Back to Family Story outcomes, S22
by Annie Gilfillan
My family includes some very proud New Jersians. My two older brothers and I grew up in New Jersey, we have never lived anywhere else. My parents have also spent their whole marriage in New Jersey along with all of my paternal uncles. We are huge supporters of the Jersey shore, the best New Jersey bagels, and superior Jersey pizza. You could say we would do a lot for our home state. Some may think New Jersey is the armpit of America, but we call it home and love it that way. This may seem aggressive, but I promise it’s true. So, when I was doing my research for my family tree, I started to notice that a large chuck of my paternal family was all coming from the same places, and these places weren’t New Jersey. I always thought that my family started in America in the same place that we have now settled, that’s why we love New Jersey so much, right? Wrong. As I moved through my family tree, I found that many of my ancestors were from St. Mary’s, Maryland, and over time moved to Kentucky. I thought the fact that they all lived in the same place and migrated together was really interesting, so I decided to look into their journey for my public piece!
I can trace my family in St. Mary’s all the way to 1710. My 7th great grandfather, Aquilla Hutchins and his wife Elizabeth Gregory, were the furthest I made it back in my tree who both were born and died in St. Mary’s. After doing some research, I found that St. Mary’s is the birthplace of Maryland. St. Mary’s County was established in 1634 by colonists led by Leonard Calvert and named after the Virgin Mary.
I noticed my ancestors start moving to Kentucky around the 1800s. When looking for a reason why they would be moving, a document appeared that was attached to my 5th great grandfather John B. Hutchins. The document talked about the story of why my ancestors moved when they did. The document states that the Revolutionary War brought great hardships and even greater changes to St. Mary’s County. Although there were many changes brough among the county, some of them were good. The vast expansion of land west of the Appalachians allowed land to be granted to the people who were brave enough to head that way. Some of the land was given out to war veterans for their service and the rest was available for a low cost.
This is what caused the large movement of people, especially to Kentucky. Many of the St. Mary’s citizens moved to Nelson and Washington county in Kentucky. There was a large Catholic migration into Nelson County from St. Mary’s that I believe included many of my ancestors. This group followed a route called the Maysville route down to Goodwin’s Station (which is near present day Boston) and from there moved into the Pottinger’s Creek area of Nelson County! The Catholic religion was banned in colonial Maryland, which was another reason for this large migration of Catholics. I list that I found connected to John B. Hutchins should my family members with the last names Adams, Boone, Burch, Cecil, French, Greenwell, Howard, and Hutchins all being connected to this Catholic migration to Nelson County. Over time, family members started branching out and leaving Kentucky, moving closer and closer every generation to my proud state of New Jersey.
Although we may not have originated in New Jersey, I still had a great time learning about the journey my family took to get to where we are now and how committed they were to their religion, and I hope you enjoyed learning about the migration too!