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The Scots-Irish Theory of Daniel's Roots |
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The Scots-Irish were Scottish folks who had migrated from the Lowlands of Scotland to the ancient province of Ulster in NE Ireland. In the 1700s many of them migrated to America, settling largely in Pennsylvania, Virginia & the Carolinas. As Presbyterians, they moved to escape persecution from the Church of England and economic deprivation. The Tennessee census bureau has reported that one out of five Tennesseans is Scots-Irish. They are also known as Ulster Scots. |
| Evidence
For the Scots-Irish Theory: |
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| 1. Haston is a surname
that is known to be native to Scotland. There are numerous Hastons still living in Scotland today, although many have moved to England. The late Dougal Haston, of Mt Everest and Mt McKinley climbing fame, was born in Scotland. Prior to his untimely death in 1977, Dougal Haston told Dwight Haston [of Van Buren County, TN] (in a dinner meeting in England) that he was a descendent of John Hestan, who lived on the Isle of Hestan in the mid 1600s. Dougal said that he believed that the Hestan/Haston family of Scotland descended from the ancient Vikings who used to winter their ships on the Isle of Hestan, and other islands of the Auchencairn Bay along the southern coast of Scotland, in preparation of invasions of Britain. By the way, the Hestan Isle was a haven for smugglers in the 1600s and 1700s. From page 346 of The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning, and History by George F. Black, PhD (NY: New York Public Library, 1946): HASTAN, of local origin from the island of Hestan in the parish of Rerrick, Kirkcudbrightshire. John Hestan was resident in the parish of Borgue, and William Hastine and Thomas Hastan were residents in the parish of Senneck, 1684 (RPC., 3. ser. ix, p. 567, 569). Janet Hasten is recorded in Torphichen, 1712 (Torphichen). Original sources: RPC = Register of the Privy Council of Scotland. 1. series. v. 1-14 (1545-1625); 2. series. v. 1-8 (1625-1660); 3. series. v. 1-14 (1661-1689). Edinburgh, 1877-1933. Torphichen = Register of baptisms, proclamations, marriages, and mortcloth dues contained in the kirk-session records of the parish of Torphichen, 1673-1714. Edinburgh, 1911.
2. There is a lot of Haston family oral history that claims Scotland or Ireland* as country of origin.
*Note: According to Don Spidell, early history books often referred to the Scots-Irish as "Irish." Who knows whether or not that is what was intended in the Goodspeed biography for E.S. Haston, or that E.S. was a true (non Scots-Irish) Irishman? It is true that the Scots-Irish did come to America from Ireland (the Ulster Province of NE Ireland), although they were not native to Ireland. Billy Kennedy (page 27 of The Scots-Irish in the Hills of Tennessee) also stated: "The early Presbyterians from Ireland [i.e. the Scots-Irish] generally knew themselves simply as 'Irish' and were thus known by the other colonists. The later establishment and rapid growth of highly visible Irish Roman Catholic communities led many Protestants in the United States to adopt the Scotch-Irish label." Notes: According to
Dwight Haston, who spent a few days in Scotland in 1988 doing research: "His (Dougal Haston's)
records showed that Thomas, William, Charles and Janet were the children
of John. Charles came to the PA colony, but returned to
Europe. He is the ancestor (according to Dougal) for the Haston
line in England today. Janet never married that we know. He
told me of a record in the Parish Church there stating that Thomas 'Went
to the new world in search of better bread and lower rents.' It
had to do with why no church tax was paid for or by him in the year
1712." It is a well known fact that a mother's or a grandmother's surname was often given as a first or middle name for children. That practice continues today, although seemingly not as often as it did in the 19th and 18th centuries. It is a common Haston family belief that Daniel Haston's middle name was Montgomery*, which was one of the most prominent Scottish clan names. However, we know no documented evidence to prove the Montgomery middle name for Daniel. The closest we can come is to point to the 1830 Mortality Listing file compiled from a Survey of Revolutionary War Veterans for Pension Purposes, which refers to him (a farmer who had deceased in 1826 in White County, TN) as Daniel MG. Hastings. The Montgomery given name (first or middle name) appeared no less than six times in the Haston family during the 1800s. For example, David McCumskey Haston (David's son) named his third child David Montgomery Haston in 1833. The Montgomery name also appears in the 19th century White County, TN family of Hastons. Also, it is commonly believed that David Haston's middle name was McComisky, McComiskey, or some other variant spelling. Currently, we have no hard evidence for that. However, we do know that he and Peggy assigned the name McCumskey to their fifth child, Daniel McCumskey Haston. Some family genealogists have speculated that perhaps this child received the name "Daniel" from his grandfather and "McCumskey" from his grandmother, Daniel Haston's wife. Or, perhaps the "McCumskey" name came from Peggy Roddy's family. Also, a later son of David and Peggy was given the name David Mc. Haston. Some say that the Mc. middle name for this son also stood for McCumskey. Proponents of the Scots-Irish
