Quick Review
Whatever the source for the Celts and Vikings proves to be, we see that our family, in its formative years, hailed from a very specific and rugged area along the west coast of Scotland, from the Highlands, from islands lying off the north and west coast of Scotland, and, finally, from Northern Ireland. Eventually, many settled in lowland Scotland near Wigton and Paisley, and in Ireland at Londonderry. It was generally from here that they immigrated to America. Even the Scots families, seemed to go to Londonderry, Northern Ireland first, before moving on to America. Later, after the American Revolution, other families came directly from Scotland, and from Antrim, Northern Ireland. There is not a lot of distance between Antrim and Londonderry and most of these early immigrant families had some type of additional connections, besides the family name.
Early Immigration Patterns
Before we get into the ancient history of our family in Scotland and Ireland, it might pay to carry the geography lesson one more step to America.
Presbyterian preachers from Northern Ireland led the campaign to bring the Scotch-Irish to America. One of the first principle movements was a group who came to Boston around 1717-18, and who branched out to Londonderry, New Hampshire, which became home to the McQuesten branch of the family. There are some early Boston records and many early NH records of our family.
Some of these NH folks moved south to Chester County, PA, located near Philadelphia, and also near the port of New Castle, Delaware. The actual area they moved into was in dispute between PA and Maryland but early records are kept, to this day, in Philadelphia. It was at New Castle that many Scotch-Irish came to shore, including the second batch of family immigrants, in 1735.
This batch, traditionally consisting of three brothers, stayed in this disputed area for several years until two brothers moved to North Carolina and the third moved further into Lancaster County, PA. The third brother finally moved to NC and it is these lines which form the majority of the NC, Tennessee and Texas branches of the family. Spellings varied from McCuistion, to McCuiston, to McQuiston in this line. Even McChristian seemed to come out of this branch. Spellings, were at times, interchangable in these lines as in nearly every other branch of the family. One son of the third brother stayed in PA and was the progenitor of many who spell the name McQuiston.
However, two other branches made their way into Pennsylvania.
Shortly before the war, in 1773, three more brothers came to America and landed in or near PA. From here they moved on to South Carolina. A few members of this line moved back to PA and lived in the vicinity of the earlier arriving family, in western PA. The PA families settled principly along the west edge of PA, some moving over the line to Ohio and the West Virginia panhandle.
Complicating matters, a third batch came to PA and settled along this same western edge of the state. They seem to have arrived just after the war, around 1796. So in this area of PA are a large number of family members today, mostly spelling the name McQuiston or McQuistion, who come from three separate branches of the family. Still, they all have roots in Londonderry, N.I.
Members from various branches have, through the years, moved to areas more traditionally settled by different branches.
From the NH branch, typically speaking, came families that made their mark in Alaska and Canada. Captain Jack McQueston, Father of Alaska, comes out of the New Hampshire branch, as does Tom McQuesten, a major developer of the Ontario Province infrastructure. From western PA, many families moved into Ohio, Iowa and westward. From the North Carolina branch typically came family members who made their marks in Tennessee and Texas.
Members from all of these lines made early marks in California. Captain Jack fought Indians there during the Gold Rush era and later returned to there from Alaska. Luther McQuesten edited the Boulder Creek, CA newspaper, and once printed an edition on leaves from a tree. They were both from the NH branch. Leona McQuiston, from my PA branch, wrote our most famous book on the family and she settled in Los Angeles, CA and wrote much of her book there. Noah McCuistion, from the NC,TN,TX bunch, once owned all of the land that became Hollywood. Today, there is a Jim McQuiston heavily involved as a watchdog of Hollywood area politics. Also, BJ McCuiston, Secretary/Treasurer for Clan Uisdean, USA, lives in Gilroy, CA and other clan members live in the Golden State.
There are exceptions to all the family history that we have spoken about so far, but, generally speaking, this is the flow of the family from Ireland and Scotland to America.
The immigration from the Bann Valley of Northern Ireland to America began with some very specific events. This story will be told elsewhere.