North by Northwest: Ties that Bind

Abstract

In May 1838, Ulster Scots William and Martha Anderson, along with their five children, boarded the Susan at Londonderry, Ireland, and set sail for North America.1 Farmers from Humphill, they traveled first to Canada and eventually settled in Western Pennsylvania. Allegheny County records show that, after several years’ residence, William applied for United States citizenship and received it in 1846.2 Within 100 years, his family had grown and spread from just over the border into Ohio, to Butler County, and north to Venango and Crawford Counties. The geographic distance stretched the traditional Scots-Irish familial bonds, and so the Andersons turned to that delightfully American event to stay in touch—the family reunion. When the family gathers in June 2023, its members will celebrate a century of participation in an American ritual that helps answer the question of what it means to be family.

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