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Families were undoubtedly important to the immigrants' success, but this success was possible in part because parents had significant control over the family in life and this control continued after death. Most European immigrant families functioned in a corporate culture. In these households the father was the definitive head and relied almost solely on their wives and children for farm labor. While fathers might set up elder sons on farms of their own, all other children had to wait until the death of their father for their share of the farm. These parents exerted much more control over the lives and futures of their children. This method contrasted with the “Yankee” one, where families exerted less control on their offspring; and the result of this was fluidity on the land and less control within the family unit. This created a more independent outlook on life – parents gave their children more freedom, but in return could depend upon them less.29
That those in Scotch Settlement followed the corporate model is hinted at in their wills. While a man granting the farm to his widow for her natural life provided her with a home and economic security, at the same time it denied an independent living to his children. Many heirs could not inherit either land or cash until the death of their mother; in two cases this wait was 24 years. The “pseudo-entails” tied sons to the land whether they wanted to remain in the community or not; as to leave would forfeit not only their claims to the land, but also the claims of their children. At times parental control was explicitly stated in the wills. For example, Daniel Smith, who died in 1834, decreed that his wife should maintain and school their 5 children: “… providing they remain with and continue to be submissive and obedient to their dear mother my said beloved wife.”30
The causes of the massive emigrations from the Scottish Highlands of the eighteenth and nineteenth century have been a matter of debate since they began. Many believe that the Highlanders left involuntarily, the victims of eviction due to economic and social reorganization. After being abandoned by their landlords, the Highlanders were left to fend for themselves either in Scotland or the New World . Essentially, many historians believe that the only reason the Highlanders looked for land outside Scotland is that their land in Scotland – rented to be sure – was taken away from them. A counter to this argument, most notably advanced by J.M. Bumsted in The People's Clearance, is that Highlanders voluntarily emigrated in order to maintain their traditional culture.31 This work suggests that neither argument is completely valid. The evidence found in these wills, combined with evidence from their letters home – almost all of which contain references to the availability of land in Ohio – suggest that these Highlanders did leave voluntarily, but not to maintain their traditional lifestyles. Rather, they left to obtain a better way of life, which included the purchase of land.
Probate records reveal that many immigrants were able to live comfortably and adapt to the needs of their new environment. Those of Scotch Settlement may not have been wealthy, but they were able, with hard work, to obtain land and the necessities of life without fear of eviction or rent increases, as well as to maintain a distinct cultural community for several decades. These data would be largely unknown without examining wills; and they provide excellent insights, not only into family composition, but to the community created after emigration.