view would point out that there are no uniquely German-Deutsch or
Holland-Dutch names that appear in the early Haston family. If anyone has documented evidence of the Montgomery middle name for Daniel Haston or the Alexander Montgomery and Allison Kow/Gow family that included a daughter named Allison who married a William Haston/Hastin/Hastings, please contact us. 4. There appears to be some connection between the Daniel Haston family and 1700s Daniel McComisky of Baltimore, MD. As presented in a previous section, the name McComisky (or variations of it) seems to appear three times in the David Haston family (although we are still seeking documentation for the middle name of Daniel's son, David). Generations of Haston researchers have speculated that this name was a key to unlocking some of the mysteries of Daniel or his wife. The following correspondence between Sybaline Haston Edwards and Estelle (Mrs. Dave R.) Haston illustrate the genealogical curiosity that has been evoked by the McComisky name:
On August 7, 2000, a web search for the name "McComisky" turned up a tax assessment record of 1783 in Baltimore County, MD for "Daniel McComisky" ("McComiskey's Habitation," 474 acres. BA North Hundred, p. 11. MSA S 1161-2-13 1/4/45) and "John McComisky"* (BA Hundred, p. 11. MSA S 1161-2-13 1/4/5/45). Then, shortly after that a web search for "Daniel McComisky" led to a GenForum message posted by a researcher seeking information on this man, who died in Baltimore County in about 1789. In her research on the life of Richard Green Waterhouse (a colorful Knox County, TN resident of the late 1790s and early 1800s), Elizabeth Layman had discovered that three Roddy children (Moses, Rosanna, and Sarah/Sally, children of Phillip and Mary McComisky Roddy) were grandchildren of Daniel McComisky and were legatees to his will. Her GenForum message was seeking information on the Roddy children. The name Daniel, plus the name McComisky, plus the name Roddy immediately set off some Haston genealogical alarms for a couple of Haston researchers who read the posted message. A few weeks later (9/21/2000) Wayne Haston discovered the Knox County, TN court case (see April 1798 entry for David Haston timeline) in which David Haston was tried for cutting off the tails of two horned cows (apparently this document had been hidden from previous Haston researchers because it was one of many Knox County documents that had been been stored in boxes of unfiled documents for many years). In that trial Moses Roddy, Mary Ann Roddy and her sister Eleanor Roddy were called to witness against David. It seems, from the case records, that Moses (known to have been the brother of Rosanna Roddy and legatees of the Daniel McComisky estate) may have been in the field with David Haston at (or at least near) the time of the mischievous deed. *Note: The will and other sources indicate that John was the son of Daniel McComisky. We still do not know the specific connections between the Haston and
McComisky families, but consider these coincidences: Notes: The parents of Margaret/Peggy Roddy (whom David married in 1800) are still not known. One might think that she was a younger sister of Moses, Rosanna, and Sarah Roddy, but that has not been established. If McComisky can not be documented as a middle name for Daniel's son David Haston, then it would be sensible to think that David McCumskey Haston and Daniel McCumskey Haston (sons of David and Peggy) were so-named because of McComisky family ties through their mother, Peggy Roddy. So, how was the Haston family
connected to the McComisky family? Regardless of the answer to these questions, one thing seems clear. The Haston family did, apparently, have some close family connection to this McComisky family, which happened to have Irish origins, as per the following source:
For a more thorough account of the possible McComisky - Roddy - Haston connection, read the "Mysterious McComisky - Roddy - Haston" page on this site. 5. The preponderance
of people in East and Middle Tennessee seem to have been Scots-Irish in
the late 1700s and early 1800s.
Although that statement may
slightly exaggerate historical reality, the general gist of it is
true. All three of the presidents (Jackson, Polk, & Johnson)
who came from Tennessee were Scots-Irish. By 1885, 90 years into
Tennessee's history, half of its governors were of this descent.
