The Houstons who migrated from Ulster during the 18th century were a different people from those who settled there the century before. They had been molded in the fires of religious persecution, governmental oppression, endless toil and final disappointment. They were a clannish lot. They hardly ever married among the native Irish, not only because of divergent religious belief but also because they looked down on the "mere Irish." Neither did they marry with the English settlers. Even here there was the religious difference as between Presbyterians and Episcopalians as well as ancient national prejudices between Scot and English. Besides, the English settlers in Ireland were not always from the better classes in their own country, some being adventurers or shiftless folk.

So the Houstons and their fellow-Scots who came out of Ulster were a new people, decidedly different from the Scots in the homeland and with no resemblance to the native Irish. Arriving in America from Ireland, they were often called Irish and being of Scottish descent they were sometimes called Scots. Eventually, a new name was coined to fit the new race; they became known as the Scotch-Irish. Says Graham: "In spite of similarities of religion and speech, the Scots and the Scotch.Irish were distinct peoples by the beginning of the 18th century." 1 This should be kept in mind in the development of early American history.

At the beginning of the great migration to America in the early 1700’s, the Scotch-Irish came to the New England colonies, as typified by William Huston of Connecticut. But in these colonies they found state churches that did not allow freedom of worship and the course of the movement was changed. The

1 Ian Chas. Cargill Graham, Colonists from Scotland (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N. Y.; Copr. American Historical Assn., Washington, D.C.)