, once declared that "if the Scotch-Irish continue to come they
will make themselves masters of the Province."[1] His prediction, which
was to be generally proven in the Province during the French and Indian
War, was to be demonstrated particularly in the West Branch Valley
during the Revolutionary period. The Scotch-Irish were the dominant
national or ethnic group in the Fair Play territory from 1769 to 1784.
This dominance is demonstrated in Chart 1, which indicates the national
origins of eighty families in the Fair Play territory.

CHART 1

National Origins of Fair Play Settlers[2]
Expressed in Numbers and Percentages

Total Scotch-Irish English German Scots Irish Welsh French
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80 39 16 12 5 4 2 2
% 48.75 20 15 6.25 5 2.5 2.5
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Not only were the Scotch-Irish the most numerous national stock among
the Fair Play settlers of the West Branch Valley, but they also
represented a plurality and almost a majority of the entire population.
The significance of this finding in terms of the "style of life" of the
Fair Play settlers cannot be over-emphasized. It influenced the
politics, the religion, the family patterns, and thus the values of this
frontier society.

Several other important conclusions can be drawn from this chart. In
contrast to the population of Pennsylvania in general and the
assumptions regarding frontier areas in particular, the English, rather
than the Germans, were the second most numerous national stock group.
The Germans, however, made up the third-largest segment of the West
Branch Valley population. The Scots, Welsh, Irish, and a few French
inhabitants formed the remaining sixteen per cent of the population.
Obviously, this was a dominantly Anglo-Saxon Protestant area of
settlement.

The impact of this Scotch-Irish hegemony upon the religion, politics,
family life, and social values in general will be dealt with in a later
chapter. However, it can be noted at this juncture that the
strong-willed individualism which characterized these sturdy people was
as much influenced by their national origin as by their experience on
the American frontier. Furthermore, Presbyterianism influenced and was
influenced by a developing democratic political system, which parallel