Book 5, Chapter 16 New York: Swarming to the North Summary

The extraordinary aspects of the cases examined in the preceding chapters are not so much that the cases are unique but that the documentation surrounding them was full. The surviving records are surprisingly complete. Detailed records connected to the Register are rare. The same kinds of records about migration to the north are even rarer.

During the years in question, three huge areas of land were claimed by the colony of New York and were opened to settlement. Immigrants from overseas were prominent in these areas. The beginning point for this migration was the port of New York, which was the main entrance to the colony's upcountry. In the years of the Registry, there is evidence for 42 ships arriving with emigrants from Britain in New York. 16 of these ships...