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Dear Lois,
What a wonderful posting – anyone who mingles the thoughts and histories of the Vikings, Moors, Scots-Irish and Flemings is definitely on the same page as I am most of the day.
First, let me say that the Scots-Irish or Ulster-Scots are well represented among the Rutherfords of the USA. Below you’ll see the basic eleven immigrant clusters of Rutherfords that came to North America from the Cavalier Era to the Post-Revolutionary Era. Each group is a condensation of known migratory history and religious affiliation upon arrival in the New World. Of course, the Presbyterian movement and the Scottish Reformation are essentially synonyms. When coupled with a documented migration through Ulster this would satisfy the definition of what is commonly called “Scots-Irish” in America or “Ulster-Scots” in Northern Ireland. As you can see, four of the eleven Rutherford groups are Scots-Irish Presbyterians.
Many Rutherfords, especially those from England, were not Presbyterians when they immigrated. This was primarily for one of two reasons 1] they were military/civil servants who were required by law to belong to the Church of England 2] they came from areas like Devonshire where Anglicans were the majority group during colonial times.
immigrant Presbyterian groups:
1 – James Rutherford – Cub Creek, VA – Presbyterian Scots-Irish
2 - Gen. Griffith Rutherford of VA, NC and TN – Presbyterian Scots-Irish
3 - The Walker/Rutherfords of Augusta County, VA – Presbyterian Scots-Irish
4 - The Paxtang, PA Rutherfords– Presbyterian Scots-Irish
5 - The St. Lawrence Co, NY Rutherfords – Presbyterian Scots - Roxburghshire
6 - The Rutherfords of Western Canada – Presbyterian Scots - Roxburghshire
immigrant Anglican groups:
7 - The Bergen County, NJ Rutherfurds – Scots from Roxburghshire
8 - The North Carolina Bowland Rutherfurds – Scots from Roxburghshire
9 - The Rutherfurds of Goochland Co, VA – Scots from Roxburghshire
10 - The Rutherfoords of Richmond, VA – Scots from Perthshire
11 - Robert Rutherford Sr. of Essex Co. VA – English - associated with Devonshire Anglican families
James Rutherford [#1] is found on the rolls of the earliest "Dissenter Presbyterian churches” formed in Virginia. Virginia’s oldest Presbyterian Church was called the “Caldwell Settlement” aka “Cub Creek Church”. Its pastor and congregation are well documented as having migrated into Virginia by way of the Great Philadelphia Road through the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania into the Virginia Piedmont. James and his family were members of the churches at Cub Creek and the Peaks of Otter which were uniformly of Scots-Irish descent. James Rutherford may well have made the same journey with his near relative General Griffith Rutherford. In fact, Griffith also lived at Cub Creek, Virginia prior to moving to North Carolina. Griffith's name is associated with James Rutherford and his son William in various tithe records, as well as, with the Pickens and Weakley families who were also relatives. The descendants of Thomas Rutherford of Paxtang, Pennsylvania remained in the Dauphin County area – a maternal line [Mayes] went south to GA. The Presbyterian Church at Paxtang, PA had Thomas Rutherford among its founders and it is the oldest Presbyterian Church in PA and I believe the second oldest in the USA. As such, PA and NJ remained a launching ground for Scots-Irish emigration into Virginia in general and for the Rutherfords specifically. The Wigton-Walkers, who descend from Katherine Rutherford and John Walker, also came up the Susquehanna and through the Cumberland to Borden’s Grants in Augusta County, VA.
After the Revolution, Griffith Rutherford and his family formed a large wagon train from western NC, where James' and Griffith's families had settled, onward to TN. Many of those who remained in NC left for Indiana within the decade.
The issue of slavery was a crisis of conscience for most Presbyterians and Quakers living in the South. They faced the issue, discerned the spirit of this “peculiar institution” and proceeded to leave the south en masse. They courageously decided to sell their homes and other property in order to buy as many slaves as they could. In this way, they migrated north to Indiana and Ohio and set these slaves free upon their arrival. This formed the routing and infrastructure for the famous Underground Railroad. This was one of the world’s largest emigrations of people, who freely chose to leave their homes due to religious convictions. In this way, Presbyterian and Quaker families migrated north in what has been called "the great Quaker Migration". Their numbers are estimated to have been around 50,000. It’s the family’s great pride that no less than three Rutherford homes are now museums honoring the family’s role in the Underground Railroad.
More about Prussia, Russia and Gutavus Adolphus at another time. :-)
Merry Christmas, Lois ….. cousin Gary
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