Genealogical research, particularly in the East TN era of Daniel
Haston's life, reveals that many, if not most, of the people who were
somehow associated with Daniel's family were Scots-Irish. Even the
community in south Knox County where Daniel probably lived during his time
there was named Iredell. Iredell may have been so-named for the
county of the same name in NC or from the surname Iredell. In
either case, there is no doubt an Irish connection associated with it.
6. From their homeland
connections, Scots-Irish tended to be Presbyterians. One source says that David and Peggy Haston (we don't know about Daniel, Joseph, and the others) were staunch Presbyterians in the early years of their White County lives. "Both David and Margaret Haston of Van Buren were active members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and before a house of worship was erected in their community, services were often held in their home."* The Union Cumberland Presbyterian Church (inactive for many years now, but known as "Old Union") of the Hickory Valley community in southern White County, TN was one of the first churches established in White County. It was established in 1810 or 1811, just a few years after the arrival of the Haston family. It was located just across (north side of) the Caney Fork River, less than a mile, from the Haston family. Probably this is the "house of worship...erected in their community" that the biographical sketch was referring to. We do know that David Haston was the first clerk in the Union Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Although various evangelical denominations were originally allowed to use the building (thus, the building was called the "Union Meeting House"), it eventually became associated with the Cumberland Presbyterian movement. The Big Fork Baptist Church was established on the south side of the river on Haston property, very near the homes of Joseph and David Haston, at the site of the Big Fork Cemetery (which was situated where it is because the church was built there first). The foundation stones of this building can still be seen in the north western corner of the Big Fork Cemetery (very near the graves of Daniel & Joseph Haston). There is evidence to prove that this was a Primitive Baptist Church and was affiliated with the Stockton Valley Association as early as 1808 (very soon after the Haston's arrival in White County and two or three years earlier than the Union Church north of the river). There is no proof that the early Hastons were associated with the Big Fork Baptist Church, but there is circumstantial evidence to suggest that there was some connection, perhaps through family members other than David. We do know that the "Restoration
Movement" (Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, Church of Christ
movement, led by Barton Stone [former Presbyterian] and Thomas and
Alexander Campbell and John Mulkey [former Baptists]) swept through Tennessee in the
early decades of the 1800s. David and Peggy began to identify
themselves with that movement at some point. David sold the lots
in Spencer where the Spencer Christian/Church of Christ Church sits
today (see the 1848 entry on the David Haston timeline). He was
also a leader in the establishment of Burritt College (existed in
Spencer, TN from 1848-1939) which was affiliated with the Restoration
Movement churches. 7. A "David Hastings / Hesten" died in a Scots-Irish community of Augusta County, VA in 1776. Someone by the name of
"David Hastings" or "David Hesten" died in Augusta County, VA
(predominantly Scots-Irish community) in the latter part of 1776. Was he
related, in some way, to Daniel Haston, perhaps Daniel's father,
brother, or uncle? |
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| Evidence Against the
Scots-Irish Theory: |
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| 1. It was said of
Daniel Haston, that he was scarcely able to speak English. Skeptics of the Scots-Irish view quickly cite the William Carroll Haston biographical entry in A Biographical Record of the Cumberland Region by George A. Ogle and Company of Chicago (published in 1898), where it was written that Daniel Haston was "scarcely able to speak English." Proponents of the view that Daniel Haston came from Scotland, might counter this argument by saying that Highlanders from Scotland, often spoke Gaelic, which had harsh Germanic sounds and was more different from English than was German or French. In his Carolina Scots, Douglas F. Kelly (1739 Publications, Dillon, SC, published 1998) says that "It is a proven fact that Gaelic was almost universally spoken all through the Upper Cape Fear section (of NC)...until about the time of the War Between the States." (page 108) He goes on to cite a source that claims that so many people spoke Gaelic in the Fayetteville, NC area in 1828 that a Gaelic speaking clerk was necessary at the post office. On the other hand, it should be noted that Gaelic was the language of the Scottish Highlands and the Lowlanders (where the Isle of Hestan was located, very near the English border) generally spoke Scots, which some people believe to be a dialect of English. (See page 4 from Kelly's book.) Thus, if Daniel Haston was from the Isle of Hestan, he probably would have been able to speak some form of English. It is true though, that regular English speakers could have had some difficulty understanding his Lowlander Scots dialect.
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