Who exactly was this William Jameson

There is considerable confusion as to the origins of this particular William Jameson, his wife, her origins and the birth origins of their children. There is however, no question or confusion that they existed as named, apart perhaps from the correct identification of William's wife.

Most genealogies or references to this William Jameson, have him as likely of Scottish descent, born in or around Edinburgh, Scotland about 1675. He is then thought to have emigrated, presumably as an adult, to Ulster Ireland settling with several others, some probably even Jameson families, in Omagh, County Tyrone, south of the city of Londonderry, in what would have been central Ulster, eventually emigrating in the summer of 1718, with his wife and family and many other like minded "Ulster Scots" to America, in what is now considered to be the great migration of 1718. All of this is listed in E.O. Jameson's book, The Jamesons in America[1] as are some of the same details, elsewhere. There does not seem to be any older or other explanations or any different history for this William Jameson, suggesting every other accounting for him is based on E.O.Jameson's writings.

Although we have many records of the arrival of the ships in Boston from Ireland in 1718 and of one ship, the Robert, continuing to Maine that fall, and many records of those aboard, including William and his family, we don't seem to have any other actual records of who exactly this William was, when or where he was born, or apart from names of the children, where or exactly when they were born, except from what E.O. Jameson states about them in his book.

It is thought that like many of the very early Jam?son immigrants in E.O. Jameson's book, his descriptions are based on his educated guess as to origins, or sometimes based on what he knew about the history of others in any one person's group, or maybe clues from somewhat more contemporaneous details found in historical archives. Unfortunately, some of the information E.O.Jameson has of these early settlers has been found to be more speculative than accurate, no doubt perhaps in part because of the limited information available to him at the time of his writings in the 1890s. Newer and more accurate data available today has altered what we know about more of these people than existed back then, which can help us better understand these earlier ancestors.

That seems to be the case with this William Jameson and his family. Recently, noted Jameson genealogist and family historian, Scott Jameson has discovered details about a William Jameson family, living in the Kilmarnock area of Ayreshire, Scotland, he believes is the William Jameson who migrated from Scotland to Ulster in the early 1700s and then to America in 1718. Scott through his extensive research in Scotland discovered a Margaret Jameson born in 1703 whose father was named William. The William Jameson who arrived in Cascara Bay, Maine, had a daughter named Margaret born in 1703. This Margaret's mother was named Margaret Adams who had married William in 1692. The wife of William in Maine is sometime thought to have been Margaret Jameson, which added to what was a growing list of familiar coincidences. What finally convinced Scott that this was the William on Maine, was the remarkable number of other names living in that area of Kilimanjaro, who could be later, early 1700s, found not only in Ulster, but in Maine and New Hampshire, following the migration of 1718. In particular, a Kenny family, who may have been related to the Robert Kenny who married William's daughter, Margaret Jameson, in April of 1727, in Maine[2]

Believing Scott Jameson's discovery to be accurate and his analysis reasonable and likely, we have used this here in this genealogy for this particular Maine William Jameson family and his descendants.

Separately, new DNA details have emerged that connect a Henry Jamison family, originally from the early 1700's Bucks County, Pennsylvania area, with the William Jameson family of Maine. A "Y-DNA" test,[3] attributed to the immigrant (Henry Jamison), exactly matches the "Y-DNA"test of a known descendant of the William Jameson of Maine. This suggests a strong relationship between these two families going back before any immigration to America, to at least Ulster, Ireland, or perhaps Scotland. Exactly where or when is not revealed by DNA, but the connection is accepted pretty much as proof. Further testing will hopefully give us more clues as to a possible common ancestor, as well as to anthropological clues, such as historical migrations and beginnings.