Book Description

Ulster, in the north of the Kingdom of Ireland underwent resettlement in 1609. Defeated by the British Army in the Nine Years War, Gaelic chieftains fled, and parliament, under approval by King James implemented the Plantation of Ulster. Thousands of acres, confiscated and newly surveyed were granted to London Companies, landed gentry - people with social standing and wealth, and servitors - those favoring the king with loyalty and administrative or military service, and trade groups and churches. Scottish and English settlers migrated to Ulster, entering into land leases with the new landlords. By the mid-1700s, Ulster Scots, today known as Scots-Irish in America, and those with English and Irish ancestry, sailed from the ports of Londonderry, Newry, Portrush, Larne, and Belfast to North America. Famine, escalating lease payments, and Penal Laws designed to limit or deny political participation resulted in religious persecution, driving the descendants of the plantation settlers from their homeland. In 1785, two years following the end of the American Revolution, thousands left Ulster, lured by reports of land suitable for farming west of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. The phrase "look before you leap," derived in Ulster marketplaces, suggested one should investigate overseas prospects before selling possessions and leaving Ireland. On July 9, 1785 a captain from Limavady together with a crew of twelve set sail on his newly acquired three-mast ship, Faithful Steward, departing the quay at Londonderry destined for New Castle, Delaware then Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. James McIntire, age 22, from Ardstraw Bridge, County Tyrone believed he was sailing to a land where heroes live. Simon Elliott, age 65, together with Sarah (Lee) and a family of five, anticipated meeting their son John, having left Donegal in 1784 on the Lazy Mary, migrating to Pennsylvania. James Lee, age 78, and Isabella (Boscawen) and a family with relatives numbering more than four-score, left Ardara and Killybegs in Donegal for the wilds of western Pennsylvania. Merchant Gustavus Colhoun, age 19, and his older brother Thomas, a mariner and supercargo, combined their wit and experience to deliver a mysterious cargo to one of the wealthiest men in the newly formed United States. Passengers, reported to total 249 boarded Faithful Steward. Everyone's life was destined to change and forever be altered, close to the shore at Coin Beach, north of the Indian River Inlet on September 1, 1785. It was Delaware's worst maritime tragedy.