known connection exists between the Jamesons of Clan Gunn and this Jameson family in Ulster, Ireland. The Jam?son families in the Lowlands border areas would also be thought of as clans, although in a less traditional way. Here too we know of no direct connections with this Jameson family. More details about clans and this family here.

IRELAND

At the beginning of the 17th century King James I, of England, began a repopulation of northern Ireland with mostly Scottish Protestants.[11] The area was at the time largely occupied by the Desmonds, who had been defeated and depleted in various rebellions with the crown during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. This forced repopulation started in 1611 and was an effort by the king to colonize this here-to-fore troublesome area with a more sympathetic and supportive people. The incentives were lucrative with large quantities of land available for each immigrant. Many Scots took advantage of this offer and is undoubtedly why these Jameson ancestors found their way to Ireland. This population was largely increased with further immigration over the next fifty years as a result of persecutions by English Kings Charles I and Charles II in their effort to establish the Church of England in Scotland.

In the latter part of the 17th century King James II of England, the last Roman Catholic King, was disposed of his throne. Determined to regain the crown, he went to Ireland where he raised an army of over 40,000, "wild Irishmen" and had some additional help from the French, thanks to Louis XIV. One of his first acts was an attempt to rid the country of King James I colonists, believing that because they were of a different religion, would never support his monarchy. The wholesale destruction of life and property that followed in the wake of his army caused most of the remaining colonists, about 30,000 in all,  to take refuge in Londonderry, or Derry, the place of oaks, as a city of refuge, and to take shelter behind it's walls. Here they were besieged and blockaded for one hundred and five days. They gave James' army a stubborn fight, killing 8,000. They themselves lost 4,000 of perhaps what may have been only 7,000 effective men. A great many more of the besieged perished of hunger and disease than were killed by the guns of the Irish attackers. Nearly every cellar in the town was said to have been occupied by the putrefying remains of those who died so fast that they could not be buried. The dogs who fattened on the blood of the slain were greedily devoured by the starving people. Even the rats that came to the disaster furnished "meat for the eaters." A soldiers rations were a half pound of tallow and three-quarters of a pound of horse hide per day. Might it not have been here where Darwin obtained his theory of "the survival of the fittest?

Many families did survive this siege, and with the arrival of the army of William III, the Prince of Orange and new King of England, fought the Battle of Boyne, June 30th and July 1st 1690[12] They, in one of history's most decisive battles, soundly defeated and destroyed James' army, forcing him to flee to France where he lived until his death in 1701.

A William Jameson was said to have served in the defense of Londonderry during the siege in 1689, and probably in the Battle of Bone in 1690, with such distinguished gallantry and bravery that he was exempted from taxation throughout the British Dominion.[13]

Although James II was driven from Ireland, sectarian violence continued between Irish Catholic and Irish Protestants, indeed to this day. Ireland eventually divided itself into the independent Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which remains a part of the United Kingdom.

The Scottish colonists resided in Ireland for over several decades during the middle 1600's, where they lived somewhat autonomously, retaining their culture and traditions. Intermarriages of the Scots with the Irish were exceedingly rare, so that the Scotch race remained nearly as distinct as it was prior to its settlement in this new land. They attended their own churches and continued life pretty much as it was known to them in Scotland.

Unfortunately, by the Test Act of 1704 under Queen Anne (1702-1714), the Scots in Ulster lost every benefit of the Tolerant Act of May 24, 1689, gained under King William. The policies virtually made the people outlaws, and were deprived of their chapels and schools, invalidated their marriages, and prohibited anyone from office above that of petty constable. For these and other reasons emigration out of Ireland, and for that matter all of the British Isles and Europe has continued ever since, particularly from Ireland during the famines in the middle 1800's.[14] This of course included people from this particular Jameson family. Migrations of all kinds to practically everywhere on earth have made this a small world in the time since these Jameson ancestors moved to Ulster in the 1600's. It can be assumed that one can now find a Jameson of this family practically anywhere on this globe.

We do not know exactly when this Jameson family made their way into Ulster, or exactly where they may have first or even eventually settled when they did arrive. However, from all accounts it appears they were not part of any of the early Jam?sons in Ulster. E.O. Jameson, in his book says that William Jameson was born about 1675 in the vicinity of Leith, county of Edinburgh, Scotland, then married in County Antrim, Ireland,which would likely have been around the year 1700, and further speculated that he resided there for several years before emigrating in 1718 for America.[15] E.O.Jameson further says, in somewhat of a conflict with his earlier comments, that "Mr. Jameson's father, (also named) William Jameson, was a vigorous Presbyterian and a strong supporter of the Covenant, and thus identified with the so-called Covenanters of that period, who suffered severe persecutions under King James II. William Jameson to escape from these unhappy conditions, made up his mind to leave the land of his birth, where for three hundred years his ancestors of the name had lived, and seek a new home. Accordingly, in company with many others of a like determination, he took his wife and children, about the year 1685, and passed over into the North of Ireland and settled in Omagh, County of Tyrone, Province of Ulster."[16]

Scott Jameson, noted Jameson genealogist and family historian, more recently has discovered details about a William Jameson family, living in the Kilmarnock area of Ayreshire, Scotland, he believes is the William Jameson who migrated from Scotland to Ulster in the early 1700s and then to America in 1718. Scott through his research in research in Scotland discovered a Margaret Jameson born in 1703 whose father was named William. The William Jameson who arrived in Casco Bay, Maine, had a daughter named Margaret born in 1703. This Margaret's mother was named Margaret Adams who had married William in 1692. The wife of William in Maine is sometime thought to have been Margaret Jameson, which added to what was a growing list of familiar coincidences. What finally convinced Scott this was the William on Maine, was the remarkable number of other names living in that area of Kilmarnock, who could be later, early 1700s, found not only in Ulster, but in Maine and New Hampshire following the migration of 1718.[17]

This makes sense and is in perfect alignment with E.O. Jameson's comments that William was in County Antrim, possibly in an amongst so many others, including other Jameson families of the Bann Valley who could later be found to have emigrated to America during the exodus in 1718.

During the very late 16600s and early 1700's, many other Jam?son familiess can be found in the Bann Valley, as well as in the Omaga area of County Tyrone, Ulster, some even to this day. Several of these Jamesons are assumed to be somehow related to the Jamesons who emigrated in the early 1700s and the years that followed.