About the database
East Jersey Bound database aims
The East Jersey Bound database aims to help:
- clarify who the Scots emigrants to East Jersey in the 1680s were, their origins and personal history
- identify specific connections and networks amongst the emigrants, investors, agents and associates, and
- develop kinship and cross-generational perspectives, which relate to (a) decisions to emigrate and (b) the economic and social outcomes they experienced.
Database software
In reviewing what dataset to use or develop, I concluded that one of the standalone proprietary genealogical products would best fit the bill, with Family Tree Maker (FTM) offering advantages in functions and ease of use over RootsMagic and other options. The alternative would have been to devote considerable time to database design and tackling implementation issues.
These genealogical tools are built around the GEDCOM standard which has universal conventions for data input and allows data export for analysis using proprietary or open-source software.[1] Amongst other features, the design of FTM facilitates data entry, source management, analysis using filters, and reporting options (e.g., in collating information about individuals and families). It is not a fully relational database but nevertheless allows great flexibility for analysis, including through the use of filters.
I have used FTM’s companion software, The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding (TNG) which facilitates online publication of the database.[2]
[1] GEDCOM is an acronym from ‘Genealogical Data Communication’. Family History Department, FamilySearch GEDCOM 7.0 Specification (Church of the Latter Day Saints, 2021)
Database design
In devising the database I selected fields from the full GEDCOM list, including life events (births, baptisms, deaths and burials, marriages and marriage contracts), departures and arrivals, occupations, property, religion, wills and probate. For each, FTM enables entries for date, place and description, along with the source and any additional notes.
In addition I created customs fields, notably for an individual’s ‘Role’ (such as amongst the emigrants, whether free, indentured or transported, and their children; and for roles such as emigration agents and absentee landowners), Legal (to cover legal records other than property transactions, wills and probate) and Origin (the approximate area from where they or their family came from where their birthplace is not recorded).
Database fields
Scots emigrants 1683-1685, by category
Database content
In January 2025, the database contained records of 2,571 individuals, drawn from 278 sources.
Focus on the emigrants
My research analysis concentrated on the subset of emigrants who arrived in 1683 to 1685: some 562 emigrants (474 adults and 88 children). Of these, 189 were free emigrants and their children; 238 indentured servants and their children; and 135 transported prisoners and in two instances, their children.
Of these emigrants, 503 survived the Atlantic crossing (415 adults and all 88 children). Some unrecorded children may have perished en route.
A further 41 later emigrants could be identified: 24 adult free emigrants and 16 children plus one 1 boy servant, adding 7% to the total number of emigrants. Thus I identified 603 Scots who left for East Jersey between 1683 and 1702, of whom 544 were survivors (439 adults and 105 children).
Other protagonists
- 28 absent landowners;
- 26 emigration agents who did not themselves emigrate; and
- 10 correspondents.
The bulk of the remainder of people in the complete database is accounted for by forebears, children, and wider kin and associates. Adding their details aided the process of discovering more about the emigrants, their origins and connections, and what became of them and members of their families. It was necessary to range quite broadly to solve many puzzles. The wider dataset provides an asset enabling further research. Sources accessed are a mix of primary, edited or digested primary, and secondary. Please refer to the bibliography which follows these notes.