On May 20, 1729, the George
and Anne set sail from Dublin, Ireland for New Castle, Delaware, taking 180
immigrants to their new lives in colonial America.1 More than four months
later, the survivors of that terrible voyage disembarked on Cape Cod, Massachusetts,
several hundred miles from their intended destination. Some 80 passengers, many
of them children, had died at sea.
Among the passengers were several members of the Thompson
family, possibly including my seven-times great-grandfather James Thompson.2
The George and Anne
was a chartered vessel. Many of the passengers were friends and neighbours of a
man named Charles Clinton,3 of County Longford, Leinster Province,
Ireland, who organized the trip. Many were members of Corboy Presbyterian
Church near Edgeworthstown, County Longford.
Clinton’s diary noted the first hint of trouble came on the
night of June 1 when a strong wind “loosened our bowsprit with hazard of our
masts. June ye 2d we had a fair breeze on our westerly course, on the 3rd
ditto” Then, he reported, his daughter and his son “fell sick of the measles.”4
On June 5, a child died, and a second child died three days
later. As the deaths continued over the following weeks, Clinton recorded them,
but it is hard to determine exactly how many there were since he appears to
have repeated some of the names. Clinton himself lost a son and a daughter, 12
members of the MacDowell family died, and James Thompson lost his wife and
three children. Clinton did not note the causes; measles could have been a
factor, while poor sanitation, lack of food and overcrowding no doubt led to disease.
The desperation most people on board the vessel must have felt led directly to
one death as a servant accompanying one of the passengers threw himself
overboard and drowned. Several accounts of the voyage written by other families
accuse the captain of trying to starve the passengers to death so he could
steal their money.
In July, Clinton reported, gale-force winds from the
northwest blew the ship far off course and, for a short time, it was becalmed
off the north coast of Africa. Clinton did not say whether this was bad luck or
poor navigation on the part of the captain.
When America finally came into view, it was October 4. Accounts
of what happened next vary. One says the passengers had to pay a ransom to the
captain before he would allow them to leave the ship, another says the
passengers seized the captain and a crew member brought the ship to shore.5
The surviving passengers spent the winter on Cape Cod. They
had originally intended to settle near Philadelphia, but instead some bought
land a few miles west of the Hudson River, north of New York City. There they founded
a community they called Little Britain in Ulster County. Today, some of their
descendants still live in this area, now part of Orange County, New York.
There is some confusion about the identities of the Thompson
family members on the voyage. Orange
County genealogy researcher Elmire L. Conklin wrote, “The Charles Clinton diary
listed James, Mary and William [Thompson] for a passage of four. The fourth
passage was probably for the children of James [Jr.] and Mary, three of whom
died on the voyage.”6
Most Thompson family historians have assumed that the William
Thompson mentioned was the husband of Ann Jenkins. But Mrs. Conklin suggested
this is incorrect. She suggested that the William Thompson mentioned in the
diary was actually the brother of James Thompson Sr., who was also with the
Clinton party, and that William Thompson and Ann Jenkins (my six-times
great-grandparents) came to America later.7
Ann gave birth to daughter Sarah in February, 1729 so perhaps
the family remained in Ireland that year rather than risk travelling with an
infant. Also, the minister of their church gave them a reference letter to use in
America, dated August 1737.8 It is more likely that they brought
this letter with them than that they acquired it eight years after their
arrival. If in fact they came to America on a ship other than the George and Anne, they made a lucky
choice.
See also: The
Thompsons: from Scotland to Ireland and America
http://writinguptheancestors.blogspot.ca/2015/11/the-thompsons-from-scotland-to-ireland.html
Notes
1.Jeffrey Clinton, “George and Anne Ship 1729 Passengers.” Genealogy.com, http://www.genealogy.com/forum/regional/countries/topics/ireland/17044/,
posted July 5, 2000. List transcribed from Orange
County Genealogical Society, vol. 3 no 4 (Feb. 1974), copied by Elizabeth
S. Smith.
2. Elmire L. Conklin, “The Two George Thompsons of Early
Orange County, N.Y.,” Orange County
Genealogical Society, vol. 21 no. 1 (May 1991), 9; Thompson vertical files.
Orange County Genealogical Society, Goshen N.Y.
3.Charles Clinton (1690-1773), was of English descent but was
born in Ireland where his grandfather, a military officer, had been given land.
One Thompson source says he was a cousin of the Thompsons, but I have not
confirmed that. Once settled in New York, Clinton became a farmer, justice of
the peace and militia colonel. He was the father of George Clinton, who served
as Vice President of the United States from 1804 to 1812, and grandfather of
DeWitt Clinton, a New York politician who was instrumental in the construction
of the Erie Canal. Leslie Stephen, editor. Dictionary
of National Biography, vol. XI, New York: MacMillan & Co., 1887, 91. https://books.google.ca, accessed Nov. 21,
2015.
4. Thomas J. Barron, “Presbyterian Exodus, Co. Longford,
1729,” http://www.from-ireland.net/presbyterian-exodus-1729-longford/;
article originally appeared in Breifne,
no. 18 (1977-78), 253; accessed Nov. 6, 2015.
5. Fergus D. H. MacDowall and William L. MacDougall. The MacDowalls, Clan MacDougall Society of
North America Inc., 2009, 60; https://books.google.ca,
accessed Nov. 21, 2015.
6. Conklin, “The Two George Thompsons of Early Orange
County, N.Y.”
7. Ibid.
8. “Thompson Genealogy (also Hudson and
Duryea)” Orange County Genealogical
Society, vol. 8 no. 4 (Feb. 1979), 30. Thompson vertical files. Orange
County Genealogical Society, Goshen N.Y.