As we continue to move toward our nation’s semiquincentennial, I’m still focusing on elements of the Revolutionary War effort of attaining independence and the related contributions and connections of families of the Fork, the Knox County lands between the French Broad and Holston Rivers.
Last week’s St. Patrick’s Day had me thinking about the Scots-Irish influence on our Appalachian culture. Did you know that British King George III, at times, actually called the Revolutionary War the “Scots-Irish Rebellion”? Yes, Scots-Irish men like Alexander McMillan, the subject of my last article, made up about half of those who fought for independence. Many of the forebears of the Fork were of Scots-Irish ancestry.
The Scots-Irish were descendants of the Lowland Scottish and Northern English families who had moved to Ulster in Northern Ireland in the 1600s. Their forefathers were known to have been “born fighting” in the border wars of Ireland, where they faced economic hardships, land scarcity, and religious discrimination. These Scots-Irish immigrants brought to America their distrust of elitist authority and their spirit of independence, which made them prime leaders of the Revolution…