Passage to America

(Some Jamesons) "Hugh and Christine (Whitehead) Jameson lived in or near Coleraine, County Londonderry, Ulster, Ireland, where all their children except Molly were born. On the map of Ulster in the last posting, Coleraine is to the east-north-east of Londonderry just on the other side of the River Bann. He worked as a cordwainer (shoemaker) and with their children they emigrated to America in 1746.

Sloop of the type of "Molly" (circa 1622)

"They sailed August 4, 1746, on the sloop 'Molly' from Port Rush, on the northern Coast of Ireland, for Boston, New England. The cost of the passage was agreed and bound by a contract ("note of hand" seen below) signed August 4, 1746, the actual day of sailing, with Robert Gage of Coleraine, Ireland, where Hugh and a fellow passenger, Robert Parkinson (his niece's husband), promised to pay the cost, L6-13s (for both), two years from the date of arrival in Boston.

Passage Payment Agreement:

We, Hugh Jamison and Robert Parkinson Doo bind

oursleves our ____ ____ ____ a figures in the fair

and just sum of six pounds thirteen shillings ____

lawful money of Great Britain to be paid unto Mr.

Robert Gage Mert (merchant): of Colerain in Ireland or his ______

to be paid in two years from the date here of

and after our arrival in Boston in America

as witness our hands and seals this August 4th ____

There is little to indicate why they left. In 1740-41, cold winters and poor harvests caused the Forgotten Famine during which 400,000 people died in Ireland. However, it is difficult to link that tragedy with the Jamesons' emigration five years
later.

"With him on board were his wife, Christine, and six or seven of their children, his sister, Elizabeth (Jameson) Woods, his niece, Esther (Wood) Parkinson and her husband, Robert Parkinson, as well as what is thought to be his younger brother, Thomas. Among his children were two young sons, whose names are no longer known, who died during the trip. It is said that the second boy died at the grief of the loss of his younger brother. They were both buried at sea. It is interesting to note that about two years after arriving in America, Hugh and Christine had a daughter born to them, to whom they gave the name Molly.

"Their route most likely would have been down the western coast of Ireland, the usual course of ships in those days bound for America from the northern ports of Ireland. This would have been a difficult and dangerous trip in the mid 1750's, lengthy too, especially for smaller ships like those typically sailing from Port Rush. The sloop 'Molly,' with fair sailing, would have reached the American coast in the early autumn of 1746, and probably landed her passengers in Boston, Massachusetts Bay, as that was the intended port, although the ship belonged in Salem, MA."

In the next post, we'll discover the continued influence of Robert Gage in the life of the Jamesons, Hugh's position in the town in which they settled and his role in the Revolutionary war.